I apologize in advance if I haven't been answering emails or doing updates as often as I have in the past for the past few weeks. I do have a good reason because for the last 6 weeks I have been working on a project that I am so proud to have been a part of as well as has forever changed my life for the better.
As most know that I have talked to, or have visited Reese's website you know of the story of Ethan. If not.... June 2nd, 2005 will forever be etched in hundreds of thousands of people's minds, for this was the day that a true angel made a brief appearance into this world. Ethan Thomas Peaslee Gustafson was born at 1:18AM, 22 inches long, 9 lb 3.5 oz, happy and healthy, but God decided that he needed Ethan with him. June 3rd Ethan was rushed to Columbus Children's Hospital's NICU because he had stopped breathing on his own... he closed his eyes wrapped in the love of his mother's/father’s arms passing away 12 days later.
Though his time here on Earth was brief, he truly opened people’s eyes and hearts to friends, neighbors, strangers in the street, online groups, prayer circles and churches around the world. "He brought out the best in people." No one knew exactly how to ease the pain that Eric and Maleah have had to endure, but through the generous support of a close-knit online community we sprung into action. I posted and asked if anyone would be willing to donate their time, money and talents because I have no scrapbooking experience, I just pixel push and take tons of photos. I sorely underestimated the OVERWHELMING response.
Within 20 minutes 5 people had donated supplies, within 2 days 25 layouts, tons of supplies, photos and monetary donations were pouring in and it kept growing. Within 2 weeks pages, cds, photos and everything in between had been FedEx'ed and USPS'ed from all over the world to the front door step of my house. And Exactly 5 weeks 5 days since the birth of Ethan, a 12" x "12" 54 (1-3 page) layout Memory Book was lovingly hand delivered to Eric and Maleah before her 6 week appointment today. The best part, she had NO idea that it was coming and it was truly a gift and labor of love!
People automatically think that "The Internet" can be such a bad place, it's such a breath of fresh air to know that even if most people have only met through simple text can have such an outpouring of love.
Thank you to EVERYONE for all your thoughts, prayers, letters, notes, emails and all the little things that have helped everyone involved try to be able to mourn and ultimately rejoice and celebrate Ethan's life.
PHEW, what a weekend!
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
(9 months 1 week 1 day)
Sorry for the lack of updates, it will all become clear why I’ve been sort of aloof the past 2 weeks.
Reese has been a girl about town the past 2 weeks!!! Friday she and I hung out with some other mom’s and their adorable children. We had a blast, and Reese really loved the gold fish, not to mention all the “big girl toys” that Riana let her play with. Thanks Alana for having all of us over!
Can I play? Notice Rachel's and Raina's face... "Who's invading our space?" hehe They did so well with Reese though.
Raina and Reese playing Massey. Raina is 2 1/2.
Reese's new trick... balancing on her knees. Walking ANY DAY NOW.
Raina VERY jealous that Reese is on her mommy's (Alana) lap!
MMMMMMMM Fishes.
Saturday Scott and I attended a wedding in Middle of Nowhere, Ohio….aka….Salem, Ohio. I don’t know what’s up with Ohio weddings, but you have the ceremony first then anywhere from 2 – 3 hours later you have the reception. I guess its ok if there things to do for 2 – 3 hours between, but when the most exciting thing that happened was me finding a toy at the local Goodwill there is really an issue with timing. Oh well, Scott and I and 2 of the Groom’s other co-workers were there for “support” as Scott joked.
Grandma's pride and joy!
Where was Reese? She was busy making her Grandma Kloetzer look good! Linda took Reese with her to a friend’s granddaughter’s 1st birthday party. “Reese did SO GOOD! Everyone just kept saying how cute, personable and good Reese was!” Linda was so proud, and in turn, so was I. Scott and I came home around 9:00PM to Reese passed COMPLETELY out with Tom/Linda vegged out in the living room watching the end of Legally Blonde 2.
Reaching out and touching someone.
Reese helping Alexis.
Everyone enjoying the presents! hehehe
She said her FIRST word!!!
