Washers!

We got bounced from the washers tourney in pretty short order. Playing
with no "cancellations" makes the games quick. But the day was still
awesome! Ironically, this was nearly as exhausting as ironman. Just
kidding! It was a good long day though.

Swingin' the sticks

After lunch, we hit the links. It is a gorgeous day for golf.

Triathlon!!

John and I just finished the first leg of our tri today. We put up
some good scores, but there were some excellent bowlers there too. The
guy next to us was actually wiping oil off his ball after every throw.
This is serious stuff!!

Tales from the Crib, Part 3

Bennett has recently gone through a growth spurt, causing her to eat ferociously and she has also been back to napping for 2.5-3 hours a day.  That has been lovely!! I also realized tonight that her two top 2-year-old molars are finally coming in.  She got the bottom two a couple months ago, and they were really rough for her.  We went through a lot of children's Motrin! Considering she hasn't had any problems so far with the top ones, and they are both broken through already, I'm hoping that they will finish coming in pain free.  

Today was the first day in about a week that she didn't nap.  I was surprised because we played all morning at the park with her friend Peyton.  Peyton and Bennett are so funny together.  They are definitely the two most verbal kids in our playgroup, so they are able to carry on conversations with each other.  They also spent about 20 minutes swinging and singing songs together.  It was so adorable.  They took turns choosing songs, so they ended up singing the ABCs, the Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, Happy Birthday and London Bridge.  

Bennett talked and talked in her crib today.  Finally, for the last 10 minutes or so, I stopped what I was doing and sat down to record what she was saying.  So here you go: Tales from the Crib: Part 3 (remember while your reading these that she still has trouble with pronouns and often refers to herself as you/your):

1. Sang the Wheels on the Bus many times-she included the kitties, puppies, mommies, babies and chicks

2. Sang the Dora theme song.  She even has the d-d-d-d-d-Dora part down!

3. Go in your big girl room, not in your baby room.  This is your baby room.  Bennett will move into her big girl bed when the baby comes.  The baby will not sleep in her pack n play.

4. That feels nice.  Yawning is nice.  She's not yawning mommy.  She's just playing!

5. Want to snuggle in big girl room with Mommy and you'll sleep a LONG time!

6. Told Swiper to go away.  Grumpy old troll wasn't here.  Swiper was here.  Told Swiper to go away! (Dora characters for those of you who are not familiar!)

7. Puppy didn't see you.  Bennett peeked.  What's the problem puppy? Why are you crying?

8. Mommy, could I get ready to get out of bed? You could bring hippo or Jelly cat or Lamby.  Those are your choices!

9. Mommy I have a little mush on my shirt!

Beautiful morning

That's as big of a smile as I could muster up after 20 miles! Now
it's chocolate milk time.

Our Morning

This morning I thought it would be a good idea to get Bennett into the mindset of potty training.  So she spent from 8AM-noon with Dora underpants on, and I set a timer and we would go sit on the potty every 15 minutes.  Well in that stretch of 4 hours, she managed to go through all 8 pairs of Dora underpants, but we were successful 1 time!!! Bennett was very proud of herself, and her reward was to pick whichever Dora sticker she wanted.  She chose the tiniest map sticker, but was super excited about it, so whatever floats her boat!!  I'm glad we had a little bit of success, but this potty training thing is going to be quite the ordeal!!!

8AM, first pair of Dora's.  She very happy about it!!

11:40AM.  We finally had success!!!!!

Showing off the Map sticker she earned.  

Noon.  Very proud of herself! Last pair of underwear.  They lasted about 5 more minutes.  

This is what happens when your 2 year old thinks she doesn't need a nap...

Yes, she is asleep in the middle of dinner...with ketchup smeared all over her face, and there was actually chicken still in her mouth! Bennett has only been napping about every other day lately.  The days she doesn't nap, she still hangs out in her bed for at least 1.5 hours, but then she is so exhausted at night that she's been going to bed at 7:00 or sooner.  Tonight when she fell asleep in her high chair, I just let her sleep for 20 minutes, and then woke her up to take a bath and then finish dinner.  

The funny part about the days she doesn't nap, is that she says the funniest things in her crib! Here's another installment of Bennett's nap time conversations with herself...

