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reese is FOUR!

reese was so excited when he woke up on his birthday morning!

he loves doing homework, even on his big day

my happy boy

unfortunately this face appears all too often

i love the excitement in his face

blowing out candles is serious business

last saturday the day came that reese has been aching for since last october 20th. he has asked about his birthday nearly every day. and this one was a major success. when reese was eating breakfast he said, "hey mom! where is everyone??? grandma? bentley? shanea! they are all supposed to be here for my birthday!" haha, he was expecting to party all dang day! so we tried! we let him open up his presents from us first thing in the morning, which he loved and played with all day. then we went to target to get his cake and i let him pick out whatever ice cream he wanted. (fat free chocolate and mint chip which everyone thought tasted like toothpaste! ha!) then party time came! our families all came over and we had pizza. the kids all played outside forever and then we did the presents which reese was the most excited about. then we did the cake, and he was so worried that cace was going to blow out his candles. that explains the very serious look on his face throughout "happy birthday". that night when i put him to bed, i said the prayer and he kept interupting me. "mom, tell heavenly father that i am thankful for my presents, and that everyone sang happy birthday to reese, and for playing with the kids!" he just could not get enough. it was so fun, because it was like this year he finally got it.... for real, he knew what to expect, he knew he was special that day and that everyone wanted him to be happy, and he was! he really enjoyed it all the day.

black island farms

we went to black island farms for the first time this year. the kids LOVED IT!

yes, i am a wuss

the corn sand box, their favorite part!

on the tractor ride

picking pumpkins

graduation day

my sweetheart boy "graduated" from preschool today. watching him up on that stage singing his little heart out, trying to remember the words, kicking his nervous feet, melted my heart. i swelled up with pride that only a mother of a three year old can know. my baby is growing up. he is my treasure and i hope i show him i love him enough everyday, even though i get frustrated with his "come-here-mom, i-wanna-show-you-somethin'" stories that i hear a hundred times a day. congrats big boy, but please don't grow up too fast, you are still that baby of mine.

as he walked up the stage to get his diploma, his teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up... the major trend among this group were race car drivers, my sweetheart boy said, "santa claus". he had been thinking about it very hard as he was in line, and all i could think was, just like jeromy.

nicknames

my mom and dad seem to always come up with sweet nicknames for the kids and grand kids. i don't want to forget them so i am compiling a list

Savannah- Bannie

Jovi- Little Miss Muffet

Reese- Gulla or Gulla-ma-goo

Kade- Kader-ader

Brixton- Brixy

Chandler- Chan Man or Little Man

Lauren- LaLa

Shanea- Shanea Maria

Hallie- Sallie Ray Hectol or Sallie Ray

Logan- Log-a-load or Log

Drew- Drewser

Darlene- Darlene Marie

Tanner- Tan Man

Tyler- Ty-Tac

Reese

Reese is three. He says the cutest things all the time. like:

"I just love (insert noun here) all the time mom."

"it feels stinky in here."

"ooooh! look at her!" talking to baby jovi
 "last night" pretty much means anytime in the past. example: "Remember when Santa came last night?"
"no way, Jose" (Jose being pronounced HOSE-YAY)

Reese started preschool in January and seems to like it. He gets excited about his projects, but some days he tells me he doesn't want to go because he gets in trouble for not listening.

He loves playing Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones.

He also loves the train set that Santa brought to him.

He still loves to eat fruit but dinner time is a struggle. He will tell me, "I already ate last night. " I would say that oatmeal is his favorite food.

He dreamed about a red monster with red eyes and is convinced that it will get him in the night. We put up Christmas lights in his room and told him that monsters are scared of them, so they won't come into his room.

Reese is a little bit of a hypocondriact. He thinks he is going to throw up all the time. If he doesn't like food he will put it in his mouth and make himself gag until he throws up. (This has happened a handful of times and is really annoying.) If he really likes a drink or food he tells us "it is super tasty!"

Reese loves to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house and asks me if "i will go to work now", I think he likes the individual attention. but then he will call and ask me to come and get him a couple of hours later.

He loves to sing songs, when he sings Popcorn, he says, "popcorn popping on the acorn tree"
when he sings itsy bitsy spider he sings, "itsy bitsy spider went down the water stream"

stripes anyone?

we moved reese down stairs today. it's bitter sweet. i love that he is growing up, but it hurts my heart at the same time. today we took a nap together and he said, "momma, let's not sleep, let's talk!" Freaking Punch him for me, will ya? we got everything moved downstairs and he has been excited, but i think he is a little nervous to be down there alone. i have the baby monitor all set up and i showed him, but he is still a little apprehensive. so brad is laying on the floor for a little bit. hopefully it all goes well.... so here's the grand tour:

the stripes turned out a little bolder than i had imagined, but honestly, it looks awesome!!!!! totally brightens up a lame beige basement room. a special place for my special little man.

Reese is two and a half. and a handful. and i love him to pieces. he is so sweet to me and other times so naughty i don't know what to do. some sweetness:

-he calls sacrament "big singing time"
-he follows parsley around and talks to him all the time, gives him hugs and gets very offended if parsley doesn't love him back
-when we build blanket forts he calls them castles
-he lays his head on my belly and listens for the baby
-he sleeps with at least four stuffed animals at night and insists on having a drink of water by his bed
-he is VERY excited about his new downstairs room and asks when he can sleep there, but refuses to go downstairs by himself because of monsters
-when i ask him why? he says "because, momma, because!"
-he loves to sit on my lap and says "holds me!"

kanarraville

so...my mom and dad grew up in this tiny town called kanarraville. it's in southern utah... and i love it. we haven't been there much since my grandparents have all passed away. but! my grandma's house is still owned by my aunt. so she is letting the family all take turns and visit down there. it is awesome!

the first night we got there shanea did facials on all of us.

drew and dylan have on the purifying mask.

reese wasn't so sure about his turn.

but logan was thrilled with his results. especially his hair.

the next day we went to redcliff and hiked. all these boys jumped off the cliffs.

reese and i making our way to the water. i am a terrible mom and forgot sunscreen. so we asked some people if we could have some. they went on and on about how big reese was until it got weird... like we don't already know he is big... people are funny.

reese and daddy chasing and catching frogs.

drew jumping off the cliff. we went to st george for lunch and ate at smash burger. it was pretty fun. then we headed back to the house so reese could take a nap and my brother kyle and his wife came to visit. i forgot to get a picture of them. it's too bad we don't see them very much, but i guess that's how life is.

the next day we went to the little park. we had tons of fun swinging, playing on the witch hat and racing down the slides. but all fun comes to an end when the babe gets a blood nose.

check out that sad lip! he really knows how to stick that thing out!

next we hiked up to turtle cave. i really enjoyed it but i have to say i thought my dad might die! it was totally steep and further than i expected, or else i wouldn't have begged him to take us. we stopped a few times for breaks and we all made it to the top.

drew, log and hallie on the top.

reese and i standing by the cave.

brad carried reese on the way down and he crashed! poor thing fell right asleep. it was so fun. and i am excited to go again in couple of weeks and do some more hiking.

i think it was so fun for my dad and mom to get to share some of their past with the grand kids especially. late one of the nights brad and all the boys went out to find the leg to see if it would chase them. i loved that. then we showed reese where my dad used to sleep when he was a little boy and how this was the house he grew up in with his mom and dad. he couldn't get over it and had to keep asking everyone about "grandpa little boy like me??" it was truly precious.