The Houston Monsons

Happy Birthday, President Reagan!

2012-02-07T14:49:00.009-06:00

I've been terrible at updating my blog again. I didn't even get around to wishing President Reagan a happy birthday yesterday, which is very unlike me. Instead of writing my own note today, I'm going to steal a post from my brother-in-law, Garrett Hall. He wrote a wonderful, short tribute to Reagan yesterday. I loved his post so much; I felt like his words and feelings were my very own, just what I'd have said from my heart.

So here's Garrett:

http://lawdawghall.blogspot.com/2012/02/ronald-reagan-president-of-my-childhood.html

Illogical Politics

Conservative political commentary. Taking the fight to liberals using Logic & Reason.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Ronald Reagan: President of My Childhood

Ronald Reagan was the President of my childhood. I was still quite young when he was President, but I fondly link him to those early, impressionable days. I didn't understand policy back then, but I could discern between authenticity and phoniness. Reagan passed the test. We had a picture of him in our home and I think I assumed that in some way he was a family member. I still kind of feel that way.

Perhaps my most poignant memory of Reagan was praying for him each night. My family prayed for him and I remember praying for him individually. I continued this practice through Bush I, but stopped in the Clinton years; partly because I was then a cynical teenager and partly because I didn't know if my prayers would matter on him. I admit; not a great attitude and now I encourage my children to pray for Obama and the Country as a whole. If nothing else, it teaches them about agency - one of God's greatest gifts.

My true appreciation for Reagan's policies has developed over the last decade. Most importantly, I relish his belief in the power of the individual! As I read and watch videos of speeches I am touched by his love for this Country and his distain for evil. He was a gentleman, but he wasn't timid. He had fight, but it didn't seem mean or malicious. He had a light-hearted manner that I find remarkable given the things he dealt with.

In the end, Ronald Reagan will always be the President of my childhood. And he will always feel like Grandpa Ronnie to me. I won't ever look for the "next" Ronald Reagan, because I don't believe there are men like him anymore, but I certainly hope there are many men & women who adopt his belief in the individual, his integrity and authenticity.

This is one of my favorite Reagan videos, which shows his great gift of humor:

Christmas Party

2011-12-13T15:35:00.002-06:00

We went to our church's Christmas party the other night and had a blast. Here's some photos taken there. I love Reagan in the Little Orphan Annie wig, even though she wouldn't look at the camera. Also, Ben and I never seem to be able to take a cute picture together so I was thrilled that the below one turned out. I love it and I love my Ben.

Thanksgiving with the Family

2011-12-06T16:14:00.001-06:00

For Thanksgiving this year we were lucky that we got to spend a little time out in UT with both my Dad and Ben's family. Before we headed up to Park City to be with Ben's family for Thanksgiving, we stopped at my Dad's house where Reagan fell in love with Tiger the Dog. Even though she'd gotten up at the crack of dawn, just gotten off a three and a half hour flight, hadn't had anything to eat, and was ready for a nap she never got...Reagan literally ran around for 3+ hours playing with Tiger. She just loved him and he loved her, so much so, that at one point he was almost hyperventilating he was so excited. I'm not sure why I only have pictures of my Dad's dog, and not my dad. I guess it's because he's always the photographer, but he really does exist. We saw him at the end of our trip too when we came back down into SLC. He came and had "tea-time" with me at the Grand America and then we road the train downtown to see the lights on Temple Square. The whole trip was wonderful.

The whole Monson clan, together in Park City for a few long-overdue family photos that include all the new babies.

Look how happy Reagan is in this photo.

And look at all these cute grandkids! What a lucky Nana and Papa.

SLC at Christmas Time

2011-12-06T16:12:00.001-06:00

There are few places more beautiful at Christmas-time than downtown Salt Lake City. After being up in Park City for a week for Thanksgiving, we went down into SLC and stayed a night at the magnificent Grand America Hotel before we flew home. It was such a special holiday treat for our family, and so wonderful to see all the lights downtown and all the decorations. Even though we're not from Salt Lake, we've spent enough time there that visiting always feels a little like going home.

FINALLY-New Family Pics

2011-12-06T15:58:00.002-06:00

Reagan was a newborn the last time we had family pics taken...so finally, three years later, we have some updated photos!

Costa Rica - Monteverde

2011-11-18T00:43:00.008-06:00

Our second to last stop in Costa Rica was in Monteverde. We went there to see the cloud forests and to walk the famous hanging bridges. (And no, I wasn't on vacation by myself. Ben just happens to be taking all these pictures with his camera that is his baby.)

One of my favorite parts of Monteverde was the hummingbirds. I've never seen them up close like this before, and never in the number and variety that were there. I could literally reach out and touch one. They're amazing little creatures to watch.

This was our last, spectacular view of Monteverde as we were leaving. You can see all the way to the ocean in this picture.

I can't say enough good about Costa Rica. It was like being in some hidden, wonderful, Shangri-La. I'd go back in a second and I can understand now why I see all these Americans on House Hunters International buying homes there. And also, because I'm a true Monson now, I just have to say that the food was delicious. I'd give anything for some patacones, a casado, or a strawberry jugo natural right now.

Costa Rica - Hot Springs

2011-11-18T00:19:00.000-06:00

We also went to the hot springs TWICE in La Fortuna! The water is heated by the volcano, which is amazing, and also kind of scary when you're sitting in it...

Costa Rica - Arenal Volcano

2011-11-18T00:18:00.010-06:00

One of the most incredible things we saw in Costa Rica was the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna. (La Fortuna was the second of our base camps for a few days.) Driving to La Fortuna from Tamarindo, we came around a bend in the winding road...and there this was!

My first real volcano. Stunning. Amazing. Unreal.

And below was what we got to wake up to every morning. This was the view from our hotel room window in La Fortuna. There was smoke coming out of the top of the volcano every day!

Heaven heaven heaven.

Costa Rica - The Flowers

2011-11-18T00:13:00.003-06:00

One of our hotels in Costa Rica had a nature walk. We were so stunned by all the different flowers we saw that we took a picture of every single one! These are just a few of my favorites. And let me just say, this is what I imagine heaven being like: flowers and waterfalls. Everywhere.

Costa Rica - More Majestic Waterfalls

2011-11-18T00:07:00.003-06:00

There I am, to the right of the waterfall.

Costa Rica - The Waterfalls

2011-11-17T23:56:00.003-06:00

My favorite thing about Costa Rica was the waterfalls--there's just something magical about them. We were the only people at this one, in the middle of a jungle, totally secluded.

Costa Rica - The Beaches

2011-11-17T23:43:00.005-06:00

At the end of August, right before Ben started his new job, we went to Costa Rica!

It was our first trip alone without Reagan, and our first trip overseas since we came back from living in Spain almost four years ago. I was a total wreck the first day, thinking about Reagan, worrying about her. But Costa Rica is as close to the Garden of Eden/paradise as you can get--and after that initial first day apart, I was totally charmed by this magnificent country and couldn't get enough of it.

We started our trip in Tamarindo, which was our first base for a couple of days. We visited four or five different beaches while there, getting a feel for how different they all were even though they were so close together. The one below had sand that was made of smooth, crushed shells. It reminded me a lot of Hawaii.

I'm busy picking up the crushed shells here.

This beach had a totally different feel, more like something in New England with the rocks (which you can't see), the cove, and the storm brewing in the background.

The Thing

2011-11-17T23:14:00.002-06:00

One day while my Dad was here visiting a few weeks ago, we went downtown to a park to feed the ducks. We were having a great time until...

...this THING came crawling out of the water trying to get us and our food! I've NEVER seen anything like it. I screamed and Reagan ran away saying, "That's a scary one!" We packed up and went to a different place around the corner to try to feed the ducks in peace again, but the THING jumped back into the water and swam after us! (So we gave up.) They say everything is bigger in Texas...but really, Rodents of Unusual Size in our parks??

The Farm

2011-11-17T22:55:00.007-06:00

We went to a farm outside of Houston the weekend before Halloween. My dad was in town for a visit and took a few photos for us with his new camera he was trying out. We had a great time; Reagan could have stayed all day if we'd let her. She loved every minute of it.

The part I thought was the funniest was when we finally went out to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkin (which was the whole point of the venture in the first place). I'd been waiting ALL DAY to do it. So we get out there and Reagan immediately runs over to the covered wagon/bus-thing to leave the patch. She wanted nothing to do with pumpkins. So I told her we couldn't leave until she got a pumpkin so she turned right around, grabbed the biggest, heaviest, pumpkin sitting closest to her feet, and then climbed all the way up into the wagon, carrying the pumpkin by herself. And then she just sat down with it on her lap and waited to leave. She is one strong, determined little girl.

Trying to figure out the rubber ducky water game.

Playing with Daddy the Favorite in the "corn" box.

No caption necessary.

Grabbing her pumpkin so she can make her getaway.

Riding around on a ridiculous cow train that kicked up clouds and clouds of dust.

