Girl

We did end up finding out that we are having another baby girl. We couldn't be more excited and Jason couldn't be more appreciative that I am not going to go out and buy more loads of baby girl clothes. Although, who said that you couldn't still buy new clothes if you have two girls? =) I must admit however, it is quite the "economy package" as I had a friend describe to me the other day. I can't wait to have two little "goonzies" running around the house playing with each other. I know it won't all be sweet and precious, but a mother can dream, right? I am so excited to have two kids and I already have a pretty good feeling about the spirit that this baby will bring into our home. She is already unique and different than Reagan in a lot of ways, but I have a feeling that she will fit in quite nicely. =)
I have started "nesting" like crazy the past couple weeks, organizing all the closets and baby clothes and labeling everything. It may be a bit early to start nesting, but I can't help myself. Next up is painting and finishing the girls' room. I love that I can now call it the "girls' room." It is strange to me that Reagan is not the "baby" anymore. She knows the baby is in my tummy and gives her kisses often. I still can't seem to fathom the fact that she is definitely growing up. She is such a girly girl now. She loves to dress up and dance and sing. She always entertains us with her performances. Just in the past week, she has even gone poopoo in her potty chair and just today brought her potty seat to me, screaming. Apparently it was urgent! I rushed into the bathroom and set her down on the toilet and heard a little tinkle almost immediately. I don't know if this is just a coincidence, and I am not ready to push her into anything she isn't absolutely ready for, but it's times like this that make me realize how grown up she really is becoming. I must admit, it does scare me. Being a first-time parent to a toddler has me feeling very inadequate at times. I feel so much more prepared to take care of a newborn than a toddler, but at the same time, Reagan teaches me so much every day and is such a loving and peaceful girl that I wouldn't even give up the times when I want to pull all of my hair out! (Which is a daily occurence).

Some things that have made me smile this week:

She always wants to wear her Supergirl costume and on this particular occasion looked at Jason's comic encyclopedia for an hour, upside-down. =) She makes her daddy proud.

We just got over a short (but what seemed like forever) bout of sickness in our home. Reagan had croup and had never been so sick. I was exhausted after a week of her not being herself and not sleeping at all. One night, at like 3am when she wouldn't sleep, we were just cuddling on the couch watching something on tv when she just starts holding and rubbing my hand, while putting her other arm around me. It was a precious moment that literally brought tears to my eyes. Love her so much and love that she is so affectionate to us. I hope she is always this way, but at some point, I don't think kids still like to hold their parents' hands?

Dreams

When I am pregnant I have the strangest dreams, and I have heard other people say the same thing. All I know is that on any given night I wake up in the middle of the night screaming, laughing, crying, you name it. Well I thought I'd share a few of my favorites from the past couple of weeks. Enjoy.

Dream #1: We are in the waiting room at my doctor's office waiting to get an ultrasound to tell us if we're having a boy or a girl. The receptionist hands Jason a hospital gown and tells him to undress and to put it on and we can get started with the ultrasound. He does and then they tell him to sit on the bed and put his feet up in stirrups...this is all in the waiting room with other people around, mind you. Yet neither of us think it is in the least bit strange. The technician starts giving him the ultrasound and Jason falls asleep. I get really mad and keep shaking him, telling him to wake up or else they can't tell us what we're having. He finally wakes up and the tech says "It's a boy!" and we look up at the screen and there is a huge scary cartoon boy waving at us. I woke up really disturbed.

Dream #2: I go into labor and it progresses really quickly. Jason is stuck taking a final at school, so I go to the hospital by myself. Minutes later, I am in a room that is completely dark except for a huge bright spotlight on me. I give birth to a baby girl who is 7 pounds 19 ounces (I realize that means she is 8 pounds 3 ounces, but in my dream she was 7 lbs. 19 oz) and 22.5 inches long. We name her Haley (sister's name). Very strange.

Dream #3: I decide to get a tattoo down my inner thigh of all of the different versions of Mickey Mouse through the ages. It is literally huge and literally on my inner thigh. I keep thinking it is okay because no one will see it, but Jason ends up seeing it and gets really mad at me. He just keeps asking, over and over "Mickey Mouse??" I thought it was such a good idea in my dream. =)

Anyone want to tell me what these mean?

