Thank you OnStar

Raegan surprised me today when I was trying to explain to her why she couldn't sit in the front seat....the airbags coming out if we crashed, etc... her response was if we get in a crash I just push that button and she pointed to the OnStar red cross button in my car.  I've never told her about OnStar or even used it when she's been in the car with me, so I was completely shcoked.  I said Raegan how did you know that, her response "because." I'm guessing she's seen an OnStar commercial and she just soaks in everything! I'm glad at least some of it is beneficial!

Santa's video message to Raegan

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/mPgGAD8i6WoB2BJlbRRlU3w

Raegan's funnies

I'm hiding
My bubba did it (she has imaginary siblings, it helps keep life interesting)
I'm do' do' Dora
Na Na Na Na you can't get me
My friend do that
I want to watch red nose (referring to Rudolph the red nosed reindeer)
Look at my face, mean teacher day that (from Despicable Me - her favorite movie)
Mommy you're my best friend
I want to see an oil pump (and she knows that it pumps oil from the ground so we can have gas for our choo choos; I see an engineer in the future ; )
Why you do that God? (After seeing a front yard overcrowded with Christmas decor)

me: Raegan, where do angels live?
Raegan: In Texas!
me: No they live in Heaven with God and Jesus
Raegan: No God and Jesus live at my church

The picture above is of Raegan being silly when I made her stop making my sister's dog eat his food to take a picture.

Helping me wrap a Christmas present for her daddy

November - a month of Thankfulness

Ok so I know everyone is doing this, but so am I : )

Tuesday November 1st - Today I'm thankful for my job
Wednesday November 2nd - Today I'm thankful for a husband who is such a wonderful cook

Thursday November 3rd - Today I'm thankful for my friends at work
Friday November 4th - Today I'm thankful for work sponsored happy hours
Saturday November 5th - Today I'm thankful I get to spend all day with this cutie-patootie

Sunday November 6th - Today I'm thankful that we don't have any damage from last night's 5.6 earthquake

Monday November 7th - Today I'm thankful for leftover Halloween candy!

Tuesday November 8th - Today I'm thankful that the crazy wind, flashes of lightning, thunder, and hail that caused me to wake my husband up in the middle of the night and make him check his phone to verify we weren't in a tornado was just a bad storm and not a tornado, oh and that the 4.7 earthquake that hit right after we tried to put Raegan to bed didn't do any visable damage.

Wednesday November 9th - Thankful for these wonderful ladies and for girls night!

Thursday November 10th - Thankful for great neighbors

Friday November 11th - Thankful for time off to spend roadtripping with the fam

Saturday November 12th - Today I'm thankful that Baylor became bowl eligble

Sunday November 13th - What a beautiful day - thank you Lord!

Monday November 14th - Thankful for the downtown tunnels

Tuesday November 15th - Thankful for my husband

Wednesday November 16th - Thankful for game night with our small group

Thursday Novemebr 17th - Thankful that my last year self was smart and bought christmas wrapping paper and bows on sale at the end of last year so I didn't have to go out and get them this year - thank you last year self ; )

Friday November 18th - Thankful for my family's health

Saturday November 19th -Thankful for a great win! Go Bears!

Sunday November 20th - Thankful for our church friends

Monday November 21st - Thankful for deep tissue massages

Tuesday November 22nd - I'm thankful for safe travels!

Wednesday November 23rd - Today I am thankful for our longtime friends!

Thursday November 24th - Happy Thanksgiving! Today I am thankful for my family.

Friday November 25th - I'm thankful for black Friday deals!

Saturday November 26th - Today I am thankful to be a Baylor Bear!

Sunday November 27th - Today is my baby sister's 24th bday! So thankful to be able to always have someone who understands where I'm coming from and who will tell me the truth.

Monday November 28th - Today I am thankful for the freedom I have to be able to go to the grocery store and spend 2 hours buying anything I want.

Tuesday November 29th - Today I am thankful for chamomile tea with honey and lemon and hoping my throat gets better soon.

