Kelley Famila de Tres

Snowy Portland Days

2012-01-17T20:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had a wonderful three day weekend surprise!! We completely forgot that Patrick had MLK off and couldn't be more happy to have that extra "just the 3 of us" time.

Saturday Reesa and I hung out in the morning while PK was at a church meeting. We played safari and had a camp out in the living room. We wanted to be incognito so we covered ourselves in glittery smiley faces!!

Later that night we had a Kelley/Nicola/Geist family swim at our local rec center. Afterwards we all came back and had soup and salad at our place. I tested out a new veggie chili recipe: place all the veggies that I like to eat and smell cooking and add seasoning. Hopefully the leftovers freeze well. :)

Sunday morning church was cancelled so we suited up and went out for a walk in the snow. Later we went downtown for a nice stroll indoors.

Monday we spent the morning on 23rd. We popped into my favorite 3 Monkeys boutique, let Reesa roam the toy store, and had snacks at Starbucks. Reesa really loves her chocolate soy milk. She practically sprinted to Urban Outfitters. We made our way back home just before another snow flurry hit.

Today Reesa and I went to the doctor and then had lunch with Alison, Aaron, and Isaiah. Reesa and I just roam Portland looking for people to hang with. I don't think I can clean, wash, or make anymore lists. If I buy anything else on Etsy Patrick might take away my computer. ;)

His cradle is up and all his bedding is washed.

We got a second glider and our bags are packed. Yes, I packed the baby name book because we have no idea what we are going to name him. Our short list: Porter, Oscar, Diego, Oslo. And we might come home with a completely different name!!

Lately I feel like a ticking time bomb. I don't think he's coming early but I wake up every other morning around 4 or 5am to contractions that are about 6-8minutes apart for at least an hour. Then they subside. Each morning this happens they hurt a little more than the previous morning. Sometimes our bodies can play mean tricks on us. I'm ready when he's ready but I sure wish I didn't have these false starts to endure. Doesn't my body know that I have a 2 year old to entertain for the entire day? Just plain cruel.

I guess it all be over soon and I'll be posting precious baby photos of our lil' boy Kelley.

Less Than Two Weeks

2012-01-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

This last weekend was another action packed one!! I had a awesome baby shower at my mother-in-laws house. Friends that I have known for years from Salem and newer friends from Portland came over for a low key brunch. All I wanted was coffee, a cupcake, and relaxing conversation. I guess you can call me low-maintenance but I love simple and meaningful.

A few photos taken by my friend Brittany...

Now the pink tutu is for Reesa. My friend Kristin said it was important for the big sister to get something too. Do you think she's a big sister?! Also my mom flew up and "surprised" me for the weekend. She was so pleased to have kept the secret for over a month. Reesa had a blast with her Grandma Jenny. We went to the Zoo and just let the two of them have fun playing store, tea, and playdough.

So I now have less than two weeks left and I may eat my words; but I don't think this little guy is coming before or on his due date. I just can't picture it. The doctor I saw on Tuesday asked me what my ideal situation is once I pass my due date. I told her that I would like to have my husband take that Friday off and have an entire day just being a family of 3 one last time (no errands), head to the hospital on a Saturday or Monday depending how far I'm dilated (I would like to be at least 4), break my water (no pitocin) and just see what happens. She told me that would be ideal. Isn't that what she asked?!

Reesa and I are taking our days slowly and doing whatever we feel like with no agenda. Our weekends are usually packed so I try to take it slower during the week. We head to the library, stroll toy stores, or just go out for Jamba Juice. I try to scratch something small off my list each day. Today I got my ring polished for free!! It's so clean :) and we had Jamba for lunch.

Finishing Off 2011

2012-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

Zoo lights, Peacock Lane, and present wrapping were the activities leading up to Christmas. Christmas Eve morning service with Missio followed by a Family Evening Service at St. Andrews. Crab and Artichokes for dinner. Prime rib for Christmas dinner. Family all under one roof. It was a grand ol' time in Portland.

A photo recap of the last few weeks of 2011...

Christmas Eve Service at St. Andrews

Reesa wouldn't let go of baby Jesus. Tears were shed. She is too cute sometimes. Later that week we made a baby Jesus out of yellow playdough. He joins us for tea and sugar on a regular basis.

Did you know that Grandpa Larry, Patrick, and Reesa eat the same breakfast every morning? Oatmeal and Nancy's yogurt. I guess Reesa wanted to spice it up and eat just the yogurt. What a black sheep!!

A favorite outing of ours: Riding the free max line downtown.

Reesa was in charge of the cookie choice. Pink sugar cookies with rainbow sprinkles.

A 3 year Christmas present tradition: An evening out somewhere new and fun!! This year Pok Pok Thai chicken wings are amazing.

I leave you with a Christmas morning dance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOqV3VPVGK8

The Last Month

2011-12-23T15:15:00.000-08:00

Well folks...we've made it to the final month. Hopefully our little guy will continue to cook to the very end and we don't have an early surprise. I'm definitely done. I'm dying to wear a pair of jeans and sleep on my stomach but the reality is a few more weeks for a fully developed and healthy boy is worth it. I have washed the car seat and scrubbed the bathrooms just in case but I attribute that to my nesting overdrive.

I will say that leggings are super comfy but I'm ready for our relationship to be over.

Reesa wanted to take a photo too!

My week has been a bit hectic. Not complicated more like pregnancy frazzled. For example, the last two days I have gone to Target for a total of 3 things and lost a kitty(Reesa's stuffed animal). It took 3 trips to get a gift, wrapping paper, and shampoo. Really? Not a good use of gas as Patrick would say. We haven't done anything crazy but for some reason it was more difficult. But the beauty of a tough week is that there is always a Friday!! And today has been a wonderful Friday.

Today our family Christmas vacation started!! We dropped Reesa off at school and had a coffee date. It was so nice to chill and drink a morning cup of coffee together uninterrupted. A rare occurrence.

Tonight we are heading to Zoo Lights followed by sushi. After Reesa goes to bed; we will watch Rent and sleep by the fire near our Christmas Tree. I love it when my husband doesn't have to go to work. Our pace of life is slower and I love the quality time.

Boy Kelley Update

2011-12-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of our little guy from this morning! As much as I loved seeing how much he has grown since 20 weeks; it was a bit unnerving.

I have been measuring on target until last Thursday. Nothing alarming but my doc thought it was best to get an ultrasound to check things out. He moves all the time and his heartbeat has been normal; just a precaution. Even when you know things are fine you always think there's a chance something could be off.

So this morning I awoke at 4:30am tossing, turning, and having visions of the hospital wanting to induce me and begging them to let me go home for one day so I can vacuum, grocery shop, and clean my shower :) By 6am I decided I wasn't going back to bed so I did some emails and got up. I was dressed, had Reesa's bag packed, and coffee brewed by 7. There have only been a couple times where I have been fully dressed and ready to go before my daughter wakes up.

By 8:45am we have dropped Reesa off at Grandma's and parked at the hospital. Luckily the ultrasound was taking place in a building next door. Less likely to hold you overnight ;) Anyways, boy Kelley is doing just fine. He's measuring on target, plenty of fluid surrounding him, moving plenty, and his approximate weight is 5.25lbs. I'll get more specifics at my next doc visit.

Reesa and I are back home for "quiet time" and Patrick is at work. All is normal again in the Kelley household. I will probably crash after Reesa goes to bed and Patrick will wake me up tomorrow where I will drag myself downstairs in time for the last few minutes of Cat in the Hat. He knows a lot about that.

Ahh....tis the life. I wouldn't change it for anything. So grateful to have a healthy family.

A 30th Celebration/Babymoon Escape

2011-12-12T22:31:00.000-08:00

Patrick turned 30 on Friday!! We celebrated with family dinner; homemade soup & salad. Yes, that is what my hubby wanted. Three soups and a delish salad. After hours we pretended like we were young and kidless and went to Kells Irish Pub (a place we enjoyed before we were married) with friends. The men enjoyed cigars in the basement and the women had late night snacks and chatted. We actually stayed out till 12:30am. No lo creo!!

Saturday afternoon we loaded the car with our good friend David and his girlfriend Marlo for a night away in Forest Grove. We went wine tasting (I the DD) and stayed at a local McMenamins. We had yummy pub food and listen to a band called the Dimes. We even got David to dance with all the hippies on the dance floor!!

Classic David and PK photo at our first stop. Needless to say the ladies in the tasting rooms were pleasantly entertained by the comical duo.

It was a nice birthday/babymoon getaway. We actually have a short list of 3 names to take to the delivery room. It's nice to have a short list considering we are 5 weeks away from d-day :) Little man Kelley should be fully grown and continuing to put on the pounds. I've definitely noticed a recent increase in belly size. I actually fell asleep during Reesa's nap today. I can count the number of times on one hand when I have napped when Reesa napped. Who knew 2 hours at a play gym would wear me out so badly? :)

In other news. Reesa has always been into playing with her babies but a recent baby is her new favorite. Baby brother doll. Our friend Christie gave this to Reesa last month and she loves to feed him, change him, and rock him in the doll carrier. She even places the carrier on the stroller like you would an infant. Absolutely precious. I know we are going to have some adjustments with having a new addition to the family but it's nice to see her fascination of newborns and her love to help. Today she loved helping me grocery shop. She would walk alongside the cart and place items in our cart. Some were on the list and others she decided on her own. It was a fun afternoon activity.

I love how she surprises us each week with new interests and abilities. Tonight after dinner the 3 of us had a dance party in Reesa's room and she told us that she was tired, it was tough jumping for that long. Never ceases to amaze me.

Potty Training

2011-12-08T13:51:00.000-08:00

Having some indoor fun with shaving cream and food coloring. A bath was mandatory after. Reesa played with this for almost an hour. I would not recommend this for carpeted areas. :)

For the last 2 weeks we have been housebound. I had a terrible head cold that I still haven't fully recovered from and Reesa had hand foot mouth. We're not sure if she shared it with her cousin Isaiah or he shared it with Reesa, but I am glad that they are learning to share. :)

I know it wasn't the "best" timing but I had potty training on my calendar last week. It would be our last chill week before little brother. So...sick or no sick.....I decided to put her cloth diapers away Wednesday morning and we went commando for a few days. Reesa had been showing the signs. She would tell us when she peed or pooped in her diaper. She had been reading the potty books and understood what a potty was for. She's had a potty in her bathroom for some time now and sat on it occasionally.

We were missing a component. Reesa wouldn't let her pee or poop go in the potty. She would hold it for hours. She would wait until we put a diaper on her for nap time or she would have an accident. We actually took her to a mall and got jamba juice and she still managed to hold her pee for 4 hours!! Talk about stubborn. When we timed it right and rushed her to the potty before she went, she would be so proud of herself that she made it to the potty. I guess some kids have a fear of letting it go but she didn't have a fear of sitting on the potty. I was so confused.

Her teacher at school told me that Reesa would catch on soon...just keep going. I told myself I would commit to a week and then re-evaluate. Finally Tuesday morning at 11:00am...6 days later; she let her pee go in the potty!! I was so amazed at how it just clicked. We headed to BabysRus to buy a travel potty seat for when we are out. Well.....let's just say Reesa used it before we bought it. Ask me about it.

Wed we had 4 hits on the potty and 2 misses. Today we have had all successes. So far so good. I hope we continue down this path.

32 Weeks

2011-11-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

32 weeks will come to a close on Wednesday. My sister-in-law told me that it's crazy how Christmas comes three weeks after Thanksgiving. Well it's crazy to me that after Christmas it's only a couple weeks before I meet the new man of my dreams. ;)

I've been stuck home with a head cold since Saturday and finally only have a scratchy throat...hopefully. So I decided to venture into our 10,000 names for baby book. There are so many names.......like more than 10,000. I've made it to the letter E. Unfortunately our short list is a little short but I'm pretty sure they'll let us bring him home nameless, right?

Birthday, Thanksgiving, and the Start of Christmas!!

2011-11-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Reesa turning 2. She had a fun pool party with sno cones and homemade funfetti cupcakes with pink frosting. Pink...of course. After pool time we had the family come over for some bbq burgers and McMenamins french fries. Reesa's favorite meal.

On Sunday we went for a walk with Reesa's new coat, kitty, and boots. We didn't make it too far. She was in the stroller before we crossed the street. I think it took her a few days to recover from her birthday festivities.

We didn't take any photos from Thanksgiving dinner but it was nice to get together with family, eat turkey, watch old family videos, and still make it back home for bedtime.

Friday morning we woke up and headed out to the Zoo to ride the zoo train. Unfortunately it closes after Labor Day. Bummer. So we improvised and took Reesa on the max (Portland lightrail). She loved it!! We rode it downtown to Pioneer Square where we rode the escalators at Nordstrom and had a snack on the steps of the square while people-watching. Reesa really loves the action downtown, so much going on.

After naptime and dinner, Bridgeport Village was next on our list. They had fun live music playing, mini cupcakes circulating, and Santa's Workshop set up for photos. After Santa rode in on his train, they lit the tree, and we continued to dance to music. We decided to call it a day at 8:30pm and got Reesa ready for bed in a nearby family restroom where she ran into Santa!! I told her he was going to get his jammies on and go home too. :)

Saturday morning we got up and headed to our annual family u-cut spot in Multnomah Village. Here is Reesa getting the rope ready to tie our tree to the car.

Reesa loves her Christmas Tree. She reminds our kitty Steve not to eat it when he gets close and wants to drink the water. We may have pushed our limit a bit this weekend because now the whole family has head colds but I wouldn't have changed a thing!! I'm excited for December even with a stuffy head.

Birth Week!!

2011-11-13T08:05:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Reesa Rene Kelley will be a TWO year old!! No freakin' way...I can't wrap my head around it.

Last friday we went downtown to check out the arrival of the Christmas Tree at Pioneer Square. I had so much fun walking hand in hand with Reesa checking out the downtown scene. We watched as they put together the humongous limbs for our beautiful tree in the center of our city. We rode the escalators at Nordies, one of Reesa's favorite activities. We strolled the makeup counter as the ladies gawked at Reesa's eyelashes and super cute rain boots. Then we went to the Elephant Delicatessen and picked a small snack to enjoy at a table near a window and people watched. Before we left we had to check out the new Finnigans toy store location :)

I love that we can do these things together. I treasure these moments. I've dreamed about this since she was born, watching my little baby become a little person.

It's amazing how much growth has taken place in all of us since her Hello Kitty Party. I love how she burps and covers her mouth, laughs, and says excuse me with a giggle. I love how she asks what things are and who people are. I love how she loves music and painting. I'm not thrilled that I can never finish a meal without giving her half of it. I'm not thrilled that she will decide to use "mommy" on repeat until she has my undivided attention. I'm not thrilled that it took an entire week for her to adjust to the time change. Isn't that parenting in a nutshell?

But I love that all three of us get to be a family every day and it makes the good days awesome and the rough days bearable.

For Reesa's birthweek we did something that she loves to do each day. We had french fries, we strolled the mall and rode the escalators, mixed & baked, painted, lounged in our pj's for an entire day, played with friends, and this weekend we will have a pool party!! Mini rainbow cupcakes, sno cones, hamburgers, french fries & broccoli (even moms have their limits...we need something green & healthy). If there's time we might try to squeeze in the zoo on Sunday before church.

I know it may seem much to some but this is Reesa's last birthday that she will have all to herself and I wanted her to feel super special. I know next year will be just fine but life changes when you have two kids and I want to really enjoy and appreciate our family with just Reesa because it will be forever changed. A bit dramatic? Maybe. But I'll play the hormone card for this one ;)

A little Christmas photo shoot at Washington Square.