19 weeks

On Sunday I will be five months pregnant. Which means that next week, we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl...or maybe even a "goy" like Reagan keeps telling us. She's such a politician, always avoiding giving a direct answer. Yesterday we kept asking her if the baby in mommy's belly was a sister or a brother, and she either shrugged her shoulders and said "I dunno!" or just answered simply "baby belly." She's a sly one I tell you. Everything is going really well with this pregnancy. It's a lot different in a lot of ways than my pregnancy with Reagan. I showed sooner this time, but am growing a lot slower it seems. My sickness tapered off sooner with this one as well (thank the high heavens). I love feeling this little goy move. The little taps and wiggles are so fun to feel at the end of the day when I finally get to lay down and rest. Would anyone like to guess what we're having? (I still have no idea.)

Uper Girl

Those that know Jason know that he has a deep love for all things Superman. One of his earliest childhood memories is sitting on his dad's lap watching the Superman movies. He has tried and tried to get me to agree to name one of our sons Clark Kent Wilson. It is a solid name. We'll see if he succeeds. He has even used Superman analogies in almost all of the talks that I have heard him give at church. Once we saw the Supergirl costume this year in Reagan's size, it was game over. I had to get it. Jason was so proud to be Supergirl's daddy that he had to dress up as Clark Kent. And I, not wanting to be left out of the fun, chose the extremely original (sarcasm) costume of Lois Lane. Since she's just a regular person, most people didn't even know that I dressed up until they saw my name tag. We still had fun. I don't love these pictures, but they are all I have of Halloween so they'll have to do. In the pictures that I am wearing the super flattering footie pajamas, we were headed to a halloween party for a Young Women activity. I decided I would spare the rest of the ward that costume for our trunk or treat party. Reagan had so much fun being "Upergirl" and trick or treating. I had so much fun eating all of her candy.

* I wish that these pictures weren't sideways. If I'm feeling motivated tonight, I'll try and turn them again.

"Smile"

If you know the Pratts, you know that most of us "lucky" ones have something in common...our smile. We all have very squinty eyes. Catch any one of us smiling, and most likely you will just see two slits where our eyes once were. In fact, most people that have been with me while driving know not to make me laugh, because I literally will not be able to see. Well, it appears as though Reagan has inherited this trait. I wouldn't say that she has the typical "Pratt eyes" like most of us, since she looks so much like Jason. Her eyes appear to be a little bit bigger, but I guess she proves that the smile may not just be genetic. It is also a learned behavior. For the past month or so, I have not been able to get any good shots of her because the minute the camera comes out, or she hears the word "smile", she pulls this face. At first I thought it was to protect herself from the flash. But, flash or not, and even when there isn't a camera nearby, she still smiles this way. I think it's cute...but maybe it's the face only a mother could love.








(I did try to make these pictures right side up. You may have to turn your heads.)

Ben Folds

Recently we spontaneously decided to go to a Ben Folds concert held at the Mt. Baker theater. We had forgotten about it until the day of, but Jason went after school to buy tickets and there were still lots left. Apparently he isn't too popular in Bellingham? Anyway, we got second row tickets to a really fun show. He is a great entertainer. At times I was worried the old piano he was playing might break in two. We even got to see him at Taco Lobo grabbing a bite to eat before the show. We were mildly star struck. The guy that opened for him, Andrew Bell, was also really good. He's now a regular on our ipod playlist. Although some of Ben's more "political" songs made me cringe, we really enjoyed ourselves. Some of the funnier happenings of the night: he sang a song about Levi Johnston, ex-future son-in-law of Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, quoted almost entirely from his myspace profile...very funny. Also, halfway through the show we had to move seats to a few rows back because someone in front of us had the nastiest burps/breath we have ever experienced. I don't even want to think about it. I reached in my purse for anything...gum, perfume...anything to mask the smell, and all I could find was my Burt's Bees chapstick so out of desparation we applied it under our nostrils. No, not even that could mask the horrible stench. Once we moved, we enjoyed ourselves a lot more and weren't sitting there flabbergasted, forced to guess what this man might have had for dinner that night. All in all it was a fun date night. Thanks mom and dad for watching Reagan face and putting her to bed so we could have a fun night out. I felt young again. =)

Pregnancy Update #1 (and maybe the only?)

