If you need a laugh....

you can definitely count on Reed to help you out! His recent milestone is opening and closing the screen door! He would do it for hours if I let him. He did it for 1/2 hour straight for a couple of days in a row! Yeah, he's a little obsessed :) But, the funny part is that he puts his face on the screen and it makes these funny faces! On a not-so-good day the other day, Reed did this and I laughed for a good 5 minutes before I could stop! It really made my day much better! Thanks for making me laugh, little man! I love you!




Reed opening and closing the screen - what fun!

Mother's Day, Loves, and Haircuts

Mother's Day was pretty awesome! First, I got these flowers - roses to be exact....always a good thing to get! Thanks to Tyson and Reed :) On Sunday morning, Tyson made me pancakes with chocolate chips in them and we had Tropicana OJ...my favorite that I almost never get :) Tyson also got me a package of Rolos which he ended up eating most of and a new ice cream scoop! This was the best present EVER because Tyson broke our last ice cream scoop. I guess he is just too strong or something like that :) He got one of the Wilton ones that are supposed to be break-proof.....we shall see about that one! But, it was nice to be with my boys! Then, we headed over to my parents house for some German pancakes, another favorite, and we were able to talk to my sister Kristy who is on her mission in Taiwan! All-in-all a great day! Happy Mother's Day to me :)
Coolest ice cream scoop ever! Thanks for breaking our first one, Tys!


Just showing off the blue eyes

Seriously, could he be any cuter?!

Reed loves to give LOVES (like a hug). He always gives us loves before he goes to bed and periodically throughout the day. Well, Friday night, Tyson was lying on the flooer, probably taking a power nap or something and Reed went right up to him and gave him loves right on his head (so, basically Reed laid on Tyson's head)! It was so funny, and he ended up doing it a couple of times! It was just one of those funny moments...I guess you had to be there......but I did take some pictures :) Enjoy!






Yes, I broke down and gave Reed a haircut! I know, I know, there are many of you who are upset and I am a little upset, just because I love the curls. But, if Reed's hair stays the same as last time, his curls will be back in like a month. I thought it would be good to give him a summer haircut and prepare him for the Vegas heat, since we will be there in less than a week! I also knew that I would be persuaded into cutting his hair while in Vegas if I didn't do it before we left. So, Tyson and I did it - we cut Reed's hair.

It was no easy task! First, he is such a wiggle bug anyways, that trying to get him to sit still is a chore. But, he HATES the feel of the clippers on his head....I think it's the vibrations. So, that causes him to cry and scream and wiggle even more. He flails his arms and just has the saddest look on his face.....but we were able to calm him down a little bit by singing. Needless to say, the haircut is not perfect, but it does the job :)

He got a sucker after wards and was pretty content with that. Then, he got to watch daddy get his haircut and he actually liked watching! Go figure :) So, a bit traumatic - when does it get less traumatic for them? But, at least, it is done! Phew! Thanks for the help in holding him, Tys :)



He already looks a little suspicious - as if to say, "Why are you taking all these pictures of me with just my diaper on? Also, why is dada holding me so close?"

The before back

Everything seems alright, right now......

The post-haircut sucker - if you look close, you can see the tears in his eyes...poor kid! :(

Post-bath and haircut - completely back to himself! What a handsome little man :) Tyson's haircut doesn't look too bad either!

Blogging Moments

First... Meet Sasha.
She is my 8-year-old niece and last Saturday was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am so excited for you Sash! It was very neat to be there for your baptism and confirmation!

Tyson, Reed, and I drove down on Saturday and met up with my brother, Brandon, his wife, Kim, their 7 children (Tyler, Lanae, Sasha, Coleman, Josh, Alia, and Sawyer), my brother, Michael, Grandpa and Grandma Rowberry, and Kim's parents, Grandpa and Grandma Spears. It was a fun family gathering! We are glad that we live close enough to see them :)


Sasha in her baptism dress made by Grandma Spears

The true blogging moments came near the end of it all. After Sasha's baptism, she was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and given the Holy Ghost. Tyson had been asked to stand in the circle to help with that confirmation. So, I was holding Reed and he was happily drinking his milk. When he was done, I put him down and put his milk away. I think it took all of 5 seconds, maybe even less, for me to put it away, but Reed had already taken off towards Tyson. He got there before I did, pulled on his pant leg and said, "Da da." I quickly whisked him away into the hallway before giving Reed a huge smile. Yes, maybe not the most appropriate thing to do right then. But seriously, though, that was so cute! Reed knows his daddy :)

Later that evening, at Brandon ad Kim's house, their kids were all jumping on uncle Michael and being loud and fun. Then I look over at Reed and he is in the corner reading books! Yeah, he is definitely not used to other kids being around! So funny :) I love you little man.....

