On Monday night, Josh and I experienced something that was very unusual and hopefully a once in a lifetime experience.
On Monday night around 7:30, we were on our way home from the Holladay Library. I was sitting in the back seat with Reese because she was kind of fussy (daylight savings just happened to fall the same week as her first molars coming in). I looked up and noticed a car had somehow crashed and was up on the curb in front of Normandie Cafe. Immediately after I noticed the car, Josh yelled, "I think there's a body in the road!!" (not something you hear everyday, or want to ever hear for that matter.) I look out the window, and sure enough, a man was lying motionless in the middle of the road. Josh pulled our car in front of him to block traffic, and I got out to try to direct cars around us. Some cars came close to not stopping, and I was worried someone would hit our car - especially with our baby girl in the back seat.
Josh immediately ran over to the man, and started talking to him, but he was completely unconscious. He placed his hand on his back and could tell he was struggling to breathe. The girl that had been driving the car that was on the curb, got out and came over to Josh and he told her to call 911. By this time, the manager of Normandie and a few other people realized what was going on and stopped to help. Josh instructed them to find a blanket or something to help keep this man warm. It was getting dark and starting to rain. I pulled our car forward a bit more to block both lanes of eastbound traffic and took Reese inside Normandie. She could sense the panic and was crying the saddest cry.
A few minutes later, the paramedics and several police cars showed up. Josh said they had to cut the man's shirt and jacket off before placing him in a stretcher. He said he thought the man was around 30 years old and that he smelled very strongly of alcohol, and had a bag attached to him that was full of various types of alcohol. The man remained unconscious, and had a lot of blood coming out of his head. They loaded him up and took off to the hospital.
As you can imagine, the driver of the car that caused the accident was in hysterics. I would guess she was anywhere from 17-20 years old, but it's hard to be sure. She said the man just stepped in front of her and there was nothing she could do. Considering the fact that he had clearly been drinking, that very well could have been the case. Her car was a decent distance from where he was in the road and had a lot of damage to the front, so hopefully her story is true and she wasn't driving while distracted or anything. As far as we know, there were no witnesses to the accident. We drove by within seconds of it happening, and were the first ones on the scene. If we hadn't been driving down the road at that time, I think it very likely that he would have been hit by an eastbound car. He was in dark clothing, and it was hard to tell at first glace that it was a person in the road. Had it not been daylight savings just the day before, it would have been completely dark outside and I'm sure this man would have had a much worse outcome.
We were at the scene for 30-40 minutes. Josh was out in the rain the whole time and the nice manager at Normandie offered us some hot chocolate as we were leaving. The police officers were really nice and appreciative of the help Josh and the others who had stopped to help.
Monday night was definitely one of the craziest and most unusual things I've ever experienced. I hope that was the first and the last time we see a person lying in the road like that. We haven't been able to find any news articles related to this accident, so we have no idea if the man survived or if the driver was charged or cited for anything.
I am so grateful Josh noticed that man in the road and didn't hesitate to stop and help. He was able to remain calm and help instruct others on how to help as we waited for police and paramedics. I was (and still am!) very proud of him. Josh says he doesn't know how he thought to say some of the things he said, but I'm sure he was inspired. Hopefully this man gets another chance at life and will decide to make wiser choices from now on. I hope the driver can feel some comfort at this time, as I'm sure she is really struggling.
Ever since Monday night, I've been trying to count my blessings as often as possible and making an extra effort to drive very carefully. Be safe, everyone!
Friday, March 14, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Our imperfectly perfect Valentine's Day
We had had an interesting but really fun Valentine's Day this year.
Valentine's Day is such a unique holiday. I've always liked the holiday, even when single because I see it as a way to celebrate any type of love, not just romantic love.
Ever since our first Valentine's Day together when I "didn't give Josh a gift" I have wanted to make it up to him and make his Valentine's Day memorable.
I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided that would be an easy and fun way to spoil him a little each day leading up to the 14th. He loved getting a little surprise each day.
I thought I had really gone all out, but then Josh had to outdo me and surprised me with this...
I am still in shock. Such a fun an unexpected surprise. 9 out of 10 times, Josh has me pick out my own gifts, so it was fun to receive something that he picked out for once. He did well.
For dinner we decided to try a new restaurant that we had never been to and also had a gift card for. Our babysitting arrangements for Reese fell through, but we were fine to take her with us. We had a reservation for 5:20, which was perfect because we would miss the large crowds and still have time to do something fun afterward before Reese needed to go to bed.
We were excited to try this new restaurant because we had heard good things, but I can honestly say that we have no intention of ever going back. Here is why:
When we checked in with the hostess, she said in a snooty voice, "Your reservation is for two and you have three people. I guess I can find a highchair." WOW. We never changed our reservation because a.) Reese is only ONE and b.) she is still in a highchair, which should be easy to add to any table. We did not think it would be a big deal. Also, not even 1/4 of the restaurant was full at the time, so it really shouldn't have been that big of a deal that we had our cute daughter with us. The hostess got a highchair and placed it at our table and acted completely annoyed and put out the entire time.