Wednesday November 30th - Today its been pretty hard to be thankful, because after going to the doctor and getting a Zpack for my throat, I got really sick (fever, stomach, nausea) and haven't been feeling well all day.  But I am thankful that I have the ability to still get work done from home and that my sweet husband called the doctor for me to get a different kind of medicine and left work to come see me for a little bit. Hoping when he's done with end of month tonight we will have more to be thankful for : )

Halloween 2011

Our lil' owl won a costume contest with the outfit I made for her.  I got the idea from pinterest see here

 

I made these pumpkin shaped  rice krispie treats (another great idea from pinterest ; )

A pic of us trick-or-treating at the mall

Taking a break from trick-or-treating to play on the tree slide

 

After mall trick-or-treating Monday evening, Raegan enjoyed handing out candy to trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood.

Recent conversations with our 2 year old

Me: I don't want to go to work today
Raegan: Yes mommy you need to!

Me: Raegan please clean up your mess
Raegan: Otay mommy I am

Raegan: I'm in my seat, cop won't get me (this comes from me explaining to her why we have to wear our seatbelts)

Raegan: What's that mommy?
Me: That's a hospital
Raegan: You go there to get the baby out of your tummy or have big big booboo?

Raegan: A monsters coming, aaahhhhh
Me: Where?
Raegan: You're the monster

Philip: Raegan do you want to go to the park?
Raegan: Yah, sure

Raegan: Where'd daddy go?
Me: He went to work
Raegan: No, he went to Texas to see Papa

Raegan: Here daddy trace

Raegan: Look mommy my "R"

Me: Yes Raegan that's the letter "R" like in your name
Raegan: Two of them on your shirt
Me: Yes smarty pants

Me: See you later alligator
Raegan: I not alligator

Needless to say she is full of words and its so much fun to see her creative imagination at work as she puts them all together!

random tidbits

I think this says I'm a bad influence on my daughter.

Pretty flowers my sweet, sweet husband sent to me at work on the Friday before my 26th birthday. 

Norman Transcript

Philip was in the Norman Transcipt and didn't even tell me. 

Here is the article and picture that was in the newspaper. 

September 21, 2011


Chick-fil-A president says better service means higher profits

By Andy Rieger

The Norman Transcript Wed Sep 21, 2011, 10:56 AM CDT

NORMAN — The president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A restaurants doesn’t mince words when it comes to his 65-year-old company’s business philosophy.

“We feel like we’re on a crusade trying to change the world one sandwich at a time,” Dan Cathy told a room full of business and civic leaders gathered for breakfast at Journey Church Wednesday morning. “We’re really a ministry disguised as a restaurant.”

The local operators’ workload often resembles that of a youth pastor, working with 70 young people who come in contact with 60,000 to 70,000 customers a week.

Cathy, the son of the restaurant’s founder Truett Cathy, was in Oklahoma this week speaking at various events, including the University of Oklahoma and Crossings Community Church in Oklahoma City.

Founder Truett Cathy has visited Oklahoma. “He’s 90 years old and going strong. He still reminds me daily that he is the chairman,” Dan Cathy joked.

Cathy was hosted in Norman by local operators Mike Hilgenfeld, Brian Hilgenfeld and Philip Smith. A third generation of Cathy family members has joined the privately-owned company based in suburban Atlanta, Ga. They must work elsewhere for two years before joining the family business.

In Norman, Cathy used familiar Bible verses to emphasize modern operating principles taught to the company’s owner-operators. Businesses, he said, should strive to go the extra mile and extend customer service beyond expectations.

That will produce “raving fans” who will tweet about their experience before they leave the parking lot, Cathy said.

“We want our customers to be the ones to build our brand,” he said.

Customers are known to camp out for days before new stores open. He said the restaurant has achieved “cult status,” similar to Krispy Kreme and Starbucks.

“That’s a very heavy thing to get your arms around,” he said, noting the demise of Krispy Kreme. “Cult status is fleeting.”

Better customer service provided to the “cult” will produce more profits and loyalty, he said. The company, which started with The Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Ga., in 1946, has more than 1,500 locations in 39 states and Washington, D.C. Annual sales in 2010 topped $3.5 billion.

“It’s all based on the service. It ain’t about the cows. Sorry marketing people.”

He said teaching employees to be friendly, change their vocabulary and go beyond customer expectations doesn’t cost any more but it does take practice. Owner-operators learn better service practices at a warehouse designed to resemble a Chick-fil-A restaurant, complete with golf carts and make-believe drive through windows.