Tyson and Reed - He loves his daddy

The whole gang

Brandon and Kim Rowberry Family

Water is so much fun

First - last week Reed officially started walking by himself! He has been able to walk for a while now, but needed someone's finger as comfort. Then, he would actually walk to me from Tyson or vice versa, but to no one else. Then, one day, he just decided to walk all by himself! Yeah for my little man! Back to the original meaning of the post......

Reed LOVES the water! Ever since he was a baby, he has loved bath time and any other opportunity to touch water. So, it should not have come as a surprise to me when we wanted to play in a puddle at our playground. It has been raining a lot here, so we haven't been able to play outside too much = Reed and I are getting cabin fever!

One morning, it was actually NOT raining and the sun was out. So, we took a stroll to the park to see what was going on. I even brought a towel with me because I knew that the slides would probably have water on them. I cleaned off one of the slides, but failed to see the other puddle of water on one of the bigger slides.

Reed had so much fun climbing and walking around, that I didn't notice that he had wandered to the slide with a water puddle in it! Before I could go and wipe it up, the damage was done and Reed was laughing his head off. He splashed his hands in the water, then climbed onto the slide and got the whole front side of himself wet....ah what a good time! He even modeled his "wet" look off to the camera.

Needless to say, when we got home, a new pair of clothes were put on and we stayed inside until after his nap :)

Waving at a passing car


"Ooooh. I hear the birds."

Seeing a dog....

Seeing an airplane.....


Splashing in the puddle.....

Climbing on the slide...that is water on his pants

Reed modeling the wet clothes. Notice his O-shaped mouth - he goes to modeling school for that :) J/K!!!

The wet clothes....the picture does not do it justice.

The second set of clothes for the day...

He does love this shirt!



Reed is walking all by himself!


Puddle playing - always a good time

Lunch

Lunch is always fun at my house :) Reed loves to eat finger foods, so normally he has cheese, grapes (or other fruits), cucumbers, pieces of meat, crackers, and even so yogurt. Yes, he is a big lunch eater.

The other day I let Reed drink out of a plastic cup without the sippy part on it. He really loves drinking like a big boy. Normally, I still hold the cup, just so it doesn't get everywhere. However, this time I did not because there was just a little bit of water in it. Actually, Reed did VERY WELL drinking it by himself, at first. But, after that first drink, he decided it would be fun to shake the cup up and down. Water went flying everywhere! Luckily, it was just water :) He got it all over the table and then started playing with the water - funny kid. Also in the process he had gotten water all down the front of his shirt, which I conveniently had not put a bib that day! But, he was so happy and giggling, it was really hard not to laugh. So, we laughed together and has a great lunch!


Drinking with no sippy top

Spilling the rest of the water....

Part of the mess that was made...

Looking a little drunk on water. Almost nap time for sure.


Deciding what to eat...it is a tough decision

Eating a cucmber. Notice the water all down the front :)

He loves his lunch! I love his face in this picture! This cuteness is what I get to play with every day :)

I really do love this little man. Every day is a new adventure for us. Today his 6th tooth broke the skin (he always seems to get his teeth in twos). It is crazy to think that he is growing up!

On Sunday, I played the piano at one my paino student's baptism. It was so neat to see her enter the waters of baptism and follow Christ's example! She even gave me a hug before everything and said that it meant a lot that I could come! How sweet! Then, it got me thinking to 7 years down the road when Reed will be taking those same steps! It almost got me crying just thinking about the faithfulness of these amazing kids. I am so blessed to be a mom! Although it can be rough, at times, it is by far the best thing I have ever decided to do in my life :)

Curls

Great news! Reed's 5th tooth broke the skin this morning and the 6th will probably break the skin in the next couple days! He's getting so big!

OK, so recently, Tyson and I have been talking a lot about Reed's hair. Tyson really wants me to cut it and I am a bit more reluctant. It is getting pretty long, I will admit that. The top is not as curly as the back. However, it's all cute and curly in the back and I just love the curls! I know we will eventually cut his hair (probably in the next week or so is what I mean by eventually), but I just wanted to see what it was like done with curl product. I know, I'm a crazy mom who buys hair product for her 1-year-old BOY!!!! In my defense, I just wanted to see what it would look like....and.....I LOVED IT!!! I guess it stems from the fact that I don't have curly hair, and I love the little curls so much, I don't know. Below I have provided picture documentation so that you can best weigh your decision of Reed's curls. So, what do you think? Is this something I should keep up or should I just bite the bullet and cut Reed's hair again?

Bluebells, Ties, and BBQ Sauce

Every time Reed and I go to our little playground he climbs up this yellow tube and looks out the hole. I hide and then jump out and say, "Boo!" and he just giggles and giggles. I finally got a shot of it! Gotta love play time!Spying on the other kids at the playground

Focusing on the dog that just passed

Seeing an airplane


Last Saturday Tyson, Reed, and I went Bull Run Park to see the bluebells. Apparently, we missed the absolute peak season which was about 2 weeks ago (mental note for next year), but we decided to go anyways, just to see what it was like. At first, I was a bit skeptical because we couldn't find any bluebells. I figured they must all be gone, but we kept going along the path that claimed it would lead us to the bluebells. We had quite the adventure at the beginning because it was all muddy and they had placed wood slats across so that you did not have to walk in the mud. The only problem with that was we brought a stroller for Reed and we were having to carry it across all these slats! Reed gets heavy! So, we ditched the stroller behind a tree (hoping it would not get stolen) and continued on across the wooden slats trying not to get mud on ourselves. I was still doubtful, but right when I thought the bluebells might not be around anymore, I saw a river and across the river was a forest bed of bluebells! It was beautiful!

Reed was scared of the river at first, but then wanted to go over the edge to the water! Yeah, we are going to have to watch that one. He loves water so much! He also loved the flowers, sticks, and anything that he could pull! We snapped a few good photos, but Tyson had me sit on this log and it is just not the most flattering picture of Reed and me, but I am posting it anyways...to prove I was there!

I will definitely go back next year during the peak time because it will be even better! Actually, the walk in a loop of about 1.5 miles. We did not go much of the loop, but those are the plans for next year. An added bonus is since we live in Fairfax County, we got into the park for free (if not, it is a $7 fee). So, we will definitely be going there again and will even make it to the old battlefields just up the road! Fun family adventures :)

So we went from this......

and this....


to this....


and this! Phew! I am glad that the mud didn't go on forever :)

I just think this picture is so cute because Reed is resting his hand on Tyson. Ah, father/son bonding time! Oh, and of course, Reed is holding a stick!


I kept snapping pictures of Reed to try and get a good one....I think I succeeded on about the 5th try :)









On our way home we stopped by Walmart to looking for a pot for my Easter flowers and found that and something even more exciting - - a baby camping chair for Reed!!!! Yahoo! He didn't know what to think at first, but now is loving sitting in it!

I don't know what I am supposed to do in this thing, but it's pretty cool!

On Sunday, Reed wore his yellow Easter tie. We decided that I should show my Easter flowers (not planted yet)...so, that is what Reed is holding. I love that yellow tie. Happy Easter again!


On Sunday night we ended up having some chicken nuggets for dinner. Of course, Tyson wanted bbq sauce. Luckily, I had made a batch about a week ago. It is Grandma Walker's recipe, the one that Tyson grew up with, and I must say that it is probably my favorite bbq sauce! Reed is another fan, Grandma Walker! These pictures prove it! Sometimes he'll even suck the bbq sauce off the chicken nugget and then ask for some more sauce to go on his nugget! Sill boy :) He definitely has good taste. So, thanks for the recipe!!!!

I love bbq sauce!!!!


It really does taste amazing :)

Reed still enjoying the camping chair on Sunday night. I would like to give a shout out to Bruce Woodbury who provided this shirt many years ago! It almost fits Reed now :)