Reesa heading to the zoo with all her favorite animals and a sun hat to keep the rain off her hair. :)

So miss Reesa.... to you and your birth week!! We love you so much.

10 Weeks to Go...

2011-11-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

I have 10 more weeks to go. Whoa. Technically not till Wednesday but everyone keeps telling me that I don't have that much time. Is that true?

Here's a belly shot of boy Kelley at his finest hour: right before bedtime. I have forgotten how much babies roll, kick, and squirm in your belly. It's like he's trying to get comfortable before he goes to sleep himself and then needs to remind me that he's awake each and every morning. I don't think he realizes that his big sister is already doing that :)

A wonderful friend Brittany hosted a lovely baby shower for me yesterday featuring these bad boys!!

Who doesn't love a good bow tie and mustache baby shower? My mother-in-law and a few church friends gathered in the morning and it was so nice of all of them to be there. Brittany you are super fabulous and I love our new friendship. She's not afraid to call me a prude or a yuppy (which I am neither!!) and I love her for it. It's refreshing.

As we enter November we have started a list of boy names and a list of "to do's" and I have put an invisible deadline of Jan.1st on all of this. I'm afraid I may eat my words and I must be logical and realistic; if he comes home with no name and our house looks exactly the same, do we get to keep him? Yes. So it's still a win-win at the end of the day.

Anyways that's how life is these days. Here's a couple videos of Reesa yesterday.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

This is how Reesa spent her Sunday. Some days you just have to hang in your pjs all day and what better companion than a 14lb gato.

A few photos from a local park Saturday afternoon.

This morning Reesa went to school and joined her friends for a costume parade.

We were a bit worried that she wouldn't want to wear her dress because she picked it out but hasn't wanted to try it on until this morning. She wore her Snow White dress from 8:30am-6:00pm. Yes, she napped in it too. There is glitter all over our car, my clothes, her bed, and our couch. Thanks Grandma Jenny!! You know how to pick them well.

After naptime we headed over to Multnomah Village for a trick-or-treating session with the Kelley/Geist family. All I have to say is 3 dum dums and Reesa can bounce for 2 hours straight. Non-stop.

It's been a while since we've gotten all 3 of us in a shot. Thanks Alison!!

We had dinner with the Grandparents and Reesa crashed on the way home. As I was putting her pj's on she was giggling and signing the alphabet song half asleep.

Patrick just found more glitter on my face and I've already showered. A good day for us all.

October So Far

2011-10-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

Reesa got her first professional haircut at a cute kid shop called Sit Still.

Reesa had her first haircut so she would be oh so cute for her class photos!! We have individual ones too and they will be posted later. Adorable.

We were in L.A. for 10 days. Patrick let us tag along while he worked. It was a crazy and hectic time and we are so thankful to be home. I must be a true Oregonian now because I missed the cooler weather and Reesa complained that the sun in her eyes while riding in the car!

We took Reesa on a ferris wheel ride for the first time while in Irvine.

The first thing we did when we got back was take Reesa to the pumpkin patch!!

We had carved pumpkins earlier this month and Reesa did not love it. She kept complaining about the mess. She preferred painting her new pumpkin at school. We baked the seeds and had to buy a new patch of pumpkins this week to replace our old ones. I might have to carve the new ones while she sleeps.

In baby boy news....I'll be 28 weeks on Wednesday and the reality is starting to set in hard. A short name list is in the works, rearranging rooms and storage, baby shower discussions, and paint samples for their bathroom.

Their are tons of other things that have happened this month but that's all I can think of at this moment.

Being a Big Sister

2011-09-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

Isn't she just awesome?

This week I've really enjoyed how independent and fun Reesa is to be around. Don't get me wrong, we still have our tough moments but I love how in most situations I can give her a choice and it diffuses almost all situations.

Right now we can go anywhere!! We can get dressed and out the door by 10am and play till 2 or 3pm and she generally doesn't fall apart. We can make any location fun. Wednesday after I got too hot at the park we went to Jamba Juice and ran around the New Season's plaza for an hour before heading home for nap time. Jumping off stairs and playing chase are her favorite activities right now.

Her imagination is incredible. She loves to play kitchen. She warms up pizza, makes coffee, and ice cream for me in the morning while I'm getting dressed. Yesterday we went to Jameson square for one last hoorah at a water park and I found Reesa with her friend Lillian taking turns eating ice cream from a red cup with a ball on top. Super cute.

Yesterday afternoon Reesa finally let me read this book entirely. She hasn't wanted to or she would only let us read a few pages and then close it. This book is so wonderful and I love that I get to explain to Reesa what it means to be a big sister and she understands some aspects of having a baby brother. The best part is we talked about how special she is and there is no one else like her. I teared up on the last few pages just as I am typing this very moment. How can you not when you think about all the things that make your child special. Amazing.

Reesa can now sing every song we have ever sung to her as a baby. Currently she is in love with her ABC's. She can sing this song 20 times before she moves on to a new song or activity. You know you're a mom when repetition of songs/music no longer phases you.

This morning I dropped Reesa off for her second week of school and I went for a long walk. Fridays are good for my soul and sanity. :)

Preschool & Zoo Trip

2011-09-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning we got in the car at 8:30am and drove 2 blocks down from our home to take Reesa to her first day of preschool!! We have visited 4 or 5 times now and she was familiar with her school and her teachers so by Friday she didn't even flinch when we left. I of course shed a few tears but recovered quickly as I enjoyed a morning off at the bookstore and coffee shop.

This isn't Reesa's room. They all meet in the pre-k until 9am when they start in their own classroom. She has 4 other kids in her class that are 18months-2.5 years old.

She had a great first day. Reesa played with dolls, had story/music time, and played outside for an hour before sitting down to lunch. Before I picked her up I spent a few minutes watching her from afar as she sat at her table with her other classmates eating lunch. It was heartwarming watching my little toddler drink milk from a cup and eating her minestrone soup. She is getting so big right in front of my eyes and she has learned so much from 1 to 2. Unbelievable.

I spent a nice Friday morning spent at Barnes & Nobles. I strolled the book aisle and picked up a few things that have been on my list for months.

Not sure if you recognize her? She's Punky Brewster!! I saw her on the Today Show and have been wanting to read her book. I also picked up a Love & Logic Toddler edition, another potty book, and I'm a big sister. Books have been my favorite forever and I love to own my own books. I know it's not exactly cost effective but I've been doing this for 30 years now and it's a habit that I'm not willing to work on :)

I'm looking forward to having Friday mornings off and getting my much needed alone time. Especially before boy Kelley comes along in January. We already have a back to school potluck next week!! It's really nice because all the kids in my mom's group are going as well so Reesa already had 5 friends on her first day of school.

Saturday morning we woke up and it was grey, cold, and wet outside. So we thought we'd put on our rain gear and head to the Zoo. Reesa just loves to watch all the animals. The elephants are still her favorite.

Family photo on the train.

Sniffing flowers in front of the elephants.

A good weekend thus far!!

September Beginnings

2011-09-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

As we say goodbye to the sunny summer days I still have a few photos to post from our days spent in the sun.

Reesa loved playing at Foothills Park. It was so much fun seeing her run in and out of the water this year. It's a quiet park along the river that usually is empty during the week so we get the whole little stream all to ourselves.

Director's Park became a weekly trip this summer. I would stroll with Reesa downtown and then we would end for lunch and water play. I love being downtown and this spot is a huge win-win for Reesa and I.

This was Reesa's favorite outfit to wear this summer. Can you tell how much she loves playing outside and in the water?

Our days usually started at the park until nap time and ended at another park until dinner time. I figured since we don't have year-long sunshine we might as well take advantage of the sun while it lasted.

This morning we layered up and still went to a park but it's just not the same without the sunshine. The energy level is much more mellow.

A big announcement in our family is that Reesa is starting preschool on Friday!! We were planning on waiting until November but each time we went in to hand in paperwork or drop off a craft project (they actually give homework!) Reesa would walk into her classroom and didn't want to leave!! So we decided to start this week and we went in and her quilt square is hung up with all her friends at The Playschool. I'm really excited for her and it'll be a nice break on Fridays until boy Kelley comes along.

As always we have Reesa videos that we think are funny and show different aspects of Reesa's personality.

I'm loving September so far and feeling good. At my last doctor's appointment my doc told me to pick up my hospital registration packet. What??!! Why? He told me that the next time I see him I will be 7 months pregnant and I want to have that taken care of. Huh? Where did the time go? It's true I'm now 6 months prego and I've asked to have my appointments spaced further apart because every 4 weeks with a kiddo is too much work for me so in 6 weeks I will be 7 months pregnant. Crazy!!

Isn't that life...

At 20 Weeks

2011-08-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I enter into my halfway point with this pregnancy. For 20 weeks I have been growing a beautiful baby that we got to see this morning during our first ultrasound since the baby was just a circle with a pulse.

I know I haven't shown as many belly shots as I did with my pregnancy with Reesa. To be honest I feel much more flabby with this kiddo. My belly just started to look more like a prego lady but is still really soft. Don't pay attention to the clothes on the floor. I'm in the middle of reorganizing closets and have piles everywhere as we make room for our new baby.

For those who don't know yet......We are having a boy!! Couldn't be more thrilled that Reesa will have a brother and we will experience raising a son.

How did we celebrate? Patrick had to go back to work so Reesa and I shared pizza and hot dogs with the Kelley/Geist women and Isaiah at Costco while we did a little afternoon shopping. Isn't our life so exciting??

We will now begin the long journey of working on boy names which I feel is 10 times harder than picking a girl name and we didn't settle on Reesa until the day we met her. We might have to bring our son home without a name. :)

In other news, we have been soaking up every bit of summer that we can. It actually got too warm for us in Portland and we decided to head to the beach for the day. Reesa has never been to the beach during warm weather so it was super fun to watch her happily play in the sand and run in and out of the water. She only fell twice and had three clothing changes but it was such a fun day with friends.

Reesa and Levi hanging in the sand.

Reesa and Daddy burying feet in the sand.

Check out Reesa's new rain boots. H&M for kids is so cheap and cute. I just had to share my find. I wish I could have a pair for myself.

Where is Thumpkin?

2011-08-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

I would like to say that I spend every day working on new songs with Reesa and that after a few weeks she picks up on it, but that would be taking credit from a little red fellow named Elmo. Yes, that's right. Elmo has not only taught my daughter how to count to 15, sing where is Thumpkin, and a few other songs; at times he allows me to start dinner at so that when Patrick walks threw the doors a little after 6pm we can all sit down at the table together as a family. Elmo you mean more to our family than I care to admit. Can you teach Reesa to say "No thank you"?

Tonight as we were heading home from our Friday takeout night in the park I caught this on camera...

The Urban Life

2011-08-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we hung with our church and had a BBQ at one of our favorite parks in Portland. I love Willamette Park because it's right on the Willamette River and is only a couple of miles from downtown Portland. We decided instead of heading home for naptime we would go for a bike ride along the water and Reesa could nap in her trailer.

Finally at 2pm the sun came out!! Just in time for our bike ride.

Our little family of 3!!

Just crossed over the Steel Bridge and biked along the Esplanade.

I know there are cities in the U.S. that are more "urban" than Portland but it's the perfect amount for me. We don't live too far from downtown but I hope someday we have a house even closer to downtown.

I realized I haven't mentioned much about how baby #2 is coming along. I'm 17 weeks and doing well. I got over my exhausted phase last month and am back in action!! Last night Patrick felt the baby kick for the first time. It's so light that I have to lay perfectly still and practically not breathe so you can feel the little guy/girl give a little tap to the outside world. At the end of the month we have an ultrasound scheduled to do the big 20 week measurements and we'll be able to find out the sex of our baby :)

From hear on out is my favorite part of my pregnancy because your belly starts to definitely look prego not just tubby, you can feel your baby's movements every day, and we get to start calling our baby a "he" or a "she". All really good stuff.

A Toddler's Life

2011-08-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

With Reesa being 20 months old now we are constantly one the move. This summer Reesa discovered how great it is to run around outside. We hardly ever spend a minute indoors these days. I will admit that our house may have suffered a bit because we're not home to tidy up and by the time we get home I would rather go to sleep. I figure by the time the rain hits we'll have plenty of time to dust and mop.

A few photos from the last two weeks...

Reesa on a hike with Uncle David last Sunday.

We decided to take a moderate 5 mile hike in the gorge that turned out to be mostly uphill. I hardly consider that moderate when you are 16 weeks pregnant.

Yesterday Reesa put on her shoes all by herself for the first time. She was so proud that she refused to take them off until Dad asked if she wanted to go to the pool after dinner. She didn't put on any socks. Slightly gross.

Taking an after lunch stroll in Newberg. Reesa likes to visit dad at work.

Reesa can stay in the swing forever!! Our record last week 1.5 hours. Did you notice Minne next to her? Reesa was more concerned with mommy pushing Minnie than pushing her on the swing. Too much!!

Reesa loves to help Isaiah do anything. She always asks to help Isaiah. What a big sister :)

We found a new fun spot downtown. Tuesday morning we had a girls day and we shopped for an hour and then played at the Teacher's Fountain for an hour. Good compromise right?

Today we were at Jameson Square for three hours and then had dinner at a local park. Tomorrow we head to Salem for a birthday party in the park. This is our life. And to think we have a nice rhythm going and we are about to turn our lives upside down in January with a new baby.

It's just starting to sink in that we are going to have another baby. I'm 16 weeks and still have plenty of time to prepare but whoa. I have several thoughts about this but it'll need to go on a separate post. For now we are having a grand time outside!!

Back to Reality

2011-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

A whole week has gone by since being on vacation and it took me all week to feel like we were back into a normal routine. Two trips back to back and still working through my first trimester made it harder to bounce back. Although on Wednesday I will be done with my first trimester and hopefully I can kiss evening sickness goodbye soon!!

Reesa didn't mind spending most of the week indoors and just taking little trips to the store and visiting Isaiah. Finally on Friday we made an effort to be normal again and ventured to the Beaverton City Park to play on the swings and fountain for the first half of the day.

Can you believe this litte girl will be 20 months old on Wednesday? Nuts!!

Reesa got her own laptop this week. You can actually download music and personal emails to it!! Ridiculous.

Reesa being a crack-up in the tub.

Last night we got some yummy Thai takeout and chilled at Willamette Park for the evening. We might have started a new Friday night tradition. Takeout at the park, I like it. Reesa mastered climbing up the slide for the first time and now we have to be the parents that have to explain to their kid that they need to use the stairs and only slide down like everyone else.

Sun River 2011

2011-07-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

These are just a few photos from Sun River. So many more photos and videos to post but they are on Patrick's iphone. More to come later. It was an extremely fun week and it was so nice to get away with all the Kelleys.

We floated down the river.

Uncle Aaron giving Reesa an Ipad tutorial.

Dinner out in Bend at Deschutes Brewery.

We strolled the Farmer's Market in Bend. Reesa and Isaiah chowed down on goat sausage.

We played with bubbles in the driveway.

Reesa learning to share with Isaiah.

Bike rides, pool trips, and ice cream from Goodies were among the many wonderful things in Sunriver. I would have to say the high point was watching Reesa and Isaiah playing together and getting to spend time together as a family. The low point was Reesa getting up at 5:30am every morning and battling evening sickness.

All in all best Christmas present ever!!

Wenatchee

2011-06-29T09:12:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday we loaded the car and headed to Wenatchee WA to spend 4 days with Woodinville Alliance's Youth Group. It's been a while since Patrick has played drums with Justin and we always have a blast with the Ubels on trips. This was our first camping trip with Reesa and we dove in for a real doozy. This girl is made for the outdoors and enjoyed all the new experiences.

