Rah Rah Rice Cereal

Well...

We're doing this now:

I don't like it any more than she does.

I think we will move right on to the fun stuff - bring on the peas!

Nursing is soooo much easier! I waited as long as I could to start her on some real food (partly because I like the weight loss for me and partly because it is just horrible to feed babies at first) but we finally gave her the first taste of rice cereal.

Not quite love at first taste, but at least she didn't gag on every bite like Colin!

Trucks!

As they are currently building a house on our truck path, we are trying to get the most out of "our" second lot while we can! And that means some serious truck time!  

Oh, and did I mention that since Kevin can't share, Colin needed his own truck too? His is a much smaller, cheaper, battery operated Wal-mart version, but they look so cute riding together! 

Us girls love to watch our boys!

(I totally made the skirt I am wearing!)

Six Months

 Reagan is growing so fast!

She rolls, scoots backwards, has three teeth (two on bottom and one vampire tooth on top!), and is constantly giggling and smiling.

Reagan can light up a room, and she never misses an opportunity to make you feel like the most amazing person in the world!  She gets particularly excited and distracted whenever she hears dad's voice.  This is most noticeable when she nurses and repeatedly turns to look at dad and give him a million-dollar grin.  At regular intervals while nursing she pulls away to ensure that dad is still doting on her and rewards him with a smile and a coo.  The special attention from Reagan makes Kevin's head so big he can't walk through the door!

From her daddy: I love this baby so much!  Every day I think she can't get any more sweet and lovable, and ever day she raises the bar on how adorable a baby can be!

Love, love, love this girl!

Six Month Stats
Height: 28 in (about 110th percentile!!)
Weight: 18 lbs (82nd percentile)
Head Circumference: 43.4 cm (82nd percentile)

Sewing Step by Step

My mother sews beautifully.

She sewed my winter formal dress, my prom dress, and countless costumes for Halloween, plays, and show groups.  She made all of Colin and Reagan's bedding and has only drawn the line to say she wouldn't sew my wedding dress.

It isn't that she couldn't (she made hers) but that she didn't want to...with all the other wedding planning and partying going on, she didn't want to throw in making my dress too.

Is is a generation thing that our mothers can sew but we cannot?**

I spend a fair amount of time on Pinterest while I am nursing Reagan and there are countless tutorials and free patterns out there for the novice and the seasoned seamstress alike.

I have pinned so many, I thought it was high time I actually started sewing.

So I am teaching myself step by step, tutorial by tutorial, and you tube video by youtube video.

Please don't laugh :)  I am quite proud of myself!

My little willing model

Work it, Reagan!!

So far I have made myself two knit skirts, two knit skirts for Reagan, and two onesie dresses for Reagan. I have fabric for a maxi skirt for myself and a charmeuse circle skirt that I want to do while Kevin is out.

It isn't quite a prom dress, but hopefully one day that will be a possibility (with Nana's supervision, I am sure!)

**I am sure my mom would have been happy to teach me to sew had I been interested as a kid and if I had had the patience with her to teach me! I remember making pajama paints in Beehives at Church and having to take them home to finish.  My mom helped me, but I was so frustrated with not "getting it" that I was too turned off by the whole thing to continue.    

Insert whiney, teenage voice : "It's too hard!! I don't get it. This is lame! Why do I need to learn how to sew?"

Yeah, I can see why she didn't want to teach me after that:)    

Rafting the Arkansas River

Last week Kevin was in Colorado Springs for his firm's litigation retreat, and after the all the "rah rah" meetings, the training presentations, the congratulatory "aren't we awesome" dinners, they got to choose a fun activity.  Kevin skipped the spa treatment and chose instead the river rafting.  I don't think he even thought about how cold it would be this time of year - brrr!

Well, as this was one of the first runs of the season for the rafting company, they obviously had a few kinks to work out.

First, they oiled up the boats so much that one guy almost fell out, asked to trade spots with Kevin, and then when they hit the next rock, out Kevin went!

And his ride down the rapids was fully documented by the on site photographer!

He even held on to his oar!

Unfortunately, the guide wasn't very good and they kept getting stuck on rocks, but Kevin had a blast!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures because Kevin spent a small fortune buying them :)

Mornings with Reagan

It is a shame that as mothers, we rarely get pictures taken of us.  As there is usually nobody else around, I have started to resort to lots of self portraits with my phone that are usually less than flattering, grainy, and filled with double chins and arm pits as I try to get me and a wriggling child in a picture!

These were taken around 6 AM one morning (Reagan is an early riser and Colin is a late one) and even though I haven't brushed my hair, or my teeth for that matter, I love them.

I suspect that is because I mostly only look at Reagan :)

Smiles Here and There

Colin doesn't always appreciate taking pictures while he's trying to eat a french fry!

Big brother graciously sharing his blocks with Reagan

Sometimes Kevin and I live for the weekend and our date nights.  We try to go out every weekend that we can and we finally ate at a restaurant I've been wanting to try for months - Sissy's Southern Kitchen.  The Hansens were so much fun and the food, while overpriced, was yummy.

The vibe and decor was southern cooking and hospitality meets uptown trendy retro chic.

Us gals ordered Shirley Temples  

And for dessert I got an amazing (best dish of the night) banana pudding

Kevin was only home for a day in between trips and Colin could not get enough of Daddy!

Sleeping at the park after a jog

When you take off your pants, it is important to leave your shoes on!

It was so chilly last week we enjoyed a fire.  Summer is right around the corner so it was nice to have it be cold one last time!

Reagan is still swaddled and it just reminded me of her little burrito brother.