The Davis Family

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T14:56:00.003-05:00

2009 already, wow. Once again we have had an absent spell. For those of you that have hung in there with us - thanks! December was crazy! We have pictures from Thanksgiving, Reece's Birthday, our New Hampshire vacation, swimming lessons (Reece went off the diving board) and Christmas to post and I WILL get those up in the next week. For now I wanted to welcome everyone into the New Year and hope that you are all as blessed as we are. A new year to share and we can't wait. Here are few teaser photos as Reece is calling me and I see Mac N Cheese all over him and the kitchen (so much for sneaking in a few minutes) Yes, a new year....

Time to blog...

2008-11-24T22:13:00.000-05:00

But I did the last one, so it's Lisa's turn.

It sure gets dark early...

2008-11-10T19:56:00.008-05:00

Not a lot of new activity to report 'round the Davis household.

I have this semester pretty well under control with the exception of one big Resource Management project. It's a group project and we're studying the factors that lead to strong 4-year graduation rates at Christian colleges. Sound exciting? Let me know if you're up for details...otherwise I'll spare you.

Lisa is getting over a weekend allergy attack that had her wiped out for 24 hours...but pretty much has it whooped. Other than that, she's still deftly balancing 2 part-time (yeah right) jobs, being Reece's full-time Mommy, and keeping our household in order.

Here are some fun pics from the last few days...

We went to Papa and Grandmama Bakers' house two weekends ago for dinner and to hang out for a while...Reece loved licking the butter off of the corn.

Reece likes showing off his manly figure while watching the Little Einsteins (note link for birthday and Christmas gifts)...Lisa gunked up Reece's hair for Nate Daniels' 2nd birthday party on Saturday. (Happy Birthday Nate!)
Reece's first movie on the big screen! Madagascar 2...

As you can see, Reece is pretty much running the show. He's not eating very well lately, which has him slimmed down to a svelte 34 pounds. His favorite phrases are "I did it" and "I want this"...his new vocabulary words are "pool" and "tent" referring to his favorite destinations.

I'll leave you with a picture from the end of our relaxing weekend - a shot from a late-night at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

We like Treating...

2008-11-02T20:50:00.012-05:00

As everyone knows last Friday was Halloween and yes, we joined in on the costume fun. The weather was fantastic! I wasn't sure though, if we would be okay, I thought Reece might be frightened by all the strangers coming by and that he would be too intimidated to go knocking on our neighbors doors. Boy was I wrong. Reece got the idea of what to do immediately. He sat at the front door pointing as people walked up and then when we moved to the driveway, Reece would run to greet them with a fistful of candy ready to be dropped in their buckets. This was his favorite activity of the night. We ran out of candy early because he gave so much away. A little later when I asked if he wanted to go 'trick or treating' - Reece immediately grabbed a pumpkin bucket and ran down the driveway. He had no fear and was great at saying 'Thank You' for the candy. Unfortunately we were walking with Brooke and Sam but Reece kept leaving Sam behind. I guess candy outweighs the girls right now - sorry Sam (Dan you can breathe better now). Overall, I would say that the night was a success. Not too much candy and still plenty of sleep. Yea!

A couple of other recent events for Reece have been a weekend visit from Nana (Joe's mom), swim lessons and a new full sentence. Nana came and spent lots of time chasing, laughing, tickling, survived a night with three Davis grandkids. Mom Davis was able to spend quality time with her Reece and then topped off her trip by watching Reece, Jillian and Lauren on Saturday evening. She survived, was a little winded, but has enough memories to fill another scrapbook.

During this past week, Reece decided to enlighten me with his first 3 word sentence. I was thrilled, that is - I was thrilled until I heard it for a thousand times in an hour. His sentence is "I want this!". It was so cute the first time he said it. I was making cookies for friends and Reece wanted to help. He wanted to help me roll the dough, unfortunately he wanted to keep helping me even when we were all done and then later he wanted to eat one and then found he wanted something else and then then something else... it is amazing how many times you can use that sentence... I know hear this in my sleep! I WANT THIS!

I don't have pictures, but we have started Reece in swim classes and he absolutely loves it. Joe and I were both able to go and to our surprise we were the only ones in the class. Which was great for us, more time and attention. You can't beat that. Again I didn't give my child enough credit - I was really afraid he wouldn't enjoy it or that he would be too excited to get in and listen to the teacher, however neither were the case. Reece was great. He listened to the teacher... so much so that she asked if he was always so serious. Hmmm... Nope. Not at all. And he did everything she asked him to do. I am so excited to see what we can continue teaching him. So amazing how these little minds are eager to soak up new information. Reminds me more and more the importance of what we need to teaching!

Enjoy a few extra shots. In a couple of these pictures he is with the big kids at the daycare... He loves going there and hanging out.

AU Homecoming...

2008-10-20T22:49:00.008-04:00

I don't think we could have ordered up better weather for homecoming. The day was absolutely glorious - the sun shining, cool but not cold, and plenty of friends and family to run around and catch up with. We missed seeing those of you that couldn't attend, but are grateful for the time we had on the paths we did cross. We were fortunate to spend time with my cousin Chad and his wife Jamie (who has always been part of the fam) and their little one Kate. It was fun to watch Reece and Kate interact - dancing, rolling the ball, playing fetch (okay, Reece having Kate fetching for him) and laughing at each other. Thank you catching up with us. Reece and I were also able to have dinner with cousin Brooke, Aunt Twila and Uncle Charles - thanks for inviting us and allowing us to hang out with the Briscoe clan - we loved it.

Reece however, would have been better left in bed all day. As I have told some of you, we believe he is in the process of receiving his two-year molars and was a wreck all morning long on Saturday. He didn't want in the stroller, nor did he want to walk - oh no, he wanted mommy to carry him - not daddy, but mommy and when I would refuse, well, let's just say you could hear his fits all across campus. Ugh!!!!!!!!! Due to his behavior we tried to keep moving and decided to come home instead of going to the game to give him a nap. Guess what?! Reece didn't sleep. He played in his room all afternoon. We tried and tried to get him to lay down, but nothing worked, so we eventually gave up. We were just hoping he would make it through the evening activities. He did - he was in a great mood most of the evening. Yea!!
That evening was my 10 year college reunion. It was so much fun to catch up with my roommates Barbara and Andrea and to also see old college pals. Everyone seemed to be doing well and had great stories to share from the ten years since school. Thanks to those that took the time to show up - it was a blast reminiscing and challenging ourselves with memories from ten years ago.

Here are a few more shots from the weekend:

Pumpkin Time...

2008-10-16T21:26:00.016-04:00

Last week was fun and miserable all in the same seven days. We made a couple of trips to the pumpkin patch, first to the Smith Family Farms with the AU alumni group and then later in the week to Waterman's with Kendra, David and Grant. Reece loved both trips and we have our pumpkins ready to carve.

While at Smith Family Farms, Reece was able to pet a couple goats, laugh at the pigs, moo at the cows and chase the cats with his cousin Jillian. We thought the rain was going to keep us away, but it held off until we were ready to head home.

Later in the week, Reece had a serious fight with a 24 hour virus. He lost his 'cookies' on the way to the grocery with Joe and then again every half hour for the next 12 hours and then was still sick for another 12... We kept him wrapped up in towels due to having to change his outfit so many times. Wow...We haven't had to deal with something like that in so long. Reece ended up in bed with me (until he fell out at 5am) and poor Joe had the futon. Thank goodness it was only a 24 hour bug.

Over the weekend, Reece and I went to visit Grant, Kendra and David - while Joe studied. Kendra and I took the boys to the new Indianapolis airport. I am excited to see such a fantastic airport being built. The boys had a great time running all over the place and climbing up and down the different trucks that were lined up on the tarmac. They were having such a good time that it was hard to imagine them enjoying themselves any more; however just a few hours later the two of them were at the Waterman's pumpkin patch laughing, running, falling, jumping and picking their special pumpkins. It was a hot day, we got very dirty, but I think every second was worth it.

Coming up this weekend is Homecoming at AU - so lots of orange and black picture ahead! In the meantime, enjoy some of these extra shots:

Family Fun and Toddler Terrors...

2008-10-08T15:45:00.007-04:00

This past weekend we took a trip up north to see the Hoover Family. It is always nice to know we are packing up to visit family and allow Reece time to visit with his cousins. Leah and Ellie are so good with Reece, they even had toys out waiting for 'Baby Reece' as they still call him. Of course Reece didn't need toys - he loved watching and following his older twin cousins the whole time. Saturday morning the girls had a soccer game and as freezing cold as it was, they played great! The two of them ran and scored like no others - I know, you aren't suppose to keep score at this age, but these girls rock! Unfortunately, during this time, poor Reece was crying and whining due to the cold. He just wasn't ready for the 'freeze' quite yet. Hmmm.. maybe winter won't be as much fun as I am invisioning... I see the first sled ride, snow fights and snow men, I might have to wake up to reality - we may still be a few years off. After the game, we all warmed up to a true McD's breakfast and allowed the kids to run wild in the playground. Later, they burned off more energy by bouncing and laughing on the large trampoline. The girls were so wonderful with being careful around Reece - while Reece just laughed continously about bouncing and watching the girls flip around.

The toddler terrors is the our fault (me and Joe)...we have continued to let Reece sleep in his toddler bed and while he does a great job at night, his naps are another story. I will put him down at nap time and Reece will pretend to go to sleep and yet five minutes later he is at the gate to his room yelling "mommie..mommiee...". I will yell back at him to go to sleep and will immediately get a resounding "Mnooooo..Mnooooo". On one of these occassions I heard lots of playing, lots of laughing and then all of the sudden it was quiet - when I went to check on him I found Reece reading and rocking in his chair. Ten minutes later I found him sound asleep - if only this worked every time. Are we crazy for trying this??

For those of you asking, Joe is doing well. He is studying hard, writing lots of papers, going to class, working hard and still finding time to love on us and play trains with Reece. Best of all, he is currently 75% finished with classes! Yay!!

Busy Weekends...

2008-09-28T22:21:00.011-04:00

The last couple of weekends have gone by in a blur (don't they all), but what fun we have had! As I said in the last post, this weather is GREAT!!!! We have had all kinds of outside exploring.

We spent some time outside with 'the boys' playing at the playground. These guys are the spitting images of their fathers (it really is amazing - if I was a great blogger I would have a picture of the pops - but you just have to take my word on it.. imagine these boys in 30 years and you have their dads). What a blessing to have good friends who can help imagine all sorts of trouble. Can't you see these guys planning some sort of scheme... Please pray for us as we start to find the frogs in our beds, snakes in our shoes or whatever else is going through their minds.

Joe and I had a real treat last weekend. While we adore Reece and hate to be away from him, we were able to have a night away for the first time since Reece was born (a night away at the same time). Reece went to stay at Grandmama and Gpapa's house on Saturday and Sunday --- and we have reports that he had an amazing time. On Saturday, Joe and I drove up to Warsaw, IN and spent some time with my cousin Chad, Jamie and their adorable daughter Kate. We don't get to see them enough, but I always look forward to the time we do have together. We were able to have lots of catch-up time while watching soccer games and then the next morning over breakfast. Kate is almost 16 months and loves to cross her heart when you ask her where Jesus lives, loves to dance, and is the apple of her daddy's eye (ha, Chad, told you that would happen)!!!