Halloween

2011-11-17T22:41:00.012-06:00

Our last two Halloweens have been all about the costumes for Reagan, since she didn't really get what was going on. It was just fun for us, as parents, to put her in ridiculous animal costumes and then take adorable pictures. We got two classic, magazine-worthy pictures of her face in her costumes (duck then cow) the last two years.

No such luck this year with the pictures, but really, Halloween at 3 is all about the candy anyway, right? Reagan loved trick or treating. She kept saying, "One more time trick or treat?" after every house. And ever since then she's been telling me almost every day that she wants to "trick or treat again."

Smart girl. And cute bee.

PS: I forgot to say that Reagan's favorite part of her costume was not her wand or her bee antennas...nothing interesting like that, but her black tights (that you can't see). For some reason, she just loved them. We went trick or treating twice (in the neighborhood and at church), and both times as she was getting ready, Reagan came running to me with just her tights on saying (as she jumped up and down), "Look, my socks my socks!"

Reagan at 3

2011-10-19T11:45:00.009-05:00

I want to one day look back on these posts and remember Reagan the way she was at this time, when she was 1, or 2, or 3. Ben said to me the other day that it's sad that he can't really remember her when she was littler. As parents, we just feel like the age they're at now is how they've always been (and will be). And then you find yourself a year down the road and you can't remember when they didn't talk or walk or pretend all the time.

So before I forget, here are a few things I love about Reagan right now,at age 3, that I want to always be reminded of, even when she's 30.

1 I love how tenderhearted she is. She is so good at responding to feelings. A few weeks ago I was crying about something and she came up to where I was lying down, put her arms around me and just kept saying, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay." She was stroking my head while she said this and kissing my face. Then she ran off and got a wet wipe and started to wipe off my tears. In that moment I just felt so lucky to be her mother. She has such a kind and special spirit in her little body. Kind of along the same lines is how she identifies her own feelings right now. Nothing melts my heart like having her look up at me and say, "You're making Reagan sad, Mommy."

2 I love how her imagination is exploding right now. I admire the way she can play for hours pretending she's someone else (see below post), how she can make play food taste good and little scooters becomes cars, etc. I just love seeing her pretend, seeing how creative she is.

3 I love how she has just recently begun saying with such feeling and with no prompting, "I WUV you, Mommy!" There is just something magical about her coming up to you and having her say she loves you for no reason at all. She says the same to Ben, usually at church in the middle of the sacrament prayer or something. Last Sunday she climbed up on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and yelled, "I WUV you, Daddy! So so much!" Then she kissed him all over his face and hugged him tight. The people behind us started laughing because she was so loud at a very quiet time during the service. When Ben leaves her room at night before she goes to sleep they say back and forth a hundred times, "No I love you! No I love you!"

4 I love how she sings songs all the time now. The other day I was in the kitchen doing something and she was in the living room playing by herself. All the sudden, I heard this little voice singing, "Heavenly Fadder, are you weally there, and do you hear and answer every child's pwarer?" It brought little tears into my eyes. She loves songs about Jesus and Heavenly Father. Another favorite is "I am a Child of God."

Reagan hears songs you don't know she's even listening to and then sings them back at unexpected times. Yesterday she started into a rendition of "Doe, a deer, a female deer. Way, a drop of golden sun..." It's just so cute.

5 I love some of the ridiculous, funny things she says at random, unexpected times. This morning I put a bagel and raspberries down in front of her for breakfast, and she took her hands, slapped them up to her cheeks in an expression of great surprise and said, "Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!"

I'm sure I'll remember some more later today but those five things are a few of my favorites right now.

Dora

2011-10-19T11:12:00.005-05:00

For the past few months Reagan has been completely obsessed with Dora the Explorer. I don't know exactly how she was first introduced to her since we didn't watch Dora on TV here at home. Despite that, Dora has become like a sister to Reagan. When we sing the "Here we are together.." primary family song, Reagan often insists on adding in Dora, Map, Boots, and most important, Swiper. She spends hours every day making Ben and I pretend we're the various characters from Dora, and even has a little backpack she puts on and then she follows me around the house asking, "Where we go next, Mommy?" Then she says, "To play park to find Boot's cuddly dinosaur? To Grandpa's House? To the Tall Tall Grass? To the Forest of Prickers and Thorns?" (You have to watch Dora to get all these references.) Or she pretends there's a volcano that's about to explode and you have to run away from it before it goes "boom!" We play this little game about 100 times in a row.

In the park the other day she went up to a family that was not speaking English, and NOT speaking Spanish, by the way, and said, "Hola!" Ben handed her something a few days ago and she said, "Gracias!" It's so funny to hear her acting out things she's learned from Dora.

Another part of the obsession that's both funny and annoying at times is when she pretends she's Swiper and "swipes" your "stuff." It's funny when it's your book and she grabs it and throws it while saying, "You're TOO LATE! You'll never find your book now! Hah hah hah!" It's NOT funny when you're in the grocery store and she picks up some beautiful apples from a display or a bunch of loose mushrooms from a bin or a few cans and throws them down the aisle yelling the same thing. Then I look like a child abuser dragging her off under my arm while she kicks and screams.

See the below pics. The first is Reagan in just her diaper (her favorite outfit) and "yee-haw" hat with her Dora backpack and shoes on, ready to "explore." The second is Reagan with her princess gloves on that have morphed into "Swiper's gloves."

I'm just going to say it again: she's obsessed.

Tinkerbell

2011-10-12T08:10:00.003-05:00

I forget sometimes that little kids never get to see themselves in mirrors because they're always hung too high. I took one down from the wall to let Reagan see herself in her new Tinkerbell outfit. Just look at her face.

True Love

2011-10-11T09:48:00.001-05:00

I can't find the right words in the English language to really describe just how much Ben and I love this little angelic girl that came into our lives three years ago yesterday. What a miracle from our Father in Heaven she is. Neither of us had ever felt the deepest love you can feel until Reagan was handed over to us in the hospital. We love this child so so much and feel so blessed to be her parents. I think her special, loving, gentle spirit was hand-picked for our home. She is the sunshine in our lives; her birth was the best present we've ever been given.

Happy Birthday, Reagan!

2011-10-11T09:38:00.001-05:00

3!!!

Housing: For Better or For Worse

2011-10-11T08:24:00.006-05:00

Hello, again. I lost interest in blogging for a while, but last night I was reading my sister-in-law's blog and she mentioned that her blog was a chronicle of her family's life and it reminded me that that's what I've always intended for this blog as well. I've always wanted to turn it into a book so that I have a journal of what's happened to us. I continually compose all these great posts in my head and then never record them...so I want to change that.

I was thinking about housing last night and this morning for several reasons. Ben and I have had some interesting and varied housing situations since we married over four years ago. We've lived A LOT of places and all of them have had big plusses and minuses. From DC after our wedding, we moved to the tiniest apartment I've ever seen in Madrid, Spain. Great location, but smaller than a walk-in-closet.

At that point in our nomadic existence I got pregnant and we went home to the U.S. and lived with Ben's parents for a month or so and then my dad for a few weeks until Ben started his job in Cleveland, OH. Once in Cleveland, we stayed in my sister-in-law's apartment while they were gone for the summer while we looked for a house. When Ben's sister's family returned we went to a rented house for a week before we got kicked out since the landlords wanted to rent to someone more "long-term." From there we went to a friend's house for another few weeks while they were out of town. Then to Motel 6 for over a week while we closed on our house.

And then we moved into our little house in Shaker Heights that we spent a year-and-a-half renovating since we bought it as a rundown foreclosure. We had a lot of unforgettable experiences in that house. The absolute worst has to be when I was days away from delivering Reagan and we had a toilet clog. What I thought would be a simple repair turned out to be a plumber opening up a sewer pipe in the basement, which then sprayed raw sewage everywhere...and then he left. Left me with a mess all over the basement that I had to clean up on my hands and knees with a bottle of bleach. Did I mention I was full-term and picking up clumps of feces with my bare hands while singeing my lungs with straight bleach?

But then in that house so many wonderful things also happened (that far outweigh all the bad) that will forever make it special to me. We had Reagan while living there and brought her home to her little pink bedroom. She learned to walk and started talking there. We loved that house so much that I still have to be careful when I look at friends' blogs who know the people who bought it. I can't let myself accidentally stumble upon pictures of the new family in our house because it hurts too much, to see that it's really not ours any more and that it's been changed, that it's being filled with another family's memories.

So all that brings me to present day and Houston, TX. We left Cleveland and moved into a one-bedroom apartment here. For part of that time the apartment was totally empty save a mattress on the floor and Reagan's pack and play in the closet. It's funny that I honestly kind of miss those days of roughing it. At night when we'd turn out the lights in our empty little home, I'd fall asleep with Ben next to me and Reagan in the closest a few feet from my head, and I knew that everyone was safe and healthy and that all I'd really ever need in life was right there close to me, all in the same room, protected. That time in that little empty apartment actually brought us closer together as a family.

