Food

Adalynn has started eating "food".  I tried to be like every other American mother this time and start with rice cereal.  She wasn't a fan.  By this I mean that after the third or fourth bite she would start crying at me. So I decided to fall back on the trusty Secrets of the Baby Whisperer book plan.  I followed this book with Ansley and everything went well so I thought, forget the cereal bring me the pears.  Adalynn loved the pears.  By this I mean she smiles and starts giggling when I put her in her chair.

Eating her first cereal

On the subject of food...
December is just killer when it comes to trying to eat healthy.  Our family by no means qualify as health nuts but we do try to pay attention and eat more good than bad.  Since Jay works at church people are always bringing goodies up there this time of year.  Also Ansley brought a whole bunch of stuff home from her last week at MDO before the holidays.  I didn't realize how much the sweets had taken over until two days ago when Ansley kept saying her tummy hurt.  Turns out after a couple of trips to the bathroom she felt much better. HA!  Eating lots of sweets has always been rough on her.  And "lots of sweets" for Ansley is not much in comparison to most people.  She has just had about three days where she had eaten about 3 cookies a day.  She really doesn't eat "treats" a lot.  She does eat pop tarts and have peanut butter and jelly like every other day but cookies, candy, and such are rarities.  Now with Ansley not eating as much it means that more of it is staring at me all day.  I guess thats why someone decided we needed to make New Years resolutions after the holidays.  :)

Thankful

     Today is Veteran's Day and it just has me thinking how thankful I am for so many things in my life.  I am thankful for this country and those who serve to protect what we stand for.  I could never express how thankful I am to be born into the family God placed me in.  I am surrounded by loving, supporting, Christ followers on all sides to journey through life with as family and I will forever be grateful!  I am so thankful for my husband who is so perfect for me, whom I will never take for granted!  He is such a fun and loving provider, mate, friend, and father.  When days are blah I simply have to look at the faces of my two beautiful daughters to take me to a place of being thankful!  Their smiles and little selves that were fearfully and wonderfully made are so inspiring.

     Over the weekend we attended my 10 year high school reunion.  I was feeling a little awkward about the whole thing but once we got there sweet faces from dear friends eased that feeling away.  I have told many people that I feel my high school experience was different than most because I truly feel most of my friends were seeking to live a life like Christ.  Maybe it was my naivety but I have always been thankful to have been a part of a seemingly rare occurrence.  I'm not saying it was perfect.  There was drama as will always be amongst teenagers, but for me it was an as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another  (Prov. 27:17) kind of experience.  If it weren't for facebook I would not have kept up with just about anyone, so on my list of "I'm thankful for" I must add facebook. :)

     Being a friend as an adult is way harder than it has previously been.  I guess because there are other priorities that take precedence and because you aren't forced to be in the same location as others day after day, especially as a stay at home mom.  But I am not using that excuse anymore.  I am resolved to be a better friend.  I'm not exactly sure how that will look but I have begun praying already that God would help me to see beyond my door and show me how to be a real and compassionate friend.

The Willeford part of my precious family

Sweet "new" friends

Cookie Lee

     So, what is Cookie Lee?  It is a jewelry business that operates a lot like selling Avon or Mary Kay.  Consultants (me) help people host "home shows".  That is how we sell the jewelry, and that is how a hostesses earns free jewelry.  I hosted a show right before we moved from Clovis to Taylor and I loved my stuff.  They have really cute things at reasonable prices.  The Cookie Lee jewelry I have, I bought over 3 years ago so it is durable as well.  I still wear those pieces which means I am either not up on fashion or the jewelry has been designed well to stay current.  I would love for you to view the catalog online at www.cookielee.com  For now I have chosen not to have a website so you won't find me in the consultant locator, but feel free to email or call me with an order, to host a show, or ask questions.
     If you host a show there are great benefits!  If the sales from your show are over $200 you earn $30 in free jewelry, 2 items at %50 off, and an opportunity to get the monthly hostess special.  The benefits only get better the higher amount of sales dollars your show generates.  Also no matter how much money your show brings in if any of your guests book a show you will receive a $25 gift certificate to use at their show and at least 1 item at %50 off.  All this information is in the catalog too if I am doing a poor job of explaining it.  There is no presentation at the show it is just a time to invite friends over to see the jewelry and hang out.  It is super low key and no pressure, which is reassuring to me.
     There are also ways to do fundraising, which I think is pretty cool.  I will have to look into it a little more and see how it all works but I just wanted to throw that out there in case anybody knows an organization, team, etc. that needs to do a fundraiser.
     So that is Cookie Lee in a nut shell.  I have chosen to do this to hopefully save money to buy a new (to us) car.  You know that Dave Ramsey... He would say to save up and pay cash.  I don't know if we will be able to do that but that is kinda my goal.

