Fun at the Park

Reagan, Jeremy and I love to go to the park, actually, Jeremy and I love to take Reagan to the park and Reagan LOVES it!! There are so many cool things to do at the park, like swing really high on the swings, run around and pick up all of the mulch around the playground and try to eat it, get mesmerized by the duckies and try to get to them any way we can, even if that means almost going for a swim in the pond!! The park is so much fun, see......

So....

What do you think??? I personally think it turned out beautifully:-)) The pictures totally do not do it justice. I am totally pleased at how my little project turned out!! Now I walk in her room and smile a big smile, this makes me happy!!

Let's Play

I love to sit back and watch Reagan play on her own. Its fascinating to me to sit and watch her little mind work and figure things out right before my eyes. Here are some of my favorite candid photos of Reagan doing her thing, unbeknownst that she had an audience!!


Feeding her baby:-))




Sitting in her toy container just having a grand old time:-)))




Playing mommy and taking care of her babies:-))



Getting pretty and dressing up, such a girly girl, loves her necklaces and bracelets...

Against everything that is in me.....

To let Reagan do this.........




and this......



But you see, Reagan loves to get her hands dirty, and play, and it does not bother her, actually, the messier, the better. I, on the other hand, do not enjoy getting dirty, I do not enjoy messes, I can hardly stand dirt on me at all. I love going to the beach, but I must admit, I get anxiety thinking of all the sand that will get on me, my stuff, and what a mess it all makes. I am not one to lay on a sandy beach without a towel, and there is NO WAY, EVER, that I will EVER be one to let someone bury me in the sand.

For Easter, the Easter Bunny brought Reagan a sand and water table. I initially thought it would be a great idea, Reagan would love it, she LOVES playing in the water. I knew she would love it, but I wasn't sure if she would like playing in the sand. Well, I should have known. I stood in horror as I watched her get messier and messier and dirtier and dirtier. Sand and water flying everywhere. I took everything in me not too yell, STOP, your making a HUGE mess. But, I let her go, she had a BALL!! I stood back and swallowed all of the anxiety that comes along with this type of mess, and let her go, and I'm glad that I did. Reagan and I are different, in many ways, I can already tell. I am sure that I will, throughout her life, have to do this very same thing, stand back and let her go her own way, make her own messes, but always be there to cheer her on, and help clean her up after everything is said and done!! It's funny how huge life lessons can be learned with the help of a little sand and water, and a big MESS!!

I took a bunch of pictures of Reagan the first time we let her play with her new sand and water table. I love the progression of how the pictures go, from playing in just the water, fully clothed, with her girly necklaces on, to a half naked dirty mess. Enjoy....

Happy Easter!!

We had a wonderfully quiet and restful Easter Sunday here at the Walden homestead!! We got up Sunday morning, got ready for church, went to a wonderful Easter service, played with the babies in the nursery, came home, ate a yummy lunch courtesy of Freebirds, took naps, woke up, took pictures of Reagan opening her Easter presents, and relaxed for the rest of the evening, playing with all of our, well Reagan's, new gifts that the Easter bunny brought!!










So thankful for this girl and family and friends, and especially, the death and resurrection and love of Jesus Christ!!

Hope you and your family had a blessed Easter!!

Guess Who is 16 Months Old

Yep, you guessed it, Reagan is 16 months old!!! Holy cow, my baby is growing up right before my eyes!!! I sat the other day and looked at some of Reagan's baby pictures from when she came home from the hospital and those first few weeks, my oh my how things change, and fast, really fast!!!

So Reagan Avery, what are you up to these days.....

1. Well, for one thing, you are such a big girl now, you weigh somewhere around 21 pounds, you are in size 4 diapers (we just switched) and your hair is getting thicker and thicker and more and more out of control daily. Your hair has some curl to it, especially in the back, and its just like my hair, just like it, the color, texture, everything. And, unfortunately, the only thing I have found to tame my hair is a CHI flat iron, and I think your a little too young for that:-))

2. You are miss independent, you want help with NOTHING. You can do all things all by yourself, or at least you try!! And your a determined little booger too!! You will not give up when you want something, or want to do something. I think at some point, this will be a very good quality, but right now, it does lead to some frustration and tears at times.