“Want a refill? Or may I refresh your beverage? Which has more cha ching, cha ching. From my experience, and from an accounting standpoint, it costs the same,” he said.

“But it takes a lot. We taught these heathen, barbaric teenagers how to say, ‘my pleasure.’”

Cathy said businesses need to make a profit to support churches.

“I just really think God wants us to win. We have to have a heart for this. It’s not just about the head.”

Raegan is 2 1/2 years old!

On Saturday September 24th you turned 2 1/2 years old! I think 1/2 birthdays are special and worth celebrating, mainly because waiting a whole year to celebrate your birthday just seems like too long to wait!

This will be the last time I share your new words/phrases because its getting too hard to keep up, everytime I hear you say something new I think oh I need to remember that for the blog, but I usually forget what it was.  You pretty much repeat anything and also come up with some pretty funny stuff on your own. 

Here are the new phrases I can remember:
-don't help me
-awww man
-I cut it
-i go work at my daddy's mall
-that's my mall (referring to her school), that's your big mall momma (referring to the shopping center near our home), that's my daddy's mall (anytime she sees the word chick-fil-a or the chick-fil-a symbol)
-that yellow choo choo stop, that white choo choo go
-that's your tea otay
-you otay momma
-i don't fall off the little one, i fall off the big one
-there's two babies at my mall
-that's my baby rae, she poop ewww
- i read that
-that's mine don't touch its hot
-mmm yum!
- i want lid off
-i need those bugs
-I'm spiderman!
- eat more chicken
-I need gas (for her toy car)
-I need that thing
-I need you
-not in my purse
-I do it myself
-my daddy made a big mess, not me I make little mess
-pet my dog
-dog lick me
-watch me do that
-you and me
-you little


Everynight we read two books unless you convince us that we really need one more and then we may read 3, then turn out the light and hold hands to say your prayers before you go to sleep.  Your prayers go like this: I say the words in green and you say the ones in purple
Dear Jesus
Dear Jesush
Thank you for this day
Tank u day
and thank you for daddy
tank you dada
and thank you for mommy
tank you, you
and thank you for Raegan
tank you me
and help Raegan to sleep good all night
help me night night
In Jesus name
ABEN
Amen

You spend most of your time trying to convince me you are a baby, you tell me "I'm a baby momma" and then you want for me to hold you in my arms or you crawl around and make silly sounds

You can get in the bath tub and turn the water on all by yourself and will lean back in the water to rinse the soap out of your hair on your own, you also like to get out on your own and run around the house saying "burrrrr"

We have a lot of birthdays going on and this is a video of you practicing one of your favorite songs

Acting so grown up, you take good care of your babies and like to wear my heels.

You are so little, you can't get up on the toilet by yourself yet and its a miracle to me that you don't fall in!

As a little treat for your half birthday, we went and got your nails done and you got to pick out the color.

We are enjoying watching your sweet and spunky personality emerge!

Smart Guy

Just wanted to say how thankful I am for a smart guy who took the time and figured out how to add this new song "You & me" by Frances England to the blog! Hope you enjoy!
<3
Tara

Kid Free Staycation!

This weekend my parents stopped through on the way to a wedding in Kansas and picked up Raegan and took her with them.  This was the first time Philip and I had the house to ourselves since she's been born.  I mean we've been on trips without her or she's gone to grandparents when one of us was out of town, but this was the first time both of us were home and she wasn't.  I mentioned to Philip while we were eating a late breakfast Saturday morning that the house was so quiet and he said this is how it will be when she goes to college, that Philip always thinking ahead!

Anyways, Philip had some big plans that included getting out of town and going site seeing for the weekend, but I was really enjoying just being able to be home and truly relax.  We did compromise and Friday night we went to dinner at Yamato, had our favorite chef, and sat at a table with all adults (usually a rarity when we go on a date) then we watched Roommate, a strange Netflix movie that I wouldn't really recommend.   Saturday morning we went out to the new outlet mall bought some clothes for Raegan but nothing else (this always happens) and had lunch at Smash Burger.  Philip got the All American and I got the Oklahoman Smash Burger - definitely not the healthiest meal we had all week but it was good! Then we went to Semptember Fest and toured the Govenor's Mansion - here are a couple of pics we took at September Fest. 

