The three B's.....

Baby - Bjorn - Barclay
As Reese was trying to catapult herself across the room on her favorite toy, I thought we should give another 'thank you' to Uncle Barclay for the baby gift that truly 'keeps on giving'.  We got this little puppy back before Ryan was even born and it has gone though the following stages with each girl:
Practical and a lovely containment device:

ryan

reese

Half and Half (half containment, half Ryan trying to bounce the daylights out of her new sister):

no judgements that the safety belt doesn't appear to be on reese, no excuse other than surely there was some adult supervision taking place here

same here.....belt should be on (especially with ryan at the helm!)  do as I say, not as I do

 And now we graduate to barcalounger (fitting name)

 And the final phase:  personal toy, death device, roller coaster, catapulting carrier

And a walk she will.....

Please pardon a certain camera hog trying to take the attention away from the Reeser's big milestone (and I'm not referring to myself):

Pans are for playing...

Certainly not cooking as society (and the Cooking Channel) would lead you to believe.  On a rainy afternoon, what could be more fun....For the record, I did not lend a helping hand - those two beauts raided the cabinet drawer and got every last one out themselves.  Of course there were numerous scuffles over who got to play with what.  Naturally.

Stop growing up...

Just stop it Reese.  While she isn't full on walking just yet, the girl is gaining more confidence.  She'll walk 3-4 quick steps and then dive into your arms.  And sometimes by 'dive' I mean, her sister tries to body slam all 20+ pounds. 

Open for business.....

With the warm weather last week came the annual opening of Grandma and Papa's uber fancy cottage on the deck.  I'm sure their neighbors luv all the plastic.   Anywho, it's Reese's first year to fully appreciate all this little gem has to offer:

How hard could it be?

To get one decent picture of both girls in their matching little outfits?  Well, apparently it is impossible:

Dual purpose buffet table....

Whatcha looking at?   Never seen a baby in a piece of furniture before?

 It's the perfect size for me, don't tell mom and dad about the big hole...

 I could have a lot of fun in here

Sunday Spencers Series

Spring Fever

Thanks to a Kirkwood School District teacher day, Ryan got the day off yesterday (and therefore, mom took the day off work) - we headed to the park to enjoy the 60 degree weather in February!

Sorry for the lackluster photos but you try keeping up with a toddler insistent on playing on the 'big kid' playground, let alone getting out your camera to take some decent shots.  

Full moon

Which would explain Reese keeping the bow in her hair....and not trying to eat it.

New friends!

The Stiffs would like to proudly welcome the newest additions to our family:

Oh how we love thee already, like you've always been part of the family.

Now for the not so pretty:
Why wouldn't there be a 3 inch hole straight down to the basement underneath the dishwasher.   Gotta love an old home.....

 Or some randomness behind the microwave.  Sure, that's up to code......

Chunka, chunka burnin' love....

Dare she be overlooked because her sister tends to take the attention, our little chunkers, Reesey, is making a name for herself.  She's already in her sister's 18-24 month clothing - so items I feel like I just 'retired' from Ryan not 6-8 months ago are breathing new life and she just recently upgraded car seats.  Our 'baby' now exceeds the weight limit of her former ride and graduated a month early to the forward-facing sect.

 Of course Ryan still tortures the poor child.....when you're in need of an ancillary drum, use your sister's head.

Sunday Spencers Series

The Reesers has been under the weather, she's still around and we're loving on her to pieces - don't think by the lack of pictures that we've sold her on e-bay or anything.  We'll focus on Miss Reese Bentley this week, more to come.....

We're back in business!

As promised earlier, my teaser photos....

Our new baby, the Canon 60D, oh how fun you are....welcome! 

 Granted the empty fridge is kind of all for not at this point, considering there was no rush to clean and pare it down - it'll still be a member of this family until next Wednesday.  Sad that it took a potential sale to finally spiffy this guy all up.   No judgements that our 'essentials' were deemed:  wine (2 bottles), jelly, eggs, cheese, hot dogs, milk and coffee creamer.

Oh, and a special thanks to Picasa for taking our money and giving us the extra online storage space to make these photos possible.

Back in business

Well at least the video portion (Ryan, part II) thanks to You Tube.....it's been a hell of a Friday capped off with Grant and I debating whether or not our Craigs List appliance purchaser was really in a 'bad accident' as her sister's text claims and therefore can no longer pick up our old appliances. A blessing in disguise really as LG decided they won't be delivering our new friends tomorrow as planned. Well, not a 'blessing' if she legitimately was in an accident (god forbid) but we're doubting her story as her flaky history this week would lead you to believe she is a weaver of tales.....

Stay tuned....

The oh so mean people at blogger just informed me today that I have exceeded my limit for uploading photos.  Grrrrrrrr.  Especially as today's post was going to tease you with two pics (let me paint the mental image for you) - one, of the new fancy camera we just got (thanks to a generous trade-in deal for the old one by the fine folks at Creve Coeur Camera) and second, of the almost-completely-empty-except-for-some-cheese-hot dogs-wine-milk refrigerator.  Cross your fingers that the lady on Craigs List who is due to pick up all of our old appliances tonight actually shows up.  We are making room for our new stainless steel friends, due to arrive tomorrow (minus the microwave, boo to the hoo as it's apparently now on back order). 

Okay - off to investigate increased storage on the internets......

Mom, here's the deal.....

Mr. Mom was on call last weekend while I was out of town for work.  Drop off to the north Jack! 

A few notes:  both girls are still alive and there don't appear to be any visible injuries.  Kudos to dad for doing it solo for 5 days, including Super Bowl Sunday, most men may have thrown in the towel or hired a Swedish nanny.   On one of my many calls to the girls Ryan says "okay mom, here's the deal:  you're at the beach and Reesey needs a bottle".   

A random little video we took a few weeks ago for your Wednesday night entertainment

Shake your grove thing....

Ice, ice baby....

So we have been held hostage in our own house by the weather for about 24 hours now and then end isn't really in sight.  School has already been cancelled for tomorrow.   Here's a brief recap of our captivity:

 Somebody is happy to have mom and dad all to herself

Baking muffins to help pass the time away

 One of the godsends this winter storm has been a dry erase board and some markers.....if all is too quiet in the world, rest assured Ms. Ryan has done something questionable:

Secondary TV seating:  when we want to strangle Nick Jr. and Disney, it's time to bust out the car DVD player so mom and dad can catch up on the real stuff

Two of my favorite quotes today:

1.  Ryan to Reese:  Reese stop it, Reese I'm serious!

2.  Ryan's new response to anything asked of her:  Sure, okay*

*it's also her response that in reality means "I didn't even hear what you asked, I'm just saying 'sure, okay' to get you off my back.  I have zero intention of doing what you just asked me to do"