Silly Goose

Yep, that is my toaster cover on Reese's head as she stands at the kitchen counter. 

Reese knows how to spell her name!  The only letter she can recognize is R. ("R for Reese" she says whenever she sees an R anywhere.)  But she knows how to spell her name.  We have also been working on what letters make what sounds and she has the letter P down!  She is recognizing more and more letters!  It is so awesome to watch her learning and she gets so excited when she gets a question right that she usually asks me to ask her again.  She really does amaze me everyday with how smart she is!

Visitors!

Aunt Emily and Stacey flew into town last Thursday.  We picked them up from the airport after preschool.  Reese was "a little shy of Stacey" at the beginning but then just loved having them at our house.  We had a little accident and a hard time going down for a nap but I know Reese loved seeing Aunt Emily.

Emily brought an Angelina Ballerina board game which couldn't have been more perfect.  Reese gets to practice her dance moves and get trophies for it!  She definitely was born with the rhythm in her bones.

Emily couldn't have picked a more beautiful weekend!  It was warm and sunny.  We went out to my Aunt Karen's house on Sunday for a wonderful lunch, playing outside, a book ready by Stacey, a fun nap on an air matress, a new hair-do, and a great dinner.  It was really hard for Reese because she didn't want to leave but thankfully Karen sent us home with a couple brownies so that helped to distract Reese. 

Sick

Reese called me into her room at 3am and said her stomach hurt.  She was hot and ended up throwing up, thankfully in the toilet.  We moved to the couch where she watched an episode of Caillou and I tried to get comfortable for the rest of the night on the love seat.  She slept in until 8am and had a fever of 100 when she woke up.  I decided that today would be her first sick day so I called her into school and of course the minute I did that she perked up and was eating Cheerios. 

I ended up taking her into work for a couple hours so that I could answer a couple of requests and get training on a new copier function that I will need to teach my volunteers.  Thankfully, it was Tuesday and the Library was closed but a couple staff members stopped by and she met a couple of my volunteers.  She had everyone wrapped around her little finger.

Lunch and naptime went well.  Then of course I got an optical migraine for about a hour so a tried to function while being partially blind.  We did video chat with Uncle Kent for his birthday today.  There was lots of snuggling, movies and coloring. 

I am learning how this whole taking care of a sick person other than myself works.  I get nervous and my worrying kicks in.  Will that ever go away?

Little Miss Independent

Everything Reese does these days she says "I can do it!"  She can go potty all by herself (she does have a hard time pumping the soap), she can get dressed by herself (she does have troubles with her shirt sometimes), she can open the doors and climb in her carseat.  It is hard for me to back off and let her do things but it is so awesome to see how big she is getting.  Last night we were finishing up in the bathtub and she was ready to get out.  She of course said "I can do it" so I let her get of the the tub without holding my hand.  She then stood dripping wet, butt naked on the rug with her hands on her hips like Peter Pan until I wrapped a towel around her.  I could here her inner monologue saying "I am Reese, hear me roar!"  I couldn't stop laughing and of course she had no idea why. 

Mardi Gras

Happy Mardi Gras! 
Today is Reese and my first Tuesday evening together since she arrived in Arizona.  I have been attending PS-MAPP (Foster parent training) every Tuesday and Thursday evening since Reese arrived and completed the training last Thursday evening after ten sessions.  It was hard to leave her twice a week but I did learn a lot and enjoyed being with people who had some of the same struggles that I have. 

We had dinner with the Wazny's tonight.  My mom sent me a subscription of Disney's Family Fun magazine and they had some fun Mardi Gras recipes.  So, I thought I would try making shrimp etouffe!  It was served over rice, was super easy and good. 

I had to share this picture of the girls eating at the county because of Charlotte's face.  Too funny!

After dinner we came home and took a quick bath, had some ice cream and played a game of Candyland.  I finally won!  Of course, Reese chose Fox in Sox for me to read tonight.  That book is the biggest tongue twister ever.  It was really a great night.

Sustainability

I hope everyone understood that the daily blogging was not sustainable.  I do want to remember every minute but real life is kicking in and midnight is coming quicker and quicker every night. 

Reese painted with shaving cream in the bathtub the other night and loved it.  My tiles have never sparkled so much.

Boo received the "Aunt Lindsey timeout treatment" the other day.  Reese made her Boo doll sit on the timeout bench for supposedly kicking me.  She then asked if she was done being upset and ready to have a little talk about why she was in timeout.  She then brought Boo over for her to apologize to me and give me a hug.  It was nice to see that she understands the process and has decided to use it with her kids :) 

President's Day

Happy President's Day!

I love that Reese and I have today off!  A four day week work/preschool week is was we needed for our second week of reality.

Reese and I picked up Debbie this morning and headed over to Encanto Park to see the ducks, play on the slides and have a picnic.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  We didn't ride any of the rides at Enchanted Island today but I know that we will in the future.  We really didn't need it today!

After nap time (a snooze), we played outside.  I realized that I didn't have any pictures of the two of us since Reese moved to AZ so here you go!  Do I look older?  I feel older...

Prinner was a hit for dinner then we looked at an atlas to see where all of our loved ones lived around the country.  Reese beat me twice at Candyland and is understanding the process of board games.  I am looking forward to game nights in our house!