For the Record

Musings: There are times when I think how I seriously can't wait until retirement age! I picture that peace and quiet in my times of frustration, being overwhelmed, feeling inadequate, being DOG TIRED, never having an organized or clean house and think, "ah, someday!" Then other moments I think how I am loving being a mother so so so much, how I want to squeeze mister Lincoln and not let him grow another inch or not allow miss Reagan to be any more grown up than she already is. Mornings/afternoons of sheer joy, outings that are such a blast, walks, bike rides, play dates, when my heart is so full, when you look at your and kids and am in awe that, "they are mine!" Oh the bipolar-ness of parenthood! The ups and downs, that's how life is isn't it, day to day, hour to hour! Regardless, my kids are growing up so fast, it's crazy!!!

Reagan starts preschool next month. I know it's just preschool but I can't help but think, "Are my days with having her all day already over!" I am so so so grateful I get to be a stay at home mom and get so many moments with my kids. Yes, I already said it and people say it all the time but it's finally hitting me, they grow up so fast!

Here are some memories/personality traits I want to record. Warning: this post is ridiculously long, has taken me way too long a time to write, and I fear, extremely boring, so... it is what is.

Reagan loves to be involved. She will be surprisingly patient through seemingly boring things simply(like demanding to go to the State Republican Convention and sitting through all 7 hours) because she loves to be doing what you are doing, going where you are going, and treated as an equal. She loves to help. She loves to feel important and needed, and that she is making a contribution.
She loves to bake and cook with you.
Reagan loves to get ready with you. If you come visit us, you better believe she will be at your side while you do your hair/make-up asking to do each step along with you. She loves playing with my hair supplies. Her newest game is doing mommy's hair. I'll sit down and she'll brush, "curl," and "straighten" my hair. She'll say things like, "Oh, is that too hot? I'm sorry."

She isn't one to readily warm up to you. She sort of tests you and feels you out. If deemed respectable, she is 100% loyal. She values relationships more than almost anyone I know. When she loves you, she is endeared to you. She is constantly thanking Heavenly Father for her family. She remembers people! If you give Reagan a present, she is grateful and always remembers that present is from YOU. She remembers special things she does with people such as outings, dates, vacations. Her memory is shocking!

She is into knowing people. Whenever I go out she asks who was there. I'll name I few people and she'll inquire, "Who else?" And continue to ask, "Who else," until I rack my brain of everyone present. She'll place people by saying, "The one who made you that hat?" or other connections like that until she's sure she's got it. She always asks who's at Young Women's and who's in which class. I think she'll be one of those girls who studies the year book.

One of her favorite things is having breakfast with daddy (it's a special thing since he often has to leave for work before breakfast time). She really values the being together. When we are all together she waves her hand around in the air, motioning to all of us and says, "This is a family."
Reagan has a keen sense of smell, odd, but it's true. Reagan LOVES wearing perfume. If I ever put some on without her around (which I intentionally do), the second I walk into the room she says, "I want some!" She has always had a great sense of smell and can place it. I had a bottle of nail polish remover that was leaking and when she smelt the aroma from it (without seeing where it was coming from) she said, "It smells like permanent." (meaning a permanent marker, so true!) I wish I could think of more examples like this but she tells me what places smell like all the time and she's always right on. I can't help but thinking how clever it is. She often tells daddy how good he smells when leaving for work or after shaving. She appreciates that :)

Reagan is perceptive! She knows every one of my outfits and accessories. If I pull out something new (like old pregnancy clothes that she hasn't seen before) she immediately asks, "Where did you get that?" I bought a pair of small pink earrings with Will on our vacation to Hilton Head. As soon as I returned she inquired about this new piece of jewelry that was adorning my ears. And when my sister Cara took me to get a pedi while Reagan was with my other sister Melissa, Reagan admiringly asked, "When did you get your pink toes?!" There is a collage frame in our guest bathroom and one day Reagan comes out and shockingly asked, "How come there is two pictures of Lincoln as a baby and only one of me?" Then pulling me in, continues to tell me the pictures she doesn't like (one of her with a slightly weird face) and tells me the baby one of Lincoln I can replace, lol. She is perceptive with names, places, details, directions, you name it. I find it particularly amazing because this is a talent I do not have, so I'm continually awed by it.

Reagan just wants to be with us. If she is eating a snack at the table, she wants nothing more than for you to sit with her. She just wants to be close to us. She will stretch out anything to get me to stay a little bit longer in her room at bedtime which is when all of my energy and patience is gone for the day. I often lose it and snap but if I look at the root of why she's acting out/pushing the limits, it really is sweet. I get frustrated when I really need some alone time (particularly during Lincoln's nap) but then again when I think about why she is whining or misbehaving it's because she simply needs our attention (I personally think she needs more than most). Reagan has never been the child to just go off and play and come up with her own games, she seeks companionship. I'm really grateful Lincoln is around now because they play so well together (for the most part :) ). It is good for me to understand this about Reagan. I can't help but think if she doesn't get the attention from me and Will that she needs, she'll seek it elsewhere as she grows older. I need to really work on building our relationship and giving her the time and attention she needs, to talk and be together so we have that foundation and relationship.

Reagan is into music. She tells me which songs she does or doesn't want to listen on the radio. She is totally into the latest pop hits. She'll request songs for me to find on my computer and especially likes listening to them with her "i phones," (ear phones), lol. She loves to try to sing along with them. She loves to sing, she is my companion each week going to ward choir and then will come home and play choir on her toy piano.

