Whata weekend!

Bryan turned 31 on Saturday! In honor of such an occasion, I threw him a little party. It’s been a while since Bryan's been able to truly hang out with our friends so I decided to have everyone over to our house for a daytime gathering. I had two crock pots going and a table full of food. Reed so graciously slept in with us till 8am that morning...Happy Birthday Dad! We were hoping Reed would get a good morning nap in so he would be good to go for the day. First attempt was 11am. He did NOT want to nap, threw a fit. I tried a few more times and he managed to fall asleep for about 20 minutes after a period of expressed displeasure with the idea. I tried about 4 more times that day with no luck. I even took the boy on a walk and nary a hint of shut eye resulted. He does not want to miss a thing! Reed hung out all day with red eyes, he was so tired…but generally happy. Not super happy fun Reed, but awake and content. Whatever! I’ll roll with it. Thanks to everyone that came out and celebrated Bryan! Happy Birthday Babe!!

The sleepless walk :-)

Do you see those tired red eyes?

Chase "Pick me up Daaaaad".

"Yay"

Birthday Cake

Birthday Cupcakes



Making a wish (reminds me of a whole year ago Bryan's 30th)



Hanging out

Compliments of my Dad

This picture describes the new version of me, I can't focus on one thing anymore, I'm always doing a million things at once! Look at Bryan's expression "Quick, hurry up and take the pic, she's going to tell me to do something!"

If the boys are going to be out late Linsay always get their PJ's on before they leave, such a smart Mom move. Then you don't have to deal with all of that when you get home and they can stay in their sleepy state. :-) Brayden was telling me how old he will be in a few weeks. 4!

The Kagle's

Since Sunday was so beautiful we decided to venture out. We took Reed to his very first Pumpkin Patch. Homestead Gardens was having a Fall Festival. Complete with pony rides, pigs, and face painting. We showed him the ponies and the pig and plopped him in front of pumpkins to capture some precious moments. He was so confused by the whole experience and its written all over his face.

What is this place? What are these ridiculous orange things and this prickly stuff?

"Interesting....hay".

"Eh, Mom, this stuff is weird and what the heck is that awful smell? Is that a pig?"

I got this Mom, let go.

See! Standing with a Pumpkin, woohoo!

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

That doesn't look like Lena...

We even saw Roosters and listened to them crow, almost on command. All Reed could do was stare! He was experiencing so much. I am not sure if he could see the Lama’s in the distance.

While we were at it, we decided to go out to dinner. We stopped at a local Mexican restaurant and Reed got to sit  with us in a highchair. He was having fun enjoying the sights. I noticed two guys in the back tuning up their guitars and eyeing up Reed. A few minutes later they came right up to him and started playing! He was serenaded and didn’t know what to do about it. It was the cutest thing ever. He looked back and forth at each musician and they just sang and played their guitars with a huge smile while he just STARED at them. He was SO into it and fixated, it was adorable.

I can’t even imagine what kind of baby dreams he had that night!! Enough to make him sleep all night. ;)

No words needed!

My 9 month old!

Seriously? Are you really 9 months today?? Why did my pregnancy feel so much longer than these past 9 months???

In honor of your 9 month birthday you are sprouting 3 teeth! Two on the bottom and one on the top left, I just noticed it yesterday morning.

You’re so smiley and cuddly and you love to pull my hair and laugh about it. You also love looking and playing with my necklaces. You’re ticklish everywhere and you’re really into staring at Daddy right now. You still have bright red (orange?) hair but there is a strip of blond sneaking in the back. You’re eating everything we’re offering right now, especially in love with your morning fruit and oatmeal.

You do have one freckle on your cheek; I think that is one of a million to come. ;)

Here's a recent pic, playing with one of your favorite "toys", Mommy's measuring cups! You can stack them and they make a lot of noise. ;)

Happy 9 Months Reed!

Big Boy Lunchbox

You never know when its going to get you. You imagine its going to be the big milestones that make you cry in happiness and sadness (sadness because that makes them less of a baby) but it seems like its the little things that catch me when I least expect it.

