TWO ITEMS OF BUSINESS

 1. Big sister sticker attacks have been rampant around these parts. Reagan is as shocked as I am. But seems to be taking it well.

2. Aaaaaand exciting news in toddler hair. Finley will finally let me put a bow in her hair and keep it there (!!!). I'm started to get less comments about, "Look at HIS big blue eyes." Really people? I don't mind, but I hate having to correct them. Because if I don't they inevitably figure it out right afterwards and it's a whole awkward mess.

REAGAN TWO & THREE MONTHS

 

*Reagan is such a sweet cuddly girl. She loves to smile and spends most of her waking hours with her eyes open extremely wide taking notes on everything. 

*She occasionally squeaks high pitched sounds that Finley thinks are endlessly hilarious (so do I). *When she gets excited she kicks her legs furiously.

*She is still iffy on taking a pacifier but is getting a little better. Her favorite is to suck on her pointer finger knuckle or her wrist.

*She wakes up every morning with a stuffy nose.

*Her eyes are still a slate grey color - but I swear sometimes they have a greenish tint to them.

*She is still sleeping in a bassinet on the floor of our room. I refuse to believe she is old enough to sleep in a crib. Even though Finley started sleeping in a crib at six weeks. Plus her nursery is not anywhere close to being done - so the less I have to go in the room the less stress I feel to get it completed.

* She has started laughing. It's awesome. I forgot the lengths a parent will go to in order to make their baby laugh. Truly ridiculous things are done. Right now she seems to think the phrase, "I love your belly!" is especially humorous.

* Finley has started getting a little more physical with her and I think Reagan is starting to learn that a little crying will make the big sister shenanigans stop quickly.

* She still pulls a killer lower lip quivering when she's sad.

* She sleeps with her hands above her head like she's just kicked a field goal.

* She still HATES her carseat. But it's getting a little better.

* She still LOVES the Baby Bjorn. It's like magic. I put her in it and she falls right to sleep.

* At her last appointment she measured right at the 50% for weight, height, and head. So she's a perfectly average baby size wise. But I've gotten a few comments lately that she looks well fed. I think it's the double (triple??) chin. I love it.

* We always joke that Brad doesn't even know Reagan. But the truth is it's true, and it's really sad. It's so rare that he holds her that I often pull the camera out just to document it. See? SO sad. Here's recent proof that Brad did hold Reagan in the last week and she snuggled right up. A double whammy.

ALEX'S WEDDING

 

So the entire reason we went to Utah in August was for my little sister's wedding and I have approximately no pictures. It's really sad. I feel like having a photographer around gives you a false sense of security. It's not like she's taking the pictures I want - she was there for my sister, Alex. WHATEVS. Anyway. So I have hardly any pictures of me and Alex to preserve the memory of the day. Which it was beautiful and lovely and Alex has never looked happier. But it was super stressful for me because Finley was basically out of control. She was really overwhelmed by all the people and tired from traveling and we were out in the hot sun.... what it really boils down to is the fact that she is two and sometimes she acts crazy for no reason. She didn't want me to put her down but she didn't want to be held either. She kept crying and thrashing around but couldn't express why she was sad. Well if it's any excuse two days later she came down with a nasty cold. Which I got too and it started out with a really sore throat. So I'm guessing she was just hurting and didn't want to be around a bunch of strangers. Poor kid. Sometimes I feel like I drag her all over the world.

Anyway. Back to Alex's wedding. It was her day, right? Her and Chase got married in the Logan temple in the morning and then had a luncheon reception afterwards. The reception was at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Logan and it turned out great. My mom did so much work beforehand so it was a good confirmation of all the stress to know it was worth the effort.

Her bouquet was gorgeous. When I came out of the temple and saw it sitting at the front desk I swooned. Her florist did a fantastic job. But one secret they don't tell you ahead of time... it was crazy heavy! Alex didn't even want to carry it around so it pretty much sat in vase most of the time. Which was fine by me so I could admire it more.

She also had a reception in Idaho the following week. Which was nice because we got to spend a little more one on one time with her with less going on. And she was thrilled to have another excuse to wear her dress. The reception was at her in-law's house in the countryside of Idaho. Once the sun set it was perfect weather and we got to sit and eat dinner and spend some time with the extended family that made the trip.

Finley was obsessed with the mini cupcakes. I'm pretty sure she ate about 20 of them... well at least licked the frosting of 20 of them. Her face was sooo messy by the end of the evening. Cupcakes for dinner! Mom of the Year Award Winner!

This is how she spent her evening... wandering the grounds with a cupcake in hand. Whatever floats your boat girlfriend. Sometimes it just isn't worth it to argue.

If you are truly interested in seeing some beautiful pictures of Alex's day (plus a pretty darn cute one of Finley) you can go to her photographer's blog.

REAGAN'S LULLABIES

I talked about Finley's lullabies here when she was about four months old, but I already have the equivalent amount of songs on Reagan's list so I thought I should post her list too. I started compiling her playlist before she was born so I could have some songs playing during labor. Well in the blissful hours we waited after the epidural and before pushing was the only time we actually listened to the playlist but it's still a nice reminder of the day. Since then we listen to Reagan's playlist for dancing, cleaning, and cooking. Finley is still quite the dancer except now it usually involves an elaborate getup of princess clothes.

Reagan usually has her eyes open as wide as possible wondering what us two fools are doing. Actually now that I think about it she looks at Finley and I like that quite often. Reagan doesn't seem to respond to music in quite the same way as Finley, she seems very serious and intent about the whole thing, but I think soon she'll be dancing right along with her sister. 

Without further adieu... here is Reagan's playlist:

1. Mississippi - Train

2. Islands - The XX

3. La Cienga Just Smiled - Ryan Adams

4. Beggar in the Morning - The Barr Brothers

5. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye

6. On My Mind - Kallai

7. Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons

8. Unless I'm Led - Mates of State

9. Safe & Sound - Taylor Swift, Civil Wars

10. The Show - Kerris Dorsey

11. Only You - Joshua Radin

12. Night After Night - Jack & White

13. Home - Phillip Phillips

14. Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine

15. Ho Hey - The Lumineers

16. California - Mindy Gledhill

17. Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Israel K

18. On Top Of The World - Imagine Dragons (thanks to Brook for this recommendation!)

19. In Your Arms - Kina Grannis

20. A Sorta Fairytale - Tori Amos

21. Boyfriend - Justin Beiber (Sad to say I sing this to her more than any other song, especially the line girlfriend, girlfriend you could be my girlfriend. Which reminds me. Finley called me girlfriend a few weeks ago. It was hilarious.)

Some of these are OLD. Like highschool old. But you can't mess with a classic people. And yes I'm aware that some of these are not exactly "lullabies." Too bad. I like to mix it up. Get it? MIX it up? I know. I'm a nerd. Honestly though that reminds me that Reagan will never have the pleasure of making a true mix tape. What a lost art form. I was a serious professional at making mix tapes. Well. Burning this to a CD for her memory box will have to suffice. Here's to hoping CD players are still around when she's old enough to appreciate this music.