Happy New Year!

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...

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

It sure gets dark early...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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!