Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Reese's 1st Thanksgiving at Sarah's parents house where we had a wonderful meal with her parents, grandparents, brother Sheppard, and his fiance Kimberly.  Later in the afternoon we went to visit with Sarah's mom's side of the family where there were lots of aunts, uncles and cousins.

                                   Reese with Nana & Big Daddy

                                   Reese with Sheppard & Kimbo

                                   Reese with Mammy

                                   Reese with the General

                                    Reese & Great Grandmother Mom-Mom

                                   Reese & Cousin Cal

                                   Sarah made a Thanksgiving Trifle while Lee made mashed potatoes. Yum!

Sarah's Birthday

A few days ago Sarah turned 26 years old.  She spent the morning shopping with her mom & Reese, then spent the rest of the day hanging out at home.  Lee picked up supper, flowers, wine and a cake to celebrate.  

The next day we went up to the farm where Reese rode Sarah's horse, Winston, for the 1st time.  Reese LOVED Winston.  She cackled and screeched while petting him, and Winston enjoyed all the attention.  I can't wait to start horseback riding lessons with her! 

 

8 Months Old

Wow!!!  Where has time gone?  Reese has changed a lot recently and I know we are in for even more changes in the near future.  

Some of the more exciting developments:

• At 7 1/2 months old she said "Mama"!  We were in Philadelphia at the time and at first it started out as a few flukes... but she quickly figured out what she was saying and says it ALL the time now.  This is such an awesome word to hear!
  
• She has figured out how to go from sitting to a crawling position.  She hasn't started actually crawling yet, but I know it's just around the corner.  
• When you play music with a beat she will 'dance' a long.  She basically just rocks her body back and forth and bounces up and down in time to the song.  This is really adorable to watch.  I have tried a few times to capture it on video, but haven't had any luck.  Hopefully soon!
• She can pull herself up to standing from a semi-sitting position. 
• She can stand while holding on to something for balance.  
• No teeth yet, but over the past few days she has started drooling and chewing more than ever.     

Since the weather has turned colder we have enjoyed having fires at night.  We sit around with Georgia (the dog), and Dahlia (the cat) to wind down before Reese goes to bed.  Everyone loves being by the fire.  

 

Reese loves to play with the dog and cat.  Usually they walk in the opposite direction from her, but occasionally they will let her love on them until she inevitably pulls out a wad of hair or tries to bend a tail in a direction it isn't meant to go.  

Philly Trip

We are back from our week and a half visit to Philadelphia to see Lee's friends and family. We flew on an airplane to get there... so we were nervous about how Reese would do... but she was excellent. She made many friends on the plane and we received multiple comments about how well she behaved.

Reese's 1st trip on an airplane

While in Philly, Reese got a new cousin. William Patrick was born November 3rd weighing in at 8lbs 15 oz. He is a cutie. Reese kept trying to pat his head, grab his arms, and touch his face. She thought he was a little doll.



We got to spend a lot of time with our 2 year old niece, Angelina, while her parents were in the hospital with the new baby. Angelina LOVED playing with Reese. She will be a great big sister.


Later in the week we took a drive down to Baltimore to see Lee's cousin and her husband. She delivered her little boy just 3 days after this picture was taken. Baby Corey weighed just 5 lbs 6 oz. and was 3 weeks early.


Lee's mom bought Reese and Angelina matching winter outfits... so of course we had to do a photo shoot!


Lee caught a stomach virus and got really sick for the 1st time in a long time. Lee was not the only one affected.... Angelina, Uncle Bill, and GG all got just as sick. Thank goodness the babies didn't catch it!


Other snapshots from the visit.............