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Here we are together with Taylor and Chandler Smith To my delight, Davin is learning to sing. I know that he knows a lot of the words to the songs that we sing because occasionally he would sing with me, but he never really initiated a song on his own. He liked to sing "Love One Another" with me, interjecting his own phrase "ye are my disci-apples" (the phrase to the song is "ye are my disciples"). At Christmas, he would help me finish "Angels We Have Heard on High" with a rousing "In excelsis de-e-oooo!!!" From a boy whose first word was "ball", it is only appropriate that his first song should be "Take Me Out to the Ball Game!" He asked me to sing a ball song the other night at bedtime, and the baseball anthem was the only one that came to mind. Now I catch him at odd moments during the day singing "buy me some peanuts and cracker-jacks" or "root root root for the home team." He is also starti...

The way that the local news channels react to snow, you would think that catastrophe was moments away. "The impending doom of snow will come into our area shortly after midnight, causing widespread panic, shutting down the city, and making drivers loose their wits." Sorry for the gentle teasing, my dear southern friends, but I can't help myself. It does seem a little funny when getting a dusting of snow and freezing temps justifies missing church or school the next day. We can't be too smug about it, though. Our first year in Virginia, we laughed when they cancelled church for a snow storm, but learned our lesson later that day when we slid into a guard rail and damaged our car. Driving in the snow here is more difficult than in Utah: the roads are narrow and winding, they don't have regular snow removal, and the other drivers don't know how to handle snow. I'll also admit that I'm starting to think like a southerner as well. A few years ago, we were i...

Last week we had the great opportunity to catch a few bugs. Yes, I am being facetious. Fortunately the bugs were not insects crawling around our house. Chris will testify that I am not a fan of bugs in the house, particularly ants. Unfortunately I am referring to the viral sort of bugs, the kind of bugs that invade your system and compromise your ability to act normally (well, at least less normally than the Reeses normally act). Davin woke up one day with a cough which later developed into a fever, a couple of days of being sleepy on the couch, and a couple of days being cranky and full of cabin fever. Rowan picked up the cough a few days later, but fortunately avoided the fever and crankiness. Chris, who usually has the immune system of a rock, even managed to catch this one as well. Bugs combined with gray January weather led to a small house full of people sick of being in it, sick of each other, and sick of being sick. The last straw was when my computer caught a bug too! Yes, eve...

The single boys at BYU let out a collective cheer: Amy Stevenson has returned from her mission! The city of Buenos Aires and Argentina in general mourned her loss ("Don't cry for me Argentina!" she sweetly said as she boarded the airplane {sorry, I couldn't help myself}). We are so excited to have her home once again, even if home is in Utah and we haven't yet had the opportunity to hug, cry, and laugh together. However, she was thoughtful enough to send fun Argentine gifts including a tango cd, Argentine treats, and a couple of awesome football shirts (soccer for all of you gringos) for the boys. Davin is now a club Boca Junior fan while Rowan sports the Argentine national team wear. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!! For more images, please see: http://picasaweb.google.com/katiearees/ArgentineShirts

We had the sad pleasure of watching BYU lose to Wake Forest this week. The Demon Decons battled with the Cougars on Jan 8th, but I think the Cougs were unprepared for the intensity that the Coliseum can bring. It was a little hard being at the game (though we did have a lot of fun). We attend Wake basketball games frequently (Chris can get us in for free on student tickets) and cheer enthusiastically for the Demon Decs. On occasion, I would forget who I came to cheer for because I was so used to clapping along with the Wake fight song. However, one glance at us and there could be no question as to where our loyalties lie. We were outfitted by my superfan mom and grandma in the latest BYU apparel including the "Fully Invested" t-shirts and blue and white striped stocking caps. Davin wore his BYU football uniform and stocking cap and even Rowan had a BYU t-shirt and hat. One member of our ward has a box at the Coliseum and we were invited to hang out there with other members of...

