California Fun

We spent the weekend in California ... kept very busy, but we had a great time. We spent a lot of time driving from place to place, but the girls did very well most of the time.


Friday, we spent the afternoon with our friends, the Louviere's, at their house in Murrieta, CA. We had a very nice, relaxing, low-key evening hanging out while the kids all played together. Thank you Troy & Leigh Anne for the great hospitality. We had a great time.

Riley watching Henderson play his video game.

Riley loved playing outside with Vivian.

Ms. Leigh Anne sure did have some beautiful flowers. Reagan loves flowers and has a hard time not picking them.



Saturday, we went to Hermosa Beach, CA for Scott's mom's family reunion. We met a lot of great people and had a wonderful time at Adele's house. The house was right next to the beach, so we got to spend some time in the sand. The girls had a great time spending the day outside in the beautiful 70 degree weather.

Checking out the Pacific Ocean.
Reagan & cousin Hannah running to the beach together.
Mommy was unsure if Riley would like the feel of the sand.
Mommy getting a little of relaxing in.
Riley thought the sand was great. She enjoyed throwing it and was filthy very quickly.

Reagan admiring the water.
Yummy! Riley enjoying one of her favorite things ... food!
Reagan & Hannah found a bunch of snails and had them all in a pile together. Everytime Hannah would walk away, Reagan would sream for her to come back because the snails would start crawling away and she would say "I can't catch them all! Help!"
This is one of the coolest trees we have ever seen!
Reagan climbing her first tree!



All the kids decided to climb the tree at one time. The poor tree was bombared with kids.
Reagan & Hannah still hanging out in the tree.
Reagan & cousin Tyler enjoyed the scooters.

Sunday, we spent the day in Palm Desert, CA where Troy (Louviere) & Scott got to have a nice Father's Day away from everyone. They golfed in the 115 degree weather, but had a wonderful time. The girls and I spent the day at the pool with Leigh Anne and the Louviere kids. The pool was beautiful, with waterfalls and a water slide. Reagan had a good time swimming. She was swimming alone with a kick board for hours. She even fell off the kick board and did exactly what she was supposed to do if you fall into the water ... she swam to the side of the pool and grabbed on! I was so proud of her. Her swim lessons have paid off. The unfortunate part of Sunday was that Mom did not take any pictures. Ms. Leigh Anne took this picture of Riley, passed out at the pool.

The drive home Sunday night was long and tiring after swimming and golfing all day long. Four hours seemed to last forever.

Wiped out after a long weekend.
Notice the puppies are in the seat belt, too!

Happy Father's Day

We love you, Daddy!

Swim Lessons

Reagan has been taking swim lessons for eight days now. The first five days were HORRIBLE. She cried the entire time before, during, and after swimming. She has had such a fear of the water, getting her face wet, and going underwater. Miss Rachel has been so patient with her and has worked a miracle. Reagan has spent the past three days swimming happily, wanting to be the first to do everything, and cooperating very well WITHOUT CRYING!

She loves doing the kick board ... she has her tongue out every time she does this!
Learning how to swim on her back ... she does a really good job keeping her chin up high!
"Look how good I am doing!"

This first video is Reagan being "oh so brave." She was so anxious to the first one to jump to Miss Rachel, but once she got up there, she lost her nerve. She had to be pursuaded to jump in and swim. She was really nervous, but this was her first day of not crying the entire time. Once in the water, she did great. (She is the one in the yellow shirt).

This second video is part two of the jumping in lesson.
She swam to the other side and now she is on her own to jump in again!

We are so proud of you!

We have a WALKER!

Way to go, Riley!

We are so excited you are learning to walk. Maybe a couple more weeks and you will walk instead of crawl to get around.

The Girls Trip

Here is the breakdown of our trip ... we kept very busy and are glad to be home.