The stage.

Do you notice that there is no one else around? It's 6am and Reesa's having her breakfast while everyone else is asleep. She rose with the 5am sun every morning!!

Reesa having breakfast with Brooklyn. Reesa is trying to be a big girl and drink out of a cup. A few seconds later she tries to stand up and spills cold water all over Brooklyn's feet. :)

This is how her second leg of her 2 hour afternoon nap would look like. I couldn't believe how tired she was but wouldn't nap longer than an hour in the tent.

Reesa and Daddy making funny faces in the morning.

By the end of the week Reesa was running around barefoot and loving the grass. She loves shoes but wanted to be like all the other kids and go natural.

Heading home after a long week.

Our drive on the way home. She was such a trooper for the 6 hour drive home. She slept for a big chunk of it and was content enough with snacks and books to make it home with only two little stops. Much better than the previous driving experience.

On Wednesday I celebrated my 30th birthday. I woke to a cinnamon roll breakfast and Reesa was so eager to help me eat them too!! As I headed down the stairs to what I thought would be a fresh cup of decaf coffee....I found this!! My very own bike!! I've been wanting one for a long time and it's just what I wanted. Sunriver watch out.

That night we had a leader appreciation dinner at Grand Central Bowling. Not exactly my favorite activity but I enjoyed the company. My back was sore the next day :(

Now before you ask why didn't I celebrate my 30th with a bang I want you to know that last year I celebrated my 29th renting a taco truck that came to my brother-in-law's house (we had a joint party). That was a fiesta!! And I know it's a milestone entering into your 30's and I welcome it with open arms. I feel like I've been celebrating for the last week with a fun family camping trip and it will extend into this week as we spend 9 days in Sunriver. To each their own right? I really feel loved by spending time with the people I love.

Sunny River here we come!!

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

2011-06-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Two Fridays back I embarked on a week long adventure of living the life of a single mom. From a short first-hand experience I do not recommend it. Most weeks I have enough energy to make it M-F 7am-6pm and not a minute more. Especially if you have a daughter who thinks napping is more of a suggestion than a necessity. Geesh. Throw in the beginnings of morning sickness and you have one tough week ahead of you. I just went into survival mode. I also had some help from my momma-in-law who swooped in every so often at my lowest energy point. I went to bed shortly after the sun (sad I know) everyday to open my eyes at 6:30am to a bouncy toddler.

Patrick got back last Wednesday from his conference in San Diego (tough job huh?) and I was so thrilled to have my hubby/father back!! I slept for so long on Thursday that I woke up just as Reesa was going down for her morning cat nap. Yes, she reverted back to a morning nap. I don't care anymore, that means I get to have an entire hot cup of coffee at 8:30am!! I think that helps me be a better mom :)

We took Reesa on the Zoo train for the first time. She was so exhausted from walking that by 2pm she was willing to sit still for the entire 20 minute loop. Now she can't stop talking about the choo choo!!

Friday night we celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a sushi trip to Saburos. I love that place! It's an hour wait but most definitely totally worth it when you taste the salmon nigiri and the eel. Delish!! Reesa spent the night at Grandma/Grandpa's so we also got to sleep in and share a hot cup of coffee at the breakfast table in the morning. We appreciate the little things in life. :)

Saturday night we headed to the Timbers game. What a fun experience. I wish I wasn't so quesy so I could enjoy the full experience of the Timbers Army, but I stayed standing the entire game and clapped when needed but I just couldn't sing along. It was so cool to see Portland Pride at it's finest. I love live sports. Reesa spent the evening with Alison and Aaron and Baby Isaiah. She loves her cousin but still hasn't figured out how to communicate with him without smacking him at least once. One day I guess.

We try at least once a week to venture to a new park. Sunday we went to the OES school off Scholls Ferry. There are so many play structures!! Reesa is getting more brave each week. She decided that she was ready for a big girl swing. She did fall but only after swinging for 30 minutes. I bet her little arms got tired but I was amazed at her dedication to swing for that long.

She also loves bridges. Anything she can bounce on is a big winner for Reesa.

There is a little park near our place and I guess she was ready to tackle some bars this weekend too.

I would like to take all the credit for her independence but I think God gave her those determined Ortiz women genes. She is just growing up way to fast to keep up with.

A New Addition to the Family

2011-06-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today is our 5 year anniversary. We decided to start the morning off with a visit to Kaiser to see the newest member of our family!! We saw a healthy heartbeat and we are excited to share the news with everyone. :)

We couldn't be happier and more thrilled to extend our family of 3 to now a family of 4!!

With that I leave you with a couple of Reesa videos.

This is before bedtime. Reesa gets a little quirky before bed. This was before we took the binky away. I am happy to report that we are still going strong binky-free and I couldn't be more proud of my little ball of fire for sticking with it.

This is at the barn where Kristin's horse Tigo lives. Reesa loves to go to the barn and checkout all the animals.

18 Months

2011-06-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Reesa turned 18 months months May 20th. Wow....a 1.5 year old. We took her in for her 18month appointment and she weighs in at a little under 22 pounds and has stretched to 33 3/4 inches. She no longer ranks in the 90th percentile in height, she has stepped down to 85%. We knew it would happen eventually, have you see how tall her parents are?

Hanging out downtown on a sunny day.

Playing with a few kiddos at Daddy's soccer game.

Playing at OMSI.

Having a dinner date with her man Cam. The two of those together destroyed our house in less than an hour!

Hanging out a Foothills Park. She loves watching boats on the river.

The big news with Reesa being 18 months is we took her binky away last week. I was ready. We made an attempt when she was 9 months but we caved when we went out of town and she needed more comfort. So the last 2 weeks has been good and tough. We only had one sleepless night at the beginning and her naps dramatically were cut to nothing, but we stuck with it. She does really well during the day and naps are coming around again. She has clung to her kitty as her new lovey which I was hoping for and we made a purchase of a new lovey named Elmo. Have you heard of him?

Reesa at the barn.

Reesa really likes statues. It's ridiculously funny.

At Ibach Park today. A beautiful sunny day.

Elmo came in the mail today!

Mother's Day Weekend

2011-05-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a busy, super fun, and relaxing weekend. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day weekend!!

Saturday morning we relaxed at home with coffee and just enjoying us three. Patrick took Reesa for a run and I got to enjoy some "me" time with a mani-pedi and an encouraging and supportive filled phone call from my favorite Aunt. After my alone time tank was refilled we all headed to a Derby party, then a b-day party, and topped the evening off with family dinner.

Here's a video that totally captures Reesa's introvert personality. All the other kiddos are decorating cupcakes and Reesa is off playing instead. What a goof :)

Sunday we enjoyed another relaxing morning and then went for a run along the river. We used Patrick's new nike run app on his iPhone so we got to see the mile by mile synopsis of our leisurely 3.5 mile jaunt. I bet you can guess who was more excited about getting the mile by mile breakdown?

Miss Reesa taking a cat nap before family lunch.

After we got all cleaned up we met up with the whole fam and had Chipotle. The ladies got to pretend to be super excited for our present: a Dosha afternoon which was thought of and paid for by ourselves ;) We did get some Timbers tickets which was a fun surprise from Uncle Denny. Alison, Aaron, Patrick and I get to have an evening out and the grandparents get their grandkids. A win-win for everyone.

We ended the evening with church and then kicked back on the couch after Reesa went to bed. I just absolutely love it when we have wonderful weekends like this one.

A Sunny Sunday

2011-05-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday was the sunniest day yet in Portland. I actually got a tan line on my feet!! It started out rough because Reesa got a little head cold this weekend so she woke up at an unheard of hour: 4:30am. She wanted to go back to sleep but she really could breathe through her nose, poor girl. Patrick took the morning shift and laid with her in her room while I slept and then I took over while Patrick slept. Good team work but I know that I got the better end of that deal :)

Once everyone had their morning nap we headed out for the day to hang in the sunshine with friends downtown. After lunch with Vikki and Birch, we strolled the park blocks with some frozen yogurt and then ended the day chillin' on a blanket on the grass along the waterfront.

Reesa didn't care too much for the grass. She didn't like the way it felt under her feet. I think we will have to work on that this summer. Later we walked to one of the fountains and Reesa got to jump around like she loves to do.

Finally at 6pm we headed home for dinner and our evening routine. A great deal of the day spent outside and in the sun. My absolute two favorite :) With coffee of course!!

April Was Not My Friend

2011-04-23T09:44:00.001-07:00

This is how Reesa loves to eat breakfast, with her feet on the table and bottoms free. What a lady.

We became zoo members!

April has been a crazy month in the Kelley household. Patrick has been grading 8-1o page papers nonstop, Reesa has had a lingering cold, then I got sick, and we've spent almost every weekend at home because of illness.

In other news....Patrick's new job was finally announced on Wednesday!!

Starting May 1st, Patrick will be the Associate Director of Graduate Admissions at George Fox. Along with other new responsibilities he will still continue to handle the Admissions side for the Business School and will add the new Physical Therapy Program to his recruiting efforts. We are so excited for what this next chapter at George Fox will have in store for us!!

Every weekend this month has been difficult in one fashion or another, but not this weekend!! The sun is shining and we are all healthy and ready to be outside. Yesterday we spent most of the day outside. Reesa got to meet the Easter Bunny at the gym while I got a run in, we went to Washington Park with Matt and Cam, had happy hour with the Groves, and concluded our evening with Missio's Good Friday service.

April....you've been a doozy. However, we will finish off on a good note. Can't wait to post photos of Reesa in her prom dress....I mean Easter dress. Reesa has started to love wearing fru-fru dresses and she can sport the tulle. My mom bought Reesa her newest dress. Six layers of tulle. I can say no more.

We welcome May with open arms!! Cinco de Mayo taco truck party here we come....

Reesa and Cam

2011-04-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

Reesa and Cam are two peas in a pod. We went to Lucky Lab last week with the Groves and shared a delish veggie pizza. Not only do they love their veggies they share a love for chicken, tofu, rice, and just about any other healthy food you can think of. They also love to clean. It's really funny to watch them fight over the vacuum!!

Are the parents plotting? You betcha.

Nap Time

2011-03-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last month we took Reesa's crib rail down and put up a toddler rail so that she could climb out of bed in the morning. It's so cute to watch Reesa climb into bed with her blanket for naps and bedtime.

This week Reesa has decided that playing was far more fun than napping. I would walk Reesa into her room and she would lay in her bed and then about 5 minutes later I would hear her playing with her kitchen over the monitor.

We decided to wait it out figuring a toddler cannot go too many days without a nap. She just starting waking up happy and playing in her room, allowing us an extra 3o minutes or more of sleep on the weekends. Yes, some kids don't wake up happy in the morning. Reesa has been waking us up for over a year crying so you can see why we would rather try to wait this one out. Yesterday she played until 9am in her room before she even called us to open the door. I can get use to that on a weekend!!

This morning after breakfast, Reesa was ready for an early nap so we walked her up to her room. Again, 5 minutes later we heard her playing and then about 20 minutes later we heard silence. This is how we found her.

I guess it pays to be patient sometimes.

16 Months

2011-03-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Paddys Day!! Reesa and I went over to Alison's to hang with her and Isaiah while Patrick worked that night. Reesa picked out her rainbow leggings to wear. It's still a little cold in Portland to wear only leggings so we had to layer.

Reesa has sucessfully used her potty twice!! We are not full blown potty training right now. We are just having a regularly scheduled bottoms free time where we encourage her to use the potty to get her relaxed and comfortable with using it. Our goal is 18 months but of course there is no guarantee :)

Reesa's hair is getting longer and we are starting to use hairbands to pull her hair back into a ponytail or pigtails. Reesa stopped allowing clips and headbands in her hair a while back so I hope that we can compromise and she will love her ponytail!!

Reesa's one word vocabulary is still growing: broccoli, mushroom, toothbrush, and almost any animal sound you can think of. We are working on two words like: down please, no thank you, etc. She really likes to use no and thank you just not together. :) Maybe even some colors next!

Here is Reesa playing "boo" with us last night. If you listen closely you can hear her saying her name so that you can come find her.

Reesa, her name and her potty

2011-03-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

This last weekend Reesa shared how to say her name with us!!

We bought Reesa a new potty a while ago because she started to tell us when she poops and pee pees. Now, we are not ready to endure the adventure of potty training but we thought it couldn't hurt to have it in our home and to spend time hanging on the potty when she feels like it. Lately Reesa has been found putting her monkey or her baby on the potty. Although this video doesn't really capture the act, she still looks cute on her potty.

A Weekend Away

2011-03-01T10:30:00.000-08:00

This weekend we took off to the coast!!

Yes, we just had snow last week and the forecast was not exactly desirable, but we wanted to go. Just the 3 of us for some relaxing family time. And that is what we did.

The month of March is going to be a bit mad and exciting....Patrick is taking on the career of Professor on Thursday evenings in addition to his current job at George Fox. This will be an amazing and interesting adventure for Patrick. I'm so thrilled he has another opportunity to use his teaching skills. We thought it would be nice to kick off this madness/excitement with a 3 day weekend at the beach.

Every time we took Reesa out for a walk along the beach, she thought the waves made bubbles. Like the bubbles she plays with and gets to pop!!

Most of our days were spent playing inside and looking out at the chaotic and beautiful ocean. We discovered a fun new game to play inside: hide and seek. When Reesa went to bed we would relax together and have a nice cozy dinner just the 2 of us.

I love vacays.

A Nice Lazy Morning

2011-02-24T11:13:00.001-08:00

Last night after Reesa went to sleep, Patrick and I relaxed on the couch with a fire roaring and watching the snow fall. This morning we woke to a nice layer of white right outside our door.

After some french toast, Patrick took Reesa outside for a nice walk in the snow. This is the first time she's been in a lot of snow since she could walk in it herself.

Patrick was able to capture a little Reesa fun on video.

I've forgotten to mention that last Sunday Reesa turned 15 months and we had a baby (toddler) dedication at church.

We all got together before the service for an early dinner and then enjoyed some cake afterward with our church. A nice simple evening and Reesa loved that her family was there to support her.

A Little Valentine

2011-02-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

Look how big this girl is getting?

Yesterday Reesa and I went to Target for a little V-Day trip. We've been looking on craigslist for a kitchen to put in her room. So far no luck. So we bought a bubbles book off the $1 rack for now.

When Patrick came home we made Reesa dinner and we had some Thai appetizers to hold us over until she went to bed and we could enjoy our Valentine dinner. Patrick took 2 of the roses he bought for me and put them in Reesa's bath. Sweet huh?

She didn't want them in at first and then she forgot about them once the rest of her toys were in the tub.

After Reesa went to bed, Patrick and I enjoyed some yummy sushi and a bottle of Tempranillo we bought last year on our Valentine's date.

We ended our evening with playing cards on the couch. A lovely way to stay in.

A Typical Monday...

2011-01-25T08:59:00.000-08:00

We went for a leisurely family hike on Sunday. Reesa napped for half of it and we had to sing a ton of songs to keep her happy in the backpack. I bet by summer she will be able to join us on foot.

Yesterday I was in awe at how Reesa played with her doll. She carried her around and kept calling her "baby". We tried to find a baby chair or something she could place her in but came up with nothing after two stores. I found a basket in our hall closet that we used instead. We placed an old swaddle blanket over it and hopefully it will work as a crib/chair for now. Finally getting some use out of those swaddle blankets!

Last night Patrick was feeding Reesa dinner. Fortunately Reesa takes a bath right after dinner.

Here is how Reesa lets you know she is done. Check out that arm speed!

