Snowy Night

The little ones finally got a chance to see snow falling, as the snow storm of 2009 began to blanket our area around 6pm last night. They thoroughly enjoyed it, throwing tiny snowballs made from tiny hands and helping Paul make a snow person on our back deck.

Kate, being that naturally girly-girl she is, was so funny grabbing an umbrella before she would venture out. Funny thing though, she did try to get out the front door without shoes! She was also so adorable, sticking her tongue out and telling me "I caught a big one Mommy, yum-yum-yum!"

Ashton was so excited, as he was the first to notice the all day rain change to sleet ("Mommy, what's that click click noise outside?") then to snow ("EVERYBODY COME LOOK! THERE'S SNOW ON THE CARS!"). He was the first one up this morning ready to play in it, having dressed himself all by himself in his jacket, shirt, hat, shoes without socks and running shorts. He was so mad I made him put his pants on! :)

I am so thankful for this March snowfall, happy Ashton & Kate got to actually see the magic of snow falling from the heavens.

PHOTOS HERE: http://the704reids.shutterfly.com/

First Born - ADR

First Born Share: Here are my responses to a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about my first born! Let's see how much I remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? no, it was a wonderful surprise



2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? no, but we are now



3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Disbelief, nervous, excited



4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 22



5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Morning sickness climbing Crowder's Mountain



6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Paul, then my mom



7. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Absolutely



8. DUE DATE? December 17 I think...



9. 9. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes, all the time for the 1st 5 months



10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Milkshakes



11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Morning sickness and maternity clothes



12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy



13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?no



14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 40



15. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?Yes, three



16. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew



17. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? Preclampsia and weight gain



18. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Presbyterian Uptown in the brand new birthing center (it was only 2 months old!)



19. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 24



20. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Paul



21. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Paul and my mom



22. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?Natural



23. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? yes, an epidural and I regret it



24. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 9 lbs 4 oz



25. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? December 2



26. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Ashton Daniel

Seemed Like a Good Idea!

Tried to teach the little ones to ski over the holidays. Two- and four- year olds with waxed boards strapped to the bottom of their feet pointing down a steep snow-covered slope. Yeah...seemed like a good idea at the time. The good news is noone broke ANYTHING! :) (That's Paul's ski next to Kate's ski!)

Check out Grandma Darlene's photos of the excursion: http://ronanddar.shutterfly.com/58

Here are my photos:http://the704reids.shutterfly.com/2991

YES WE CAN! AND WE DID!

The air smells fresher, the sun shines brighter and my shoulders don't sag as much from the weight of the world I carry....OBAMA IS THE PRESIDENT ELECT!
Having myself been the recipent of racisim that altered the course of my life, I am proud of the direction this great nation is heading!
Also, what an amazing concession speech by John McCain. Ashton and Kate, you have much to look forward and look to in your lifetimes!

School Daze

Wow, what a 1st day back to school! The kids did not want to make it out the door this morning. Correction...Ashton did not want to go to school but Kate wanted to go without pants on. They rivaled cats and dogs when Kate decided to wear Ashton's Lightning McQueen underpants (backwards no less) without his consent. But eventually we got to St. Mike's with pants on and Ashton in tow. The following happened:

• Kate wanted to go back to her old classroom and did NOT want to take off her backpack. She did mention she approves that all the chairs in her new classroom are purple, which is the best color in the world apparently.


• Ashton wanted to hide behind me in the hallway outside his class and was more clingy then he ever was as a toddler going to daycare. He also decided today he did not like his favorite shoes in the whole wide world and wanted a pair I gave to Goodwill weeks ago. :(


• I eventually just had to hand the kids over to the nearest adult and run out of the building *yes run*. I was surprisingly sad to see them go. Really sad, but I got over it quickly by slowly and quietly walking around Kohl's department store and trying on everything I could find only to purchase one VERY cute turquoise top. What a perfectly good waste of a morning!

Wednesdays Ashton has OT 8:30-9:30am then I drop them both off back at school. I am very much looking forward to organizing our lives and spending more quality time with the kids in the afternoons now, while I think Ashton & Kate will have some desperately needed time apart. (Click on the photo to read what Ashton's schedule is like this week. OMG, he has a schedule! Where have my little babies gone and who are these school children?)