Saturday, July 09, 2005
(9 months 5 days)
MOM
Scott and I were getting ready for breakfast and Reese was bouncing off the walls and doing the "mmm mmmm" sounds. And to go along with my thinking that if I keep saying words that sound like the noise she's making that some how the words will fall out of her mouth.... "bah bah bah bah.... loon" so on and so forth.... So I said "Reese, can you say 'mom'?" She looked at me and said "MOM." I smiled and she smiled and she kept saying "MOM.....MOM.....MOM." Then it got to momma....momma. She said it about 10 times with a few breaks in between so we know FOR SURE it wasn't a fluke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, now to watch my mouth during high traffic!
THANK GOD I made Scott leave the room!
Friday, July 08, 2005
Man faints, dies after seeing wife's epidural
California hospital sued for wrongful death
Updated: 6:18 a.m. ET July 8, 2005
LOS ANGELES - A California woman is suing a hospital for wrongful death because her husband fainted and suffered a fatal injury after helping delivery room staff give her a pain-killing injection.
Jeanette Passalaqua, 32, filed the suit against Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Southern California Permanente Medical Group Inc. in San Bernardino County state court last week.
In June 2004, Passalaqua’s husband, Steven Passalaqua, was asked by Kaiser staff to hold and steady his wife while an employee inserted an epidural needle into her back, court papers said.
The sight of the needle caused Steven Passalaqua, 33, to faint and he fell backward, striking his head on an aluminum cap molding at the base of the wall.
Jeanette Passalaqua delivered the couple’s second child, a boy, later that day. Steven Passalaqua, however, suffered a brain hemorrhage as a result of his fall and died two days later, the lawsuit said.
The suit seeks unspecified damages related to Steven Passalaqua’s death and to Jeanette Passalaqua’s emotional distress at being widowed with two young children.
Because Passalaqua was solicited by Kaiser to assist in the epidural, the lawsuit said, the hospital “owed him a duty to exercise reasonable care to prevent foreseeable injuries resulting from his participation.”
A spokesman for Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente called the death “a tragic accident.”
“Some of the allegations in the lawsuit are simply that --allegations. The legal process is under way and we should respect that,” said Kaiser spokesman Jim Anderson.
GRINDING HER TEETH! She started doing it yesterday!
It's WORSE than freaking raking your nails down a chalkboard!
Her 5th tooth and fang now are new toys......
MELISSA iS HAVING A BOUNCING BABY.........
Thursday, July 07, 2005
I was thrilled to find out today that one of my best friend's Melissa had her u/s today and found out:
Carl, Blake and I are excited to announce we are having a baby BOY (yes... just one)! His name is Carl Anthony Commons III and we will call him Trey. The appointment was incredible. Blake went along and sat on Dad's lap while he watched the tv monitor with wide eyes as the nurse moved the wand over my pregnant belly to show different angles of the baby. Not only did we see Trey's cute fingers and toes, the ultra sound was so detailed we could see the four chambers of his heart! Amazing. Trey is healthy and is estimated to weigh about 10 ounces - the weight of a juice box - and approximately 8 1/2 inches long. As some of you may know, we will be having a scheduled cesarean section. The hope is it will be set for November 23 - Pappy's birthday.
We are excited to share this news with you all and hope you enjoy the images I have attached. You may view more ultra sound images on our Yahoo! online photo album by either clicking here or typing in the following link: http://photos.yahoo.com/mpruett25 and clicking on the album titled "Trey".
Love,
Melissa
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO thrilled for them!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Hope to see you guys around Thanksgiving!!!
Valuable Lessons Learned
Thursday, July 07, 2005
(9 months 3 days)
It seems that every time Reese and I go on a trip we learn a bit more. Here are a few from our last adventure.
1. Fog lights are an incredible invention 2. Make sure to pull really far into the Emergency Pull-Off Lanes 3. Keep lots of bottles/crackers at arms reach at all times 4. Always listen to your mother when looking for a good parking spot 5. Washington Zoo doubles as a baby sitter for DC residents 6. Monkeys and humans act a LOT a like hehe 7. Never travel I-95 during the summer 8. Reese is one of the nosiest sleepers on the planet! 9. Take home containers from restaurants make wonderful toys 10. Reese HATES elevators 11. The acoustics in buildings in DC are really incredible 12. Reese is FEARLESS 13. Reese LOVES to eat sand 14. Little Swimmers ONLY hold solid waste 15. Bring a bigger shovel 16. Baby powder is still the best thing to brush off sand 17. Keep driving around Virginia Beach to find a good/cheap parking spot, even if it does take almost an hour. 18. Don’t fly past Exit 104 with the Flying J that has gas for $1.98 when it’s $2.29 - $2.49 on the way home 19. Reese is a WONDERFUL FANTASTIC Traveler and Dining Partner 20. You do REALLY need to figure out how to remove your car seat cover and wash it after a long vacation
Happy 4th, Happy 9th Month, WONDERFUL VACATION!