What's next?

     Life is so busy these days.  I LOVE the weekends when we have time to just spend together as a family.  We always find something to do.  Recently we have been to Zilker Park, Jay's first 5k run of the fall, Lexington for the Chocolate festival, and the day of all things pumpkin.  The chocolate festival was not so much about chocolate which was a disappointment for Jay and I, but Ansley had lots of fun.  We did all eat some chocolate pancakes.  The day of all things pumpkin we first went and picked out our pumpkin.  Then we came home and painted and carved it.  We roasted the seeds, that I ate almost completely by myself because Ansley didn't like them and Jay doesn't really either.  They were delicious if I do say so myself. :)  We also made pumpkin bread which everyone loved.  There was LOTS so it's good that I had help eating it.

     We are about to enter a new phase of life I think.  As of this weekend our house will be on the market and I will try to start selling jewelry.  I am SO nervous about having people come look at the house with my disaster of a 4 year old who makes even cleaning up a mess.  Seriously, I have to applaud her effort but it is  kind of incredible how that works.  We were given the opportunity to move into our church's parsonage  is the reason we are trying to sell.  It is funny because we were actually talking about trying to sell the house anyway because we really would like to have a bigger yard with shade trees because Ansley loves to play outside and in the summer it is just SO hot.  Right now though, we do spend a lot of time outside which is nice.  Just a couple months ago we had mentioned to some friends that we were thinking about it.  We really do love our house we just kinda wish it was on a different lot.  So we won't be devastated if it doesn't sell.  We would just stay put.  That situation is totally in the Lord's hands to do whatever he wills.
     Now, for the jewelry story.  When we first moved to Taylor I thought about doing this to help our family financially, but was asked to teach MDO instead.  Then I started Grad school and at first I had classes during the day.  Now my classes are online and I can do them whenever.  Although I will have to drive to San Marcos (over an hour from our house) next semester for one final night class.  Then a few months ago Jay and I started talking about it again because our car has been aging quickly lately.  You should hear it start... poor thing.  It musters up all it's energy just to start.  I know you are all thinking... just get a new battery.  And I'm sure that would help but it's more than that I think.  So in response to needing a new car I started really looking into selling Cookie Lee and finding out what it would take and if I think I could do it.  I almost committed a month ago, but decided I should take a little more time to consider it and pray about it.  Well, I meet with the lady who is going to help me make my first purchase on Friday.  I am so hesitant about it because I don't want people to feel like...here comes Jamie she just wants me to buy something.  HA!  I have been praying that it will be a ministry opportunity as well as extra income.  Maybe I can interact with people that I may never have come in contact with before and show the love of Jesus through this silly jewelry business.  This situation is totally in the Lord's hands as well.  I will not be disappointed if it doesn't work out, but you don't know if you don't try.  I know I am not super outgoing so this will definitely stretch me.  I can be pleasant, yes, but I am NOT a conversationalist.  I so wish I could just talk to anyone but it's a real challenge for me to hold conversation with people I do not know.  Anyway after Friday I will post another blog about Cookie Lee just in case anyone is curious.
     So life has been crazy and is about to get crazier.
     Lord, I pray for strength and wisdom to juggle all the balls I have in my life.  Help me to keep my priorities in order so that I don't neglect the important things in life.  Show me how to share your love with the people in my path.  Most of all be glorified and use me as you wish.

Growing Baby!

