7 months with Reagan!

Reagan is a rolling machine! She never stays put anymore and I'll find her stuck against the couch or against the wall and I have to have the boys help me keep an eye on her if I need to get something done for a minute. She's working on getting her belly off the ground but hasn't tried any scooting quite yet which is good-- we've got some Lego clean up to do before she's mobile!

Reagan's first Easter!

Now that she can roll, she prefers to sleep on her right side or on her belly which I love! This makes it easier to put her to sleep as well since she can get herself comfortable. She loves her morning nap about an hour after she wakes up, but her afternoons are less predictable. Sometimes she loves one solid nap; other days she takes a few catnaps. She continues to put her hands behind her head when she's tired and is given a paci, and its my favorite thing! If I'm holding her and I give her a paci, she'll put her hands up and collapse on me-- but just for a second, then she's back up to look around and see what she's missing. I can get some snuggles out of her for a bit longer if its just us two in her room with no distractions.

She's gotten the hang of eating baby food and loves her some fruit-- bananas, pears, apples, mango, and cantaloupe and pineapple in one of those mesh teething holders. She's still working on loving sweet potatoes but she does like avocados. I've gotta get some veggies into the rotation!

Her blue eyes are here to stay and I've seen the faintest signs of her hair growing in, and I hope it'll be dark! It would be so fun to have a contrast from the boys' light hair.

She's learned to splash in the tub! There is probably nothing better than a baby learning to splash water and making the biggest mess because they're just so happy!

Reagan loves to laugh at the boys and they eat it up, of course. She gets so excited to see me too (especially if she's hungry!) and she makes me feel like a hero just for coming into her room after her naps. She's the sweetest, happiest baby and we love her so much!

half a year already?!

Its all happening too fast! Little lady has two tiny teeth poking through that bottom gum and is a growly, slobbery to prove it. She can roll out of tummy time as soon as I set her up to play and she's always happy about that little trick. I did finally catch her rolling from her back to her belly this evening in an attempt to grab one of the Hot Wheel cars! We're making a more conscious effort to work with her on sitting up as we realized she's supposed to be a little better at sitting by this point than she is (poor third kid!) and just in the few times we've sat with her, she's done really well!



She loves to blow raspberries and growl away at the boys or me throughout the day. No high-pitched voice for her yet!

^^figuring out grass and dandelions for the first time!

After a few weeks of sleep training (after I had the realization that she was rarely napping for longer than 45 minutes and that *had* to stop, duh), she's thankfully way more consistent throughout the day and napping much longer. She's 75/25 on putting herself to sleep but is slowly getting better at it! She loves her morning nap and is out like a light within an hour and a half of waking up. I'm always so jealous when I put her down for that nap-- such a hard life. ;)

^^ happy girl waking up from her nap on Easter!

When Reagan's tired, all I have to do is put her pacifier in and she'll immediately draw her hands up behind her head-- even when she's up straight in my arms! Its so funny and also helpful to have a confirmation that she's ready to sleep.

She thinks its funny to lean back in my arms and let me catch her, which seems like kind of a risky game to enjoy at this age! But she's caught on to the game and will lean backwards without warning. Thankfully I've got quick reflexes. ;) She loves when the boys interact with her, especially Jake. He'll read books to her and try to make her laugh and she eats it up.

Reagan has tried bananas, sweet potatoes and avocados so far. Its taken her a few weeks to actually start eating any food instead of spitting it all back out and surprisingly, avocado was the first food that she swallowed consistently. She does not love sweet potato so I've been mixing it with milk for her. She's mostly eaten bananas because I haven't had much time to make sweet potato for her but its time to pull out the baby food maker and get this girl eating!

Reagan's blue eyes look like they're here to stay and her hair is slowly getting more fuzzy! I can't wait to see what color and texture hair she has. Here's to lots of fun changes coming up-- but can time also somehow slow down?!

a trip to Charleston

The boys and I flew to Charleston at the end of April to visit the Netherys, and we had such a great time! That sunshine and warm air did wonders for all three of us, especially since Indiana was still fending off winter. And seeing their cousins is always a blast! Well-- except for Reid and Eli this time. They had some trouble sharing with each other but they'll grow out of this stage and hopefully be good buddies! Jake and Joel can't get enough of each other and played from morning until night.

