Happy New Year

Reese threw a little New Year's Eve party tonight. She had fun eating dinner, playing games, and chasing cousin Jack around. Although Mommy and Daddy tried putting her to bed multiple times, she saw the ball drop at midnight -- luckily it was Eastern time. :)

Luther Kids

We got together with some Luther friends today for a play date. There have been many new additions to the group this year, and they are already growing up so fast!

The top picture shows (L to R): Kylie, Abbey & Katie Smith; Henry & Correne Larsen; Malin & Britt Moore; and Reese & me.

The bottom picture shows Henry & Reese playing with their remote controls. Luckily there were enough controls to go around, so we avoided any tantrums.

Little Chef

I have mentioned before that Reese loves the kitchen, so we decided to get her own for Christmas. She loves hitting the button fire up the grill, playing with her fake General Mills products (yes, we really have General Mills fake food - her favorite is the Pillsbury crescent roll can), and wearing her personalized chef hat! Bon appetit!

Clip-Clop

Here's a cute picture of Reese in her Christmas dress by her rocking horse. She likes to make clip-clop sounds with her tongue when she rides her horsie.

1st Christmas

Reese celebrated her first Christmas Day at Grandpa and Grandma Cipra's house. She again loved opening lots of presents - and even kissed her presents! She got so many presents that she had to take a bottle break with Daddy half way through. Lucky little girl!

Merry Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Grandpa and Grandma Haag's house. Reese was a good girl and ate all her dinner before opening up presents. She enjoyed ripping the paper, and was very excited about the gifts that were inside. I could not get the talking tea pot out of the box fast enough for her!

Obsession

Reese is obsessed with the Christmas cards we received. We posted them on our deck door, and Reese has to go check them out about 100 times per day. She especially likes the Norstrom's card because it has a pretty blue ball on it. Her favorite thing to do is pull the cards off, throw the onto the floor, have Mommy put back up, then repeat again and again.

Nativity Set

I had been searching for safe Nativity Set for Reese to play with, and finally found one online. Yes, I have been doing a lot of online shopping this year during naps! Reese enjoys playing with the characters - especially throwing them on the floor and putting them in her mouth. You may notice that Baby Jesus is missing - I think he's too small and is a choking hazard. Guess I should have paid more attention to the 3 years & older warning before purchasing. Baby Jesus will have to stay packed away until Reese gets a little older.

Stockings are Hung

I tried to find a stocking with an "R" for Reese to match the stockings Todd and I had used the past few years. Of course Target has new styles this year, so I had to search for new. I found these ADORABLE stockings online and decided we ALL needed new. I just love them!

Tired Out

Reese was tired out after a few long days with the visitation and funeral. Although our trip back to Rockford was extra long due to the first blizzard of the year, Reese slept almost the entire way.

Rest In Peace, Great Grandpa

We attended Reese's Great Grandpa Wolff's funeral today. It was a very nice service with lots of Grandpa's family and friends present. I'm sure he was watching with pride as we celebrated his life. He will be deeply missed.

Here is his obituary...

Elry Armond Wolff was born on October 28, 1926 at home in rural Gordonsville, the son of Werner and Renetta (Virchow) Wolff. He attended country schools in rural Myrtle and Gordonsville. On September 28, 1949 he was united in marriage to Lois Heideman at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Myrtle, MN. The couple made there home in the rural Glenville area. Elry was a life long farmer and in the early 1970's he and Lois also owned and operated the Glenville Grocery Store. Elry was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church where he had served as a trustee. He had also served on the Shellrock Township Board. Elry loved farming and his family. He had a warm smile and would talk "farming" with anyone. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

Survivors include his daughter, Valerie and husband Clark Cipra of Austin, MN; grandchildren, Brian Cipra of White Bear Lake and Suzanne and husband Todd Haag of Rockford; great-grandchildren, Jack Cipra and Reese Haag; sister, Marvelyn and husband Bill Hoyt of San Diego, CA; sisters-in-law, Eunice Anderson of Albert Lea and Annie Heideman of Glenville; many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Elry was preceded in death by his parents, Werner and Renetta Wolff; step-mother, Martha Wolff; wife, Lois in 2000; son, Stuart in 1974; sister, Loretta and husband, Norman Fredrickson; brother, Harold and wife, Agnes Wolff; sister, Arlene and husband, Roy Baumunk; brothers-in-law, Clair Anderson and Harlan Heideman; brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Helen Amundson; mother and father-in-law, Herman and Grace Heideman.

Decorations

I headed to Austin today to help my mom put together photos for the funeral. Grandma and Grandpa Haag came over to help Daddy take care of Reese and put up some of our Christmas decorations. It was so nice to come home to the tree up, lights on the deck, and a happy little girl.

