Reece Turns Two!

Reece is two! She is such a happy, sweet, and smart little girl. She loves, loves, LOVES Tinkerbell and Curious George. I think George is slowly but surely getting pushed out of the picture by Tinkerbell, though. Every morning when I was her what she'd like to watch while I work out, her response is always, "Tinkabell!"

Her birthday was on a Sunday this year, which was General Conference. We got up in the morning, watched conference, had a yummy brunch, watched the next session, and then got ready for dinner! Derek and I had picked up some pizza (one of Reece's favorite foods and one of the few foods we can count on her eating), and I had made her a cake. The presents were wrapped, some of Derek's family came over, and we were ready to have a party!

Reece got tired of opening presents after four or five, so Derek and I were doing a lot of the unwrapping. But she was completely spoiled and got lots of fun presents.

She actually blew out her candle, which I was impressed with. Reece has never been much of a cake fan, so she didn't eat much of her cake. But she ate all of her ice cream, plus some of mine. (She has me to thank for that particular food preference.)

Reece is putting together full sentences, and it's so fun to hear her speak in complete thoughts. She still has those adorable toddler grammar errors, like, "Mom, be careful fall me?" Translation: "Mom, if I'm not careful I will fall?" She double checks the rules with me all the time, whether it be no standing on chairs, no shaking the baby gates, or no running in the house. "Mom, no run Wama's house me?" Translation: "Mom, no running in Grandma's house?" It's darling. She loves her daddy to pieces, and when he's home, she is definitely a daddy's girl. But Derek has been so busy with work and now school at night-time, that we don't get to see him nearly as much as we want to.

I can't believe that two years ago I had this tiny, precious, perfect newborn. Now she seems like such a big, grown-up girl. We love you to pieces Reece!

Thetford Family Reunion 2014

I know, I'm so behind on my blogging that it seems almost useless to try and catch up. But try I will! This last summer my family's reunion was in Seaside, Oregon. We rented a house which was just a block away from the promenade, and the best part is that it fit our entire family! We all got to stay under one roof. We had breakfasts together in the morning, lunch was usually "eat it when you can", and we had dinners together. Other than that, our days were incredibly laid back and relaxing! After breakfast, we would eventually make our way down to the beach and spend the majority of the day playing in the water and the sand.

I love the beach. It has to be one of my very favorite places to be. Reece, however, was not such a fan at first. She was a little over-tired, which probably contributed to her grumpiness, but she also wasn't sure what to think of the feeling of sand all over her feet. She warmed up to it after a while and then she had a great time!

After our days on the beach we would come back to the house, have dinner, put kids to bed, and play games! That's one of my very favorite parts. My family loves games, and while we play the conversation is always flowing and laughter always seems to follow.

We spent the first three days of our family reunion in Seaside, and then we all made our way back to Graham to spend the next couple of nights at my parent's house. We had a day on the lake and a day together up on Mount Rainier.

It was so good to be all together. Our family is getting so big now that when we are all together, we naturally fall into little groups. It makes it difficult to spend time with everybody, but it's so fun that my family is growing and getting so big!

Our Visit to Tennessee

It was a Sunday afternoon when I texted Derek and told him that I missed him. This text wasn't out of the ordinary (to be honest, I probably texted him that at least once a day), but his response was different this time. He said, "Why don't you and Reece fly out for a visit?" Within a few minutes, we had a flight chosen and I was going to book it the next morning.

My level of excitement was ridiculous. I couldn't wait to get to Tennessee and get to see Derek again. Reece was pretty excited too. Every time I asked her if she was excited to go see Daddy, she would scream, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"  My flight left SeaTac on Tuesday, March 18 at 8:00am and Reece and I arrived in Nashville at 4:40pm, which was 7:40 for me and Reece since we were on Washington time.

The flight went surprisingly well! The first leg, from Seattle to Atlanta, was probably the most difficult one. It
was an almost five hour flight and it was completely full. Thankfully we got an aisle seat and the young man sitting next to us was very kind and thought Reece was the cutest thing ever. However, what made it so difficult, is that I was exhausted! I had to fight sleep the entire time and Reece had enough energy to share with five other people. But, as we were getting off the plane, the people in the three rows ahead of us turned around and were amazed that there was a toddler on the plane! They said things like, "Wow! I didn't even realize there was a baby. She's a great traveler!" And it's true. She was a champ.

Waiting at the gate!

A little blurry, but this was taken just a few minutes after getting on the plane. Reece's very first time!

We made it to Atlanta and the flight from there to Nashville was a piece of cake. It was a 40 minute flight and only half full, so Reece go to have her own seat by the window. She loved it! She kept playing peek-a-boo with the ladies behind us.

As Reece and I were trying to find our way down to baggage claim, we hopped on an elevator. I thought I had heard the flight attendant say that we needed to go down to Level 1 for baggage claim, but as I moved out of the way in the elevator to let some people off at Level 2, I heard, "Taylor! Tay! Hey Tay!" I looked up, saw Derek, and reached out just in time to stop the elevator doors from closing. Of course we wouldn't have a Hollywood reuniting moment, where our eyes meet across the baggage carousel and our hearts are filled with an overwhelming feeling of love while cheesy, romantic music plays in the background. We're the kind of people where those situations are somewhat awkward. But it works for us!

