Reed's Busy Day!

Reed woke up this morning and had to get ready for school. Last week, Reed had a bit of a tough time at school, so we were a little worried about him going today, hoping that he would not cry too much.



Well, it didn't start off so well. Reed cried when Abbey dropped him off. She left him anyway, hoping he would calm down. I didn't go to work today, because I have an infected knee and Britton's mommy also, nurse practitioner extraordinaire needed me to come in so she could look at it and give me some medicine. She gave me some antibiotics and she cut my knee to let the gross stuff out! Yowwy!!!



I worked from home today. After Abbey and I ate a late lunch, I went to MDO to pick Reed up. Now, you must understand that we don't walk around introducing Reed as our "adopted son." He's simply, Reed, our son. Reed will know that he is adopted, but we aren't going to emphasize that he is our "adopted son." We just want him to be our little boy.



Abbey said that when she first took Reed, the teacher gave her a quizzical look, but she didn't say what was bothering her. The lady even tried to help move into the conversation by telling Abbey that her son was a dwarf (her words, not mine. I know that the correct term is little person). Abbey didn't really expound. She then asked Abbey "what her husband did for a living." I think Abbey might have told her I was a childhood specialist or something.



Anyway, all of that to say that she seemed pretty shocked today when I came to pick Reed up. Reed squealed LOUDLY and said "Daddy!" and crawled right to me. The teacher stuttered "You must be Reed's daddy." I proudly claimed my SON! So, I guess now, maybe she has figured out that Reed was adopted, not that we care. Maybe she will ask where he is from next week.

Oh, and the really important thing, is that after about 3 minutes of crying, she said that Reed had a great day! He ate all of his lunch and played with the other babies in his room. She did ask if it was hard to get housecleaning done because he was completely mesmerized by the swiffer wetjet. I assured her that Reed was dearly in love with cleaning tools like Vacuums and mops!



We went to have Reed's 1 year pictures today at Mrs. Jodi's studio. We had our Easter outfits and they were really cute. Reed was not as interested in the pictures as he was with Mrs. Jodi's two BIG dogs! Reed is not scared of dogs, period! Not even German Shepherd's apparently.



Reed also loved Mrs. Jodi's youngest son, Jacob! He though Jacob was funny. I can't wait until we get the pictures, because Reed had the CUTEST expressions today! His pictures are going to be so cute! We can't wait until next week when we get them back. We will be sure to post some of them on the blog.



Reed even got to ride on Max!



Reed was so tired after his eventful day, he konked out in the van on the way home!

6 Months! Can You Believe It?

Reed spent a lot of time outside today. Of course, he had to have his time in the swing. That was fun. Reed decided to dress up and wear his screen printed tie shirt today.



Today is our six month Reediversary. Reed didn't quite understand how important that is, but that's a whole half of a year!



I think that the above picture is one of the cutest ever of Reed. Look at his face and how he is hanging onto the swing ropes. It's hilarious!



After I got home, Reed and I went outside to swing a little bit while Mommy went to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. Reed and I think went to the front yard to wait on Mommy to come home. He loves it when one of us pulls up. He squeals!



After supper, we took advantage of the extra daylight and went on a walk. Mommy jogged some, but since jogging is against my religion, I just pushed the stroller. I guess I shouldn't say it's against my religion, but strenuous exercise seems to be a bit sadistic in my opinion. Eventually, I hope that I will enjoy exercising.

Today was very pretty, but it was a little chilly, so we wanted Reed to be warm. We put his puppy hat and mittens on. We were shocked that he never tried to pull either of them off.


And now ... For the Six Month Letter.

Dear Little Guy,

I can hardly believe that you have been with us for 6 months. That means close to half of your life you have been with us, but for Mommy and I it feels like a lifetime. You have brought so much joy to our lives and so many other people. Some people whom you have never met and quite possibly won't meet are even touched by your beautiful smile and happy personality. I want you to know how proud we are of you. You are learning to talk so well. You love to say Daddy, Mama, Bloon, Bye, Pweece (Please). But, your favorite word is "Hey!" You say it with the cutest southern accent and you say it to EVERYONE! When we are walking through Wal-Mart, into a restaurant, and at church, you are sure to greet the people you see. You have begun to get a little clingy, but that's okay, that just means you are bonding to Mommy and Daddy. You still love to go to church. Sometimes, when I am at work and I need a break, I look at pictures of you on my Mac. If people walk by my office, I bet they think I am silly because your face always makes me smile. At night, I always give you a bath and then your bottle. You love to curl up in my arms when you finish your bottle. It makes it really hard for me to put you in your bed! Reed, I love you so much. You are such a blessing. You have made Mommy and Daddy so happy! WE love you!

love, Daddy


And now ... Because you all have been so well behaved, here's your reward. A new video!