I don't really have any interesting stories to tell.  Surely something blog worthy has happened in the last month, but life has gotten too busy to document. :)  However I did want to post Adalynn's photos I've been taking each month so I could see them all together.  She is such a doll and I can't imagine life without her.  It's like I've known her forever and she has only lived 3 short months.

1 month

2 months

3 months

 

 

The princess and the frog

In our front yard there is a water meter box between our house and the neighbors.  I think the first summer we lived in this house we realized a frog was in there.  Ever since then there have been several frogs that have chosen that place as their home.  Well actually I think they are toads, but it's all the same to me.  Right now we have about 4 in there.  Until this summer Ansley would only occasionally go and check on the frogs.  I think she mostly wanted to know they were still there, but now she has adopted them as if they are part of the family.  We "go look at the frogs" just about every day.  She picks one out and holds it, carries it around, and pets it.  She almost always gets peed on at least once, but she doesn't care.  ICK, just thinking about it is gross.  She had it on the swing with us in the backyard the other day and it jumped up against my leg and I acted like the prissy little girl because I shivered and screamed.  HAHA!  They just feel so disgusting.  Ansley is a girl with lots of drama who loves shiny things, talking on the phone, and shoes like any girly girl does.  However, she also loves to climb trees, run around and get sweaty, and play with frogs.  I don't know whether to call her a "tomboy" or not.  Anyway, I have always thought this about Ansley but this situation makes it so much more evident.  I guess I was kinda that way as a young girl too.  I loved being outside, climbing trees and such.  I DID NOT ever like frogs though.  Here are a few pictures of my little princess and her frog.

This was about 2 weeks before Adalynn was born.  Her eyes are closed so because she is showing off her blue eye shadow. 

  
Here's a little video I did of her playing with her frog the other day.

Of course I have to post a photo of Adalynn.  I don't want her to feel left out. :)

This was on her 2 month biirthday.

For the parents

     Well summer is over.  I do LOVE summer, but this year I am kinda ready to get back into the routine of "school days".  Ansley started MDO this week.  I have always called MDO school but Ansley insists on me calling it Pre K this year.  :)  A lot of the kids from her class last year are in the other class which made me a little sad.  I think this means Ansley is one of the oldest in her class.  She already thinks she is so "big" so I appreciated her being the younger rather than the oldest of the kids last year.  It will be fine though.  Ansley's teacher Ms. Debbie is awesome and so sweet.  I think her calm spirit will be good for my crazy Ansley.  I hope that a little of Ms. Debbie's calm can wear off on her.  Today was my first day to "teach" music to the MDO kids.  It was a lot of fun and those kids were so sweet.  I'm glad that I see them in 15-20 sessions that way they stay sweet. HA!  It's not really long enough for them to get to cranky.

     Last weekend we went to visit my parents.  While we were there we went to visit my Nanny so she could meet Adalynn.  I think Adalynn is her 13th great grandbaby.  It was fun to go up there.  It had been a while since we'd gotten to visit and as always I enjoy seeing my family.  It still feels like home when we are all together.  Jay, Ansley, and I went riding around "the farm" on the gator.  Jay had never seen all Nanny's land and Ansley has been talking about how she wants to live on a farm when she grows up so we thought it would be fun to explore.  I wished I'd taken my camera with me out on our drive.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Adalynn will be 2 months old this coming Monday.  To me she has gotten so big, but today I had someone ask me if she was a preemie.  She has started holding her head up pretty well and reaching out for things she sees.  The other day she even pulled the rings on her swing to make the music come on.  Isn't she talented. :) Oh those little milestones.  My favorite of her new activities is her smile.  She has started smiling a lot and when you smile at her she will she back.  She also smiles when Jay tickles her.  Love those sweet baby smiles.  Now we just need to start sleeping through the night!  Here is a video of Ansley and I giving Adalynn a bath...she was all smiles!  

      

Road Trip

     Last week we took our first road trip to Clovis as the Reed family of 4.  The trip there could not have gone better.  I mean I was a little nervous but the girls did great.  Ansley did ask if we were almost there when we were in Georgetown though (which is 25 minutes from our house).  Once she realized this was a REAL car trip and not just a trip to go shopping she was fine.

