The Reed Family

Meet Deacon Cole Reed

2011-06-17T18:57:00.013-05:00

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!"

2011-04-05T16:43:00.003-05:00

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!!

2011-03-22T11:49:00.018-05:00

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 tho ught 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 b abies 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

2011-03-04T09:41:00.010-06:00

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

2011-01-23T20:28:00.008-06:00

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!!

2010-04-27T16:17:00.013-05:00

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

2010-04-22T09:16:00.015-05:00

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

A day at the museum

2010-01-19T11:17:00.012-06:00

So I know I've mentioned how much the kids and I enjoy story time, well the last time we went we received a free family pass to the Children's museum. We all went on Saturday and had a blast. These are only a few of the tons of pictures I took. They apparently have done lots of construction since the last time we were there. We were thoroughly impressed!! The kids had spent the night with Nana & Papa the night before so they were a little tired. Once we got there they perked up and were excited to try all of the new things. Micah said his favorite part was "everything". Sophie said her's was the puppet show, although she didn't quite understand how to stay behind the curtain. They of course both crashed in the van on the way home. It's so cool to watch them learn, and be excited about it!

Oh Cecelia, your breaking' my heart......

2010-01-13T10:28:00.008-06:00

What a beautiful baby girl, and oh so sweet! This is my sister's baby Cecelia Elaine. Carolyn and Charlie I feel so blessed to be her aunt! I love you guys so much, thank you for letting us take care of her for a couple of hours. My kids had a blast and didn't want to put her down. The only problem with this is that she was very content to lay on her blanket and watch her rattle and to see us smile. My poor children don't understand the phenomenon of too much touch.

Sweet Kisses from Micah, he wanted to take a nap with her on his bed!

Can you tell she likes to pose? "Say Cheese"What a sweet expression, usually he opts for a silly smile.Cecelia liked playing with cousin Sophie!Even Esther liked having Cecelia around.

Man being cute can wear you out. Uncle Brandon needed a rest from all that cute-ness too!!

Who loves Chuy's?

2009-12-29T21:02:00.016-06:00

I don't know about you guys, but my kids love Chuy's. After we picked Brandon up from work tonight we got to have a special treat for dinner. While sitting in the booth Sophie decided it would be fun for her to climb all over me. Well not touchy as I am, I was getting pretty overstimulated so Brandon took both kids on his side. We didn't realize that we would get such cute picture ops out of it. Check it out and see what you think.....

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-26T23:09:00.019-06:00

So having all of our family living in the same city is really fantastic, especially for the kids. However it sure makes for some crazy busy holidays! We hit a total of 5 houses and Christmas eve service at Church, which included good laughs, presents, and of course good food! The kids were on their best behavior (most of the time) sleep deprived as they were.

Christmas @ Grandmommy & Grandaddy's house

Christmas @ Aunt Naomi's with Big Mema

Sophie & Teagan

Kaitlyn, Caden, Micah, Landon

Off to Nana and Papa's

...Back at home, the kids big Christmas present was a TV/DVD player. It's getting plenty of use!

The kids had a blast at Uncle Greg and Aunt Connie's house. They got to drive a truck, chase a cat, look at deer, and oh yeah sit on a fence to take pictures. How Cute!!!

Final destination...Uncle Josh and Aunt Theresa's house to hang out with Kaitlyn & Addison.

I'M BACK....AGAIN

2009-12-21T21:01:00.016-06:00

*****Okay I really am going to try to keep up this time...I promise.

I finally got a ton of pictures downloaded so I'm going to try to keep up with the downloads so I have something to talk about and show you.*****

Here's a little update on the family.

Brandon: Working hard as usual. He just passed his 5 year anniversary as an "outside plant engineer" at AT&T. He is currently in training to run his first marathon in January 2011. He is also working on a website to help men stay strong in their spiritual growth even when surrounded by worldly temptations. What a great dad, though he usually doubts himself in this area, our children adore him!

Natalie: I've been working hard staying at home. Along with our beautiful children I have also been taking care of 3 other children. DonTerrius (5), Charlee (5), and Krisslyn (2 3/4). I love being able to take Micah to and from school, and going to story time is one of my favorite bonding times.

Micah: He's fantastic, and oh so smart. In August he started the K4 program at Humble Christian School. He is really thriving there. He has already learned to write his first name in print and cursive, write numbers 1-10, add single digit numbers, and he is memorizing a new Bible verse every week. He's been working hard at home too. I've recently taught him to tie his shoes. He got a new scooter for Christmas and is riding like a pro. Daddy is always happy to have him help outside because he is actually helping now, not just watching. He is also maturing as a big brother. He has learned to be so much more gentle and is sharing so well--most of the time;). His favorite show is Phineas and Ferb which he likes to watch on the computer. He has also found a new liking for internet learning games. Starfall and pbskids.org have some really cool games that he does very well. Sometimes he surprises me at what he understands. This fall he played soccer with a team from church. His last game he scored 2 goals. I was so proud. our next giant step- taking the training wheels off of his big boy bike.

Sophie: My little sopapilla. What a blessing God has given our family. I never knew how much I would enjoy having a daughter. She amazes me constantly. She has learned to spell her name, sing her ABC's and dress herself. She is completely potty trained (overnight and all) as of about a month and a half ago, that's right 2 years and 2 months old. Told you she's amazing! She is such a girly-girl. She definitely didn't get that from me, but it sure is fun to watch. My sister gave her a purse for Christmas complete with toy cell phone, lipstick, keys, and nail polish. She pretended to paint her toenails immediately after opening and has barely put it down since.

Esther: The new addition--our kitty cat that the children love and Brandon pretends to hate. I think he's just jealous because she gets more snuggles than him. He saved her from the side of the beltway and she's been agitating him ever since. Her favorite place (besides the Christmas tree) is on me so that irritates B even more.