Now we live in a house we're renting not too far from that last apartment. If I'm counting correctly, this is place #11 in four years. We've loved and also not loved this house for many reasons. It's location can't be beat--I love living in the city and being able to walk to parks, the grocery store, ice-cream, etc. And I think our rent is a great deal considering where it is and what comparative places go for. I also think it's been nicely fixed up in some ways. But the one thing that I absolutely cannot abide is the cockroach problem this house has. It's gotten worse the longer we've been here. And I'm not talking about the little ones, I'm talking about the big flying ones with moving antennae. Everyone has something in life that they're deathly afraid of, and my greatest fear is of cockroaches. I think our time in this house is coming to a close specifically because I can't deal with the cockroaches anymore.

I thought the camel's back had been broken when I stepped on a huge cockroach (barefoot) in the pitch black hallway one night, and thought it was one of Reagan's toys until I turned on the light and saw its legs up in the air with part of its guts on the bottom of my foot. I think I used a can of bleach wipes that night on my foot alone. And then I thought for sure it was the last straw when I found one IN MY FRIDGE. Right next to my bread. I had to throw out half the contents of the fridge that night to make myself feel better. And again, I used a ridiculous amount of bleach wipes to sanitize everything it could have possibly touched. Then when I was making Reagan's birthday cake this weekend, in the middle of the day, one ran across the counter where I was cooking. I freaked out and had to kill it while protecting all the food. (If you came to her party and ate that cake, I swear it was clean.)

And then last night....on Reagan's actual birthday...the camel's back really did break, the last straw was actually drawn. After I'd spent an hour+ making homemade meat sauce and spaghetti for her...I served her up a plate and went back to the counter to do something. When I got back to the table I noticed she was already almost done. I went to serve myself some, only to discover parts of a flying cockroach IN THE SPAGHETTI NOODLES. Somehow when I was cooking it, one got into the food. I don't know how, especially since I have laser eyes for roaches, I can spot them a mile away. I almost threw up right then and there. Ben wasn't home to help me. I screamed and tried to pry Reagan's plate away from her but she threw a fit and had already eaten most of it anyway, so I just started having a breakdown and let her be once I realized I couldn't rip her fingers off the plate (that she had the death grip on) without it flying across the room. Yes, I let her finish it. I was so upset I dumped all the other noodles in the trash immediately, went to look at the meat sauce and found the other remnants of the roach around the burner where I'd cooked it. So that went right down the garbage disposable. I had also baked a dozen muffins that were sitting on the counter during all of this. Reagan had also eaten one of them already. I wanted to throw them out too but when Ben came home he forbade me.

So last night I couldn't sleep thinking about Reagan and what she might have consumed (on her birthday. Did I mention that part already?) . I was worried she'd start throwing up or develop some horrible disease. Once I fell asleep I woke up screaming several times during the night, dreaming that I found roach parts in various places.

So...in short, I think our time in this house may be up. I just can't handle not knowing when the next attack will come.

I anxiously await our next housing adventure, to see what it brings us.

Happy 100th, President Reagan

2011-02-01T16:11:00.006-06:00

Today as I was walking into Target, this magazine cover caught my eye:

I don't know why seeing this picture and just holding the magazine in my hands brought tears to my eyes, but it did. I'm sure I looked crazy standing there, but I felt moved by the picture on the cover and so proud that the smiling little happy two-year-old sitting in my shopping cart had the honor of being named for this great man and leader. I hope she always remembers, as she gets older, the value and meaning behind her precious name.

TX BYU Plates

2011-02-01T16:05:00.002-06:00

We're loving living here in Texas for a multitude of reasons, the latest being that Texas is about to become the FIRST state outside of Utah to offer BYU license plates! Ben is especially thrilled with the recent announcement, and though he's never in his life been a supporter of "vanity" license plates, he'll be the first person here to get one of the new plates, I'm sure.

Go Cougars

2011-02-01T15:49:00.004-06:00

Reagan's obsessed with her toy cougar these days, and it all started with her Daddy teaching her the BYU Cougar fight song one night at dinner. She sleeps with her cougar, then carries it around the house all day, being such a good little mommy to it. One of her most important duties with "Cougar" is making sure he gets fed breakfast every morning. She usually insists that he eat before she does, and just in case he didn't get full from his portion, she makes sure he gets some of her breakfast too.

Reagan also loves to wash Cougar's hands all the time, since her own mother makes her do that compulsively. Ben walked into the bathroom the other day to find Reagan standing on a stool at the sink, washing Cougar's paws with soap and water.

A Few Favorite December Photos

2010-12-15T21:50:00.004-06:00

Since I never got around to getting a Christmas card out this year (or last year...or the year before that...), here are some recent photos instead of my two favorite people in the world.

Christmas Dress

2010-12-05T13:45:00.002-06:00

Just had to post these cute pics of our little GIRL...no longer a baby. Her Grandpa Stark sent her some money for her birthday and she got this darling Christmas outfit with it. She's now worn it two weeks in a row and will continue to wear it every Sunday in December to get her grandpa's money out of it.

Other Stuff We've Been Up To

2010-12-04T16:18:00.006-06:00

We've been AWOL on the blog again for a while, so just a few quick pics to catch up. Above is us at the Dallas State Fair back in late October. In Dallas not only did we get to visit one of my best friends from college, "Aunt Toni," or "Toby" as Reagan calls her...but we also got to meet the famous Big Tex (see above). At the fair we stumbled upon some truly unique Texas delicacies like battered and fried butter, bacon, and coke. Everything tastes better fried.

A few weeks ago it did actually dip below the mid-seventies, just long enough for us to break in our new fire pit we bought in Cleveland but never lit up till we got here (ironically).

And in the pics above we're at a birthday party for Reagan's best friend, Kate. Reagan simply can't get enough of cute little Kate and it's so fun to see them play together. Every single time we have to say goodbye to Kate, Reagan cries all the way home. The upside is that any time she's misbehaving the only thing I have to do is say, "Do you want to go see Kate? Then put on your shoes now, please...," and Reagan promptly complies.

What DECEMBER in Houston looks like...

2010-12-04T16:02:00.008-06:00

Sat

79° | 48°

Halloween

2010-11-02T21:54:00.005-05:00

LAST YEAR:

THIS YEAR:

TWO!

2010-10-12T19:43:00.012-05:00

Our little baby is no longer a baby--she turned TWO this weekend! I can hardly believe it. I remember when she turned one like it was yesterday, and I can't seem to account for where the last year has gone.

We had such a fun time with our little girl on her birthday. I think it was the best day of her life because we let her do whatever she wanted and have whatever she wanted. AND...she got to open a lot of little presents because her parents raided the dollar store. She didn't care if she just got junk from us (her Nana and Papa got her the good stuff), she just loved all the attention and the fun of pulling a ton of little wrapped gifts out of a trunk. Reagan also loved the cards and money her Aunt Danielle and Uncle Jordan and Great-Grandma Allred sent her, letters that were just for her that she could open all on her own. She carried them around with her all day long.

I have to admit I'm a little sad about Reagan turning two; I just feel like she's growing up way too fast. After she went to bed on Sunday I was actually looking at some pictures of her from when she was born till now, and I couldn't help crying, just thinking how fleeting this precious time with her has been. I want to remember all the things she says and does now that I won't later. I love it that she says "mile" for "smile" and "moody" for "movie" and "happy" and "WOW" and "yeah!" I love how she says "Da-dy," so pronounced, with so much adoration. I love how she literally leaps out of bed in the morning and after her naps, so excited for life and the things we do every day. I love how independent she is, how she's so curious about the world around her, loves to explore every inch of everything. I love her wet little open-mouth kisses and the magical sound of her laugh. I adore her sweet little tender spirit, that pure little heart that is kind and thoughtful to everyone...the one that comes to me always when she sees I'm sad or upset. I love how Reagan says "hi" and waves to every person she passes in stores, how she can make even the most hardened, angry-looking man break into a smile. She has had that affect on people since the day she was born--there really is just something so special about this child.

I should mention a few things Reagan loves right now. She loves: her daddy, movies, ice-cream, dancing, ring-around-the-rosy, nursery at church, animals, my Russian matryoshka dolls, collecting rocks and acorns, organizing (like her mother), balls, "helping" at the grocery store by putting things in the basket and then later handing them to the cashier, pretending to cook, reading "Five Little Monkeys" and "Clifford" books, swimming...and many many other things. That's our girl, she loves everything and everyone.

Thrilled with the money she pulled out of her birthday cards.

Having fun with the outdoor chalk she got for her birthday.

Excited for her cake.

Trying to figure out what the frosting is.

Delighted, as always, with her ice-cream. She takes after her Grandpa Stark in that regard.

Taking a bite out of her "2" candle to see if it tastes as good as the ice-cream.

Horse Trauma

2010-10-12T17:31:00.010-05:00

Don't let this picture fool you, it's not as happy as it looks.

We had a tragic run-in with a horse the other day. Rather, Reagan did. We took her to this only-in-Texas restaurant--one that had a huge barnyard adjacent to the outdoor eating area so the kids could run around and play, pet the animals, etc., while they waited for food or for when they were done eating. BUT...we never got to the eating part because right after this picture was taken, the horse practically bit off Reagan's finger! It was horrible.

