Meet Deacon Cole Reed

Deacon Cole Reed
May 8, 2011-7:58pm
7lbs - 14oz - 19 1/2in

So a lot has changed since the last post, God blessed us with a beautiful baby boy! He was born on mother's day, which is the best gift I could have asked for. Delivery went well. I progressed too quickly for an epidural (which I wanted to see if I could make it without one anyway) and it turned out great! I felt like I healed so much faster this time around. Micah and Sophie are adjusting amazingly well. I just don't know how many more hugs and kisses this little baby can handle. It was a tough time to transition for me because he was born right at the end of Micah's kindergarten year, and I realized there was no more mommy Sophie alone days. We won't be able to do all the things we did last summer, but we'll still have a lot of fun:-)

"Mommy, I can't seem to figure out how to get this thing out of my nose!"

So, for Christmas I asked my sister to get Sophie lip gloss so she would stop stealing my chap stick. She found some really cute princess themed lip glosses that have crowns for the lids. Well, being 3 Sophie has broken some of the prongs off of the tops of the crowns. She was applying her lip gloss like a true make-up artist today and one of the lids broke. I was in the baby's room on the phone with Brandon and Sophie walked in with the broken piece in her hand, I thought nothing of it. About 2 minutes later she walked in saying "Mommy, I can't seem to figure out how to get this thing out of my nose!" It was so far up her nostril I could barely see it! I calmly picked her up trying not to freak her out. I told her she could either let me use tweezers to get it our or we'd have to go to the hospital to get it out. She sat very still and it came right out. Just another way she keeps my life interesting, Micah never put anything up his nose!

On another note, Micah got his report card today and he received excellent in all areas except penmanship, but he's a 5 year-old boy...I'm not worried. He had a sub today so no homework was sent home. Instead we did 25 addition and 44 subtraction flash cards. The only ones he had to try again on were 10-6, and 11+7. Luckily he's blessed with the love of math I always wished I had:-)

Thank the Lord...Spring is here!!

We are so glad the weather is finally changing. At least for now, before we hit summer heat. We have been outside almost everyday and the kids are already getting nice little tans!
The picture above is from a weekend away that Brandon and I took to San Antonio. A sort of "baby-moon" before baby Reed #3 arrives. Nana & Papa took Micah & Sophie to Medieval Times in Dallas so we spent our weekend sleeping and eating with no plans other than quiet adult conversation. What a blessing!! During one of our morning walks around the Riverwalk we sat to drink some coffee on a bench. This really sweet couple walked up and pointed out to us that right behind us was a mother duck sitting on her eggs in a nest. (hard to see in the picture, but she's right on the edge close to the water) She thought this was especially neat because she could obviously tell that I'm pregnant. It was amazing to see how meticulous this mother duck was at constantly adjusting her nest to keep her babies safe.
When we got back Micah was on spring break so Brandon took Monday off and we went to the zoo. We spent quite a bit of time dodging the rain, but hardly anyone else was there so the kids had a great time without crowds. They loved the new monkey exhibit in the Africa section, the monkeys were very interactive.

Sophie decided last week she wanted to play dress-up with her Tinkerbell costume, then she remembered Aunt Kelly had given her roller-skates and she was ready to use them. So cute especially with the helmet. She even got brave enough to dance and jump along with the Imagination Movers on the wood floor while wearing the skates.
We recently got some fruit trees for the backyard. Green apple for Micah, red apple for Sophie, and pear for the baby (hopefully this kid likes pears too). The kids had such a blast picking them out, and helping daddy dig the holes! Then we got some flowers for the flower bed and we had some left over to put in their pots too. So fun to watch them participate in these new adventures! And for those of you that may have been wondering, yes I do let my kids get dirty, and they have fun doing it :-) The trees have already starting blooming flowers. Can't wait for the fruit!

Family Time

The first half of February was crazy cold, but luckily the second half warmed up nicely so we've been spending lots of time outside. Micah also finished up his basketball season and loved learning to dribble and make baskets. His coach was the best and made the last practice family practice so Micah & B got to do 3-legged dribbling competitions, it was so cute!! Humble Christian School also held it's 6th annual talent show, Micah and his friend Grace danced to a Go-Fish Guys song. My little man used to be crazy shy, I'm so proud of how much he's grown! Sophie has been enjoying riding her princess bike and playing in the back yard. Oh yeah, it's also rodeo time so we took the kids to the Humble rodeo where you can get much closer for much cheaper than the Houston Rodeo. They love watching the bulls, but Sophie fell asleep during the concert. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to fall asleep no matter where you are or what's going on around you, and know there will be someone there to carry you home?!? We had another ultrasound yesterday to check the growth of baby Reed #3. Everything checked out well. I'm now 30 weeks 4 days and they estimate the baby weighs 3lbs 7oz. Still no luck with the name situation, poor kid:(

Do your kids give you this look too?

Here's the latest

So, Once again it's been a while and there's a lot to share...

















Micah- What an awesome little man he is becoming! He has recently decided that mom is not quite as cool as dad. Dad can build things, drive fast, and oh yeah he's strong too! This recent change of preference has thrilled Brandon immensely!! Micah is half-way through his kindergarten year at Humble Christian School and is excelling. He always has wonderful conduct and loves his teacher. In November he completed nationally standardized testing and scored >98% in all but one area and that one was 95%. He also scored advanced in Biblical concepts and application. I could not be more proud!! He is growing into a terrific big brother, of course they have there little tiffs, but no one else better mess with his sister. He has such a tender heart when it comes to sharing...most of the time:-) He got a go-cart for Christmas and is doing wheelies in the cul-de-sac. He has also been trying to master the art of rollerblading around the kitchen island.















