Happy Halloween! Quack!

Reagan was a ducky for Halloween, so for all of September and October we were working on getting her to say "Quack!" The closest we ever came was her Donald Duck impression, but she was still the cutest little ducky ever. At least she had the waddle down!

Our first stop of the day was at John's office. Reagan had a fun time waddling around in the halls.

Later in the day, Reagan's friend Sophia came over to trick or treat and take some cute pictures together. I love her sparkly witch costume!

Reagan trick or treated for a little bit at Grandma and Grandpa Etter's house and took some pictures outside with the gorgeous weather.

In case you're wondering, I was a 'mummy' (terrible pun intended) and John was a 'treat' because his shirt said "I'm a treat."

Next stop was the Lehman house where they were handing out full sized candy bars. I know where we're stopping first next year! Jords was a rapper, Lex was a pirate and Jaden was Hannah Montana.

Denver

My friend Kelly and I went out to Denver to visit our friend Tracy in October. It was a fairly quick trip and John, once again, was in charge of Reagan for 3 days (or should I say my mom since John had work and school commitments the three days I was gone?) Anyway, it was fun for Kelly and I to get away for a little break. We had a good time going out to eat with Tracy (sans a almost toddler who doesn't like to sit at restaurants) and to spend a full day shopping (without having to worry about naptimes and feeding schedules). Denver reminded Kelly and I a lot of Minneapolis, except for the mountains.

We took a day trip to the mountains, but the three of us underestimated how much colder it would be at a higher altitude than in the city. It made the trip pretty quick since we were all freezing.

It was so windy the lake had white caps.

Our first glimpse of snow for the season.

This lake had ice on it already.

Reagan's First Kiss

No pictures for this post, but just a funny story. The other night, Reagan was looking at one of her many books and leaned over and put her mouth on a page. I asked her, "Reagan, did you give your book a kiss?" When I said 'kiss' she did it again. So I said 'kiss' again and she 'kissed' the book. She repeated this about 10 times and by the time I got the video camera, she was tired of the game.

Since John wasn't home when this happened, I tried to show him that she understood the next night. I said "Reagan, give Mommy a kiss." She came at me with a wide open mouth and gave me a nice, big, slobbery kiss. John was also lucky enough to get one too. However, the second time I asked for a kiss, I got more than I bargained for. Again, Reagan came at me with an open mouth, but instead of kissing me on the lips, she bite my bottom lip. It really was a miracle that she didn't draw blood or give me a fat lip!

But I am completely impressed with how much she is learning on a day to day basis and it really is amazing to see her put two and two together. What an incredible journey it is to be a parent!

11 Month 12 Month Pictures

The rest of the pictures are on Jackie's website now. Go to http://www.jackieboldtphotography.com/, then client galleries, password reagan11mos
A slideshow is online at http://www.jackieboldtphotography.com/slideshows/reagan11mos/

We took some of Reagan's 12 month pictures a little early because I wanted to get some family ones outside before all the beautiful leaves were gone. Also, there is possibility that our photographer could get put on bedrest, but we just don't know when so we wanted her to be able to take some of her 12 month pictures this past Friday. She was gracious enough to squeeze us in on "her day off" which didn't turn out to be a day off at all. At least we were pretty quick.

Jackie posted some of the pictures on her blog already and I'll put up the link again when the rest of the pictures are online.

www.jackieboldtphotography.com/blog

11 Months Old

Okay, I know her 1st birthday is on Friday, so I had to get these up before then!

Again, we had to think of a new and creative way for Reagan to sit still for 10 seconds. We first tried to let her sit by herself, but that was a failure. She just ran out the door.

Next we tried having John hold her, but that was the last thing she wanted to do.

Finally we put her in the glider because she likes to sit in there and doesn't know how to get down!

"Do we have to do this?"

"See, I'm THIS big."

"Are we done yet?"

Fun things at 11 months ~ I don't even remember anymore. The days get more and more exciting as she continues to babble and run around the house. We never know what she's going to get into next!

First (& Second) Haircut

I was tired of pushing the long pieces out of Reagan's eyes all the time, so I broke down and went to get her first haircut.

One last picture of the long strand in the back.

All she needed was to hold a comb and she was happy. Oh, and to watch Elmo on television.

You can tell by my face that I'm not too sure I like what I see.


Bye-bye dark ends. It's amazing how Reagan's hair lightened up after the ends were cut.

I knew as soon as we left that I didn't like how straight her bangs were cut and as her hair grew out I noticed that the back was VERY uneven. So we went to my stylist for a second haircut. Thank you so much to Kristen for trimming Reagan's hair correctly!

Pumpkin Patch Visit

After Jordy's game and a little nap, we decided it was a beautiful day to go to a pumpkin patch. We found one close to Elk River and it was really nice. Minimal crowds and a lot of good pumpkins. There was so much to see there, I think Reagan was a little overwhelmed. It was difficult to get a picture of her looking at the camera.

