The happenins at the Reeds!

Yes, time flies by when you aren't really looking. We have had some huge milestones in our family. Nathaniel has decided to join the world of the walkers! YEAH! He started about 2 weeks ago with a few steps here or there but now can walk across rooms, and even if he slightly slips he rights himself and is ready to keep on going. He also can clap. He does it just a little bit but we are excited to see him do that.

Little Steven is starting to say more words. We are all working so hard to get him to watch us talk and then to repeat the word we'd like him to say. His favorite words so far are Hi, Bye, Daddy, doggy, and ball. He said the words together, Bye Daddy, the other day which was awesome. We took a walk yesterday since the weather has been so beautiful and he was so good holding the stroller as we walked. A definite sign of maturity. He loves to throw trash away, help cook in the kitchen (we made no-knead artisan bread the other day), and he enjoys sitting at the piano playing and singing at the same time.

Happy Birthday to the Boys!

Well we were finally able to celebrate the boys birthday's. Steven turned two and Nathaniel the Big One. They looked so cute in their Birthday boy shirts from their Aunt Sharon. Steven wasn't sick, but the weather turned so we couldn't have our big park party. But they had so much fun with their cakes which were little trains. Nathaniel smeared his everywhere and Steven got through about half. We'd like to thank all of our family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews who helped to celebrate the birthday of these two sweet, wonderful little boys.

A New Year Begins!

Yes, we are into the new year of 2009, and I'm a little behind getting my posts started. We made it through Christmas and the New Year's. I have to say I enjoyed the holidays this year. I wanted to just relax and not be so much on the run and I do have to say that I liked doing it that way. The past two years I of course couldn't travel to see family and ready to give birth to our boys, but I wouldn't have changed that either.

I feel like I should backtrack a little with what happened with the boys this past month that i haven't been blogging the way I wanted to.

Nathaniel went from having two teeth to eight teeth so quickly. Because of that he can eat so much food. We call him the bottomless pit. There is very little that you could put in front of him that he won't eat. He also got taken off the bottle cold turkey last week. He loved the bottle but I was running out of liners and thought this was as a good a time as any to try it. Of course he would rather have the bottle but he is officially ONE Years old now and so being a big boy comes with big boys privileges. He is our child who has NO FEAR! I will repeat that, NO FEAR! He will climb on absolutely anything including us. We call him monkey because he does climb everything, so he even got a Curious George monkey for Christmas. He is such a daredevil and so luckily his older brother keeps an eye out for him. I get the boys dressed on our bed a lot because it's easier, and Steven was watching a cartoon, and Nathaniel was the one getting dressed. Well, I of course had to move away from the bed for a minute, thought Nathaniel would sit still, but he was on the move (like usual). So, I hear Steven yell at Nathaniel, "Thaniel, No!" This stopped Nathaniel in his tracks and gave Mommy enough time to address the situation herself. Steven also tries to get Nathaniel out of the cupboards that he shouldn't be in. It is incredible to see how mature little Steven is getting. He is learning so much so fast.

But, let me finish with Nathaniel first. Nathaniel loves to blow raspberries, and can also give kisses now. He sometimes likes to have his teeth brushed, and is starting to go down stairs backwards, since he has thoroughly has mastered going up them.

So, onto Steven III. My little baby is turning into a little boy. He started to unlock doors and open them so now all our door handles have the safety knobs. He can climb up on the piano bench and loves to play the piano and sing at the same time. He has realized how good junk food is so we have been trying to teach him to eat what is on his plate and then he can have treats. This is super hard to do. He also can raise his eyebrows up and down comically. Grandma Reed says she has never seen a child do something like that before. Of course he still loves going outside and is getting so fast on the little scooters. He can even climb up and go down the slide by himself. He still needs Mommy of Daddy to catch him though. He hasn't quite mastered landing yet. He has just been switched to a booster chair for eating, and may soon be losing his pacifier. I think that that may be a hard few days. He has gone down to one nap a day but I feel like he needs more. He is so independent and can do things for himself. He puts on his own sandals to go outside and can undress himself when it is bath time. He is also so loving and kind to other children. He will get toys for Nathaniel when he is upset and give hugs to others. He easily shows affection for people and loves to give hugs and kisses.

So this short recap has brought us to Christmas. The boys this year were able to eat breakfast first and then open presents. They had some toys set out that they enjoyed playing with. Lil Steven was more than happy to open presents (only after a couple), and Nathaniel just wanted to play with the toys. He really didn't have any interest in ripping wrapping paper off them. They both gave out though and had to have naps, and then proceeded to open presents later. I know little Steven didn't understand yet the traditions so I am looking forward to next year.

