The Queen Takes a Milk Shower

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Paschall, there was a queen named Mommy and her her daughter, the princess, named Reagan. One morning, Queen Mommy was preparing Princess Reagan's breakfast. Queen Mommy poured some infant cereal into a bowl and retrieved the breast milk to mix with the cereal out of the Frigidaire. You may not know, but human milk separates because it is not homogenized. Queen Mommy grabbed the bottle and began to shake vigorously in order to combine it. All of a sudden, the top popped off the bottle and the Queen and royal kitchen were covered in milk. (Apparently she had not closed it properly the last time she used it.) Queen Mommy's arms were dripping wet. There was milk in her hair and all over her clothes. There were no royal servants near, so the Queen wiped off her self and the floor. She had managed to cover most of the kitchen floor with the milk. Meanwhile, Princess Reagan was getting impatient to be fed. Queen Mommy fed her, nursed her, and played with her until she was ready for her royal nap. Once Princess Reagan was tucked in, Queen Mommy went to the shower to wash her crusty hair and, since there were still no servants nearby, (wherever could they be?!) she mopped the sticky floor. Upon receiving word of the incident, King Daddy expressed his regret for not being present to laugh hysterically. They all lived happily ever after, knowing there would be plenty more adventures like this one to come.

:)

What happens when a baby rubs her face after eating carrots?

THIS:

Clothes Horse

It's change-over time for Reagan's closet! She recently has not been fitting into her 3-6 month sleep-and-plays anymore so we've made the move to the 6-9 month clothes. Normally I would be kind of sad, but she got so many cute things for Christmas that I'm excited to start putting them on her!

She can still fit into some of her 3-6 month clothes. In fact, she is still too skinny for the 6-9 month jeans. Tall and skinny...let's see how long that sticks around. If she's like me she'll quit growing in the 7th grade. I was tall in elementary school, but by the time I got to high school I was a shorty.

This pile is made up of the new things she got. There was another bag of clothes that people had given us. I think she'll be set. What about you? :)

Let's Go Lady Vols!

Last night we went to Tuscaloosa to watch the Lady Vols play Alabama. If you don't know I'm a big Lady Vols fan. We had a great time taking Reagan to her first game! First, we went out to eat at Chili's. The game was actually a "pink zone" game. It's something women's basketball in generally, but especially the NCAA, has been doing to help raise awareness and money for breast cancer research. They gave out pink t-shirts and pink ribbons and had other give aways the whole game.

Justin made this sign to try to get Pat Summitt to kiss Reagan. When I say made I mean he designed it on the computer, printed it out, blew it up on the projector and colored it all in by hand. He worked on it forever and surprised me with it when he got home. He's so sweet! We ended up not even ever holding it up because the Lady Vols played horribly(but still won) so she was pretty mad. We did meet some family member or something of hers. It was a girl probably in her 20s that was sitting in the folding chairs behind the players and coaches. She had been looking at Reagan all night and had told me she thought she was so cute. After the game she asked if she could have her picture made with Reagan. We obliged. She was really nice, whoever she was. Justin mentioned that we had brought the sign to try to get Coach Summitt to come over. She said that if Coach Summitt weren't in such a bad mood she would have gone and gotten her for us. So close!!! Yet so far away. :( Maybe I'll get to meet her one day.
Getting amped up before the game.

Tellin'em about it.

It was a late game (didn't start until 8) so during the second half Reagan passed out for a while.

Final score...should have been much better than that. Like I said, they did not play well at all.

We had great seats behind the Lady Vols bench. We were on the third row and on the side the tv cameras shot all night. There weren't ever any close ups of us but every time they followed the ball down the court you could see us...but only if you knew where to look and what we were wearing :) There was a shot a little closer of us.

If you look up from the water bottle, you will see me in a blue shirt. Justin is to the left holding Reagan, but you can't see her because someone was sitting in front of Justin. Here it is a little closer, but you can't tell at all that it's us. :)

I was feeling better yesterday. But as the night went on I got worse again. Not feeling good today and now Justin is sick too. Today was Reagan's 6 month check up. Justin took her and let me stay home to rest. The doctor said she just has a viral cold or something and she should be fine in a few days. She is now 15 pounds and 25 inches! She is getting so big. tear.

Another Month Older:6 months

My baby is half a year old!!! (tear) Half a year has gone by already. It really is hard to believe. Look at how much she has grown!

Then




Now

When she was born the giraffe was as big as she was! She still doesn't have any teeth even though she's been teething since she was two months old (argh). She is still drooling like crazy and chewing (hard!) everything in site. One of the things she likes to do now to relieve her gums in stick her paci in her mouth, bite down on it, and pop it out. Case and point:

She also loves to talk, as you saw. She keeps coming up with new things to entertain herself. Like doing this:

There have also been a couple of recent developments. About a week and a half ago we started solids! On the advice from our doctor we were trying to stick it out until 6 months to start, but she started acting like breast milk wasn't enough and was waking up during the night wanting to eat (Something she hasn't done since she was like 2 months). So, when we got home from our trip to TN we decided to go get some rice cereal. She's doing pretty well with now. We are currently doing two feedings of cereal a day and will probably try a vegetable next week.