What's Happening in My Backyard?

Pop Rox got his post-hole digger out and started pulling dirt out in our backyard.



Then he put some wood in the hole. But what was he doing?



He started leveling out the posts, but we still didn't know what he was doing.



More wood? Hmmm...



Lola and Reed couldn't figure it out.



Then he started securing the posts.



Reed just couldn't figure it out!



Until ... the swing went in! Reed has his very own swing in the backyard now!



This is fun, Pop Rox!



"I like my swing!"



"I bet you wish you had a swing like this?"



"Lola is a really good swing pusher!"

Snow Baby!

Yesterday, while Reed waited on Lola and Pop Rox to get there, he decided that he needed to push his John Deere around.



In the meantime, he was giving out plenty of his cute little looks!



Finally, Lola and Pop Rox arrived with gifts. One of them, the spinning light egg, really impressed him.



He wanted Lola to help him make it work.



It was VERY COLD and SNOWY when Reed woke up this morning. I was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where it was 80 degrees. I think that Reed would have rather been there, and I know that I would have rathered Abbey and Reed to be with me.



After a long nap and waiting until the snow was sufficiently melting, they headed outside to examine the snow.



Reed doesn't really love the snow. Wait, Reed really DOESN'T like the snow. Where Reed was born, he would have never seen snow, so he's probably always going to prefer sunny weather most of his life. I certainly cannot blame him.



Reed had his first snowball.



Don't let Mommy's face fool you, she doesn't really like the cold either.



Some perspective into the depth of the snow.



Now, we're all home together again!!

When Daddy's Away...

He takes the Mac with him. This leaves me with the Toshiba, which isn't necessarily a bad thing...except when I try to blog and can't. I haven't been versed on Picasa. Don't worry, though, Daddy (AKA Jeff) will be back tomorrow and you'll get two great days of pictures.

Reed has had a busy day, full of tractor pushing, naps, a new balloon, and a visit from Pop Rox and Lola. Reed will get to enjoy his grandparents all weekend, and Jeff will be home from Florida (while we endure a winter storm, with 3-5" of snow predicted) tomorrow night.

I'd also like to take the opportunity to welcome another friend of Reed's - our children's minister Shannon, her husband Kyle, and big brother Jacob welcomed Ava Lauren into the world yesterday. We visited her, and she's beautiful! Congratulations to our friends!

A Walk in the Park

Reed woke up this morning early, AGAIN! He slept great, but he has decided that 6:00 AM is a wonderful wake-up time. We're hoping that Reed is going to really enjoy "springing" forward this Sunday morning.



Reed got to watch "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" today for the first time. This is sort of like a Chinese Dora the Explorer. We think that it is interesting because Reed's third name is Kai and our last name is Land, so he is a Kai Land.



Reed also enjoyed reading a new book today. This book has foam shapes that pop out.



He played hide and seek around his exersaucer for a little while.



After lunch, Reed and Mama decided to go for a walk. But, first you have to stretch. Reed didn't want to get any cramps from Mommy's walking him in the stroller.



We have wonderful parks in our city and they are all connected by a walkway called the "Greenway". Reed loves to get to go on walks outside. I think that the sunlight really gets him in a good mood.





Reed doesn't miss a thing on his walks. He points at everything to make sure that you don't miss anything.



Reed's special surprise was that Britton and his mommy also came to the park for a walk.



Reed wasn't sure what he thought about Britton coming along at first.



He was shocked that Britton had a nice stroller too! Sometimes he thinks that he is the only person who knows how to do something or has something. Like, the way he is shocked EVERY time someone he meets knows "patty cake!"



The walk was tiring for the boys, so they decided to take a nap towards the end of the walk.



Britton sleeps to the right.



Reed sleeps to the left.