So Big!

Reagan has really started taking off walking in the last couple of weeks. She was doing a handful of steps for about a month, but then, one day, she just decided, "Yeah. I can walk!" So away she went! It's really been helping me out a lot since I can just get her out of her carseat in the garage and let her walk inside while I carry bags. It seems like the last few weeks have been insane in the amount that she has developed! Exciting times!!! Here's a video!

Halloweeeeen

So, yes, it is has been a long time since I updated our blog. Everytime I promise that I will try to post more often. And here I go again... I'm REEAALLY going to try to update more often because Reagan is changing SO much.

Reagan was a leopard/ballerina for Halloween. She was mighty cute, if I may say so myself. I did let her have one piece of her "loot" on Halloween night. 3 Musketeers are a hit! One of our neighbors gives out King sized candy bars for trick-or-treaters. They are super generous! So we've slowly let her work on that, too.

Last Friday she also started walking!!! She had been taking a few steps for about 1 1/2 months, but it just clicked on Friday and away she went! She still prefers crawling because she is a speed demon, but we're getting there.

Here is a picture of her in her Halloween costume.... Enjoy! (even though, again, I cannot rotate the picture)

Reagan is One!

Last weekend we had a fabulous time celebrating Reagan's first birthday with family and friends. She was a little overwhelmed having so many people looking at her, but she quickly got over that once she realized how yummy her cake was. As Grandma Bolen said, "Mommy was holding out on her."

The party was a Hawaiin Luau theme, complete with punch to drink out of coconut cups. Mommy went a little overboard with that, but it was fun.

Here are some pictures of her special day!

Busy month!

Well, according to my mother it has been entirely too long since I have written. She's right. We've had a really busy month!

We started off in Florida. We went down for Andrew and Natalie Dawdy's wedding (which was beautiful) and then my parents, Reagan, and I spent a few days at my grandparents' house in Englewood. We had perfect weather! Reagan liked the beach until she started to eat the sand and we all cried, " NO!" She didn't know what she did wrong and it took her awhile to settle down. So then we just let her explore the sand. Her diapers were interesting. While we were there she also got to go on her first boat ride! We went to a place to eat that was on an island - very good food - great atmosphere. Excuse the sideways picture - I can't get it to flip, so turn your head :)

After our Florida trip we came back only to leave for Indiana a few days later. We went to the North American Christian Convention, which was in Indianapolis this year. Kirk and a group from his church led the worship this year, which was awesome. We also got to see our Indiana family while we were there. Reagan and Asher had a good time playing together.

Next week we leave for West Virginia for the Bolen family reunion. We're looking forward to seeing family, and I know Matt's looking forward to golfing.

Here are some pictures of our adventures!

Busy Summer!

So far we've had a really busy summer! It's flying by!

Matt is now working overnights at Saint Louis University Hospital. He likes it so far, so hopefully that continues!

We went to Matt's hometown a couple weekends ago and then met up with my grandparents that following Monday in Terre Haute. That was A LOT of driving/riding, but totally worth it to see family!

Reagan is not really liking being introduced to table food. Some things (mashed potatoes) have been a huge hit, others (noodles) not so much. This week, however, we discovered that she REALLY likes green beans. This is proof that she is, in fact, my daughter. Her umbilical cord was pretty much an I.V. of green beans in utero since I ate so many.

I took a video of her stuffing her face with the green beans. There are also some pictures of seeing family!

Where did May go?!

I have clearly been lazy on the blog-front. My apologies! It is hard to believe that it's the end of May and that later today we have Reagan's 9 month check-up appointment. Yes, that's right - 9 months. It doesn't seem possible!

My first Mother's Day was great! We had Matt's parents and my parents here for the Baby day at our church, then we had lunch at our house. It was a nice relaxing day - good company, good food.

Reagan and I made our first trip alone this month. We went out to visit Kirk, Amanda, and Asher, as well as the rest of the Bolen family, in Maryland. She travels SO well. My mom flew out a couple days later and flew back with us, but on the trip out there everyone on the plane couldn't believe how well she did - not a single fuss. She was a MAJOR flirt... I can't imagine where she gets that from. It was so great to see family. It was the first time she met our Maryland family and I can't wait to get out there more. Asher is getting so big and his little words: "yum-yummy", "doggy-oggy-dog", "no", etc. melt my heart. We really miss those three.

Matt's new job at St. Louis University Hospital is going well. He seems to like it, and I guess that all I can ask for - not looking forward to when he goes to overnights, but we'll just REALLY look forward to his weeks off!

We have a fun weekend planned (date night tonight for mommy and daddy, Zoo, yard work, church, and friends) so hopefully I'll post some pictures early next week, too!

Orlandooooooo

Last week we took our first vacation as a family - to Orlando. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather! It was in the low to mid 80's the entire time we were there. We were able to go to Sea World and Epcot while we were there. We also spent an entire day just lounging around at our hotel/pool. If anyone is going to Orlando - the Rosen Shingle Beach hotel was FABULOUS!

Reagan did great traveling by air. On the way back we didn't have a direct flight, and I think she believes that her flight limit per day is 1. She was still good, but fussed a little bit on that last flight.

I think Reagan had fun just having BOTH her mommy and daddy around the whole time all week.

Matt started his new job this week at St. Louis University Hospital. He'll be doing overnights eventually (7 days on, 7 days off). I'm hopeful that he'll love his new position.

Let the Good Times Roll

Well, we are officially mobile! Reagan rolled over last week (see video).

Every day I am amazed at what she does and learns. Just today I spent a good 15 minutes watching her watch her hands. She would raise her arm into the air and move her hand around, completely mesmerized by her ability to control the movement of that five-fingered thing. That may seem like a waste of time to some, but I am in awe of everything this baby does/learns/sees/says/etc.

Last Sunday was the baby dedication at Greenville First Christian, so Reagan was dedicated (see picture). I've been to those dedication services every year for pretty much my entire life, but I had never listened so intently to the words as I did this year. It's a great responsibility and a great blessing to be a parent.

5 Months Old

Reagan is 5 months old now and has started baby food! We started off with carrots first, then butternut squash. Those both went o.k. THEN, yesterday, we tried sweet potatoes! Oh my, do we love sweet potatoes! She even took the spoon away from me today and took it to her mouth on her own! It doesn't seem like she should be big enough to be eating foods, let alone feeding herself. The video I've posted below is of her eating her new favorite food.

This month we also enjoyed her first snow! Picture included :)

I've been enjoying working part-time. I can't seem to get enough of this little sweet potato! Even the 2-3 days I work a week seem too much, but Matt seems to think we should make some money. Oh well.

Matt and I are enjoying all the sleep we're getting - Reagan's sleeping 10.5-11 hours at night! Yay! We are so thankful to God for this sweet baby girl.