New words she is using: Please, Thank You, Teeth, Poop, and Baby.

A New Beginning in January

2011-01-21T21:54:00.001-08:00

This week has been been filled with fun and interesting news and activity. Reesa and I have joined a new play group and are starting to get to know a few moms/kiddos in our area. Reesa and I are enjoying the walking stage. We can go anywhere and just walk. I love it!! We did a two hour trip to Washington Square and Reesa loved every minute of it, she was also totally pooped when we headed home.

I know the last few dozen posts have been about what's new with Reesa. Most of my family in California want to know what's the latest with Reesa and to be honest, she's the only one with new info and skills to share....until this week.

Patrick is in the beginning stages of making his first batch of home brewed beer!

Having a child makes most of our hobbies take a back burner and it's even more difficult if you want to start a new hobby. Nonetheless, Patrick is finally making it happen. I'm so excited to taste his very first creation. The beauty of this hobby is that not only does he get to use his awesome math skills, but that we get to use this as a social avenue and invite people over for some home brew!!

In other news, Patrick also was invited to be an Adjunct Professor at George Fox. I'm so proud of him for applying and even more happy that he was chosen for this position. He will be teaching a writing class for the Degree Completion Program at George Fox. He will be helping students reflect on their personal experiences and using writing to share those thoughts. Kuddos to my hubby the Professor.

I don't have anything too flattering to share but I may finish another book by the end of this month. I can't gloat too much because I used to be able to finish a book in a day and now it takes me a few months. I know I'm not approaching being a formerly but I feel that I'm learning what it's like to no longer be in my 20's and how your life dramatically shifts from being 20 something to being 30 something and a mom.

Reesa Videos

2011-01-18T17:13:00.000-08:00

Reesa has been fun to capture on video lately. I love to watch how she thinks before she acts. She really takes the time to plan out her next move. Like when she wants to walk in mommy's shoes.

Last night we had Matt and Christi Grove over for a little MLK dinner. They have a 2 year old son named Camden. Not only is he a cutie but he is hilarious! I hope they become long time friends. They both share a love for cleaning, they spent a good 3o minutes playing with our vacuum before dinner. They both also have a feisty side, they tugged at the same toys for most of the evening. Lastly they both enjoyed running around upstairs chasing each other.

She is just growing up too fast!!

At 13 Months

2011-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Reesa is enjoying some bottoms free time before bath time. Did you notice that she is still wearing her boots? Reesa loves shoes and loves to wear them all day. I think she likes the sound she makes with them when she walks.

Reesa is almost 14 months and I am completely beside myself. She is walking, talking, and cracking us up all the time.

Her current words: Hi, Bye, Up, Ball, uh-oh, ow, and almost bath. It sounds more like baaa

Animal sounds: ow for meow, booo for moo, woof for dog, and baa for sheep.

Reesa is beginning to use a spoon and bowl on her own. We have yogurt and granola for breakfast and she is going at it!! Half goes into her mouth and the other half ends up on her bib. Thank goodness she will wear a bib. Then she takes what fell on her bib and puts that in her mouth with her hand. Nice.

We began a new play group through the L.O. Moms group. Two ladies live just a mile a way from us and we will rotate taking turns having playgroup at our homes. I really like going so that I can meet some of my neighbors but also Reesa is in a more interactive stage and we can continue to learn to share with others.

Reesa has developed a love for the piano. She loves to play the piano and Grandma Kathy's and at Aunt Alison's house.

That's all for now.

Newest Videos of Reesa

2011-01-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Now that the holidays are over and 2011 is underway, I have a few videos to share of Reesa's latest talents.

Reesa has a love for cleaning. We do the dishes in the morning and she loves taking things out and playing with the dish washer. Why the dish washer? I have no idea. She also likes to use napkins or towels to clean her face and other things as well.

Last night we did a little pre-bath workout. I think she has soccer in her blood.

A Mover and a Shaker

2010-12-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

It looks like it won't be long before Reesa is chasing her toddler friends.

Finally a break

2010-12-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. To be totally honest, I haven't really felt like posting anything. We've had some interesting things going on but I've been way too exhausted to share.

Last week was Patrick's birthday. We had a few mini celebrations throughout the week. We celebrated with our small group, we had a sushi date night, we had a crab feed with the Geists, and of course with our immediate family. Patrick is officially the big 29!!

Last Friday we discovered some water stains on our ceiling and we had to call our HOA office to have someone come take a look. Before we purchased our condo the inspector told us to monitor this portion of our ceiling because it looked like it had been repaired but the only way to really know is when the rainy season begins. Well I guess we found out it didn't get fixed. Luckily we are not held responsible because it's an exterior issue and that falls under our HOA.

A portion of our ceiling and wall has been gutted out to remove any moisture. We've been living with a dehumidifier and fans for four days and I tell you.....all I want is silence in my house!! Hopefully today they will be removed.

Last weekend was also the beginning of Reesa's head cold. Yuck!! Poor girl hasn't been able to breathe through her nose until today. Which meant that she didn't eat well, nap well, or sleep well. I will admit it was really hard to care for her when I was sleep deprived and did not get any nap breaks because she would only take 30 minute naps in her car seat. Today is the first day that in a week that she has slept in her crib during the day. I'm so glad that she is doing better and that we can hopefully return to normalcy soon.

And with that.....Reesa is up and we are headed out for errands and tonight we are taking a trip to Zoo Lights!!

Christmas Prep Weekend

2010-12-06T10:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up, stopped at Starbucks, and met our family in Multnomah Village for our annual tree picking/cutting. I love this tradition. It's the one thing I look forward to most about the month of December.

Getting our tree up and decorated was a much longer process than we realized. We brought our tree home and realized that we need to buy a tree stand. Sunday morning we brought our tree in and got it setup and realized we don't have lights or a tree skirt. Sunday night we get the lights up and I do not like the new LED lights. They are ultra bright. I want a warm and low glow. We still decided to decorate without the lights. I guess we're still finding out we gave away more than we realized when moving to Korea. :)

I love our tree. I love that it doesn't match and it looks like a kid decorated it. I love that we have ornaments from Africa, Mongolia, Denmark, and Korea. Even better: we have Patrick's first ornament, Our first ornament, and Reesa's first ornament on our family tree.

Saturday night we went to our first grown-up dinner party since Reesa was born. Our friend Birch turned 35 and his wife made an amazing 3 course meal. We had so much fun hanging out at a table with several couples just talking, drinking wine, and cracking jokes. It was such a fun evening a few of us couples/parents are thinking we need to do this on a more regular basis.

Tonight is The Sing Off. Totally stoked!!

End of November

2010-11-30T10:59:00.000-08:00

The Ortiz family came up to join us this year for Thanksgiving!! My parents really enjoyed seeing Reesa for a few days.

We haven't shared publicly Reesa's love for seaweed. We buy packages of seaweed at H-Mart for Reesa.

Reesa has been mimicking so many of our actions. Most of the time we don't realize our own patterns/habits until we see Reesa copying us. Who do you think she got this from???

Snow Day

2010-11-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week it was Reesa's first time in the snow. It was the day after her birthday and we had stayed in all day to recoup from her party. Later that afternoon we were getting restless so we decided to head out for a family run!!

It snowed on us and our faces were freezing but it was fun running in the snow as a family.

On a separate note: Reesa asked me to put her shoes on while she was still wearing footy pj's.

A zoom of her feet.

I guess she like to wear shoes while she walks.

The Birthday Girl

2010-11-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

We officially celebrated Reesa Rene Kelley turning 1 yesterday!! The morning started out with Patrick taking Reesa to OMSI for some Daddy-Daughter time while I made Reesa's cake. I don't mean to toot my own horn but I was really proud of my work :)

Then we played and made dinner together as we waited for Reesa to be tired enough to take a nap, which didn't happen until 45 minutes before her party. Of course. Reesa does like to be a helper in the kitchen.

Around 4:30 the shindig was under way!!

I'll introduce you to Reesa's friends that came over. We have Levi and Lillian Chang.

Maya and Audrey Erickson.

Landin Labrum.

Camden Grove.

And of course Cousin Isaiah!!

We sang Happy Birthday to Reesa!!

And everyone ate cake!!

Later we opened presents. Reesa received a few new books, a Raffi cd, and of course super cute clothes. It was a fun evening spent with family and friends. We couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our daughter's first birthday. Congrats to us for making it a whole year as a family!!

Birthday Countdown: Thursday

2010-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

This morning Reesa and I went to Kaiser for her 1 year check-up. Nothing huge to report, she didn't get her 1 year shots or the flu shot. We're going to reserve those for after her b-day shindig. :)

Reesa is 30.5in (90%) and 19.2lbs (20%). Same as a few months ago, she's still growing. Since we successfully completed our appointment, we went over to the Play Boutique to celebrate.

Can you believe this was me last year? I know I have an evil eye face, I was trying to be serious and I smirked mid-shot. Oops.

And this was Reesa?

I am starting the get a little sentimental when I look back over the last year and see all the phases in photos. That means all those milestones have passed and I know we are going to have new ones, but we will never get to experience the old ones with Reesa again. It's like putting away the clothes that she's outgrown. I know we are going to have another child that can wear them but Reesa will never wear them again.

Ok....I can't keep going....I'm going to cry. Oh wait. Too late :)

Last night we had a wine and cheese party with our small group. We did a blind tasting. It was fun to see what people liked the best and why.

Do you like that Cam placed his water with the adult beverages?

A fun cozy evening. It was a good time.

Birthday Countdown: Tuesday

2010-11-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

Thanks Cousin Jen for Reesa's first birthday card!!

Reesa found her belly button today :) It was so cute!! She was sitting on the counter nakers and looked at her belly in the mirror and started playing with her belly button. She tried to put the other end of her toothbrush in her belly button. Silly girl.

Reesa also likes to use her bumbo again. She tries to sit in it and play with the toys around her.

A short video from the L.O. Hunt Club on Sunday. We were in the lounge waiting for Auntie Baby to ride.

Today at downtown Nordstrom a lady at Philosophy asked how old Reesa is. I told her that she will be 1 on Saturday. She looked surprised and asked if she was tall for her age. Oh skinny tall Reesa fooling the world with her long legs. She finally was sporting her cute silver sparkly beenie we bought at H&M!!

Today I chopped my hair. It's a long story about how it got so short but needless to say it's the shortest it's ever been. Usually I don't post pictures but I never straighten my hair, so tadah! It's never gonna look like this again so I better take a photo.

Reesa's Birthday Countdown: Monday

2010-11-15T09:05:00.000-08:00

A year ago I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my beautiful daughter. I remember not having anything to do during the day so I spent my afternoons walking at Target, Downtown Portland, and taking Sadie for a walk to Custer Park.

I remember on my expected due date, I had no signs of labor at all!! So I went to Nordstrom and bought t-shirts hoping they would fit post-baby. You should have seen the ladies trying to help me!! It was a riot. I never actually kept those shirts because they were a terrible fit later on but I didn't really have any casual clothes, only work clothes.

Now, a year later, we are placing our almost 1 year old in the toddler room at church. Yesterday was Reesa's big graduation into the 1 to 2 year old room. The lady said that she mostly stared at the kids. Nice. Hopefully watching the other kids walk around will motivate her even more to start walking. She's so close!! Reesa can stand up on her own without help but she's not ready to move those feet. In time, I know.

Today we are going to get her feet measured for a pair of real walking shoes. Hopefully I can stop by the book store to pick up a few birthday books as well. Shh....don't tell Reesa its suppose to be a surprise!!

A Fall Sunday

2010-11-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we went for a family run at George Rogers park. The brisk cold air was exactly what we needed in the afternoon. After our run we decided that Reesa should take a lap around the play structure. We just so happen to have our camera on hand and what was suppose to be a few minutes of play turned into a 20 minute photo shoot with Reesa.

I just can't get over how big she is now. She's wearing real shoes, skinny jeans, turtle necks, and now a winter vest!!

Halloween & Seattle

2010-11-04T09:41:00.001-07:00

Reesa was a Geisha for Halloween. We enjoyed a stroll down Multnomah Village and ate a few pieces of candy.

Later that evening we headed to Seattle for a 2-day work trip with Patrick. Isn't this view gorgeous?

Monday was pouring so Reesa and I went to the Children's Museum while Patrick was at SPU. We were walking distance from our hotel but since it was raining so hard and I had my coffee in hand, we decided to drive. They didn't allow cups with lids but so conveniently sold travel mugs that were permitted inside. $14 later, we made it inside.

We had dinner with cousin Jen and boyfriend Jon and then headed home for the night.

Tuesday Patrick went to UW so Reesa and I went to the University Village just up the road. They had a play structure right outside Starbucks. So smart!! Then Reesa took a nap so I could stroll through H&M and we had lunch at Jamba and played in a bookstore for a bit.

After Patrick was done with work we decided to head home in order to beat the traffic and made it back in time to have dinner at our own table.

A good trip and Patrick is almost done with all his Grad Fairs. One more next week down in Eugene. I think we are going to pass this time around. You can only be on the road for so long.

Approaching the Toddler Years

2010-10-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Reesa keeping herself busy as Patrick was putting up the curtains in both the bedrooms.

As Reesa is approaching 1 we are making a few preparations for having a toddler.

Reesa now wears real big girl jeans and big girl shoes. She can now fit in her squeaky shoes Grandma Kathy bought for her.

Reesa's early birthday gift: A wooden toy walker.

Isn't this photo great?

Patrick got Reesa a new George Fox fleece for the winter. Now we are ready to celebrate with a Hello Kitty Funfetti Cake!!!

This weekend we will be trick-or-treating in Multnomah Village. Reesa is going to be a Geisha/Samurai Girl. Sunday evening we will head up to Seattle :) Patrick will be working at SPU and UW this week so we will head up for 2 nights and 2 days. Cousin Jen get ready for us!!

LA Videos

2010-10-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here is Reesa playing in our hotel one lovely evening.

Reesa playing at Huntington Beach.

Reesa's first experience in the sand. Yes she did put sand in her mouth but we didn't get it on video

LA Style

2010-10-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

We are back from our 10 day trip!! What a whirlwind. It all began with a phone call the afternoon before our evening flight. Patrick was in Boise and he called to tell me that his flight was canceled and he was being re-routed to LAX. We were suppose to meet in Oakland and fly to Santa Ana together. So I got my flight re-routed and would have to fly solo with Reesa. No big deal except that Reesa was now showing signs of multiple teeth coming in.

Reesa and I headed down to our favorite local store, Mother Nature's and told her that we need some help. She set me up with a natural teething oil with cloves that acts as a numbing agent and an Ergo. Yup, I finally gave in to the mommy pack. Turns out it's really comfortable and I was able to handle the stroller, diaper bag, and gate checking the stroller with ease. The flights were fine and we were able to get into our hotel shortly after 1 am.

Our first University stop: Biola. What a beautiful and relaxing campus. Reesa and I played on the grass the entire afternoon and she took a nap under the shade while I ate lunch.

Day 2 was a drive down to San Diego State. The morning was drizzly and cold, so Reesa and I found a local mall to play in until the clouds broke. Then we spent a sunny afternoon on campus.

Day 3: Westmont College in Santa Barbara. It was raining but Reesa and I decided to go to the Zoo!!

That night we made it back to downtown LA and grabbed some delish Korean food. They even played songs from popular bands in Korea and had the push call buttons on the tables.

That was the end of week one. Saturday my family drove down and spent Saturday with us. We went to the Garment District and Santa Monica. Uncle Paul and Reesa had fun hanging out together.

We had sushi at the Promenade!!

