Two Great Loves

This morning I kept Reese in her Jump and Jive while she watched Baby Einstein. These are her two great loves at the moment. She was in heaven!

Life doesn't get much better than this!

I love when she jumps and jives so hard that she starts to lose her socks. Now that's some serious jumping and jiving!

Life doesn't get much better than being the mommy of this little girl! She's one of my two great loves!

Beating the Heat

Our Oklahoma Summer has been HOT, HOT, HOT! Reese and I haven't been getting out much for fear of melting. The meteorologists are predicting the temperatures are only going to get higher. As high as 113 degrees in the next few days. WOW! That's HOT!

If you dare to go outside Reese wants you to be safe by remembering to...

Wear shades to protect your eyes,

Put on LOTS of sunscreen ESPECIALLY if you plan on sunbathing,

Wear a hat and a smile whenever possible,

And cool off in the water as much as you can!

Here's hoping you BEAT THE HEAT this summer! Reese and I will be enjoying most of the summer inside where there's air conditioning.

 I don't know about you, but we're ready for FALL!

Sitting Pretty

Reese started sitting by herself this week. At the moment she only enjoys sitting for short periods of time. She says it's difficult to balance when you have a lot of extra padding.

Reese isn't an independent sitter quite yet. She still needs a couple of helping hands on either side--for her own protection. Especially when she decides to chew on her fingers,

or her fist,

or when she becomes "The Leaning Tower of Reesa."

Oh come on that was kind of funny! Right?

However, she's getting there one sit at a time. Most importantly she's having a blast learning how to SIT PRETTY!

Life is good! Don't you agree?

New Trick, Old Quick

Reese used to flip from her tummy to her back. She doesn't do this anymore and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because she can't or forgot how or doesn't desire to. She was always very motivated to flip over unto her back since she HATED being on her tummy.

Well, times they are a changing. Reese now LOVES flipping over unto her tummy. She loves it so much, in fact, that she wants to continue practicing this NEW TRICK in her crib morning, noon, and night.

when she should be SLEEPING of course!

I took these pictures as evidence.
Check out those tired eyes!

It was kind of cute at first. WRONG! It is NOT cute at 12 am, 3 am, 5 am and...well you get the idea. "The books" say a baby should lie sleeping on their back, so that's what we try to do. However, a few minutes after placing Reese on her back she'll flip over unto her tummy and start crying. So we'll go flip her over and this process repeats and repeats. We have left her to cry it out for a while to see if she'll fall asleep on her tummy, but this isn't really working either. I think I will write my own book soon. I just need to figure all this parenting stuff out first.  

On top of this, Reese is teething and we are about to leave on a family trip. It should be an interesting plane ride and vacation. 

If there are any mothers reading this who have any helpful tips, advice, or suggestions don't hesitate to offer them up! Cuz' this NEW TRICK is getting OLD QUICK!

Reese is fortunate she's adorable, cute, funny, beautiful (inside and out), and unconditionally loved. I hate missing out on sleep, but I wouldn't trade her for anything! 

Well, maybe an updated model that only rolls over during playtime. Does anyone know where I might go to get one of those?

6

Reese's half birthday started off with Mommy singing "Happy HALF Birthday to You" and Daddy smothering her with kisses.

Soon after, this Half Birthday Girl was given a warm Bubble Bath and wrapped in a monster towel. This is fitting since she's been a bit of a MONSTER lately. 

GOTTA LOVE TEETHING...ROAR!

No official tooth yet.

Stay tuned.

For her big day Reese was dressed in a special half birthday outfit. She ripped her socks off almost immediately after I put them on, because "It's her Half Birthday and she'll do what she wants to."

Then she did some of her MOST favorite things!

She rolled over onto her tummy,

Sucked her thumb,

And put her entire fist in her mouth! 

No pictures please!

Reese ate a yummy breakfast, too--Apples and Bananas.
She really enjoys food! Just like her mommy!

She also spent some time this morning in her Excersaucer. She loves this thing!