Reagan innocently stuck her whole hand into the horse's mouth with some feed in her palm, and I wasn't watching paying close attention to what was happening because I was wrapped up in making sure Ben captured the first-time experience with our camera. In the meantime, the horse bit down on Reagan's little hand. When I realized what was happening I screamed and yanked her hand out of his mouth. Her middle finger had a huge chunk out of it and was bleeding everywhere and was already turning black and blue (as were her fingers on either side of it.) We almost took her to the emergency room, but after determining it wasn't broken, we decided to just go home, clean her up, and put her to bed since it was pretty late at that point. Anyway, it was a horrible experience and I hope Reagan isn't scared of horses now forever. We had all these animal-themed activities planned for her birthday weekend and we canceled them all because we were worried she'd be too traumatized to want to see any animals. Her finger's been looking pretty bad, but it seems to be healing okay so we're thankful for that.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2010-10-12T17:22:00.007-05:00

I love these two pics right next to each other. Ben took the one of Reagan on the bottom a few days ago. The one on the top is of me taken about thirty years ago! Crazy. I just loved how we were both in our hobo overalls, not caring at all how we looked, as happy as can be. It's hard for me to believe that one day Reagan will probably have a picture of her little girl, looking just like us. Life passes way too fast with your sweet little babies.

The Little Indian Princess

2010-10-12T17:04:00.004-05:00

We finally got our camera back from our storage boxes that have been holding it hostage for the last six months. I realized in a panic a few days ago that a full fourth of Reagan's life went undocumented during that time! I've started to make Ben take some pics again, as the opportunities arise, to make up for the lost months; Reagan's changed so much over the last half year. I love this pic above. My brother brought back the fancy necklace from India for Reagan right after she was born. (She's just now old enough to play with it. ) As a side note, I discovered as we were taking this picture that Reagan's learned how to pose for the camera and to repeat "smile," though it sounds more like "mile" when she says it. She and all the things she's saying right now are so cute.

What We're Up To

2010-08-30T15:25:00.013-05:00

I made a goal to post once a week on here, but then didn't do it last week--so here's our catch-up post on the latest.

A few weekends ago we went down to Galveston to celebrate (a little late) Ben's birthday. On Priceline, Ben was able to book us a room for two nights at the phenomenal, historic Hotel Galvez...for the same price as staying at the cheapest motel on the island! The hotel was amazing, one of the best parts of the trip. It was right across from the beach, and we felt so ritzy staying there, though it was clear that we didn't exactly fit in as we marched through the marble lobby (where a man in a tux was playing a baby grand piano), with our armloads of duffel bags, beach toys, a pack-and-play, blankets, portable high chair thing, etc., etc. Reagan's favorite part of the hotel (and of the trip, I think), was the elevator. Every time we'd go to get in it she'd hop up and down and squeal with delight, dancing around. Then she'd run into the elevator when the doors opened, pointing and squeaking in her little high voice, "Elevator! Elevator!" (But Reagan can't say the whole word, so it comes out so cute, something like, "Elelalala.")

The pool was our most favorite part of the hotel. It had this little swim-up bar thing that Reagan mistook for a kiddy area, because it was shallower there and she could almost stand up. Even though there was a big sign posted that said, "No one under 21 allowed in the bar area," we made ourselves right at home anyway. And because we're Monsons and love our food, I have to mention that we had the best lunch ever in Galveston at this little place called the Sunflower Cafe. The key lime tart was to die for, though Ben was equally pleased with his chocolate dipped pecan pie.

Our other news is...WE FOUND A HOUSE TO RENT! We are so thrilled that we can hardly wait to move in on the 15th of September. We'd been holding out, hoping to buy a house here at some point, but decided the best thing to do would be to rent for a year. Right after we decided that, we found this cute little house below. You can't see the outside very well in these Realtor pics, but I think it's a cute little 70's-style Texas house, and the inside is great. We're excited about how open and bright it is, and that Reagan will finally have a yard to play in that's gated, so she can't get out to the street. And while most people in the U.S. are preparing right now for fall and colder temperatures, because we live in Texas...we're just getting to the point where it's bearable to be outdoors so our move and our new yard coincide perfectly. Reagan can play out there through the "winter" here.

The Chair

2010-08-15T13:17:00.010-05:00

I've made a new goal to post on the blog once a week. It's more for me than anyone else; I'm worried that in twenty-five years I won't remember anything that happened in my life because I haven't documented it.

So...our exciting news for this week is: we got a chair! This may not sound thrilling to some, but it's been wonderful for us. At the end of July, all the furniture and other day-to-day useful items that were in the apartment when we got here (dishes, towels, forks, knives, cups, a shower curtain, etc...) went bye-bye. Since every single thing we own, except what fit in our Honda on the drive down from OH, is in storage that we can't access...it didn't leave us with much to work with. We bought the stuff we needed for the kitchen and bathroom plus a mattress (which we'd thrown out when we moved anyway), but we couldn't bring ourselves to buy furniture that we don't need or want since we have a four-bedroom home's worth waiting for us in storage. So...we're making do, which actually hasn't been a problem for the most part (Reagan loves that the whole apartment is now just one big toy room), except that we've really missed having something to sit on (other than the floor). A wonderful friend loaned us a small table and some folding chairs so we'd have a place to eat and work, and also gave us some end tables to keep, but the nowhere-to-sit-all-other-times was getting very very old.

However, Ben just happened to drop into Goodwill yesterday, and lo and behold he found this wonderful Restoration Hardware chair there for just $29! It looks like no one has ever even sat in it--maybe just decided it didn't fit their decor anymore or something--which is funny, because it perfectly matches all the house stuff we already have (in storage)! As you can see, now Reagan, and either Ben or I, can both sit down at the same time.

And here's a picture of our apartment sans furniture, which now functions as the official Reagan Monson Toy Room. She is loving all this space to run around and play in. Her car (see last post) easily maneuvers in unobstructed circles into the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. It's not unusual to get out of the shower to find her car there waiting to pick you up.

The Great Garage Sale

2010-08-08T12:53:00.008-05:00

We learned yesterday that the best place to shop for bargains is at a rich person's garage sale. We found some amazing things at the one we went to. We'd been wanting to get some sort of little chair for Reagan for a while now, and for just $8.00 we walked away with this charming little hand-painted rocker that Reagan adores. We had a hard time getting her out of it at the garage sale long enough for us to buy it.

But the deal of the century is pictured below. Because we spent more than $10.00 total at the garage sale, the people also gave us this FREE awesome car for Reagan (along with a few other free stuffed animals). I don't think I've ever seen her love a toy as much as she loves this thing. She could ride around in it with all her stuffed animals sitting in the back...for hours. It made us twenty minutes late to church today because I couldn't get her out of it, and then once we finally did and opened the front door to leave, she hurriedly shoved the car out into the hall before we could stop her and ran away with it. It used to be that whenever Reagan woke up in the morning or from her nap, the first word she always said was, "Daddy!" And then this week it went to, "cookie!" Now it's turned to, "car!"

Day to Day

2010-07-25T15:58:00.009-05:00

The other day I took Reagan to the Natural History Museum here. My purpose was two-fold. First of all, I've found that our days go a lot smoother if we get out of the apartment for some sort of fun activity for Reagan every morning, even if it's just for a half hour. I thought she might enjoy the huge butterfly rain forest there that I'd heard all about. It has a big indoor waterfall and beautiful butterflies that fly around and land on you, if you're lucky. (Houston has so many wonderful places like this to take kids.)

The purpose of visiting the museum was two-fold though. I'd read in a paper here that a "corpse flower" was about to bloom there too and I was so excited to see it, for some strange reason. There are only a handful of the so-called corpse flowers around and they're HUGE, the largest flowers in the world. The one at the museum here is about six feet tall, three feet wide, and stinks like a dead animal (hence it's nickname) when its petals open. It blooms for about three days every forty years or so, and when it's about to bloom, it starts growing like crazy. Anyway, below is a picture of the flower that doesn't really do it justice. It hadn't bloomed yet when we went, and Reagan couldn't have cared less about it anyway. I spent about two seconds with my beloved flower, and about forty five minutes chasing Reagan around the museum before I realized she was a little too young to enjoy such refined, cultural outings.

Below is a picture of what Reagan loved the most at the museum, and loves anywhere else she can find them. ELEVATORS. She's obsessed with them. There was one right in front of the corpse flower and she kept pushing the buttons, trying to disappear into it through the throngs of people.

Reagan didn't love exploring the kids' area of the museum much either, she opened and closed a few little doors there and then was off again. She didn't even care much about the hissing Madagascar cockroaches that were in that glass case next to her, which I couldn't understand because I thought they were fascinating.

More often than I would like, my best efforts to keep Reagan entertained don't work and we resort to...Baby Einstein videos, on repeat play. Our TV is in storage though, so Reagan has her own little personal DVD player we borrowed from the car. Works like a charm every time.