Olympic Fever at Our House

This is the first year we've all really been into watching the Olympics, actually...it's the 1st Olympics Ashton & Kate have been alive to see! This is how we are involving it in their lives:

Lego Beijing Olympic Renderings: Check this link out...holy cow these are LEGOS - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1046255/On-marks-set-Lego-Welcome-Olympics-everyones-quick-blocks.html

• Getting ready to witness history = 8 gold medals by 1 Olympian: We've spent all summer at the pool learning to swim so Ashton could begin his quest for the 2020 games and 9 gold medals!
• Making sure the coverage is ALWAYS on tv. Kate stayed up late and watched the opening ceremony on 08.08.08 and absolutely LOVED it! It was so colorful and fluid and simply the most amazing thing I've ever seen. (Outside of Micheal Phelps in a swim suit!) Can you beleive these are PEOPLE 2-3 high making a model of the stadium they are standing in?
  
• After watching the ENTIRE 2 hour 20 minute coverage of the Woman's marathon, which was sooooooooooooooooooooo much more exciting then I thought it would be, Paul and I have started going aggressively back to the gym and try to pretend we are marathon runners when we are on the treadmill. (And FYI, a 38 year old woman from Romania won which means...I still have time if I really want it!)
  

Cover Me Ashton

Last night, for the first time ever I think, Ashton did the most perfect thing a big brother can do for his kid sister...he covered for her! You see, when Kate is bored or finished eating, because she's not quite 2 yet she hasn't mastered the ability to tell us she's ready to leave the table. She simply begins to throw her food about in classic toddler style. Since chicken and Stove Top just weren't doing it for her last night, the food throwing began earlier than Paul & I expected. Paul just HATES it when she throws her food, as he is the usual kitchen angel that cleans it up and, understandably, became irritable with her. Ashton, not wanting his big, huge daddy to be mad with his tiny sister, very unexpectedly piped up with this - "No Daddy! Kate was just sharing with me! Thank you Kate! Good job sharing with me! See Daddy? Kate not throwing, she sharing!" It was sooooooooooo cute....but we still had to take her food away.

Also, earlier, when we were leaving Costco after picking up some milk, Kate would just not share Paul's keys with Ashton. Ashton, wanting to have EVERYTHING all the time, got pretty ticked off and decided to hit her. When I whipped around to face him in the back seat and asked if he just hit his sister, his reply was this "No Mommy" then pointing out the window "I hit the building over there and the car right there". Paul and I could barely contain our laughter with this avoidance strategy in our face.

My Little Mermaid!

Just a 1 short week ago Kate taught herself to float with water wings all by herself. She found some along the side of the pool someone had left laying around and brought them to me demanding I put them on her. So, curious as to what would happen, I did. She stuck her proud little chin up in the air and very carefully balanced herself swinging her legs up and back to grab her toes. She is now a professional and can "walk" through the water to get from one place to the other. I am so proud of her!

Not to be outdone with new tricks, Ashton now makes flying leaps into the pool, where 1 month ago he would only enter the pool by going down the steps or the ladder.

The favoirte destination to drive their cars to is the pool. Ashton insists on eating lunch and dinner at the pool. And you'd better not promise Kate you will take her swimming then not go...she will guilt you to DEATH.

So...if we are not around when you call or come by, check the pool!

Just a Little Off the Top Please!

Why oh why did I choose the morning of school picture day to attempt my 1st home haircut on Ashton? Maybe it was exhaustion taking the wheel for the little hour between getting them to school and going back to sleep...who knows? Sadly, it was Ashton's bangs that paid the hefty price of an attempt at saving some dough. (See photo)

I will say that I think the short bangs makes him look like photos I've seen of my mother at a young age.

The good of the disastrous attempt at saving money is during the emergency trip to Supercuts where Kate was able to get her 1st hair cut! She is a born "girl", trying out all the products while we waited, sitting very still during the cut, being into the whole experience! While not much did come off, her style is a bit evened out now and most of the flips are gone (can't quite call them curls, as they really didn't make it past the first bend).

It's a good thing that we immediately when on to get their photos snapped at school, as when we returned home the first thing Kate did after getting out of the car is fall flat on her face, giving herself a really horrible looking scrape/bump about a golfball size. The tough part was that today she took her class picture and will forever be immortalized as the rough and tumble girl of Room 1.

Also, Ashton has developed a GREAT friendship with Richard, our 4-year-old rough and tumble neighbor. Yesterday Ashton headed off to Richard's backyard to play while I made dinner and through the opened window I heard two bumpy sounding "Woah woah woah woah woah -- HAHAHAH!"s. When I walked quickly over to see what was going on, I witnessed the naked happiness that riding a big wheels down a bumpy hill only a 3 year old could share with his best bud.

Ashton further cemented their BFF status by insisting I buy for him not the blue croc-like shoes I thought would match most of his clothes, but the fire-engine red Lighting McQueen shoes that Richard also was the proud owner of. (See photo below)

I am so happy Richard and his family moved on to our street, they are going to have such a great summer together! Now...if only a little girl would move in!