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
(9 months 2 days)
(This is gonna be a LONG post.... but there's a reason why, just keep reading!)
The week long trip to Virginia was FANTASTIC. I can’t remember a better time in a long time as the time we’ve spent all over Easter/Northern Virginia. I’m so glad that Reese was able to experience all of that at such a young age, and though she may not remember it, I’m sure that it stimulated a TON of brain cells to help her out in the long run! hehe Glad that we took all the photos and it’s just such a wonderful feeling to know that Reese will be able to visit all those places for years to come! Thank you mom for paying for every drop of gas, tolls, admissions, food for Reese and myself all the way down to a bottle brush, diapers and formula. I love you very much and can’t wait to see you again in August!
Wednesday, June 29th
PHEW! We finally hit the road by 3:30PM. What can I say, we just had a lot of little bit of packing to do. Reese was a gem! She only fussed a couple of times, and I think it’s because she got car sick and/or drank milk too fast and it gave her really bad gas pockets. I had to pull over in the emergency lane with big rigs flying by at least 80 mph on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to get out change and/or burp Reese. I felt so bad for her because I was a serious “I’m in a lot of pain” sort of cry. After I’d fix her up, we were well on our way again. Around 9:30PM, think I was somewhere right outside of Virginia by this time, it started to rain…. And I mean POUR. I hadn’t seen that much rain since Scott’s and my rehearsal dinner! It was so bad that I had to pull over on the side of the road and let part of the storm pass a bit and ended up to following a line of cars with our flashers on doing a whopping 20 mph on the interstate….. it was hurricane force rains, but was really needed in the area because they are on strict water conservation restrictions until the drought lets up. It continued to rain for nearly 2 HOURS!! I was ½ way down my I-95 leg when it stopped abruptly and was able to high tail it to my mom’s to unpack the car before the storm hit there… that’s the last thing I needed was to unload the car in a torrential downpour! I arrived at her doorstep at 11:30PM and we all crashed until the next morning.
3:30PM... let's hit the road jack!
Thursday, June 30th
Reese got up early and therefore, I got up early, but it was good because we decided to forego heading to the beach due to possible showers and headed to Washington, D.C. to the Zoo!!!!!
First morning in Virginia.... notice the wagon wheel on Reese's left hip... YOUR right. hehe
MY GOD WAS IT HOT! 95 degrees and HIGH humidity, I’m not sure what the final “with heat index it’s 105 outside” but trust me, it was hot as Hades!
Gettin' ready to head into the Washington Zoo!
The animals were all out and about, though rather sluggish as can be expected. I got a great shot of a lounging lion....
and of course, we got some great photos of the Gibbon monkeys that were making SUCH a ruckus that there was a group of about 50 people on either side of their enclosure. Reese was VERY taken with one of the Gibbons that seemed to really be intrigued by Reese.
Gibbons love Reese!
PHEW... 2 hot monkeys. 98 degrees, Hazy Hot and HUMID! BLEH!
Mom and I switched pushing Reese in the stroller. One family walking by admired Reese and started laughing when the dad said “Look kids, it’s the foot eating baby!” As Scott says, “We can’t go anywhere anymore can we?” What can I say, Reese is a cutie! Mom and I also swapped snapping photos of funny little things that animals, including Reese, were doing. Some of the highlights were Reese wanting to play with the Bearded Dragons, eating a bit of snow cone and being strolled through the misters.
Reese wanting to play with the Bearded Dragons
I can almost get to em!
Thank heaven for misters! Reese loved it!
Trying a snow cone for the first time! Reese got to the point that she really looked forward to whatever was in Grandma Cowlbeck's hands!