We went to Apollo Park last week and saw the ducks and geese. The boys just loved seeing the birds and ever since then, Little Steven has noticed planes in the sky. He points up at them and says something. I'm sure he knows it is a plane.

We have a wonderful family and have been blessed so much this last year and I am grateful for the things I do and do not know of in my life that have happened to me and my family.

Boy, it's been a long time!

It has been almost a whole month since I have been blogging. I realize that my only excuse has been that my internet has been so sporadic that if I get to check my email then I consider myself lucky. I'm going to be working on getting everything back up to date. I am so happy that Prop 8 has passed and I hope that it will continue to stay in effect. I am glad that I was able to work on such a monumental effort to preserve the rights of Californians.
Our little boys have changed so much so hopefully I can show you all how things have changed.

Vote Yes on Prop 8!

Please send this email to any friends or family that you have in the state of California. Also, please visit the following websites to show your support to vote “YES” on Prop 8.

Protectmarriage.com

Preservingmarriage.org

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m sure that many of you know about the current Proposition 8 that will be voted on November 4, 2008 here in the State of California. I was able to attend last night a broadcast titled “The Divine Institution of Marriage.” Many things were outlined of the great importance of working diligently to help it pass. Proposition 8 would add to the California State Constitution that marriage will be defined as a union only between a man and a woman.

I have been working with the “Yes on Prop 8” campaign because I know and believe that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. I know this to be a fundamental principle of my faith and children should have the right to be born into such a union.

These are my concerns that would come to be if Prop 8 were to fail.

1. I would lose my freedom of how I could practice my religion because sanctions could be placed on me because I could be considered intolerant.

2. My children would learn at school that same-sex marriage is acceptable even though it is contrary to our beliefs.

3. Our churches could be penalized legally and lose their tax-exempt status because they teach doctrine different than what law dictates.

4. Religious adoption agencies who work so hard to place children in homes with a mother and father would have to either close their doors or provide adoptions to same-sex couples.

Please don’t misjudge my feelings as being intolerant. The Savior is tolerant, which means he loves everyone but he does not agree with some of their choices. I have friends who are gay and they will continue to be my friends but I do not have to agree with the choice in lifestyle they have made.

My final point is that my rights as a voter have been taken away by a court that should not be able to do that. When Proposition 22, which passed with 61% of the voters support, was overturned, our rights as United States citizens were encroached upon. The only thing that would change for same-sex couples is the definition of marriage. They already receive every other benefit that heterosexual couples receive, so none of their rights would be taken away, but so many of MY rights would be. Intolerance goes both ways.

Please let others know how we should vote “YES” on Prop 8 to retain our rights.

Sincerely,
Shanna Reed

New adventures with Little Steven!

A new fad is hat wearing at the Reed house. Of course it has always been a struggle to get Steven to wear his hat but now he goes to his hat box, picks one out and parades around the house. He is so proud. He also has learned to put on his own pajama bottoms, even though we are still working on getting him to pull them up. He also has started taking big kid gummy vitamins. I got the kind with sugar on the outside and he thinks he is just getting a treat. He takes it and over a 5-10 minute time frame he will lick off the sugar and then finally will eat it. It can be annoying but he really does enjoy it.

Little Steven Loves to take these little glasses, grab a bib and wear it and walk around the house. I think that he thinks that he looks cooooool. He is so cute and funny when he does this.

Little Steven has figured out that he loves popcorn. We went to a little street fair Saturday and got some popcorn for daddy and everyone. He immediately sat down next to Grandma (who had been working out in the hot sun all day long) and promptly went for the popcorn. It is actually a great motivator and helps him change what he is doing. Gotta love it.

On Saturday, Daddy got this old school table for really cheap at a local college auction. We think it will be great for the boys. It can be lowered down and as they get older it can be raised up. So of course as Daddy was lowering it, little Steven felt that he needed to help do the same thing and be right in there with his dad. Don't they make a great team.

Steven the King.

Here is Steven and his daddy. He loves to be outside and even more to be outside with his daddy.

You can't tell but Daddy is on the other side of the teeter totter. This was when a whole bunch of my family got together. There were 8 out of the 10 kids there (I'm the 10th). We had a great dinner and got to spend a little bit of time together. This was the most cousins that little Steven Has been around and they ranged in age from his on up to high school. I think that it overwhelmed him seeing all those kids playing , he just didn't know what to do with himself.