travelers

After a VERY long work week for both Lofton and I we also had a very eventful weekend.

Saturday night we headed to Lagrange for a wedding shower. My sweet friend, Braley, kept Reese at her house for us. It was his first time staying with someone that isn't family, but he did great. There was no shortage of attention from Anna Carson and Davis, and undivided attention is Reese's favorite thing. Davis was so sweet to give Reese one of his old trucks. {It makes a cameo down below.} He loves to roll it around... and chew on it.

The party was great and we had a good time catching up with friends. We picked Reese up around ten. He was wide awake when we got home, but we gave him snack and off to dream land he returned.

Yesterday we headed in the other direction-- Goodwater, Alabama. We went to see Lofton's grandmother, Marene, who celebrated a birthday on Tuesday. Lofton's aunt Linda was there also. Her church was having a lunch for their new preacher. It's called a pounding. Basically they give the preacher gifts and stuff. You can google it. I did.

Marene quite enjoyed showing off her great grandson! And he, as usual, ate up all the attention. He also ate some yummy food. Sweet potato casserole, rolls, and some chocolate cake.

great grandmother love

We took our new truck with us!

Yak

A little vocabulary lesson before I begin: Yak is a very technical term we use here at the Beasley house. It stands for vomit. It is neither classy nor appropriate in mixed company, but neither are a lot of the things we do here. That's just how we roll.

Last night I fed Reese his usual dinner of sweet potatoes and turkey and a fruit. I think last night he ate apples and cherries. Yummy. About an hour later he was playing in his jumper so Lofton and I could eat. After we finished, Lofton sat down next to Reese to play. Obviously, Reese wanted to escape the cage so Lofton reached over to lift him out. {I really hope you are trying to visualize this.} Lofton had to lift him relatively high into the air so Reese's feet could clear the jumper seat. When Reese was directly over Lofton's head he yakked. On Lofton's head. And down his pretty face.

I would love to say I was helpful, or even a little empathetic toward Lofton. I wasn't. I laughed until I was in pain. It was the funniest thing I have seen all week. And the fact that Lofton hates anything remotely gross {spit up, yak, poopy diapers} made it that much more amusing!

work daze

I'm at work this week. I wish I could think of a nice way to say this but I can't... being at work sucks. I'm not having fun. I love seeing my teacher friends, but I'd much rather do it in a different setting. I'd rather be at home with my baby.

Not to complain further BUT being back at work has been tiring for our little family this week. Getting home, chasing Reese around the house, washing/making bottles, doing laundry, cooking dinner, and bathing Reese in record time every night is wearing us out. All of us.

Reese has gone to bed at 7:30 both night's this week. He fell asleep in his high chair at 5:15 tonight when I was feeding him. It was pitiful. School is wearing him out, too. He just doesn't nap at school like he does at home. He is much too busy tearing down his crib mobile or crawling around the front office. He slept for ELEVEN hours last night. That is unheard of in this house.

Evidently he had a bagel with his yogurt this morning for breakfast with Ms. Maureen. Popular? Loved? Spoiled rotten? A little. But I'm NOT complaining about that. It is wonderful to know that he's being well taken care of and well loved.

Three more days and then I have five weeks of freedom left. Slow down, father time, slow down.

Father's Day

I’ve been working on this post for a few weeks now, trying to encapsulate into words how I feel about watching Lofton become a father. It’s harder than I thought.

Lofton was great from day one. No, he didn’t indulge my late night cravings for snow cones {Truthfully I indulged enough on my own. Thirty-seven pounds of indulgence to be exact.}. But he DID shout encouraging words from the bed when I was in our bathroom throwing up every night.

He attended every doctor’s appointment, rubbed my feet when I could no longer see them, and even shaved my legs a couple of times. Clearly nothing prepared us for the horror that was the birth of our child, but he was strong and brave and amazing.

I remember little about that night. My most vivid memory is of Lofton sitting by my bed after everyone had left and telling me, with tears in his eyes, that I NEVER had to do that again. And that if he’d known it was going to be that awful he wouldn’t have made me have children.

Since then he has put Reese to bed almost every night. That’s their time. He sings Reese old George Strait songs and prays with him before laying him in his crib. I think it’s fitting that Reese’s bedtime falls around 8:15, because that’s the exact time he was born, and Lofton was the person that got to hold him first that night. It’s been “their” time since the beginning.

In typical male fashion Lofton is always looking ahead to the next thing. “When will Reese smile?,” he’d ask. Roll Over? Crawl? But I know he’s just excited to see what’s around the corner. I swear he dreams at night of coaching soccer and taking Reese hunting.

Reese gave him a card this morning that said, "I'm so glad my Mama picked you to be my Daddy." Ha, ha. I guess that pretty much sums it all up! Happy 1st Father’s Day, Lofton. We love you.

Still one of my favorite pictures.

Happy Father's Day to my daddy, as well. He is the BEST. By far.

adventures

Our small family of three became a family of five, literally overnight. My parents, aunt and uncle left today for an "adults only" weekend trip to Nash-Vegas. That leaves Lofton and I as the parents of two TEENAGERS. Jackson {15} and Zack{13} are with us for the weekend.

Lofton was at work so I spent the day as activity coordinator for the boys. We had father's day shopping to do this morning, and after a delicious lunch of Toomer's lemonade and Mrs. Story's chili dogs one little boy was down for the count.

When Bunky got up from his nap, I rescued the teens from an afternoon of X-Box and we went to the Monkey Park. Reese had never been to the park before so i was excited to get him in a swing. He LOVED it. We must get a swing for our house!

Of course, I forgot the camera. Lucky for me, my crappy cell phone saved the day!

{Something is clearly wrong with his left foot in these pictures. Evidently he was sitting in an odd, possibly uncomfortable, position. Mom of the Year was too busy snapping pictures to notice.}

We are off to the lake tomorrow to celebrate two birthday's and father's day for the boys {Luke and Lofton} and Paw-Paw. I made a delicious looking chocolate cake this afternoon for the festivities. While I baked Bunky was being entertained by the boys.

I give them a hard time but they have actually been VERY helpful. Even arguing over who was going to hold Reese. I do believe I heard Jackson tell Zack, "I'll hold him. He's MY nephew." Whoa guys, I know he's cute, but there is enough of him to go around!

***Side note: I have to work next week. You know what that means. No frequent blogging. Sorry!

Click it or ticket

My husband was a little late getting home for lunch today. He got pulled over on the way home. By a police officer, who kindly followed him for two miles, waiting for him to put on his seat belt. Did he? No, he did not.

But the ticket is only ten dollars, he says. Or the rest of your life if you got in an accident and weren't wearing it. Would you let Reese ride without a seat belt? What kind of example are you setting for our son? And yes, I did say both of those things.

Speaking of mobility {this is a smooooth transition}, my son just crawled across the room to play with his dogs. He crawled. Across the room. Without coaxing or prodding. This new found freedom of his is frightening. He stands. He crawls. And he does it without a care in the world.

He is currently pulling Jake's tail. Bless these poor four-legged children of ours. They are in for a world of torture in the coming months and years. I can only imagine that soon Jake will be saddled and ridden upon. Oh dear.

play date

Rush and Sydney Frances {the twins} invited Reese and Avery {Massey} over to play this morning. We had so much fun! It was so nice to watch the little ones play and have some adult conversation and lunch.

Laura had the twins seven weeks before Reese was born, although they shared a October 9th due date. Avery was born in February 2008.

Reese loved chewing on someone else's toys for a change. And I only thought he was rough on a jumper. That cutie pie Rush was out of CONTROL in his jumper. I laughed and laughed.

Love it.