AWOL

2010-07-21T15:35:00.007-05:00

I know "The Houston Monsons" have been blogger AWOL for a while now. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost is that we are still in temporary housing in Houston, which means all of our worldly belongings are still being stored by the trusty 1-800-PACKRAT folks. And since we have no "stuff," we are without the camera and computer that I once used for blogging. Also, since everything is "temporary" for us right now, I haven't felt like I have a lot of big news to blog about. But I had Ben take some pics the other day with his phone that I wanted to post. They represent what we've spent a lot of time here doing. In an effort to stay sane while we figure things out, we've discovered one of the best things Houston has to offer.

Restaurants. Lots of them. With amazing food and great deals.

We've taken to eating out a lot and we couldn't be happier about it. It's like this thing we look forward to every week. The one little catch is that it's hard to keep our 21-month-old in a highchair for more than two seconds. Even at home. So we've resorted to all-out bribery, which involves ice-cream--tons of it, while Ben and I try to enjoy dinner. I guess I should say though, that in the last photo (that's not very clear), it's loads of chips and cilantro-sour-cream dip at two-for-one fajita night. Sometimes Reagan tries to pick up the container of dip and drink it. And sometimes we stop her.

Anyway, that's what we're up to in Houston. Stuffing our faces with delicious food. Though I have to say, every time we let Reagan eat garbage so we can eat without her standing up in her highchair screaming, I feel a little guilty. I worry that Reagan's diet isn't exactly fitting into the Michelle Obama "End Childhood Obesity" campaign. But a little more chunk on the cheeks would only make Reagan cuter, right?

Yet Another Texas Sign I Love

2010-07-21T15:23:00.007-05:00

I don't know why Texas pride makes me so happy, but it does. It's fun to live someplace where people have such a positive attachment to their home state. This is another TX highway sign I spotted yesterday that made me smile.

New Texas Rides

2010-05-30T13:29:00.004-05:00

Since our trusty little Honda is turning out not to be so trusty since we've arrived in Houston, we've been forced to get some more Texas-style rides.

Another TX Sign I Love

2010-05-20T15:04:00.004-05:00

This is the sign I saw as we came across the Texas border on Tuesday. I don't know why, but it just made me so happy. I just loved the little, "DRIVE FRIENDLY - THE TEXAS WAY" bit. Everyone I've met so far HAS been friendly! Several times in stores, people have spoken to me to randomly ask how I am. The last time it happened, I was busy paying at the grocery store and it surprised me so much I literally jumped and got flustered. It just took me off guard. Southern hospitality is real :) .

Hello Houston

2010-05-20T13:44:00.009-05:00

So we've arrived in Houston. We rolled into town late Tuesday night and I spent Wednesday getting somewhat oriented. Kind of. This is a HUGE city.

Not a lot to report yet, other than so far we really like it here. It reminds me of FL where I grew up, except greener (which is a good thing).

Here's one sign I saw yesterday that I loved. I think I'm going to like being a Texan quite a bit.

House Pics

2010-04-16T18:42:00.006-05:00

I'm told that the pics of our house have already been pulled down from the Howard Hanna Web site, which is CRAZY. So here they are below...all 22 of them.

Table Manners

2010-04-16T09:36:00.006-05:00

I know that posting three videos of Reagan masterfully using a fork is a wee bit obsessive...over the top. But she's so cute so here they are anyway. She loves showing us how big she is when she manages to get the food in her mouth.

In this one she gets it in with her right hand and then immediately starts demanding more food. Reagan's not known for her patience.

This time she has some trouble, finally gets it in, but then decides to forgo the fork and resort back to her hands. It's much faster that way, after all.

And apparently she's ambidextrous because this time her left hand works for her, the strawberry goes right in.

SOLD

2010-04-15T22:44:00.007-05:00

It makes me nervous to post this, but news travels lightning fast and several people have inquired. YES, our house has SOLD. And yes, in one day. Our Realtor put the sign in our yard yesterday morning around 10:30am and by COB we had an offer from the first people who went through. We accepted last night, had the inspection today, and all the contingencies have been removed. It's been a whirlwind, an absolute miracle.

So...barring loan issues or other unseen calamities, we're off to HOUSTON mid-May. We have loved our time here in Cleveland and will be very very sad to bid it adieu. I really can't even think about it yet. Two of the things I'll miss the most are the incredible, stunning seasons and honestly...Aldi. I love that store. I don't know how we'll get along without it. Several things we won't miss (to help me feel better about leaving) are taxes, taxes, and more taxes. The Cleveland Tax, RITA, property taxes....I could go on. For instance, if I wanted to make a corny joke I could say we're leaving TAXES for TEXAS. Get it?

The Big Apple

2010-04-15T21:52:00.018-05:00

I went to The Big Apple this past weekend to meet up with my big sister. We haven't seen each other in at least six and a half years, maybe longer.

Anyway, we had such a wonderful, wonderful time together. I love being around family; it's like you can just let loose and be your comfortable old self. Even though we hadn't seen each other in so long, it was like we'd just hung out yesterday. I don't think we ever stopped talking from the second we met up in the airport to the minute we split up to go home. Life has been so stressful and crazy for Ben and I for a while, so it was a nice break to run around NYC where I used to live, playing tour guide, seeing fun, amazing things all day without a care in the world.

The best part of the trip was going to the Statue of Liberty. I lived in NYC during 9/11, so it was closed then and I never got to see it. It really is a moving monument to freedom. (And it renewed my desire to be The Statue of Liberty for Halloween this year. I've wanted to for years but it never happens. ) We got to climb all the way up this tiny tiny tiny little miniature spiral staircase inside the Statue, all the way up into the crown. It was incredible. I could have stayed out there on that little island all day. Long live Lady Liberty.

Some of the lovely artwork we spent EIGHT HOURS looking at at the Met.

My most favorite place in all of NYC: Central Park.

In the crown of the Statue of Liberty.

A view from the crown looking up at Lady Liberty's arm.

I was surprised to learn that Mr. Eiffel Tower himself built the supports that hold up/together the Statue. I saw the "other" Statue of Liberty in Paris and went up on top of the Eiffel Tower so it meant all the more to me.

A view of the NYC skyline from the Statue of Liberty.

The Brooklyn Bridge from the Statue.

The original torch from the Statue.

My foot compared to the exact-size replica of the Statue's foot.

Ellis Island.

A random picture of the most beautiful tree in all of NYC.

The Swing

2010-04-15T21:38:00.006-05:00

I just had to quickly post these photos I took today of Reagan. Long ago, before she was born, we bought her a beautiful, expensive baby swing. And of course, she hated it. She used it for about two minutes, I think, before we stored it away. Well she found it in a closet the other day and lo and behold...at 18 months old--even though she's now exceeded the recommended weight limit for the swing--she ADORES it. She loves to sit in it in front of the TV with her little snacks. She could watch Baby Einstein videos in it all day. (Not that we let her do that, of course. That would make us bad parents...) Usually she can't sit still for two seconds, so this chair was worth the price we paid for it after all, I guess.

In the below pic, Reagan's doing her elephant call sign since she's watching the Baby Einstein Baby Noah video.

For Sale

2010-04-15T08:44:00.015-05:00

Our house is finally on the market; we listed it yesterday. Click here to see it on the Howard Hanna real estate Web site.

http://www.howardhanna.com/property/property.asp?PRM_MlsNumber=3124475&PRM_MlsName=NorthernOH

I'm a little disappointed that they didn't include the bathroom pics that Ben and I labored over--several hundred retakes to get the lighting, etc. just right--so I'll include those below.

This represents almost a year and a half of backbreaking work to get this house in the perfect condition that we just love. We chose and worked on every inch of it, from the floors and appliances down to the light switch covers. In some ways, as weird as it sounds, we feel like this home will always be a part of our little family. It's been a house of firsts for us--the first we've owned as a couple, and our first baby's first home in this world. It's where our darling Reagan took her first steps, laughed for the very first time, and said her very first words. We'll be very sad to say goodbye to it and hope its new owners will love it like we have, making it a place of "firsts" of their own.

First Ice-Cream/Popsicle

2010-04-05T14:01:00.002-05:00

The ice-cream truck came by our house the other day so Ben got Reagan a little treat. Usually she just gets a lick or two of his ice-cream, but on this special day, she got her very own.

Easter Dress

2010-04-05T13:58:00.002-05:00

Here's a pic of Reagan in her cute little hand-me-down Easter dress. It's a 3T...and she's only 18 months...but it fits. What can we say? Her daddy's a giant.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-05T13:49:00.004-05:00

Reagan went on her first Easter egg hunt in front of our house yesterday. She was such a cute little doll, carrying around her red little bucket picking up the plastic eggs. As you can see in the last picture, she loved cramming all the little treats from inside the eggs into her mouth, all at the same time.

From Blizzard Weather a Week Ago To...

