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.

BLESSING

Right before our trip to Utah Brad's parents came down and Brad gave Reagan her baby blessing. It was so special to have it in our new house with just family and Brad did a great job. He even wore the hipster tie I bought him months ago. Special occasion alert!

Brad's parents also worked themselves to the bone fixing all the little (and big) things that have needed attention since we moved in. Brad's 100 hour a week schedule doesn't really leave him much time. So I am ever grateful to have a handyman extraordinaire for a father-in-law. And Diane isn't so shabby herself either.

I was very adamant about having lots of pictures because I have exactly one picture from Finley's blessing - and I'm not even in it. I'm still mad about it as you can tell. So by the end of the picture taking both kiddos were DONE and thus the very fancy pose below. I feel like I should photoshop this into some awesome 80's sitcom.

MY LITTLE VAN GOGH

So Pinterest is kind of hit and miss, right? Some stuff you think looks totally awesome does not even come close to working out. I've tried out some pretty gross recipes... and I won't even mention the number of sewing projects with horrible instructions that have ended in a total fail. But this suggestion was a huge success. All you do is put food coloring in condensed milk and it becomes non-toxic paint that is totally edible. I was always worried about Finley trying to eat regular paint, since she still eats crayons, but with this I don't even have to worry. The paint goes on really smooth and dries nice and glossy. We haven't held on to anything longer than a day or two so I don't know if I'd use it for something I want to keep forever but for a fun quiet project that keeps Finley in one spot for 30 minutes I give it two thumbs up.

Here she is being very intense about her art.

And here she is covered head to toe. Needless to say, it's usually bath time immediately after painting time.

RECOVERY

We are all adjusting to life back in Alabama after three weeks in Utah. It's a little bit of a vacation hangover... well what I imagine a hangover feels like. In a word: unfun. I'm sorting through a mountain of pictures and I'll be back to blogging shortly. For now I'll leave you with the saddest face in all the land. A two year old being told she has to go home while at the pool is THE WORST.

LOOKS WHO'S SMILING

I only managed to catch a half smile.

But this is one happy girl and is not stingy with the smiles.

And she is definitely a mama's girl. Fine by me!

SISTA SISTA

WARNING - NAKED BABY PICTURES AHEAD. I SWEAR I DRESS FINLEY AT LEAST 200 TIMES A DAY BUT SHE INSISTS ON NAKEDNESS 95% OF THE TIME. I'M LUCKY IF I CAN KEEP A DIAPER ONE HER.

So I am starting to adjust to life with two children. And not just two children. But two girls! Can you believe it? Me, the one who said she was going to have five boys. Which I guess is still possible - but someone rescue my soul if I have seven children. YIKES. Anyway. I always knew deep down that I was going to have at least a few girls. So I'm not really surprised to be in the land of pink and princesses. Just know, I throw in my fair share of gender neutral and even outright "boy" things as well. Who cares anyway? I'm completely convinced children come with a heaping dose of opinions that you have absolutely no control over. And since Finley is two going on seventeen I can already see the rough road I have ahead for myself. At least she's giving me a heads up for the teenage years. Right now her favorite thing to do is cover her ears when she knows she's about to get in trouble. She's already shutting me out! She's actually doing a preemptive strike against her impending punishment. Which totally goes to show she knows exactly when she's doing something wrong. Rascal!

Our pediatrician warned us that it would be a good 6-8 weeks for the "old Finley" to come back after Reagan was born. Meaning that would be the normal adjustment time for a two year old. We were worried it would be double or triple that with everything that we've thrown at her the last few months. But actually I think within the last week she has finally calmed down and gotten used to her new life. Which is right on cue. The first three weeks after Reagan was born were the absolute worst - I really thought she had turned into a monster overnight. Sorry! It's true. There were multiple crazy meltdowns everyday. She stopped sleeping at night. She stopped taking daytime naps. She was above and beyond her normal unruliness. Now she's just her plain old normal unruly. Now that she has adjusted I can see that there is a potential for a great sisterhood between these two. Which is my big hope. They are only two years apart. And they'll be sharing a lot for the next sixteen years and beyond. Let's just hope she won't be teaching Reagan any of her tricks. I can already tell that Finley really wants to play with her and wants to love on her as much as I do. Which can prove disastrous. But mostly it's a good thing.

Today she spent a good thirty minutes playing peek-a-boo (or as she says,"Bo-Bo") with her and when I stopped her when she graduated to actually putting a blanket over Reagan's head she gave me a totally dirty look like I had ruined their special play time. 

She tries to hand her things all the time hoping Reagan will accept her offers. The other day Finley handed Reagan a sticker and then she got so excited when it stuck to her hand and it appeared she had finally taken something from her. She smiled really big and said, "You're welcome!"

 

In the car when Reagan gets upset we've taught Finley to say, "Oh, Reagan!" And we are working on, "Don't be sad." Right now she'll just frown and say, "Sad."

 She LOVES giving her kisses and has started demanding to give her a good night kiss before bed.

And she can't actually say her name so she calls her "Reagah." 

Often Finley demands to "Hold her!" over and over again. And she likes to have Reagan lay on her belly, which is what I do with her for tummy time. 

I'm hoping these are just the first of some fun exchanged between these two. And just so everyone knows I'm not naive. I'm complete aware that sometimes it will be like WWIII between these two, but my hope is that at least ultimately they will be two scheming confidants together.

FINLEY AT TWO

* Every night when we go into her room at bedtime she yells, "Stars!" Which means she wants us to turn on her turtle nightlight. As if we would forget.
* This is embarrassing to admit but right now she is sleeping on her crib mattress on the floor. We actually have a queen size bed for her but we don't have the safety railings yet so we haven't moved her into that room. We also figured it wouldn't hurt to wait a few extra weeks since she has had her world rocked these last few months.
* She loves ice cream, pizza, avocados, cheese, fruit snacks, eggs, and stealing my Diet Coke. Such a thief!

* She likes to dress up like a "Pree-cess" and she currently spends most of her days in just a tu-tu. Also, any woman dressed nicely in her book is a princess. I hope she keeps that definition for a while.
* She still loves Elmo, Curious George, and Woody - but since her world has expanded to princesses she also loves Tangled and Enchanted.

* She has the most animated face of any two year old I've ever known. We get comments all the time that she is quite expressive, especially when she does her very dramatic surprise face and sad face.

* "Sheepy" are goldfish crackers or any fish for that matter. Probably one of my most favorite words she gets wrong. I'm ashamed to admit I've started calling them sheepy too, she'll probably still be calling them sheepy when she's in highschool. Oops.
* She has started trying to getting into my makeup. Her favorite is putting on chapstick and blush.
* She likes to help me cook - and the other day learned the true meaning of a hot pan. I turned my head to put a dish in the sink and she reached over from her stool and put her hand flat on the bottom of a pan I was heating up. Luckily, she didn't get hurt since the pan wasn't fully heated up yet. But both of us learned a lesson that day. Now her cooking stool is placed a few inches further away and any time we're near the stove she says "HOT!"

* Bubbles are far and away her favorite thing. Her favorite song is "Bubbles" by Monkey Monkey Music.
* Her other favorite songs are: Twinkle Twinkle, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Call Me Maybe, and The Big Bang Theory's theme song.

* In our new house she has her own playroom upstairs and has slowly started playing on her own. It's weird to let he be in there totally on her own and know that she's okay. It usually only lasts for 20 minutes max, but that's a good 20 minutes that I can feed Reagan and not have Finley simultaneously climbing on my head.

REAGAN - ONE MONTH

Reagan is technically over 5 weeks old now, but I'm almost done with catch up! So far she is a great baby and we couldn't imagine our family without her.

* She has started smiling. It's mostly on accident - but just today she smiled right at me after she was done eating.
* She is still super mellow - and sometimes just hangs out on her own looking at the world around her. Not something Finley ever did.
* She is full of constant burps when she eats.Which unfortunately makes her a not-so-great eater. Half the time it feels like I'm teaching her to eat for the first time.

* She takes abuse from Finley fairly well, but honestly Finley is actually very sweet with her. The problem usually occurs when she blocks her breathing while attempting to hug her.
* She LOVES bath time. Usually she just chills in the water and watches herself in the mirror.
* She HATES her car seat. As in screams bloody murder the entire time. The only thing that calms her down is high speeds with Mumford and Sons cranked up. No joke.

* She is a big grunter. At night she doesn't usually cry when she's hungry - she'll wake me up by grunting to tell me she wants to eat.
*She is a fantastic sleeper. I don't want to jinx it but it has been so nice to still get decent sleep at night. We are talking 5-6 hours uninterrupted every night! I know, I'm very spoiled.

* She is still at the very sleepy stage, but is just starting to be awake more during the day. Which means she likes to be held a whole lot more than before. I'm okay as long as I have either my Moby wrap or Baby Bjorn carrier available. Both are huge lifesavers right now!
* As for who she prefers holding her - it seems to be the mama. Finally! A child that prefers me! Crossing my fingers it stays that way.
* Her eyes are still a dark blue/grey.
* She is already loosing her hair on top. Receding hairline o-rama!

* She is just starting to outgrow her newborn clothes! Sad! I begrudgingly started washing the tub of 0-3 month clothes yesterday. Time is already going by way too fast. Some of the items I pulled out feel like that were worn by Finley just a few months ago - but I have remind myself it was almost two years ago. HOLY MOLY.