This bull was HUGE, literally his back was as tall as me, like a horse, but much, much more MASSIVE.  There were also dairy cows that children were standing in line to get a chance to milk.  (You know you're in Oklahoma when...)

This is the pool outside of the Governor's Mansion, its shaped like the state of Oklahoma.

This is the only picture I took while we were inside on the tour of the mansion.  Its the kitchen where Mary Fallin's male chef cooks for her family.  A man cooking for a female govenor - times sure have changed - right!?!

Picture of us in front of the Govenor's Mansion

Philip was quiet the gentleman this weekend - he always opened the car door for me! 

So thankful for the great times we spend together! 

The Wait Is Over

8AM - Dirt work done, getting instructions from playground installation company.

Black brick-looking border in place, ground covering and swing set construction in progress.

North side of ground area covered in wood chips (twice shredded) from Missouri and play set construction in progress (Philip is in the yellow shorts and gray shirt). Notice the Chick-fil-A tent aka cool down and snack station.

7PM - View from bridge of completed playground with caution tape (24 hr wait before playing).

Raegan enjoying the swings at her "daddy's big blue park" Sunday evening. 

Philip, Bryan, and David performing ribbon cutting duties.

Grand Opening!

(Raegan and Gavin were holding hands - so cute)

It's the little things...

A couple of weeks ago, I remembered Philip needed more hair gel/paste/promenade (whatever you want to call it) and decided to make it an opportunity to also write him a thank you note.  I simply folded a piece of scrapbook paper in half, wrote a note to "My man who makes things happen" to thank him for his persistence and hard work in making the idea of our neighborhood park become a reality, and then tied a piece of ribbon around it to make it look fancy. : ) I think its little things like this that keep that spark alive in our marriage.  

Speaking of which, on 9-01-2011 we celebrated 4 years of marriage. Here's a photo of us at the John Maxwell event we attended that evening.  

Us four years ago...

Cruisin' to the Bahamas

Sunday – After enjoying a wonderful southern cooked homestyle meal made by my mother-in-law consisting of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, yellow squash, corn on the cob, green beans, and a roll Philip and I kissed Raegan goodbye and headed to Dallas.  We scoped out the hotel pool which although it had water flowing peacefully from the hottub into it, it wasn’t much larger than my bathtub and therefore we decided to forego swimming and go check out the Grapevine Mills mall.  I searched the map on my phone and saw that Uncle Julios was near there and figured we could waste some time at the mall and then head over there for dinner.  Gosh that mall is huge, I remember going there to shop for school clothes and the last time we were there was to buy our washer and dryer from the Sears outlet.  The place was packed, especially for a Sunday evening.  We went in at Rainforest Café because Philip had never seen it before, definitely a place we should go back to when we have Raegan with us.  We walked briskly through the mall, stopping only at Victoria’s Secret to check one more time if they had a certain swimsuit in my size – which just like the two other malls we had visited earlier this month and the VS website, they didn’t.  Note to self: don't wait until August to buy a swimsuit!

While checking out the new Sealife Adventure place Philip saw the AMC theater outside and suggested we go see a movie, I was excited because I had been wanting to see Crazy, Stupid, Love ever since a friend of mine commented on facebook that it was perhaps the best movie of the year.  So I was sold.  We actually decided to go with the Cinema Suites tickets which are only for 21 years and older, with recliners and full waitstaff service.  There were only 48 seats in the theater.  This was the way to go, the recliners were so nice and so was our waitress.  We ordered chips and blanco queso, fancy mac&cheese with grilled parmesean chicken, and a brownie Sunday for dessert!  

Monday: We woke up super early and caught the 4:15am shuttle to the airport (kinda reminded me of our honeymoon when we woke up super early to fly to Jamaica).  We flew from Dallas to Atlanta and then into Melbourne where we took another shuttle to the ship.  This was the first cruise Philip and I have ever taken, we were somewhat surprised by all the security measures and formalities and that we couldn't just get out of the car and walk onto the ship.  We had to stand in line and fill out forms promising we didn't have contagious diseases and then show our passports and other paperwork at a counter and then zigzag through another line before reaching the ship.  We were very lucky to have a room on the main deck floor which meant we didn't have to take the stairs when boarding or deboarding and that guest relations was right around the corner.  Even though I told Philip we didn't need a window in our room since we wouldn't be there much, we got a room with a large window which watching the waves out of it kinda made me nauseous at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly. After checking out our room we went straight to the buffet! I probably ate more than my weight on this cruise and it was great!  One of my favorite parts was the free self serve ice cream.  Philip is a pro at making perfect ice cream cones and we probably had at least two ice cream cones a day each!  

