FEATURING: REAGAN VICTORIA HAYNES!!!

"Welcome Reagan Victoria" cake- How adorable is that!  And it was super YUMMY too!
This is Reagan with Ray Pierson ( family friend that we have known since I was Reagan's age!) We love you Ray!
Reagan with Ruthann (my grandmother on my dad's side)
Reagan exhausted after a long day with Aunt Opal
Left to Right: my sister Sarah, Aunt Adelle (host) Zana (my mom), me, Aunt Deborah (host) and Aunt Jessalyn (hosts mother)- picture is a bit blurry! Sorry!
Happy baby with Aunt Adelle
Left to Right: Aunt Opal (my dad's aunt), Grandmother Ruthann, Aunt Linda (my dad's sister), cousin Jenny (holding Reagan, and expecting her first! Reagan's 3rd cousin), cousin Emily and my sister, Aunt Sarah

My Aunt Deborah and Aunt Adelle (distant cousins on my mom's side, we call "Aunt"), had a "Welcoming" shower for Reagan on April 19th 2008- her 4 month birthday!  

I was worried about how she would do with many people holding her (for 2 hours), especially after her day before when we were on the plane all day- and she did absolutely amazing!  She giggled and laughed, talked and then slept- but not until the end!  But she didn't cry once! 

Adam is not seen in any pictures b/c he was playing golf with all of the men on my Dad's side of the family!  He had such a great time playing golf on Sat. he went again on Sunday!  How nice am I to let him go!  :)  **Brownie points!  

Layover in Houston-

"You're getting sleepy....."
"You're getting VERY sleepy......."
"Now you're happy!"
These are some pictures from the Houston-Hobby airport, while we waited patiently for our plane, that so graciously LEFT US!  Adam and I weren't as happy as Reagan was!  :)  But better for us to be mad, than her!  :)

Texas Trip!!

  Reagan looking out the BIG airplane window!

 Thumbs up to a sleeping infant on a flight! :)

We're home!!  Sorry, it has been over a WEEK since I have updated the blog!  We went on a trip to TX. to see my family and the week leading up to the trip, I was frantically packing- it was our first time traveling with Reagan by plane and I was very nervous, but she was an amazing plane rider, even under the circumstances of having to wait for our plane for over 2 hours! (Our flight from Orlando to Houston went great, but when we arrived in Houston we had to fly around for awhile due to weather, and our connecting flight to Midland was shortly after we landed, so our flight attendants told us they would hold the plane until we got there- well, did they hold the plane for us!? NO!!!  So, we had to catch the next available flight out, 2 1/2 hours later, and it wasn't a direct flight either, we had to go from Houston to Dallas, and then Dallas to Midland!)

 Reagan was such a sport! She had to pop her ears- going up in Orlando, down in Houston, up in Houston, down in Dallas, up in Dallas, down in Midland... all in one day!! And she hardly cried, (maybe once) she played and giggled and slept most of the time!  Thank goodness, b/c I was sweating, worrying she would disrupt everyone!  (and these planes were FULL- there was only one time when Adam and I had a whole row to our selves with one seat in between, other times we had to have someone else in the seat with us! Talk about pressure to be quite!  :)

Everyone thought Reagan was precious and wonderful, but bless her little heart- by the time we got to her Zana's (my mom) house, she was so worn out she cried for probably about 1 hour straight, until she finally went to sleep, and she was OUT from 5:30pm until 7:30am- this was Zana's first time to babysit, and Reagan did not wake up once!  Zana was sad, but I was happy, b/c I had never left her before!

Adam and I went to dinner with my best friend Kobi, and her husband Josh (for our first date since before was born; 4 months ago) 

FROGGIE

This is a new "teether" toy frog, I got Reagan over the weekend, and I thought this was a sweet picture of her sleeping (with bottom lip out), frog legs, and grasping onto her frog!  :)

COMPARISONS

DECEMBER 19, 2007 and APRIL 11, 2008 

WHAT A CUTE BUTT!!

This little girl LOVES to be naked, so we took some shots of her cute little naked body!

Being a mother......

I recently read a passage from "The Art of Mothering" book, and I really liked this quote; "Infancy passes very quickly. Hold those babies tight."  Boy, is that the truth! Looking back at Reagan's pictures from when she was only a few minutes old, it is hard to believe she will be 4 months old, one week from tomorrow!

"Being a mother is an art. I see other women devoting their time to becoming great artists, leaders, and poets.  They have their art, and I have mine.  And I wouldn't give it up for anything in the world."

Thank you Izzy!

Reagan is not a big fan of driving in the car- she HATES the car seat, I thought it would get better, but it just seems to be getting worse!  So, yesterday while in desperate need of something to calm her down I threw in a CD that Izzy bought us for Christmas; "Baby Lullabies"- (personally, it is so annoying!) but it seems to work for Reagan!  

The funny thing is that once she finally quiets down enough to hear the song, it is over! (They are literally about 60 seconds long) there is a long pause in between songs and she screams when it is going to the next song! AHH!  It makes me nuts, but at least it works for a little while! HA!