Another reason we were up in the Warsaw area was for our friend Sandy's wedding. Joe and I met Sandy when we all traveled to Paris and London together. Imagine looking to your right and seeing the sun setting, the sky is all sorts of pinks, purples and blues. God's handiwork is evident all around you - this is the decor for the wedding of Sandy and Gregg. Held on Gregg's farm in Claypool. It was spectacular. The ceremony was fun, light hearted, and laid back. Exactly how I would describe Sandy to those of you who don't know her. Congratulation Sandy. Joe and I are so excited for you and Gregg and were honored to be there to support you!

During the week we attempted another first with Reece. He is now in his BIG BOY bed! We figured that if he is telling us when he has to go to the potty (okay, well - sometimes telling us) then he can probably handle the big boy bed too. On Thursday night, Joe and Reece surprised me by having his bed ready when I got home. Reece was so excited that he ran around the house in super-charged mode for about an hour. Then when it was time for bed, I asked him if he wanted me to rock him - he yelled 'NO' and jumped into bed and waved me out of the room. He never once got out of bed... that is until we heard a loud thump at 5:30am when he fell out. Poor guy, he is so solid he hit with quite an impact and a scream to match. Nothing that rocking from mom couldn't handle. :) I love rocking him!!! And now he asks me (yes, me) to sing to him. Those of you who really know me can now laugh... but it never fails, we get into the rockers and Reece says "Rock, Sing, Rock, Sing, Sing, Sing!" And so I sing. Anyway, we now have a little bed shield up on his bed so he won't fall out again.

The rest of our weekend we had a couple of visitors. Lydia and Levi stayed with us. Joe and I were able to truly test the life of parents with three kids (hmm.... don't know if I am ready to go there yet.... But Suzy, I am sure you will love having four and besides you are truly more capable...). The three musketeers were extremely good. Lydia was the ultimate mediator all weekend. Reece loves playing with Levi, however Levi likes his space and wasn't too thrilled to have Reece in his face. Every time Reece started to tease Levi, Lydia would run over and take Reece to play another imagine game. Lydia loved mothering Reece, she even let him lay his head on her lap and told him she would rub his back if it would help him to sleep (how adorable is that).

Next weekend we are heading to Granger to see the Hoover Clan - so more pictures to come!

Football and Friends...

2008-09-16T22:15:00.016-04:00

Can anyone else believe that football has started again? And can I tell you that I LOVE the cooling of the weather, jeans, layered outfits, cuddling with Reece or Joe in blankets. I am so excited!

AU had their first night football game, under the new lights on the university's field. It was a beautiful night, the fans were out in full force and Reece looked every bit the football player! We do have a brute on our hands. It was a lot of fun to be able to take him to a game and let him roam around. Last year at this time he was just figuring out how to crawl. Wow...

This weekend was full of friends and memories. Friday we spent time catching up with our friends the Galemas. The three kids were bummed that it was rainy outside but made due chasing each other, building a train, jumping off a stool, giggling, and playing with 'My Little Ponies' (doesn't that bring back memories).

On Saturday and Sunday we were finally able to catch up with the Wiards and Blackburns. We have been trying to plan a weekend gathering for the last couple of years and it just never worked out. It was so wonderful to at last have some time to let the kids run around, the 'boys' (Joe, Jason and Scott) time to watch their football game, and time for us girls to catch up on life. Thank you to both families for making the drive over and spending time with us. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and Reece loved playing with Luke and Griffin. I am not sure what he enjoyed more though - the beach dinner, spoiling by Ms. Brenda, dancing with Griffin or baby talk with Kate?

After everyone was gone on Sunday we thought we would have time to rest (well, after I worked), but the weather quickly changed that for us. I am sure everyone had their issues with IKE and we weren't to be left out. Our power went out around 3pm and stayed out. No big deal. We left for small group at 6pm certain it would be on when we got home. Nope. After calling to find out what was going on - we reached a recording stating it would most likely be 3 days before power would be restored. 3 DAYs. What? Luckily we found a friend to store our food and plenty of candles to light the house. We were prepared and all that we lost was power, what would we have done had it been the whole house? Or even water? Makes me thankful! And even more thankful when I woke up the next morning and the power was restored. My prayers go out to everyone battling the aftermath of the storms.

By the way, tonight we spent time outside enjoying this amazing weather that I am so in love with. The Dennistons came over and we let the kids run to their hearts content... Well, here is what Lydia did. She made friends with a grasshopper. They were the best of pals. He stayed on her hand forever and poor Lydia had a hard time understanding why we really didn't want him joining us for dinner. I wish I had a video camera going, because this little grasshopper had the kids roaring in laughter. They loved watching him hop away. The simple things in life!

Almost September already...

2008-08-29T21:18:00.011-04:00

I think the best idea is just to start into this blog as if it hasn't actually been about 85 days since we last blogged. No one noticed, right? Not like anyone has been busy...
I'm guessing your family is a lot like ours: one minute you're enjoying spring flowers and looking forward to summer, and the next thing you know school is back in session and the mornings are getting cool again. Well that certainly happened for us again this year. There's been all kinds of things to talk about...trips with family, lots of studying, stressful jobs, Reece pooping in the potty, etc., etc., etc.
The best thing would probably be to just let the pictures do the talking.... (and these aren't all...we need to post some from Davis family vacation, and several other things later)

We're alive and blogging...

2008-06-10T08:41:00.015-04:00

Life has been crazy, but we know we aren't the only ones who can say that. I am making time, to maybe not write as much as I should, but I will post a number of pictures. Since I am finally getting a post up, quit sending me hate mail! :) Actually, I love that so many of you keep up on our family and appreciate you following the drama of our life. Thank you for caring and cheering us on. We are blessed to have such great family and friends.

Reece will turn 18 months tomorrow. Wow, where has the time gone? He is a fast moving, Mickey Mouse loving, giggling big boy. He started attending the Children's Center with me yesterday and loved it. He was so worn out that he slept for 4 hours afterwards. He has continued to be such a joy, even with the addition of the whining stage (ugh, this is like fingernails on a chalk board to me). We go to the doctor on Friday for a well visit so watch and see what our newest stats will be and I will post some more of his latest antics. In the meantime, Joe has been studying for his month away at school and I have been working a lot more than I thought I would be. I have been putting in hours on multiple projects, enjoying the work and challenges but finding myself working long days and nights and still trying to find time to enjoy moments with Joe and Reece. I will catch you up more very soon.

To Grandma's House we went...

2008-04-16T15:12:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we headed south and stayed at Great Granny D's house, Joe's Grandma. It is always a treat to see her. Not only does she make the most amazing food - the best corn bread, potatoes, baked chicken, peach cobbler, biscuits and gravy, eggs, oh my I am hungry again... but she also makes us feel right at home.

Grandma also tends to always give Reece whatever treats he wants and then gives him a few more when Joe and I aren't looking. :) Is that a grandma and great grandma given right- is there a contract that you sign somewhere once you have grandkids that no matter what you will spoil, spoil some more, and then come back and add a little more spoiling? Anyway, Reece loved it. He loved the ice cream that Granny D gave him and then the two of them had a great time hysterically laughing as she tried to feed him with a 'flying' spoon. Thanks Grandma Davis for a wonderful time.

Baseball and friends...

2008-04-09T23:02:00.009-04:00

After a morning of being not so stellar, I was really worried about taking Reece out to the Ravens ballgame. Especially since it looked like rain and could quickly turn chilly. What a worrisome mom I am. Reece absolutely loved being outside among friends, family and even better - ballpark food! The weather stayed perfect and as you can see, Reece found a new girlfriend. I have posted pictures of Bella and Reece before, but this is a keeper. Not be left out, Sam was there and it is always so much fun to see how well Reece and Sam get along. They are old pals who seem to know each other so well. What a gift that is. Speaking of gifts. Joe and I both caught up with friends from college. I was able to sit and relax with my girls (as we laughed at the little ones). I cannot tell you who the Ravens played or what the score of the game was, but I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the entire evening!

2008-04-07T20:45:00.003-04:00

Yay - outside pictures! We're so glad to be able to get out and about around the neighborhood with Reece. We kind of forgot that last time it was nice enough to be outside he wasn't really old enough to walk yet - so he's literally never walked outside before last week. Which kind of explains why he can't get enough of walking around the neighborhood now. We've spent some time in the back yard watching daddy move around mud and dirt, and lots of time circling the neighborhood in the stroller and in the Radio Flyer wagon that Nana got Reece for his birthday.

Other events of the past two weeks include an all-day party at Paul and Janelle's with all five kids and three stressed moms, several Reece tantrums, trips to work with Mom, and blowing chunks all over the car seat on the way to Lowe's. All in all a relatively tame couple of weeks. Hopefully you enjoy some of these random shots.

Knock, Knock...

2008-03-29T15:33:00.012-04:00

Who's there - you ask... Well, let's just say that if you want the short story, then I was knocking and Reece was locking me out. Yes, Reece has learned how to open, shut and lock our doors. And to top off his feat - we didn't have any keys to open the door. However, he is out and fine.

Now, if you want the longer and always dramatic side of the story - then I'll do my best in telling it: Reece and I were at home playing in his room, I gathered up his dirty clothes and headed out the door asking him to follow me. Typically, I can count on hearing his laugh and steps right behind as I flow into the next room. However this time I heard the laugh followed by the door shutting and a click. I didn't even have time to place the laundry basket down before Reece had locked the door. My heart start pounding, Joe and I had just discussed the fact that we couldn't find the keys to any of the doors and how Reece was opening them more and more on his own --- we really were going to go and get child proof door knobs to prevent him from locking himself in somewhere. My stomach was literally in my throat, luckily Reece was in his room and not in the dark bathroom or laundry room where he so often likes to hide. I immediately looked for a paperclip, coat hanger and a screw driver. Anything that might help me in this nightmare. Our door knobs are the kind with a small hole that need a skinny long key - so I way keeping an eye out for anything that might fit. I also ran my hand over every door frame again just in case we had missed that key we thought we hid long ago..nothing. My heart is still pounding hard and fast at this time, but I can hear laughter coming from the bedroom (at least he has toys to keep him busy)the paperclip isn't working, okay I am now calling a neighbor to see if they have a key, the coat hanger isn't working.. Ugh, my stomach is going to come out of my throat... The neighbor doesn't have a key... That's it, I am taking the door handle off... Okay, it is coming off - wait Reece is trying to take the door knob off on the other side - no don't do that ( and is that his pajama drawer that I can see now spread all over his room as I look through the little space in the door knob, ugh!)... Okay, deep breath, think. think. think (now I am quoting a Winnie the Pooh cartoon -- Lisa concentrate)... Get another screwdriver and drive the hole again... I run down to the junk drawer - and HALLELUJAH I have found a key (where was this earlier)... I run back upstairs (literally tripping up the stairs) and YES it worked! Reece is out! Wait, Reece doesn't seem to care as much as I do. Oh well, at least now I won't have to get sick! And why is it that now I find 5, yes 5 keys in the junk drawer -- I know those weren't there earlier. Welcome to our crazy world!

And time goes by...

2008-03-23T21:03:00.003-04:00

He has RISEN indeed! I hope that everyone enjoyed and truly set aside time to reflect upon the meaning of this glorious weekend. Don't let it end, continue to seek His love and truth.