     We got there on Tuesday night and on Wednesday Adalynn met her great granny.  Then later that night we went to the Curry County Fair and had our pictures made with our friend Cristy who has been a sweet friend since we lived in Clovis.  She is married to one Jay's best friends from high school and he was also a groomsman in our wedding.  Cristy is super talented and what I love most about her is her desire to use her business for the Lord.  If you have never visited her website, you should!  www.cristycross.com  Also if you want to help us earn free photos comment on Cristy's blog post of the Reed family here http://cristycross.com/jounral/?p=2085  
     On Thursday we ended up taking a few more pics of Adalynn and Ansley at Cristy's house and then we got to visit with our friends the Osburn's.  It is always good to see them and catch up.  Ansley then went swimming with Jay at another friends house.  Friday Ansley "played" golf at the par 3 course with Jay and his dad.  She has been visiting the driving range and putting green with Jay here at home through out the summer so this was her first time playing actual holes although I'm not sure she finished any hole all the way though. HA! Me and Adalynn just mostly sat around the house on Friday but that was good because I think we wore miss Adalynn out.  Saturday we packed up and drove back home.  It was a good time and kept Ansley and Jay busy.  Adalynn was a little more fussy on the way home but both girls did get a good 2+ hour nap in.

     Jay's dad has a huge garden in his backyard and I just had to post a pic of Ansley and her vegetable find.  It was pretty crazy!

One month old

1  month old

  
     So Adalynn had her one month birthday today.  I feel like "man it's already been a month, and man its ONLY been a month" all at the same time.  I am not sure I'm totally taking it all in.  I feel like I walk around like a sleepy airhead most of the day.  I am realizing why I barely remember anything from life with Ansley before she was 3 months old.  You are just too tired to remember anything that is happening.  HA!  The first two weeks seemed to go extremely well, followed by a much more difficult 2 weeks.  We will see how things go from here.  I feel like Adalynn is sleeping fairly well considering, she only gets up once around 3 or 4 AM.  It's just I'm still not accustomed to waking up in the middle of the night.  Apparently I am a deep sleeper and when I'm out I would like to be out for a long time.  I typically would rather not sleep at all then sleep for only a little while. So I am not a napper, usually.  I say usually because I think I've napped more this month than at any other point in my adult life.  This makes for feelings of guilt when relating to Ansley.  I can't help but wonder what she thinks about me napping all the time.  I keep telling myself that it's ok because if I didn't nap I would be a much grumpier mommy and Ansley wouldn't like that either. :) The best part of the last week has been 2 of my other friends having their babies.  Ansley's MDO teacher last year Ms. Kayla had her baby on the 5th and another of my friends from church/MOPS who's oldest son was in Ansley's class last year, had her baby on the 7th.  We are still patiently waiting for Kathleen to have her little girl.  Her due date was today and I am dying to meet Jill.  I'm sure Kathleen and family are too.  But it's so sweet to see all these beautiful baby girls that have all been much anticipated for so long.  

Before church last Sunday morning

     Ansley is still doing very well and seems to love being a big sister.  Yesterday she found one of the "baby" movies that we watched when she was little.  When Adalynn was awake and playing yesterday evening Ansley wanted to watch it because she thought it was a movie she and Adalynn could both watch together.  I thought it was sweet of her to try and include her baby sister.  She hugs her all the time and wants to hold her as much as possible.  She also likes to help hold the bottle if we use one.  Her favorite is when Adalynn holds onto her finger.  Ansley has so many questions too.  I can't imagine what she thinks when I'm nursing and what she thinks about all the crying.  I do know she does NOT like the crying.  I don't either who can blame her :)  I feel bad saying this but I kinda think the worst part of newborn life this go round is Ansley trying to "help".  Sometimes I just want to tell her, "Don't worry about it, I'm handling it".  Also she seems in the way a lot and I know she is just curious but some things would go a lot smoother without a sidekick following me around.  I am grateful though for how understanding she's been because I am sure I've hurt her feelings a lot lately but maybe one day she'll forgive me.
     So thats life from the first month of life with 2 children.  I can't wait until I am well rested once again and can really start taking it all in and enjoying these beautiful girls the Lord has given me.  I am so blessed!