3. Your also a little monkey. You are a climber at heart, and you climb on anything and everything. I have been told that I was alot like you when I was your age, but I plead the fifth!!! You are so active and climb on so many things, that at church when setting up the new nursery, they used you as an example as to what was safe where it was and what was not and needed moved. They went around the room as said "Can Reagan Walden get to this, yep, well better move it then" :-)))

4. You are starting to talk more and more, and have more and more words all of the time. Some of your tried and true favorites are Hi (you say hi to everyone and its too cute), puppy (you love dogs), Oh No (that really sounds like Oh Be Do), Mimi (mommy), Dada, more (and you always sign more along with it). You also have a few words that you repeatedly say, that I repeatedly have trouble deciphering what it is your trying to say. One of those words sounds like Dobby, not sure what your are trying to say, but every time you say it, I turn around and totally expect to see a house elf standing there!! Your favorite animal sound is a tiger, not a dog or cat or duck, a tiger. I'll say "Reagan what does a tiger say?" and you will laugh and then growl at me, its really cute and funny!!

5. You understand so much now, it blows my mind. If you are hungry, you will come up to me and sign more. I'll tell you it's time to take a bath, and you'll go to the bathroom and get ready. I will ask you where your babies are, and you will go and get them. I'll ask you if you want to read, and you will go and get a book to read. Your a smart little cookie, and its so fun to see you grow!!

6. You are starting to play on your own and I can start to see your imagination grow!! You love your babies and love to feed them. I showed you the first time how to feed your babies with a bowl and a spoon. Now you get your baby, your bowl and spoon, and try to feed your babies. You get pretty close to the mouth, sometimes the spoon goes closer to the babies eyes or nose, but at least you know the food should go somewhere in the facial area:-)))

7. Your still a momma's girl, which I love, but you love to love on your daddy too!! You love to give kisses, hugs and love pats. You are not much of a snuggle bug, you like to move way too much for that, but I do get some snuggle time in at night before you go to sleep for the evening. You usually go to sleep around 7:30 pm. and usually sleep until at least 6 or later. You still wake up sometimes, but for the most part, you sleep pretty well. You are still nursing, I just can't seem to wean you from it yet. Were working on it though!!!

8. You are finally getting ALOT of teeth. I feel like every time I look in your mouth, there is another little tooth popping through!! You have 3 top teeth now, 4 bottom teeth and another one on the bottom about to break through any time!!

9. You are a pretty good eater when you want to be, and sometimes not so much. Somedays you will eat whatever I put in front of you, other days you will not touch anything!!! I guess that is normal, I do not think your starving, so I am ok with it. You favorites are mac and cheese, hot dogs, bananas, apple sauce, grapes, and yogart.

10. You are loving the spring weather and love love love to be outside.

11. You have a temper, I am not sure where you get that from, but I am almost sure it's not me, must be your daddy!! You are also a drama queen, and you are not scared to throw a fit!! You are also a stubborn little thing, and really do not like to listen much:-)) We are in so much trouble when you get older!!! But, your so darn cute that its hard to stay upset with your for long!! You give me that big smile and your pretty blue eyes light up, and both your daddy and me are putty in your hands!!

12. You are a delight and so much fun, somewhat exhausting, but such a joy in our lives. You make everything interesting and fun and we are so thankful for you!! Your smile is a light in my day, and I love you more than I ever thought possible!! Happy 16 Months sweet girl!!

Easter Egg Hunting

Our church, the Exchange, had a HUGE Easter Egg hunt today at a local high school!! Seriously, we were not expecting so many people, but there were thousands of kids and families there, and it was so much fun! They had a helicopter come and drop 15,000 EASTER EGGS over a local high school's football field. They also had bounce houses, an Easter bunny, and all kinds of fun things!!




Helicopter dropping Easter Eggs:








Reagan and her Basket:












Can't have an Easter Egg Hunt without the Easter Bunny:




Balloon Fun, he made Reagan a rubber ducky:



She LOVES going down the slide!!





FEARLESS!!