We can't keep up...

We know, we know...it's been a while. Enough about that.
We're having a tougher time keeping up with Reece than we are the blog. He doesn't stop moving! We heard it from all of you, and from everyone else that it all changes when he begins crawling, and it certainly has. As I type, hes playing with a DVD (The Pursuit of Happyness), pulling on a cord for the monitor and trying to change the channel of the tv. But he's so happy...that it's worth the effort. He's pulling himself up, cruising along the furniture, bumping his head, standing on his own for a couple of seconds at a time, learning to fall on his butt, eating a little bit of everything, and sleeping well. He's definitely a mommy's boy right now when he's tired, but he knows Daddy's the go-to play guy.
I started class this weekend, so life is going to change on that front as well. For those of you who don't know, I'm attending Indiana State University to do a Ph.D. program in Higher Ed. Administration. So, lots of reading, writing and research in my future. Lisa and Reece have been incredibly supportive so far...and I think we're going to make it.
Another fun episode was a week ago Friday when Lisa and Reece got in their first fight. I think Reece won...he recovered a lot quicker than Lisa did. He had a major attitude while at the church for a couple of hours and Lisa wasn't able to get any work done. So now we've figured out a system for Lisa to get to work without Reece at all. On Monday and Friday Reece hangs out with Brooke and Sam across the street. Then Lisa brings Sam over to hang out with us while Brooke gets some work done. And on Wednesdays, Jenessa, Lydia and Levi let Reece spend time with them. We are sooooo appreciative of these close friends.

Here are a couple of good pics from Reece's recent crawls and adventures.

Surprise.. Surprise...

Now, let me answer the question that just popped into your head --- I am not pregnant! Okay, now that we have that taken care of. The surprise was actually for my mom. Her 60th birthday is on the 19th and we wanted to help her celebrate... So we were able to keep plans quiet for 8 months (even with everyone together at my cousin's wedding -- Aunt Ruth almost slipped, but recovered nicely). It was fun to sneak 4 of her 5 sisters into town without mom's knowledge. Dad was able to get mom to the restaurant without suspicion (well, without much suspicion that is). The best part of the night was as mom entered into the banquet hall; she saw us (the kids) and gave a nice smile -- you could tell she was happy to see us and happy that we would try and surprise her (she had a feeling we wanted to do 'something'), BUT then we turned on the remaining lights and that is when she saw her sisters. As you can see from the picture, she was overwhelmed. It was a priceless moment! Worth all the work, effort and 'issues' we had with planning this party.

There is too much to tell, but one side story is that mom had a number of friends in town for a convention and she kept opening her home for guests. I spent numerous nights tracking people down and informing them they could NOT stay at her house due to the surprise party and the number of family coming into town. It was a great weekend. The 'sisters' were able to catch up and got to watch mom's 8mm films which we had turned into a DVD. The film had mom and dad's wedding, some early vacations and a couple of Christmas' with the Baldwin Clan (mom's family).

We spent a lot of time on Saturday at Jamie and Melissa's house, my brother and sister-in-law. They have a new home and were kind enough to let us all come over and swim in their pool. Reece thoroughly enjoyed the pool and of course all the attention. Here he is with my brother. Aren't they studs!

Reece was once again a dream baby all weekend, even with a tooth starting to come through. He had a few moments of shrieking (but I would be screaming too if I had something trying to push through my gums). I think Joe's favorite moment all weekend was having Waffle House cuisine with Uncle Robert and my dad. They may have been a little slower the rest of the day, but all three seemed to enjoy their meals (or maybe it was the White Castle they had the night before -- men and their food).

Reece did get to spend some time with his cousin Grant. They always have a good time together, unfortunately the weekend ended a little bumpy. As you can see, Grant was being so kind and letting his little cousin crawl all over his track and grab at his train. Well, when the time came to pick it up, Grant did so with a little bit of force and clocked Reece right in the middle of the forehead. Poor Reece just started screaming and Grant just about curled up in a ball. But don't worry Grant --- Reece is okay and he says that he can't wait to play tackle football!

By the way, Reece is now 8 months old, starting to crawl, sprouting a tooth, and still the best baby ever!

oh no...it has begun...

HE CRAWLED!

Just in the last couple of days, Reece has decided that it's time to get on the move. Tonight was the night. SportsCenter was on...Lisa was on the couch...I was on the floor...Reece just decided to get on all fours and scoot along the ground. So that got our attention, and within a couple of minutes he learned to put his arms in front and move the legs. We were too distracted and forgot to get pictures in action...but here are a few of the aftermath (and one of him standing at his favorite music table).

So now it begins. We have to look around and modify the lower levels of the house. Good luck to us.

August Already?

I can't believe it. How can it be August already? Granted as I look back over our blogs, I see it was a very busy summer; but really - August. I don't know about the rest of you but now I have a different perspective on how fast time really does fly. Before Reece, we compared time by the actual date on the calendar...now it is compared to the height, weight and daily accomplishments or milestones Reece decides to show us.

I must say a big thank you to Abby C.! She helped us this summer by watching Reece on the days I had to bring him to the daycare with me. Reece loves Abby and loved spending time with her. And poor Abby would be couped up in the church with Reece for hours on some of his best of days and some of his worst of days. Thanks Abby, you were a huge help!

I also thought I would include a picture of Reece with the boys. Yesterday at Church, Joe and I (and Jenessa) watched the kids in the nursery. We had 5 boys aging from 17 months down to 8 months. Joe already has their positions picked out for the basketball team. Aren't they the cutiest!? They had their stripes on yesterday and were very good for us during the entire service (even with us trying to take these pictures). And put it this way -- you would never guess who was the oldest and youngest...

Oh, and I promised a while back a picture of Reece crying, since I seem to only post the happy ones - but really he isn't like this for long, because this other picture was taken only seconds later (okay, so he was only crying cause I took away his food, and then was happy again when I gave him more). And last but not least, a picture of our newly painted guest room --- see no more purple (yes, Joe is very happy)!

Enjoy your last days of summer, they will be gone before we know it!!!