A new look :)

This blog is so titled because my family not only has a new look but this blog page is apparently going to have a new look because my background says it disappearing on Friday.  So, a new look it is. :)

It has been just over week since we had our baby girl, Adalynn.  She is beautiful of course and we feel absolutely graced by God to have her join us on our journey.  There are so many things to say that I'm not sure where to start.  I was almost shocked to see how much Adalynn looks like Ansley did when she was a baby.  It is almost like de ja vu but Adalynn was 3 inches shorter than Ansley.  I'm super impressed with how my 4 year old is handling everything so far.  I just hope it continues this way.  Ansley loves being a big sister and wants to help however she can.  She has even done really well staying semi quiet for her little sister, and anyone who knows my crazy kid knows what a feat that is.

I also have been given such a gift in my husband, Jay.  He is such a servant and so sensitive to the needs of his family.  I can not say enough about how thankful and incredibly blessed I am by him.  I just hope and pray that I am doing well at loving him too.

Yesterday was really the first full day of life as it will now be.  Jay was at work and I was at home with the girls by myself for the first time since Adalynn was born.  We did pretty good most of the day.  Ansley had a play date with her friend Victoria.  Thanks again Nicole!  But by evening I was exhausted still.  Adalynn had gone down for a nap and Ansley asked me to play "door" (a game that is a Jay Reed original) I just started crying because I REALLY didn't want to play "door" but I felt like I should take this time to spend with Ansley since I could.  When I stated crying Ansley just said I'll just go see whats on tv in the living room.  AWWW how sad. Luckily Jay came home just a few minutes later because God won't give you more than you can handle. :)  He played play doh with Ansley and I laid down for a few minutes until Adalynn's next feeding.

So my life has a beautiful new look.  My sleeping patterns do too, but I will continue to count my many blessings because God is so good, He's so good to me!

This summer so far

       This has been one crazy summer and I can hardly believe that June is almost over!  Ansley had her first ever swim lessons and it was incredible how much she learned in just 4 30 minute one on one sessions with her teacher, Ms. Staci.  I was such a proud momma and still am because she just keeps getting better at it.  Jay is convinced she can be an athlete if she wants to be because she picks things up very quickly and has good coordination.  Of course, I wouldn't know anything about being an athlete but if he says so. :)          

       Adalynn got lots of stuff she will need at the shower that was held at our church.  My sweet friends and hostesses had planned a lunch for the guests and it was such a great day and I felt very special to have so many people in my life who are supporting Jay and I as we raise these 2 girls!

       Next, we stayed a week in WF with my parents while Jay and the HS kids were at camp.  It was a good visit and that week went so fast.  The following week we went to Port Aransas Tx to stay at the beach with my family.  This was Ansley's first trip to the beach and she had a blast.  Of course we stayed very busy so now every day she asks "what are we going to do today" or "where are we going now".  She needs to snap out of vacation "GO" mode because this momma is worn out.  It was a lot of fun and really the first time that my family has been together more than just a couple days over Christmas.  My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew Ridgely were there too.  It is so funny how things change like adding spouses and kids but so many things stay the same in family situations too.  I feel like I have changed the most and unfortunately not really for the better.  Being an adult doesn't wear well on me HA!  At least I'm aware of this though, and I'm working on it.    

       Two weeks from tomorrow we are expecting to meet this precious child that been sharing life with me for the past 9 months.  I am getting very excited to meet her and a little bit worried about the change all at the same time.  I find myself being sentimental about things with Ansley and am praying that she will still feel just as loved and adored as ever even when her mommy and daddy have another baby to love and adore.  My due date is July 26th but we are inducing on July 12th.  I really do feel like this induction is an answer to prayer.  I have friends that have shared their concern about inducing, but I also have friends that have had nothing but positive things to say about their induction experiences.  Like I said I feel grateful to have been given this option because I would never have just asked to be induced but my doctor is going to be away at a conference for over a week and since Ansley was born a week early my doctor gave me the option to be induced so she could be there for the birth.  We thought and prayed about it for a couple of weeks before deciding for sure what to do, and in the end we agreed to do it.  Like I said I really feel it was an answered prayer to an extra detail God allowed me to praise Him for.  Ever since I was having the ligament pain (which was worst between weeks 8-15) I've been talking to God about having this baby early.  HA  I'm sure lots of pregnant women pray this prayer because no one wants to have their baby late.  But I mostly said God whenever you're ready so am I.  Anyway, all this to say I will be induced exactly 2 weeks before my due date at 38 weeks.  I was kinda induced with Ansley because my water broke and nothing else labor related happened until they started me on the pitocin.  Seriously, I think I was only dilated to 1 or something when they started it.  But everything with Ansley went well and I loved the birth experience with her so that is keeping me from having reservations about inducing with this one too.