Family photo taken by Duke Soccer boys before having Pink Berry for dessert.

We ended the evening taking a stroll along the pier.

Sunday we spent the afternoon with my cousin Mikki who lives on the UCLA campus. She gave us a tour of her house and her campus. We tried to all go to Korea town but most of the stores were closed. We did however make it to In-N-Out!! Reesa loved it. She even had a little of our milkshake. :)

The rest of our days looked like this:

So Reesa and I spent most of our time in a nearby mall to play while Patrick worked. I did get some H&M time since almost every mall had one. I've been saving up so that I could shop there since our Portland store doesn't seem to be open yet.

Our last day had no rain and a little bit of sun. We went to Balboa Island and Huntington Beach.

Then we made our way back to the airport and home to Portland!! We love our city but it is fun to take an adventure every once in a while.

Marathon Weekend

2010-10-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

This title has so many meanings for our weekend. It all started on Wednesday. Reesa was a bit fussy all day and Patrick went to work with a stuffy nose. No biggy, right?

Later that night we had our small group at our house and Reesa was not willing to stay with our first time babysitter. Bummer. She was really warm and it turned out that she had a slight fever. No big deal, a little tylenol and early to bed. Patrick decided to call in sick for Thursday because he needed to be 100% for Sunday.

Thursday morning I took Reesa with me on a few morning errands so that Patrick could sleep in. Reesa felt fine and seemed perfectly happy. We headed home for her afternoon nap. At 2pm she woke up with a flushed face, sad eyes, and a temp of 104. Yikes. So we took her in to the doctor for a check up. She was such a trooper. We were at Kaiser for 3 hours and had a baby catheter and blood drown to make sure she didn't have a urinary tract or an anemia issue. She only had a fever. So we headed home and our little girl slept for a long time that night. Poor Patrick had to come along with a Jamba. We just slumped on the couch for the rest of the night.

Friday rolls around and everyone is looking better. So Patrick and I decided to go out for the evening and left Reesa with Kathy and Larry. We ran into some friends at a pub in Multnomah Village and hung with them for a bit. Reesa's fever started to spike again so we picked her up and took her home.

Saturday was filled with a endless crying Reesa. I felt bad for her and for us. We were all tired and Reesa was not getting better but not getting worse. We stayed in and had a hearty pasta dinner in anticipation for the big race.

Sunday morning comes and Patrick's out the door at 5:45am. I was awake because Reesa was awake :( Reesa stayed with Larry while Kathy and I went to watch Patrick. What a morning!! It was pouring the entire time we were out there!! We made it to University of Portland at 9:00am to see Patrick at the 20 mile marker. He was flying and looking good. It was fun to watch all the other runners, bands, and spectators along the route. We've never gone along the route other than the finish line. After we saw Patrick we got back in the car and drove downtown to see him at the finish line.

Patrick finished with an excellent time of 3:21 which is a personal best for him. We were so proud of him and wish Reesa could have been there, but there's always next year!!

We spent the rest of the day at home trying to console Reesa. That afternoon her fever finally broke!! She broke out in a rash which the doctor warned us about. She had Roseola. Which is a high fever that can last up to a week and when it breaks, a rash appears for a few days. That's when our road to recovery began!!

Each day gets better and better and this morning as we pack for 10 days in L.A. she is a much happier baby and we laughed a lot while packing. I missed my little girl and I'm so glad that she's feeling better. It was really hard to watch her cry so much knowing there was nothing I could do to console her but it could have been so much worse!

Today is Tuesday and our marathon week is hopefully coming to a close. Wow and tough and interesting week for the books. Patrick already left for Boise this morning and will meet us in Oakland tonight. Reesa and I will fly on our own to meet Patrick and then we land in Santa Ana as a family tonight. L.A. get ready for the Kelleys!!

Korea town taco truck, In & Out, Santa Monica, Ortiz family, and oh so much more!!

A Perfect Fall Day!

2010-10-06T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we explored a new play area that is just down the street from us. It's called The Play Boutique in downtown L.O. They have a stay & play daily, $5 for 2 hours. If you get there right at 10:30am, an employee will do a coffee run for you. How great is that?

Reesa loved the slide and playing with a little pink bike that had a handle on the back to use as a walker. She went for it!! I kept trying to help her to slow her down so that her legs would keep up with her pushing, but she didn't want it. She kept pushing my hand away. She fell quite a bit but after five tries or so she got the hang of it. I was watching my little girl make her way around on her own two legs :) So proud of her tenacity!

Reesa and I decided that since Patrick makes dinner most of the week, we would do dinner. Reesa and I slow cooked an entire chicken and baked a vegetable medley. We also decided to get an olive loaf from New Seasons. I don't mean to brag....but it was delish! Having dinner ready before Patrick came home meant that we all had time to go for a family run before dinner. It was perfectly crisp outside and we could enjoy all the beautiful trees in our neighborhood. I love runs like that.

After Reesa went to bed, Patrick and I carved pumpkins!! It's my favorite October activity. Patrick likes to do this only to get the pumpkin seeds to bake. We tried out a white pumpkin this year. I don't think the white pumpkin seeds taste any different than the orange ones.

Our finished product.

Yesterday was a day to remember because it had all the things I love about fall and family. Not huge life changing events but it was a day where you say, "Thanks God for all of this. You are good."

Clap Clap Clap

2010-10-02T19:27:00.000-07:00

Reesa's nap hair on Friday!!

Reesa helped Uncle Aaron put together Aunt Alison's stool.

I'm totally in love with my new nephew. He has the cutest baby cry. He is being swaddled, placed on his side, and sucking. 3 of the 5 S's. Happiest Baby on the Block!!

This morning after having delish cinnamon french toast and french press (of course they go together :)), we were playing and having family time. Reesa is learning all sorts of "verbal commands" as Patrick likes to call them.

Reesa will give you a kiss if you ask for one, she will hand over an object if you ask for it, except her toothbrush. I have no idea why?? She will wave hello when you say hi and she will clap when you say "yeeeeeaaaaah!".

Although this video does show her clapping more importantly you can see the newest milestone, standing without support. Yowzers. I can't believe that she can hold herself up for a few seconds before she sits down and begins to crawl away.

After goofing around we went on an afternoon hike from Counsel Crest to the Korean War Memorial. We actually did a 5 mile hike in the city and still on a trail with lots of trees. I love Portland!!

A great start to the weekend but what would really put us over the edge: pumpkin carving so that we can bake pumpkin seeds!!

Isaiah Visit #2

2010-09-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

Patrick and I went back over to the hospital tonight to see our new handsome stud in the family. Patrick finally got to hold Isaiah after having to work all day and not getting to see his nephew.

I have to admit it Isaiah, I'm totally smitten by you. I love your baby noises, I love the way your little body squirms, and most of all I absolutely adore that you are my nephew!

I've decided that since your mom and dad gave your cousin Reesa ice cream at such a young age, I get to give you cheez-it's when you are a little older because those are my favorite.

You are finally a full 24 hours old. Congrats on making it a whole day out here in the world!!

Tia Maria and Uncle PK

2010-09-28T15:49:00.001-07:00

Last night at 10:34pm, Isaiah Aaron Geist was born. 9lbs 1oz and 20.5in long. He's solid. Patrick and I are officially a tia and an uncle!!

They were so calm and relaxed during the entire process. I was so impressed with how Alison breathed through each contraction and Aaron's coaching had everyone breathing so calmly, almost zen-like. This afternoon Reesa and I stopped by to hold the lil' guy and to visit with mis hermanos. Aaron is such a natural and Alison is recovering like a champ.

I didn't get too many photos since I was too busy looking at my nephew. Ahh....I love that!! I have a nephew. Tears are welling up as I type. Later this evening Patrick and I will head over and Reesa will hang with Grandma so hopefully I'll have a few more to show off the newest most adorable member of our family!!

A New Class

2010-09-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

On Monday Reesa and I went downtown for an afternoon stroll when we came upon this!!

Three more weeks until Patrick's 3rd go around. It'll be Reesa's first time cheering on dad as he makes his way to the finish. I'm going to need a venti coffee that morning :)

Patrick bought Reesa a grown-up toothbrush since she apparently can tell the difference between her baby one and ours. Unfortunately this morning she still preferred her mama's toothbrush. I guess the family that shares their toothbrushes are close??????

Of course we went to OMSI this week. Reesa likes snack time now that she can eat on her own. Reesa also got to spend the afternoon playing with baby Geist's stuff while we hung out at Alison and Aaron's.

This week was the beginning of our trial 2 week pass at Gymboree. Yes, it's a clothing store and they have locations that are designed for play and music time. It's basically a huge gym for kiddos and they have different classes throughout the day based on their age. Reesa is at level 3, the 10-18month group. The teacher sings songs and we play games that follow the different songs. I wasn't thrilled about it at first, but I figured it's worth a shot since it is free.

Turns out....Reesa loves it!! Don't we all do things for our kids that we're not always thrilled about? Actually it's really fun to watch her crawl around and scream. It's always fun to watch your child enjoy what they are doing and so we will continue next week as well.

Weekend Events

2010-09-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to the Melting Pot!! With one week to go before baby Geist's due date we celebrated and used our Christmas gift. The artichoke cheese fondue was delish and our seafood/meat selection was terrific. We had no room for dessert fondue but enough to go to 31 and get a scoop of icecream.

Saturday we went to the Erickson's to celebrate James' 35th birthday. Yahoo for James and his soccer funfetti cake!!

Reesa had a little too much sugar from the funfetti and was acting a little loopy.

Sunday after church we ate chicken wings and fries at Hopworks and then attempted a run along the waterfront from Willamette Park. Reesa and I made it 5.2 miles and Patrick finished 11. Reesa and I played in the car while we waited for dad. She's never sat in the front seat before so she was amazed with everything around her, including Patrick's wallet. I think she was looking for cash :)

This morning I'm very stiff and sore from my run; I blame the chicken wings. I think when Reesa wakes up we're going to hit downtown and try to find out when H&M will open. We also need to wash a boppy and a bouncy chair cover for baby Geist. A big day for us!!

Organics to You

2010-09-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last week we finally signed up for an organic produce delivery service. We've been wanting to eat more vegetables but fail to know what to get at the store other than our typical items that belong in a salad. So I bit the bullet and ordered a box that will be delivered every other week. They even provide recipes with the items online. Our small box came yesterday morning!

Isn't this fun!! Last night we made grilled vegetables with our eggplant, hot pepper, onions, and some sort of greens. It was yummy. It's incredible how much better these vegetables taste when you bite into them just as is. I don't think it's a mental thing, but I'll take it if that means we eat more vegetables. We never struggle with fruits but it's nice to get a balanced mix in our box.

Yesterday Reesa and I headed to OMSI for the afternoon. We didn't go last week and I think Reesa missed her playpals. She is getting more brave and ventured out of her infant area and explored a few new stations with the big kids. We even shared leftover pizza and a nectarine in the snack area. Two little boys watched intently as Reesa ate her nectarine. I think they were impressed with her skills :)

Do you notice that Reesa is wearing big girl jeans? Oh yes, our first pair with a button and zipper. Wow!!

Here's Reesa taking in a few minutes of Sesame Street this morning. It was a skit from American Idol. I think she was confused as to why there are puppets on television.

Today we are going to check out a friends art display at a local cafe and going to the Melting Pot with Alison and Aaron. We've been trying to go for months as we got this as a Christmas present. We have to go before baby Geist comes which is any day!!

Back to School

2010-09-07T08:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Washington Park and played at the ginormous play structure. Reesa is too little to take off by herself but the flooring is solid enough for her to crawl around.

Reesa and Dad play pass.

You have to go down the slide at least once.

We headed home and Reesa had her favorite: Seaweed. Yup she just loves seaweed, I think because it's lightly salted. This was the most relaxing part our our weekend.

This morning I woke up early and drove to Hayhurst Elementary. Missio has adopted this as our local elementary school. Hayhurst doesn't receive as much love as the other elementary schools in SW Portland. I had the privilege of dropping off a bouquet of flowers and some morning treats to wish them a wonderful first day of school.

I loved these flowers so much that I needed a bouquet for myself!!

As I headed home I felt happy and sad. Happy for everyone experiencing their first day back to school and happy that I could be a part of it. A little sad that I don't have a classroom of my own.

Then I walked through my door and I realized that I have my very own student :) She's better than any classroom I could ever have.

Afternoon Nap

2010-09-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Reesa looked so cute after her nap. She totally had bedhead!!

What a face :)

She also is really becoming a mover. I can't take my eyes off of her!! Of course she loves to play with things that we can't remove and are not the most safe for her, like outlets and our wood stove. Today we are picking up those outlet covers that you have to swivel to access the actual outlet. She now pulls the plugs off the outlet and puts them in her mouth and tries to put them back in the sockets. Hmmmm....not the best idea.

Reesa loves the handle to our wood stove. She likes to hit the handle because it makes a springy noise and then she looks into the handle trying to figure out where the noise is coming from.

Or she just puts the handle in her mouth :)

What a character! Have you noticed that she now feels comfortable standing with one hand? Yikes.

Bambino Geist is on his way

2010-08-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend we threw a baby shower for mi hermana Alison. We had 40 people at Kathy's house at 10:30am!! It was a brunch frenzie with a make it yourself parfait, fruit salad, yummy quiche, bagels, and of course cupcakes!! Sorry I don't have any photos because I was too busy chatting. :) It was so fun to watch Alison open up all the wonderful presents she received for baby Geist. Speaking of gifts, I do have photos of what Patrick and I made for Alison. I was so excited because they were made with total love and excited to meet our nephew!!

Baby Geist (I'm rooting for Isaiah), I can't wait to hold you in three weeks or less. I should also mention that Alison looks amazing for being 9 months pregnant and she is going to be such a great mommy. Reesa couldn't ask for a better Aunt. :)

With such a long Saturday, we needed a total relaxing and restful Sunday. So what did that look like? A stroll in the Pearl District.

Too cute, right?

We went to the Pearl Bakery for coffee and a wheat roll for Reesa. Then we stopped by Buffalo Exchange and Jameson Square. On our way back to the car we spotted a hot dog stand and couldn't resist. We all took a long nap, watched the Emmy's, and had a nice family dinner to top off the evening. Reesa and I love the weekends because we get to spend all day being a family of 3!!
I love and hate Monday mornings. Patrick has to go back to work but Reesa and I like to watch the Today Show. The best/worst dressed list from the Emmy's was on!!

The Weekend

2010-08-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you Lisa To for taking such a great photo of Reesa.

This weekend we all went to OMSI. Patrick hadn't been to the new discovery center on the second floor, so we had to show him where Reesa likes to play with kiddos her age.

There was a baby that was Reesa's age and it was fun to watch them interact with one another. It's so crazy to see how mobile she is for her age. The two girls were holding hands, smiling, and laughing together. It was so cute to watch them play together in the ball pit.

Who wouldn't want to play with Reesa? Just look at this face!! We saw that the big kid water station was empty, so we went to play in the water. I told Patrick to get the camera and Reesa dumped a boat full of water on my leg. Thank you.

After an hour of play we decided to explore the Einstein exhibit. Wow!! They had so much info up about his life and we wanted to take hours to read every bit of it, but we do have a 9 month old that wanted to take a nap. Hmmm... a quick run through seemed to do just fine.

Saturday Night Reesa went to Grandma's so that Patrick and I could go to his 10 year reunion. Yes folks, we have reached that milestone. It was a fun night out and Patrick was responsible for all the fun since he planned it with two other high school friends. 120 people came which made the pub hot and crowded but it didn't seem to bother anyone.