The last we wrote we were heading to Boston for my (grandmother) Nannie's funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony and wonderful to be with our Baldwin side family. Right before we left, we got a scare as Reece was crying for hours and after a rush to the doctor's office we found out that he had ear infections. Luckily we got him on antibiotics and started praying for peaceful travels. Prayers were answered. Reece was AMAZING, as always (I am his mom and this is my blog, so I will brag often and enthusiastically). He was so good and quiet on the plane both to and from, was great while we stayed in a hotel, slept wonderful at night, even sat quietly during the funeral service, and had an overall great attitude the entire trip. Reece did demonstrate his first signs of jealousy during the trip ---- my dad was playing with Reece and then pick up my cousin's little boy and when Reece turned around and saw dad holding Nolan, man was he mad. Reece's face and stance just froze, then he scrunched up his nose and just stared at my dad. It was so funny. He quickly forgot his jealousy though when he made a couple of new friends shortly after the funeral - Molly the dog and Max, Callie, and Cleo the cats. We stayed a couple of nights with Aunt Sharon and Uncle Robert and their kids, the aforementioned pets. Reece loved having Molly chase him around the house and the two of them played so well together. They even developed a secret language and used it to share their food (I was seriously grossed out when I caught Reece allowing Molly to lick his food and then Reece would proceed with eating it... ugh).

Once we got back to Indy we were all drained from the travels and had to take a few days to truly recuperate. However, now we are hitting everything full force. Joe is reading, writing and hitting the books again. I have taken on another project that is going to eat up a lot of my time in the evenings. Reece is chatting all the time (still sounds Chinese more than actual words, but using sign language a lot), can climb up and down stairs, can climb off couches and beds, loves to tackle Joe, can drink from a big boy cup, and we had to get a new car seat due to size - he is now weighing over 31 pounds and we will go Wednesday for even more updated stats.

Today, we went to Easter Service with my parents over on the west side of town. I think it was the first time in years that my entire family actually went to service together. It was nice have everyone there. Afterwards we had dinner and then did an egg hunt with Grant and Reece. I really didn't think that Reece would have any interest in the hunt except to throw the first egg he found. Well, we had three rooms - a Grant room, a Reece room, and a combined room. While Grant was hunting in his egg room, we took Reece into his room to see if he would want to 'hunt'. To our surprise, Reece picked up the basket and went right to work. He would laugh every time he found an egg, and while yes he did throw an egg or two, he had so much fun searching and finding the hidden treasures. He did such a great job looking behind chairs and in plants and behind doors. I was very impressed! I was even more impressed with Grant, this 4 year-old came and helped his baby cousin and was a saint about it. While they were searching in their combined room Grant would steer Reece in the direction of some of the eggs and then if he thought that Reece wouldn't find it himself - Grant would get it, show it to Reece and then put it in Reece's basket for him. They were SO cute together. Of course, Grant kept wanting to hug his younger cousin and protect him, and all the while Reece just wanted to tackle Grant --- guess I better get use to watching football games. :)

Reece is really in a fun stage right now, I know that I will probably say this about every stage we go through; but I love how he actually understands what Joe and I are telling him and will shake his head yes or no in response and then do something to demonstrate that he really does understand what we are saying. I love when he runs to me with his arms wide open and gives me the biggest hug and then a sloppy wet kiss (yes, I thought I would always hate those wet kisses, but I truly adore them). And best of all, I love his laughs ---- there is nothing, nothing better than his laughs. They are so sweet and innocent... and even cuter when he squints his eyes and wrinkles his nose. Can you tell that we adore this kid?

Cuts, Shades and Goodbyes...

2008-03-02T15:02:00.012-05:00

Again - the one thing I didn't truly believe from all of you with wisdom of a toddler, was the sickness that either you or your little one may have for during a number of months. Reece was so healthy for the first year, and I swear, since January someone in this household has been sick every week (typically Reece). This past week it was me - ugh, I caught the dreaded strep throat monster who has been ransacking all the schools, businesses and homes in the area. IT was horrible! God was amazing as always, and protected Joe as he needed to be in Terre Haute for classes and Reece escaped healthy (except for a little yeast infection).

We took Reece to get a professional hair cut. Yes, I said professional. Joe and I enjoy cutting Reece's hair, yet we figured the poor boy deserved to have someone who knows what they are actually doing to clean it up and give it shape. But really, what kid would prefer to go to a store where they get to sit in a car, play with a steering wheel, have a pretty young lady cut their hair and all the while watch 'Diego' on a tv? Personally, I would think that Reece would prefer to sit on my lap in the bathroom bawling at the sight of Joe coming at him with the clippers, kicking trying to escape, and at the end look like he just crawled out of the movie 'Edward Scissorhands'. I guess some choices are just easier than others.

This coming week was going to be a little get-a-way for us. Time for Joe to take a break from school and a chance to visit some of my mom's family. We had plans to head to New Hampshire to see my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Robert, and my grandmother (Nannie). However, we sadly received news that Nannie passed away last night. This wonderful woman of God was a true inspiration and I am extremely sad that I didn't make it out there again before her passing, but what a blessing that we already had tickets and I won't have to go alone - both Joe and Reece can be there for the funeral as well. Nannie was 92 and let me tell you, this woman was strong! Strong in her faith, strong in her convictions, strong in her love, and mentally strong. She has been through more in her life, through the death of her husband, loss of her son, loss of other family, physical pain and yet she never doubter, not once, that her Lord and Saviour was there to care for her. She always had words of wisdom to pass on to those of us willing to listen. May I praise my Lord as willingly and comlpetely as Nannie - that is my goal!

Fun with Nana...

2008-02-20T21:49:00.006-05:00

It was a lot of fun to have Nana visit for a long weekend. She hung out with Reece while Lisa and I were able to go to Weber Grill on Friday night for a Valentine's dinner. That place was great - you should definitely try it out. The rest of the weekend was just good hang-out time. Reece entertained us for hours with his new deep laugh.
I'm not in the writing mood...so I'll just post a few great pictures. Have a great week!

Valentine's Day...

2008-02-15T15:58:00.011-05:00

We hope you enjoyed your Valentine's Day.
Reece blew kisses out to all his fans and family.

He picked two for his Valentine -- Frances the Frog, and Maggie the Monkey. He loves taking the monkey for rides around the house in his walker. I tried getting a great picture, but man this kid can move! I was lucky enough though to sneak a picture of Reece snuggling with the frog. I love watching him talk and play with his stuffed animals -- it is sooo cute.

Our Valentine's Day was a busy one, we started with a bath and decided to run around the house in the robe that my Aunt June gave Reece when he was born. Yes, this is for a newborn and so you can see that it didn't quite fit; but Reece was loving it anyway. He strutted (does he have any other walk?) all over the upstairs proud to be wearing the robe and showing off his skin.

Later that morning, we finished getting ready, and fresh from a nap, headed to Anderson University to see daddy (and so Reece could flirt with all the girls). Reece had a blast roaming the halls, peeking into classes, and eating at the Haven. He couldn't resist waving to all the college kids as they walked by, probably either in a hurry to get to class or craving a snack... what a transition -- it was just over 10 years ago that I was there in school... I think the highlight of the visit for Reece was getting to act like a big guy. Reece showed us what he will look like when it is his turn to go to work.

After leaving the University, Reece and I drove over to my parent's house for a quick visit. He spent the afternoon trying to chase the cat under the beds, climbing up and down the stairs, chasing Papa around the kitchen island, and convincing Grandmama that he can have cookies.

We love you all!

Breathing, painting, and stylin'

2008-02-11T20:12:00.000-05:00

What a fun week! Even with the "downs" of life, like having to put Reece on a daily breathing machine regiment, we are so incredibly blessed.

For the last two Saturdays now we've spent time at New Life painting some life into the place. It has been a lot of fun getting together with church family and throwing some coats of paint on the bright white walls. This weekend the eight grown-up Davis/Daniels/Denniston/Galema's and the seven youngsters took over the church lobby (Narthex for you old-timers) to add a little green to the hallways and a second coat of yellow. Here's a great picture of the little ones with their snacks...they were incredibly well-behaved for us both weeks! We spent more than 6 hours both Saturdays, and they hardly complained at all. They didn't even hurt each other...Reece's rug-burned nose is a standard result from early stages of Ring-around-the-rosie...

Yes, as you read in the first sentence of this post we have a health-update on the little guy. It seems that he's still having some adverse effects (or is it affects?) from the pneumonia last month. Dr. Rupp (pediatrician extraordinaire)thinks that Reece will need to be on this breathing machine for at least a few months to treat some coughing and shortness of breath that he's been experiencing for the past several weeks. Keep him in your prayers - it would be great if this is something that can be treated and grown out of.

Reece's favorite new trick is to climb up on his overstuffed Red chair, over the arm of the couch onto his face, and then to slide off of the couch...then start it all over again. It keeps him (and us) entertained for a long time! The climbing thing is pretty new - up until a couple of weeks ago he was relatively unadventurous, but now he's getting a little more daring. We often catch him standing on the car seat of his little orange speedster, rocking back and forth, clapping, and smiling ear-to-ear.

Happy Valentine's day to all of you. We look forward to celebrating this weekend with a dinner "out on the town" Friday night.

Paint, Ribs and TV - what more can you ask for...

2008-02-04T18:30:00.000-05:00

What a week. I spent the majority of it chasing Reece off of toys, chairs and anything else that he could find to climb. It is so much fun to watch him figure out how to work those legs and hike them up on everything and what a glorious feeling it must be to have no fear. I vaguely remember that feeling (something like the first time I went skiing, until it hit me later in the day what it could feel like if I really bit it)... Reece loves to climb into his massive toy car and then stand on the seat and try to balance. On Monday as he was trying to clap and cheer while standing on the seat, the car rolled forward and so did Reece - right into our entertainment center. Luckily there is only a small scar on his head.

Reece is also into pointing out different animals to us. He loves to get up from his nap and point to each one in his room (he gets down on the floor and rubs over the animals in his rug), he will point and grunt until we called out the name of the animal. He also likes to watch anything with animals in it on TV. Here he wanted to get up close and personal with a cartoon.

On Saturday, we spent the day at our church helping in a work day. We went and painted some of the walls of the main entry way, it looks great! It is amazing what a little bit of color can do. The whole feel of the place has a lift of life to it. I loved the building and loved the white features and so I wasn't too sure how the color would look, but now that we have a splash of color we are inspired to help get the rest of the building done. We are going back again this weekend to try and paint the hallways. This will mean a lot more detail work.. but we are up for it. Reece was absolutely fantastic while we were there all day. Of course, he was busy figuring out that if he lifted one side of a small table then all of the toys would go sliding to the other side and over onto the floor. He got a big laugh out of this!

This last picture was one of Joe's highlights of the week. Brooke and Dan are behaving and sticking to their healthy eating habits and so donated their spare ribs to our household of 'we'll eat anything'. He had a great time cooking these ribs to perfection and we had two nights of wonderful meals. Thanks!

New Addition and The Hat Phase...

2008-01-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

We have a new niece/cousin! Lauren Olivia Davis was born on January 17th at a healthy 9 pounds 11oz.
Congratulations Ben, Marlo and Jillian on the new addition to the family. We are so excited that Lauren is here, she is absolutely beautiful.

Now that we have a child, I realize I will never take good health for granted again. It seems as if we will have a week with just a runny nose and then BAM... Reece gets hit with something else. Days after his pneumonia we thought all was well; however our poor baby caught something from somewhere (I know, this will be my motto for the next year or two) and was up all night literally throwing up all over his room numerous times throughout the night. My heart went out to him and I truly wished I could be sick instead. He was so tired and weak; the little guy didn't know what was going on and just kept looking at us with those big blue eyes asking for help. Ugh... it was killing me! But God is amazing and Reece finally got a peacefully night of sleep (after changing the sheets 3 times and his outfit 4 times) and although he currently has a runny nose - he is an active, chatty and very happy child. Hmmm... who does he get the chatty genes from? :)

During the past week Reece has decided that hats are 'in' for him. He would grab Samantha's hat every time she was here and run away with it and so I decided to find a bunch of his hats and leave them around the house for his amusement (and to hopefully prevent trouble). I never imagined that he would really enjoy putting them on and run around here like a mad man. The best part is when he tries to put them on himself. He gets them above his head for a split second but they end up around his neck like a scarf. Speaking of... I caught him with my scarf today, that might be his next phase. We'll wait and see.