       Sorry that was a really long story about nothing of interest to anyone but me probably but I just got carried away writing my thoughts.  I am exhausted having started month 9 but I am going to try to make the most of these 2 weeks in preparation for Adalynn joining the Reed family.

short story

Sometimes, I underestimate the mind of children.  I really try not to because I learned a long time ago they are smarter than we give them credit for (even as infants), but still I'm amazed at what my child (and other kids too) says sometimes.
     Jay, Ansley, and I were on our way to the track as we have done a lot this spring/summer.  Jay was going to run of course while Ansley and I were gonna walk.  Anyway, out of nowhere Ansley asks, "Mom, why doesn't the track have a mailbox".  So in all my wisdom I said because no one lives here.  Without any hesitation at all she replies, "no one lives at the church".   I mean come on that is some serious quick thinking.  I just said back to her, "you are so right" and had to laugh.  Then of course Jay tells her that people work at the church and they send mail there and yada yada yada.  Obviously she had noticed at some point that the church has a mailbox and the entire block where the track is does not.  But it just had me amazed first of all at the random question and then how quickly she responded.  I have a feeling that this ability to think so quick on her feet will not be as astonishing when I am trying to discuss curfew (and other similar topics) with a teenager in a few years.  But for now I am going to marvel at God's precious creation that He is allowing me to parent and thank Him for His goodness in our lives.  

This picture is from a month or two  ago.  If you notice her arms she is pretending to be holding the reins of a horse.  I think she thinks that it makes her faster.  She runs with Jay on his warm up and cool down laps.  

Splash Day

   Ansley had her last day of MDO for the year.  She had a great class this year, and I think she will miss getting to see Ms. Kayla's and her friends.  Since MDO is at the church I'm not sure she comprehends that MDO is over because we are at the church all the time.  I bet next week she'll be asking when she gets to go to Ms. Kayla's class though, because that usually happens at least once a weekend already.  The MDO teachers always send home a scrapbook of the year, which are always SOO cute.  It was funny to see how different Ansley looked this year, mostly because at the beginning of the year her hair was really long.
(this video is from the week after Thanksgiving and you can see how long her hair is!)

   I will miss getting to talk to her teacher about our pregnancy adventures because our due dates are like a week apart.  Two other moms of Ansley's classmates are pregnant also.  I love having people to talk to about it that you know aren't thinking in the back of their mind... I really don't care about your pregnancy stories. HA!
  Anyway, I am trying to motivate myself to have a "learning time" throughout the summer with Ansley.  Well more convince myself that she will cooperate than motivate myself.  She is doing well with sounding out words and writing her name but we still have lots of practice to do too.  I know she likes doing those things in class but will she let mom be the teacher is the big question.
   In other news, Ansley is doing well on her quest to sleep through the night without pull ups and not wetting the bed.  She is not a fan of pull ups anymore (which is good) but this meant a lot of changing sheets for a while, but she is doing a lot better (not perfect, but better).  And lastly, 2 more months until Adalynn's arrival.  I think we decided to induce the middle of July because my doctor is planning on being gone and since Ansley was a week early she mentioned having the baby the middle of my 38th week.  So, thats the plan and we will see what happens.
              Enjoy some pictures of Ms. Kayla's class and splash day.

4 years old!

A blog to Ansley:

I can hardly believe you are four now!  I just stare at you sometimes and I am amazed at how incredible you are.  Beautiful, smart, and so loving -- You must get that from your father. ;)  I just wanted to be sentimental sense we only have a few more months of being the Reed family of three.