I'm pretty sure I have a picture of Derek and Reece together at the airport just outside of the previously mentioned elevator. But for some reason I can't find it anywhere. Maybe it's on Derek's phone. Anyways, I'm sure we have some absolutely adorable photos of Derek giving Reece a giant hug while she says, "Hi daddy!" It was ridiculously cute.

As we were walking toward the correct baggage carousel, we heard over the intercom that I was to go to the baggage claim office. And if you are currently thinking, "Oh no, they lost her bag," you would be correct. My bag didn't make the connection from Atlanta to Nashville. The girl told me that my bag was already on a plane heading to Nashville and that it would be delivered later that evening. 

During our visit to Tennessee, Reece and I stayed with Marcie. When we got to her house Tuesday evening, she had three other kids there with her because their mom had to run to the hospital to do a newborn shoot. So we all hung out, helped watch all the kiddos, and Reece got totally and completely spoiled by her auntie. She got a pair of hot pink cowgirl boots, a new My Little Pony shirt, and a couple pairs of socks. (I don't think I'm forgetting anything, haha.) Once the kids had been picked up and the boys and Reece were in bed, Derek, Marcie, and I sat down to watch The Voice. It was so nice to be able to sit and watch one of my favorite TV shows with Derek again! 

Because Derek was still working while I visited, he had to go back to his hotel that night so he could get to work the next day. He stayed there Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night. So during those days, Reece and I hung out with Marcie and the boys! We had a blast. We got to eat at some restaurants that are only in the south, we went to Hobby Lobby (it was my first time and yes, I fell in love with that store), we ran some errands, and overall just enjoyed spending time with Marcie. 

Reece and Levi playing peek-a-boo through the window. Sorry Levi is all blurry. He is always moving!

Pushing the cart at Kroger in her awesome new boots, a new jacket, and her new pretty pink purse all from Aunt Marcie.

On Thursday Marcie had to go to work for a few hours in the morning until the early afternoon. So I stayed home with Reece and Levi. Reece, for some reason, was suuuuuper tired. She slept pretty well the night before, but I think she was just having a difficult time adjusting. Anyways, she fell asleep while sitting up on the couch around 11:30am. I tried to keep her awake so she would take a really good afternoon nap for me, so I decided to stand her up on the floor. This is what happened.

She just crumpled into this little ball of total and complete exhaustion. It made me and Levi laugh pretty hard. 

On Friday after Derek got off work, he picked me up and took me out to dinner. Marcie was kind enough to keep Reece for us. While in Tennessee, Derek found a small, privately owned fried chicken restaurant. It's in this tiny little shop, and the guy who owns it is running all around the kitchen in the back, cooking the food and taking orders over the phone. It's just him. He makes his own seasonings, breading, sauces, etc. And let me tell you, his food is AMAZING.

On Saturday morning, before heading back to Clarksville to get Reece, we stopped by the cemetery where Johnny and June are buried.

After paying our respects, we headed to Marcie's to get Reece and the fam so that we could go see the sights of Nashville! We visited the Grand Ole Opry, the mall right next to it (where Reece got some ridiculously cute Nikes), and the Parthenon. It was a lot of fun and Reece loved running around the Parthenon with her cousins.

This picture melts my heart.

I love my girl.

The next day, which was Sunday, Derek and Reece and I tried to go to church, but we didn't know that it was her stake's conference. So we showed up at the wrong building, two hours after the meeting would have started. But we tried! So we went back and Marcie and I made wreaths! She taught me how to make a wreath, and it was SO MUCH FUN. This is the one I made.

We all just lounged around that evening and I enjoyed the fact that I got to spend a lazy day with my husband! The next day was Marcie's birthday! We went to the mall so that Marcie could get a couple of things, and we ended up in Children's Place where Derek and I bought her a new pair of pajamas, a floral jean jacket, and a new skort. Reece got ridiculously spoiled! 

We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I had never been, and it was delicious! Reece was a crazy lady during lunch, and was actually kind of naughty, but she enjoyed herself.

Then we went home, Marcie and I each got to take an afternoon nap, and it was beautiful. Derek and I got Marcie a cheesecake and some yummy toppings for her birthday dessert, and one of her good friends made us dinner! So we had friends over for dinner and dessert and enjoyed a nice, relaxing evening together.

Marcie's back hurt, so Reece and Derek helped out.

These two make me so happy.

Derek had to leave that night. It was even more difficult saying goodbye to him than I thought it would be. I guess I just love him too much. I'm pretty sure it took me five minutes after he left to stop crying and wipe off the tears. I hate that he does that to me. The nerve of some people!

Marcie was really sweet to us the entire time, and was especially nice to us the next day. She took us out to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then we watched Frozen! I didn't get to finish the movie before we had to leave for the airport, but I got to finish it on the plane.

At our gate waiting to fly home.

Reece was a champ on the flights back. She was so perfectly behaved in the airport and on the plane for the first flight which was a little over an hour, and then slept through most of the second flight. It was a long day of travelling for both of us, and we were completely wiped out afterward, but getting to go to Tennessee and visit Derek and see Marcie and the boys was more than worth it.