Here are a few additional pictures. Reece enjoyed spending time with his grandmama and gpapa a couple of weekends ago, he received lots of attention from g-mama and lots of chasing around the couch from g-papa.

Then yesterday Joe and Reece took a long nap (they miss football being on tv) --- this next picture is Joe sleeping with Reece when he was only a few months old.

Wow... time flies!

Happy New Year...

2008-01-14T19:47:00.000-05:00

Yep, you got it, we're a little late on the New Year's greeting. Big shocker, eh? Not much of an excuse here, we've had quite a bit of down-time since our last blog after Christmas. Of course a fair portion of that down-time saw the three of us flat on our backs with a serious case of the 'icks'.
Those of you who are already parents surely understand (and probably better than we do) when I tell you we had our first case of family sickness. All three of us, down-and-out, nobody wanting to touch or speak to one another...but needing each other desperately.
On January 2nd we hit the doctor's office to get Reece checked out, and to our surprise he had a double ear infection and viral pneumonia. So, after three or four days of whining and waiting and flushing and blowing and chucking and checking, we managed to get most of the way back to normal.
Once Reece got back to normal, we realized how much he's talking. We're certain that he knows what he's saying, and pretty soon hopefully he'll either teach us his language or start to learn ours. He seems to say ball, but who knows...i guess those are pretty logical sounds to put together without any intention whatsoever. Speaking of balls, you've got to check out the Denniston family blog (over there on the right) January 3rd post...classic.
Also on the balls topic, Reece started playing soccer tonight! It is fantastic to watch him run around and dribble balloons or little soccer balls. He's a natural...no bias whatsoever on my part:)
Other odds and ends...we had a great New Year's Eve with Dan and Brooke our fun neighbors, and also enjoyed Sam's 1-year birthday party this past weekend.
Final update is that school has started back up for me, and I head to Terre Haute this weekend. I'm so grateful to Lisa for her love and support, and for a great work-place where my boss and coworkers are understanding and supportive.
Hope you're all doing well.

O Holy Night...

2007-12-26T21:45:00.000-05:00

I can only imagine what the first Christmas was like. A new mom trying to keep herself and her baby warm in a drafty barn with all kinds of animals around. Not really the ideal place where you would want to have your newborn, yet Mary was at peace. Quite a reality check for me when I start to feel bad because my little one woke up at 3:45am and decided it was time to get up. Who told a one year old it was Christmas?! And why so early! I don't do well without my sleep. :)

The night before, Christmas Eve - Joe, Reece and I exchanged our gifts at home and then ventured out and met my family for the Christmas Eve service at Traders Point with my brother Jamie and his wife Melissa and her parents. It was a great service and Reece loved having time to run out in the hallways. Joe and I took turns allowing him the freedom explore the massive church.

We were granted an early gift and ran into the Ober Family at church. Barbara was a high school friend and college roommate of mine. After service we came and stayed the night at my parents in Brownsburg. This is when we thought we would get a great night of sleep that Reece would be none the wiser about Christmas morning. Think again! We tried everything to get him back to sleep, but it didn't work. I ended up downstairs watching Praise Baby with him at 5am and it wasn't until 7am when I finally got him to go back to sleep. After a nap Reece was ready to tear into his gifts, that is after he was given donut holes by Papa.

Grandmama and Papa allowed him to open his gifts before the others arrived. He was so excited to see the car they bought for him. Now if only we can learn how to move in it. Joe was excited for his gift as well. He received a Keruig Coffee Maker, the perfect gift for a student staying up all hours of the night!

It wasn't long before the rest of the Baker family joined us and we settled in to read the Christmas Story. Grant and Reece were both listening at first, but as youngesters do - they started teasing each other and had the rest of the group in laughter as well. Even if it is hard for them to sit through the story of the birth of our Savior, I think it is a great tradition to remind us all of the true reason we are celebrating. It was precious to see the two of them 'trying' to follow along. Afterwards we went into the family to open our gifts and poor Reece no longer had any patience for this, all he wanted was to play some songs on the piano. He loves pianos! Our gift giving was followed by a great meal and then relaxing time before dessert and packing up for home.

Thank you mom and dad for a great time!

Merry Christmas to all...

2007-12-24T14:44:00.000-05:00

Now this feels like Christmas! It's almost like we haven't had Christmas in a couple of years... Even though we were blessed with one of the greatest gifts ever - Reece - this time last year, the actual holiday season was a bit of a blur. Those of you with kids know what I'm talking about...the three-week blur of late nights, black tarry poop, and listening for a heartbeat that marks the first few weeks of your first child's life. That's where we were 12 months ago - so this year we're celebrating Christmas with even more thankfulness in our hearts. God is good.

We love our house during the Christmas season. It's so simple, but a few candles in the windows, a couple of stockings by the fire make it feel really warm and homey. Here's a good picture of Reece by the tree. We broke down and bought a fake one this year, figuring that Reece is probably better off not eating pine needles until he's at least 4 years old...

Below are a few pictures of us this afternoon having our own family Christmas. We never buy too much for each other, but of course Reece had to get a couple of little things in addition to the great stuff that Nana and Grandmama/Papa hooked him up with.

We spent the last couple of days in Sidney, Oh with my mom and the rest of the Davis clan. It was a wonderful celebration...to see Leah, Ellie and Jillian truly understand the reason for the season. To watch them act out the Christmas story and sing carols...really cool stuff. There was great food (as always) and lots of fun time together. It's especially exciting since there is a new little one on the way (Ben and Marlo are expecting in the next few weeks), and also because they are moving over to Anderson to start a new job - Ben will be the Director of Alumni...

It's Christmas Eve, and we're leaving in a couple of hours to head over to the Baker's house, and to go to a Christmas Eve service at Trader's Point Christian Church. We promise to blog before New Year's to catch you up on our Christmas in Brownsburg. God Bless. Merry Christmas.

One Year and Counting...

2007-12-16T20:41:00.000-05:00

Please forgive us for the four week hiatus from blogging...no excuses...we appreciate your patronage to the site, and we know that your time is valuable. What's been going on here that has kept us busy, you ask? Well, let's start with Thanksgiving.

We enjoyed a great holiday with both families - Baker and Davis- in Brownsburg, IN and Sidney, OH. Great food, great family time, great travels and best of all good health during that time. Poor Reece was hit hard the week after Thanksgiving with a cold; he had the works - a fever, runny nose, no appetite (and that is a big one for him), and the worse cough. Like I said though, we are thankful that he got this the week after Thanksgiving and was able to enjoy the holiday to its fullest!

In Brownsburg we were able to spend time with the Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Henry (Landry) in addition to the whole Baker crew. Reece and Grant had a great time running around and playing together. This time Reece only got a welt under the eye from Grant, instead of a knot in the head like the time before :)

In Sidney, during a trip to the YMCA, a scene straight from America's Funniest Home Videos took place...be sure to ask us about it some time. Too complicated to blog about... The rest of the time in Sidney was full of time with cousins and eating lots of goodies. We always miss dad when we're all together like that, but are so thankful for the time we had with him.

From early November to the middle of this past week was the busiest month ever...mostly because of the fact that my semester was wrapping up. I am extremely lucky to have a wife that understands and supports all of the time I spend in the books and on the computer. It paid off with a successful semester, but not without a lot of sacrifice on her part. That's probably the main reason that we don't have a lot to blog about for the past few weeks.

This weekend was exciting because we celebrated Reece's first birthday! On Friday night we got the house straightened up and gave Reece his first-ever haircut in preparation for the big event. You can see from the pictures how much we chopped off. At first, we didn't realize how much hair he had, but once I started hacking it off, we learned just how long it really was.

Lisa did a lot of work getting a great party together. However, the Indiana weather had something else in mind. The "Blizzard of 07" was quickly upon us and we had to call off the small get together. We even sent Nana (my mom) on her way a few hours early because we wanted her to beat the bad weather on her way to Ohio. But at least she got a few hours with Smiley Reece.

Brooke and Dan, and Jenessa and Lydia came over to help us celebrate Reece's big day. He really enjoyed his cupcake and icing...of course it wasn't his first sweets (imagine that, a Davis eating lots of sweets) but he was still thrilled with it.

Speaking of eating...you should see this kid put town pancakes and eggs - it's amazing! His usual breakfast is about like a body-builder. Two eggs, several mini-pancakes, yogurt, banana...it makes me full just thinking about it. I don't think we'll ever be accused of starving the kid. Oh, and by the way, Reece is officially off of formula now. He loves his water and milk (he prefers water) - this boy can chug just as well as he can eat!

One other exciting piece of news is that Ben and Marlo are moving to town! He just got the job as the Director of Alumni at AU...and will start some time in late January, right after baby girl #2 shows up. Be praying for a smooth delivery and smooth transition back to Indiana for Ben, Marlo, Jillian, and BGD. Well, I guess that's about it. Sorry, again, for the lack of blogging. We'll keep on it better during the holiday season.

We are throwing in some extra pictures so hopefully you will forgive us for our absence!

The monkey cake below was made by Lisa, it tasted delicious! And then we have Reece doing his birthday strut. The rest are a mixture of pictures with his birthday gifts and then some with family over Thanksgiving.

Fun at Aunt Kendra's and Granny D's...

2007-11-12T20:22:00.000-05:00

There have been a couple of big events since we last posted. Last weekend there was another surprise 30th birthday party. This one was for Lisa's sister Kendra - welcome to the club old lady! David did a great job shocking Kendra with a party, and it was really nice getting to meet some of their friends. Reece had a good time playing with the older boys (Cousin Grant and his friends) and probably picked up a few bad habits along the way. He also picked up a new-found love for playing with balloons...so now those are a staple around our house.
The week went by fast, and was as busy as most others. It's getting to be crunch-time for my classes, as I have 5 big papers/projects due within the next month.
The biggest recent news is that Lisa finally got a chance to get away for a couple of days, and was able to spend her first nights away from Reece. He traveled with me and Nana Davis to Louisville where I had to attend a conference on Thursday/Friday/Saturday of last week. We stayed at Grandma Davis' house in New Albany, IN, and it was great to have 4 generations of Davis' under one roof. Nana and Granny D had a great time with Reece, and he truly did entertain them. As everyone does while at Granny D's, Reece ate very well. He had mashed potatoes, pork, ice cream, and all kinds of other goodies...including Grandma's famous biscuits. Reece also had a great time chasing around Patches. That poor cat is so good with Reece. She doesn't even meow when he grabs her tail and pokes at her.
Meanwhile, Lisa was in Brown County with some of her closest friends from college - Amy, Suzy, Kristen, Andrea, and Becky. They shopped and gabbed and played games like ImagineIf. From what I heard, they're all good friends with George Bush as well (must be an inside joke there I'm not aware of, right Suzy?).
One other recent event was my Saturday night trip up to Angola and back to go to my buddy Tim Warner's wedding reception. It was a great time. Only problem was that I almost smoked a dear with my car on the way home. Close call. God is good.
To kick off this week, Reece spent this morning at Brooke and Dan's, and was finally in a good mode for them. We're glad his true colors finally showed through, and he had a good time with Sam and her parents.
The picture of the jackass is just for fun...Reece liked it at the zoo last weekend.

Trick or Treat...