Your first birthday will never be forgotten because the night before there was a tornado in Clovis.  We were having your party at the youth building and hoping it would still be standing so that we could celebrate your first year of life.  Sometime soon after your first birthday we were inside while your dad was mowing.  He had found a tiny little turtle and brought it in for you to see and placed it in a box.  I don't remember if I knew this information before I walked in a saw you with a turtle in your mouth but none the less I let out a shrill that had your father thinking you were dying or something.  Praise the Lord it was just the turtle but I was extremely freaked out that you had put it in your mouth.

Your second year (07) was so fun because you were learning to communicate back to us.  You also learned to sing songs which is still one of my favorite things to hear from you.  We moved that year and you were such a flexible, happy girl no matter what we were doing.  On the road for hours, making lots of short overnight visits, living with friends for a while, and finally settling into a new home.  I praise God for how well you handled all that transition because kids love routine, but what a blessing you were to your stressed out mom who didn't handle all the change near as well as you did.

Year three (08) was extremely funny and extremely challenging.  You were such a good talker and would say the greatest things that always made us smile.  You were also potty trained during the third year which made this time of my life a huge "chance for growth" and "character development".  I am looking forward to having you around to help me with this task for the next baby girl!  :)

Finally, this past year (09) has been so great because I feel like you will begin to remember things we've done now for the rest of your life.  Because you've grown up and matured we get to do lots of fun things with you.  You also play pretend a lot now, which is such a sweet thing to see your creative mind at work.  You have become very efficient at doing things for yourself.  I'm just so proud that you can dress and undress yourself shoes and all, brush your teeth all by yourself, and you've even started learning to read.

You are such a blessing and I thank God for you everyday.  I love you Ansley Grace! (born March 24, 2006)

Come praise the Lord with me!

The prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective. James 5:16b

I know I've heard the verse a million times, but God is just showing me the truth of it over and over recently.  Not only am I seeing this personally in my life, but also in the lives of others as men and women join together, sometimes from all over the globe, and pray.  Should I be surprised?  Our God is a good God and He loves the prayers of His children.  I guess, I just feel so blessed to witness his mighty power so much.  There was a time, probably about 6 months ago, when I was talking to God and I just said, I know you are God and if you want to be silent then I am going to keep trusting you, but I feel like I've prayed and seen nothing.  If you see fit, please make me aware of when you answer my prayers.  I tell you what, I never expected that He would answer that prayer so obviously.  I just wanted to publicly give Him thanks for blessing me with answered prayers, and give Him praise for being such an awesome God.  That verse in James would still be as true as ever had God decided not to respond the way He did in my life, but I am so grateful for the glimpse of His glory!  I've got to go get my child from MDO, but to give you a short list of answered prayers...
- The Godwin family and Isaac waking up from a 2 week + coma 
- Providing financially for our family and the fact that we are expecting a new baby in July and were able to get pregnant
- Easing my worry over the babies development and the physical pain I've been struggling with this pregnancy
- Restoring a marriage of people we love that was very near ending
- The spreading of God's glory and fame through the situation Matt Chandler's walking through
Obviously I could keep on listing, but you get the idea.  "The Lord has done great things for us.  And we are filled with joy!"

It's a girl!

So, it's been a month since I've posted.  I guess I just haven't felt inspired lately.  However, we went to the doctor yesterday for our sonogram.  It ended up being a nice day but we had snow the day before which almost caused us to re-schedule the appointment.  It was at 8AM which a little early in the Reed household considering thats usually when I get out of bed.  I made it that early so Ansley wouldn't miss the whole day of MDO because I really wanted her to go with us and see the baby.  Ironically, she didn't have school because it was canceled due to the weather.  It turned out to be a good thing she was home all day.  We got there about 20 minutes early, per doctors request.  I will say we did start 2 minutes before 8:00 though.  This hospital is just extremely thorough in their picture and measurement taking and we didn't leave until 9:45.  Thats right, an hour and 45 minutes.  I was starving by the time we left because we had planned on eating breakfast after the appointment.  I did have a banana and a big glass of OJ before so it's not like I hadn't had anything.  Needless to say we were all three ready to go by the time it was over.  We girls had to have a potty break before we left the hospital and so I took the chance to let Ansley know that it was really special to me that she was there with me to see the baby.  Her response was, well, I didn't like it.  I took a really long time.  Which it did, so in a three year old world I guess I should appreciate the gesture at least. HA :)  We went to Cracker Barrel when we were done and had a good breakfast together.  I did embarrass Jay because I had the hostess take our picture while I held up the sonogram photos (top photo).  It was a special day for me, I wanted a photo.  It turned out really cute by the way!  Enjoy the pics.