Great Distraction

We received some sad and shocking news this morning. Reese's Great Grandpa Wolff passed away in his sleep. Grandpa Wolff was an amazing man who was in such good health -- even passed all his pre-op appointments this week before cataract surgery next week. We are all still in shock and cannot believe he is gone. I am so thankful Reese got to meet Great Grandpa multiple times. They really enjoyed each other!

Our friends Jocelyn and Edie came over for a pre-scheduled playdate today. I thought about cancelling, but their good company served as a great distraction.

Hi Friend

We hosted a neighborhood playdate today. The "little" girls are getting so big - Katie is 9 months old today, and Reese will be 10 months old tomorrow. They are starting to pay attention to each other and even exchanged some smiles today. Cuties!

Lexi

Reese got to see her friend Lexi from St. Louis today. Laura, Brian, and Lexi were in Minnesota for Thanksgiving, so we got to hang out again. The girls pretty much traded off taking naps throughout the afternoon, but were both awake for a little while to play and take a few pictures. Hope to see you again soon!

Turkey Day Part 2

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Haags on Saturday. Reese had fun playing with different toys and crawling around with her cousins. She could get used to all these parties!

Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving! Reese and her cousin Jack had fun pretending to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Later she enjoyed eating lots of (real) turkey and sweet potatoes. She gave Daddy a high five for giving her some big people food!

This year we are thankful for many things, but of course most thankful for our beautiful daughter.

Clifford

Reese was shocked to see that Clifford the Big Red Dog lives at Grandma and Grandpa Cipra's house! She squealed with delight and gave him a big smooch.

Austin Bound

Reese is back in Austin visiting Grandma & Grandpa Cipra for Thanksgiving. She remembered the piano from her last visit and has enjoyed playing again.

PBSkids.org

Reese and Grandma log onto PBSkids.org to see what Elmo, Clifford, and the other friends are doing each day. Reese is already becoming a whiz with the mouse and will soon outsmart us on the computer.

Little Washer Woman

Reese likes to help with the laundry. She pulls everything out of the basket and tosses behind her back. Now if I could just teach her how to toss the clothes into her dresser drawers!

Skol Vikings

We cheered on the Vikings to a victory today. It must be our new t-shirts!

Big People Food

We unexpectely went out to dinner tonight, and didn't have any of Reese's baby food along. We decided to order for her off the kids' menu for the first time and see what happened. Well, she ate almost half her grilled cheese sandwich and all her applesauce. We couldn't believe it! She ate the entire time Todd & I ate our meals and loved every minute of it. (Sorry for the poor picture quality - my camera phone is not the best.)

Climber

We now have a climber! Reese was "helping" me unload the dishwasher tonight, when she decided to climb up.

Joy Ride

Reese went for a little joy ride today. It's cute because she'll walk really fast, then turn around to make sure you're watching. She's so proud of herself.

Work of Art

We finally got Reese's 6 month pictures up on the wall. We don't spend a lot on art, but thought this collection of Reese's expressions was worth the money and a beautiful work of art.

Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Grandpa Cipra for being inducted into the Austin Community College Athletic Hall of Fame! He was presented this honor for his great golf skills in 1969-71. Way to go, Grandpa!

Good Day

We started our day with a playdate with some Luther friends and babes. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture - darn it! You'll just have to trust me that little Harper and Liam are absolutely adorable. Thanks for hosting, Kara.

Reese and I played the rest of the day at home. Her current favorite things to do are pulling herself up to standing, swaying back & forth to music, and turning the pages when we read books. Reese has also been saying mama, dada, and baba (bottle). I'm not absolutely sure she knows what those words mean, but she seems to be using them correctly. It's so amazing when I walk in the room and she says mama!

We wrapped up the night with a bath. She loves every second of bathtime - running the water, adding bubbles, playing with toys, and even washing her hair. Our little girl was exhausted after a good day and fell asleep at 8pm.

Lucky #13

Congrats to Daddy on his 13th flag football championship. Reese enjoyed getting bundled up to watch the 2nd half of the big game. In fact, she was so wound up about the game that she's still awake while I'm posting this at 11:30! Time for bed little champion.

Little Buds

It was nice to have Lexi and Reese together again. The girls met a few months ago, but they could interact more now that they are older.

They got off to a bit of a rough start when Laura and Lexi picked us up from the airport. The little girls exchanged cries during most of the 45 minute car ride. Luckily this was really the only rough part of the weekend.

We kept busy for 3 days. We went to the zoo where we saw lots of animals, including some big cats "playing". Took a tour of Anheuser-Busch where Brian works. Needless to say, Reese and Lexi were the youngest participants on the beer tour. We also spent quite a bit of time at the Bunch house where the girls could crawl around and play. Just before we left, we took a quick picture with Wrigley the dog. As you can see, Lexi was not happy that we were leaving. We'll miss you too, Lexi!