My girl, doing her pose :)

Reagan is property conscious. I mentioned to Will how good Reagan is at always cleaning up her toys when we play outside. She never leaves a shovel, a scooter, a ball, anything outside, she always puts them back in the garage. When I told Will how good she is at putting things away he said, "It's not cause she's wanting to clean up, it's cause she doesn't want anyone taking her stuff." Their minds think alike! Reagan had her goggles sitting next to her at the pool. A little girl came and picked them up and was about to swim away with them when Reagan said, "Those are mine!" I hadn't even noticed in the slightest, but not Reagan, she's on top of things. Reagan got some money for her birthday. She LOVED having her own money. She's quite good at saving. However, she wasn't quite satisfied with the ten dollar bill. When I broke it at the store and showed her she now had 10 single dollar bills she was ecstatic. This reminds me of a story of Will when he was given a dollar at the candy store to buy whatever he wanted and he chose toostie rolls. Not because he loved them but because they were penny candies and he could have 100 of them! He then saved them for years. I go through my things, Will would keep his Halloween candy form Halloween to Halloween. He would get mad when I would eat something of his because like Reagan, he's property conscious. He wasn't mad I ate it, he was mad I ate something that was his. I'm not property conscious to say it nicely, or I need to respect others property, because I just think what's in the house is ours. It will do me well to learn this lesson living with Reagan and Will, lol.

Reagan LOVES babies. She cannot wait until baby McKinley comes. We had this cute little girl over to babysit and I kid you not Reagan and Lincoln stared at her in her car seat for first twenty minutes completely entertained. She wants to get them dressed, to change their diapers, to feed them snacks, to have them sit on her lap. She is going to love having a new baby around.

As I've alluded to and as I look back at all these things I have written about Reagan I see so many of these character traits in Will. He loves to be involved and doing things with people (he gets his energy from being with people, a true extrovert) while me on the other hand is an introvert(oh yes, I love people and being social but if I don't have that me time first, to rejuvenate and organize myself, I can't be), doesn't immediately/naturally like everyone but a REALLY loyal and true friend. Will is PERCEPTIVE! Perceptive in taste , smell, places, details, and has a memory that I cannot believe. He appreciates fine food, recognizing subtle tastes and differences. If I do something remotely different to a recipe, it's the first thing Will says when he takes a bite! Just like you can't get a thing by Reagan. My sister Melissa said she tried to put the tinest bit of medicine in Reagan's juice and Reagan immediately picked up on it! (me? I'm a can't tell coke vs pepsi kinda girl) Will and Reagan also have really similar sense of humors. They are both quick and witty and a little mean.

So Miss Little Reagan, you sure aren't very much like me. It's caused some clashes and hardships in raising you but you sure are a sweet darling girl that I love so much!

Lincoln is a content happy boy. Although he is going through a really whinny stage right now. It may have something to do with his hearing. Hopefully, Lincoln will be getting tubes in his ears. He has so much fluid in his ears all the time it is effecting his hearing and therefore his speech. This boy doesn't say a word. It's pretty frustrating to all of us. I'm trying to get this taken care of before the baby comes, so in the next month! It's sort of been a stressful process up to this point going to so many doctors and specialist, hopefully it will get sorted out soon. I'm hoping he'll get his tonsils and adenoids taken out as well since Lincoln has been congested from day one and it has often but a subject of my concern. I'll keep you posted.

He loves to rough house with his daddy. They growl the fiercest growls at each other and I die laughing. This often happens at the dinner table, what manners! But I think it's hysterical. They twist their head around, clench their teeth, breath and spit, it's shameless, yet fantastic. It scares the living daylights out of Reagan, don't try rough housing this girl, she is so not into it.

The kids are always so excited when dad comes home. One day at their cheery welcome Will happily did a little jig on the wood floor, Lincoln did that jig right back. So another happy feet dance was showcased from Will and Lincoln did the seemingly same dance back. I think this boy can move, what what! People always say he's got a little black in him, lol.

Will was sitting on the couch watchin' some ball, his feet up on the ottoman. Lincoln waddles over, climbs up on the couch and stretches his short little legs as far as they could go. Wanted to be just like his daddy :)

Whenever I'm beating chicken you can be assured Lincoln will run to fetch his hammer, climb up to the counter and beat right along with me :)
You can also be assured that on each Tuesday when the lawn mowers come around Lincoln will go fetch his lawn mower and run back and forth through the house with it. If you have ever been around a toy-popping lawn mower you can imagine how LOUD and joyous this process is. Lately, the house hasn't been good enough for him, he wants to take it outside. I'm pretty strict about our inside vs outside toys, and the lawn mower has thus far been an inside toy. The other week I realized I couldn't find Lincoln. Reagan and I ran outside to find him pushing his lawn mower right behind the real lawn mower! The worried worker was pretty happy when I rescued my son who was willing to trek the whole neighborhood with him.

There was a streak there where Lincoln was going poop in the potty. I take full responsibility on dropping the ball there because now he's not into, and I didn't take advantage potty training him when he was excited about it!!!! But when he was doing it, it was so cute. Reagan was his little cheerleader. She would stand next to the potty, clapping her hands and yelling, "Yea!!" Got to get us back there.

This is Lincoln's truck. He rides it everywhere. Reagan has the little tikes car, he has the truck. They cruise around the up stairs together enthralled in their games, so fun.

Watching you in the pool the other day, I couldn't help but think how you reminded me of an alligator. The pool was shallow enough you were laying on your stomach walking with your hands. Your body was swishing back and forth trailing after you. This is a good comparison of how you've always moved/been. You seem slow and content but when you want something, SNAP, you're there in a flash of a light. You're calm and collected but if something puts you off you can inflict a bite that could make grown men cry. Your reflexes are amazing. I already see you as a football player. You dash around Reagan, twisting and turning in style.

Best Buds Cutie-pa-tootie Drinking dad's "ju!" This boy loves his beverages!