I hardly ever show pictures of my pregnant self. In fact, with Reagan I NEVER did and actually only took about 3 because I just didn't like the way I looked. But, this time I'm smarter - I know that I am going to get huge so I'm not too bothered that my jeans barely fit anymore. I'm still just enjoying being able to see my feet and bending down to tie my shoes! I thought that I'd try to be better this time because, although I know not ALL of you care how I look right now, a select few do, so the rest of you will just have to bear with me!
Here I am at 15 weeks...and yes, it's true - you do show sooner with your second. Not my favorite pregnancy truth, but very true nonetheless! We just scheduled our ultrasound for November 11th when we'll find out what we're having. Can't wait. I am already feeling baby move a little, which is really fun. I still have no "feelings" about what this little person inside me is going to be but everyone else seems to have their opinions. Jason is leaning towards girl, as are many of my friends. My mom seems pretty certain it's a boy though, so we'll see. I'm excited either way. We ask Reagan if it's going to be a girl or a boy and she always says "goy!" so I haven't quite figured out what that means. =)

And just for fun, here's a picture of Reagan contemplating being a big sister. Unsanitary? Maybe.

Bumpah

These past few months I have been so grateful for my parents. They have gone above and beyond in helping me with my very busy toddler while I was sick and tired. I don't know what I would have done without them. Reagan has so much fun being over at their house. She just adores them. I think if she could say it, she would say that they are her best friends because they have so much fun with her. When we are over there, she is just all smiles, running around, laughing, and as happy as can be. We were over there for dinner tonight and Reagan was looking out the window waving at her "Bumpah" as he was mowing the lawn on the riding lawn mower. He stopped and waved at her and motioned for her to come outside and have a ride. There is a lot of history behind hitching a ride on the lawnmower with my dad. When we were younger, we would beg my dad to give us rides on the lawn mower and when he agreed, we would scream "Ride, daddy, ride!" as loud as we could over the roar of the mower. Well, now it's Reagan's turn to yell "Ride, Bumpah, ride!" I love to see her spend time with my parents. Moments like this that bring me back to my childhood are so special to me.




She is a little girl now. There's no turning back! It's amazing how much she grows up every single day. She is starting to talk a little bit and says funny little things that crack us all up. Her current favorite is "I don't wanna!" which could be problematic in the future but usually she just says it when she's being goofy. Also, lately she's been saying "Dada school" which is both cute and sad because yes, dada is ALWAYS at school. But at least she's starting to understand that. I just don't want her to be scared to go to school someday because she thinks that it means she's leaving and never coming back! It's hard because Jason does the sleepover shift at work and most days has school from 8 am until 9 at night so we literally only see him for a half hour a day if we're lucky. Reagan gets so excited when daddy comes home and they get some good cuddles in before he has to leave again. She's a daddy's girl through and through!

10/1/09

Since tomorrow I am turning 16 months (I can date now, right?), I thought that I, Reagan, should do a blog post in my own honor. My mom is lazy - she never blogs. All she does all day is cook and clean and keep me happy and presentable, even though I look homeless most of the time anyway. When will she learn? Well, today I had a pretty good day. Lately, my mom has been too tired and sick to take me anywhere, and I must say I am getting pretty bored of being around her all day long. Even though I can't talk yet (but yet I can type proficiently - 70 wpm if you must know), I let her know I'm sick of her by whining and screaming at the top of my lungs. If that doesn't work, I figured out today that a good bite on the arm will get her attention. Since my mom is starting to feel a little better (blah blah blah, she's a faker), we went to play group at church with my friend Jaida. We played in the nursery with the toys, and then ran around in the gym. It felt good to get all my wiggles out. I am at kind of an awkward stage right now. We'll call it "baby puberty". I like to play with the younger babies because they are low key and don't steal my toys, but when that gets boring, I try my hand at playing with the big kids. This usually goes okay, except that I am not quite tough enough to keep up with them yet. I try to chase the balls that are bouncing around in the gym, but I am never fast enough and by the time I get there, my ball is gone to another side of the gym. Needless to say, I got a lot of exercise today. You could say I needed it. My 18 month jeans are getting a little tight-waisted. I prefer stretchy pants, anyway. You know what I always say: "Everyone looks good in stretchy pants." Well after play group, I decided to take a good nap, which made my mom very happy. After my nap, it was straight to work for me. Back to the ol' grind. I have a lot to catch up on, since I took a lot of vacation days this summer. Stressful day at the office, but that's my life!