That's probably enough typing for now. I'll add some pictures and try to keep updated on things as they happen from now on!

Check-up

2009-03-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

Thursday was Sophie's 18-month well visit. Overall she checked out healthy. She did need some hormone levels checked, but they came back fine. She weighed in at 21 pounds and 33 inches. For some reason she is moving down the growth chart instead of up. Here's a little recap.
0-9 mos: 50% weight 50% height
12 mos: 45% weight 50% height
15 mos: 25% weight 75% height
18 mos 15% weight 60% height
Her pediatrician said we made a good choice by adding a daily vitamin to her diet a couple of weeks ago. But I don't get, it the girl eats a lot. Good metabolism I guess. Lucky her!
Micah has had a cough for the past couple of days and was not shy about letting the doctor know. He looked at his throat and said it looked good. Unfortunately that night he started running a fever which postponed a sleepover with his good friend Kaiden. No fever today, just moving a little slow.
Here are just a couple of cute pictures I've snapped this week hanging around the house with the kiddos. Oh yeah and a really cute video too!! ENJOY!

That's what friends are for!! (Olivia "feeding" Sophie)

Micah loves kissing cousin Olivia!

I wish I could look this cute on a bad hair day.

Look at this cheeks, you can tell he's not feeling well.

Just a little cutie!

NASA-failure is not an option

2009-03-06T20:28:00.000-06:00

So today Brandon had the day off and we decided to take the kids to the Houston Space center. I've lived here my whole life and never been. The kids seemed to have a really good time, especially in the giant play place. We took the tram tour which ended up being 90 minutes long and included a total of 113 steps to view all of the prototypes. And hooray we forgot the stroller:) Sophie and Micah actually did a really good job not trying to run away. We met a really nice retired couple on the tram who have been on vacation since last summer touring the capitals of the US. Luckily they took some really cute pictures for us.

I'm back

2009-03-02T22:56:00.000-06:00

Okay, so it's been a really long time, But I have a reason. Unfortunately both of our computers went out shortly after my last blog. Now we have a new one so hopefully there will be no time lapses anymore. A lot has happened so forgive me if this is a long one.
New additions:
Yeah-- Uncle Eric, Aunt Kelly and Olivia moved back to Humble!
Collin, Callie and Addyson were born!
No additions for us on the horizon-sorry if I got any hopes up:)
We withdrew Micah from pre-school, it was a very hard decision mainly because he loves his teachers, but it's what we felt was best for our family. We are taking a swing at seeing how home school pre-school will work and we have an awesome support group. He is learning things (not just academics) at an amazing speed, sometimes I just don't think I can keep up. He really has become a wonderful big brother, and takes pride in telling everyone that Sophie is his baby, just in case they didn't know. He has also recently found a new affinity for his daddy. It's amazing to see their bond and makes me so happy at my choice for his daddy!! His new favorite hobby is driving his jeep to check the mailbox, he's even learning which side of the road to drive on!
Baby sister isn't a baby anymore. She has become such a wonderful little person. Growing way to fast of course, she's making 3-word sentences! ("here go bubba," "what's that daddy"...) Her latest favorite is to respond with a "WHAT?" when we call her name. The last update was her newly walking, now we can't hardly keep her off of the kitchen counters. Even though she's always on the move, she is definitely a princess! She always has something exciting to say when we pass the jewelry counters at stores, and please don't touch her shoes unless she likes you! We recently found a pretty pink little purse which she adores! Oh yeah, sadly enough for Micah, Sophie found out what it means to tattle, she will come find me in another part of the house to tell me "bubba hit."
I have also begun watching my best friend Kelly's little girl Olivia. She is 7-weeks younger than Sophie, ad makes a good little playmate. I think they are learning a lot from each other. I'm dying to show them off, I can't express how proud I am of the little blessings God Has given Brandon and I!!

STAYING HOME!!

2008-09-08T13:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I have now started my 3rd official week as a stay at home mom! Thanks to many answered prayers and a wonderfully supportive husband. The first week was a little rough since none of us were feeling well, but last week was awesome. So here's some updates on the kiddos.

MICAH- He is too big boy now. Today is his first day @ CDC (the pre-school program @ our church.) He went into his class like such a little man and didn't even look twice when Brandon & I left. He loves Mrs. Bekah and Mrs. Michele so I'm sure that helped:) This weekend in San Antonio he rode 3 rollercoasters (kid ones of course), and fed the sea lions. We got to Dine with Shamu and he had an endless number of question for the trainer, Mr. Todd whom he now pretends to be. He is constantly amazing us at the things he can come up with.

SOPHIE- Well little miss turned 1 on Saturday, it really went by too fast! She started walking about 3 weeks ago and now is all over the place. She doesn't know a stranger and will lead us around when we are in public. We spent the weekend in San Antonio with Nana & Papa to go to Sea World to celebrate. Nana said about 10 people commented on how pretty her blue eyes were. Both of the kids lasted from open to close on Saturday and were angels all the way! We had her pedi check up this morning and she weighed in at 19 pounds (25%ile) and 29 1/4 inches (50%ile). He said she was walking "pretty balanced" and saying a good amount of words for her age--uh-oh, dada, hi!, bubba, mama, nana, papa, boo.

2008-07-29T13:28:00.000-05:00

So I'm trying to get this thing organized, but it might be a while. August 21, 2008 will be my last day working outside of the home. I am so excited that our prayers have been answered and I will be able to spend my days with my kids instead of away from them!! Hopefully that will help get this thing off the ground. Come on look at these faces I would be crazy to not want to spend all my time with them!!

The Reed Family

2008-07-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how this works, but here's my best shot!!