Sunday we went to Willamette Park with our church friends from Missio. All the coffee in the world couldn't of helped me at 9:30 in the morning at the park. It was an early morning, but it left us the afternoon to hang out at the pool.

Reesa can only hang for 20 minutes in the pool and she enjoyed the rest of our time watching Patrick swim. She also thought it would be a good idea to take video of her bear crawl at the pool. Reesa only crawls like this on concrete. It's so funny and I'm glad she reminded me to bring the camera!

9 Month Check-up

2010-08-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 2pm we pulled into the Portland office to pick up Patrick for Reesa's check-up. The whole family went and it was nice to have the three of us together as we waited for Dr. Ruby to visit us.

The stats: 90% for height and 25% for weight. A bit on the skinny end. Nothing to be of concern but we have to be more selective on the good fatty foods so that Reesa's weight doesn't go any lower. The doc said, "Looking at you both I don't expect a chunk baby, you just want to make sure she's not losing weight." I like Dr. Ruby. She tells you what you need to know. No fluff.

We also passed the 6 page questionnaire with flying colors. I spent 20 minutes yesterday morning filling it out to get a 5 second look over and a smiley face. Uggh. I guess they only look at the "not yet" answers on your baby's development.

As we left, the nurse said, "See you for her 1 year." I'm sorry....come again? I'm so not ready for that!!

Well, this morning Reesa and I had some full fat yogurt and cheerios. I had to get video of her because this is the time that she likes to flex her fingers. Later, she also took her spoon for the first time and dipped it in her bowl and fed herself!! Why does she even need me? More time to sip my coffee I guess.

Nursing Strike

2010-08-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

I feel it's time to share a battle that Reesa and I have been going through.

Have you heard of such a phrase as a "Nursing Strike"? Well apparently it exists and Reesa and I have been suffering through this together for the last month. Tiring, frustrating, sad, and clueless are the words I use to describe such an ordeal.

A month ago I was putting Reesa down for the night and I don't think she was very hungry. Her way of telling me was by giving me a little bite! Yikes!! That's exactly how I reacted. I didn't see it coming and I didn't know that by giving a yelp I would startle Reesa and she would then cry. I tried to compose myself and give it another go. The same thing happened. I laid Reesa down and she went to sleep for the night.

The next morning she refused to eat. For three days the only way she would eat was before bed. huh? I had to pump and give her rice cereal with milk to try and compensate for her lack of eating. I would have given her a bottle except that she stopped taking a bottle at 5 months and I didn't think it was a big issue at the time.

Finally after multiple attempts I discovered that Reesa would nurse right after a nap before she fully awoke and was exposed to stimulation. Ok, we have a solution. Not a fun one, but a start. As long as she was eating 3 times a day we were in good shape.

Then she stopped doing that and she would only nurse while she was asleep, so I had to get her to take a nap, wake her, feed her, and hope she would go back to sleep. I've driven her on short drives to get her to sleep so that I could feed her. A little strange but I'm sure every mom has their own version of driving to sleep stories.

I spoke with our lactation lady and she told me that this does happen and you just have to keep offering. Some babies go back and others never do. I asked her what happens if she doesn't and she doesn't drink from a bottle? She said we will talk about that when we get there. She reassured me that I was doing well and that you just have to stay calm and relaxed.

Another week passes and then....

On Monday night I was getting Reesa ready for bed and she was calm and I was calm so I decided I have nothing to lose and gave nursing a go while she was still awake. Yahoo.....we had a successful nurse and she went to bed full and slept the entire night. Wow!! Since Monday we have been back to normal and it has been a huge relief. I'm not sure how long it will last but I'm enjoying every minute that I have a full and content baby and I don't have to scheme how I'm going to feed her or plan out her afternoon nap.

This has been the biggest struggle with Reesa thus far and I'm sure we will have more feeding battles. It's hard when you are trying to keep your baby healthy and they ultimately have the final say.

Reesa you are an independent baby and I love you for it!!

A Reesa Video

2010-08-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Today we head for our 9 month checkup!! We'll fill you in when we are done :)

Waving & Freebies

2010-08-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Reesa has her 9 month checkup next week and Kaiser sent in the mail a 6 page questionnaire about her development. There are questions about motor skills, social skills, how she takes direction, what types of foods she eats, and I can't even remember the other sections.

Well as I was reading these sections I realized what areas we work on and the areas I haven't even thought about like waving hello. I guess we should start practicing. So a few days ago we started waving bye bye to dad in the morning as he leaves.

This morning we were having breakfast and Reesa just starts opening and closing her hand while smiling at me. Too cute!! So of course I smile back and we continue to wave at each other. I recognize that she stills doesn't understand hello or goodbye, but we are working on the motions and eventually she will know when to use it. It was a fun moment between Reesa and I as she was eating her Cheerios and I sipping my coffee.

On to the freebies for this week. You should definitely try one of these if you have the time!

Tomorrow Reesa and I will be trying out Stroller Strides at Westlake Park. They are giving a free week this August if you want to checkout their classes. So we are giving it a go!!

Also this Thursday - Sunday is free admission to OMSI courtesy of Freddie Mac's!! Plus if you buy a membership between the 12th-22nd you get $40 dollars off. Reesa and I will have a 2 person pass for $35.

I'm liking these August deals, I hope there will be others in September :)

Wine & Dine Event

2010-08-09T09:14:00.001-07:00

This weekend our church volunteered to staff a fundraiser event for Neighborhood House. The donations and proceeds benefited their Food Box Program, which is where Missio has been volunteering since May.

Jeff Miller, donated his home in NW Portland. David, the owner of Three Square Grill donated his chef skills, and Baker & Spice donated dessert. This event was well loved by the community and hopefully will help continue to restock the shelves for families in need.

We helped with the setup in the afternoon which went very smoothly and fast. Since we had a few minutes to spare, we took a stroll around the gardens and took a spin in the paddle boat.

You have to zoom in to see Reesa's face. Best photo of the weekend!! I think she was ready for a nap at this point. :)

A second group came back to serve at the actual event. Wow!! It was hard work. We bussed tables, washed dishes, stacked chairs & tables, and cleaned up whatever else was remaining after the event. A huge thank you goes out to all who served this weekend. Neighborhood House couldn't have been more grateful for a young and friendly staff.

After this event, I was exhausted!! We just hung close to home yesterday and relaxed as much as possible. I have to rest up because this week Reesa and I have Omsi, Stroller Strides, Mommy group, and a I'm having a ladies night at Bridgeport!!

Yeah for a fun weekend, kinda crazy but good for the soul :)

A Week of Firsts

2010-08-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

On Monday we went to the Salmon Fountain. Reesa was more interested in watching the fountain and eating her rice cracker than actually going into the water. We made two attempts and sat on the grass for the afternoon. Not a bad Monday.

Tuesday was my mommy group and dinner at the Kelley house.

Wednesday we went to Westlake Park with a friend and saw a stroller stride group. I think I might have to give it a try. They all looked sweaty and it was 10am and only about 60 out. We also went to visit Great Grandma Kelley. The big winner of the day is Reesa and I made cookies together for the first time successfully!! They were soft and delish and little after mess. Yeah for team work!!

Yesterday we ventured out to the Children's Museum by the Zoo. It was pretty cool. They have a baby garden for 3 and under. I think 3 is a little too old to play in the baby garden. Especially when there are so many other cooler stations to explore for the toddler age.

Reesa enjoyed the waterbed and the play pit. I think her favorite part was pulling herself up on the table to put the puzzle pieces in her mouth. They have a basket for "loved toys" so they can be washed thoroughly at the end of the day. We placed quite a few in the basket.

This girl is becoming more and more brave. She likes to hold herself up and let go of one hand!! This morning she was taking a step back and forth between me and the coffee table. I am so not ready for a walker just yet!!

Reesa loved to climb the stairs and watch the older kiddos slide down and run around for her. I think she believes they are there for her entertainment. :)

Today will be more of a chill day. I think a stroll through Washington Square may do the trick. I have a feeling that we will be deciding where we will invest in our first membership for Reesa's play time. I'm leaning towards OMSI but I think there are a few other places we still need to check out first.

End of July

2010-08-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Mom do you really need to take a photo of me so early? What a great face!!

On Friday, Reesa and I went to OMSI to check out the kiddo room. It was Reesa's first time and we thought it would be a fun activity and a chance to play with other infants her age. Reesa had a blast and played with a couple of 1 year olds. We played in the ball pit and climbed on the playmats. Another momma did a puppet show and Reesa was totally enamored with the horsey. We even got into the museum for free because I forgot my card in the car and I was heading back to the car when the lady stopped me and gave me a wink and a free stamp!! Yahoo!! She probably figures, "You're a parent. You'll be back and you'll spend enough money here for the next few decades."

Friday night we decided to have a nice family picnic at Counsel Crest to kick off our weekend.

I know our summer is not over but I can feel the fall right around the corner. So we decided to spend as much time outside as possible. Saturday morning Patrick helped Matt and Annie move into their new home. It's such a great place and super cozy in every way!!

Reesa loves to play bump noses with Aunt Annie. Later that evening we headed to 23rd and took a stroll through World Market, then walked all the way down to sushi boat on Northrup and then back up to grab a brownie at Starbuckies. A good evening to be out on 23rd.

Sunday we all went down to the waterfront for a family run. Patrick ran with Reesa and I for the first 5 miles and then he continued on for his 14.5 miler. Reesa and I hung out a cafe and took a stroll to the Salmon fountain to play in the sun while we waited for Papa Bear.

We concluded our evening with church and a beer with some friends at our local McMenamins. A good weekend entering into August.

Not sure if I've mentioned that Reesa stands on everything she can pull herself up on. Nothing is safe on our coffee tables and she has now moved from her army crawl to using all fours to get around. I can't believe at one point this little chica couldn't hold her own head up.

In two days we will have been back in the states for an entire year!! Whoa, time has really flown and I can't possible reflect yet in writing all that we have done and experienced in the last year. I need another two days.

Mommy Group

2010-07-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've been going to a mommy group on Tuesdays at Legacy Meridian Park, that's where Reesa was born. They have groups based on your baby's age, so we're in the 5-9month group. I've been going for 6 weeks now and it hasn't been the most fun thing on my weekly schedule but I keep going because I know it's good for me.

At first the group was huge!! We had about 12 moms and it was a bit overwhelming to hear about all of their lives and their issues/struggles for the week with their little ones. I'm a bit of an introvert and I like smaller groups when it comes to sharing about personal things; in fact I would rather have one-on-one conversations. However, each week the group has gotten smaller and even though I wouldn't say I've become boosem buddies with the group, I'm starting to feel more comfortable with the group. It's like dating all over again!! I thought I was done with that :)

Yesterday was an interesting topic. Leaving your baby to have some grown-up time. A mom was asking for some advice because she's never left her baby with anyone except her husband and her in-laws will be in town so that she and her husband can go wine tasting for her birthday. Her baby is 10 months and she's never left him. Wow!! I felt like a bad mommy because we left Reesa when she was 3 days old to go to the store for an hour. Ooops?

A lot of the moms in my group have this issue. Why? They don't live near family. I definitely don't take it for granted that I live near family and they are always happy to help us; I forget that not everyone lives near family or wants to live near family. That makes it 10 times harder to have alone time with your spouse when you have an infant.

A bit of a reality check for me. This is why I go each week. We all have different lives and are connected by the desire to be the best mom we can be to our baby.

A Lovely Friday

2010-07-23T09:37:00.001-07:00

As I was sipping my coffee and having breakfast, I opened my email to find out....
Mother Nature's

Earth Friendly Baby Products

Our new store on the west side is now open!

We are located in the same complex as the Hanna Andersson Outlet, Columbia Outlet and the New Seasons.

I love this store!! The first one is located in NE and takes about 30 minutes for me to get there from our place, but now...it's 1 mile away!! I think Reesa and I will be taking a stroll later today to check out the new diggs.

Today we are having lunch with a friend and strolling 23rd. Reesa and I want to window shop and check out a store that is carrying a friends necklace line. We also are having dinner with a family friend of the Kelley's and maybe the Ubels???? I hope so!!

I realized last night as I was trying to fall asleep that we missed Reesa's 8 month mark!! She is 8 months!! I told my mom group on Tuesday that Reesa will be 8 months next Tuesday, when in fact she was 8 months this past Tuesday. Wow......too fast for me.

Also, yesterday, Patrick came home for lunch and as he was leaving he tried to give Reesa back to me and she didn't want to let go. She even began to cry!! It is so cute how much she loves her daddy. Reesa has entered the phase of stranger recognition. I thought if a lot of people held her while she was a baby, she might skip this phase. A no go. Reesa will go with our immediate family but other than that, she will play and smile near you, but she will not let you hold her. Hopefully this phase will pass soon.

Yesterday we headed over to Jameson Square to try out their water fun.

Reesa didn't love it but she didn't hate it either. We choose a good time to go because a lot of kids must have been having an afternoon nap while we were there. We went over three different times and she only was splashed once. Reesa also made at least three new friends while playing.

After an hour we headed home for Reesa's afternoon nap. She needed to rest of for the invitation making party. Alison was kind enough to make us all dinner and it gave us the strength to make 40 invitations!! It must have been the pasta sauce because check out how cute they came out!!

This weekend Patrick and I are going on a date!! We realized we haven't had a date night once this month!! I think he's taking me to Thai. Yum.

Fun in the Park

2010-07-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

Last night our missional community spent the evening at Willamette Park. We also invited family, friends, and co-workers to enjoy some jazz in the park. We cooked up a couple pizzas and everyone brought something to share. It was so nice to hang in the park with the warm evening sun.

Today we are hoping the sun stays out so that Reesa and I can head down to the pearl for some water fun. We'll see......

Tonight I'm heading over to my hermana's house for a special invite making party. Her baby shower!! I made a mock up, but I'll have to repost the final product. Not bad, huh?

Kelley Family Vacay

2010-07-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

On the 4th of July, we, all dressed in red, white, and blue and at 10am drove to Sunnyriver (aka Sunriver)!! Sorry to say we are not a "firework" family. Instead we stopped off at Sisters for coffee and lunch, made our way to the park, and concluded the evening with wine and some hot tubbing.

Monday morning Alison, Aaron, and Kristin joined us and the whole family was in Sunriver!! It was so nice to hangout with no emails, phone calls or any other planning/coordinating of schedules. We woke up every morning with French Press or delish dark coffee and had fun. We went bike riding, to the pool, on runs, hikes, to the park, played cards, did a puzzle, and just chilled with books.

This was my book of choice.

I've been wanting to read this since it came out at the beginning of the year. Six months later, it's finally in my hands and I had time to read it!! I absolutely loved it because it's part story, part research. I loved the anthropology/sociology side of her research and still enjoyed her raw honesty about life. It's now a memoir like Eat Pray Love, so if you loved that book you might not care for this one, but I found her research on the history of marriage in western culture and her international research intriguing.

Dad playing with Reesa before we headed out to dinner in Bend with Alison and Aaron.

Reesa testing out her new floaty in the kiddy pool.

Thanks to Kathy and Larry for getting this house for the last 3 years. We love spending time with family and love getting away from the city from time to time.

In other news. Reesa can now pull herself up to a standing position!! Sunday night we thought she missed her bed and couldn't wait to sleep in her crib. Wrong!! We found her standing in her crib talking after we laid her down for the evening. Too funny. Patrick has to lower her crib setting tonight so baby Reesa doesn't topple over her own bed.

Even more crazy.....Reesa will be 8 months next Tuesday. Yikes.

Yesterday

2010-07-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Reesa pulled herself up from the floor and stood using Patrick to balance. What?! I couldn't believe it. She stayed standing for a brief moment and then sat back down and continued to play with her toys on the floor.