2007-11-01T20:05:00.000-04:00

For the first time in a long time we bought and carved pumpkins, the night before Halloween (nothing like waiting till the last minute). Reece was in bed, Sam was asleep in the guest room, and Brooke and Dan stayed up late with us as we all tried our hand sculpting our pumpkins. I must say that you can tell who the creative couple is (the two on the right are from the Brand household). Joe even took the seeds and cooked them for us as a late night snack. It was very tasty.

On Halloween we dressed Reece up in his monkey costume and sat out on the driveway ready to greet all the trick or treaters. It was such a beautiful night and everyone seemed to be in great spirits. Reece loved watching all of these dressed up people come up and grab for candy. He eventually started grabing for candy himself. Sorry buddy -- maybe next year. A little into the evening, the Brand family came and joined us and we had a party with our lighted pumpkins and dressed up babies. It was such great fun --- it is so nice to be able to take a dark holiday and brighten it up by laughing and being with friends.

Weekend germies...

2007-10-29T19:14:00.001-04:00

Yep...you guessed it. Things get kinda busy once the little man started getting more mobile. Go ahead and say it...you told us so.a XEWSZQA - that was a message from Reece. He loves the computer! It's even harder to get to the blogging thing when we're running after him in every direction.
The last couple of weeks have relatively uneventful, with the most exciting things being a couple more trips to the immediate care center and the doctor's office. Reece seems to really enjoy getting sick on the weekends and making sure we can't do much other than hang out at home. Luckily this past weekend he waited until Saturday to develop his illness, so we got to go out with Brooke and Dan while Jess (a colleague from my office) took care of Reece and Sam. Two weekends ago Reece had a fever and had a horrible cough. Well, the cough is still with him, but this past weekend both Reece and Lisa had to hit the immediate care centers. Reece had a blocked tear duct and had the most amazing green 'yuck' discharging from his eyes. Lisa pulled a muscle in her neck and had severe pain every time she moved. I am sure it has nothing to do with lugging around a 27 pound kiddo -- yes that is right, Reece now weighs 27 pounds. 10 months and 27 pounds, just what is he going to weigh at 2 years.
The first few pictures you're looking at are from Lisa and Reece's trip to the zoo with Grandmama and Papa Baker a couple of weeks ago. Reece's favorite animals were the penguins - he loved watching them dive and swim.
Last week we attended an AU alumni event at Smith Farms in Pendleton. It was a great opportunity to be out in the fall weather with Reece and Sam - and to check out some cool farm animals. There was a mad cow...I swear he was about to charge us. Reece and Sam both liked Mollie and Pollie the sheep and lamb and the goat really liked both of them.
Reece has a special knack of getting in between things - chairs no longer slow him down, and he can get up the stairs in about 15 seconds flat- it's amazing. The last picture is from this Sunday watching the Bears vs. Lions. Unfortunately we weren't smiling too much (Bears lost...again), but it sure was fun watching the game together.
We'll send out some pictures later this week after Reece's first Halloween.

A new era - we have STEPS...

2007-10-18T09:52:00.000-04:00

It happened - Reece took his first steps yesterday!!! Yes, he walked from Joe to me in our living room. It was only 3 steps, but he wasn't holding on to anything. Granted he was still unbalanced and we haven't seen any other steps since then, but they were genuine. So here we go, at 10 months we have started a new level of chasing. A new workout routine for all of us. :)

Homecoming and Birthday Parties...

2007-10-14T19:36:00.000-04:00

I know we say it a lot, but what a busy week. Earlier in the week we had our typical babysitting arrangements. This week Reece was great for Brooke and Dan and was also good for Jenessa. Sam was also great for us on Tuesday. Tuesday night we drove to Dan and Brooke's studio for Reece's Halloween photos. We wanted to capture his first costume experience with some great pictures and since Brooke and Dan are having a Halloween special in their studio we just couldn't pass it up (let me know if you want their info too). What a handsome monkey!!

On Wednesday night we had the other Davis clan stay with us. It was so much fun to have Joe's brother Ben, Marlo and Jillian with us Wednesday night and Thursday. Jillian was practicing her big sister skills (Marlo is due in January) and I must say she will be an excellent helper. Dan, Joe's brother-in-law, came to stay Thursday night and we all were able to enjoy dinner together.

On Friday, Joe went to Terre Haute for his weekend of classes and as soon as he was out the door Reece and I were busy with party preparations. Joe's birthday is on October 19th and he is turning 30. Since he was going to miss Anderson's homecoming I wanted to make sure he came home to a great celebration. Friday was spent buying food, icing cookies and finalizing details. Kristen Townsend flew into town for the party and homecoming festivities, but the poor thing didn't get to the house until 2:30am and then had to drive back in the morning for her luggage. Sorry Kristen! I hope you enjoyed your tour of Indiana (she gets lost everywhere) if I ever hit the lottery (of course I need to start playing) then I am going to get you a navigation system - I didn't realize anyone could get so lost much! :) We loved having you. Thanks for coming!

Saturday morning I did my last minute pickups and then we (Reece, Mom Davis, Kristen and I) got ready and went to the University for the street fair. Of course we were behind schedule all day, but it was great to see so many friends! While we were there I got a great picture with my nieces. Unfortunately Reece wasn't in his social mood.

After the street fair we were trying to hurry because we got word Joe was already on his way home. Luckily a crew met at my house just after 1pm and we piled everything into vehicles and headed for the neighborhood clubhouse. Before everything was finished at the clubhouse I had to hurry back to our house and beat Joe there. The hard part of the day was finding a reason to get Joe down to the clubhouse. I knew he would have suspicions no matter what I said, but I tried the "we are having an emergency neighborhood meeting". The definite sign of a party for Joe was seeing his brother's car in front of the clubhouse. I do think he was surprised (a little).

I will now pass the computer over and let Joe finish this blog. Before I do though I cannot thank my parents, Mom Davis, Jamie and Melissa, Kendra and David, Andi, Marlo and Kristen enough --- thank you all for your hard work setting up, during and after the party!

(Joe is now typing...)

What a great party! Although I can't say I was totally surprised that something was going on, I was completely surprised at the number and variety of people...and at the food/decorations/fun. As soon as Lisa said there was an "emergency meeting" that we had to get to, I kinda thought something might be going on. But as I walked in and saw the crowd, I was really overwhelmed. Great friends. Thanks to all of you who were here to celebrate with me. I've decided that the whole "30" thing is a good career move, so it really doesn't bother me too much.

The sad part of the party day was the fact that Reece was feeling really lousy. Just as we were getting ready to walk out the door to the "emergency meeting" we got the feeling he wasn't doing so hot. As the party was winding down, Lisa and her mom had to take him to the Immediate Care center in Anderson to get checked out.

After a few hours of mingling and eating (way too much) we wrapped up the afternoon with some clean-up. A major highlight would have to be the 15 minutes Jason Wiard (one of my good college friends) spent standing on the top wrung of a 10-foot ladder to get the balloons un-wrapped from the ceiling fan.

Soon after that, Lisa returned from the Immediate Care with a happier baby Reece and she encouraged me to go out with my buddies Nate, Tim and Brent. What a great wife! We went to Ale Emporium to share some pizza and old stories. It was a great early birthday celebration all the way around. And thanks to everyone for their prayers - Reece is feeling much better today. He is happy and enjoyed playing with his walker and other toys. Have a great week.

Can he overcome his genes?

2007-10-07T17:38:00.002-04:00

Reece had his first music lesson this week while hanging out with Levi and Lydia (and Jenessa of course). The question is, can he overcome his genes and actually be a musician? Isn't it crazy to think ahead a few years to all of the possible things that these little guys could do/be? Sorry to get mushy, but it's pretty incredible. Thanks God...good stuff.
As for updates...the main thing is that he's definitely hit a clingy mommy/daddy stage. He's gotta be driving Jenessa and Brooke nuts when they watch him. We're so greatful to them (and others) who partner with us in raising the little guy.
The only excitement of the week was a late night last night with Grandmama, Papa, Kendra/David/Grant. They hung out in Plainfield at Metropolis - which made Lisa excited for the Saxony development to be completed. And I'm really excited for the Waffle House to be completed (just across the street from our neighborhood). Chocolate Chip Pecan Waffles...it doesn't get much better.
Have a good week-

A very Sick week...

2007-09-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

I guess you win some and lose others... and we lost a lot of time, food, (and I'll stop there) this past week. Reece has had a runny nose for a couple of weeks, but like everything else we have chalked it up to teething. In fact, his nose actually seemed a little clearer on Sunday -- right about the same time that Joe started feeling very nauseous. Poor Joe, he spent all Sunday night and Monday losing every meal he had in his body. He dropped Reece off at Brooke and Dan's not even knowing what he was saying or where he was. Luckily after sleeping all day and taking it easy in the evening, he felt much better by Tuesday morning. In fact, Tuesday was a great day all around. Reece and Sam played nicely at the house with me, they were both in wonderful moods and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately Wednesday morning Reece decided it was his turn. He graced me with his 6am bottle --- right before I was suppose to head out the door for work. Then he lost his breakfast all over himself in the car, just before Joe dropped him off at the Denniston's; and it continued all day. My poor baby just didn't feel right and there was nothing we could do. I had to put him on an all liquid diet --- yes, all liquid -- have you seen this kid eat? I think he was making these faces in disgust for not receiving food. He didn't care if it wouldn't stay in his stomach. Thursday morning was rough...Reece didn't know what he wanted or how he felt or how to express it; I felt completely helpless and yes, I will admit it - I didn't think I could take the crying anymore. Reece fell into a deep sleep around 11:45 and when he woke up around 1pm he was the happiest little boy! What a relief! It was so much fun to dance around with him and to hear his laughter instead of the crying. So, we had a quiet Thursday evening and an uneventful Friday morning. I did stay home from work just in case Reece was still contagious from whatever he and Joe had; but since everything looked great I took him to the mall. We bought some new pajamas and some shoes. He is walking everywhere (as long as he is holding on to something) so I figured we better find a good pair of shoes. On Friday evening we decided to go to the Pendleton Homecoming Parade. What a great night! The weather was beautiful. Reece was only frightened a few times by loud sirens or cars and I think he really did enjoy it overall. Unfortunately, I started taking a turn for the worse. By the time we got back to the car I was begging Joe to hurry home. I thought that I had escaped the illness in the house, but nope - over the next 24 hours I think I lost about 10 pounds (which is great, but not the way I wanted to do it). What a week. It is now late Sunday night and all is well. In fact, Reece has been WONDERFUL this weekend and exceptionally happy. We apologize for not showing pictures earlier - but he now has two teeth. And watch out because he loves to try and bite toes. Ouch (not to mention gross)! I pray that you have a great week and stay healthy!

Another A+

2007-09-20T20:59:00.000-04:00

Several fun trips and experiences since the last blog. Reece had his 9-month birthday and doctor visit on September 11 - he weighed in at a whopping 25 lbs. and measured 29.75 inches long...which is in the 95th and 96th percentiles respectively. So we've confirmed that he's got daddy's build and mommy's height. Big winner. Here are a couple of pictures from the pede's office. This is nurse Stephanie on the left, and Dr. Cathy on the right.

Last Thursday, I took on the task of trying to be a mother of two. I have a renewed respect for mothers of two...and especially mothers of twins. Reece, Sam and Grandmama Baker accompanied me on a trip to the dentist and the mall. At the mall, we spent some quality time in a dressing room to stretch the little ones' legs, and Reece loved having someone in front of him in the stroller to pick on. They did great, and we really enjoy spending time with Baby Brand (mom and dad are cool, too).