2010-03-11T13:41:00.004-06:00

...something you don't see in Cleveland usually this early in March:

Right Now

Partly Cloudy

71° F

Feels Like: 71° F

Ruskia Devochka

2010-02-23T18:45:00.005-06:00

What little babies in Cleveland have to wear in the wintertime in order to survive this:

Tonight Feb 23	Flurries	23°	30 %
Wed Feb 24	Few Snow Showers	32°/23°	50 %
Thu Feb 25	Snow Shower	26°/21°	50 %
Fri Feb 26	Snow Shower	29°/23°	40 %
Sat Feb 27	Few Snow Showers	29°/25°	30 %
Sun Feb 28	Flurries	32°/26°	30 %
Mon Mar 01	Flurries	34°/23°	30 %

Coloring

2010-02-22T18:59:00.003-06:00

Grandma Allred, Ben's wonderful grandmother in St. George, sent Reagan a Valentine's Day card with some money in it this year. We bought Reagan her first coloring book and crayons with the thoughtful gift. I just love love love the below pic, of Ben teaching his little girl to color. This is one that will end up in Reagan's wedding video one day.

For Abby

2010-02-07T16:01:00.013-06:00

This post is for our dear sister/sister-in-law Abby, who requested a "new" post today. Apparently, waiting a month-and-a-half between blog posts loses you readers. So here goes, Abby:

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY,

RONALD REAGAN!!!!

(Well, happy birthday yesterday.)

When I lived in D.C., I used to throw a big Reagan birthday party every year on Feb. 6th, in honor of the Gipper.

But now that I have my own little real-life Reagan to dote over, the "festivities" have been scaled back quite a bit.

To honor Ronnie yesterday, instead of a big bash, we made the Reagan family Orange Flourless Chocolate Cake. It's better the second day (I just had some), and DON'T use tin foil in place of parchment paper (like I did) or you'll burn it (also, like I did). The recipe is below, but before that, I'll sign off with one of Reagan's best quips. We miss you, President Reagan.

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' "

-Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

Orange Flourless Chocolate Cake for the Reagan FamilyEpicurious | © February 2007

by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard
Reprinted with permission from All the Presidents' Pastries

Editor's note: The recipe below is taken from All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House by Roland Mesnier with Christian Malard.

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings

1 1/2 sticks (170 g) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
flour, for dusting
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet chocolate
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (220 g) sugar
zest of one large orange
4 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1/2 cup (55 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
10x confectioners' sugar, for dusting
candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter and flour a 10-inch (25-cm) round cake pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment paper. Gently melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Stir the butter into the chocolate to melt, and stir until smooth. Remove from the double boiler and whisk the sugar and orange zest into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk well. Sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate mixture and whisk the batter until totally smooth. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top has formed a good crust. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving platter. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with candied orange peel and vanilla ice cream.

Our Blog Christmas Card

2009-12-23T21:47:00.004-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

XOXO

Love,

Ben, Molly, and Reagan

Zoo Day

2009-12-23T21:38:00.004-06:00

So we took Reagan to the zoo today to see Santa. (Yes, the zoo. He lives at the zoo here in Cleveland, during the winter...in the 20 degree icy weather...not sure why.) As you can see from the below photo, she was about as interested in Santa and Mrs. Claus as she is in having her diaper changed. She lasted about 1/10th of a second on their lap before she bolted.

However, she did love this neat little miniature bench she found later on in the rainforest. It was just her size (and not Ben's size, as you can see).

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

2009-12-11T20:29:00.004-06:00

This is the worst pic of our fam, so I'm glad it's not our real Christmas photo. We went to an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party" tonight, so I wanted to post our lovely ensembles that we picked up from Thrift City today. In particular, I wanted to point out the reindeer dickey that Ben is sporting. The golden yarn balls on my Christmas tree sweater are pretty cool as well--but nothing beats a dickey.

The Little Mozart

2009-12-11T16:04:00.002-06:00

Reagan's learning to play the piano, apparently. (See the below video.) I love the running commentary Ben's making in the background as I film this. He's talking to his brother on the phone and didn't realize everything he said was being captured for posterity.

The Fridge--Full of Fun

2009-12-08T18:11:00.002-06:00

One last Reagan favorite these days....climbing up into the fridge. If I turn my back for two seconds, she's in there rummaging around to see what's new.

Another Obsession

2009-12-06T21:22:00.003-06:00

Just thought I'd post Reagan's other current obsession...another little trick she's learned from her daddy. She loves playing on computers, and can be found pounding away on the keyboard, watching the screen change as she does. If ever I can't find her upstairs, she's usually in the office pulling on the computer mouse, sliding it around the mouse pad so she can see the bottom of it light up--or she's slamming her little hands down on the keys. And whenever Ben's on his laptop downstairs, Reagan's usually right on top of him trying to take it from him so she can play on it herself.

Touchdown

2009-12-02T10:13:00.007-06:00

This is our favorite thing Reagan does right now...she throws her hands up over her head and squeals with delight. Since she's started doing it, Ben's taught her the real meaning of that gesture. So Saturday night when we were watching the BYU v. U football game, she was walking around the room the whole time throwing her hands up whenever Ben would yell "touchdown" at her.

Reagan's so proud of herself. Sometimes now when Ben just walks into a room she gives her little touchdown salute just to welcome him back.

She'd already dropped her other arm by the time I snapped this photo but oh well.

This picture's pretty blurry but you get the point.

And the side view of her new talent.

Rootbeer--It's What's For Dinner

2009-12-02T09:58:00.005-06:00

So Reagan's newest obsession is the same as her Daddy's.

Rootbeer. (In bottles.)

Ben will sit down at the dinner table with a bottle, with the lid barely off, just as Reagan starts screaming and reaching her hands out for it. It's gotten so bad that Ben either has to hide the bottle (which only works for a 10th of a second), pour the rootbeer into a cup (which works for 2/10th of a second, until Reagan screams for that too), or he has to give her an empty bottle of her own to play with (which works like a charm, as long as there's still a few tiny drops left in it for her). On Thanksgiving, however, Reagan got to celebrate too with a nice big slurp of the real thing.

The proud daddy.

Santa's Little Helper

2009-12-02T09:45:00.004-06:00

This year we had a special little helper, who assisted us with all of our Christmas decorations. Watching Reagan's "involvement" was the best part of decorating for Christmas.

Helping Daddy choose the ornaments.

Sometimes I put them back into the box instead of onto the tree.

I might be hanging this one or I might be pulling it off. I'm not sure.

And when I got bored with the tree, I helped by climbing into the boxes to make sure we didn't forget any ornaments. I found three other little boxes in this box alone!

The Kitchen

2009-11-14T20:20:00.007-06:00

The last of the big house projects got finished this weekend. The kitchen is finally done! At some point, if we stay here long term, we'll add a back splash. But for now, we're just so glad to have it all put back together and settled (after putting in all the appliances, repainting all the walls and the trim, adding crown molding, changing out the counter tops, the sink, and adding some shelves...).

I wish we had some good before and after shots but we don't. All we have is one weird photo of one of the counters from when we were having our inspection done when we bought the house. You'll have to use your imagination to get the full picture because the kitchen is an odd shape, so it's hard to photograph. The first photo starts in the back corner and then they go clockwise around the room.

BEFORE

AFTER

No More Scary Basement

2009-11-10T12:08:00.005-06:00

Ben finally finished our basement this week, which has been so nice for us. We love how it turned out. The basement had a water/mold problem when we bought the house, so we had to rip the whole thing out, down to the studs. And that's how it sat for over a year (while it got used as a tool shed, saw dust bin, etc.) until we got around to putting the walls back in. I used to close my eyes when I walked through the big basement room on my way to the laundry room. Looking at the "before" pictures with the mold still makes my skin crawl, but here's the newly finished product.

BEFORE

AFTER

Done...AT LAST

2009-11-10T11:08:00.012-06:00

We bought our home here in Shaker Heights last September, as a foreclosure, so we've had a lot to do to fix it up. The outside of the house was horrible (the roof, the shutters, and the bricks falling off, the front step falling down, the door beat to pieces, and what was left of the door covered with an awful metal door, etc.), but it had to wait a long time before it got some much needed attention. And FINALLY...one year and two months later, it's done! We can't even believe it's the same house now when we pull up. And we're also so glad that the outside of our house is no longer bringing down the property values of the homes around us...and so are our neighbors. Here's a few before and after pics. We loved our little house so much even before we did all the repairs, and now we're just enamored with it.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Halloween

2009-11-07T09:05:00.002-06:00

I forgot I had these darling pics of Reagan's first trick or treating experience until just now. I don't know if she had fun asking for candy she wouldn't eat (except for a sucker, see below), but Ben and I sure did.

Us having a little talk about her door approach.

Reagan wondering why Daddy wasn't coming with us.

Reagan disgruntled about something or other. I love her face in this one.

In love with her rootbeer sucker.

So proud of herself.

Twelve Reasons Why We Love Cleveland So Much

2009-10-29T22:14:00.008-05:00

(Fall here is so spectacular.)

The latest Cleveland tourism brochure...

2009-10-29T19:49:00.008-05:00

"Surprise!!! You'll FALL in love with Cleveland."

Or this...

2009-10-29T19:44:00.011-05:00

"You can LEAF me in Cleveland anytime.

Life just doesn't get any better than this."