The best, though no photo, was when we were in the Bird Sanctuary and we were all looking at the Peacocks and another bird that was in their enclosure. I took a few photos of my mom and Reese in front and as SOON as we moved a little boy, about 4, took Reese’s spot and within 20 seconds one of the giant peacocks jumped up on the railing and scared the little boy to DEATH. It was just his parents, mom, Reese and I that saw this and we were all laughing…. So within 30 seconds the little boy wasn’t crying anymore, but I was glad Reese wasn’t there, I don’t know what she would have done… more than likely tried to pet it. LOL
Chattin' it up infront of a bird exhibit. A peacock flew down right where Reese is sitting after we left. Scared the little boy to DEATH.
"where to next grandma?"
I remember when I was about 8 that this exhibit used to be a 20 x 20 dirt pit. I was so impressed by the set up!
Reese was enthralled with the baboon exhibit. They had a large indoor seating area in front of a floor to ceiling enclosure where people just sit and watch the monkeys…. I suppose they had just been given fresh greens and other treats because this one baboon had two handfuls of goodies and was being chased by a baby baboon and a larger adult baboon. Everyone was laughing and therefore Reese started to yell. It was just a really interesting to see how she reacted.
We walked around another couple of hours and after the last animal was seen, and heat exhaustion was just about to zap what little energy we had left, we headed back to the car. Reese was EXHAUSTED. She passed out for the 2 hours we were in I-95 traffic heading to the beach and we made a mental note that if we were going to come back the next day, NOT TO TAKE 95!!
Reese ended up waking up just in time for mom taking us out to Red Lobster for dinner. Reese tried broccoli spears for the first time and after one bit, started to drop them one by one down beside her! STINKER! She’d eat them if you put them in her mouth, but for her to put them in her mouth was too much work and obviously much more fun to watch them hit the floor and then our reactions. After we were done eating I needed a box to take home some of my left over meal. Reese ended up grabbing the first box and breaking part of the bottom, so I asked for another one. While waiting my mom taught her a trick of how to hit the corner of the box and it would spin on its end and flip over. GREAT. Thanks Grandma. The next 5 minutes was spent with Reese perfecting her skill, and I must say, it was impressive! So much so that the manager of Red Lobster came over to compliment Reese on her new talent and laugh hysterically “at her playing with the box!” She reached out her hand to wave and he grabbed it and gave her a kiss on her hand and she smiled but also wouldn’t take her eyes of him wondering where he came from and why was he kissing her hand. Mom and I just died laughing and noticed that everyone else around us was also taken with what Reese was doing. I think we need to start charging admission! hehe
We headed back on the road and arrived home around 9:30. I hated to wake Reese up to give her a bath, but I had to, it was way too hot and she was covered in lunch, dinner and baby sweat! Reese has gotten into this habit of going deliriously nuts when she’s tired. If you didn’t know my child you’d think she was just hyper and being a “wild woman.” She giggles hysterically for no reason, jumps up and down in your arms, and good lord getting a diaper on her is near impossible with her backwards worm and laughing hysterically at the same time, but as soon as her head hits the bed she’s out. No whimpers, no whines no nothing, complete silence! What a silly kid.
Reese didn’t wake again until 8:30AM.
Friday, July 1st
Mom and I had made the decision to head back to Washington, again because of the chance of rain at Va Beach, and visit the Smithsonian! HOT AS HADIES AGAIN!!! But thankfully, not as much walking outside. I don’t know how mom does it, but we ended up parking 1 block from the museum’s entrance… right across from the large public fountain. It’s the closest we’ve ever parked and it was PERFECT! We walked around the fountain and saw that they have free jazz concerts every Friday evening. We stopped the first time so that Reese could check out the fountain as well as a duck that was eyeing her banana cracker. Reese was very intrigued by how close the duck would get, but couldn’t figure out why it didn’t want to play.
Eatin' blueberry buckle in the back seat while Grandma gets a head start in Wal-Mart.
WASHINGTON, D.C.!
Reese "waving"
Duck wanting Reese's cracker.... Reese wanting the Duck...Grandma just wanting Reese to stay DRY.
HAPPY BABY, PROUD GRANDMA!
After checking out the fountain Reese, mom and I walked through the Natural History Museum. Reese LOVED it. Not sure if she liked being around all those people at once or the exhibits. She tested out every room for echoes and laughed when people mimicked her. Mom took some great shots of us in front of some of the dinosaur and elephant exhibits, and a really nice gentleman offered to take a photo of us in front of the elephant… he tried. hehe We were able to see the Hope Diamond and check out all the other MASSIVE gems, including the largest flawless crystal in the world. All of it was absolutely breathtaking. Reese again, did FATASTICALLY.