Reece got to spend time on campus both Friday and Saturday. On Friday he hung out with Christy and Dan Kihm for a while while Joe got some homework stuff done. On Saturday we went to a soccer match and ate lunch in the Haven. Reece said he is excited to be a Raven some day. Then on Saturday evening Nana Davis and Jenny Watkins stopped by our house for a while on the way home from a conference in Indy. It was great to have a few hours of quality Nana time.

Saturday was also day #10 for the Amish friendship bread that was passed along by our #1 comment poster Suzy Thompson! Thanks for the great bread Suzy...I squeezed, mixed and baked it to perfection (Joe's word). Great stuff!

Sunday night we had small group at our house...mostly just fun fellowship time with a few other families from the church. We pulled out the blow-up jungle gym and all of the kids had a good time.

This Tuesday Reece got to take his first trip to the zoo, along with the Daniels clan. It was a lot of fun, Reece was so good and tried to take everything in. He was facinated by the turtles and penguins the most...but here are a few pictures from all over the place...

Flirting, Hot Dogs and Birthday Cake...

2007-09-10T20:41:00.000-04:00

No rest for the weary and Reece is trying to prove he can do without sleep. He is currently wanting to resist any bottles and all naps. I am not sure what he is trying to prove, but hopefully we will get through it. We go and see Dr. Cathy tomorrow and we will get the latest stats and what the future holds. Perhaps we can stop with the formula and bottles and go to milk and maybe Reece will be within the charts on weight and height... but my guess is he is still off all charts! :)

As for the last couple of days, Reece was once again hitting on the girls. This time it was Isabella. She is an older woman (by 12 days) and her mother is a good friend of mine. Amy and I were roommates in college. Amy, Suzy T., Becky B. and I were having lunch and all the while Reece and Bella were enjoying the company of each other. Aren't they cute!

We also spent an evening celebrating a belated birthday for Papa (my - Lisa's dad). A few weeks ago on his birthday we had 4 members of the family all come down with various illnesses - but luckily we have all recovered and could finally wish dad a Happy Birthday! Reece had a great time and enjoyed trying to steal toys from his older cousin.

And as can see by this picture, we spent Sunday afternoon resting. Sunday morning we had a great church service and then stay around church for the famous Heavenly Hotdog Feast. The church kicks off the fall session with a fun pitchin centered around all sorts of themed hot dogs (yes, I know it sounds tasty doesn't it - but really not bad). Reece came home and took a long nap and then turned around and fell asleep again in Joe's arms. Needless to say, Reece was in the best mood after that!

Oh, and I couldn't resist taking this picture... Reece was dragging his blanket all over the living room and it made me flash back to when he was only a week old and we would swaddle him in it. Wow- time flies. Again, isn't he the cutest thing ever!

Labor Day fun...

2007-09-03T20:43:00.000-04:00

We started out the weekend with one of those Friday-afternoon-in-traffic drives down to New Albany, IN to see Grandma D (Joe's grandma). In addition to the stop and go all around I-465, Reece decided he didn't want to be strapped down, so we had a loud drive. But it was worth the effort, we had a great 23 hours in Southern Indiana! Friday night we were greeted with a full meal of baked chicken, mashed potatos and gravy and grandma's famous corn bread. Oh my...we ate way too much. Then, to top it off we had a still-warm peach cobler and ice cream. Reece was thrilled with the mashed potatos that he got to try. It seems like Reece has probably been ready for table food for months...but we're just now getting comfortable with the idea. He had his second taste of grown-up food the next morning with grandma's perfect biscuits. By the way, don't bother counting the calories that we're listing off here...it was a crazy couple of meals. To walk it off, we went to the Bass Pro Shop to let Reece see the fish and wild animals. It was a lot of fun to see him react to everything. Then, at McCallister's Deli for lunch, Reece got to try roast beef, cheese and potatos - to be followed up with his full dinner when he got home. He may have actually eaten more over the two days than we did! Reece had so much fun with grandma that he already asked if we can go back some time. We didn't tell him the secret about grandma moving to Muncie soon...hopefully it will happen yet this summer. The "big finish" of the weekend was when grandma pulled out the collection of Smurf glasses from 1982 that are still in mint condition. She sent them home with us...so now you are all invited over to join us for cookies and milk - out of the sweet Smurf glasses.

After a great church service on Sunday, we headed home to pick up the house in preparation for Joe to have over his mentor group - 17 freshmen that he helps with academic advising. Meanwhile, Reece and I took off to spend the night over at Grandmama Baker's house in Brownsburg. It was nice to just relax and spend some time with mom - Reece had a lot of fun looking at the cat, clapping (his newest trick), and playing with Gmama Baker's toys. He also got to sit out on the deck and watch the humming birds - it was amazing how close they would fly to his head. Then, we learned that he loves to listen to us sing Deep and Wide - check out the big cheesy pics. Uncle Jamie and aunt Melissa stopped by to see Reece on Monday morning - Reece was proud to wear the Red Sox hat for a few minutes, but he was afraid his dad wouldn't be too happy (he's a Braves fan).

We winded down this evening with playing chase around the house. Hope you have a great week!

We can't keep up...

2007-08-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-08-13T21:36:00.000-04:00

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...

2007-08-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

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?

2007-08-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

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!!!

A Quiet Weekend

2007-07-30T10:34:00.000-04:00

You have to enjoy quiet weekends or at least weekends where you are at home most of the time . We started off our weekend meeting our friends the Dennistons at Chick-fil-a on Friday night. Their kids enjoy the indoor playground and Reece just loves to watch through the window. Then we hit Home Depot for some paint. We decided to redo our guest bedroom, the last room in the house to be painted (although I now what to repaint some other rooms in the house). Since Joe is going back to school for his PhD we decided to touch up the guest room and give him a quiet place to read and study. I must say --- I Love It! Joe painted on Saturday (while I entertained Reece) and he did a fantastic job. We used the Behr color 'harvest brown', it is a dark taupe. The bed in there is white wood and we decorated with a chocolate colored bed spread and used accents with multi-shades of brown (thanks mom for the borrowed bed coverings). Once we get the finishing touches up I will post a picture, but we are very pleased with the look. This is so much better than the white and purple motif that was in there.

Saturday night, I spent some time with my college girlfriends. While Joe and Reece went and hung out with the Daniels' boys. I love spending time with my girls. No matter how much times goes by between our gatherings, we always enjoy ourselves. This time Bella, Amy's little girl, also joined us. We had great conversation, amazing food (thanks Kris for the lasagna) and great dessert (Suz - I made the eclair dessert last night because I couldn't get enough). I am so glad that everyone makes a gallant effort to stay in touch and get together, even though we all have such busy lives.

On a Reece note... this weekend he started laughing and smiling with squinted eyes. I don't know where this is coming from, but it is soooooooooooo cute. I tried to capture it on camera, but the pictures don't do it justice. He just puts his nose in the air, squints his eyes and flashes his non-existing pearly whites.

What a ham!

Live Free or Die... The New Hampshire Motto..

2007-07-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

What a trip! Joe, Reece and I set off on July 18th for a week in New Hampshire with my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Robert and a visit to my grandmother, who we call Nannie. We had the absolute best of times. We took a new airline, SkyBus (due to the cheap rates) and although we had to drive to Columbus, it was well worth the trip. This was Reece's first ride on an airplane and he was perfect. As we took off he downed a bottle and fell asleep for a little while. It was 8pm and we foolishly thought he would sleep through the ride. Well, we weren't counting on the number of little girls that would keep his attention throughout the flight (at least he was a hit, I am just fearful about what dating will be like if he is already flirting).

Our first two days in New Hampshire were rainy but it was wonderful to just sit back and catch up with Aunt Sharon and Uncle Robert. Reece fell in love with their dog, Molly, and I think the feeling was mutual. The two of them were inseparable and I can't count the number of kisses that were passed back and forth. Reece even figured out that if he dangled his pacifier strap over the booster seat then Molly would come closer and Reece would be laughing at the joy of another face full of kisses. We also had our share of Dunkin Donuts (man we need a few of those around here - their butternut donuts are to die for), a great Chinese meal (a wonderful pu pu platter appetizer followed by a feast), and some quality time with Nannie. Reece really turned on the charm for Nannie (can you believe she is 92 years old, she doesn't look it), the two of them shared numerous laughs and smiles.

On Friday, July 20th, Sharon and Robert took me and Joe to the Vince Gill and Amy Grant concert in honor of our 5th Anniversary (Happy Anniversary babe). It was an outdoor concert and a beautiful night. The only downfall was that Vince Gill was sick and as he put it "Happy and higher than a kite" -- he was a little doped up on cold medicine and boy was he slap happy. It was a riot to listen to him. He didn't have his voice, in fact he sounded more like Barry White instead of the high pitch notes of a normal Vince Gill. The music, food and overall atmosphere were a hit for us. Thanks Sharon and Robert for a great celebration! And thanks to Maryellen for watching and entertaining Reece (as well as giving him puffs 'whenever and as many as he wants' --- we now call Reece 'Puff Baby').

The next two days were spent on Uncle Robert's boat in Lake Winnipesaukee , the 11th largest lake in the country. The days were beautiful and the lake was amazing -- living in Indiana, I had absolutely no idea how big a true lake could be. There were probably hundreds of boats (of all sizes) on the lake and we still felt like we had it to ourselves. Reece was great - he endured his life vest only because I think he knew what was coming. He loved the feel of the boat moving across the water. In fact, he fell asleep every time we cruised for long periods of time. He also got to try out his new float ring. Uncle Robert found Reece the perfect water float. It allowed Reece to swim in shallow waters without his vest on. And although Reece and I didn't stay in the water for too long (it was a warm 77 degrees, but still felt very chilly) Joe and Uncle Robert enjoyed the water immensely. Reece also enjoyed some down time on the boat with everyone (he thought he could handle an Aunt Sharon special - a sandwich made for Joe and Uncle Robert). After a day in the sun we would unwind in the evening and then head to bed early. Reece slept pretty well - I think he knew it was vacation and so took advantage of the fact Joe and I would go in and sleep with him if he woke up. And so almost every morning he would wake up around 3am and want one of us to get him out of the crib and crawl into bed with him. He would then sleep until around 7:30 or 8am. It was nice to have slow mornings.

On our last day in NH we took a drive north into the mountains to see the sights. We had breakfast at this small diner in a small town just at the foot of the White Mountains. It was so pretty and peaceful. The views were amazing! We had such a great time - thanks Sharon and Robert for allowing us to get away and taking such great care of us. We had a blast!!!!

On the go...

2007-07-17T22:07:00.000-04:00

What a great week. Yesterday we had a visit from Kristen Townsend. Kristen is a college friend of Joe and Lisa's who currently lives in Florida. It was so great to see Kristen and to catch up. She was in Ohio for a family reunion and came over for a few hours to meet Reece. The two of them hit it off right away. Reece was all smiles for Kristen and fell in love with his Mickey Mouse ears (thanks Kris)! Not only did Reece get to spend time with Kristen, but he also got to spend a lot of time with Sam. Sam and her parents watched Reece for me in the morning and then I returned the favor and took Sam in the afternoon. The kids were great and other then a little dancing on the tables were well behaved (I'll let Joe explain that one sometime). It is so much fun to see the two of them interact - they really do try to talk and entertain each other. Enjoy the pictures below.

Now we are off to New Hampshire to stay with Aunt Sharon and Uncle Robert (Uncle Bob the builder). We can't wait to spend some quality time with them, see Nannie (my grandma), and to relax. Stay tuned for some great stories and pictures.

