Reid: Month (gasp) 11

Dear Reid,

Each day with you becomes more fun and a little bit more challenging. Or maybe not more challenging... just challenging in a different way. There's now more focus on keeping you out of stuff you shouldn't be in and we're very much still trying different methods of guidance and discipline... if you can even call it that. Boy do we have a lot to learn. =)

The cool thing is, there's nobody else I'd rather learn with than you and your daddy. You were the perfect addition to our family at the perfect time. God has a tendency to do that. He knows us more than we know ourselves and he loves us more than we can even imagine in our wildest dreams.

There's no doubt in my mind we will make many mistakes as we parent you Reid. Heck! We already have. I hope you know our mistakes aren't on purpose and that we do the best we can and we do it out of love for you. I'm choosing to believe your Heavenly Father will fill in the gaps when we come up short.

Challenges aside you're just so much fun. I'm going to tell you a secret. Before you were born, I used to worry that you wouldn't be as cool as some of the other kids I know. Now, as a mom, I know I could never not think my child was cool. I get that now. But as your mom - I clearly had nothing to worry about. You have a personality that's all your own. You're ornery, funny, sweet, and just absolutely awesome. =)

Love you little man,
Mama

Highlights:

• In the past few days you made the switch to all table food (lunch and supper) except for the occasional stage 3 pouch while we're on the go. In addition to what you've tried so far, you've tried pancakes, scrambled egg yolks, sausage, cottage cheese, mandarin oranges, pineapple, mixed veggies with mini bowtie pasta, and probably some other things you tried off our plates that I'm forgetting.
• You wore size 4 and cloth diapers.
• You started switching more to 18-month clothes. Many are a little big still but many of your 12-month shirts are too short on you.
• You still have 8 teeth. You've been working awfully hard on others but so far they haven't completely popped through.
• You crawl (correctly) exclusively now and do lots of cruising around furniture. You also started walking some behind a push-toy. 
• You play very contently on your own.
• You get an 8 oz bottle first thing in the morning, then a 6 oz bottle around 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and then 8 oz again at night. You hit a bit of a growth spurt (mostly height this time) but now you're slowing down on the formula again and there's been a few times we've just done 6 oz all day.
• You're very vocal and have added new consonants to your vocabulary but still haven't really said any words... except "hi"... you did say that and even waved. =) We're waiting patiently on the "mom" and "dad". No rush. ;)
• I spent three days and two nights away from you while at a conference. It broke my heart to go but thankfully they kept me super busy so I didn't cry the whole time. The girls I work with in that group asked a lot about you. They love seeing your pictures on facebook. 
• You are ornery and still struggle to understand why we tell you "no" when you try doing certain things. 
• You are also very sweet and love to hug occasionally (lay your head on my shoulder/lap) and kiss (come at my face with your mouth wide open). 
• You learned to "pick-up" your toys and seem to feel very proud of yourself when you complete the task. We'll see how long that lasts. =)
• You wave, which is nothing new, but you do it with such enthusiasm I feel it's worth mentioning again. You flap your arm up down so fast I think it might fall off. ;) To top it off, you do so with that million dollar whole-face smile that just charms the heck out of people. 
• Peety interacts with you more now that you're a little bigger. He always makes you giggle.
• You are so stinkin' ticklish - which practically makes your dad's day. He loves to tickle you and make you laugh. You get to laughing so hard you can barely catch your breath. It's contagious.
• Your Eczema got quite a bit worse.
• This month you had your first trip to the pumpkin patch and experienced your first Arkalalah! You also attended a wedding and went to a couple birthday parties. You had a fun and busy month mister!

Midweek Randoms

Fall/Winter is always such a busy time, am I right? All the holidays? It's our busiest time in terms of photography too. Plus, now we have a little munchkin with a November birthday. =)

Speaking of which, Reid is 11-months old today. How? I don't even know. We're just a blink away from the big birthday. Although as far as I'm concerned the really big birthday happened 11-months ago. ;)

Here's a little sneak peek of my party plans. You can also see the red suspenders I'm using for his Halloween costume. More on that later.

Last week I went to Kansas City for the Kansas School Public Relations Association (KanSPRA) conference. I'm the president-elect this year which means... I'm in charge of this shindig next year. Big sigh. I've already mentioned to several members of our little regional group that I fully expect to have a rockin' conference planning committee! =) Anyway, the conference was great. It really always is. It's fun to be with people who understand my job and just get it. We had great speakers too and had lots of fun together. Makes me remember how lonely it can be being the only one who does a certain job.

I did enjoy baby monitor-less sleep. Sure, there were two young kids running amuck next door but I still call it a win! =)

I branched out and tried tapas at La Bodega... interesting. I didn't take pictures of everything but I felt accomplished having tried new things.

A couple girls got these fancy coffee-on-fire drinks.

It was a good time but I sure did miss these guys. They were on the porch to welcome me when I got home. =) Melt my heart.

Saturday morning, our friends John, Anna, and Ruby came to town. We walked downtown to grab some lunch. Dac and I got Jeffy Pups that were probably the best I'd had in a few years. Reid missed out on Arkalalah food this year but did enjoy a nice balanced lunch while we waited in line for 15 minutes.

Then we watched Ruby ride a couple carnival rides.

=)

Watching the parade

Reid of course was conked out by that time. It was his first Arkalalah and I'd say he nailed it. =)

I've missed out on a lot of the Arkalalah activities the past few years and I'm determined to go big next year!! We'll see how it turns out, but I plan to attempt more events that week and do pancake feed, street games, and more on Saturday. Maybe I'll even hunt for the medallion? Eh, probably not.

Dac and Ruby were study buddies the next morning.

Then it was time for family pictures! Here's a fun one. The girl get it from her daddy. ;)

After pictures we hit up Braums for brunch and then said our goodbyes. Later that day, we did this fun session. It was a 13th birthday surprise! =) Her mom took her to get her hair did that day and set up the photo shoot all without her knowing. She seemed like a great kid and I think she had a good time.

This week has just been nuts with work. Being gone really put me behind plus it's staff newsletter week AND we had a school board meeting Monday night.

Just keep swimming... LOOK! Another scarf.

I feel like I'm constantly away from this guy. Here we are in the final month of his first year of life and I feel like we hardly get to spend quality time together. He's getting so big and meanwhile, I'm shuffling to meetings, am way behind on housework, and when I am home, I'm sorting through photo sessions and just trying to stay afloat in typical everyday stuff. I look forward to a few days with him over Thanksgiving and his birthday.

Last night Reid had bananas and scrambled egg yolks with cheese. He ate it all up.

In other random news:

• I'm way into the show The Blacklist. It's suspenseful and has great acting along with a great story. Right up my alley. 

• We have several photo sessions this week and weekend. Here's hoping the weather cooperates!

• Happy Halloween early! =)

It's the Great Pumpkin Patch

A couple weeks ago, Dac and I took Reid to our local pumpkin patch. I don't know why, but I've had my heart set on taking him since I knew there was a him! I just love fall and all the activities that come with it.

Dac and I got married in September 2006 and one of our very first married dates was going to a pumpkin patch. We wandered through a corn maze with flash lights and went home to our tiny apartment with the only pumpkin we could afford. It was small but it was perfect. We named it pumpkin breath and we displayed it proudly. =)

I knew the pumpkin patch activities would be a little too old for Reid but we still decided to make a family date out of it. The weather was perfect and we had a great time together! Reid even enjoyed his first hayrack ride!

Here's some pictures:

We started off in the corn box... even ran into miss Felicity there. =)

Hay bale maze

It was a beautiful day at a very beautiful place.

Reid picking his pumpkin:

These were kind of a random after thought but I love how they turned out. =)

I know I've been a little MIA lately. I was out of town for a few days. I'll be sharing some randoms soon along with Reid's 11-month post and our adventures trick-or-treating. =)

Midweek Randoms

• Seems it's turned to fall 'round these parts. I'm not sure why I felt the need to talk like that. 

• I wore scarves twice this week. You know me... a regular ol' fashionista. =) My hair happened to be decent that day too. We have family pictures tonight and, of course, my hair isn't cooperating. Sigh. Oh well. We're big proponents of capturing REAL life, right? 

•  I get a lot of pictures of Reid in his high chair (sans cover) because he doesn't actually sit still all that often. Here, he's trapped. 

•  We've been giving him more table food at home and will mostly likely be switching to table food at daycare next week. I totally over-think Reid's feeding. Have from the beginning. It's just a thing I do. I've accepted it. =) I visited some other moms this week about what they had done/were currently doing for lunches. Nothing better than a nice, helpful mama who shares and talks stuff through with ya without treating you like a moron rookie. 

•  I love pancakes. They are probably my favorite food. I tried my hand at gluten pancakes last night. They were OK just not great. I've got a few other recipes to try though so I'm sure I can find a gem.

•  The best part of my morning = a sleepy hug from this guy and looking at him/talking to him while he drinks his milk. 

• I like him.

• I'm dealing with all this glorious allergy/sinus bidness again. Gotta love it!

• I don't really have anything else new to report. =)

About Me: My Dream Job

In case you missed it, I recently started a little "About Me" series. I'm working through a list of things I want my kids to know about me. I thought it was sort of a cool getting-to-know-you project and would also be nice for this scrapbook that Reid will eventually look through.

Here's what I've done so far:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself

2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears

3. Describe your relationship with your spouse

4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could

5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?

6. If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
7. What is your dream job and why?



Oh boy, here we go. What is my dream job? I have no stinkin' clue, I tell ya!

Here's the thing... I've always wanted to do the same things... kind of.  Everything has basically fallen into three major categories:

Performer: Since I was little, I sang, danced, modeled, acted, and pranced around like a total diva in a tom-boy shell. Whether in costume and makeup on a brightly lit stage, or shakin' it through the house with my hair brush microphone... I was happiest puttin' on a show. I was specifically interested in musical theatre. Wait, I still am... is it too late?!

Journalist: A lot of ideas I had over the years fall into this category - magazine columnist, news anchor, investigative reporter, storm chaser, photojournalist... the list goes on and on. I think I liked the sense of adventure, plus again, it's creating something and I've always liked that.

Helper: I've always wanted to help people and one way I seriously considered doing that was by becoming a counselor/therapist. I was a class short of a minor in college and the thought of grad school made me break out in hives so that was out. =)

You probably know I ended up getting a degree in journalism and broadcasting from Oklahoma State. I specialized in public relations after taking an intro class. My professor had done PR at a children's hospital. It seemed like it was right up my alley and that I'd still be making a difference in the world.

After graduation, I got a job selling shoes at Dillard's until I could find something in my field. I ended up taking a job as the Public Relations Director with our local school district. It's not the PR job I envisioned. In addition to this job, we started our photography business.

I suppose at this point, I've pretty well given up on the intense career options. I'd still love to be a helper and I love to write and certainly love photography. I guess maybe my ideal job, right now at least, would be working from home, part time and being a stay-at-home mom the other part (which is certainly work in and of itself). I'm thinking pro photographer, blogger, MOM.

I want a job that allows me to watch Reid grow more up-close... one that lets me be more hands-on with his upbringing. I want a job that allows me to wear sweat pants and tennis shoes. I want a job that allows me time to bake, clean, and decorate. I want a job that allows me more cuddles with my boy. I want a job that allows me to be creative and allows me opportunities to help others. I want a job that helps me be more positive and less anxious. I want a job that doesn't feel like a job. I want what I do to matter.

Ketchup-Catchup

Apparently I forgot to blog last week. Holy moly. Here's the quick run-down.

We have a son. He's real cute. =)

He likes to play with things he's not supposed to...

He looks like such a big boy these days.

His mom is a total child who downloaded the Toca Boca hair salon app and created this:

Last Friday, it stormed. My parents came down and we ate supper. Then, we thought we had pictures in Ponca Saturday, so they came down that afternoon to watch Reid for a few hours. We got down there and realized there was a mix-up/mis-communication about the date. We didn't have a session but weren't about to miss an opportunity to make a couple quick stops (one being for frozen yogurt...mmmm... I swear there's actually frozen yogurt under that candy shmorgishborg.

Saturday night? Lord have mercy. It was like we had a newborn again. We knew Reid had been trying to work on some molars but apparently they were really hurting him that night. He went to bed near his normal 8 p.m. time but was awake a crying/screaming by 10. He became more inconsolable with each failed attempt to calm him down and put him back to sleep. Finally, we got him up and took turns trying to sooth him. We walked with him, bounced him, and rocked him. We could tell his teeth were the culprits so we tried his necklace (which he hadn't worn all week but we put it on earlier in the day... apparently that wasn't long enough), teething gel, a cold rag, frozen teether, pacifier, rubbing my finger along his gums... we gave it a good solid effort. After a good hour or so of this, I finally had him calmed down and he was rocking peacefully in my arms. Then, we put him back in his crib and went to bed ourselves. He woke up a few times that night. It was heart breaking. It was obvious he was in a great deal of pain. I felt helpless.

The next morning, he was still kind of cranky, but we hadn't been to church in a while so we thought we'd give it our best shot. He cried during church then fell in the nursery and cried some more. He was NOT a happy camper. Those dang molars are the pits. 

We went home after church and he had some lunch. Lunch makes just about everything better, does it not?

98% of Reid's meal ends up in this pouch and then he digs some of it back out to eat. Apparently, he wanted to make sure the pacifier was in a safe place for later. =)

We had Bible study that night and it was my turn to bring treats. I made gluten free brownies (actually pretty dang tasty...I was impressed). I think it helped that I made salted caramel sauce to go on top.

Since I had extra sauce, I made a caramel apple sundae. =)

Before Bible study though, we went to Journey's 5th birthday party. It was ninja turtle themed and was super cute as her parties always are. This was the first party Reid could really play at.

He and his cousin Ahri driving together...

Ahri is 3 weeks older than Reid and is walkin' like a little champ.They are rather adorable no? Erica took this photo.

That face!! Photo by Erica.

Here's Reid and Felicity being cuddly. I think they kinda like each other. =) Photo by Erica.

The birthday girl!

My tired baby after a long day.

Tuesday, Reid and I had a play/tv-watchin' date at Cori's. I got to love on her kids and we watched some SOA.

Thursday, I got my hair cut. Nothing major - just some layers cut in so it will 'curl' better. I don't even remember the last time I straightened my hair. I told her whatever she did it needed to be wash-mousse/gel-go friendly.

After supper that night, we went on a walk. Such a nice night.

This is what what happens when Dac is left in charge of play time. =) Poor kid.

Friday, we headed to Ponca for the family session I thought was the weekend before. =) This family is fun. I like to get mom and dad away from the kids for a couple shots... I think it's important they have photos of them. After all, their love was there before the kids and will be there once the kids are grown.

Saturday was Daric and Shayna's wedding. Daric is Dac's cousin and we had the privilege to photograph their big day. Here's a little screen shot sneak as I was uploading cards onto the computer.

The wedding was beautiful!!

Here's my little handsome... photo by Kayla. He spent the day with Aunt Val while we worked but oh it was so fun to see him at the reception. =) We took more with the big cameras but I haven't gone through those yet.

 
Reid didn't sleep worth a dang that night even after such a long day. We were both up constantly with him. Sunday, we skipped church so we wouldn't have to rush around in the morning and went to Derby to try and finish our family photo shopping. I'm not sure we ended up with greatness but it will have to do. I also picked up this treat. =) It just so happens to be gluten free but let's get real, it had be at "candy corn". I've failed miserably at eating gluten free. It literally lasted 5 days. I really want to get back on that wagon though to test if it helps me. Why must I be so weak?

We finished off the weekend with chili at Dac's parents' then Bible study that evening. This week is crazy busy both at work and with stuff about every night. Next week is even worse, but I refuse to even think that far ahead at this point. Ay yi yi! =)