.:Growing:.

I forgot to put Reece's stats from her two month appointment. She weighed in at 10 pounds, 14 ounces, which was about the 55th percentile. She is now 23 and 1/4 inches long, which was the 83rd percentile. I can't remember her head circumference, but she was in the 65th percentile for that. (Yep, she's a Stewart!)

I had to clean out her drawers yesterday of all the clothes that she's grown out of. I can't believe that I am already having to do that! I was updating her scrapbook tonite as well, and it was crazy to look at her older pictures. She really has grown and changed so much just in these two months. It's just going by so quickly! I need to remember to just enjoy every moment because it will just keep going faster and faster!

.:Thanksgiving:.

Our Thanksgiving wasn't anything to be excited about. Josh had to work both of his jobs, so he was gone for the whole day. It will be nice to get that time and a half on his next paychecks! Reece and I were going to go with Josh's dad, sister, and grandma to his aunt's house. But Reece decided to catch a little bit of cousin Millie's cold on Wednesday nite, so I was worried about her being around so many people. I knew she would be cranky, and on top of that, everyone would want to be holding her and touching her, which is also overwhelming to her! To top it all off, I ended up getting sick on Thanksgiving Day as well. Since last Thursday, I've been battling some sort of stomach bug. I've been throwing up and nauseous. So, Reece and I stayed home by ourselves! It didn't even really feel like Thanksgiving. But Josh's dad, sister, and grandma came by to visit us on their way home, which was really nice.

Even though it wasn't the greatest Thanksgiving ever, I still have so much to be thankful for:

* Josh. He puts up with my moodiness, works two jobs to provide for us and also allows me to be a stay at home mom, is a great husband and wonderful father, and a worthy priesthood holder who loves the gospel. I love him so much!
* Reece. Whenever she smiles at me, I just want to freeze the moment in time because it is the most precious thing I've ever seen. She is so beautiful and sweet, and I just love her so much. I feel so blessed to be her mom.
* Our families. They all love us and support us, and we are so blessed to have them behind us.
* Our friends. We have lots of wonderful friends that are so supportive and loving of us as well. I feel so grateful to live where we do, and to have made the friends that we've made.
* Our home. Even though we are so tight on money right now, it is nice to know that we own our home. It is great for what we need right now.
* Our cars. I'm so glad we have these to help us get where we need to be, and even better is that we have no car payments!
* The gospel. Without this, it seems like our lives would be meaningless. It's so wonderful to know of our Father in Heaven and our Savior, and how much They love us and care for us. I'm so grateful to know the truth of this life, and our purpose here.
* Prophets and modern day revelation.
* The scriptures.
* Temples.
* Our freedom.
* Diet Coke. (Yeah, seems shallow, but seriously. I can't live without it!)

I could go on and on I'm sure. We have so much to be grateful for, and I know that I need to remember these things on more than just one day out of the year!

.:Birth Announcement:.

Nikki took this picture of Reece and designed her birth announcement. I think it turned out great! All we have to do is print them off at Wal-Mart and put them in the mail. Talk about money saving!

.:Two Months:.

Reece is two months old today. I can't believe it! Time is going by so quickly. Sure, there are days that feel like they drag on forever, but in general, it's just flying by.

Reece's little personality is starting to come out so much more. She is smiling tons and cooing and talking to us all the time! She has the sweetest gummy grin, and I just want to kiss her sweet little mouth all the time! We are still battling the reflux and the fussiness, but she seems to have more good days than bad now. She got her two month shots yesterday, and actually took them a lot better than I was expecting! The main thing we are going to be working on right now is her sleeping. She is definitely not getting enough sleep, and doesn't like to nap for more than a half hour at a time. Her pediatrician said that it is bad for her growth and development to not get enough sleep, and suggested that we start letting her cry it out so that she learns to fall asleep on her own. We are working on that this week! She hasn't really had to cry all that much so far, so we'll see how well I can do when that time comes! I know it will be better for her in the long run.

