Home, Sweet Home

We're ready to get back to our home. For those of you that didn't know, we have been spending this past week at the lake since our floors were getting re-done. We originally hadn't planned on having them re-stained, but the floors were worn down to the bare wood in parts so it became a necessity. After the stain and 2 coats of seal, we could not be happier. The floors are as smooth and shiny as brand new floors, with all of the character of 100 year old hardwood. We are very excited but have not been able to hook up the big computer yet so our blog is light on pictures this week.

Before:





After:




On Sunday, we had a family outing to the zoo for the first time. The first animals we visited were the goats - to which Reagan quickly made a "Baa, Baa" noise. We thought we mis-heard her but then she did it again. We were very impressed with our baby. The next animals we saw were chickens, to which Reagan said "Baa, Baa" - but she was right, there were more goats behind the chickens. So we moved on, rather impressed with our little Einstein. The next exhibit featured Sea Otters, to which Reagan vocalized "Baa, Baa" - she did this at every stop including the Leopards. We should have just called it a day after the goats and went home and enrolled her in Harvard. Her favorite was the Leopard, mostly because it was closest to the front of the cage and moving. It's hard to point out a giant turtle that doesn't move, to her it probably just looked like a rock (it actually looked like a rock to me too).

In other late breaking news, she now walks while holding one of our fingers and can manage a couple wobbly steps on her own before sitting down. A couple times I caught her grunting as she sat down, as if it were a huge task. I guess I am going to stop making noises like that when get up/down from the floor to play with her.

That's all for tonight, we should have some more pictures and videos later this week.

All mixed up

This week was much supposed to be quieter and more relaxed. We plan, God laughs. Our new fridge was finally delivered late in the day and it took quiet a bit to get the old one to the garage and to get the new one into the house. Everything was eventually connected and put back together by Friday night, just in time for Grandma Margie to arrive Saturday morning. We then had an appointment to get some new pictures for Reagan, but our generally smiley baby wanted nothing to do with the studio on Saturday. After 15 minutes of every stuffed animal failing to stop the tears, we headed home picture less.

Sunday was a little more normal, heading to the Great Grandparents house for a brunch to celebrate Grandma Candy's Birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma Candy!

Tonight, in addition to our Sunday night HBO shows, I will be removing all of the furniture from the living room, dining room and foyer since our hardwood floors are getting redone this week. That should make for some interesting photos.

So without professional pictures, we present the best we could muster in the backyard.

The Best of What's Around

Sorry for the late Monday post, it has been one of those weeks following a vacation where we were just as busy as we were when we were out of state.

On Monday night, we celebrated Great Grandma's birthday at Grandma Candy and Poppa Bob's house. We had a great time, got some fun pictures but hated to leave early in order to get Reagan to bed. On Tuesday, Sarah and Reagan went for a walk and Grandpa Bruce surprised me by stopping by the house (we thought he was going to be out of the country!). He missed us so much that he made a quick trip home to spend some good family time with everyone, so we jumped into his truck and went to find them, really surprising them both while on their walk.

Reagan and Grandma Candy:


Reagan with Poppa Bob:


Sarah, Reagan and Great Grandpa:


Wednesday night, Reagan surprised Grandma Candy with her own new trick. Grandma was snapping her fingers to Reagan's delight, and without missing a beat, Reagan mimicked the motion with her hand and was 'clicking' with her mouth as if to say "I can do that too".

Thursday we had dinner with Grandpa at the Great Grandparents house where Reagan kept us all entertained by crawling, talking and almost walking.

For the weekend's events, I attended an alumni sponsored cookout for the returning students at my Fraternity house, we went to a spectacular 1st birthday party for our friends Joe and Lindsey's daughter and then Sunday, our friends Tiffany and Justin had their son's 6th birthday. Reagan was a big fan of icing and especially Lindsey's layered jello salad.

More Goodies:

Cruising with the Pampers box:


Reagan and I at the Airport:


Reagan enjoying the pool:


One last update - we quickly decided that to match our new oven, we should get a new refrigerator. So now Sarah is excited for a new stainless steel fridge for the house, I am excited because I get a beer fridge and meat freezer for the garage - everyone wins!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Tomorrow starts the beginning of a very normal week (get it, normal in Normal?). Unfortunately we mourned the loss of Jeff's uncle Jimmy last Sunday & Monday. Jimmy was Margie's brother and was such a beloved part of the family. We are so sorry that Reagan will not know him but we will be happy to share memories of him with her. We love you Uncle Jimmy!

After arriving home from Rockford, I took a much needed day off to get organized for our first trip as a trio to PA. We drove to O'Hare on Wednesday morning and realized right away what a fantastic traveler Reagan was going to be! After many trials and tribulations with United Airlines (ugh, they have NO customer service and we actually got pulled out of line because they had to load their "premier" customers first. No, seriously. We clearly had an infant in our arms and they pulled us OUT of line. Can you tell I'm disgusted?). Anyhoo, Reagan was a peach on the flight. She was SO excited to see Grandpa and Mimi! This was also her first time meeting Thomas, Marianne and Kyle! And I'm pretty sure they fell in love with her right away!

On Thursday, Jeff and I got some time alone and were able to visit Gettysburg. It was chilling to stand where Lincoln stood when he gave the Gettysburg address. Did you know that 51,000 men fell at Gettysburg, and the Civil War claimed 500,000?

On Friday we had a very laid back day. Of course we went to the Farmer's Market where Kelly and I indulged in hot ham & cheese pretzel logs. Mmmmm...one of my favorite foods. We spent a little time at the "Great" Baker's house and got Reagan into the pool for a bit. It was a tad chilly but we got some great pics of her!

Saturday was THE event that we had flown out to PA for! The Baker family reunion! Good times were had by all.....good conversation, ladder golf and of course, our little star, Reagan. This was her first time meeting the family. I think they liked her a little. :)

Sadly, we had to fly back today. Our little traveler was a little fussy but never cried on the plane. Many people complimented us on what a smiley & happy baby we have. I couldn't agree more! Next, on to the pics!

Grandpa & Mimi met us at the airport!

At the reunion!



Reagan and Great Aunt Marianne!


Nom nom nom nom......

Five generations....

Baby Brunches and home improvement

Another week, another update! Sometimes we get to the end of the week and I wonder how Jeff can think of anything to blog about. It seems as though we are pretty boring and have nothing going on, but we always have something to talk about and always have pictures to share! Not as boring as one might think!

There is one thing that we don't have a picture of, and that is my (our) new oven! After 3 years of having to hit "bake" 3 times before the oven would actually preheat, our old oven finally quit. I was disappointed that I couldn't bake but the thought of a brand new oven was exciting. I told Jeff one day that if he would buy me a new oven and have it hooked up within the next week, I would be so happy that I would cry. Needless to say, I now have a new oven. No tears were shed, but just thinking about the goodies I will make in the future gets me all misty!

On Saturday my mom hosted a Baby Brunch for the women on her side of the family. My mom's cousin has a daughter and daughter in law that have also had babies recently. Marin is 7 months old and Simeon is 3 months. Reagan was the "old broad" of the bunch. When the other babies would cry, she just looks at them like "what's YOUR deal?". All of them are adorable and it was really great to see family that we don't see often! Family picture below! As you can see, Reagan was in her ladybug dress and looked like a doll!

Family photo:


Reagan in a contemplative mood:


Our new umbrella stroller (total stroller count is at 3)


This one is a "create your own caption"...


Baby gates installed and work!