Steady Diet

While Mommy was away for Jen's bachelorette weekend in Duluth, Daddy and Reese lived on a steady diet of Rice Krispies and grapes - for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

(Yes, Rice Krispies is a Kellogg's cereal. We like to call that competitive shopping!)

Wedding Video

Our evening ended with a dance party as we watched our wedding video. Reese loved watching it and dancing around. We are so grateful that Steven Bunch captured those memories to share with our daughter.

Mommy's Birthday

Happy birthday to me (Mommy)! I had a wonderful birthday which included a playdate where the little girls sang me happy birthday (so cute!), a 2.5 hour nap with Reese, dinner made by Daddy, and lots of birthday wishes from friends and family. It was a wonderful day!

Bear

I came across this picture today -- it was taken awhile back at Becker Furniture World. Reese was a little scared of this bear when we first walked in the door. But she soon warmed up and refused to leave his side.

Shrek The Third

Reese was so excited when she saw "Shrek The Third" DVD at Target, I decided to buy it as an early birthday present. She held the DVD tight and walked around the store smiling.

More Disney

Another example of Reese's love for the Disney toys she got for Christmas. I love how she says their names - so cute!

Big Sandwich

Reese enjoying a BIG sandwich for dinner. Yum!

Sesame Street Live

We enjoyed Sesame Street Live today at the Target Center. Reese was totally engaged throughout the entire show. Part of the storyline was Grover losing his superpowers and the ability to fly. Every time Grover would fall down, Reese would yell, "He's ok!!" as if to reassure the people around her.

Haircut

Reese sat all by herself in the chair as she got her haircut today. Such a big girl, she earned a sucker!

Cute Skirt

Reese got very excited when I dressed her in this skirt today. She yelled "Cute skirt!" and started dancing around the room!

Out to Dinner

Shrek and Fiona joined us for dinner tonight to celebrate Daddy's successful presentation at work. Reese walked over and showed her figurines to a little girl at the next table, but she wouldn't let the girl get too close to her friends.

Misc Funnies

Here are a few misc funnies from Reese this past week...

Reese's new favorite phrase is, "No waaaaaaaay!" For example, this morning I asked her if she wanted to take off her jammies. She SCREAMED, "No waaaaaaaay! Leave 'em on!" Geez, you would think the world was coming to an end!

One night I was trying to put Reese to bed. She sat up in the rocking chair and we had this conversation...
Reese: "The phone. Is ringing."
Mommy: "I don't hear the phone."
R: "There's an animal in trouble. Save the panda."
M: "Oh, you are singing Wonderpets!"
R: "Wonderpets. Wonderpets. On the way. Help baby panda save the day."

One morning Reese and I were eating Boston Cream Pie Toaster Strudels for breakfast. Daddy came downstairs and Reese yelled, "We eating chocolate!" Busted!

I overheard Reese telling her doll, "Lulu, I go to school someday." So sweet! Too bad she has to wait 4 more years!

This afternoon, Reese said to her kitty, "Hi Libby! Libby is special kitty. I love her! (made kissing noises) That's nice!"

Paci

We have cut Reese back on her paci use. I finally hit a wall when looking back at her blog and saw how many pictures included her paci!

We are now only allowing paci in her crib and car. Reese has done really well with the transition. She only asks for paci occasionally. If I cannot distract her, I let her sit in her crib with her paci. So far she has only spent a few seconds in her crib, then takes her paci out and says she's done.

Reese is really catching on to the new rules. When I went to get her out of her crib this morning, she told me, "Take my paci out, Mama!" Good girl!

Disney

Reese enjoys Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and all the Disney characters. Her favorites are Minnie Mouse (who she received from Grandma and Grandpa Haag) and Pluto (who she watches on You Tube).

Fiona

Reese is currently obsessed with Princess Fiona from Shrek. We have a little Fiona figurine (I think from a General Mills cereal box), and she carries it with her everywhere - even to bed. Reese plays with Fional all day. They reads stories together. Reese holds Fiona up to the book and says "Fiona is listening." Too bad Fiona is so small because we lose her about 15 times per day, then go on a Fiona search around the house.

Reese also likes Shrek, Donkey, and "Cat in Boots" (as she calls Puss in Boots). She likes to have the characters interact. Just this morning I overheard her playing and saying, "Shrek hugs Fiona. That's nice. He loves her."

(Please ignore Reese's super dirty face in this picture. She must have been eating a snack while playing.)

Kristen & Haley

Our friends Kristen & Haley came over last week. We enjoyed dinner together (where Reese talked the entire time) then worked off our dinner jumping!

Battle of the Bands

I apologize for not updating Reese's blog for so long! I have been super busy at work and out-of-town. I especially apologize to Grandma and Grandpa Haag who are probably anxiously awaiting updates while in Florida. Sorry! I'm going to update Reese's blog throughout the day -- whenever Reese allows me to sneak away to the computer.

I have been so busy preparing and taking a work trip to LA - the final event of a college battle of the bands contest we sponsored. We flew the top 3 bands to LA to perform in front of judges and win a recording session. Everything went great. It was such a pleasure to provide this once-in-a-lifetime experience to the bands.

The bands were all very talented, so check them out on Facebook and MySpace -- The Louisiana Street Band, The Acree Brothers, and Jerry Olea Trio.

Sorting

Here's an example of our little perfectionist playing. She carefully sorted all the pegs by color.

Water Park

We enjoyed an afternoon at the water park in Elk River with Brayden and Troy. The kids had a ton of fun going down the water slides (ok, I thought the water slides were a blast too), cruising down the lazy river, and eating snacks. Reese also discovered a new way to play with the water rings -- put them on her head! We played for 4 hours and the kids were both sleeping before we pulled out of the parking lot. A very fun day!

Sour

Reese has discovered a love of popsicles -- even in the middle of winter. She selected the green flavor and after a few licks said "Sour! Taste bad!", laughed, then said "No, taste goooooood!" Must have tasted good because she enjoyed two green popsicles in a row.

Let's Play

We had fun at a Luther playdate this morning. Our kids (Reese, Lily, Ethan, Harper, Tatum, Henry, Malin, and Liam) are all so cute and played really well together!

Stinker Cat

Reese has come up with a new nickname for Libby -- "Stinker Cat!" We have no idea where she heard this; we think she just came up with it on her own.

Here's a typical conversation...
Reese: "I smell something" (laughing)
Mommy: "What do you smell?"
Reese: "Stinker Cat! Libby is Stinker Cat!"

And we all laugh and laugh. What a jokester!

Congrats Jenny and Ben

Congratulations to Jenny and Ben! It was a beautiful wedding and fun reception to ring in the New Year. Teen pop singer Justin Bieber was even there (ha ha)!