Joe is home!

2007-07-15T21:44:00.000-04:00

We are so excited to have Joe home. Poor Joe is tired from his long week of conferences and orientation, but he found enough energy to play with Reece. Reece was ecstatic to see daddy and to get his belly tickled by dad's goatee. It was fun to hear Reece's loud laughs as he was tickled. Welcome home Joe! We love you.

We're Making it...

2007-07-12T21:33:00.001-04:00

I have to admit that I wasn't looking forward to a week without Joe. It is nice to have a true partnership and to share our parenting duties. When one of us is gone, those extra hands and patient mind are missed (I don't know how those of you with two or more kids do it). And yes, there have been a few moments that have tested my patience (and my hearing) but overall we have had a great time. We've had lots of running around to do, new toys to try out (thanks Kendra) and funny faces to make. Reece is having fun testing out his tongue too-- he loves to look at me seriously, stick out his tongue and then smile. He was having so much fun doing this that I couldn't stop laughing at him, which made him laugh and in turn had me in tears! Oh, I love these moments. I posted a few of the greats for all of you to enjoy as well. Have you ever seen wider eyes? :)

Davis Family fun on the Fourth (and beyond)...

2007-07-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

We just rolled back in to town from the Davis family vacation to Brown County(ish) Indiana. What a great time we had together with Mom (Nana), Andrea/Dan/Leah/Ellie Hoover (my sister) and Ben/Marlo/Jillian Davis (my brother). We stayed at the same cabin we've inhabited for the last 3 years...Woodland Retreat. It's a great place - a three bedroom cabin with a wrap-around deck, hot tub, pool room, spacious living area and just a short drive from Lake Lemon. We spent part of all three days on the beach just enjoying the sun and fellowship. We also played some putt-putt, family games, darts, pool...and ate some wonderful meals. The girls are getting so big...the twins are 4 and Jillian is 3...they play together very well and are great with Reece. Next year, Reece will be a big cousin! Marlo and Ben are expecting their second baby, so we're excited for them and praying for a healthy little one.

Reece did okay with his nights away...unfortunately each night got a little worse. The first two were great, but then the third and especially fourth nights were challenging. But, by the third day at the beach he was doing great with the water. Though it was a little cold, he decided he likes being in the lake. Although he mostly listened while he was with the cousins, he was all talk once we got home tonight. He also started trying to crawl a little bit...we can't wait to see what happens next. By the way, he's also trying teething biscuits. They're super messy, but he sure loves 'em. He's also holding his own bottle now, giving us a little bit of a break...

Here are some great shots from the weekend...

First Emergency Room Visit...

2007-06-29T16:29:00.001-04:00

Well, it happened - Reece fell and it was bad enough that we had to rush him to the Pediatric ER. He is okay - God completely had his hands on Reece. It is amazing to think that at this time last year I was pregnant and scared and not sure about how I was going to feel having someone else truly depend on me. Sure I love to help everyone out and to be there for friends and family, but to have someone depend on me 24 hours a day 7 days a week... that's another story. As a husband and wife, we depend on each other, and I know that Joe is there for me no matter what and he knows I am there for him, but Joe can also take care of himself. Watching Reece fall off the changing table and land directly on his head (hitting both the wall and the changing table with his head) knowing that I was right there and just a second too slow has hit me hard. Yes, I know all of you parents out there can probably relate. Our children became little movers and have a mind of their own and believe if they stretch a little harder they might be able to reach that stuffed dog just on the other side of the changing table; instead they end up, well, I don't want to visualize it again.
I no longer spend time worrying about someone being dependent on me, I'm too busy loving, laughing and trying to care for all the needs of my son. I am just reminded that we can't do it all alone. There are some things out of my hands and instead in my prayers.
Reece had a hard fall, a truly hard fall... All scans at the hospital showed that he is a healthy growing boy and although he may have a few bruises he won't remember today's fall at all. After spending all morning at the hospital we came home and he took a long nap, when he first woke up I wasn't sure if he was going to give me his million dollar smile... but it didn't take long for him to share it with me. I love that smile!

June flys by so quickly...

2007-06-26T20:39:00.000-04:00

June has been incredibly busy for us...which means lots of new stuff for Reece to see and learn. June always means North American Convention is in town - or "campmeeting" for long time ChoGers. This past weekend Lisa and Nana brought Reece up to campus on Friday night to the opening session and President Reardon tribute. While on campus Reece got to meet Aunt LeAnne and Uncle Steve from Kansas, then we had dinner with them on Saturday evening.

Since campmeeting was in town, Vision of Hope was performing and we were able to have them at New Life. Our good friend Andy Denniston is a part of that group (second from right in this picture that was stolen from the Denniston blog) and it was great to hear some Gospel muzak.

On Monday, Lisa and Reece came out to support the New Life softball team. We had our ups and downs...ending up with a split in the double-header. Here's a picture of Kaitlin Klotz (our new pastor's middle daughter) with Reece and a shot of the team after a long, sweaty night. Notice the bright red leg of our catcher!

Tonight we had the joy of watching our good friend Sam Brand while her parents got some well-deserved R & R. Sam and Reece had a great time hanging out together. Sam was tying to teach Reece how to move about...she can really get around quickly for a 5 month-old. Reece took some notes, so we'll see if he can't get motivated to start crawling around.

Jersey or bust...

2007-06-18T20:30:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday we started on the long trek to New Jersey for my cousin Jonathan's wedding. It was going to be a long weekend, but we were very excited to see family. We drove 6 hours Thursday and stayed in Beaver Falls, PA with Chad, Jamie and soon to be Kate Briscoe. We enjoyed a great dinner at Sal's, ice cream at Handel's and a tour of Geneva College (Chad is the assistant basketball coach there). Jamie is now 38 weeks along and counting down the days before Kate is due to arrive - she looks fantastic. Check out their blog at http://www.briscoebaby.blogspot.com/ . The next morning Reece decided to wake up at 4:45am and convinced us he wanted to get on the road. After packing up we headed out by 6:30am... 6 more hours to go before hitting New Jersey.

Joe and I really can't be more proud of Reece, he was a great traveler all weekend long. After a few quick stops to stretch we pulled into the hotel in New Jersey by 1pm. Ah... it was nice to get out of the car. We relaxed and took a nap and then headed out to dinner with family. Looking back I now realize that this is the only time Reece slept! :)

On Saturday we had donuts with my brother Jamie and Melissa (our roomates for the weekend) and then met up with family to swim and chat around the hotel pool. Jonathan and Meg's wedding started at 3:30pm. The wedding was held in a picture perfect little town, Ridgewood, about twenty minutes from The City. Meg looked beautiful and Jonathan was as handsome as ever. Their fairy tale continued in a reception like no other! Talk about a PARTY!!! Appetizers were served and I swear I thought they were mistakenly serving the main course... Joe's favorite were the coconut shrimp the size of hockey pucks. When we finally made it into the dining hall, I was already stuffed... little did I know there was still tons of food to come. The night was so much fun..... well, it was fun for everyone that is except for Reece. While we were across the street from the hotel with loud music, dancing, and great food --- Reece was back at the hotel with a babysitter testing out his lungs. The poor little guy was exhausted and having some teething issues. Joe and I came back early in the evening to try and calm him down... he didn't really want us, but wanted Orajel. He was smiling before we were out the door. However that didn't last too long, we received a call around 9pm and he was screaming! The traveling had caught with him and he was exhausted... so I was off again towards the hotel. Luckily he was asleep before I made it back to the room. I happily rejoined the party. It was so great to spend the evening with family. Thank you Jonathan and Meg for a wonderful event! May God bless the two of you as you enter into this next phase!!

And let us not forget Father's Day! While we weren't celebrating in a great fashion (a long car ride is not what Joe had in mind) I would like to celebrate the amazing father Joe is. What a blessing to have a man who truly takes his role seriously. How thankful I am that we both have had such great examples of remarkable fathers. Thank you Dad for always being there for me. And my thanks goes out to Dad Davis for shaping Joe into the caring person he is. To all Fathers --- Happy Father's Day.

Chad and Jamie Briscoe with Reece

Joe and Reece resting in the hotel... the only time Reece slept!

Aunt June (mother of the groom, sister of my mom), with my mom

Most of the Baldwin Clan (mom's family)...

Happy Father's Day!!!

Oh yea, I almost forgot -- if you want to see a slideshow of Reece's recent 6month pictures then click here www.brandphotodesign.com/reecealbum1/ turn your sound on. And if anyone needs pictures taken then talk to these guys - they are seriously the best! http://www.brandphotodesign.com/
Good Night!

You gotta see this...!

2007-06-11T22:37:00.001-04:00

We are soooo excited! Dan and Brooke just texted to let us know that the photo album is complete! You've got to go to this link - http://www.brandphotodesign.com/reecealbum1/ - and see how incredible the pictures are...
This is done in what they call an 'art book'...there is music, so turn up the sound...click...and get ready to smile.
Leave us a comment to tell us what you think!
Then, call Dan and Brooke to do your next photo session!

Southern Fried Weekend...

2007-06-10T20:20:00.000-04:00

I was just watching a little bit of the John Denver documentary on PBS..."Thank God I'm a Country Boy" says John...and I'm glad I've got a piece of that in my heritage, too.

This weekend Lisa, Reece and I had the priveledge of traveling down to central Kentucky to Boonsborough State Park - the sight of the Boggs family reunion. The Boggs clan is my Grandma Davis' family. She is one of 15 siblings...all still living. They range in age from 63 to 87. It is such a fantastic group. All 15 of the brothers and sisters attended...they came from KY, OH, AZ, FL, VA. We ate a fantastic meal and just spent time gabbing up a storm. Reece was the third-youngest attendee...and he was a hit! He seemed to really enjoy the time - very well mannered and tempered all day long. It was a lot of time in the car...good practice for our trip to New Jersey next weekend for a Baldwin (Lisa's side) family wedding.

Here are a couple of good recent photos...

We tried going to the pool last week. Too cold to swim...but Reece was still styling.

Grandma decided it was time Reece tried some frozen lemonade.

Here is a picture of all 15 with some spouses.

We got to ride with Betsy and Grandma to the reunion...it was a tiring day.

Keep checking back for photos from our shoot with Dan and Brook last weekend...we'll have a site where you can go to view and order!

Too much fun!!...

2007-06-06T12:31:00.000-04:00

We're within just a few days of celebrating Reece's 6 month birthday! We can hardly believe that he's been around that long...and we are such proud parents...maybe borderline obnoxious?

Anyway, we had the privilege of getting some 6-month photos shot yesterday by our friends/neighbors Dan and Brooke Brand - Brand Photo & Design. Gotta be honest...I've never thought that "good photography" was much different than "nice camera" or "waste of money". My view has changed...what incredible pictures and memories we have now!! Dan and Brooke are incredible... We spent over 3 hours getting different poses and personalities of Reece...several wardrobe changes, several mood changes, a couple of bottles a quick nap and many many smiles by all of us! Even their little girl Sam (a month younger than Reece) got into the action and helped Reece focus!

Here are a few of the shots from yesterday...

(above is a picture of Dan taking the "Reece in the buff" photo)

(this b&w was early in the shoot...still in the smiley mood)

(this is one of the last pictures of the day...tired as an ape)

You can see several more pictures on Dan and Brooke's blog at http://brandphotodesign.blogspot.com

They also did our two family photos to the right. The rest of the images will be posted on a Web site for viewing after they've had time to touch them all up. We'll pass along the address when we get it.

Our first REAL bath...

