Thursday cuteness!

Where's your nose?

Ears?

Hair?

*the binkie is new (courtesy of Reese), a battle we have chosen not to fight since the arrival of Ryan's soothie sucking sister. Ryan hasn't wanted a binkie in probably 17 months but now that the temptation is staring her in the face, I guess it's too hard to say no. Like Girl Scout cookies.

Reese's tricks - yawning:

Sleeping like a precious little angel - she is a tummy-time loving machine! It's a shame she can't sleep on her tummy at night, mom would be one extremely well rested lady if that was the case.

Happy Easter!

While Reese didn't really get what all the hype was about with Easter, Ryan on the other hand loved her first Easter participating in the egg hunt. Right out of the gate, she turned and stole an egg from her cousin Jack's basket. That a girl! Shortly thereafter though, she got the hang of it and in the end actually started giving away some of her loot.

Ryan planning her strategy...

Reese opting for a nap instead

Ryan getting some instruction from Grandpa - it is his yard afterall

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On the hunt....

A quick break to give mom a hug

Why do all the work if I can just steal from Jack?

A full days work

Baby Updates....

We've almost made it two weeks and no major casualties! Reese is doing wonderfully - we are very lucky to have such an angel baby (knock on wood). She is back up to her birth weight (8lbs, 11 ounces) and is sleeping and eating like a champ. She really only fusses when hungry or if she senses Ryan is on the prowl:) Mom is elated to be getting 4-5 hour stretches of sleep at night, thank you Reese! Ryan has been entertaining to say the least....The first few days were a bit rocky as she wasn't a fan of the new baby or mom but now we're getting into our groove and Ryan enjoys pointing out Reese's hands, eyes, nose, mouth, etc..... She's turning into a little helper (although 'gentle' doesn't seem to be getting through to her) by bringing blankets, ba-ba's and binkies to the 'baby'. Although with the binkies, she more often than not is just straight up stealing them right out of Reese's mouth. Sisterly love. Ryan herself is becoming such a fun toddler (minus the tantrums) to watch - her vocab is expanding daily and her energy level is unmatched - she really is a funny little sh*t!

This pretty much sums up the first few days for Ryan:

Reese has already found her fingers, a nice replacement when her big sister hijacks the binkie.

Sisters....

Aunt Barbara & Uncle Bo came in for a long weekend - She and Ryan are BFF's - thank god for Barb's high energy level, she and Ryan don't stop and keep each other highly entertained. Barb did threaten to take Reese (she does fly free) but we'll just settle for frequent visits.

Hell has frozen over......Uncle Bo holding Reese ("babies are slippery")

Sweet little Reese hanging out.

Both Ryan and Reese love the Baby Bjorn bouncy seat (thank you Uncle Barclay) - we have literally used this seat almost every day for the past 21 months, the best purchase!!! Ryan of course now uses it as her own amusement park ride. She'll get in it backwards and start bouncing to the point where we think she'll be catapulted across the room.

Reese Bentley Stiff

We were all ready for our scheduled induction on Sunday (21st) so imagine our surprise Friday evening when the contractions started coming and didn't stop. In a whirlwind 5 hours, we went from hanging out on the couch at home to holding our beautiful daughter Reese in our arms. Reese Bentley Stiff was born at 11:45PM Friday, March 19th - she was 8lbs, 11oz and almost 22 inches long. She looks exactly like Ryan did at birth. Everyone is doing well, even Ryan is SLOWLY getting adjusted to her new sister. We're heading home from the hospital today so more pics to come as we get settled into our life as a family of four! Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes!

Love of a slide, no love for other children who try to play on said slide...

Sweet little Ryan - okay, maybe not so sweet, it starts off innocent enough - a 70 degree day, sunny skies, outdoor play at daycare. Then comes the time to take turns.....still a work in progress.

March updates and general cuteness...

We are 13 short days away from Ryan's sister's due date (if we make it that long) --- my doctor thinks we'll go early but time will tell. Meanwhile, we are physically ready for baby #2, perhaps not mentally just yet. We're anxiously awaiting to see Ryan's reaction to her new sister - I think it'll be a nice form of comic relief to see Ryan adjust.

Saturday morning doughnuts (mom's favorite diet of late):

We took Ryan to a 'new sibling' class at the hospital last weekend --- of all the toddlers there, our little diva was the only one who had ZERO interest in reading a story about babies and playing with the newborn baby dolls (in fact she cried and pushed the doll away), all Ryan wanted to do was head back to the big table and color. At the end of class we finally persuaded her to hug one of the fake babies. So while the class was a bust, we're slightly hopefully that any jealousy issues with the new addition can easily be cured with crayons.

So maybe mom has a problem.....Dunkin' Donuts twice in one day - Ryan got a munchkin donut.

It only took 20.5 months but we finally got a ponytail holder in Ryan's precious mullet. The girl HATES anything in her hair - getting this puppy in could be considered child abuse in some states but once in and she's distracted, she sported the ponytail for a whopping 5 hours!!!! Success.

The playground at daycare --- Ryan is always excited to see us when we pick her up in the afternoon but heaven forbid you get there moments after the kids have come outside to play. Whoa. No likey leaving the slide early.

This is for Babs!

Hell has no fury as an Aunt scorned. My sister came to visit two weekends ago and she is appalled (I mean APPALLED) that I have yet to post about it. Sorry Barb, a few other things going on at the Stiff household. This will be a little hard as we really don't really have any pictures of the weekend but picture if you will Ryan having a ball with her energetic, fun loving Aunt. Barb's visit came on the heels of Ryan getting in trouble at school for biting her dear friend Charlotte - Ryan was sent home with a book "Teeth Are Not For Biting" so Aunt Barbara made it her goal to preach "NO BITE" throughout the weekend. Every time she would say it, Ryan would stop dead in her tracks (kind of like she has heard that phrase a time or two before). Now, every time Ryan reads a book, there is some inaudible blabber and then sprinkled throughout her narrative you will hear "NO BITE" --- well done Babs, well done....

Jack and Aunt Barbara hiding from the 'biter' in their favorite spot. Notice the blue painters tape on top --- this small investment will keep children occupied for hours. Next Christmas Ryan would like a roll or two of tape and some cardboard. That's it.

Ryan, Jack and Nolan - who knew how popular a box could be?

Checking out god knows what.....