Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Song

Reed's Kath sang the Chocolate Ice Cream Song to him while we were in Colorado and he absolutely loved it.  Chris and I weren't able to recall the words when he requested that we sing it for him last week, so we had to give Kath a call.  She sang it for him a few times and he hasn't stopped singing it since.  He is super adorable singing it!!  Just in case you can't understand what he is saying, he is singing the part of the song bolded below.  This song is circa 1930s and Kathy learned it from her mother, Reed's great grandmother, MawMaw.

Chocolate Ice Cream Cone Song

My mama said if I'd be good,
She'd send me to the store
She said she'd make some gingerbread
If I would sweep the floor


She said if I would make the bed
And mind the telephone
That she would send me out to buy
A chocolate ice cream cone


And so I did the things she said
And then she made the gingerbread
Then I went out, just me alone
And bought a chocolate ice cream cone


While coming back I stumped my toe
On a great big rock
Now need I tell you that I dropped
My chocolate ice cream cone


A little doggie came along
And took a great big lick
And so I hit that mean old dog
With just a little stick


Then he bit me where I sit down
And he chased me all over down
And now I'm lost, can't find my home
And all because of my chocolate ice cream cone

Thomas J. - 3 Months

My friend Alison asked me to take some pictures of her adorable baby boy Thomas last week.  The lighting wasn't great, it was actually raining out, but we did get some good shots of Thomas J., as he is known by his family.  Thomas J. was such a trooper during the shoot that occurred during his nap.  He was so tired from exerting so much cuteness that he fell asleep in Alison's arms as I was packing up to go.  I certainly applied my lessons learned from my previous shoot with Grace, and I think we ended up with some good photos of Thomas J.  Enjoy!!

Look at those eyes!

The pics below are a little bright, but they were too cute not to share.  Hazel/green eyes don't normally pop in photos like blue eyes do, but I think I finally snagged a few shots that show his precious eyes!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesterday I baked sugar cookies, we iced them, and Reed helped decorate the cookies by adding some sprinkles.  I'd say he had a good time!

Examining the sprinkles.  And, just in case you didn't know, a cowboy hat is necessary for any inside-the-home activity.

He wasn't shy at all about adding sprinkles.

"Get another one!"

Sprinkles are yummy!

Not sure if he got enough sprinkles on this one.

Good tasty!!

Frosty!

Around Christmas time last year Reed became quite obsessed with all things Christmas, including Frosty the Snowman.  When we mentioned that we were going to see the snow, he said "we'll see Frosty?".  And, of course, we were happy to oblige.  The snow in Colorado is very dry and certainly not the easiest snow to make a snowman out of, so with a little help from a water bottle, we were good to go.  And Reed was super excited to see his own personal Frosty the Snowman.

Going in for a hug with Frosty.

"You see him?!?!"

He made a little time for a snowball fight.

Sweet boy!

It's NOT potty time......yet!

Let me just start by saying that Reed is absolutely 100% NOT potty trained.  The kid flat out refuses to go to the potty.  He did, however, go for a very short stint, which made us think he was well on his way to being potty-trained, but he got over that quickly.    

Last week I read someone’s Facebook status where they were discussing that their kid was fully potty trained just a week prior and now refuses to go.  He just wants a diaper.  Is it possible that these kids, including mine, are coming to the realization that their life of constant reckless abandon will be no more?  Life is certainly easier if you don’t have to think about making it to the potty before your pee or poop.

So, for now, I will let Reed continue on with his life of reckless abandon for a short while longer and then it’s diapers no more.  He won’t be happy with us, but he’ll survive, and he’ll be happy later on in life when he isn’t 25 years old and still wearing a diaper.  That probably wouldn’t go over well with a girlfriend or any friend for that matter.

A Beautiful Sunset

Check out the sky that I snapped a picture of just outside my front door last week.  Awesome!

The Little Man

It's been a while since I have written a post about our little man.  He is 2 going on 12.  Here are just a few things that we experience on a daily basis with Reed, most of which are just hilarious things that he says.