Sophie- Can you say diva?!? I don't know how a tom-boy like me ended up with such a princess, but I sure am glad God gave her to me. I have really enjoyed all of the alone time I have gotten with her this school year. What a blast we have playing dress-up, painting nails, and braiding hair. One of her favorite things to do is dress-up in her cheerleading costume and make it twirl as she spins. Don't get me wrong she can hold her own when it comes to wrestling big brother. What a smart little girl she, is she wants to be in school just like Micah, and loves to sit at the lunch table and go to recess with his class, she doesn't seem to miss me much. But boy she gives the best snuggles when it's her idea. She's always the leader, never a follower. This fact makes me so proud that she will always be able to stand her ground. Her latest habit melts my heart...she always wants alone time in her room after I have scolded her, it only takes a few minutes then she comes running up to me with her big blue eyes to say "Mommy, I'm really sorry for the bad sins I've done" to which I promptly reply "I forgive you honey" and all is right with the world again.



















TBA- Surprise to those of you I haven't seen or talked to in a while the Reeds are expecting a new edition. I am 25 weeks, my due date is May 9th, 2011. This child enjoys spending it's time kicking my ribs and giving me heartburn. We have decided to be surprised on the gender and the kids are divided. Can you guess who wants what? Of course Micah wants a brother and Sophie wants a sister. I say whatever God wants will make me happy. Micah and Sophie are thrilled that the new baby is coming. They are constantly patting my belly and talking to the baby. Micah likes to say "Hello in there, I love you!" At the moment he says he wants to change all the diapers, will see how long that lasts when the baby actually gets here.

Back yard fun!!

You may be able to see in some of these pictures that Brandon put up a dog run last year so that the kids could actually use the yard without having to worry about dog potty. Needless to say it has been great for the kids and I, no need to go to the park when you have a backyard! Micah successfully learned to start his swing and pump it about 3 weeks ago, now he has moved on to seeing how far he can jump off of it. See the video below.
I was so excited to feel that it was warm on Sunday. On the way home from church Brandon and I decided water play would be fun (after Sophie & I napped of course!) The pictures show how much fun they had. Our little princess is such a girly-girl, when the sprinkler got the trampoline wet she got on to jump and said "ooh, it's sparkly!" It's so much fun to see them have such a great time together!!

It's been too long again

I really need to keep up more often, but life is so busy! This spring has been crazy so far. I've tried to include pictures from most of the things we did...that means lots of new pics for everyone to see! Novice blogger that I am I uploaded in reverse chronological order, but you'll get the idea.
We took the kids to the the Humble Rodeo and the Houston rodeo 2 times. They had blast all three times. The only problem with the Humble Rodeo was that it was below freezing that night and the wind was blowing straight through the outdoor stadium where we were sitting on metal seats BRRR! Micah and Sophie didn't seem to mind, we had to convince them it was time to go. We stayed to see Gary Allan and The Eli Young Band and they behaved fantastically even though it meant they didn't get to bed until after midnight.
Easter was fantastic this year. I may get slack from some of you guys, but we have decided no to let our kids believe in the imaginary characters that surround Christian holidays. I think it's fun and silly, but I don't want them to get confused with the truth of what Easter and Christmas are all about. So this Easter we attended Good Friday service and came home and read the story of the crucifixion and made hollow cookies. We did hide the Easter eggs but I let them pick the candy they wanted inside and they got to find them when they woke up Easter morning. They were so involved it was awesome.
Our most recent adventure was the Go Fish concert. Our kids love these guys and they are fun for B and I to listen to as well. I pretty much shot my fun budget on t-shirts and a DVD, but their smiles made it worth it! If you have never heard of them you should look them up www.gofishguys.com
Now onto what the kids have been up to. Micah seems to be reaching so many goals lately. Just in the past two months he has learned to snap his fingers, pump on a swing all by himself, and ride his big boy bike with NO training wheels! That doesn't include everything he's doing at school. He is now sounding out and reading one vowel words like a pro!! Everywhere we go he's sounding things out or asking me how to spell a work he thinks of.
Sophie painted her own finger nails for the first time yesterday, no I didn't realize she was doing it at the time, but she did pretty good and was really fast:) Her most obvious accomplishment lately is not one that I am particularly proud of...she is so sassy!! She says things like "it doesn't matter" "forget it!" and "you don't know anything." Trust me these are quickly corrected, I can't stand disrespect! I am glad that she has such an independent personality I just hope we can channel that before she becomes a teenager...scary!! She just amazes me with the things she understands and how mature she is (most of the time). She likes to play with the big kids and does real well.

Being Snazzy with the Go Fish guys!

Hunting Easter eggs

Micah's first performance with the kids choir at church.

ROAR!

See what I mean?!? Sassy

Go western day at Humble Christian School

zoo day...it was so cold!

Humble Rodeo

Micah and Arthur

Sophie dancing

So Sweet!
Thank you Lord for these beautiful children!!
Psalm 127:3-5