Reese quotes

She just said "I love you forever, Aunt Lindsey!"
Yesterday she counted her toes by saying "little toe, little toe, little toe, little toe, big huge giant toe!"

New Beginnings

I headed back to Indiana on Wednesday to pack up Reese and bring her back to Arizona.  I am not sure where the time went and that I am writing this now that I am back in Arizona.  So, I'm hoping that this blog will help me to remember all of the small things on my adventures with Reese.

My dad was in the hospital on Tuesday with an intestinal virus which caused extreme dehydration.  It was something I was not prepared to deal with this week.  After being sick all of my time in Indiana at Christmas, I completely understood how hard it was for my dad.  He took the rest of the week off to recover and I enjoyed having that time with me.  It helped a lot to have someone else there to distract Reese while I was packing. 

I picked up Reese from daycare when I got in on Wednesday.  She was so excited to see me which felt amazing.  Thursday morning we went to her three-year wellness visit with Dr. Olalade.  She is 27lbs and 36" tall, in the 15th percentile which is where she has been since birth.  Reese was a trooper, Dr. Olalade gave great advice and nurse Lisa was so sweet and remembered our situation.  It was good to see her again.

It started to snow while we were in the doctor's office so we caught some snowflakes on our tongue when we got home.

It continued to snow for the rest of the day and it was nice to see a winter wonderland since we didn't have one at all for Christmas.  Packing went well and thankfully didn't take as long as I thought it would.

On Friday, Reese turned 3!!  She was so cute always saying "Happy Birthday" back to anyone who said it to her.  We had a little celebration at my mom's house that evening with a Hannah Tannah (Hannah Montana) cake.  We both spent the night there where we share Kayla's queen-size bed while  she is at college.  I woke up Saturday morning to Reese quietly giving me a kiss on the back of the head.  Moments like that have a way of melting stress away.  Reese and her Mimmie played in the 'now (snow - Reese does not say the "s" at the front of her words). 

Then we had a birthday party with my dad's family with a beautiful Tinkerbell cake.  Sophia was there which I know Reese and I loved.  She is getting so big and I miss her so much.  It was a fun time with family where big news was announced and the best line was "Who is on your underwear? Can I see?"  Emily was saying this to Reese who was not wanting to take a minute to go to the bathroom but taken out of context, we all had a good laugh. 

After a night out on the town (or downtown Griffith) with my cousins, we started the hardest day of my life with a pancake breakfast at St. Marys.  I do miss those pancake breakfasts! 

Saying goodbye really made Reese realized how big it was to move to Arizona and it wasn't just a vacation.  The airport was the excruciating because Reese really did not want to leave her Grandpa, on top of way too many bags.  Thankfully, Reese took a nap on the flight and was a sweetheart. 

So, now we are here!  Reese had to touch everything in her new room and just kept saying "Oh Aunt Lindsey, you got a new [insert every item in her room here] for me, Oh, thank you!"  The stress level was taken down by a million just being at home and having her here.  Bedtime was a little hard but after the day we had, I expected that. 

I did almost forget to bring her car seat and also bring my mom's car keys with me to Arizona.  So needless to say, I am feeling scattered.  Unpacking, grocery store and a birthday celebration with Kathryn and Charlotte are what tomorrow brings.

The Next Chapter

Tonight is the last night in my quiet house for at least 15 years. Big changes start tomorrow. I'm a little nervous and very excited about what my future will hold with my favorite little girl in the world.
I am going to work hard to keep up with this blog again so that everyone can see what is happening in Reese and my lives.  I have all kinds of adventures planned!  I can't wait to be able to see the world through Reese's eyes and hear all of the amazing things she has to say.

Birthday

Another year older, hopefully a little wiser.

If you are looking for me...

I will be in the 1870s.  I recently got my hands on The Bloody Benders from Rick Geary's Victorian Murders series which is about a family in Kansas in the 1870s who were discovered to be killing people left and right.  Then, I picked up the first season of Deadwood from the Library and proceeded to watch the entire thing in the past 24 hours.  And despite the fact that I own enough unread books to entertain me for the rest of my life, I picked up Cottonwood by Scott Phillips which is a novel that takes place in the same era.

It looks like without conscious effort my obsession has switched gears to post-civil war wild wild west... go figure!  If you are looking for an expert, I am definitely on my way.

Summer Embroidery

I am interning at Chandler Public Library's Sunset Branch this summer.  I work there on Mondays and Saturdays and then work at the Museum Tuesday through Friday ten hour days.  It is a lot of being on-the-ball which is tiring but I knew that I would like something to motivate me in my down time.  (Also Amy and her girls went to Michigan for three weeks so I am a little lonely.)  I am taking a web embroidery class through Wild Olive (http://wildolive.blogspot.com/) called All in the Details.  I love her blog and embroidery patterns! (I am a member of her Pattern of the Month Club, too.)  The class started this week so here is what I have made so far...

A jar lantern with a firework on it.  Simple and super cute!

Then, this was supposed to be a wreath but I don't really have a place to hang a wreath so I made a door-knob hanger for the 4th of July!

I also bought some bunting for the front of the house.  I don't have a photo and it is dark outside now so I will have to share that later.  It is smaller than I imagined but still festive!

Summer Solstice

The summer solstice was this week and on a whim, Bryan, James and I walked over at lunch time to witness the light effects created on this day at the Burton Barr Library. I had heard about this and thankfully Bryan remembered so we were able to experience it. I wasn't sure what to expect and I kind of feel like my photos look better than it did in real life but I am still glad that I went to experience it.

What happens is that the ceiling of the building is actually floating and the light comes through along both walls and the sky lights cause the tops of the columns to looks like they are candles that are lit.