Happy Birthday Baby Reese

OKay, so I never thought I would be one of those parents who spent a million hours on things like the smallest details of their kids parties . . .you can all stop laughing now! OF COURSE I always knew I would totally be that mom! We celebrated our princess's birthday on her actual birthday, November 29th. We ordered special invitations and made sure the cake, plates, decor, balloons, and her dress matched. She was absolutely adorable and had the best time with all of her friends and cousins.

We woke her up in the morning by singing Happy Birthday!

Then she "tried on" all of the bows before her nap.

And then our Princess had her party!

I seriously think I have the sweetest baby alive. She has brought so much love and joy to our lives over the last year I can't even remember what our life was like without her. So thank you for being you, Reese we love you more than anything!

Boston!

So we just got back from the most amazing and fun trip ever! We went to Boston for a few days to visit the Hobsons!! Reese was such a trooper (as always) in the car and we only had a few small meltdowns on the 13 hour trek. We honestly have the best baby ever!

When we got there Wednesday around 11am, Willem and Reese were so excited to see each other. They just kept touching each other and laughing. It was seriously the cutest thing ever.

We had so much fun watching the babies interact that we would forget we were in one if not the most important city in our Nation's history. So first we went to a fun park and walked around a bit the first day and then got more into actually walking the Freedom Trail later in the trip.
Reese loved having another baby just around her size and age to learn from and teach things to. Willem is one of those babies who will repeat everything you do, and Reese (just like mommy) is one of those babies that will repeat everything you say. So while he points and signs, she just says the word. It was quite funny watching them interact. Either way, we honestly believe we had the cutest kids in Boston!

We got to see Salem and all of the neat witch trial history there. Of course in the end, it was all kinda hokey and we all came to the conclusion that they were totally milking it. As Abby said, "On this spot, during sometime around the witch trials, someone remotely associated with them sneezed here." Oh well, it was still an experience we can now say we have. I think the best part of that day was seeing the Barnhart ladies (yes in Boston) for dinner!! We loved it, and of course Reese was the greatest of entertainment. Just to give you a glimpse of the fun that was had, they gave us a table higher than a bar table and a normal sized high chair--yah, awesome!! So we all had many laughs and Reese was held throughout all of dinner--which the ladies didn't seem to mind at all (thanks!)

We are all happy to be home, but we are so sad at the same time. It was so good seeing Abby, Joey, and Willem that we didn't want to leave. But we did have so much fun, and luckily they will hopefully a whole lot closer starting in July! But until then, we still see each other via dropshots, and as always on the phone. We still miss you tons though.

What happened to summer?!

I can't believe it's already October! Really though, it seemed to turn cold literally overnight! (More importantly, I now need to go shopping for Reese. Our little peanut has hardly any clothes in her current size for this weather.)

Don't get me wrong, I love fall, but that only means one thing, Reese is almost a year old. I feel like my "little" baby is getting so old and changing so fast. Although she never seems to grow that fast--I just weighed and measured her and she is in the 12 percentile for weight and 5th for height.

She is moving everywhere and stood on her own for about 30 seconds yesterday until she realized I didn't have a hold of her. Then she flashed that smile my favorite grin and immediately sat down--then we both laughed. She is even taking a few steps on her own before she takes a face plant into either Nick or I. Her new favorite word is Bella, and Grandma Vicky just taught her how to sing "E-I-E-I-O!" She has Mommy, Daddy, Pappy, Baby, and Ba-Ba--which she demands on cue-mastered for sure, so bring on the dogs I guess.

This weekend we are helping Aunt Kris try and find her wedding dress and then heading to Boston on Wednesday to visit Abby, Joey, and Willem.

So for now, I have to finish a witch's costume (Audrey), a Darth the Vader (Drew), and a lady bug (Reese) and move on to the next round!!!