She is sucking her thumb...aww

Isn't she sweet

Up close and personal

       Today the Reed family drove about an hour to visit a drive through zoo.  It's just NW of Copperas Cove.  We left the house and it was a nice 63 degrees outside with sun peaking through the clouds every now and then.  We stopped to eat lunch in Killeen at Fuddruckers, which was right next door to Chuck E Cheese. Ansley thought we drove all that way to eat at Chuck E Cheese and was a little sad that we weren't.  However, to be honest, I was expecting a huge fuss about not eating there and she pretty much got over it right away.  I think it helped that up on the roof there was a fake owl so scare other birds away, but she thought it was real.  We had to choose a table that allowed her to look out the window and watch the owl.  Anyway, by the time we got to the zoo thing it was cool, windy, and sprinkling.  We didn't let that spoil our fun though.

       When we first got there we walked around to see the animals that were out in front of the drive through path.  We saw a couple monkeys, cougars, goats, kangaroos, and a black bear.  Then we got in the car with our paper bag of animal food and headed down the drive through.  Of course I brought my camera, and of course the battery was dead.  Towards the end of the trail I took some pics with Jay's cell phone that came out ok.  Well see how well they post here.  There were lots of emus and all kinds of goats and deer.  Ansley's favorites were the ponies.  Anyone who knows my child would have guessed that.  The zebra were really pretty and it was cool to see them up close and personal.  At the end of the trail were the really big animals.

A camel (left) decided to stick it's huge head (and half its neck) through my window and try to steal the whole bag of food.  Apparently he thought the couple of pieces in my hand that was stuck out the window was insufficient.  Jay really liked the yak looking things (above right and very top).  But the show stopper were these cow kind of animals that had really HUGE horns.  I mean they were so big the poor animal couldn't even hold it's head up.  In the pic we took it looks like he is charging our car. (bottom right)  It wasn't quite that dramatic but its horn did run into my window while the camels were trying to shoo the cows away.

       I have been told that I went to a similar place called Arbuckle Wilderness (also lovingly known as Buckle Willis's at the Selman house) when I was a kid, but I do not remember that experience.  This made today all the more exciting for me.  I thought the animals would be scared to come to the car unless you showed them the food.  I guess of few of them were but for the most part these animals were relentless and persistent in their quest for food.  It was a good day for my animal loving daughter.  I hope that she remembers more from her trip than I do from the trip I had back in the day.   If you want to see this place check out www.topseyexoticranch.com 

6 years

       I have been married to my love and best friend for 6 years on Jan. 3rd.  I could not consider myself more blessed to journey through life with him.  I admire his patience, I am amazed at his knowledge, and am comforted by his love.  He gives so much for me and Ansley and I hope he knows that none of it is taken for granted.  I love you so much, Jay and thank you for being my partner in everything.  Here is a picture montage of our years together.
                       Sigma Alpha Formal March 02 The start of something good

Our parents meet I think this was HSU homecoming Oct 02

Date to the fair 02

The night we got engaged Feb. 12 2003

Engagement Pic in May maybe or Aug? :)  03

The wedding Jan 3 2004

Honeymoon Jan 2003

Winter Park Ski Trip Nov 03

Mexico Mission Trip June 04

Cruise Sept 05

Christmas 05 (about 6 mnths pregnant)

Ansley's 1 month photos April 2006

During Ansley's 6 month photos Sept 06

Valentine's banquet Feb 2007

Christmas card pic Nov 2007

Carrie Underwood concert Oct 2008

Photo taken by Ansley Thanksgiving 2009

I'm looking forward to many more years and photos!  Happy 6th Anniversary Jay, I love you.