Dinosaur hip bone!
Trying to get the standard "photo infront of the elephant" LOL
3D Salt molecule.... Reese didn't understand it! It was so cute to see her reach out to the balls!
After walking the entire museum it was around 5:00 and we weren’t looking forward to the traffic again, so we decided to just walk around a bit, it turned out great! We ended up checking out a few of the early festivities for the Melting Pot Festival there at the Capital’s Mall. We heard bagpipes earlier but didn’t know where they were coming from, well, it ended up being an African Tribal dance going on with audience participation. It was so neat to see! Reese liked the drums.
African dancers. It was so cool to see the tribal dance and the audience participation.
We watched for about 10 minutes then continued on our way to the American History Museum so that mom could check out the First Ladies Dresses.
Heading into see the First Ladies Dresses. Poor tuckered out babe.
Reese was well passed out by this time, but was wide awake on our way back around the fountain for her to eat dinner and a few splashes in the fountain. Everyone kept laughing at how “duck” like she was. Something about Reese hanging upside down splashing in the water gets everyone in their funny bone I guess! We had a blast!
Splashin' in the fountain! Everyone kept saying "She's like a little duck!"
Free Jazz concerts every Friday evening. It was great! Look at all the people!
After listening to some Jazz and splashing in the water we leisurely walked back to the car and made our way home with only a bit of traffic, but thankfully we were able to get off of 95 and head to mom’s “the back way” PHEW!
It was again another long day and we got back around 9:30PM. (Noticing a trend of 10:00ish – 9:30ish)
Saturday, July 2nd
We got up semi-early awaiting the arrival of my Grandmother and Step-Grandfather, Walter, to meet us at mom’s house. Mom called them around quarter til to see where they were and they were 1 ½ hours BEHIND!!! We were not happy with this because the least they could have done was call because we were ready and Reese’s schedule was already set into motion. Mom said that it was a mixed blessing because it just meant that my grandmother is a lot less stressed, though she’s never known her to be that late and never call. Oh well, we ended up meeting up in Mechanicsville and headed to the Virginia Bazaar for some flea marketing. It was a bit of a bust because of it being the 4th weekend, but Mom was still able to find a really good deal on a cool purse, some bath toys for Reese and a really awesome toy for Reese. After doing a little more walking around we then headed back to my mom’s house where mom showed Grandma and Walter their wedding photos, there were a few hysterical ones in there that we all got a kick out of. I must say that it is nice to see my Grandma as happy as she is; I’ve never seen her like this, so hopefully this trend will continue.
HEY!!! Gettin' ready to head into Williamsburg!
After chatting a bit with them, we ended up parting ways so that they could go to the outlet malls while Mom took Reese and I to downtown Williamsburg to have dinner at the Trellis. WOWSA. I haven’t been to something this nice since Scott’s and my 1 year anniversary! But mom wanted to take me there because she had gone there with her Board. Btw, side tidbit, but I wanted to say a bit of a belated congratulations to my mom for being named Regional Superintendent of the year (out of 17, voted on by secret ballot) for the SECOND year in the row! WOO HOO MOM!!
On the way down to Williamsburg, Scott called and said “Sue, you won’t be able to use your bank card.” “What, what did you just say?” “You know the 4 million Visa accounts that were compromised about 3 weeks ago?” “Yeah….” “Well, the bank called and said that your card was one that was flagged. They said to monitor our account and a new card will be mailed to you within the week…. I told them you were out of town on vacation and this couldn’t come at a worse time.” “Great….. thank goodness I’m with my mom!” “No joke.” Why couldn’t I win the lottery instead? Oh well, live and learn.
We found a great parking spot down in Williamsburg and we made our way over to the restaurant. I was a little concerned how Reese would act/react to the surroundings but my god she was a GEM. I mean hands down the best person in the restaurant. It was awesome to see the reactions on people’s faces of “oh, there was a baby in here?” as we were leaving. As I told mom, I think the lady behind mom made more racket than Reese did with every glass of wine she drank! LOL I am still in awe of how well Reese did, but I don’t know why, Reese is just an all around FANASTIC baby and shattered any fears that I have about going out to places with her.
