I *heart *faces....especially this one!

So, I technically think this is my most favorite picture of my little man. This was right before his lip repair, and it really is one last look at him before his looks changed forever. I miss this face, and yet, I love his "new" one just as much as this one. I'm glad I got to fall in love with his two beautiful faces! Check out the other black and white photos this week in the contest by double clicking the button below. Enjoy the beautiful photos!

Sisterly Sweetness...

We were getting ready for our doctor's appointments this morning. Ellie wanted to be my big helper. And Reid was very compliant to just stand there and be patient (this is TOTALLY out of character for him!). I thought it was super sweet. And, an even sweeter thing happened after I took this picture. Reid bent over and kissed Ellie's hood. Love it. Pure sweetness. Wonder how long it will last???

7:15 am....Saturday....why not???

Ok...so last night, Ellie wanted to do something "special". She wanted to make cupcakes. By the time she thought of her idea, it was already closing in on bedtime. But, Brian and her made the cupcakes and baked them. She was so tired, (hasn't felt well all week) she told Brian that she could just frost them first thing in the morning. So, here we are! Literally, it was 7 am...and she was bouncing down the steps singing a made up song about frosting her cupcakes. So, here she is...bed head and all!

She was so excited to frost them by herself. She probably dreamed about this!

Diving in!

Yesssss......but now the hard part....waiting until lunch to eat them!

And when Reid woke up, he also had to take a peek at the delectable creations that his sister had made! Can you tell he is smiling super wide?? I am sure it will be quite a messy lunch at our house today!

Wonder.....

This week's contest is all about wonder. I truly wonder how long Ellie's eyelashes will grow! In this picture she was 15 months old. So sweet! Please check out the link below to some other great faces of wonder.

Mmmmmm.....Cherry....

......flavored bath foam. Reid wouldn't listen to me....he just had to taste it. Gross, huh? Thank goodness for non-toxic products!!!!!

Mmmmm....the sweet smell of...

Well, the title of this post was suposed to be the "sweet smell of Valentine flowers", but Reid thought that it made much more sense to taste it instead. The boy's mind is ALWAYS on food!

It's ALL about the cracker...

Don't mind the kid-mess of a house you are about to see....just listen closely and enjoy Reid's FAVORITE word. Probably even more favorite than, "MaMa!" Enjoy!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Silly Willy

This is my Silly Girl. I think this contest is fun...and Ellie always is one to give so many smiles and grins to others, I just had to post this picture! Check out this website http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ for lots more silly faces! Enjoy! <

Allison and Shannon....

Hey, Allison and Shannon....you both asked me questions concerning our kitchen wording that we have on the walls. Yes, they are vinyl adhesives that I actually ordered online from a company called http://www.vinylattraction.com and it worked out really well. Allison, the one in our dining area reads....

Lord, Bless our house as we come and go,
Bless our home as the children grow,
Bless our family as we gather in,
Bless our home with love and friends.

We had good luck with this company. We actually had trouble with the sticker that I mentioned above at first. It did not adhere correctly....so they resent us another one, and then gave us a credit for our trouble...and that's how we got the other adhesive above our front door! Thanks for the compliments, girls.....and have a super rest of your night! Hugs to the kiddos...

Kitchen remodel..done!

Well, folks, we made it! Even through snow days, sick kids, and working around workers schedules that were difficult at times...we are done with our kitchen flooring. Here is the final result. By the way, Jen...this post is dedicated to you...I know you have been waiting to see the final product.....tah dah!
Walking in our entrance way into the eating area.

Eating area

Island area with folded laundry on the counter and Ellie's half eaten lunch, too!

Kitchen area looking into back hallway towards laundry room.

Half bath on left and laundry straight ahead.

Reid's playground....a.k.a the 1/2 bath

Looking into the laundry area.

Looking towards our front door.

Ahhhhh....home sweet home!

Reid's palate and top gumline

I am going to apologize for the blurriness of these photos ahead of time, but I wanted to get a couple of shots out of Reid's palate and gumline. We are now 3 1/2 months post op from his palate repair, and I think things are healing very nicely. His top gumline is a bit of a mess, and I wanted to show you what we are contending with. His premaxilla (top gum that was pushed back into place during his lip repair) is in nice position, but the teeth that are coming out of this area are quite a mess to say the least. His very top 2 teeth are rotting and broken. They are also HUGE. One is slit into 2 parts almost and is great at leaving marks when he BITES! : ) I am not worried about his teeth in the least. If we can tackle a lip repair and palate repair....we can deal with this. I just wanted to give you a glimpse inside Reid's mouth.

He was less than happy that I was lifting his lip like this and then using a flash besides...what a mean Mommy!

This is fuzzy....and he was actually laughing here. I was tickling him. You can see the palate repair. See the line down the center of his mouth? No holes! (he does have one back top molar...look top right)

Another shot of his palate and top gumline, and look at his eyelashes! Sweet!

The REAL Snow White....

Ellie went to another princess party for a friend's birthday last weekend....and SNOW WHITE came! It was so fun to watch all these little "princesses" just watch every move that Snow White made. Ellie even got a Belle doll to take home which made her day since she was dressed as Belle for the party. What a fun time.....Thanks, Clara...and Happy Birthday!!!!
My little princess so happy about spending her day with other princesses!

Faces....."It's in the Eyes"

Just thought I would enter my favorite "eyes" picture of Reid that I recently took into this fun contest. The theme this week was, "It's in the eyes". I just think he looks so ornery here....but I am in love with those baby blues! Be sure you click on the button below to see more adorable faces!!!

So far behind....

I apologize my blogging friends....I am SOOO far behind in posting. Will I ever catch up??? I hope so. Life has just been a little crazy here....getting a new floor put in, 3 snowdays in a row and couldn't be at home, sick kids, parent teacher conferences, laundry stacking up and not able to do any for 7 days, computer time??? Are you for real??? So, life has just been a little crazy. I am ready to post some pics soon, and look at your wonderful blogs when I have some down time. I feel so out of the loop. I haven't been able to even look in on your lives to see how YOU all are doing....but never fear, I WILL catch my breath soon...and then we will be back in business. Love to you all....and more posting soon to come.....

Oh, and one more thing while I am here. I am putting together a Power Point presentation for my Mother's Study group in March about our beautiful kids. They are going to donate a smile in honor of Reid to Operation Smile. I would love to use your kids' sweet smiles for my presentation. I want to show them "real" kids that I have grown to love and learn so much from. I think the more personal I can make it, the more it will mean to my group of moms. If you DO NOT want me using your child's cleft smile in my presentation....just drop me a comment. I absolutely will not do so, if you are against this. My hope is to make a video and then make copies for you all and send them out. You all have been a light for our family...and I want to highlight all the beautiful smiles that helped get us to where we are now. Just let me know, though, if you do not want me to use your child's photo. Thanks, in advance.....and more posts to come soon!

What could be better???

.....a sucker in one hand and a princess giving him hugs? Reid has it pretty good!