Yesterday we also finally bought Reesa a high chair. I had been looking on craigslist for a space saver one for about $25 and it just never worked out to connect with a person to purchase. Last Monday night we were at Alison and Aaron's house with Justin and Jessica; Jessica brought their high chair for Bailey and Reesa used it while having a snack. I asked Jessica about and Reesa seemed to like it just fine. Very simple. While at Target yesterday I saw it for $25 and decided to go forward and now we have a high chair at home. No more bumbo for meals.

Yesterday we also decided to give the Johnny-Jump-up another go. This time we raised the chair high enough so it was more of a swing than a jump-up. Reesa likes the swings and she seemed to like swinging in the doorway while Patrick made dinner.

We have also been looking at bike trailers for Reesa since we have biked a couple of times and will be in Sunriver for a week; we need a bike trailer. We've been looking on craigslist and most of them are either listed too high or are in poor condition. Patrick found one at Target on sale yesterday and I picked it up in Wilsonville after hanging at the park with Carrie and the girls. We don't need anything too fancy, just enough to hold Reesa and her toys while we stroll the waterfront or Sunriver in our case for the next week.

Reesa is soundly napping as we just finished a long morning at the park with Carrie, Maya, and Audrey. I absolutely love hanging out with Carrie. She loves to be out of the house with coffee in hand. Yeah for that. Maya also ate all of Reesa's snack, so Reesa had her first lesson about big kids eating your food if you don't eat it fast enough :)

Feliz cumpleanos a mi

2010-06-28T10:22:00.001-07:00

Friday, Reesa and I decided that among our many firsts, we should add picking fruit to that list. I have never picked fruit at a farm or whatever the appropriate terminology is. Obviously I have no idea. However, I decided that if I'm going to be a true Oregonian I should be able to pick my own fruit and my daughter should start earlier than I did. Fortunately, Alison was going, so we joined.

I don't think Reesa cares for the country too much :)

Friday night we went to the Organic Brewer's Festival. Not a bad way to end the week :) We tasted a few samples of the local west coast brews. Delicious. Hoppy. Refreshing.

Saturday morning soccer and coffee just the three of us was nice and relaxing except for the US losing to Ghana. :( Sadness. So we should probably eat our sorrows away with a Korean/Mexican fusion taco truck!! It was a fun way to celebrate our birthday (mi hermano y yo) with our friends and family. We definitely ate a lot that night. I thought I would save a burrito for Sunday, but I ended up eating it before I went to bed. Whoops!! That's how good their food is.

Sunday we hung out at the park with Missio and ended up staying down by the river for the rest of the afternoon. We enjoyed the sun, a walk, some swing time, and a yummy iced latte.

We finished off the evening with a dip in the pool and called it a weekend. For my birthday last night Patrick and I had a date night at Saburro's with some delicioso sushi. It was soooooo good and while we waited, we enjoyed a glass of temparnillo next store. The sushi place typically has an hour wait even on a week night. A wine bar next store....genius. What a lovely evening.

7 Months

2010-06-25T09:13:00.001-07:00

On Father's Day, it was Reesa's 7 month mark. I can't believe my baby is seven months old. A little over seven months ago, I was impatiently waiting to go into labor and trying to fill my days with unnecessary errands to occupy my mind. Back then I couldn't even imagine what our baby would like as a seven month old, and yet, here we are!!

A few milestones:
She is very vocal and I think she's getting closer to saying "dada"! Reesa is still chugging along on her solids. She is now eating wheat bread, potatoes, a little yogurt, and chocolate ice cream (thanks Aunt Alison & Uncle Aaron). Yesterday I went into Reesa's room after she woke up from her nap and she was sitting up in her crib. Yikes!! When did she start doing that??

Now that Reesa has her two bottom teeth she really likes her daddy's toothbrush. Not her own, her dads. Too cute. She also likes cords and outlets; those are being covered up this weekend. Also since the sun decided to make a presence in Portland we've been going to the park everyday this week. Reesa loves the swings!! She leans forward and watches her legs go up and down and laughs at how much she can wiggle around independently. If we go to a park where there are no swings, she is perfectly content watching the big kids run around screaming and laughing. She thinks big kids are so fascinating. Yesterday we were at a park on 21st and a 3 year old girl was hopping for Reesa and playing with her for about 20 minutes. She absolutely loved it.

Tomorrow we will watch the US game and get ready for our taco truck birthday party!! What better way to celebrate a US victory than with Corona, tacos, and 40 people!!

A Good Sunday

2010-06-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Patrick's first Father's Day and we started off the morning with a yummy breakfast of french toast, french press, and turkey bacon.....yum. Reesa took a nice morning nap and allowed us to have a quiet breakfast and eat the entire meal without interruption. What a sweet gal to do that for her daddy. :)

Since it was Father's Day, Patrick got to choose when he could open his card and present, which meant immediately!!

Once Reesa woke up we made our way over to Terwilliger to one of the SW Trails and hike for an hour or so. Reesa didn't care for the big hiking pack so we'll have to try again this weekend. She just likes her front pack so that she can nap comfortably in nature. This girl is a goof ball!! Every time we go for a hike within five minutes she falls asleep.

For lunch we met up for a Kelley/Geist/Nicola family gathering at Alison & Aaron's house. They were leaving at 3:30 for Harlow training so we had to meet up before they left. Later Patrick went off with his dad and Kristin to hit golf balls at the range and Reesa and I went home for a nap.

Dinner time came around and just the Kelley family got together at our house for some Pizzacato. I can honestly say that I was not hungry for dinner, but you can't pass up Pizzacato when it's brought right to your dining table.

Patrick wanted to eat, hike, and spend time with family for Father's Day and that's exactly what we did. He's still trying to tell me it's Father's Week so we can do what he wants to do!! You have to love him for trying.

Are you an Urban Mama?

2010-06-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this site? http://www.urbanmamas.com/

I love it!! A few months ago I stumbled upon it while I was 9 months prego and I think my sister Alison sent it to me too. At the time I couldn't really check out the weekly events because I didn't have a baby. Once Reesa was born, it was winter and she really couldn't enjoy book time or song time at a children's store. But now that she is such a wiggle worm and in constant need of stimulation, we can now begin to venture out and play with other kiddos. Now, that doesn't mean we have to do all of them but if we want something to do it's nice to go to their website for ideas.

This week Reesa and I went to our first park play day at George Rogers Park. Kathy came along since she knows the momma coordinator. Most of the kids are at the age where they can run around, but Reesa really loved watching them play. We stuffed Reesa with a blanket and put her in her very first swing. She didn't love it and didn't hate it. I think we just need more practice.

Today we are heading out to N. Mississippi to check out a music/story time. So hopefully the sun will come out to play with us!!

Here's Reesa playing with her soccer ball last night getting ready for the U.S vs. Slovania game this morning. I don't think she'll be a goalie.

The Speedster

2010-06-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

A couple videos of Reesa from yesterday. She is getting faster at her wiggle worm maneuver. I believe if you watch closely you can see how one hip moves higher than the other so it sorta looks like Reesa has a bum hip. What a character. She still loves our gatos and they don't really care to be around her much. She'll chase them from clear across the room.

Here is Reesa last night crackin' herself up. I was feeding her peas and she would stop and look down at the bears on her seat and start laughing. Then she would start laughing every time we laughed. She also kept sticking her tongue out like she just discovered she has one. Too funny!!

Reesa also has her second tooth coming in right next to her first one. This one has been bothering her a little bit more at night but not during the day. Hopefully it'll pass soon for our little troooper.

A Trip Down South

2010-06-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

Last week we took an overnight drive down to Fresno to spend time with my family and to celebrate with my brother as he graduated high school. My brother and I are 10 years apart, which makes me feel so old, well about 10 years older than a high school graduate. :)

Everyone in Fresno met Reesa. I really mean everyone in Fresno!! My family is so huge that Reesa has about 10 great aunts,5 great uncles, a great grandma, and a bagillion first cousins once removed???? There was a lot of Reesa-holding going on :)

Reesa also met her first cousin Olivia.

After Fresno, we headed to Napa!! As we were planning our Fresno days, we thought, "Hey let's go to Napa for the weekend." So we booked it and later realized that it actually landed on our anniversary. Are we already at that point that we forget our anniversary, both of us??!! May was a really busy month for us so we forgave ourselves for being absent-minded and was grateful for God watching out for us because Napa was exactly what we needed.

The first night we walked around downtown and literally had a Thursday night wine/food market fall into our laps. We didn't have to look for wineries, the wineries came to us. Now that is vacay!! We had the best tri-tip in the entire world and some delicious grenache, pinot, and petite syrah to accompany the live band.

Later we took a long stroll in the park across the way and talked about our 4 years of marriage. I asked Patrick, "What have you thought of our 4 years of marriage?" His response, "I think renewing your vows is stupid." huh? This is a little insight into my husband's crazy mind. He was thinking about an episode of Tori & Dean that we had watched the day before and it was an episode where they renewed their vows after 4 years of marriage. We watched an episode at my parents house because my sister said that when she watches it, she thinks of me because Tori and I apparently are similar. So I had to watch to see if that was a bad or good thing. It wasn't bad, Tori is a goofy, trendy, hands on mom. I don't mind being compared to that :) Well Cheers to us after being married for 4 years. We met seven years ago and have been married for four, that's not too shabby in my book. ;)

Anyways, the next day we got up and had coffee & croissants from the local roasting company before our big bike ride. We found a bike rental company 10 miles north where a ton of vineyards are located along the popular highway 29 and silverado trail. Did we take a leisurely ride? It depends if you think a 16-mile loop with a kiddo trailer is leisurely. We loved it!! We rode on the bike trail as BMW's, Limos, and town cars passed us. We had lunch at what we thought was a grocery store and it turned out to be a grocery store with a gourmet deli, fru-fru flavored water, and wine tasting took place. I think Napa has a different definition of what a grocery store is. They did have picnic tables out back, so we could eat our lunch.

We were definitely the only ones on bikes that day along the wine trails and we didn't even wine taste. Talk about true Oregonians just there to be outside and enjoy the sun. We have our own wineries at home and we've been wine tasting several times. Getting good sun and a long relaxing bike ride doesn't come often for us.

Later we headed home and did the overnight drive back to Portland. It was nice to have a break but it's so nice to be home. Reesa missed her bed because as soon as I laid her down she totally crashed. It's not easy to wear her out, but I think California definitely did. In a good way of course :)

Faces of Reesa

2010-06-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

Patrick gets such good facial expressions from Reesa Reesa.

A big day for us yesterday. I decided that before we head down to California, Reesa needed a trim. If you been around Reesa, you notice that she has been growing a rat tail since she was a month old. So after reading about when mom cuts their child's hair for the first time, I realized that there really is no perfect time. So ladies and gentleman, I give you Reesa Rene Kelley all cleaned up!!

I have to admit, I didn't tell Patrick before I did it and he came home with Reesa's hair chopped off and he was a bit shocked. He thought I cut it too short, which may be true, but I figure it's hair and it will grow back :)

Tonight we leave and head down to Fresno with a stop off in Napa on the way home for our 4 year anniversary. We are looking forward to nine days of relaxing and no responsibility other than our beautiful daughter and family time.

So Mom....if you have a to-do list, put it away!! Reesa said so.

Go Timbers!!

2010-05-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Friday night we went over to Alison and Aaron's house for dinner. Our friends the Ubels came up from Eugene for the night and Reesa had Brooklyn and Bailey to play with. Reesa absolutely loves kids.

I snuck out for a bit to watch SATC 2 with some gals from Missio. I couldn't believe my Friday!! I actually had time to get a mani/pedi and read for over an hour. Whoa. I couldn't even remember what that felt like before Friday. The last time I had a mani/pedi was 2 days before Reesa was born. I miss chatting it up with the other ladies in there, talking about their kids, restaurants, and whatever else comes up.

Saturday we headed downtown to walk along the park blocks and take a stroll through the farmer's market. The weather wasn't the best but it was nice to just to be outside and people watch.

Later that evening we went to PGE park for the Timbers vs. Boca Negra Jrs. game. It was so fun!! 3-2 victory for the Timbers and it was tied until the 90th minute. So fun to watch a good game. Reesa sported her daddy's Timbers hat and she was going crazy at the game. She couldn't stop jumping and screaming. She even tugged on the guy sitting next to us because she had so much energy. She was a riot!! It was like she had just taken a 4 shot espresso before entering the stadium. During half time we headed up to a suite because Patrick and David's Willamette coach has a seasonal suite and we knew a few people up there. So the second half of the game we sat up there while Reesa had completely knocked out. She's not ready to cheer for an entire soccer game just yet.

After the game we had to hit up the taco truck outside. Which brings me to an announcement!! June 26th: Aaron and Maria's Taco Truck Birthday Party!! More details to come via evite. Mark your calendar!!

This morning as we were eating breakfast, Reesa is in her walker going crazy. Patrick says, "Reesa is an extrovert Maria. Whoa. That's intense." Thanks hun. We do have an active baby on our hands but it's nice that she's so fun to be around and loves to be out with people. It makes it easier to go to most places. Good job Reesa you did so well at your first of many soccer games this season.

Community

2010-05-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

This morning I'm sipping French Press coffee that my hubby made for me before heading to work and my baby is already napping because she partied hard last night with Aunt Alison and Grandma Kathy at a family party. I'm completely exhausted and filled from this week.

Where did all those shoes come from? All of Missio came over on Wednesday night. We ate buffalo wings, prayed together for our group, and just connected with one another. I love, love, absolutely love the people in our group!! It was loud and there were kiddos running around and jumping all over the place, but the thing I love most about Missio is that we are family. When one kid is fussy, there is always someone to step in and take him/her away to play with, when someone is hurting, there is someone there to listen and give a hug. That is family. The last of the last left around 10:30; that's good stuff!!

Last night we started our community outreach at Neighborhood House. Four of us came to help families in need grocery shop at their pantry downstairs. It was so interesting to chat with the different people & families that came through. I believe we saw 45 people/families in four hours. The cool thing is while you are helping them choose items off the shelf you get to chat it up with them. Better yet, they chat you up. I was given advice about what items go well together for meal, taught about how to read the back of labels, helped a few ladies that didn't speak English, answered questions about expiration dates, and shown a scar from a recent surgery on her breast. A few people tried to take more than they were allowed but for the most part people were very nice and grateful for our help and Neighborhood House.

It was a good night and we got to see the needs to fill donation wise for their pantry and see/meet those that come to the Food Box. We will continue working with the Food Box program each month and their Annual Auction at Duck Ridge Farms coming in August.

Now the week is over and Friday is here!! Today Reesa goes with Grandpa Larry to visit Great Grandma Kelley and I will get a pedicure and watch SATC 2 with my friend Vikki while Patrick gets to have Reesa all to himself this evening. Yeah for the weekend!!

Cabinet Update

2010-05-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned in previous posts that Patrick had a project with our cabinets in the living room. It was technically a wet bar; it had a sink and lighting to host a bar in your living area. Our condo was built in 1970, so I figure that was the cool and trendy thing to do :) Here's are the cabinets.

Unfortunately we did not take before pictures and all of a sudden a few Sundays back, Patrick decided to take a mallet to the inside and the sink and counter were gone. He chose this really pretty wood that has a hint of green in it. Patrick replaced the counter and installed shelving for his beer mugs collected from around the world.

Yes I know it sounds strange when you hear that we made a closet for beer mugs, but when you see how cool each mug/pint is, I think it's fabulous!! We have a mug from the actual Oktoberfest in Munich, a mug from Mongolia, and beer from North Korea. Yup we posses North Korean beer.