Soooo many emails to catch up on! Don't people know I'm only 1??

Negotiating with a client...

Of course, mom forgets I'm working and gets out her camera. This is the best I could give her.

Saying hi to my co-workers. "Workin' hard or hardly workin'?" is my favorite thing to say to them.

Checking my voicemails.

Texting, I love technology.

Mom laughs when she tells me to smile and I give her this face. It's the best I got, mom! Plus, I learn from you.

I'm lucky I get to work from home, but being a working baby can be so embarrassing sometimes! Hey, someone's gotta make a living here!

Some more summer in pictures

Aways running away, everywhere she goes. I can hardly get a picture of anything but her back!


She DOESN'T love getting her picture taken.








Taking a walk at our new stomping grounds (literally - Reagan loves "stomping" on the bridge), Whatcom Creek. (We have taken up fishing ever since Jason got back from Alaska.)
Documentation of Jason's Alaska trip. He had such a blast there! It looks so beautiful and we now have a freezer full of salmon and halibut. Mmmmmmm...
Yes, he encountered a mama bear and her cubs while there...slightly scary, really cool. Glad he got some pictures.

Good News Minute

Since it's been announced on facebook, I figured I better be a good social networker and announce it on blogger too, although as of late I haven't felt much up to an update of the old snoop bloggy blog. We're expecting baby #2 at the end of March 2010! It seems so far away, and in all reality it is, but it's already going by extremely fast. We were surprised, SHOCKED, in disbelief to say the least, but we are beyond excited and so grateful that we have been blessed with another little friend on the way. Reagan is still nursing and we're working on weaning her so that I get a little break before the next little piranha comes along. It wasn't necessarily in our "plans" to have two children less than two years apart, but as Jason keeps reminding me, it seems as though we "planned" wrong. And he is right. I cannot wait to be a mom of TWO precious kiddos. Reagan will be the best big sister. She is so loving and affectionate and loves babies. We'll see if she's the same when there's an actual baby HERE demanding my time and milk as much as she may be wanting to. It's going to be a whirlwind of craziness and love. I'm up to the challenge.
Being pregnant is not easy for me, but I am not complaining. This time during my last pregnancy I felt like I was on my death bed, and this time I only occasionally tell Jason that I DO NOT EVER want to be pregnant ever again. We're making progress! I'm healthy, baby is healthy, all is well - I have just spent the majority of my days and nights hugging the toilet. I know I am not alone and that many, many pregnant women feel this way, but it doesn't make it any easier when you are deciding what to eat based on what will come up easier later. Too much information, I know. =)
Reagan is doing EXTREMELY well with the news. I'm guessing this is due to the fact that she has NO IDEA what is going on...but, maybe she does. Kids are surprisingly intuitive about these things I hear. Plus, lately she's been obsessing about her belly, always lifting her shirt up and patting it, so maybe she's trying to tell me she understands? Either way, she's just a doll, and continues to be our very best little friend. She is getting so grown up and so smart. I feel like she understands everything that I say, and she notices when I'm not feeling so well and comes and gives me "loves" while saying "awwwww." It has brought tears to my eyes more than once. Her vocabulary is growing by the day (literally). I need to be better at writing these things down, but here's a list of words she's mastering. I'm thinking she may be a relatively early talker. We'll see:
- more
- woo-woo (for dog)
- hiiiiiieeeee
- bye
- mom
- Nana
- "Ana" for Tiana
- dad
- yeah
- crazy
- ball
- thanks
- yeah boy (yes, like Flava-Flav...more like "yeaaahh booiiiii")
- nigh night
- num-nums
- "gone" for phone
- and my favorite "mmm, isss good" while eating

She's also a crazy little dancer and can really break it down when she wants to. She definitely gets that from Jason. I have the funniest video of her shakin' it to "Bring 'em out" by T.I. but am having trouble uploading it. I'll keep working on it.
Summer has gone by too fast, but I am more than ready for fall. I love the cool crisp weather, wearing sweaters, and drinking hot apple cider. Jason starts school in a couple of weeks, which will be hard for me because it has been so nice having him home with us, helping me when I feel like I can't do anything, and playing with Penny. I am so grateful that he just takes over when he knows I need help. I couldn't do this without him! I am also so grateful to live close to my parents. We spend lots of time at their house. Reagan loves their big yard and fruit trees, the dog, and all of the extra attention she gets from my family. I am really lucky.