That evening we attended the send off party and then met Daniel, Christina, Josh, and Kristen our dinner table friends and went to the production show with singing/dancing and then listened to a comedian, who's name I can't remember, but he was pretty good even though he did a lot of impressions of people before my time.  

Tuesday - When we woke up this morning we arrived at Coco Cay, which is a small (1 mile long, 1/2 mile wide) island that the cruise line actually owns, so the people with us on our ship were the only ones on the island with us.  We swam in the ocean sum, but I'm not a fan of seaweed touching my feet so I only enjoyed it when we were far enough out to actually swim.  The island was a pretty neat place, being early riser we got there pretty early and found a PERFECT hammock with a great view of the beach, we got everything set up, laid down, and less than 10 minutes later it started sprinkling.  My weather man of a husband told me it would only last 10 minutes and then about 10 minutes later the sprinklers turned into heavy rain.  Some people were still in the ocean, others parasailing or on jet skis, but we hid under our towels on the hammock afraid to seek real shelter as our hammock may get claimed , but eventually we figured it wasn't worth it and about 10 minutes later it had stopped the sunshine was intense!  We scouted out the island, saw some hermit crabs, fish, iguanas, chickens, yes chickens?!?  Then we met one of the cruise entertainers and a couple other groups for a scavenger hunt of the island.  I was glad we had already scouted out the island and knew where to find most of the items!  I've never seen Philip run so fast, after hearing one of the clues Philip ran so fast his flip flops flew off his feet and he beat a high school cross country runner with tennis shoes on!  I guess you could call that a competitive nature?  The last item we were asked to find was "talent" i.e. a dance contest, which I'm proud to say I got 2nd place in! I think I'm getting too old for that stuff! After all that running around we ate a delicious lunch (the rice was my favorite part, I need to find the recipe for it) and then relaxed in the shade on a hammock before heading back on to the ship for afternoon BINGO.

We paid $16 for BINGO that afternoon in hopes of winning $300, but to no avail; however, that didn't stop us from coming back, stay continued... We had dinner again with the honeymooners and dating couple and learned more about them and found out we are getting old as the honeymooners who we assumed were probably about our age, maybe older, were actually the same age we were when we got married!
Wednesday morning when we woke up we were docking at Nassau, Bahamas next to the Norwegian cruise liner.  We had scheduled a snorkeling trip prior to our trip for this morning so we got up early, had breakfast and then de-boarded the ship and found our group for the snorkeling trip.  We loaded up onto a Catamaran with about 25 other people and listened to island music as we sailed out a ways to a coral reef.  This was the first time Philip had ever snorkeled so it took awhile for him to feel comfortable with it, but once he did we were off like fish ourselves.  The fish didn't seem scared of us at all, they'd swim right up to us and then Philip would reach out his hands and try to touch one and they'd dart off.  I was literally laughing through my snorkel at how hard Philip was trying to touch the fish.  After snorkeling and browsing through the market place we headed back to the ship for lunch.  After lunch we rested awhile, enjoyed the nearly empty pool while others were out exploring and then headed back out to Nassau and tried out the mopeds which we planned on using to be able to quickly explore more of the island; however after a rocky test drive that scared me to death we decided that could end poorly and we'd just walk.  Philip is very protective of me esp in foreign countries although I felt completely safe.  He likes for me to walk on the inside of the sidewalk with my arm locked with his.  He's a good guy!  They have nice stores right there near the port including: Fendi, Gucci, Coach, Rolex etc... they also have a Burger King, Starbucks, McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe, and Senor Frogs.  We shared a snocone while browsing through all the little shops and then spent a little time at Senor Frogs and Hard Rock before it started pouring and we ran (literally ran back to the ship)!  My dress was soaked and I froze when we walked back in to the cold air conditioning on the ship!  That evening I was too tired to get up and go to dinner so we ordered 2 spinach cheese dip appetizers, chicken strips, a cheeseburger and two lemonades for dinner and took a nap before heading to BINGO.
At BINGO that night Philip won 2 of the 4 sessions for total winnings of $300 woohoo - what a lucky guy!