Mommy and Me

Check out these "cheesy" smiles! ... Guess she'll have her mommy's smile! :)
Today we went to Mommy and Me and we learned about surviving motherhood! Something very fitting! HAHA! Reagan's weight gain wasn't apparent today, because I found out last week I messed up- so her exact weight from last week is unknown but this week she weighed in at 12.8 lbs! These are a few pics of what we do at Mommy and Me; Eat, Sleep, and Play!

Sportin' Daddy's hat

This is ONE of Adam's favorite hats- and NO, he didn't attend University or Miami- he is an ALABAMA grad! - But he likes the hat, and we thought it would be funny to try it on Reagan- WOW is that hat BIG! HA! I always love the deer in the headlights look, but the side view is pretty hilarious also!

many faces....

These are the many faces of Reagan while at the Animal Kingdom Lodge- she wasn't really feeling all the MAGIC (that you're suppose to while staying at Disney!)  :)   (Good shot on the picture with her bottom lip out, Sally, that is priceless!)

Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

This weekend, Aunt Alyson, Cousin Ava, and Izzy came to visit us and we had a wonderful time! (more pictures from over the weekend to come.... please email the pics from your camera Izzy)

Anyway, they stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and on Monday Reagan and Adam and I went to visit Izzy (while Alyson and Ava were at the Magic Kingdom).  This hotel is so neat because the animals roam right outside your hotel window, and all around the hotel! Here is Reagan and I pictured with a big Giraffe! We saw all kinds of wild life!  Reagan wasn't too excited about all the animals yet, but it will be fun to come back when she is older! 

LAMAZE REUNION

LAMAZE REUNION

This is our Lamaze class reunited! Everyone from our 5 week class, except, one other couple, our Lamaze instructor, and a few husbands.  We met at Olive Garden on Sat. afternoon and chatted about our delivery stories, new baby stories, etc.  We had a really nice time- and the babies all behaved themselves fairly well! :)  Reagan was a little TOOT but she showed off her chatty skills (as seen in this picture here with her friend, Trinity).  This was a lot of fun and we have plans to meet again in June- it's neat to get together and see the outcome from everyone's pregnancies since we spent so much time together!

Praying Bear

This bear was given to me at my baby shower from my sister, Sarah.  It is very special because you press the bears' hand, and it says 5 different prayers for kids.  (Very sweet!)  So while Adam and I were getting Reagan for bed Friday night, we decided to put the bear in her crib, to see what she would do, and when we pressed the button for it to talk to her, she REALLY tuned in!  - Adorable!

Thanks Aunt Sarah! We love you!

Two Days in a row!!!

Finally, after working and working with Reagan to take a bottle- after refusing it for 12 whole weeks, she took the bottle!  Friday I was cleaning out her closet and came across a new bottle that had not been attempted (we have tried everything) and realizing it was a different bottle nipple, I thought I would give it a try.... after her afternoon nap, while still a bit groggy, I popped the bottle in her mouth and without any fight at all, she drank 2.5 ounces! I was shocked!  I made up another bottle quickly, to give her more, and she refused it! UGH! So, Sat. afternoon rolls around, and again after a nap, I popped the bottle in (seen in the pics) and this time she drank 3 ounces!!  I was so thrilled! so I packed a bottle, for while we were out (hoping we were on some kind of roll) and when she got hungry, she refused it again!  Thought we'd be able to trick her, but I guess not! But, keep the prayers coming that she'll take one someday!  Mama would love that! ;)

Sleeping Beauty

Easter pictures!

Better late than never!  Here are some of Reagan's Easter pictures! (Taken March 17, 2008) She kept knocking the Easter eggs off! :)  

12 pounder!

Alright, as we all know, I have been stressing about Reagan's weight gain since the weight loss at around 8 weeks (due to nursing issue, that have since been resolved by a lactation consultant)- As of last Thursday she weighed 11.13 lbs and today she weighed 12.10 lbs!!!!  She almost gained an entire pound in one week! Every week is a little bit different with her; 3 ounces a week, 5 ounces a week, 7 ounces a week- and so I tend to get worried we are going into a slump AGAIN with the weight, but she seems to be a BIG, CHUNKY, HEALTHY, little Angel baby!  

Remember to TURN UP your VOLUME and PAUSE the music at the bottom in order to hear this- This video was taken yesterday (before our Moms Meeting Moms class)- She LOVES "tummy time" and likes to talk to us while on her Boppy pillow (featured in video) - as you can tell, when she starts to slide off, the frustration begins! :) 

We've found the thumb, ladies and gentlemen!

Yippie!  I caught this pic of Reagan yesterday morning (after 11 hours of sleeping) when I HAD to wake her up in order to get to our "Moms Meeting Moms" class.  

We knew she would be a thumb sucker when ultra sounds showed her sucking her thumb, but who knew that it would take over 3 months for her to actually figure it out!  She was not a pacifier baby, hates all plastic- won't even take a bottle! But, after all the struggle with trying to get her to "pacify" herself- we're finally getting there! :) *You never think about it, but while in the womb, their hands are smashed up close to their face, and when they come into the world, and their hands aren't in one place, they don't know how to keep them in their mouth! Interesting...........

She is such a wonderful little baby, mommy just hopes she doesn't take after her with the thumb, I think I sucked mine until I was 6! ..... and needed braces! 

(But almost all kids get braces now days, so what do ya' do!?)