Another Ducky Video

2009-10-24T11:43:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure why Ben suddenly turned the camera on it's side with this video, but you can still see how cute Reagan is. Just turn your head sideways...

She loved her little outfit, which surprised me. I thought she'd rip it right off.

Our Little Ducky

2009-10-24T11:33:00.003-05:00

Our ward had it's annual Halloween party last night and little Reagan went as a ducky. We happened to find Reagan's outfit at Target randomly, and just loved it since Reagan LOVES her little yellow duckies that she plays with in the bathtub every night. I'm not sure who had more fun, Reagan exploring everywhere, getting into everything, or us watching her chubby little legs waddle around in her duck outfit. We weren't sure it was worth it to spend the money on a Halloween outfit for Reagan that she'll wear once or twice, but after laughing our heads off last night at how cute our baby was, we decided it was definitely money well spent.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-10-20T12:56:00.002-05:00

Since we don't have a video camera, I'm just going to jot down quickly a few things Reagan's doing right now that I just love. I don't want to forget them when she's all grown up.

I love how she says "Mama Mama Mama." Her little voice is just so cute and I just adore when she calls my name. Sometimes I can hear her talking to herself in our family room, just playing while I'm in the kitchen cooking. And then it'll get quite for a second and I'll hear, "Mama Mama Mama" as her little knees or feet (depending on how she's travelling) slap the floor, hurrying into where I am so that she can see what I'm doing.

And Ben and I both just love how Reagan shakes her head no. She started doing it a while ago and it's just so funny; anytime you ask her a question she'll shake her head no in response. The best is sometimes when Ben and I are having random conversations and we don't even think she's listening, and then she'll shake her head no to something we say. Like one night at dinner before her first birthday I said to Ben, "Do you think she'll eat her birthday cake?" And as he's saying, "Oh yeah, sure she will, she loves sugar," I look over at Reagan to see her violently shaking her head no. It made us both laugh so hard. After that, right up until the day she had her cake I would ask, "Reagan, are you going to eat your birthday cake?" And she'd ALWAYS shake her head no! And she didn't eat it in the end, so I guess she knew what she was talking about all along. Anyway, she does her little no head shake all the time and I just love it. When she first started doing it her chin would touch her neck, but now she's better at holding her head up. I miss the old way though.

Oh, and we love how she's toddling all over the place now, walking all around. And also how she says, "Bye bye, Dada," waving both of little hands. What else? I love how when you tell her to "nuggle" (translation: snuggle) something, she grabs it and pushes her little head up against it. Or sometimes she just uses her hand to demonstrate and tilts her head onto it as she pushes her hand up against her little ear.

Anyway, that's all for now. Reagan's just in such a darling stage. I wish we had all of these things on video.

Maybe in our next post we'll talk about something other than The Baby, huh? We'll see.

Shots = Ice Cream

2009-10-20T12:24:00.007-05:00

Reagan had her one-year checkup the other day and had to get FOUR separate shots in her legs, PLUS she had to have her blood drawn. The whole experience was totally traumatizing for her (and me), so to smooth things over when we got home, Ben gave Reagan her (almost) first taste of ice-cream, in honor of her crossing over the one-year threshold into the land where she can eat whatever she wants. I say "almost" because I've caught him several times letting her lick his ice-cream before it was legal....like in Costco when he thought I wasn't looking.

Anyway, this picture makes me laugh because #1, Reagan LOVED the ice-cream and took the spoon right out of Ben's mouth when he tried to take a bite himself, and #2, because it reminded me of how my mom used to get mad at my dad when he'd sneak us ice-cream on the downlow. Once she came home unexpectedly when he was letting my oldest sister eat right out of a gallon of ice-cream, so he ran with my sister Heidi and the ice-cream into the trees behind the house. My mom found them and the ice-cream, which they couldn't hide at that point since it was running down my sister's face and was all over both of them.

History repeats itself, I guess. Ever since Reagan was born, Ben's been trying to sneak whatever treats he can into her mouth. I guess that's a daddy's responsibility and duty. Only now that she's one I have no reason to say she can't have it anymore :).

The Big Birthday

2009-10-20T12:09:00.006-05:00

So in my head I had this whole idea about how Reagan's one-year birthday would go. But she ended up being so sick that day, that it didn't go exactly as planned. She was downing Motrin every few hours to combat a super high fever, but in the little moments we managed to get her cooled down, she did enjoy some of the little surprises we had for her.

She loved the little walker toy Daddy Ben picked out for her.

And she also loved the shopping cart (it says WalMart on the side you can't see...isn't that awesome?) Nana and Papa got her.

The cake was pretty much a disaster though. I made this elaborate, homemade carrot cake, but the only thing Reagan was interested in was the fork I had--NOT the cake. She ended up sitting in it and then crying for about 20 minutes afterwards from the trauma of the whole cake debacle.

But dinner was a hit. We had her favorite meal, spaghetti and broccoli. You can tell from the pic below that she was pleased with her food.

Piggies

2009-10-20T12:05:00.002-05:00

My new favorite hairdo for Reagan is "piggies." We took these photos about a week before she turned a year old. Every time we go out in public and her hair is like this, she gets so much attention from people in stores and things. She's so cute, but it also makes me a little sad because with her hair like this she's really starting to look like a little girl and not a baby anymore.

The Collector

2009-10-20T11:57:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite things Reagan does right now is "collect" everything she can get her hands on; then she hides her loot in little cubby holes she finds. She has a toy trunk in our office, and at the end of the day when I clean it out, it always makes me laugh to see what she's put in there. Like in the below pic, there's my floss, a highlighter, a remote control, the head of a warthog from one of her books, some trash she got out of the trash can, etc., etc. It's just so funny. We have to be careful what we leave sitting around the house because you never know where it'll turn up (if it ever turns up again at all).

At Grandpa's House

2009-10-20T11:49:00.005-05:00

Reagan got to see her grandpa while we were on vacation, which was fun. He lives in UT so this was only the second time he's seen her. He was impressed with her eating habits...which she DIDN'T get from her mother. (I wish you could see more clearly all the avocado smeared all over her face and hair in this pic.)

Reagan loved getting to take a bath every night after dinner in grandpa's huge tub. Maybe that's why she ate the way she did (so she'd have to take a bath). It seems bath time is Reagan's favorite part of the day and we love the way she gets so excited when she knows it's time, kicking her little legs out as we carry her up the stairs to the tub, shrieking like an excited monkey. I think Reagan could stay in the tub all day and he happy that way.

What We've Been Up To

2009-10-20T11:42:00.002-05:00

Well, after a two-month hiatus, I'm back to blog a little bit more. We were gone visiting family in Vegas and Utah for half of August and September, so that's my excuse for that month long gap. And as for the second month that's gone by...we've just been having too much fun chasing around our little girl and enjoying the last sunny Cleveland days to update our blog. So here are some quick photos of Reagan from our vacation. She's already way bigger than she was in these photos, but they're darling all the same. She loved the pool as long as I was holding her the whole time. She was really sick the whole vacation though, so sadly, these are pretty much the only photos we have of her somewhat happy.

Like Mother Like Daughter

2009-08-15T06:33:00.003-05:00

I took this picture of Reagan eating some strawberries the other day. They seem to be her new favorite fruit, which is ironic in that they're also my favorite fruit and have been since I was her age. The pic below is of me eating strawberry shortcake many many years ago.

Andy, Meet Reagan

2009-08-02T19:12:00.005-05:00

The last time my brother Andy saw me, I looked like this (that's my dad looking at my stomach with that hilarious "Who did this to you?" expression):

So we're glad Andy's finally back in the USA after traveling all around Asia on and off for the past two years. He finally got to meet Reagan this past week. She loves to crawl all over him and to stick his Asian gold cat souvenir (and all his others too) in her mouth.

Another Ben Project

2009-08-02T19:00:00.004-05:00

I'm always amazed what Ben comes up with when I leave him alone outside for a few hours with his tools. Here's what he built just last week. I wish I had a before picture to show you what an amazing improvement the below flower box is to our backyard. Before he went to work, there were several large, dead tree stumps and one unruly, unattractive, half-dead bush sitting behind our house. But with the help of a huge medieval-looking pick ax thing, a shovel, and a few other tools, Ben tore out all the old stuff and then built a box and planted all these beautiful flowers. Not bad for a day's work.

Shakes

2009-07-17T21:02:00.006-05:00

We're trying to teach Reagan how to eat "real" food these days, and it hasn't been going so well. She eats fruit.

And only fruit.

No vegetables, no cereal. Just fruit. And preferably bananas. So we think it's funny that she's now discovered what Mommy and Daddy drink in those big tall cups each morning. FRUIT shakes! We never offered her any of our shakes, she just decided on her own a few days ago that she had to have some. Right that very second. So now she lunges for the glass you're drinking and can't get it to her mouth fast enough. Even if you're in the next room over, if she sees you with a glass in the morning, she takes off after you and tries to crawl up your leg to get to the cup.

Yes We Can...