They had all kinds of displays set up where you could take pictures.

Reagan checking out the pumpkins and screws on the wagon.


We took a red wagon out into the middle of the field to pick out our pumpkins. Reagan was more interested in the wagon than the pumpkins.

"I want this one, Mommy."

They also had a little petting zoo with a donkey, sheep, goats, bunnies and chickens.

Final inspection of the pumpkins we chose. We got a daddy, mommy and baby pumpkin (and one butternut squash to roast).

Sunny Saturday Football

Okay, I know I'm really far behind. I keep telling myself that this is the week I'll catch up. This time I mean it. About two weeks ago, on a gorgeous 75 degree Saturday afternoon we were able to take in a great football game. Reagan, John and I cheered Jordy on from the sidelines and were really excited when he had a huge run up the field.

Reagan watching from the 30 yard line.

Reagan and 'Uncle' Todd

Reagan and Jaden had a good time emptying out my wipes container. Jaden turned Reagan into a Super-'her'o.

Jordy in his football gear.

John, Reagan and Jords after the game. I'm pretty sure that Jordy's team won.

Kim's Baby Shower

Last weekend I had the priviledge of hosting a baby shower for our neighbor Kim. Little "Nugget" is due in December (December 7th to be exact), but sounds like it may be sooner. Kim has been on bedrest since August so for her sake I hope the baby comes sooner rather than later (although December 8th is a good day to be born!).

Here are the invites I made. If I had to do them over, I would have printed the information off from the computer before I cut the circles out. Our theme was "modern rubber duckie." Kim loves bright colors (and I do too) so we stayed away from pastels.

I made my first attempt at making a diaper cake and I think it was pretty successful!

We played a baby stuff memory game. Most of the stuff was a gift to Kim, but of course we used some of Reagan's things too.

Kim opening gifts. Everyone had to bring a book for the new baby's bookshelf. Kim got lots of great books, but here she is showing off the classic "Everyone Poops."

Kim with her diaper cake.

There was a lot of baby talk at the shower, not only because it was a baby shower, but because there were three pregnant women there all due in the next two months!

Hope you enjoyed the shower Kim!

Amanda & Ellis' Wedding

I'm so far behind on posts, but I'll try to catch up this week. On October 4th, my friend from work, Amanda FINALLY married her boyfriend, Ellis on the same date that they met 7 years ago. I have never seen Amanda or Ellis look happier than they did on their wedding day. Unfortunately, the pictures I took of Amanda and Ellis with our camera turned out all grainy, so Amanda told me I could post this picture of them that their photographer took.

Reagan was really good during the ceremony! I was so relieved. The last thing I wanted was for her to interrupt an important moment in the ceremony.

I had the honor of being the guestbook attendant and making sure that everyone signed the picture frame that Amanda and Ellis had set out. I think I did a good job! Amanda has high standards, so I did my best to live up to them!

While I was at the guest book table, John had Reagan. One of Amanda's family friends also took a ton of pictures of the night and happened to take a few of Reagan. I'm so glad she did because I didn't get a picture of Reagan in her fancy dress.

Reagan was so tired at the reception since we had to wake her up early from her afternoon nap to go to the wedding, so unfortunately we had to leave before any of the dancing began. But it was a really beautiful day!

Another Busy Friday

It's amazing how fast our Fridays go. Even though I'm home, I never feel like I am. There so much to do when you have to . . .

Clean out the cabinets

Inspect the rocks

Check to see how the flowers are growing

Catch up on your reading

And text your friends (shortly after this picture was taken we instituted a new law at our house similar to the driving and texting law).

It must have been a long text!

And this was all within two hours!

Quick Catch Up

I'm a little behind in my blogging, so I'm going to try to quickly catch up. It seems like everytime I sit down to do it, the internet stops working. So here are a bunch of pictures from the last two or three weeks.

Talk about bed head! Gotta love her cute face!

While my parents were gone, John and I both took days off of work to stay home with Reagan. She had a cold, so I think she was happy that she got to stay comfy and stay indoors, although John and I felt differently. We missed some of the most gorgeous days of the fall. Hopefully, they aren't all over.

While we were home, she really bonded with this Macy's bag. Where ever she went, the bag followed closely behind! It was dragged through the living room and kitchen . . .

through the hallway . . .

And all around Reagan's room.

When John was home with Reagan, there was quite a commotion outside our house. A huge snapping turtle was just chillin' in the middle of the street. John took Reagan outside to sneak a peek, but was careful not to let her get too close.

Contemplating how to approach the turtle.

The turtle's name was Sheldon. Apparently that's how he introduced himself.

We also tried noodles with marinara sauce for the first and second time, and went straight from the highchair to the tubby after eating!