• "I not just."  This is probably one of our favorite things that he says on a regular basis.  Mommy or Daddy:  "Reed did you go potty in your diaper."   Reed:  "I not just."  Mommy or Daddy: "Reed, let's put away your toys."  Reed:  "I not just."  We take this to mean "no, I didn't" or "not right now" or a variety of other things.  He literally uses it all the time in a variety of ways and we aren't sure how he came up with this one, but it is certainly one that needs to be remembered.
• "I'm a fancy cowboy."  Apparently someone must call Woody this sometime during Toy Story, so Reed is not only a cowboy but a fancy cowboy.
• While rocking in his room at night with the nightlight one our shadows appear on the ceiling.  One night Reed asked "what's that spooky thing?".  To which I responded, it's nothing spooky, just you and me.  And then we both waved at our shadows.  Now, it's a routine, it happens every night.  And, if I don't wave, he gets mad.
• While Chris was reading Gruffalo to Reed, he got to one page that Reed apparently knows very well, because he told Chris "no, Daddy, don't read those words.  I'll read 'em."
• When driving his battery powered golf cart down a small hill in our driveway, he holds his arms up and says "whee".
• "Juuuusssst a minute."  He tells me this all the time.  He would prefer to work on his own time versus mine.
• "Laaaassst time."  This request is made by Reed when I have told him that the previous time was the last time, but he always follows that last time up with another request for the "laaaassstt time".
• "Daddy, you're a horsey."
• He absolutely loves to put his puzzles together.  We are so surprised at how good he is at it!
• As I was singing "Rock a Bye Baby" to him the other night, I sang "rock a bye Reedie".  He said, "no Mommy, rock a bye baby."
• Instead of going through a yellow light the other day, I braked pretty hard and Reed said, unprompted, "whoa jack".
• The night before last was the first night that Reed has tried to keep me in his room at bedtime.  As I closed the door, he said "hey Mommy".  We talked about going to school the next day and he told me "no hitting or pushing ever".  And I said "that's right buddy".  And then continued to say "hey Mommy" every time I tried to close the door.
• Reed is loving playing outside with our next door neighbors.  After running a quick errand the other day, we returned to find that the girls were no longer outside.  He said "I not know where she are."  And then he corrected himself by saying "I not know where she is".
• He is becoming very curious.  "What does that letters says?"  "What's that name?"  "What is that mommy?"  "What's wrong with me?"  (usually said if anything on his person is out of whack or he gets a boo boo)  "What's that sign say?"
• My grandmother kept a toy California raisin from all those years ago when I believe Hardee's used to give them away or sell them.  Well, Reed loves it!  So, I decided to show him the commercials with the raisins and he is now obsessed.  He goes around the house a lot singing "I heard it through the grapevine.....".
• If he sees a baby on TV or in a book, he says "that's me".  The same goes for me or Chris.  "See my Daddy?  That's my Daddy".
• "Stop it Mommy."
• When saying the blessing, we always sing the "We are Thankful" song which is always followed by "God is Great".  He has to say both.

Bubble Bath!

Getting a ride on Grandmother's walker.

My little helper at the grocery store.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Hanging out with PawPaw Gerald.

Sweet Baby Grace!

My good friend Maureen took me up on my offer to take pics of her new baby girl Grace!  I was honored and a little bit nervous to take pictures of her little one.  I definitely have some things to learn, but I enjoyed spending time with Maureen and Grace!  What a sweet baby girl she is!

By far the favorite from our little photo session.  The lighting, her eyes, everything is perfect.  

Another one of my favorites but probably not one you would want to include on a birth announcement, lol!

I learned several things about photography after this one session.  

1.  Always, always think about the eyes.  I got lucky and had her in the right position to make her eyes sort of glisten for a few of the shots, but I didn't even think about it until after I got home and looked at what I had taken.  There would have so many more good pictures if I had considered this. 

2.  Have a plan of action, with multiple alternatives.  Photographing babies is certainly not as easy as it might seem.  Even though a certain pose might seem like the way to go in your head it may not translate into something good on the camera.  Therefore, a variety of backup plans is necessary.

Skiing!

The highlight of our trip to Colorado was without a doubt putting Reed on a pair a skis and seeing him ski down the hill.  He absolutely loved it!  He kept requesting after every time we stopped him to "go very faster".  He's definitely not as risk averse as I am, lol!  We actually let him ski two days, one day when we weren't skiing and one day when we were.  We "skied" down the hill with him once and he flipped out the entire time.  Apparently he wanted to be the only one on skis.  Once we pulled our skis off, he was happy again.  Silly boy!

Getting ready to go down the hill for the first time.

This method didn't work very well for us.

He was a little unsure of skiing but he loved the moving carpet that carried us to the top of the hill.

"Let's do that again Daddy!"

He was much happier once we let him go down on his own. 

Check him out below.  Can't wait to get him in ski school next year.  I am sure he will be skiing circles around me after next year.

Let's go tubing!

Our first day in Vail, we skied and Mike, Kathy and Reed got familiar with the area.  It was necessary to ski that day considering they got at least 9 inches of snow the night before and they had been a little low on snowfall for the year.  We definitely picked the right week to go.

Our second day, we trekked over to Breckenridge to go sledding and tubing in a local park.  Reed unfortunately didn't meet the height requirements for most of the organized tubing in the area.  But, fortunately for us, we didn't have to pay $30 an hour to tube.  We picked up a tube and sled from the local grocery store and made our way to the park.

The Hill

It was a pretty steep climb up the hill, so we tried different modes of transportation for Reed.

Please excuse my nervous laughter.  Chris was a little more brave than I would have been.

Case in point.  I say "he liked that better".  That should translate to mean that I liked it better, lol!

And, he probably liked it best by himself.

Playing in the snow before heading down the hill.  He LOVES snow!

At the end of a ride.  Notice the smiles!

I snapped this pic as he slid by me on the tube.  He's having so much fun!