2009-07-16T21:43:00.005-05:00

Christmas is going to be so easy this year...I found what I'm getting for all my favorite friends and family!

http://chiaobama.com/

PS: I actaully saw an add for this on TV today and laughed so hard, thinking it must be a joke. But I looked it up and you can really buy these! Hhhhhhhmmmm....

Ben's Projects IV

2009-07-14T20:17:00.005-05:00

And the last home improvement I'll post for now...is Ben's newest invention. Our house had a little shoe build-up issue in the entryway. Any shoes left sitting around made it annoyingly impossible to open the front door. So Ben created this nifty shoe rack in the coat closet out of some scraps of wood he had in the garage. Pretty creative, I have to say. The nose of the shoes just stick into the little slot between the shelves.

Ben's Projects III

2009-07-14T20:15:00.004-05:00

Another little outdoor project that's my favorite--little flowers around our tree outfront. I'd like to take credit for this one, but like all improvements to the house...this was all Ben.

Ben's Projects II

2009-07-14T20:08:00.008-05:00

Ben's also done a tremendous amount of work on our yard trying to get the years of neglect and overgrowth somewhat under control. He built/created a whole little outdoor eating area next to our garage by laying down paving stones (which tooks days and days and days and multiple cuts, bruises, blisters, and backaches), made a flower box out of wood, chopped back trees, and came up with an inexpensive way to block our neighbors house, etc., etc., etc.

Ben's Projects I

2009-07-14T19:47:00.006-05:00

I've been meaning to post some pics of all the work Ben's done on our house--which was built in 1938 so there's been a lot to keep him busy--so here are a couple from his latest project. Since we bought our house as a foreclosure last September, Ben has knocked himself out fixing it up and we just love our home more every day. If we have to move soon and sell our house when we get a new job, all I can say is that whoever buys this place is getting a deal and we'll very very sad to say goodbye to all the touches we've added.

This weekend Ben finished up our bathroom on the second floor with some ideas he's had. Not long ago when he was looking at the plumbing behind the shower he noticed that the area next to the sink behind the drywall was empty. So he promptly knocked a hole in the wall and made a beautiful built in shelf right there. He followed it up with crown molding, shoe molding, new caulking everywhere, a window scraped clean of old paint and grime...and then I added some new accessories :). Take a look.

4th of July Baby

2009-07-08T20:46:00.008-05:00

Here's Reagan in Boston all decked out for her mama's favorite holiday.

And here are some photos from the Boston temple. We loved walking around the grounds there on Sunday. (See photo below of Reagan trying to pick all the flowers in their gardens.)

Going On Vacation With a Baby? Buy This:

2009-07-08T20:29:00.005-05:00

We just got back from our 4th of July trip to Boston where we tried out our newest little baby purchase: The Baby Backpack.

Reagan HATES being stuck in her car seat, her stroller, or any other contraption that keeps her from moving around at will. So we were worried about how our vacation was going to pan out, making her put up with being dragged around all day while we saw the sights. Imagine our surprise when we plopped Reagan in this new backpack the first day we were in Boston and then set out walking...and promptly forgot she was even with us! I'm not kidding--that's how much she loved this backpack. It was amazing. We literally forgot she was with us until an hour or so after we'd left the hotel, when we heard this little "bah bah bah bah bah" coming from Ben's back. We had to laugh because she'd been so good we didn't even know she there, which is incredibily unusual for Reagan. She always lets you know when she's in the room. And she never sits still for more than a split second. She just loved being up so high though, able to see everyone and everything.

Standing Tall

2009-06-27T15:03:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pics of Reagan standing up on her own, which is her new favorite thing. As cute as it is, and as proud as she is of herself (and we are of her), it's come with a little cost.

It took me seven and a half, almost eight months, to get Reagan to take two "good" naps a day--meaning longer than the daily 20-30 minute nap(s) she took for the first seven-eight months of her life, when I thought I was going to lose my mind. For the last month though, she's been perfect. It was a like a daytime sleep switch finally flipped inside her.

And then...she learned to stand up and it was game over. The minute she hits her crib now, asleep or not, she pulls herself right up and holds onto the railing, happy at first, and then she'll bellow until you come get her. It's worked it's way into her nighttime sleep as well. I had to go in at least two times last night (in addition to feeding her two other times), only to find her holding onto the back railing of her crib crying, standing up. Ben and I have finally resorted to the "cry it out" method during the day and it's been torture, but nothing else we've tried has worked. Everything else just makes her sleeplessness worse. And so, as Reagan stands in her crib and cries for an hour in her room once or twice a day, I sit outside the door and cry for an hour until she falls asleep. Hopefully this standing infatuation will be worked into her awake hours only, very soon...

The Messy Eater

2009-06-27T13:08:00.004-05:00

At the bed and breakfast we went to for our anniversary, the owners brought Reagan some breakfast when we got ours in the morning. And although she can't/shouldn't eat grown-up oatmeal with cream, pears, etc., we let her have fun with it because she was so interested in it all. She made us laugh with her antics (like when she plunged her face into the bowl and starting licking up oatmeal like a cat), but we paid for it later when she spent a few hours throwing up and then dry heaving from whatever it was she ate. I guess her little stomach couldn't handle what little she managed to get into her mouth. I think I was crying as much as she was when she was throwing up because it was so sad!

Happy Two Year Anniversary To Us!

2009-06-27T12:59:00.006-05:00

Ben and I celebrated our two year anniversary on the 16th of June and went to stay overnight at a bed and breakfast not far from here. It was near this really pretty waterfall, and as you can see below, Reagan insisted on getting up on the ledge that's at the top of the fall (look at the first picture of the waterfall and you can see the walkway we're on in the second photo), and then wanted to lean as far as she could over it so she could see everything. Like I said in my last post, she's fearless. She takes after her daddy in that regard, not after her momma--who's a total chicken about such things.

Random Pics From the Last Month

2009-06-27T12:46:00.002-05:00

Reagan got to meet Grandpa Stark for the first time a few weeks ago and had a blast with him. The pic after that is of Reagan just rolling around playing, being cute. And lastly, sitting up in the tub like a big girl.

I have to say that as exciting as it is to see Reagan learn all her new skills, it's also sad because she gets hurt a lot learning them. Especially the whole standing up thing, where she usually ends up whacking her head on something and has several bruises by the end of the day to show for it. But she's fearless, such an independent little explorer.

Catch Up

2009-06-27T12:21:00.008-05:00

Okay, it's time for my monthly posting of everything I should have been doing week-by-week. I'm going to post a bunch of newer (not entirely new, because once I take one it's old by the next day because something changes...) pics of the ever adorable Reagan. In just the past few weeks Ben and I have been astounded at all the changes in her. She went from barely sitting up to sitting up completely on her own, to crawling, to pulling up and standing on anything she can get her hands on, to walking along as she holds onto things, to talking so so much more. And just yesterday I noticed her practicing waving, trying to get it down, a skill she's learned from Baby Einstein. I don't have pics of all the stuff I've mentioned here but will soon. But here are some great pics all the same.

She loves chewing on watermelon, but we have to strip her down every time we let her because she's covered with it by the time she's done.

Taylor Swift - Thug Story

2009-06-27T08:06:00.001-05:00

Okay it drives me crazy that it's okay to have these videos for the world to see on You Tube but the second I post them to my blog they get disabled for copyright reasons. Annoying. Half the videos here don't work anymore. Anyway, here's Taylor Swift again. This video debuted on the CMT awards and Ben and I both loved it. Let's see how long this one works. It's hilarious.

The Little Couch Potato

2009-05-26T07:27:00.001-05:00

What? Why do I like watching TV with Daddy so much?

For the snacks, of course.

The Mad Hatter

2009-05-14T08:52:00.002-05:00

Reagan's obsessed with hats right now, for some reason. Anytime Ben or I have a hat on she just clamors to get close enough to grab the brim so she can bite it. It's the funniest thing in the world. She can be in mid-scream, but suddenly when a hat appears, she'll stop immediately and go right for the it, all smiles and happy little sounds. Ben thinks it's hilarious because from his vantage point under the hat, all he can see is this little tounge poking out licking the top.

In Other News...

2009-05-09T19:00:00.006-05:00

So most everyone that lives in Cleveland knows that National City Bank, whom Ben currently works for, got bought out by PNC Bank at the end of last year (in a very crummy, very questionable, government engineered/pushed deal....but that's another story for another time). It was huge news here in Cleveland when the buyout was announced since National City is one of the biggest employers in town and has been headquartered here in Cleveland since it was founded in 1845. Once upon a time it was one of the ten largest banks in America.

Anyway, we were hoping that we were going to be able to ride out this merger with PNC but we found out a couple weeks ago that Ben's position is being eliminated along with at least 25% of the other jobs in the commercial portion of the bank. So... we're in the job market again as of mid-June. We're open to a lot of different possibilities and have started looking all over the country, as well as in Cleveland. One of the things we're saddest about is that we might have to move and sell our little house we were just getting in good shape. We love our home and Ben's been working so hard, doing all the repair work on it himself. But no matter what, at least we'll get to enjoy one more beautiful spring and summer here in Cleveland...the few gorgeous months that make the six months of winter worth it.