I can't believe this girl is already SIX MONTHS OLD! 

Half way to a year--WOW!

America's Sweetie

America's Sweetie was busy this 4th of July doing the usual things...

 Eating

Looking adorable

Sucking her thumb 

Hanging with Mommy

Eating some more

Playing

Laughing

She'd like you to know NOT everything was same ol' same ol' though! America's Sweetie also ENJOYED swimming for the 1st time! 

We took BABY STEPS getting her into the pool this time around. 

She was unsure at first, but by the time she reached one of the last steps SOMEONE decided they'd better give this swimming thing another go!

Mostly, she seemed to find the water relaxing, however...

by the end she was kicking her legs and having a grand ol' time!

Like always, I made sure to get a Family Picture!

Yes--We're Christians

America's Sweetie hopes everyone had as GREAT of a time as she did on her FIRST 4th of July!

The Perfect Baby Name

Joe and I spent quite a bit of time trying to agree upon a girl and boy name for our baby. Since we didn't know whether our baby was a girl or boy we needed to have both names ready when we greeted him or her.

I begun the quest for the perfect baby name by doing what most women do--buying baby name books. I went through and marked every name I liked. Then I would call out the names to Joe. He would respond "Hate It" "It's OK" "It's Not My Favorite" or "Are You Kidding Me?" I knew Joe was never going to say "OMG I love that name" because that just isn't Joe.

I still remember when I called out the name REESE. I thought Joe would say "Hate It" because this was his common response, however, he didn't. I'll never forget, he said "Hmmm, that's a nice name." This was the best response he had given me yet. I thought--PROGRESS--Joe actually likes a name I really like, too! I read the meaning of the name REESE...

I thought it was such a strong name. I also thought it would be wonderful to have a daughter who was both passionate and enthusiastic like her name suggested. Then I played devil's advocate. I asked Joe, "What if she marries a guy with the last name Reese?" Joe and I agreed this was unlikely and if she truly fell in love with a Mr. Reese she wouldn't mind being Mrs. Reese Reese. Then I asked, "What if she hates people asking if she was named after Reese Witherspoon?" We decided it wasn't that big of a deal and it might be a good conversation starter anyway. I also worried, "What if people make fun of her and call her Reese's pieces or Reese's peanut butter cups?" We concluded those were both such delicious candies and wondered if it would it even be considered an insult? We thought not. 

Then I reminded him that I had always loved the name CAROLINE. I love this name for many reasons. For one, I love the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline." It has such a SWEET sound to it. I told Joe we could sing it to our daughter and whenever she heard it she could think of us and how much we love her.

I first grew to love the name CAROLINE when I saw the movie Untamed Heart. The lead actress is played by Marisa Tomei and her character's name is CAROLINE.

The name CAROLINE also reminds me of my Grandma Carol who died the month Joe and I married. I miss her and think of her often. She was a very special person and made a lasting impression on me.

Honestly, I probably would have named my baby girl CAROLINE if I was the only one making the decision because I loved the name that much. Joe liked the name also, but he thought it was too similar to my name--Kara--to be used as a first name. I remember reading the meaning of the name CAROLINE...

Soon after we discussed these two names separately, Joe thought of putting them together. He suggested we could still sing "Sweet Caroline" to our daughter but substitute the word "Sweet" for "Reese." It actually sounds really good when we sing our version of the song to Reese. She smiles and laughs now when I sing it to her. Somehow I think she must know it's her name and a special song just for her.

The more I get to know my daughter, Reese Caroline, the more I discover she is living up to her name's meanings. Here is a recent picture showing her passionate, enthusiastic, and strong personality...

Even now when I see and hear her name I love it more and more.

I love the way it looks stitched onto to the things I've bought her...

I love the way it looks hanging down the wall in her room...

I love the way it looks on the prayer card she was gifted...

Mostly, I love the girl who we call Reese Caroline. She is such a special gift. I cherish her each and every day. I am so glad I get to be her Mommy. I am confident we gave her