DAY ONE ~ Reagan, Riley, & Mommy went to Texas for vacation. We were supposed to leave on Wednesday, May 21 but early Monday morning, May 19, Mommy's maternal grandmother and the girls great-grandmother, Memaw, passed away. We rushed around Monday morning, got our flights changed and headed out to Texas two days early. After a VERY hectic flight that included Riley screaming for two hours, we got to Dallas at 11:00pm Monday night.

DAY TWO ~ Tuesday was spent in Dallas running around, getting things together for our trip to Louisiana for the funeral. We ran errands and hung out at Aunt Kim's house and had dinner with Aunt Kim & Uncle Jason and Nana, Uncle Chuck, & cousin Kayli.

DAY THREE ~ Wednesday morning we got up and drove for six hours to Sulpher, Louisiana. We got there at about 3:00pm and went to the funeral home to Memaw's wake. Afterwards we went back to Uncle John's barn and hung out until bedtime.

DAY FOUR ~ Thursday was Memaw's funeral. The weather was muggy and rainy, but it turned out to be nice long enough for the funeral. Riley acted up, so Mimi (Lesia) took her outside and tended to her while Mommy & Reagan and the family attended the funeral. Reagan was a real trooper at the funeral. Mommy was worried that Reagan was going to have a really hard time with the death, but she did very well. She did not cry until the end when we said goodbye to Memaw for the last time. She did not have a problem seeing Memaw in the casket (I had asked her beforehand if she wanted to see her or not and she chose to see her). We explained to her what happens when you die and she seemed to understand. After the funeral, everyone went back to Uncle John's barn and had a "party" Louisiana style. We ate great food and all hung out til late night. The kids had a great time with everyone around. (All the pictures are in the next post).

DAY FIVE ~ Friday, we went over to Memaw's house and dug through her Hope Chest and looked at pictures until lunchtime. Then we packed up and drove for three hours to Dad Dan's house in Houston. Dad Dan had all four of his girls (Mommy & her sisters) at his house and it was nice to be all together again. We did a little swimming and ate yummy crabs and shrimp for dinner.

DAY SIX ~ Saturday was spent mostly in Dad Dan's pool. It was hot and humid, so we tried our best to keep cool. The girls loved being outside and loved the pool. Lesia took the older girls (Mommy and her sister's & Kayli) to get their toes done while Dad Dan, Uncle Chuck, and Uncle Jason watched the younger ones. It was a nice day for all of us. Again we ate some yummy shrimp for dinner and spent our time just hanging out with the family.

DAY SEVEN ~ Sunday morning, we woke up and left Dad Dan's house and drove for four more hours back to Dallas. We were all EXHAUSTED after the past few days, but that did not stop us. We got to go and see some of Mommy's friends Christie & Eric for a little while, even though our visit was just not long enough. Then we went to Aunt Sandy's house for some yummy brisket before coming back to Aunt Kim's house to get some sleep.

DAY EIGHT ~ Monday we tried to sleep in a little bit, as much as you can with three youngsters in the house. We went to lunch with Grannie, the girls other Great-Grandmother, and then went back to Aunt Sandy's house and swam the afternoon away. Everyone fell asleep for a good nap and Mommy packed up all our junk to get ready for our trip home. Nana came over and played with the girls while Mommy went out with Aunt Kim, Uncle Jason, and cousin Kayli (Mommy did not get home until 12:30 AM).

DAY NINE ~ Tuesday morning came very fast. We woke up at 5:00am and left for the airport. We flew home and had a pretty good flight. Riley slept for about an hour and a half (much better than screaming for two hours) and Reagan watched a movie. We got home at 8:00 am and have been at home and in our PJ's all morning long. We are exhausted and need another vacation to recoup from this one.

All in all, we kept very busy and are glad we got to see as much as Mommy's family as we did. We were sad we did not get to see as many people in Dallas as we had originally planned, but everyone understands how life works. People come and go on their own time and we all have to just go with the flow of life.

Enjoy the pictures of our trip in the following posts!