"I want that silverware!" Reese did manage to get ahold of a spoon and she flung it behind her by accident! Mom and I quietly died laughing!
CHEESE!
Let's ride.
Reese passed out on the way home and refused to go back to bed because I had to move her into my mom’s room so that Grandma and Walter could have the 2nd bedroom and mom took the 3rd bedroom, though I told her I’d sleep in there, but she REFUSED to let me and insisted that Reese and I take her room…. But after sleeping with Reese in the room since she was 3 months old, I almost should have left her in the room with my log sawing mother!!! I got little to NO sleep! Reese is a rowdy sleeper! GEEZ, I got practically NO sleep between her tossing when she heard me move and her snoring! Which seems almost impossible because she sleeps on her stomach with her butt up in the air!
Reese finally passed out around 9:30PM.
Sunday, July 3rd
VIRGINIA BEACH HERE WE COME!
God what a beautiful baby.
Well, not after a FANASTIC visit to the Virginia Aquarium Museum! That was one of the coolest places that I’ve visited in Va Beach and could kick myself for not visiting ONCE the 2 years I lived there! Reese had a BLAST! She was able to get up close and personal with some turtles, snapping turtles and blow fish in the Museum building. We walked 1/3 mile over to the Aquarium part on the most beautiful new boardwalk that went through the salt marsh and gave a very scenic view of part of the Chesapeake. I do so miss being so close to the water and especially having a boat to be able to jump in to go fishing, claming, crabbing or just a nice ride on the water. Oh well, trying to talk mom into getting another boat so she can take Reese on all the adventures that Lyle and I had as a kid, almost got her convinced, so hopefully by this time next year I can start up water skiing again!
CHEESE!
Turtles checking out Reese, Reese checkin' out the turtles!
Puffer fish were Reese's favs.
HUGE active snapping turtle. He kept eyeing up Reese. Reese kept trying to "pinch" his head.
After a couple of beautiful photos of our little walk we entered the aquarium and then the fun REALLY began!
Walking into the 2nd building. That's part of the Chesapeake Bay in the back.
Grandma and Reese.
The best was Reese petting skate for the first time! A REAL SKATE! My mom even snapped a photo of it!!! Everyone was paying attention to Reese splashing in the water because she loves the water as well as she was trying to “catch” the large things that were flying by so close, yet so far away. Some of the adults were joking saying “Look at that baby! She’s fearless trying to catch the fish when most of the adults and kids around the tank won’t even put a hand in there!” With Reese’s persistent splashing a couple of the younger skates thought that they MIGHT be getting food so one surfaced RIGHT under Reese’s hand and she TOUCHED IT! She was very excited for about 2 seconds and after the synapses firing of “that was slimy” the reaction reflected in her hand gesture and face! Everyone DIED laughing! Mom was able to snap a photo of it so we will forever have it documented the first time that Reese touched something wet and slimy besides her own spit-up! hehe
Reese TOUCHED the skate! Mom (Grandma) caught it RIGHT in time!
Reese LOVED the large aquariums with the otters, turtles, sharks and other really large fish! My mom took some awesome photos of Reese at the sea turtle/fish tank!
Grandma again is the trusty Navigator!
Trying to catch the sea turtles.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
Reese wanting to play with all the creatures!
Jellyfish!
BIG shark tank... one of the sharks actually bit at one of those fish.... "scales went everywhere!" as my mom explained.
We continued around the aquarium to the larger tanks and letting Reese yell and get so excited at every large thing that moved… so LOVES fish, I knew she would because she loves when we head to Petsmart and I make sure to take her down the fish aisle.
We ended our stay with taking a photo in the mouth of Jaws and I had to get down on my hands and knees to get under the jaws to hold up Reese, and as I put her down to crawl back out she crawled as fast as she could over to my mom and the gentleman that was standing with his kids waiting to take photos said “Look one got away and she’s a fast one!” Of course, eruptions of laughter!
JAWS attacks! When I let Reese down she crawled like a mad woman over to my mom and a guy standing by said "Look, that one got away!"
We left the Aquarium and took the beautiful walk back to the car and then headed down to the beach for a few hours.
What a stinker.