1. Lay down and take a good nap.

2. I'm trying to get up now, Mommy!

3. All the kids cheered!

4. chug, chug, chug, choo, choo (many times!)

5. Great Grandma Bea can't sleep, Great Grandma Rull can't sleep, (repeated with Mommy, Daddy, Murph and Nana)

6. Dora the doctor (that was the episode she watched that day).

7. Mommy, I didn't eat.  Mommy, I didn't do errands.  Mommy, I didn't go to Schnucks.  

8. We're going to the pet store tomorrow after we change our diapers. 

9. We are going to find a new playground...a fantastic one!

10. We're going to a new library.

11. Dora, you have to go to the doctor.  Doctors are nice to you.  

Sightseeing in Alton

A great photo for captioning.

The World's ugliest casino, or ... Colony of Gypsy Clown Gamblers
Invades Illionois Wayerways.

Bennett loves water and week 15 baby bump

First of all, here is a week 15 baby bump picture.  This baby is showing him/herself much more quickly this time around, but I guess that is pretty normal for a second pregnancy.  It has caught me off guard, though, to have to mostly be in maternity clothes so much earlier!

Also, on Sunday morning, Bennett had a friend over to play for a few hours.  We decided to get out the giant ball that squirts water for them to run through and play in.  They had such a great time! Bennett was a little apprehensive at first, but eventually she got plenty wet and they were both laughing and smiling the entire time!! Here are a few pictures of Bennett's adventures in the water!

Baby Names

As week 15 starts tomorrow, we are always thinking about baby names, but we don't have anything definite yet.  I think I will get more serious about it after our ultrasound Sept. 10 when we find out if we are having a girl  or a boy. 

Last weekend, I had a fun time hanging out with all of the Reed girl cousins and aunts out at Innsbrook.  As usual, there were lots of laughs and plenty of story telling! After playing a long game of Apples to Apples, we decided that everyone should write down a boy's name and a girls name...just to give me some suggestions of what to name the baby.  If you haven't played Apples to Apples before, some of the answers are serious and some are ridiculous, so this little game followed suit.  I will not tell who chose what names, but you can let me know if you think any of these will be winners.  Of course, you're not actually going to find out what the baby is going to be named until he/she arrives.  Sorry!! 

girl names:

Laign Loretta 

Julia Ann 

Emma 

Charlotte Emma (nickname Charlie)

Leola Dorothy (I wonder who came up with that one!)

Danielle

Maddison

Julia Rose

Amelia Bedelia

boy names:

Jamie Mark

Wilson Lee

Jesse James

Patrick John

William

Charles Rull

Andrew James

Connell

Marcus Chester

Taylor Reed

Jack Johnathon

James Reed

Cody William

and the wild card...   Albert Pujols Janosky!

Thanks girls, for the suggestions.  

Death by Lunch

It is with great pride... and regret... that I share with you my lunch entree.

Recently, I've been on a kick to try new places, branch out, and really get to know St.Louis food. Co-workers took me to a little place on The Hill (Italian section of town) called Anthonino's. I was pretty set on trying a gyro or some fried fish, but my boss took the liberty of making a strong recommendation that I go for The Slinger.

Oh, and it came out slingin'. Nobody at the table could recall eating a Slinger during daylight hours. Nor could anybody recall eating one while sober. I was going into uncharted territory, embarking on my own little "man versus food" episode.

Let me tell you, I've never seen a concoction on a plate like this since I used to wash dishes. I'm just saying things get mixed together back there in the dish room. It was wild.

Upon a hefty portion of french fries, sat two fried eggs, all of which was smothered in a meaty italian red sauce, which was coated generously with provel cheese. It was piled high with pancetta bacon, and dusted with parmesan cheese. It is served with the warning that, "The plate is hot. Be careful." Yeah, like that's going to be my problem while trying to consume this behemoth. How about, "Caution, we combined breakfast, lunch, and dinner on this plate. Good luck."

I'll admit I was a little nervous at first, but it was love at first bite.

I WON! In short order, I gobbled it all up, and I was all set to skip the next 3 meals. St. Louis foodies maintain that the Slinger is the ultimate hangover remedy. While I can't vouch for that, I can say that it did make me want to take a nap.

Out and about

The Bean and I cruised around the Alpine Shop where she tried out
every tent and sleeping bag she could get her hands on. Anything on
the floor was fair game, as you can see.