Below is where we decided to keep our good bottles of wine, wine glasses and the bottles that have fun labels like little chica and mad housewife.

The bottom cabinets will be storage for Reesa's toys. So there you have it, our newest project completed!! I guess you can say it's more of an updated wine and beer bar.

Now this is a random photo, but Erin, Patrick's co-worker doesn't like fish. He wanted to show her that fish can look appetizing. We have a blackened ahi tuna.

How are the parents of Reesa?

2010-05-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Since Reesa is basically the cutest baby in the Kelley family right now, most of our blogs are about how awesome and amazing she is. I feel at times I don't reflect on what's new with Patrick or myself. Of course we're not as exciting as Reesa but someone may be interested in knowing how we are.......maybe?

Well as far as Patrick goes.....he's loving his job at George Fox. He had his 6 month review a while back and received gold stars across the board. Of course he would!! The commute is not the most fun but he works every Friday in Portland and when there's a meeting at the Portland campus he stays close by. We're hoping in the next year he will spend more time at the Portland campus since it's a 10 minute drive from our home.

Patrick signed up for the Portland Marathon in October and he still likes to take Reesa for runs on the weekends. He's still an amazing chef and we're hoping to experiment with some new bbq recipes as summer is approaching.

Patrick has been playing the djembe during worship time at our small group and plays when we have a large Sunday gathering once a month. I think he's really looking forward to when our church is large enough to handle a full drum set on Sunday nights. Which brings me to an update that we haven't shared with some of you...

We committed to being core members of a church plant is southwest Portland. It's a church plant with the Alliance church, which is the same denomination as the church down in Salem. The Church planter John Chang's name was mentioned one afternoon while we were attending Mosaic (an alliance church in NE Portland) and the Senior Pastor of Mosaic said that if anyone was interested in learning more about the church plant is SW Portland (Missio) to check out their website for John's contact info. So we did. We met John and his family at a pub and heard about their vision in our community and we were hooked!! We've been going to the small groups since March and are now hosting a missional community (small group) or our own!! We are really thrilled about how God has placed this church in front of us and it's exactly what we've been looking for in our very own neighborhood.

Tonight we are having all of Missio join us in celebrating the birth of a new missional community at our home!! We are so excited to see how God uses us to reach people in our neighborhood and pray that we can be there for those that need God to heal their brokenness.

In other news I have begun to do volunteer work!! Now that Reesa is 6 months and she can handle being a bit more independent, I have signed up to be a volunteer for homework club at a nearby middle school. There are only two weeks left until the school year is over, but they have a summer camp that needs teacher assistants during the week as well. So I'm able to help out once a week for a couple of hours. I forgot how crazy middle schoolers are!! Kathy has been so generous in taking Reesa so that I can still be connected to the education realm.

There is also a food box program at a local organization called Neighborhood House down the road from us. Once a month we get to volunteer and help families in need shop at the Neighborhood House Food Store. It's nice to be involved in the community you are living in. These are the families and children that Reesa will be going to school with some day and I think it's important to be loving and supportive of our neighbors. Even if we don't have a lot of free time, it's nice that we can help out when we do.

Well, I think that's the parental update as of yet. More about Reesa later!!

We have blinds folks!!

2010-05-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Patrick worked on a few projects around our little casa, like our blinds!! Yes we now have blinds upstairs in our bedrooms. Next step curtains. Like I said before we are taking our sweet time putting the finishing touches, because there's no rush. Although having sheets as coverings for the last month has felt like we lived in a fort. Reesa liked it!! You will have to excuse the mess in these photos, we don't tiddy up on Sundays; we leave that till Monday. :)

Friday night we had Joe and Alene over for a movie night which turned out to be more of a "lets watch episodes of our favorite shows" till midnight. I got to sleep in on Saturday till 9:30am. I needed it to recover from my binge on M&M's & licorice.

Alison and Aaron made it back from Mexico and came over on Saturday for a bit. Reesa was super excited to see them and they even brought her a pretty orange dress.

Shortly after that the Erickson Family arrived and we had Chinese takeout with some refreshing white wine. I haven't had Chinese food since China, but I figure it's about time I give it another whirl. So far so good; no incidents to report in the first 24 hours. This is Maya in her frog boots and backpack. Reesa followed Maya around all evening.

Today we made it to the 9am service and had lunch with Jono and Amy at this cafe off 50th & Division. Super good huevos rancheros and they even have a habeniero sauce that really gives it a kick. Delicioso!! Patrick took Reesa to the pool in the afternoon while I had a chance to do a little cardio in the gym. Yeah for break time!! I didn't overdo it because I'm not really in shape and I still need energy to make it to 8pm for Reesa's bedtime. I've made that mistake before :)

Now Reesa is napping so I can blog and Patrick is cooking artichokes before his soccer game. This weekend was jam-packed but oh so fun when you get to spend quality time with friends.

A little nightcap if you will......a Reesa video!!

We have a TOOTH folks!!

2010-05-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Can you believe this chica is seis meses?? No lo creo!!

A big Tuesday for the Kelley household. It started off with a morning at Kaiser for Patrick and I. We had eye exams and hopefully my MK sunglasses will come back unbroken and with a new prescription in the lenses. I just kept my old frames and replaced the lenses for a more crisp vision. Patrick picked out a newer version of his old frames. He thought it was something new. I had to tell him that the only difference was the bottom didn't have the frame but same color and wire as his old ones. Kinda funny. He told me he's new to all this eye glass "lingo". Huh?

From there Reesa and I met up with Grandma Kathy for a play date with Ashley's new baby. The Moreland Family has three kids that are exactly the same age as Alison, Patrick, and Kristin. Ashley is the oldest like Alison and she just had Meg on Friday. So we had to go see the new bundle of joy and have Reesa meet her new longtime friend. Reesa, Meg, and Baby Geist (coming in September) will all be super close in age. It's so weird that we (the parents) are all close in age and now have kids that will grow up together as well. Totally not planned, trust me.

After that Reesa and I went with Grandma Kathy to BabiesRUs to take a look at high chair. Yes, folks we need a high chair. I'm waiting for craigslist because I have a feeling I will score one for $20 bones but Kathy wanted to take a look for one at her house. She is a Grandma of two now. :)

Now it's almost 1pm, Reesa needs a nap and I need lunch. We took a breather at home before the big check-up appointment at 2:10pm. After a little regroup time, we head back to Kaiser. I gave Reesa her new sippy cup to entertain her while back in the car. Unfortunately she preferred the cup to be upside down instead of right side up. I get her out of her carseat and she's soaked!! Of course we have no change of clothes because I used them at Ashley's when I went a little too long before changing her diaper. Oh man!! Moving on...

I made my list of questions to ask Dr. Ruby; sunblock, food & constipation, and teething. The nurse gets Reesa's measurements and then I take off her wet clothes for weight and keep her in her blanket. Thank goodness I brought a blanket!! The doc comes in and she says, "Around 4 months babies plateau, like right here in Reesa's weight. She's come down to the 50%. However, she's still ranking up there in height." How interesting??? I thought maybe she would have come down a bit, not jump from 93% to 95%.

Next we have the Q&A. I was just about to ask Dr. Ruby about Reesa's gums when she says, "oh look we have a tooth that has broken through!" What!! Come again? My baby has a tooth!! Just like that...whamee. Sure enough you can feel it when you put your finger in her mouth.

We also had the last series of her shots for the year. It's finally over!! Reesa took it like a champ and then I brought my little bandaged naked baby in a blankie home. The rest of the evening was cuddle time and just being in awe that I have a baby that is 6 months old. I've been a mommy for 6 months. I can't believe it, but I'm loving it more and more as she continues to grow and become more developed in her ability to communicate with me. I absolutely love it!!

I also have to share my craigslist purchases. I've been reading about toys for babies 6-12 months and have looked at a few second hand stores. I just couldn't commit last week, I could only read up and think about what I really wanted to look for. I decided that cups, wooden blocks, and anything around the house would suffice for now. However, I kept stumbling on this laugh & learn playset. Well a lady posted it on craigslist Monday morning for $18 and it's regularly $38 so I figured I better jump on that. It's in English and Spanish. When you push a piece it will tell you the color and shape or if it's on the music switch, it just lights up and makes noise. Pretty cool.

The lady was very nice but also very sneaky. She just so happened to throw in another toy "just in case" I might like it. It's a bit old for Reesa but she gave me both for $30 and combined would cost me $120 in the store. Plus we have toddlers that come over from time to time. The playhouse has mail, a door key, blocks, and a few other gadgets to play house and use it as the front of a fort!!

All in all a busy first two days. Today we are hanging around the house until bible study. Ok, we might go for a walk if it's nice out.

Skirts...Food...and Horses

2010-05-16T09:19:00.000-07:00

Do you like this sparkly and sequined skirt? Reesa's great grandma Marie gave it to her. That's right, her great grandma picked this out. Isn't that fantastic?

This week has been sunny, fun, and eventful. The last few days of the week were in the 70's and we spent as much of it outside as we could. We went to the park, downtown Lake Oswego, coffee with friends, and a trip to Mother's Nature, a cloth diaper store in NE Portland.

Reesa is now eating more food each day. We try not to give her too much as she really doesn't need it but she just loves to put a spoon in her mouth. She is also learning to drink out of a cup. It's so cute how she watches us and tries to mimic us.

I bought this food mill at Mother's Nature. I love their store because they have such easy methods for providing natural products for your baby. The food mill is super small and easy to carry and even better it costs $12. Gotta love that!!

Reesa can sit up for longer periods of time as her back continues to get stronger. She looks like such a big girl when she plays with her toys while sitting up. I get all teary-eyed just watching her.

This weekend the three of us headed to a horse show to watch Auntie Baby (Kristin) showcase Tigo in a few jumping events. Kristin looked so poised and Tigo's hair looked great all done up!!

Reesa loved being out at the barn. She had the chance to sport her Hello Kitty sunhat that dad bought in San Fran for her. Reesa also had a 13 month old friend to play in the grass/dirt with. Keira tried to give Reesa a high-five, but Reesa can only give fist pumps at the moment.

In house updates, we added a new shelf to our dining room. We decided to dedicate that as our Asian shelf, from our travels last year.

Today, Patrick is installing more shelving in our living room cabinets in our "wet bar" that we are going to revamp and just make it a cabinet for....well you'll see. The rest of our Sunday will be spent at the pool and evening church. Maybe we'll get to the dishes in the kitchen, but probably not. That's what Mondays are for!

First Mother's Day

2010-05-13T07:34:00.001-07:00

Sunday was a great first Mother's Day. I slept in till 8am and when I headed downstairs Patrick and Reesa had just gotten back from the store. Fresh brewed coffee awaiting me, donuts as a morning appetizer, and bacon and potatoes on the stove cooking away.

After brunch we went for a long 2hr walk to work off the enormous feast we had just endured. At 5pm we headed over to Mosaic and topped the evening off with a family dinner at the Kelley House. It was a wonderful day and I got exactly what I wanted: quality family time, just the 3 of us. Couldn't ask for a better Sunday.

In other news, Reesa is still growing like a weed!! We are going for her 6month check up. I can't believe my baby is 6 months old!! She is talking more....I think her first word is going to be "dada". I love that. She's starting to pick herself up to crawl but it ends up being more of a worm dance move. No teeth yet, but she loves to put everything in her mouth. We recently added a new member to Reesa's toy collection. Meet Sophie.

Sophie is an all-chewable toy. Reesa loves to hold Sophie by her neck and chew on her ears and nose. Then when she's done with that she flips Sophie upside down and chews on her legs. Sometimes it's just one and other times she has two or three in her mouth at a time. Of course baby girgles come with this process and it's so cute to watch her interact with Sophie.

As you know, Reesa loves being out and we are starting to make more plans outside as the weather begins to warm up. We've been going on walks, having coffee with friends, making mommy group plans, and of course the Portland Monthly Magazine was a perfect fit for my current situation. I love Portland summers.

Our home is starting to feel more like our home. We are taking our time getting each room situated as we do have busy weeks and want to enjoy our weekends as a family. Last week we took a bit of time to hang a few things in our living room. Living room done.

I have also started to use our kitchen more for baking time with Reesa. Chocolate white chip cookies for bible study. Yum!!

Yeah for baking and for Reesa loving to watch me bake and slobber all over the measuring spoons. She's just the best :)

Koi Fusion

2010-05-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

So this is a very interesting story. It all started in Korea with some of my students. Several of my students have been overseas to study in the U.S. Most went to large cities like L.A., New York, or Chicago. Well on one occasion we were discussing Korea town in L.A and one of my students brought up that there is an awesome taco truck that sells kimchi tacos and they are amazing. Kimchi tacos? What type of fusion is that? You've guessed it: Korean and Mexican.

Well six months later at our bible study, our friend, Joel To mentioned there is a kimchi taco truck (Koi Fusion) that roams around Portland and you can check their twitter for locations. No way!! I can't remember how it even came up. Probably Patrick was talking about how much he loves kimchi.

Then about a week ago my brother Aaron and I were discussing our soon to be taco truck party in June and how we need to started testing tacos for our birthday party. Well, Aaron said that he was talking with one of his youth students about taco trucks and his student told him about Koi Fusion and how great they are and they cater parties. Oh man!!

I couldn't take all this mention about kimchi tacos anymore!! So, tonight Patrick and I went downtown to 20th and Burnside and had kimchi/bulgogi tacos and a kimchi/short rib burrito and we were so content. The guy gave me the caterer's business card and said they love to do parties. I guess they have a restaurant on 13th and Lovejoy.

My craving has now been satisfied and I have found a new taco truck that I love!! On the way home I told Patrick we should buy some kimchi to cook with. He looked at me like I just told him I want to shave my head!! I think we might have a potential front runner for our party.

Save the last week of June for the taco truck party. An exact date to follow soon.

Phoenix Trip

2010-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Wow!! So much has happened in the last few weeks. We have officially moved and are more or less settled. Not all the rooms are in order but everything is put away so we are functional. This last weekend we got our living room and kitchen all in order. We have also wasted no time in opening our home for hosting. We really missed having people over and just sharing life with those we enjoy spending time with.

We just got our Internet in order, hence why I am blogging about all this so late.

Now on to the really cool stuff. Reesa. She has done so much recently.

1. We took our first big plane trip to Phoenix two weeks ago. Reesa did really well and I was so proud of her. It helped that I had Larry and Kathy next to me on the plane. We got to go to the front of all the lines at the airport because we had a baby. Awesome!! Patrick was in a conference in San Fran so we were apart for a week. Reesa and I really missed him.

2. Reesa now has eaten pears, peas, and carrots. She is loving food and likes to make slurping noises when she eats.

3. Reesa went in the pool!! At first she didn't know what to think of it, but by day 3 she was so intrigued by the other big kids in the pool. It was so cute to watch.

4. Reesa has finally transitioned from her pack-n-play to her big girl crib. She has been sleeping in her own room for a while but we are now settled in our new home and she can finally enjoy her new bed. She looks like such a big girl when she is sleeping :)

5. Reesa is growing like a weed!! She is so long that there are some 9 month old babies that she is bigger than!! What? She must get her height from her mother. We are already in 9month clothing and she is making her way into her 12 month stuff. I can't handle how fast she is growing. I'm not ready for a toddler!!

6. Reesa and I visited with Ally and Kris in Phoenix. We went to the Zoo, walked downtown, and hung out with some of their friends that absolutely adored Reesa. Which of course she loves!!

It has been a fun couple of weeks and we are still getting our home in order. Photos to follow soon.