2007-06-03T21:10:00.000-04:00

What a great evening! Every other Sunday night we have Home Group...friends from the church come and we fellowship together and spend time in discussion. Right now we're working our way through The Good Life - by Charles Colson...it is a great time to sharpen and challenge one another. We're an interesting bunch to say the least.

After group tonight we figured it was time for Reece to have a bath, and since he's outgrown the baby tub, we've now converted it into a sit-up tub that goes in a real bath tub. So, Lisa and I stripped Reece down and got him in the big-boy bathtub. What fun...a great picture is below.

Reece is doing so great with sitting up now...we usually put the boppy around him to cushion the leans and falls, but he's managing on his own quite nicely...

Some time this week we hope to take Reece to the pool for the first time...so be on the lookout for a picture of that. Also, we're taking him for his 6-month photos...Dan and Brook Brand our neighbors and friends will be doing the photo shoot (see their link on the right) and we're sooo excited! Be on the lookout for these photos...we'll let you know how to acquire these gems for yourself.

Have a great week!

New experiences...

2007-05-31T21:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, it is true --- we get so wrapped up in our bundle (or more appropriate, tub) of joy that we forget to take pictures and worse yet forget to blog. Well, Reece has recently had some new experiences that we just have to share. First off, he is now sitting up on his own! It is so much fun to play with him on the floor and not worry about him falling over as often. I say as often, because Joe 'allowed' Reece to fall over off the couch and take a spill to the floor. Luckily Reece is a trooper and bounced back quickly.

Right now Reece is also into discovering peoples' faces. He loves to reach and pull on your nose, mouth, ear and especially the hair (man does that hurt). Below is a picture of Reece attacking his friend Lydia. Lydia loves to make Reece smile, but this time Reece got the best of her.

Reece finally got to experience a bath in a regular tub. His cousin Grant helped him explore the world of bubbles and even added a toy shark; of course Grant thought it was even more fun to attack his baby cousin repeatedly.

Another favorite activity is watching Grandmama's cat. Reece will laugh as the cat dashes around the house chasing its tail or a piece of paper, but as you can see Shadow is not too thrilled to sit and watch Reece. Luckily Jamie and Melissa, my brother and sister-in-law, also have a cat and a dog that Reece can entertain and be entertained by. Of course last Friday all Reece wanted was my brother Jamie. Jamie and Melissa watched Reece while Joe took me out for my birthday - we had a great evening. However I feel for poor Melissa, every time Jamie left the room Reece cried and couldn't be comforted. Don't give up Melissa, I promise he loves you!

Reece got to meet the doctor that delievered him this week. We caught up with Dr. Brazus and I think Reece had his best smile yet for the camera. Who would have thought that the OBGYN's office would bring out his best side. hee... hee....

The last picture is of me and Reece at The Children's Museum. We tagged along with our friends the Denniston's last Friday and had a great time. Reece loved the science area and of course the Playscape zone. As you can see, he didn't make it for the carousel ride, but I enjoyed it! Poor baby, he fell asleep while we waited to get on. He was a champ that day. And since has been sleeping all night long! We are sooooooooooooo happy!

Alright. I am getting slap happy and it is only 10:30 at night. I better wrap this up. Don't give up on us. I promise we will get better at blogging more often!

We're back...

2007-05-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, it's almost been three weeks since the last blog. So we're a little out of practice, and a little overloaded on pictures. But, of course that's what you're hear to see anyway, right? You don't need to hear me ramble on about all of the fun stuff we're doing...we'll just show you...but maybe we'll ramble on some other time.

Trip to Atlanta!!!

2007-05-08T22:43:00.000-04:00

Too many great stories from Atlanta to tell them all... But here's the Cliff Note version. We left on Thursday morning around 7am, made a stop to pick up some Praise Baby DVD's at the Dennistons, then almost got in an accident before we got 10 miles down the road. But God watched out for us and we jumped a curb and everyone was safe. We got to spend about 3 hours with Grandma Davis in New Albany, IN - what fun! A great breakfast and some quality time for her to get to know Reece. He did great on the trip down...hardly any fussing at all. We made it to Papa Baker's apartment in Atlanta around 8pm and settled in for the night. Friday we went downtown to Ikea and walked about 30 miles through Swedish furniture...and purchased some new curtains for our house. After dropping off the ladies back at the apartment, Dad Baker and I went to the opening game of the Braves/Dodgers series. The Braves had a convincing 4-0 win...great times.
Saturday the crew went to the outlet mall up the road. We had planned on a pool day, but 65 degrees and windy isn't a great introduction to swimming for Reece. The five of us ventured downtown to the Braves game...curious as to how Reece would handle the crowd and late night. He did great! His favorite player is Jeff Francoeur. We got up early on Sunday, packed up, and headed back home. The trip home went pretty quick...except for the blowout in Nashville and a mini-meltdown on the south side of Indy. All in all, it was a great trip...and we'd do it again.
For our wonderful dial-up viewers, you probably can't view the slideshow below...so we'll e-mail you some pictures if you leave us a comment...

Major milestones...

2007-04-29T19:01:00.000-04:00

Lots has happened since we posted on Thursday.

Friday morning while I was playing golf with Ben in Ohio...Reece hit a couple of major milestones! He rolled over for the first time ever! And he grabbed his pacifier off of the tray in front of him and stuck it in his mouth by himself! Big stuff! Oh yeah, one other thing was that we started him on baby food this week! We're four days into experienceing carrots. Unfortunately, he's probably already had more carrots than either of us have eaten in our lives...

Friday night when I got back from golfing, Chad and Jaime Briscoe were able to hang out with us for a while since they were in town for the weekend. We may have a picture for you later...but our camera was out of commission, so none available at this time.

Saturday we went to a surprise birthday party for our friend Andy, which was lots of fun. Happy birthday to him! We also had some people from our neighborhood come over Saturday night, which was a nice chance to get to know them better. And it was a good way for Reece to meet new friends in the neighborhood as well.

Sunday was the 15th anniversary celebration of our church - New Life Community Church...so Reece wore his Hawaiian romper (silly word) to celebrate. It was a special gift from Nana!

Then, the Dennistons came over on Sunday evening for small group - and it was a nice evening together.

To recap, the pictures below are - Reece's Easter picture, Reece with Luke and Nate Daniels and Lydia and Levi Denniston on Easter, Reece with Andy Denniston, Reece in Nana's brown suit, and Reece eating carrots.

We're taking a big trip to Atlanta next weekend! Please pray for our safe travel...and for Reece to enjoy the car ride.

Busy couple of days...

2007-04-26T21:34:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday night Reece and I went to have dinner with his Aunt Kendra and cousin Grant. Neither kid wanted to sit still for a picture, but then what fun is sitting still. On Wednesday Reece spent time with Grandmama and behaved like an angel. Normally Reece will not smile for the camera, however Joe has been patient and as you can see was finally able to catch a few. Thanks to Nana for the Tennessee outfit and Aunt Sharon for the red cap (we can't wait to wear the outfit that goes with it). Weight and height update: Reece is now weighing 21lbs and measuring 27 inches. :)

Being Neighborly...

2007-04-24T12:04:00.000-04:00

Last night Reece hung out with a lovely young lady, Samantha Brand. She came over for pizza with her mom and dad, Dan and Brooke, who live across the street. Sam is a month younger, but has also find her voice and chatted with us throughout the night. We learned that the kids do have their own laguage and can actually understand each other. They were sitting all cozy next to each other and talking away when Sam all the sudden got fussy and wanted to move -- a moment later Reece spit up all over where Sam had been.... Nice move Samantha!

******UPDATE - I just received pictures of Reece and Sam from February 8th. It will be so much fun to watch these two grow up! The first picture is from February, the other two are from April 23rd!

Time to meet Uncle Chad!

2007-04-20T21:48:00.000-04:00

Lisa's cousin Chad Briscoe was in town on Friday night...and Reece was soooo happy to finally meet more of his family.

He talks alot about all of the other family members he hasn't met yet - and can't wait for you to be on the blog, too!

The other friend he met for the first time today was the oscillating fan...

High time to eat....

2007-04-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

Alright, I figured it was time mom wrote in and shared her day with Reece. And what a day we had! Reece has started having spoonfed rice cereal along with his bottle feedings. This means we are entering the messy stages, I don't know if Joe and I are ready for this but Reece is! He ate like a pro. He was also excited to sit in his high chair that our friends the McDonalds passed down (he loves sitting up). Breakfast was a little slow going, but with Grandmama (Lisa's mom) holding him - Reece gobbled up his lunch. We decided that he was in need of cereal after seeing the picture of him in just his diaper --- he looked as though we are starving him! See if you don't agree.

Fun week...

2007-04-16T10:49:00.000-04:00

There is honestly something new about him every day! He's able to sit up on his own for a few seconds...he can babble on for minutes at a time...he can even sport a tie! Here is a picture of what he wore to church yesterday (before pooping all over it) and a couple of pictures of Monday morning with daddy...

Time with family...and a new toy!

2007-04-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

Lots has happened since we posted on Friday. Easter with the family and church was great. Our new pastor and his family are getting settled in Noblesville. God is so good!
Here are a couple of good shots from the weekend...

Although I probably posted a little pre-maturely on the whole "sleeping through the night" thing last week...it's actually happening now! He's making it from 9ish to 6ish most nights! It is incredible how good a night of sleep feels! Lisa has been back at work for a few weeks now, and I am really enjoying working from home a couple mornings a week hanging out with Reece.

Grandmama and Papa Baker are letting Reece borrow a walker and he's loving it! Here he is with his new favorite toy...and a shirt full of drool!

Good Friday with Nana...

2007-04-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

Nana (Joe's mom) came to town today to hang out with Reece. Joe and Ben were supposed to play golf today...but the weather helped us change our mind. So Lisa went to work, and Joe/Reece/Nana went to the mall, ate lunch, did some shopping...and now we're on our way to Good Friday service. Here's a great shot of Nana and Reece at play!

Making new friends...

2007-04-04T19:44:00.000-04:00

This morning Reece and Joe hung out with good friends Adam and Gage Farmer. It was the first time the boys were able to meet one another...

They were born just 3 weeks apart...Gage was stubborn and made sure his parents couldn't cash in on the tax credit...being born on January 3rd.

Later in the evening Reece played Superman with mommy and daddy...check out these great shots!

We can't wait to see Nana tomorrow night!

A little catch-up...

2007-04-03T20:27:00.000-04:00

We thought it would be a good idea to catch you up on Reece's first 3 1/2 months...so here are the top ten pictures!

Baby's first workout

2007-04-02T20:07:00.000-04:00

He likes to run!! Okay, maybe he doesn't like to run...but he likes for daddy to run.

A little jog in the baby stroller (thanks to Aunt Ruth, cousin Rachelle and cousin Anne) turned a fussy baby into a happy sleeping baby! Altogether a very fun, and fit, night.

Here is a picture of the post-workout strip-down...

More later...

Slept through the night...

2007-03-31T07:09:00.000-04:00

It's a red-letter day...you can mark it in the journal as the first night Reece slept through!! Lisa put him down last night around 8:45 pm after a relatively fussy evening...and he woke up with us at 6:15 am as I was getting ready to leave for work! What a blessing.
Of course we don't know if this is something we can expect on a consistent basis...but now we know what's possible. Sleep feels good again!
Have a good weekend.

He keeps getting bigger!!!

2007-03-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, here it is... A place where Nana, Grandmama, Papa and others can come to watch Reece grow, since they can't see him every day. We will do our best to keep up with all of the amazing things that are happening in the J/L/R Davis family.

Love you all-

Joe/Lisa/Reece