As mentioned previously, Davin is obsessed with anything ball. This week he has been sick with a yucky cold and fever. He spent a couple of afternoons on the couch. What do you think he requested to watch? None other than the Golf channel and the Tennis channel. We watched reruns of great matches for both sports. I asked him if he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse or something on the Disney channel, but he insisted on golf and tennis. Sigh. For Christmas, Chris's sister-in-law, Angela, generously gave him a croquette set. Davin was almost more interested in Dad's new game-that-involves-a-ball than his own gifts. A few days ago we had a warm afternoon, so we took Davin and Rowan to a soccer field near Chris's building on campus and set-up the croquette game. Davin was so excited to play "croak-ie golf", as he called it. However, I discovered that I have been a grumpy mom lately. If anyone thinks that the Rees household and Mrs. Rees herself floats along on clouds of co...

My sister, Tiffani Stevenson, made a comment on a previous post (Somewhere beyond the sea) stating that she felt special to finally make mention in my blog. Well, if that's all it takes to make her feel special, I would like to dedicate this post to her so that she knows how special she is.

Rowan and I had a conversation yesterday. This is a real novelty because up until now it has been all grunts and cries. However, it is like a little light bulb turned on inside and all of the sudden he is no longer a wee newborn, but instead he has transitioned into baby- ness . He coos and sighs at us, and occasionally we can catch a smile. He likes to look at things, and his long gazes are filled with small expressions of wonder. We come into this world naked and blind; what an amazing thing it must be to really see for the first time! It has reminded me that I need to look more closely at the detail of the world. It is as if Rowan is trying to tell me, "Gee Mom, have you noticed how cool the fabric design on your car seat is?" or "Wow, Mom! Look at your fascinating blinds!" :) My favorite moment is when I look into his glossy little eyes, I can see myself reflected in them. I am such a big thing in his field of vision, yet if he only knew how humbled I am to be h...

We had a great time playing in the Outer Banks. Generally considered a summer vacation spot, it is actually a lot of fun in the winter time as well if you are content to play like a land lubber (actually we did see a few brave souls surfing). One benefit of traveling to the OBX in the winter is that the house prices are comparatively cheap (our house was 1/3 the price of peak weeks in July). We loved the house that we stayed in; it was the perfect size for our family with ample room left over. It had all of the equipment we needed for babies, Christmas cooking, etc. The hot tub and fire place made it a comfortable winter stay and the large game room with Foosball , air hockey, pool table, and video game equipment added to the things to do. Even though we couldn't go into the lighthouses, they were definitely worth seeing. Davin made a new friend at the Bodie Lighthouse: a twelve-week old puppy named Jasper. The two of them enjoyed playing with Davin's soccer ball. Our house ...

Changing families sometimes means that traditions need to change a little as well. With the addition of Rowan into our family so near the Christmas holiday, we had to modify our Christmas plans. We should have traveled to Austin to be with Chris's family, but I wasn't sure I would be up to traveling. With a sister in Maryland and two siblings in Argentina on missions, my parents decided that they would be able to travel to North Carolina this year with my youngest brother, Matt, in tow. We rented a beach house in Nags Head in the Outer Banks where everyone one met by Christmas Eve. Chris, Davin, Rowan, and I arrived at the beach house a few days earlier and got everything set-up. We bought groceries and even found a tree. When everyone arrived on Christmas Eve, they helped decorate the tree. Chris made his traditional German dinner (bratwurst, potato salad, rolls, vegetables, etc) and we later had eggnog and German Christmas cookies. Mom and Dad were in charge of the Christmas...

We hope that everyone had a lovely Christmas this year! Love, The Reeses.

As a relatively new parent, I have to admit that it is fun and exciting to shop for gifts for my little ones. As much as I complain about additional noise and clutter, it is almost impossible to avoid getting sucked into the frenzy of buying toys. I try to pick things that are more educational and stimulating, things that we can do together and that will be self-entertaining. However, there seems to be little correlation between the amount of money spent to the amount of fun to be had. A few weeks before Christmas, Davin got a big box in the mail from his grandma. The box had his Christmas gift in it, so its contents were hidden away (the contents of the box were much smaller than the box itself so it seemed a strange justification to use such a large box). The box itself has provided hours of entertainment not only for Davin but for his friends as well when they visit. It has reminded me of the simple things that can be hours of fun for a little mind. Leave it to adults to complicate ...