Thursday was our last day on the ship and was spent crusing, relaxing, reading, playing more bingo, a game of war before dinner, watching the sexiest man contest, taking a tour of the galley (kitchen was SPOTLESS!), dancing, eating, and watching the live Love & Marriage game show.

Friday morning we packed up, ate breakfast, and got in line to de-board (that was probably my least favorite part of the cruise was safety procedures and crowded lines - much different than an all inclusive island resort).  However it was nice to get away and just spend time as a couple without all the normal distractions of life.  We did miss Raegan though and called her as soon as we were back at the port! 

29 months Old

8-24-2011

New phrases:
My Caleb eat fruit snacks at home
I want to go to work with you
I want to go to work at my daddys mall
See my baby's butt
pockets on my butt
my turn now/ your turn now
good job momma
beep beep its all done
all aboard
library
private part

a little bug in our home
this is your home
little bugs nice
big bugs eww
its little like me
its big like my dadda
its too big for me
write my name
no I'm a baby
Night, Night Nanny
No that Papa & Nanny sugar (when we try to kiss on her neck)

Not sure on height/weight, but I do think she has gotten quite a bit taller. She can reach doorknobs now, but can't open them yet.  She loves acting like a baby and wants me to carry her laid out across my arms as one often. (just a little spoiled!) Her favorite toys are probably all the balls from the ball pit her aunt Melissa bought her.  She knows how to throw them and lately they've been scattered all across my kitchen floor.  She found a basket that I had some of her clothes in in her closet and emptied it so she could use it to gather her balls and take them with her wherever she went.  The balls are quite a mess but since she can and will pick them all up when I tell her to, I let the fun go on!

Ever since getting back from Grammie's and Papa's house a couple weeks ago, Raegan has been asking for candy EVERY day!  Luckily for her we just happened to have a huge (like at least 3 gallon) bowl of candy in the top of our pantry that her sweet daddy would get down and let her have her pick from.  I however was not such a fan of this practice, so Philip devised a plan.  He left only three pieces of candy (a packet of M&Ms, a dumdumm sucker, and a packet of those sweethearts from v-day)  and put the rest in a box up in the pantry when she wasn't around.  Then the next time she asked for candy he gave her the huge bowl like he always does and only the three pieces of candy remained.  After day three or it may have been day two, there was no more candy and when she'd ask for candy we'd pull the bowl down and show her, sorry no more.  This is when she got smart and said, "Momma's candy, please."  Background: I'm somewhat addicted to Trolli's gummy worms (only Trolli's no other kind) and Philip had brought home a bag for me along with a slurpee (that sweet guy of mine) a couple weeks ago.  Raegan had seen me sneak one every once in awhile in my room and occasionally I'd give her one too.  So our candy fiasco had not yet come to an end.  So anytime I would get a gummy worm (maybe once a day) I would give her one too.  But today she ate the last one and said "no more mommy's candy?" and I said "we ate all the candy, all gone."  Then she pointed to the garage and said, "go get more" in a questioning tone.  So I'm pretty sure our next trip to the grocery store isn't going to be an easy one because my excuse when she asks for candy in the check out line is always we have candy at home.  I'll probably just make sure to bring a piece from our stash in my purse just in case. 
Moral of the Story: Raegan has a sweet tooth just like her mommy & daddy. 

What a Weekend

Wow, August is almost over... I'm still working on the cruise blog, but thought I'd share a few highlights from the weekend.

Friday evening our friends watched Raegan for us and Philip met me at Mickey Mantles Steakhouse for happy hour and dinner.  That night we watched Crimson Tide which reminded us of the classic game of Battleship, which we then found as a free App for our iphones. 

Saturday Raegan and I spent some time at her "daddy's mall."

 Then after a much needed nap headed to Payton's 1 yr. old birthday party (luckily it was jsut across the street).  We enjoyed a cookout, cake, and lots of other babies and toys for Raegan to play with.