Our visit to Sulpher, Louisiana

Regardless of the circumstances, we had a good time visiting Louisiana. It was so good to see everyone, it has been such a long time. The girls had so much fun hanging out in Uncle John's barn with all the chaos around them. They loved seeing the animals, which included dogs, pigs, turtles, chickens, frogs, and an occasional lizard. It was hot, muggy, rainy, and dirty ... but we enjoyed our time there.

We are going to miss you Memaw and our visits will just not feel complete without you.

Reagan & Aodhan hanging out on the swing, watching Uncle John feed the animals.
Look at all the animals in that cage!
Reagan & Trixie (you know Rea and her love for dogs)
Reagan & Henry the Turtle
Reagan & Trenton checking out the 100lbs of shrimp we got. Riley and Chu Chu (Riley was a little unsure of the noise Chu Chu was making)
What is up with this chicken's neck?
Riley checking out the dogs, which she kept calling Irbe (our dog's name).
Trenton, Reagan, Grayson, & Riley caught Henry the Turtle in the fishing net.

Mmmmmm ... donuts!
Harley playing ball with Riley, keeping her entertained.
Reagan, Grayson, & Tori playing in the pool out in the rain. Look at Reagan's jump!
It sure is muggy out here!

Happy Birthday Yvonne (her and her family).

We sure do LOVE the pool!

While in Houston & in Dallas, we did a lot of swimming in just three days.
The girls loved being outside and in the water.

Doodle Bug hanging out by the poolside.
Reagan relaxing on the raft.
Riley playing on the step.
Reagan's attempt at the backstroke ...
notice her head IS in the water (which is a huge step for her)!
What a face!
Reagan got brave by day three and started jumping off the side!

WAY TO GO REAGAN!

Water Day!

Today was the last day of preschool. To celebrate, the Caring Caterpillars had Water Day. The weather was perfect ... hot and sunny.
Reagan is not much of a "water" person, she does not like to get splashed or get her face wet. Regardless, I think she had a good time. They played in the water tables, with bubbles, and a sprinkler.
They finished up with popsicles and a hug goodbye to Mrs. Vallera.

Blowing bubbles with her friend, Mercy So serious ...
Doodle Bug enjoyed trying to blow bubbles
Reagan was so happy to see a sunflower before school was over. They planted the seeds about a month or so ago, and everyday she watched to see if there was a flower yet! Finally on the last day, one bloomed!
Sharing a pop to cool off ... they are so cute together.

First United Methodist Church of Gilbert Preschool ~ End of Year Program

Good Job Reagan!

Tonight was Reagan's program to end her year at preschool. The preschoolers preformed songs for the parents and had a special slide show presentation of their year.

She has had a great year, improving by leaps and bounds. We really loved her school this year, she has learned a lot. She now knows all of her letters, their sounds, shapes, can count consecutively to 39 without messing up, write her name very legibly, and is very detailed in her pictures when she draws. Her teacher was very pleased with all her progress. She is very well socialized (like you did not already know that) and is ready for her next year at four-day-a-week Pre-K. She will be going to the same preschool and most of her friends from this year are going to be in her class next year. She has only three days left of school next week, and their last day of school is a special Water Day Party (more on that next week)!

Here are some of the video's of the performances. Sorry if they are a little shaky at some points, Riley was trying to help me hold the camera. We sure did miss Daddy not being there (hope he gets better soon)!

We are the Caring Caterpillars (the name of her class)!

Jesus Loves Me

Inch by Inch

Down THAT Road Again!

Thank you Doodle Bug ...
So far Mom & Dad have both gotten sick with the same "flu" bug that Riley had over the weekend. Mom got sick Monday night and now Dad is home sick today (Friday). We are hoping we are going to luck out with Reagan not catching it. She got sick (threw up) once on Monday evening, but has been fine since then. Lets hope she stays that way. It has been a rough week for us all ... lets hope we are all better before our trip in two weeks!