California Love

After waking up at 3:45 am to make our flight this morning, we are finally home! It has been a very eventful, but exhausting week, and it feels so good to be back to the familiar. Although, I am sad to be leaving lots of family and fun behind in California. We had a blast down at the wedding and Disneyland. I am tired to say the least, but lots of fun memories were made. It's always a good time when the Pratt's get together, and even more fun now that we've added Lisa to the bunch.
We spent the first couple of days at Disneyland. I can't say that it's the "Happiest Place on Earth" for a curious 14 month old, but we did our best to stay cool and entertained. There were actually quite a few rides that Reagan was able to go on with me. Her favorite was the Haunted Mansion, of all things. She waved to all the ghosts, and I think was mostly happy just to be in a dark, cool, air conditioned place. We all got nice sunburns in places I didn't even know you could get sunburned. My parents were an unbelievable help to me on this trip, always helping with Reagan and taking her on the more "mild" rides so that I could go on some fun ones with my siblings and cousins. I am so grateful to them for everything they did for me on this trip!
My favorite day of the whole trip was Saturday, when I got to go support my cousin Logan and dear friend Lisa as they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Los Angeles temple. I joked with them that it was the happiest day of my life, but in all reality it really was one of my happiest! I love them both so much. They are both two of my best friends, and are the most perfect, cutest couple. It was neat to see how many people were at their sealing, and all the support that they have. Lisa is a "pioneer" in her family. In other words, the first person to be baptized (although I'm certain there will be more in time because she has been such a great example). She is such a strong young woman and I am so blessed to know her! She has been such an example to me of dedication to the gospel and standing up for what you believe in. It has helped strengthen my testimony.
Lisa, of course, looked absolutely gorgeous for the occasion. Her hair, her dress, everything was perfect. Logan is a lucky man! Reagan got to be one of the flower girls in their ring ceremony. She looked beautiful and I was such a proud mom. She is growing up more and more each day. It makes me a little sad at times, but our bond grows closer each day as well, so it is worth it. She has been talking so much! She is such a little copycat, and will try to say almost anything you tell her to. One of her first words was "hi" and she probably said it thousands of times on this trip. She is so friendly that it's almost embarrassing at times, because I am not as friendly and outgoing as she is! At Disneyland and the airport, every single person we walked by she would have to say "hi" (sounds like "hiiiiiiyeeeeeee!") until they said it back. She cracks me up. She also started saying "crazy" on this trip. Which would sum up her behavior half of the time due to lack of sleep, so it was a perfect word to learn.
I had my hands full on this trip, and am so grateful that my fabulous "photographer uncle" Ernie took some pictures of us to document the trip (we love you Ernie, you're our favorite!) My dad also took a lot of Disneyland and the wedding that I'll post this week when I get a chance.

My cute grandparents whom I look up to so much, at Disneyland. They rode all of the "scary" rides with the kids! What daredevils!


My best friends, my parents! They look so young and cute. Reagan adores them.


Bumpah and Penny at Disneyland after a looooong day. Reagan was just in a t-shirt and diaper by this point in the day, after playing in the Bug's Life water park fully clothed. We had to stop at a shop and buy her a shirt. It was just a plain t-shirt that said "Disneyland" on the front, and had some princesses on the back. We took it up to the counter, thinking it would be $8 or so...wrong. Silly me, I am an inexperienced Disneyland go-er. It was $27!! For probably 50 cents worth of fabric. Oh my.



Sister Haley and me at some kind of Disney Pier, I think?


My favorite Uncle Ernie and me


The beautiful flower girl and I at the wedding. We were so sweaty!


Killing time in the sweltering heat, waiting for the newly married couple to make their grand exit out of the temple.


Introducing the most beautiful couple I know...Mr. and Mrs. Logan and Lisa Pratt! Congratulations you guys! We were so happy to be there to share your day with you!