MY GOD, MAYHEM. I knew that the 4th would be crazy, but NOTHING like that. It took us 41 minutes to find a parking spot. GEEZ. Oh well, persistence paid off, it was only $10 to park instead of the $30 of most places, and the money went to help the local church. After packing everything but the kitchen sink we were on the beach, sitting in “our spread” with Reese going nutz in the sand! A wonderful couple beside us asked me where my mom got the “tent” and offered up a larger shovel for us to use…. THANK YOU SO MUCH! From then on, they were our conversation buddies, but it was fine because their kids were so nice!
By the time we got everything up and ready, Reese was ready to head to the water by managing to half run holding onto my fingers to the water! I swear to you, Renee as my witness, Reese will be walking in the next month or two. A few people stopped us to talk to Reese and compliment on how cute she was and how impressed they were that she was walking as well as she was…. I was more impressed that the water was FINALLY warm enough that it didn’t cramp your feet when you entered and Reese found that as a sure fire sign that she could go in as far as her little chunky legs would allow her! Though she didn’t realize the force of waves, the taste of salt water or the undertow!! But I did manage to scoop her up out of harms way and she giggled with glee!
Reese LOVED the waves! She kept "running" into them until they got up to her chest! It was really rough water.
She loved making foot/hand prints in the sand.
Look at that "I don't want to go in there, but mom wants to get this sand off my face" face
I took her in a few more feet, but the waves were so rough, and there were so many people I didn’t trust going much deeper. I would put Reese down waist high when a wave had passed or was going back out. She would squeal with a permanent big cheesy grin on her face. I lowered and lifted her in the water until my back couldn’t take it anymore and brought her back to our little tent area and let her play, I mean eat, the sand. Something about that salty sand was like a cat to catnip with Reese. Every 3rd or 4th crawl she’d take a handful of sand and shove it in her mouth! Mom would cringe and I’d laugh and trying to sternly say “No Reese, sand isn’t meant for eating.” Especially with it mixed with spaghetti. LOL My mom did a great job setting up our little seating area, and I guess Reese was so happy about it she couldn’t hold her pee…. And we made another trip back down to the beach to wash up. LOL
That isn't water drops......... and some even got on me. YUCK. Reese felt better. LOL
Reese made an almost perfect 20 foot radius of crawling/sand eating craziness around us. People would stop to let her pass during one of her frantic/laughing crawl or stop to laugh at her face of sand and cringe when she’d eat up a handful!
I see some spaghetti down there.
God I have a beautiful baby... sorry, I have to brag.
Ok, so sometimes she's not so beautiful, but darn cute with her spaghetti/sand face!
Reese CRAWLED like a mad woman out to where she's sitting. You can see the trail she made to the right.
See, it was all about going as fast as she could but always within yelling distance of me!
What a wonderful evening.
SAND BUTT.
"waving" with both hands. She loved watching her shadow.
SEE HOW FAST SHE'S CRALWING?! She was throwing sand with the tops of her fists!
All powdered up, 99% sand free, 100% tired waiting for Grandma to finish packin' up our stuff.
Grandma about 100 yards away packing up the 2nd load of stuff.
She played and we relaxed for another few hours before we headed back home. Poor Reese, again, another exhausting day. She didn’t make it more than 2 minutes in the car before she passed out and didn’t stir again until we got back to the house, where she again went into her hysterical frenzy to end up falling asleep before I even shut the door.
Monday, July 4th
HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY MY WONDERFUL BABY GIRL!!!
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Reese slept in until almost 8:30AM again, poor thing, wore her OUT but she had such a good time the days before and today was a welcome relaxation of retail therapy! My mom SPOILED me! She also picked up a few outfits for herself as well. I love going shopping for new clothes and it makes it that much better when it’s purchased for you! Reese was a GEM. She was all decked out in her 4th of July outfit complete with “Baby’s First 4th of July” bib My mom was so proud strolling her around and everyone stopping to compliment Reese on her outfit and “big blue eyes” several little old ladies stopped to say “Thank you so much for sharing her with us today!” I gotta admit I was proud of her too.
"Baby's First 4th of July" She was moving obviously. hehe
Drunken sailor.
"Reese no, don't touch the flowers."