At two months, Reece likes:
* smiling at Mom and Dad
* cooing to Mom and Dad
* being rocked
* being held
* laying on her changing table
* looking around while laying in her crib

At two months, Reece tolerates:
* taking a bath
* being in her swing

At two months, Reece doesn't like:
* getting dressed - especially putting her arms through the sleeves!
* being put down for too long
* tummy time

She is a sweet girl, and I am loving learning more about her every day!

Other than that, we are pretty boring. Josh is still working super hard at both of his jobs. I have started watching Millie again. Luckily Millie is really good and independent, so that makes it much easier. It will just keep getting easier as Reece gets a little more independent and not so needy. I'm going to be a pro when we have two kids of our own!

Thanksgiving is in a couple of days. Josh is working both of his jobs that day, and I am heading to his aunt's house to spend the day with his family. Ben and Sharon are here to have Thanksgiving with her family, so we'll get to spend a little bit of time with them. I'm excited to see them and their boys!

Here are a few pictures of the babe that Nikki took for us last weekend.

.:Sweet Reece:.

Tonite as I was feeding Reece, I was just struck by how much I love her. I can't even begin to describe the feelings I have for her! I was thinking that that must be how our Heavenly Father feels about each of us. I just want her to have the best of everything possible! I feel so incredibly blessed, but also very humbled by the responsibility of being her mom. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father feels that Josh and I can be her parents. She is such a sweet little girl and I can't get enough of her.

Reece has started smiling so much now! She's also beginning to coo and 'talk' some, too. It has totally just erased all of the tough times..... well, almost! It certainly makes the tough times a lot more bearable. It is so cute to watch Josh with her. He just can't get enough of kissing her sweet face. It just melts my heart to see the two of them together.

I feel like we have turned a corner with her. She is doing better with her sleeping so far. Knock on wood! She is only getting up once during the nite now, which gives me some good 4-5 hour stretches of sleep. I feel like a new woman! (Isn't it sad that 4-5 hours of sleep can make someone feel that way!) I'm sure we'll still have our tough nites, but it's just going better all around. She has reflux, and the first medicine we tried - Zantact - was horrible. It was not helpful at all, and just gave her colicky symptoms. So she is on Prevacid now, and it seems to be helping a lot.

I had my six week checkup this past week. I have been feeling very overwhelmed, and at times lonely. Josh works a lot (which I am SO incredibly grateful for because it allows me to stay home with Reece) and I just don't really have much family around. Of course, I do have some very wonderful friends in the neighborhood, and I'm so grateful for them! But just those things, combined with some wacky hormones, prompted my midwife to think that I may be having a bit of post partum depression. She thinks I just need a little help to get through the next little bit so that things don't get worse, so she prescribed me an anti-depressant - Zoloft. I'm not sure if it could be working quite yet, but I've definitely been feeling a little better lately. We'll see what happens! I'm just grateful we have things to help us with situations like this.

So all around, I can't really complain too much. Life is good! Here are a few pictures of the babe. I can't stop taking pictures of her! Everytime I look at her she is just too cute! The last two pictures are from this past Sunday. We went to all of church for the first time, and this was her in her Sunday dress. She was a bit fussy at first, but pretty much slept through all of church. Good baby!

.:Blessing Day:.

Yesterday, we blessed Reece. Josh did an amazing job. I was so impressed with his beautiful blessing, and know that the Spirit touched him. We were so blessed to have so much of both of our families there with us! Reece looked beautiful, and even though she was having a rough day, was so calm during the blessing....until the end, that is, but she only cried for a second. It was a great day.

Josh blessed her with:
- strength and courage
- how thankful we were for her birth
- how thankful we were for her safe arrival
- health
- continue to be healthy and strong
- to realize the blessing of having a body
- be smart in taking care of her body
- know the things that Heavenly Father and Christ placed upon the earth for us
- a witness of the Atonement
- to gain a testimony
- to search the scriptures
- realize the importance of the prophets
- follow the prophets promptings
- fulfill church callings
- do so with a happy heart
- find a worthy companion to go to the temple to be sealed
- raise a family to the Lord

Here are a few pictures from our special day.