After the birthday party we cleaned off our back porch, let Raegan swim in her pool and caught a frog who we played with for awhile before letting him go.  We also got to skype with my parents who are coming up to visit in a couple of weeks.  Raegan's allergies were acting bothering her and we couldn't find her allergy medicine so I sent Philip to the store to get some more and he came back with medicine and a redbox, Just Go With It, that we watched later that evening.  (Funny movie - course we always love Adam Sandler movies!)

Sunday evening we watched our friends' girls while they went out for their anniversary.  Philip is great at helping me entertain the girls, but I can't imagine having three girls(there's are 5 and 3 plus Raegan who is 2), there's SO much giggling all the time!

Best quote from the weekend: Marisol - "But I want to play pirates Philip"

Philip - " I don't know how to play pirates"

Marisol- "You act real mad and get on the ship and then go down the slide and get the treasure!"

 

Hand Wash Only

About once a month I start getting bored with my wardrobe and talk myself into washing all the clothes that say "hand wash only."  Today was that day.  While leaning over the tub, wringing soapy water out of clothes I always tell myself to stop buying clothes that say "hand wash only."  I think there should be a section in the store for "hand wash only" clothes, that way I would know not to even go over there, or maybe when you are checking out the cashier could say, "are you sure you want to buy this, its hand wash only." This would make my life a little easier : )

July 24th, 2011 - 28 months old

28 months old: When other parents used to tell me about their toddlers getting into EVERYTHING and them having to put locks on doors/drawers, I was like wow we must be lucky because Raegan really just plays with her own toys, UNTIL now, you've had a growth spurt and can now if you stand on your tippy toes see cool grown up things on counters and if you try really hard can sometimes even reach them, now you are into EVERYTHING.  We've tried drawer locks, but you've already figured them out.  You love my makeup, daddy's deodorant, markers, and post-it flags.  You're last two baby teeth are coming in this month and you'll tell us that your teeth hurt, I'm glad they are the last ones, but I think they must hurt you the most because lately you've been drooling more than ever.  You got your first freckle (dot) on the lower left side of your neck.  (just in case you ever want to know which freckle was your first :)You understand so much and can interpret conversations just by the tones/inflictions in people's voice.   You had your first dance class and told daddy "I dance like my momma" :) You even showed me your plie. Your best friends at school are Dutch and Caleb. You love ribbits (frogs), and daddy even caught you one the other night when he was mowing and brought it in to show you.  You test our patience everyday, but bring us joy in so many ways! We love you!

New phrases:
I want momma's choo choo (aka car) wet
your back!
dadda see me
I want daddy back now!
come to my room
get out of my room
leave me alone
I want you hold me
where's other two papa
I told dada to stop
I write on couch, you understand momma
I'm all done with nite nite
I want two coats (referring to nail polish on her toes)
where is my reese's bubba
I flush
I dance like my momma
I wear blue like my dadda
walk with me
they're nice bugs?
two bugs get me!
I've got two boo boos
I want to go home and eat
honey, no no

Our lil wild thing at work writing on my bathtub with a green crayon!

Big Wheels

Friday evening we met our friends to cheer on their daughter, Ashley, in the Big Wheels Competition.  Here's a video I took of the 5 year old heat of the race Ashley was in. She did great and was the first girl across the finish line!



After the race we went inside to cool off and stood in line for at least an hour (seriously) to get Raegan's face painted.  In the car she told me she wanted to write on her face, I figured face painting was a good alternative.  However, once we finally got up to the front and it was her turn, she wouldn't let the face painter touch her face at all.  She covered her face with her hands and turned her head away.  At one point we thought it might work when she told him "no white, I want that blue," I thought ok, so as long as she's in control of the color scheme we can get this done, but after the nice face painter switched his brush to blue, she had a change of mind.  So I guess we can say we tried.  Too bad too the face painter was actually really really good.  I should've got mine done, I mean who doesn't want a big butterfly painted on their face.

Anyways, it was a great atmosphere filled with boon bounces, free food, sno-cones, and hyper kiddos.  Raegan had a good time and held Marisol's hand while we walked back to the car (a first as these two, who are a year apart in age, usually won't even hug goodbye). 

