Happy Memorial Day

Reese Elizabeth ~ 2mths old

Thank you Mrs. Lisa for the beautiful bib with Reese's initials. We love it!

Official thumb sucker!

I have seen Reese sucking on her thumb alot here lately. I will be sure to capture more of her doing this because it is so cute. It seems like she just started doing it daily this week.

Before I posted this, I went in to get another pic of Reese thinking that she might be sucking her thumb again.... she wasn't, but was fast asleep. You can tell she is getting lots bigger. Her next doc appt is this Thursday.

This right here is our miracle worker. For all you moms that have colic babes or just a cryer, this really will help!! GUARANTEED! We were using our blow-dryer for Reese when she would cry and the second we turned it on, she would stop. We figured out it wasn't the safest so we invested in a sound machine. We got one for our home & car. It calms her down to where she will stop crying and also helps her sleep. Jason & I are both grateful for it .....to help her out and to keep us sane :) . Thanks Holly for the tip!

Just a fam update: We went to Branson last weekend and decided to let Jonas swim in the indoor pool one night. It did not go well. We already know Jonas has some type of fear around large bodies of water bigger than his bathtub. The second he saw the pool, he began to cry hard.... real hard. We didn't stay long because he never calmed down and we were not sure what to do to help him. WELL, we have purchased Wild River tickets (our local water-park) and decided to take Jonas tonight. They have a kiddy section and we thought it would be less intimidating for him. WRONG! He cried the second he saw it, but this time we insisted on staying until he calmed down. He eventually did and we let him do whatever he wanted on his own timing. He ended up walking in the water (up to his ankles) and he smiled and squealed while doing so. It took him about 20 minutes to warm up, but he finally enjoyed himself. We hope he ends up liking water, because we both love to swim.

We don't have much planned for the weekend, but if we go back to Wild River, I will try to take the cam and get some pics. Jonas is really cute in his outfit. Thank you Grandmother Doreen for the swimmie suit. We think he looks rad in it! This was taken right before we left.

My friends

This is Gramm & me. He and his mom, Mrs. Holly, came over to our house Wednesday to play with us. Gramm & I had lots of fun running around the house and squealing at one another. Gramm loves to give hugs, but I wasn't sure what to think. I can be really shy at times. Gramm is 6mths older than me, but we play great together.




This is another friend named Eli. His mom is Mrs. Amy, and she is about to have another baby... it's going to be a girl, Lucy. They came over the same day after Gramm left and we played outside. We enjoyed splashing around with the water table and walking around my backyard. Eli is a month older than me. We both are laid back guys!

Who we are named after.....

Here is the guy that Jonas is named after. This is Lewie Clark and we used his last name as Jonas's middle name. Lewie discipled Jason when we first moved to LR. Lewie now resides in Chicago.



Meet Elizabeth. She is one of my best friends from college (see previous post) ... and Reese's middle name is Elizabeth. Jason and I like naming our children after dear friends of ours, and I wanted you to see the folks that have influenced us.
p.s. Jonas is not biblical... it came from a rock song by the band Weezer (jason's fav band)!

Best Friends

Of course I have many great girlfriends, but these women here ROCK my world and give a whole 'nother meaning to my soul when it comes to friendship. Sarah, Sharon, and Elizabeth are friends that I met in college and then lived together for a while. We have gone our seperate ways, but are still very close at heart. Elizabeth is a missionary and will be traveling the next year leaving June 5. Sharon works as a college minister and Sarah is a third grade teacher. My buddies drove 6hrs and surprised me this week for a quick visit before Elizabeth leaves the country. Jason knew about it and kept it a secret. THANK YOU friends for coming to see me. I love you all very much and one day we will live out our dream....together.

(Sharon, top. E, middle. Sarah, bottom)

All about the cheese!

Reese has started smiling and will smile real big when you talk in motherese in a loud voice. Here she is just a cheesin'! The pics are fuzzy because she was wiggling away at the same time. She seems to smile most in the mornings, but I captured these late at night right before her colic-cry started.

My friend and me

My new friend is Gramm. He came over and played 2 nights this weekend and we had so much fun. Gramm is 6mths older than me and we play very well together. His mommy and my mommy are good friends too. Here we are washing all our boy germs away in the tub!

kisses....

I had asked Jonas to give Reese a kiss and he bent down and did! It was super cute! Even though it looks like she didn't like it, she really did.... she told me so! :)

Does it look like I have it together?

I wanted to blog for a bit on the troubles of being at home, having 2 kids, and also the JOY of both as well. I know for myself it might look like we have it together by the pics on our blog and all the sweet smiles, and for the most part, we have pretty easy days. There are some down moments that I wanted to share because I know other moms experience this too. For one, let's talk about this past Sunday. Reese was just having one of those crying-fit days where nothing consoled her. Jason put a new ceiling fan in our bedroom that took a couple of hours and then helped my parents do the same thing in their home. He was out of pocket all afternoon and I was responsible for the kids. Reese cried on and off all day until 5p hit. Then she started crying and would not stop. No kidding, that girl cried until 11p. I was so exhausted and worn out (and so was she) that she slept until 6a Monday morning... and that was nice :) We did go over to my mom's around 9 while she rocked Reese and we ate dinner. Reese did stop crying for about 15 min. She does like lying on her Su-Su.
Last night, we met with some other good ole folks to talk about issues we face as christians and we do this over dinner and then a discussion. It is something Jason and I have been looking for, for a very long time. We think we have found a group that we LOVE and totally enjoy going to. We took both kids to the group and it ended up being more than we could handle. Jonas & Reese did great the first hour while we were eating, but when it came time to talk, it was another story. It was also past J's bedtime and R had started her midnight-cry, so we felt stuck in what to do besides get our stuff and head to the house. And that is what we did. It was soooo disappointing having to leave our newly founded friends and christian fellowship that we desire, but at this time, we have to put our kids' needs in front of our own.
The JOY of my sweet, dear children.

• You are reminded constantly of the love Jesus has for you just by how much you love your own little ones. Amazing! Thank you Jesus for this reminder.... I know it doesn't compare to all the love you have for us.
• My children are normally functioning with no disabilities. Our home stays a wreck with scattered toys all over the floor, but we are all very healthy.
• Jonas talks (babbles) once you put him in his crib for bedtime and it's a very sweet sound to listen to. He also dances to his night-time tunes and I love seeing his head move to the beat.
• Reese brings me peace as I watch her sleep because she does look so peaceful and at ease. Babies are precious and they are only in this stage for a short time. After she cries for a while and then falls asleep, it allows you to relax and reflect on just how much you really do love her. And that through our trials and frustrations, God continues to love us and guide us too.
• Taking Jonas to daycare is bitter-sweet. I enjoy the down-time with Reese, but miss his voice and pitter-patter feet.

I could go on & on, but children are surely a gift from the Lord and teach us to be stronger too. It seems that I have been in constant prayer the past few weeks whether Reese's eye issue(which was nothing), Jonas's whining and asking for patience, Reese's crying and wondering what causes it and asking God for strength, or asking God for endurance to sustain the duties that lie before me for the day.

Eye update

Everything is NORMAL!!!! Yeah!! The doctor noticed immediately that one eye was "more prominent" than the other and after looking at Reese's eyes closely, he says they are fine. He will see us back in one year. The doc even said that I had a more prominent eye than the other. I have never noticed that! Thank you for thinking of us through this small process.