I've been packing Reed's bottles in his little Medela bottle pack since he started daycare. In the past few months I've been stuffing a container of his pureed veggies or fruit in there and recently I've added another container for his breakfast. As you can imagine, its gotten pretty tight and is now too small. Thus began the search for Reed's first real lunchbox, a big boy lunchbox. I was so excited to pick it out and thrilled when it came to my door, but when I started to pack it and write his name on the inside I had visions of him carrying it to school, putting it in his cubby and opening it all by himself at lunch....I know this is quite a while before any of this happens, but it made me realize that he's growing up fast! And this stupid adorable elephant lunchbox is just the beginning...

Then last night I saw this commercial-Dear Sophie
Have you seen it? I was in tears! Bryan walked in the room as it was ending and I started to try and tell him about it and I couldn't, each time I tried I got choked up! You just never know when its going to hit you.

It hit me on the Sunday Reed was baptized as well, it was written in a card from a dear friend. The words were just so sweet and touching, I got teary eyed while trying to read it out loud.

To make Monday's even harder than they already are, Reed decided to actually notice me leaving for the very first time today and yes....he cried! How am I ever supposed to walk away, get in my car, and go to work like that?

Onto happier notes! Here are some pics that have been living on my phone.

Reed enjoying a brew at Oktoberfest. J/k!!!

This is Reed and I leaving Joe's Oktoberfest Birthday in DC. He was such a good boy that day, even as we walked through the crazy crowded H street festival!

Another big boy moment-drinking from a sippy!

  I had my 10 year High School Reunion on Sat night! Where did the time go? This was Reed's very first time being put to bed by someone other than me. I was so nervous about this. Gma and Gpa watched him while we went out and I expected Reed to be laying on one of them when I got home. While that pretty much was the case for a few hours (thank you Gma!) He was fast asleep in his pac & play when we got  home. Wow.

Bryan and I at the Reunion

I'll leave you with this sweet picture. We let Reed get in bed with us in the morning, after he has his morning feed, he sometimes falls back asleep in our bed. Again, how am I supposed to get out of bed and get ready for work with this little one snuggling with me?

Being Reed :-)

Reed's Baptism

I’m so behind on blogging but have so many wonderful things to share!

The biggest of all is my baby boy was Baptized yesterday! We had him Baptized at Christian Community Presbyterian Church. He was amazingly good. I’d been fretting about how he would react to the water, how he would behave during service, and how he would handle being awake during his normal nap time. He was absolutely perfect! He made his little “owl noises” that sound like “who who” during the service, but nothing disruptive. Pastor James held him and poured a very generous amount of water over his head several times while blessing him and Reed didn’t even flinch! I think he knew what was happening and was being a perfect little boy.;) He didn’t make a peep. He was completely content, the water didn’t seem to phase him one bit. Maybe it’s all that practicing in the bath! When all was said and done, Pastor James held him up to the congregation and said “This kid is fearless!”

I was overwhelmed by the love and support given to me and Bryan in recognition of our son's Baptism. I am so incredibly appreciative of everyone that was able to come out and share this very special day with us. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Aunt Katie and Uncle Troy asked Ryan (Troy’s brother) to photograph the event, I am so thankful for this because I was so busy watching and taking care of Reed that I would not have been able to capture it myself. I am so anxious to see these photos and will of course share with you as soon as I get them. Here are a few from my phone to hold you over.

Reed had been up since 7am, it was now 3:30pm and he was napless (but happy). So I threw on the old moby and he passed out in my arms! Perfect way to end a truly special day. Sigh...

In other awesome news.....sometimes I let Reed take a sip of my water from my glass, I did this on Thursday and to my surprise when the glass entered his mouth, I heard a little "clank, clank".  I was so confused at first....then it hit me, thats teeth, TEETH, oh my gosh, there are signs of teeth! You can't see them yet, but sure enough, Reed has his two bottom teeth coming in!! I am so proud of him in so many ways right now. :-)

Beach Screaming

I finally hooked up my phone to my computer and my phone is where a ton of pictures and videos reside. Here's a video of Reed enjoying the beach in Maine a month ago. As I've mentioned before he screams when he's happy. So let the screaming begin....(ignore my stupid commentary)