After some cereal...at that point I think she was getting more on her face and bib than in her mouth. :)

This is her first time trying the cereal.

She is also getting closer and closer to crawling. I have mixed emotions about this one. I want her to crawl and get very excited when she learns new things, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to not be able to set her down some where and come back to find her (generally, she does roll around a lot) in the same place. This also means that I will have to move some things so she doesn't hurt herself or break anything.



This video was taken today. She will rock back and forth and is starting to move just a little.

My precious girl is just so cute I don't know what to do with her some times. Her daddy and I love her so much. Justin and I have discussed the love we have for Reagan and how it is different from any other kind of love. Someone often says to us, "You just thought you loved each other," or "know you really know what love is," or something similar and we say, "We do love each other." The love we have for our child is not greater than the love we have for each other. It's just different. We are really trying to keep our priorities God first, our marriage second, then Reagan. Some make find that odd, but it really is what the Bible teaches. Ephesians 5:31 tells us, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." When we are married we become a unit, we become one. When you marry you are intended to be with that person for the rest of your life. Kids grow up and move out, but your husband will still be there in 18 years.

I know that was a somewhat random tangent, but I that's just where it went. It's something we think about quite often around here. :) I really and truly can't believe it's already been six months. She is the most wonderful, sweet baby and I feel so blessed that God saw it fit to bless Justin and I as her parents!

Here are a few more ridiculously cute pictures for your enjoyment.

Trip to Tennessee and More Birthday Celebrations for Me!

The 3rd through the 6th we were in Tennessee for a few days. When we arrived there was still snow on the ground from a big snow they had gotten a couple of days before. It was the first time for Reagan to see snow. We took Justin's dad his car back. He had let us borrow it after Justin's wreck.

On the 4th Justin had to appear in court for a ticket he got for the wreck. The judge wanted him to come to traffic school to tell his story so some of the people there for car seat violations would realize how quickly things can happen and that they need to put their kids in their seats so they will be safe. (It really ticks me off when people don't put kids in car seats...anyway.) But since Justin drove all the way from Alabama to make the court appearance he decided that was punishment enough and threw out the ticket. After court we went to see my dad. We went up to the middle school he is the principal at, which is also the middle school I attended. Reagan got to meet some of my teachers. :) Then we hung out at Dad's for a while and they took us out to dinner.

On the 5th, Justin's dad took us out for my birthday(which was in January) since he had not seen us since before then. We went to my favorite sushi place, Sakura, in Jackson, TN.

On the 6th, my Mom's family had their usual birthday gathering. They usually get together once a month and celebrate the birthdays of everyone who has one that month. My grandmother's birthday is in February so we did ours together. My cousin, Erin, also has a January birthday, but she lives in NYC so she wasn't there. :(

After that, we headed back to AL.

Whew! Lots of stuff in just a few days! On our way home Justin's dad called and told him he just totalled the car we brought back to him.. I think we drove it more than he did. On top of that, right after we got home we found out Justin's childhood friend died in a car accident and he drove back to do the funeral on the 9th. Our new car now has over 2,000 miles on it. But hey, that's what cars are for! :)

Reagan's official first time seeing snow.

"Daddy, why is Mommy making me touch this cold stuff?"

Yes, folks, that's my husband. His Dad doesn't look too amused either. :)

Late Birthday dinner with the Paschall's.

The good looking end of the table. :)

Birthday lunch at a Mexican restaurant. That's what I'm talkin about!

The birthday girls, minus Erin.

Can't you tell he loves me so much.

Uncle Brett kept whining for us to pick her up because she was drooling on his shirt. Her response, "Fine then, I'll just squeeze your nose." :)

Reagan decided this was a good way to entertain herself when we stopped to eat on the way home. Yes, my child is chewing a sock.

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Reagan and I have not been feeling too well. Last night her fever got up to 101.8, but it is down around 99 now. I'm really hoping we feel better today! We are already going to have to miss church tonight and I really don't want to miss the Lady Vols game we are supposed to go to in Tuscaloosa tomorrow! Also, today Reagan is 6 months so I'm really going to try to get a 6 month post done today. So far she's not really been up for making cute pictures, so we'll just have to see. :/ You may get a picture of a pretty pitiful looking little girl instead.

Snow in LA...Lower Alabama That Is

On the 12th we got snow! Snow is not very common in lower Alabama. Two years ago we got a decent snow (bigger than this one) and everyone was saying it had been 12 years since they'd seen snow like that. Needless to say, when there is snow, everything shuts down. That night one of our friends went out in search of fast food and everywhere was closed. By then it had almost all melted away but everyone still closed early in fear of ice on the roads. There never was any. :) Technically, this is not Reagan's first time to see snow. There was still some on the ground in TN when we went up there the 3rd through the 6th. (I know I have not blogged about that trip. Sorry, I will try to if I have time before Reagan wakes up from her nap.) But is the first time she saw it falling and she really seemed to enjoy it! It was really pretty for about 2 hours, then it started melting and getting slushy. Yuck. I love it while it's all powdery and pretty. Not so much afterward...then it's just a big 'ole mess. :/

And now the pics!