Lake Trip 2011

Due to the thought of having to pay an additional $400 for a plane ticket for our two year old, we decided that instead of visiting Lake Bruin this year we would rent a lake house on Lake Lewisville.  We found a place online that slept 8, planned some dates and booked it right away.  It was so nice to have a get away not far from home.  We got there early on Thursday, after visiting a new daycare that morning (but that's another story in itself), Philip was in a 'I don't care' mood as far as food went so I decided we'd go to La Hacienda Ranch, mainly because everytime I'm in Texas I have to have mexican food! I miss it so much!  And it was AMAZING! Philip thought it was probably the most expensvie lunch he's ever had though - hey we're on vacation ; )

Philip's mom met us at the lake and brought more food in her SUV than is normally in my kitchen!  Our friends Kasey and Rob and their two little ones who live near by joined us for Chicken Spaghetti and swimming later that evening. 

This mat can be found at http://www.thewatermat.com/ they are expensive, but super fun and you don't have to blow them up or even take it out of the water when you are done playing.  One night my mom, Raegan and I were sitting out on it when I slapped the water with my hand and hundreds of minows came flipping up on the mat.  We scurried to splash them back into the water, screaming and laughing the whole time! If we ever have a lake house i think on of these would be a must as I love to layout on the water.

Friday evening my parents and Ron got in town and we had mexican stackups (aka fancy nachos) and took another dip in the lake - check out this sunset God gave us, gorgeous! We stayed up and played Quelf - a silly game we like, but I'm pretty sure our parents thought we were nuts!

 We got up early Saturday morning (I don't know why its necessary to say "early" we always get up early, Philip's parents, mine, and of course Miss Raegan).  Jerry the owner of the lakehouse we rented took us out on a tour of the lake (an history/educational lesson) Saturday morning.  Jerry, 50ish year old grandpa, was set on taking us to the cool hang outs including Party Cove and Sneaky Petes... We stopped and swam in paarty cove and Raegan even got to take over the boat when we were coasting through no wake zones.  She loved being on the boat!

 We ate lunch and took a long nap after the boat ride and then played golf toss, dominoes and cooked out that evening.  Raegan really enjoyed spending time with her "two papas!"  After check out on Sunday, we took Raegan to a park to play for a short while before heading to see my aunt Earlene and her husband Jack.  I hadn't seen them since my grandpa's funeral in 2007.  We all went for the Sunday brunch at Sneaky Pete's, which by the way is a pretty neat place I'd like to visit again next time we are down that way.  Luckily our drive home wasn't too long, but Philip and I still split it up since we were both pretty tired, aren't vacations weird in that way you go away to rest and relax but somehow always manage to come back tired.  Speaking of which its about time for our Sunday afternoon nap, so I better get going.  This afternoon we are taking Raegan to her visit movie in a theatre, Winnie the Pooh! 

Short video taken on the way to the zoo

27 months old!

This past Friday, June 24th, Raegan turned 27 months old.  She is out of the terrible two age and we communicate pretty well with each other.  She has done an amazing job with potty training and I don't even pack extra clothes with us anymore because we haven't needed them.  The only kinda strange thi!ng is that she's kinda compulsive about her panties and often wants to wear more than one pair of them. I don't fight her about it, I just try to compromise on two pairs instead of 5, lol!  She also sleeps in her own room in a twin bed with the bedroom door open all night.  I'm pretty impressed and glad. Life is pretty easy now-a-days! 

Fun things Raegan says:
I love you more
Don’t you touch my boo boo dada, you understand dada
Dada kiss momma
Baby kiss my booboo
I told my baby to stop
Its hot momma
Oh, oh, e oh oh, oh, oh e oh, oh oh e oh oh the right stuff (her mom grew up a  New Kids on the Block fan : )
Good job
Thumbs up dude
Hooray me!

Day Dates

Married life with a child is much different than it was before she was born.  There are TONS of great things about being a family of three, but it often makes dating more challenging.  Since we pay a set price for Raegan's daycare whether she is there everyday or not, Philip and I have taken advantage and gone on what we call 'day dates.'  Sometimes we will meet up for lunch at McAllisters or for a sweet afternoon sno-cone, recently we went to a Big XII baseball tournament game to cheer on our Baylor bears, and more recently we went on an early morning kayaking adventure.  Here are some pictures from our 5th kayaking date.

These dates/time as a couple are so important to our relationship and making sure we always feel like this:

and not this: