4th of July

Very exciting week this was. A lot of “first” for Reagan- first road trip 12 hours, first trip to MS, first time to meet the Don Don, Sean/Lacy, Burton family, Aunt Lauren, Great Grandma Defrank, The Heatherlys, Uncle Brian, Uncle Lenny , Nan Tadar and cousins Lu/Brooks.

We left Howell at 3pm on Thursday and drove to Sean’s House in Indianapolis (6hours) for dinner. We order pizza (curry take out for me) and hung out for a few hours. We arrived at our hotel in Louisville around mid-night. Friday morning we drove the remainder 6 hours to my mom’s house. Had lots of fun with on the Ash farm- four wheel hide go seek was my favorite. Stayed at my parents until Sunday, then drove to smith lake to see the Burton family. After visiting with the family on smith lake we went to Gigi and Don Don where we stayed the night and spent most of the following day with them until it was time to get back on the road home. Nanny Defrank and Lauren (step-sister in law) came over to visit. We sat on the porch and talked while Reagan was passed around for playing. Monday afternoon drove 6 hours to Louisville stayed the night then arrived in Howell Tuesday mid-day. WOW what a trip, I need a vacation from the vacation.

Stephen’s First Father’s Day- a lot of “first”

I had an event to attend for work this weekend so Reagan and Stephen went with me. We stayed at a very nice resort in Point Clear AL, 20 mins from my grandmother. This trip was a lot of “first”- first plane ride, first father’s day, first time in AL, first time in HOT ASS weather, first time to meet her great grandma,and first time to meet her grand dad.

Stephen and Reagan had fun hanging out all day while I attended my work event. The show was over around 3pm so we headed to my grandma’s for a little visit. My mom and dad drove down to visit with us. The 4 generations photo:

One morning I went to the event and then came back to the room on our break and they were gone. I was thinking “where did they go?” and “how did Stephen get her ready?” Well little do I know but daddy can handle it, mommy doesn’t always have to do everything. I found them in the main dining area eating breakfast, well Stephen was because Reagan was asleep in her stroller. He gave her a bath, dressed her, feed her, he got ready and walked over to the restaurant. WOW, I was impressed! GO DADDY! Later that day, they tired to go swimming but it was so dang hot. Reagan lasted maybe 30 mins in the pool and was ready to go to the cool room. Father’s Day had arrived and Reagan got her daddy 2 tickets (mom and dad will be going) to the AL vs. LSU game in November. Stephen was excited, best gift ever!!!! We had a great time in AL with our family and ate lots of seafood/chick fil A YUMMY. Oh, Reagan loves airplanes and is the best traveler- she just slept the whole time.

Back to work- June 1st

So I have started back in the office 3 days a week. I miss Reagan a lot throughout the day but I know it’s for the best. Gigi (MIL) is watching her the first week and then she will start the following week. We visited her school before she starts for a “trail day” and the kids love her! They all came up to us to “talk” and show us there toys. The classroom is so peaceful and I think Reagan will enjoy it. All the kids adore the teacher and you can tell they are all happy to be there. I believe its going to be harder on me than Reagan, I feel like this is worst than giving birth. Emotial pain is much worse then physical. I keep telling myself “if you do not like it then you can just be a stay at home mommy”.

Gigi came the week of June 1st to watch her (thank you, her school did not have an opening until June 8). They had lots of fun throughout the day- I called every few hours the first few days, then I figured they have it under control so I limited my calls to maybe one or two a day. This was the first week Reagan took the bottle all day long (with breast milk) and she was getting better day by day.

First week of School- so I was pretty good starting the day off until my sister called on the way to work to ask how I was. Of course I started to cry and think how much I miss her. Thanks to all my sisters wonderful advice (I call her for everything) she made it a little easier. At lunch I went to check on Reagan and she was having a ball. She was laughing and playing, you could tell she really like it and didn’t really miss me much :(

Turning 4months old

Looking back…

Wow my little girl will be 4 months old next week. She is growing up so fast; she is starting to roll over, pull up and attempting to crawl. She puts her legs underneath and sticks her butt up but that’s about it. She is a bundle of joy!! Stephen is ready for baby number 2, I told him we need to wait a few years. Funny thing before we had her I wanted 4 and Stephen wanted 2 kids, now its flipped flopped. I want to give a shout out to my wonderful sister (Nan Tader) who has been a wonderful advice giver and inspires me to be a great mom like herself. “I ain’t got but love for ya” “I will always be behind the dough, mother love”

Next week is a BIG week for us all, she starts school. I am very sad to see her go but I know it’s going to be fine. I just think how much I am going to miss her. Gigi (mother in law) was in town last week and watched her while I went to work at the office. Gigi said she did great, so she will do great at school. Luckily, I will only be a few minutes away so I am going to visit her at lunch.

So far this summer we have been enjoying Saturday having a family picnic, lots of walks around the neighborhood and playing in the yard. Last time at the park Stephen caught a fish. He was so excited and can’t wait for Reagan to go fishing with him.

Mother's Day May 2009

Trying to catch up….

Mother’s Day weekend we took a road trip 4hrs north to Mackinac Island. It was a nice relaxing getaway. Reagan was perfect in the car ride; she slept most of the way. We stopped a few times for feeding and diaper changing.

Mackinac Island is located between Michigan’s Lower and Upper Peninsula. It’s an island with horse and buggy and lots of historical building and fort. We took the ferry over to the island and spent all day walking around and touring the island. We spent most of the day touring Fort Mackinac and walking the trails hidden in the forest. The weather was almost perfect, just a little cool but again we are in Michigan so the weather is forever changing. This beginning our first trip with a baby, I did forget a few things but we managed. First, I did not pack enough diapers and wipes so we had to buy some at a little store on the island. Of course, the price was like 3x more but what can you do. Also, I am noticing more and more that restaurants do not have a changing table in there bathrooms (I guess babies are not a lot in there restaurant???). It’s so gross having to change your baby either holding her or putting her on the floor on the changing mat. Besides the bathroom situation we ate lunch and dinner on the island and had a great family day!!! The ferry ride back was very very bumpy I thought I was going to get sick but lucky it was only like 20mins (felt like 60mins.) I think Reagan had fun and she was a great baby!!

I received the sweetest card and diamond earrings from Stephen and Reagan. It was the best first mother’s day!!! Looking for to many many more……..

the beautiful view of the island

At lunch

The Grand Hotel

Ferry over to the island.

Reagan loves the king size hotel bed!

night stroll.

Saturday May 2nd

Reagan and I went shopping. She helped me pick out a few new outfits :) We spent 3hrs at the mall while Stephen finished putting up crown molding in the kitchen. It looks so good. I will post some before and after pictures when its complete.

She is also taking a bottle very well now. I have been pumping breast milk but was not able to find a bottle she would take. Stephen and I both tried to feed her but she would just fuss the entire time. I was getting nervous because when i leave her for a day i was thinking"how would she eat"? But with time and patience we finally got it!! She evens can do it by herself :) jk

April 28th Anniversary

Stephen and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Roses, gift certificate and sushi were given to me by Stephen.

We are finishing up the remodeling of the kitchen. Already painted, received new appliances and today the coutnertops guys are here. They were cutting out the old and made a template for the new. Reagan slept most of the time (they were loud and i was surprise she didn't wake up).

After work we went to a lovely sushi restaurant. For those of you who do not know, but Stephen and I LOVE sushi. In Birmingham AL we had our first date at a sushi restaurant, he proposed and our wedding night were spent at this same restaurant.

We could not go back to AL for dinner so we settled on a nice place in Brighton. In this really nice restaurant the bathrooms DO NOT have a pull down changing table, so Reagan had to get a diaper change on the FLOOR (ewww gross, i had disinfectant spray that i sprayed around the area). By the time desert came she was out. Sleeping in my arms while we enjoyed the fried ice cream with whip cream and chocolate.

I finished my book "harvesting the hearts by Jodie Picoult" and started a new one "nineteen minutes by jodie picoult". I really love her books.

We are making our final decision on the landscaping, cant wait till we have a new yard. All the estimates/designs we received have been great. Its so hard to choose one but we need to make a decision, sometimes it seems bad to get so many different estimates because it makes it harder to decide. Looking forwarded to the weekend. Stephen and Gabe are working in the kitchen while Reagan and i are going shopping. She loves shopping!!