Jinxed Myself

Well, I just finished this week by telling a number of people that I was so impressed with Riley's tube surgery. She has not been sick since she had her tubes put in her ears ... knock on wood. Well, what a mistake for saying that!
We woke up with morning with Riley's bed FULL of vomit and she has thrown up a total of three times so far. She is starting to get a fever with it also, even though it is only 99.9 degrees right now. We have limited her to water, toast, and crackers and she is just miserable.
So, in order to keep her happy and my floors & linens clean, we decided to have some fun outside (just in case she threw up again).
Riley enjoyed playing with the baby pool, sand table, and she even got to have her 1st Popsicle (even though it was a Pedialyte Popsicle ... YUCK)!
I am not sure if the hot air was good or bad for her, but she wore herself out enough to take another nap.
Hopefully this illness won't last too long and even more, I hope that no one else gets sick!
We only have two weeks left of preschool and two and a half weeks until our Texas trip ...
please, please, please lets no one else get sick!

Yummy pops ... Reagan's is an Otter Pop and Riley's is a Pedialyte Pop. What a nice treat for 95 degree weather!

Look at me standing with my popsicle!

Wow ... this way is much easier to eat the popsicle! This is a lot of fun.

Reagan finished hers and wanted more ... of course, because Riley was not done with hers yet.

Happy Girls ... Hot Days

We have not been up to much these days. It is growing hotter and hotter everyday. We have almost hit 100 degrees already! We have gone to Grandma's house and swam twice now (just in the hot tub though, the pool is still in the 70's).
Reagan is getting more and more brave in the water, starting to put her face in but only with goggles on. She starts swim lessons in June, and hopefully will be swimming by the end of the summer. She has had fears of the water since she was a baby, so we are hoping this will be the summer she will let loose!
Riley, on the other hand, has NO FEAR of the water. She is going to be our little fish this summer. Once I get her some ear plugs to protect her tubes, she will be all over the pool. She loved kicking her feet, splashing her hands, and drinking the pool water.
Of course, I did not have my camera with me both times we were in the water, but hopefully next time I will remember to bring the camera. Not that taking pictures will be easy since I have to hold on to a squirmy wet baby!
Since I did not have pool pictures, here are some recent pictures of the girls. Enjoy!

Look at all my teeth!
Loving sisters ... they honestly love each other a lot (right now).
My Big Ol' Smile!
This is how I look when I am laughing!

Way To Go Mom & Dad!

For the past twelve weeks, Scott & I have been participating in a Biggest Loser Couples competition with our neighbors. There were seven teams and the winner was determined by the percentage of weight lost between the couples. Our final weigh in was yesterday, and we came in 2nd place.
Not only did we lose 11.41% of our total weight, but we also developed a healthier lifestyle by changing our eating and exercise habits.
We are very proud of ourselves and we look good too!

Future American Idol?

Reagan loves to sing ...
whether or not she should!
I see a future American Idol contestant (or one of those who makes a fool of themselves)!
Just kidding ... she keeps us laughing though.

These video's are a little dark but you can definitely HEAR her!
And from what you can see, you should enjoy it thoroughly!

"Kiss the Girls" part 1

"Kiss the Girls" part 2

Almost Walking

Riley has discovered how to push toys around to get to a different place. She cannot stand up by herself yet, but she is "cruising"! Sometimes the toys go to fast, she can't keep up!

Olympics Day

Today was the Olympic Games at Reagan's school. They had fun activities such as tumbling, relay races, balloon bop, bean bag toss, basketball, ribbon twirling, and parachute play. Afterwards they got a medal & popsicles to celebrate being a good team player.

After the "games", Reagan's class released the Painted Lady Butterflies that they raised in her classroom (we did it at home too, but have not released ours yet). It was a beautiful and fun day for the girls.

The Ribbon Twirl. This was Reagan's favorite activity.

Basketball shoot ... look at her go!

Reagan & Justin "her boyfriend"

Receiving a gold medal!

The Caring Caterpillars Team

Reagan & Riley waiting for the butterflies to be released.

Goodbye Butterflies!

This one found a new home right on the flowers!

Riley looking for butterflies.