The first day we were there, it rained hard all day so we had a relaxing day inside, playing with new-to-us toys and watching the rain fall.

All that rain made for an even better trip to the park on the following day-- there were so many puddles, the boys were soaked by the end of the morning. They had so much fun playing that Sarah ended up grabbing lunch at a grocery store nearby and bringing it back to us at the park so we could play even longer. I was jealous of the boys-- swinging on the swings with water underneath looked so fun!

This is what we ended up with eventually-- all four nearly naked and having the time of their life!

We ventured to Isle of Palms to enjoy the beach the following day, but the wind was pretty chilly so we spent most time with towels around us, digging in the sand. Of course the boys didn't mind one bit that it was on the chillier side, but Sarah and I were freezing! We grabbed smoothies on the way home and spent a good bit of time sitting outside the store, watching the boys run around and come back for sips of smoothies occasionally.

Our last day was my absolute favorite day. Every day had been fun so far but downtown Charleston is one of my favorite cities and we didn't plan to go until that morning, but we're so glad it worked out! At first we thought it might not be a great idea because window shopping isn't high on kids' list of fun ideas, so we decided to run around the Battery and get lunch at a restaurant built on a pier.

After lunch, we took the kids on the water taxi that stopped right next to the restaurant and we rode all around the harbor to see different sights! I had just read about it that morning and it was a really good experience for the boys. The taxi takes four stops, two on each side of the harbor, and the full circle took about an hour so it was a perfect amount of time for us to ride and watch the other boats. We even saw two dolphins in front of the boat! Very briefly, but still exciting. Reid talked about it for quite a few days after our trip. 

It was a fast few days with the Netherys but we were so glad to make it happen! That warm air and time with cousins was so good for all of us and we were sad to leave so soon. Thankfully we'll see each other in just over a month at Port Hope!

Easter in Ann Arbor!

I was so excited to spend Easter weekend with my parents and grandparents in Ann Arbor this year, especially since we couldn't make it for Grandad's birthday celebration back in February. I think this was the first Easter I've spent with my family since college, since its not usually a travel-to-family type holiday. We drove up Friday morning and returned Sunday afternoon so it was a quick visit, but the drive wasn't as long as the six hour trips we're used to taking so it was no big deal!

First stop after a few hours in the car, the playground!

 Family portrait thanks to Mom ;)

I love my grandparents' neighborhood. It is so charming and reminiscent of (what I imagine) life was like back in those "simpler times." Jake rode this bike up and down the sidewalk probably fifty times and Grandad couldn't resist the chance to surprise him.

Jake introduced Grandad to the magic of Magna Tiles! I think they created some sort of sea monster...I'm continually blown away by the things Jake builds. He creates all sorts of shapes I wouldn't think of. I feel like playing with Magna Tiles will pay off when he takes Geometry one day. How could it not??

On Saturday morning (my) Grandad took us to the coolest botanical garden that was a rainforest in the front half and a desert in the back. That warm, humid air felt fantastic after so much winter weather! Seeing pineapple plants and mangos (plus about a hundred more I didn't recognize) was a lot of fun for Jake. 

A succulent kaleidoscope! It was fascinating. I'm so glad Mom got a picture of what it looked like inside the kaleidoscope--I could frame it. I'm not sure if Jake was able to see it or not since kids can't wink very well, but he had fun trying!

The fish in this pond were NOT afraid of us. They would actually surface to try to bite our fingers so I'm thinking they're used to being fed?? They were probably the biggest goldfish (koi?) that I've ever seen. We watched them swim for quite a while and couldn't get over how close they'd come!

From rainforest to desert! I've never seen so many varieties of cactus before. Jake was pretty enthralled as well and thankfully wasn't tempted to touch any of them.

On Easter morning we visited the Methodist church downtown where Mom and Dad were married. It is a gorgeous church and it was special to be there knowing this was where our family started. We kept both boys with us during service and while it took four adults to keep them occupied and quiet, they did pretty well! 

Obligatory family photo after church. Thankfully I had some good lookin' models while I set up the camera settings. ;)

And miracle of all miracles, we got a family photo where everyone is smiling and looking at the camera! 

I'm so glad we could spend Easter with our family! A great family, beautiful weather and celebrating the hope we have because of Jesus' resurrection made it a weekend that will always be remembered.