We shopped until around 4:00PM and headed home to get something to eat, pack up and figure out exactly where Bird Park was as well as when the fireworks were really going to go off so that lil’ miss antsy pants wouldn’t get too frustrated. I went online and found that all fireworks in the area were going off around 9:15PM so we headed out and arrived at Bird Park in Richmond around 7:30ish. Good thing we got there when we did, parking spots were FEW and FAR between! WOW. There must have been about 200 people just sitting around the park area. Scott called me to let me know that he and his dad/brothers were on the way to the Indians game and said “Want to guess how hot it is in our house?” “What do you mean? How hot is it?” “In the high 80’s, our A/C went out today. I’ve already called and hope to have someone out here tomorrow and have it fixed before you get home.” GOOD GRIEF. Thankfully we weren’t home and Tom/Linda said we could stay with them until it got fixed if need be. THANK YOU FOR OFFERING TOM/LINDA!
We were also about 10 blocks from The Diamond, home of the Richmond Braves baseball team.
I'm going to eat this grass no matter what! MUWAHAHA!
Hangin' out at Bird Park in Richmond, Virginia.
CHEESE.
Beautiful baby face.
Ever fed a calf? Pretty much the same principle. LOL
Grandma and Granddaughter relaxin.
Reese LOVED the sparklers, she kept trying to run after the guy which was making faces at Reese. She was squealing "like a baby"
Mom and I wrangled grass from Reese’s hands and kept her busy until 9:15…… 9:30…….. 10:00…… “WHEN ARE THE FIREWORKS GOING TO START!?” It was SUCH a long wait we ended up watching the fireworks from a distance at The Diamond! It worked out MUCH better though because Reese wasn’t scared at ALL. She even liked the single big fireworks that were set off by people around us.
2 tired monkeys.
Reese was crawling all around and she started to give me kisses!!!!!!! I’d say “Reese, give me a kiss!” She’d open her mouth and lean forward, mom took a photo of it! heh
KISSES! Reese learned how to give kisses right on her 9th month birthday! More like eats your whole face, but it works!
Reese would point and make a grunting noise as if saying “Look! Look!” She would GIGGLE and LAUGH.
Watching the fireworks being set off from The Diamond. The Bird Park fireworks were 1 1/2 hours late due to a fire hazard.
Pointing that the fireworks and making sure that my mom and I saw! HAPPY 4th of JULY!
After the finale at The Diamond we headed out and it took a good hour to get back onto the interstate! GEEZ. In the rearview mirror we FINALLY saw the fireworks at Bird Park go off…. Come to find out, they were an hour late because they had just laid down fresh mulch and were afraid that it would catch on fire, so they had to call in the fire trucks to douse water on the mulch before they felt safe enough to set off the fireworks. GOOD GRIEF. DUH. Oh well, we watched in while Reese snored away in the back seat. Poor thing, as soon as we got in the car she sighed twice and was out until 8:45PM the next morning!
Tuesday, July 5th
Reese didn't get up until almost 9AM!!!! Guess she was REALLY tired. We took showers and I packed up the car and got everything together while mom had to go back to work and I called her right before we left so she could get a few more good kisses in before she came back down to see us in August, as well as have Reese taste watermelon for the first time.... needless to say, NOT her favorite! HAHAH
Reese REALLY wanted to hang on to all 3 of those ducks! She leaned down and bit down on the 3rd one! hehe
See, REALLY wanting that 3rd duck!
Reese's first touch/taste of watermelon....
"YUCK." She spit that stuff out about 10 times..... definitely NOT her favorite.
2 tired women.... but such a good trip!
ON THE ROAD!
I left her house around 10:30PM and arrived home by 6:30PM. Reese hardly made a PEEP and slept for a good 5 hours of the trip…. Guess she had to catch up on her vacation too. I was re-introducing Reese to Linda and Tom after their 3 week vacation, which Reese was a little standoffish with Linda trying to hold her and even got a little crying lip, but Reese warmed up quickly. I was just about to unload the car when Scott called and said that the A/C repair man had come out and fixed the unit and the house had already come down 8 degrees. So I loaded Reese back up, went through the clothes that Linda purchased for Reese and caught up on our trip before heading home to the anxious arms of Scott to see Reese and I. We both missed him terribly!!! Mom said it best “I need to go back to work to rest!” HAHAH
MOM
She started doing it yesterday! 
My mom was so proud strolling her around and everyone stopping to compliment Reese on her outfit and “big blue eyes” several little old ladies stopped to say “Thank you so much for sharing her with us today!” I gotta admit I was proud of her too.
