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!