rees genre

Here it is folks: Football Season! Occasionally I'll notice a little smile on Chris's face, and I know what he is thinking about. Nope, it's not me, it's a battle on a hundred yards of turf (plus endzones ), where sweat and blood make boys into men (and vice versa ). Chris has been tutoring Davin on terms that he needs to know for the upcoming season, such as touch-down, spread option, and 3-3-5 defense. I had a proud moment. Davin was walking down the stairs wearing his (only) BYU Cougar t-shirt (which is too small, btw , and he could use another one, maybe in 3T). He looked down and pointed to Cosmo on his shirt and said "Cougar." I knew that he was ready for the BYU season. Of course, his aunts Amy and Susan saw that Davin was well-prepared for the University of Texas season. Because of his full Texas wardrobe, he can recognize Bevo without hesitation. This season we should have a few more options for attending Wake Forest home games; Chris had a great t...

Our "city cousins", the Christensens of Jersey City, New Jersey, visited us during our last week in Raleigh, NC, and we had a great time showing them around our more "rural" surroundings. Raleigh isn't really that rural, but apparently the abundance of trees and greenery made Kaia (the Christensens' two year old) think that she was on a farm. We had a fun day at the beach near Wilmington, played at the pool, explored the natural history museum in Raleigh, shopped at the farmer's market, and just hung out together. Davin loved having Kaia around as a constant little playmate and we had a great time celebrating Asher's first birthday. It was a fun way to spend our last week in Raleigh before heading back to Winston-Salem and to school. We certainly appreciate our friends for using their vacation to visit us and we can't wait to see them again! For more pictures, please see our web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/katiearees/ChristensenSVisit

Though I don't claim to know the mind of God, I think that he asked us to be parents in this life so that we could understand his position a little better. This morning I made banana bread for breakfast. We had a couple of bananas that were past their prime, so the frugal little housewife in me decided this would be a good end for their use. Davin loves bananas. I have seen that boy engulf three whole bananas at a time. As a special touch, I included nuts in the bread and on top in a streusal topping; nuts are also a no-fail-make-the-toddler-happy food. Breakfast is Davin's meal; he often eats more than I do, which makes me feel like it is okay if he doesn't eat as much the rest of the day. The bread baked perfectly and I called the boys in for breakfast. Instead of shoveling the banana bread into his mouth, Davin refused to even try it. (I think that Davin woke up on the wrong side of the bed today; it has been that kind of a day.) He has had (and loved) banana bread befo...

Did Newton have a toddler? I was pondering the Newtonian laws of physics (something most stay-at-home moms like to do) and how they aptly apply to living with a toddler. Newton's third law states: "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." We recently packed up our Raleigh house and moved back to Winston-Salem. As I made great effort to put Davin's toys into their baskets and get them ready to load into the car, Davin made an equal effort to see that the toys were removed from their baskets, thus undoing everything I had done. This phenomenon also occurs when I do laundry. I change the pile of dirty clothes into clean clothes, then transform the pile of clean clothes into a stack of folded clothes, which then are placed in drawers. Davin takes the clean clothes out of the drawers, turns the folded stacks into piles, and then turns the clean clothes into dirty ones. As he is developing a stronger sense of his personal will, I can see that we will...

Chris + []' +-+ -.3-------------------------- I started this post and Davin decided to finish it for me.

Davin is saying a lot of things these days, but unfortunately there are some things he doesn't say yet, like "Mom, the reason why I'm crying is..." or "Dad, I need this because..." The latest is "Mom and Dad, the reason why I am not going to bed is..." For the past few weeks, we have had a hard time keeping Davin in bed at night. He gets out, opens the door, and giggles "funny?". "No, not funny. Back to bed!" This scenario happens three or four times, sometimes taking two or three hours to get him to sleep. Chris and I become parent detectives, analyzing every aspect of his bedtime routine, pajamas, bed construction, room construction, nap schedules, food schedules, room temperatures, room light, and ambient sound. Our conclusion is that it is the ambient noise. A few weeks ago, our landlords replaced the noisy fan in Davin's room. I was worried that the noise would keep him awake, but little did I know that it may be helpin...

It happened a few days in a row. I actually enjoyed breakfast, and to celebrate, Davin and I had blueberry buttermilk pancakes with oodles of syrup and orange juice. Then it was three or four days of feeling good in a row and the fleeting thought started to creep in--"Maybe, maybe I'm done..." And then this morning, I barely made it home from taking Chris to work before stepping out of my car and loosing it on the driveway. The frustrating thing isn't so much having continuous episodes of morning sickness long after the magic three month mark, but the expectation that they should be over or that they might end at any time. Waking up in the morning and thinking, "hey, I'm feeling okay, maybe I'll make it today" to loose it a little later, the mind game becomes unbearable. Some have asked if I'm feeling any different from my last pregnancy and things are pretty much the same, but that's okay. I don't want to become a martyr to my curr...