Reagan was really seeming to enjoy sitting out in it, watching it come down. Daddy, however, was saying, "Hurry up and take the pictures! It's cold!"

Hmmm...this is interesting.

When we let Tig out to do his business he turned around and ran right back inside. I had to go out with him and make him go. He blends in pretty well. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day!!!

Saturday night we had a Valentine's Banquet at church. We had lots of fun. We had bbq, beans, potato salad (all from a local restaurant), rolls, and peach cobbler...mmmmm. Deborah C brought the tea (thanks Deborah!) We had a great time of food, fun and fellowship. Justin and I pretty much took care of everything because we wanted everyone else to be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy themselves. Here are a few pics of the decorations.

And of course Reagan was there...all decked out in one of her Valentine's outfits from Grammy!

"The Kids" as we usually call them, although they are all college age.

We had some entertainment in the form of the Not-so-Newlywed Game.

The winners with their prize.

And the losers with their prize...a certificate for a free marriage counseling session. :)

After the banquet. We were both so busy at the banquet that we forgot to get someone to take a picture of us!

Here is a link to the facebook photo album with all the pics from that night!
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Look at the beautiful flowers my sweet hubby got me! Lillies and roses, my favorites!



Here is Reagan in the other valentine's outfit Grammy gave her! Actually, she made this dress. Isn't it so cute!

Chicken Fajita Soup...Yum!

I posted on facebook that I made this for supper and had a recipe request. This stuff is soooooo good! We are supposed to be snowed in tomorrow (I'll believe that when I get up and see the ground covered) so I thought it would keep us warm! I also made pepper jack corn cakes to go with it. To make those, all you do is mix up some Jiffy according to package directions, add some pepper jack, and cook it on a griddle like pancakes. If I had anymore room in my stomach I would go eat more right now!

Chicken Fajita Soup

makes about 5 quarts

3 tbs olive oil
3 lbs boneless skinless, chicken breasts, sliced into 2x1/2 inch strips
2 tbs minced garlic
1 ½ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp ground black pepper
2 large yellow onions, sliced into ¼ inch strips
2 large red bell peppers, sliced into ¼ inch strips
2 large green bell peppers, sliced into ¼ inch strips
2 large yellow bell peppers, sliced into ¼ inch strips
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
3 quarts chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 ½ tbs ground cumin
1 ½ tbs ground coriander
1 ½ tbs chili powder
1 ½ tsp fresh lime zest
garnish: lime slices

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and pepper; cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring frequently, until browned. Add onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers; cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, coriander, chili powder, lime zest, and remaining ½ tsp salt, stirring to combine. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

We also like to put pepper jack cheese in ours.

Faces of America

Ok...so sorry I'm being a slacker, but of course, we are super busy as usual and I promise to get some pics up and give some updates...later. :) For now I just want to plug a show I watched tonight. It's called Faces of America. It premiered tonight on PBS. It actually came on while we were at church so I recorded it and watched it after we got home. It takes different celebrity types (actors, writers, musicians, etc.) and goes into their family history. The host researches their family and how they came to the US. The stories are so interesting and the celebs learn really cool stuff about their families they never knew before. I wish I could go on there to learn more about my family. It really did make me want to know more about where I came from. I will have to ask my grandparents again. I say again because I have learned some things about both sides, but can't remember all of it. I know part of my family, the Hatler's, came from Germany in the 1800s. My mom's mother has a lot of info on it. She did a section about it for a book one time and has a huge family tree on a poster board. I really need to get copies of all of it. And of course I want to get copies of pictures since I love pictures so much.

Also, I finally found a really fun exercise video. It's called Dance with Julianne: Cardio Ballroom. It's by Julianne Hough, the girl from Dancing With the Stars (she's a country singer too). She was one of my favorites when I used to watch the show. (I had to stop watching it because the women are basically wearing underwear and the dancing gets super suggestive.) But back to the workout...It kicks your booty big-time. Now, Justin is NOT allowed to watch it...the girl is not wearing a lot of clothes and the cha cha is one of the dances (lots of hip shakin). I told him he can't even watch me do it until I can learn it better because I look like an idiot right now! lol It's really hard. It actually has three dances: cha cha, jive, and paso. Right now I am so out of shape that I'm just going to try to get the cha cha down and then move on to the next one. Just doing one section really had me sweating and tired. I was even sore today from it! But it is sooo much fun. It's definitely going to help me work off the rest of the pregnancy pounds and hopefully a little more!

Where's My Daughter?

I can't find Reagan... Do you know where she went?

Where could she be? Who decided camouflage was a good baby gift?

Thanks Aunt Meeka...now we've lost Reagan!!! ;)

Stimulating Conversation

An afternoon chat with Reagan :)