Home with Reagan

I decided to stay home with Reagan today because she seemed to be particularly fussy this weekend. She has been spitting up quite a bit so in an effort to stop this before any weight loss, I stayed home to monitor her. Luckily she seems to be in a very content mood today. She has been talking up a storm which makes me think that she isn't sick..just needs to be "reset", as Jeff would say.

We had a very busy weekend starting with a Friday celebration of Aunt Cass' birthday. Reagan spent Saturday morning with Grandma Candy while Jeff and I went to our annual Afni kickoff meeting. Saturday night was spent with Mimi and Grandpa Griffin (Bruce & Kelly for those of you that don't know what the grandparents are called). I'll address this topic in a bit. What we didn't expect was to see Reagan take her next step in childhood....holding her head up like a big girl! (see pic in Jeff's post below). I was so thrilled to see her do this and shrieked in excitement! It's sad to see her get big but so exciting at the same time! We are PROUD parents!

Yesterday we spent the morning being a family and wiping up spit-up. We spent a few hours in the afternoon with Mimi and Grandpa since they are back from the Bahamas! Reagan seemed to be a little, wait......a lot fussy. We finally got her to sleep around 7:30 and then we crashed on the couch until midnight!

Back to grandparents names. My mom and Bob are now Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob. My dad and Kelly are Mimi and Grandpa Griffin. Jeff's mom is now Grandma Margie. And last but not least, my Griffin and Anderson grandparents are now "the Greats".

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Long week, short weekend

Hello everyone. It has been a crazy weekend, running all over town and trying to figure out how to upload higher resolution videos to the site. While I work through those technical details, we figured everyone still wanted to see some more pictures. Sarah will probably be writing something a little more formal in the next day or so.

Good tummy time!

By popular demand, more of the frog!

Sweet Smiles

Here is our first try at uploading a video to the Blog. This is Reagan laughing at one of her favorite toys, it's a tiny little frog that makes her smile and talk every time she sees it.

Enjoy!!

Reagan Laughing from Jeff on Vimeo.

I'm sorry, the temperature was WHAT?

On Thursday, the temperature here was a bone chilling -14, with windchill it was -38 degrees. That's right, we owed someone 38 degrees. I don't know how you overdraw on degrees, but apparently we did. Sarah and Reagan decided not to leave the house, stayed inside and played all day. I had some meetings that I had to go to, but before you feel too bad for me, I was in San Diego Wednesday through Friday...at Torrey Pines golf course. Needless to say, when I called home all of my questions focused on Sarah, Reagan and the weather at home. When you travel to warm and exotic locations, it is best to not mention the 85 degree weather, the lush golf courses and the warmth of the hotel pool. This way, I am sure all of my stuff will not be waiting for me in the yard when I get home. Despite the warm weather, I missed them both and could not wait to get home to be near my girls.


What is Twitter?
In an effort to keep this blog more interesting, we signed up for a twitter account. Twitter allows you to share what you are up to with friends, family, coworkers or anyone who is interested. The updates are only a few words long and allow you to quickly update the smaller things that happen throughout the day. We are able to update it through our desktop at home, as well as from remote locations, so it should be interesting. Our recent "tweets" can be found on the right hand side of this page.


Here is a recent snapshot of Reagan:

Doctor visits, shots and tears

Well, we passed the latest doctors tests, Reagan has grown to 22 inches and 11.1 pounds. We also found out she increased to the 40th percentile in height, 50th percentile in weight and 60th percentile in head size. Unfortunately, this visit also came with three shots to the leg and an oral immunization. Reagan cried and cried, but as soon as she was in Sarah's arms she relaxed and went right to sleep.

This week has been pretty crazy and there are not a lot of new photos, however, our new computer (the old one was about to give out) has much more processing power, which lets me do cooler things than before. So, I am revisiting some older photos and trying some new things, but Sarah and I have committed to taking more pictures over the next few days - so stay tuned!

New toys...

Us at the Bears/Packers game - one of the coldest on record...

Back to Work

Well...the day I've been dreading finally came. The day I headed back to work. I will admit that it was the hardest day of my life and the hardest thing I've ever had to do was walk out the baby-sitter's door. Reagan is always asleep when I leave her at Shirley's house, which makes it easier on me. I know that she is going to be just fine, but I just can't bring myself to look into those beautiful blue eyes and say good-bye. I'd probably have to take her back home if I did!

When I leave work to pick Reagan up, it's the longest drive of my life. The biggest thrill is scooping her up in my arms when I see her! My life just seems SO complete when I have my baby and my husband around me! I absolutely LOVE my life! I couldn't be a luckier girl! My family is so loving and supportive, my husband is my best friend and awesome provider and my daughter is the light of my life! Thanks to everyone that has had to deal with my emotional roller coaster the last 9 weeks! I've found my groove and am loving it! :)

Happy New Year!

Well, here we are at the beginning of 2009, saying good bye to what was arguably the busiest year of our lives and preparing for an even busier one. New Years has always been a good time to take stock of the past year, this list is far from all inclusive, but here we go.

We started the year joking when Sarah's dad had a stocking for both a little boy and a little girl last Christmas, then as we planned a trip to Las Vegas for Sarah's 30th birthday we found out we were pregnant. Not long after we found out we were expecting, we found out our closest and best friends were also expecting, just a few days from us. February also had a quick trip down to sunny Florida for some R&R to escape the grey Illinois weather. The spring passed very quickly with mostly doctor visits, baby showers, nursery preparation and a little remodeling. June started with Jeff heading to the Philippines for a week while Sarah and her mom finished some remodeling and decorating around the house. The summer was quiet but wound down with a weekend trip near Wisconsin Dells with the groomsmen from the wedding and all of their families - a great start to a nice tradition.

Then on November 3rd, we were blessed with Reagan Elizabeth, a little princess who has already changed and completed our lives in many ways. It is nearly impossible to quantify the hours Sarah and I look at her and share smiles at her little mannerisms, all the while giggling that we created this wonderful person. Thanksgiving and Christmas were filled with family gatherings, where our arrival was preceded by lots of questions about when Sarah and Jeff would arrive...as it turns out, everyone was way more excited to see Reagan than either of us - we were simply the method of transportation.

So, as we close out 2008, we realize how blessed we are with an amazing new baby, an incredible family and close friends. We hope you and your families find 2009 to be safe, prosperous and joyous.

Love,
Sarah and Jeff