Since we had never eaten at this restaurant before, we had looked online at their rather large menu and had a few things in mind that sounded good. Well much to our dismay, they had a "special" Valentine's menu, which basically meant they were only offering a very limited amount of what their normal menu had on it. None of the items I had considered ordering were on there. Nothing sounded too enticing to either one of us and their prices had gone up slightly for this "special" menu. I understand that they were trying to make it easier on the cooks and provide faster service on a busy night, but it was still disappointing. Another stupid thing was that they didn't have a kids menu. That seemed weird to me because every restaurant I've ever been to at least has something in kids portions available.
Our waiter came and took our order and it was obvious he wasn't too thrilled with the fact that we had Reese with us. He came back a few minutes later and asked us to move the highchair so that it wouldn't be in the way....no one was sat at the table behind her highchair and the hostess was the one that put the highchair there. We were really bothered that everyone seemed to be put out that we had a child with us. Anyone that thinks my child is an inconvenience is no friend of mine.
Our food came and Josh had about 5 small raviolis in his dish and my chicken tasted like it was a Western Family frozen dinner. Josh's raviolis were actually really good, but not enough to fill up a starving man. We got our check as soon as we could and were out of there by 6:00. We were still hungry, and since it was early, we decided to go down to City Creek to eat in the food court and walk around and go in a few stores. Chick Fila had never tasted so good! haha
The three of us enjoyed our chicken nuggets and then had a fun time walking around and shopping. It was perfect. Even though our original dinner was a complete disappointment, the rest of the night was absolutely perfect. I love nothing more than spending time with my two loves.
Valentine's Day is such a unique holiday. I've always liked the holiday, even when single because I see it as a way to celebrate any type of love, not just romantic love.
Ever since our first Valentine's Day together when I "didn't give Josh a gift" I have wanted to make it up to him and make his Valentine's Day memorable.
I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided that would be an easy and fun way to spoil him a little each day leading up to the 14th. He loved getting a little surprise each day.
I thought I had really gone all out, but then Josh had to outdo me and surprised me with this...
I am still in shock. Such a fun an unexpected surprise. 9 out of 10 times, Josh has me pick out my own gifts, so it was fun to receive something that he picked out for once. He did well.
For dinner we decided to try a new restaurant that we had never been to and also had a gift card for. Our babysitting arrangements for Reese fell through, but we were fine to take her with us. We had a reservation for 5:20, which was perfect because we would miss the large crowds and still have time to do something fun afterward before Reese needed to go to bed.
We were excited to try this new restaurant because we had heard good things, but I can honestly say that we have no intention of ever going back. Here is why:
When we checked in with the hostess, she said in a snooty voice, "Your reservation is for two and you have three people. I guess I can find a highchair." WOW. We never changed our reservation because a.) Reese is only ONE and b.) she is still in a highchair, which should be easy to add to any table. We did not think it would be a big deal. Also, not even 1/4 of the restaurant was full at the time, so it really shouldn't have been that big of a deal that we had our cute daughter with us. The hostess got a highchair and placed it at our table and acted completely annoyed and put out the entire time.
Since we had never eaten at this restaurant before, we had looked online at their rather large menu and had a few things in mind that sounded good. Well much to our dismay, they had a "special" Valentine's menu, which basically meant they were only offering a very limited amount of what their normal menu had on it. None of the items I had considered ordering were on there. Nothing sounded too enticing to either one of us and their prices had gone up slightly for this "special" menu. I understand that they were trying to make it easier on the cooks and provide faster service on a busy night, but it was still disappointing. Another stupid thing was that they didn't have a kids menu. That seemed weird to me because every restaurant I've ever been to at least has something in kids portions available.
Our waiter came and took our order and it was obvious he wasn't too thrilled with the fact that we had Reese with us. He came back a few minutes later and asked us to move the highchair so that it wouldn't be in the way....no one was sat at the table behind her highchair and the hostess was the one that put the highchair there. We were really bothered that everyone seemed to be put out that we had a child with us. Anyone that thinks my child is an inconvenience is no friend of mine.
Our food came and Josh had about 5 small raviolis in his dish and my chicken tasted like it was a Western Family frozen dinner. Josh's raviolis were actually really good, but not enough to fill up a starving man. We got our check as soon as we could and were out of there by 6:00. We were still hungry, and since it was early, we decided to go down to City Creek to eat in the food court and walk around and go in a few stores. Chick Fila had never tasted so good! haha
duck face!
The cutest little Valentine I could ever wish for (no offense, Josh!)
The three of us enjoyed our chicken nuggets and then had a fun time walking around and shopping. It was perfect. Even though our original dinner was a complete disappointment, the rest of the night was absolutely perfect. I love nothing more than spending time with my two loves.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
First official haircut
On Sunday, February 9th, I finally gave in and let Josh's mom give Reese her first official haircut. She had been needing one for a long time, but I knew as soon as it was all trimmed up, she would look more grown up than she already does, so I kept putting it off.
Reese has always had an older look to her and people often think she is older than she is. When she was 9 months old, someone asked me if she was 18 months old! What!?! I think babies with lots of hair usually look older than bald babies and Reese has always been tall for her age, so those two things put together make her look a little older than she actually is. I knew that a haircut would only add to my baby growing up too fast.
I didn't ever think I would have a bald baby because both Josh and I had a decent amount of hair when we were born, but I never expected the amount of hair that Reese had/has. When I was in labor, my dr. came to check my progress and told me he thought she had lots of hair...(sorry if that is too much information! haha) but when she was finally born and handed to me, I couldn't believe how much hair she had and how much curl it had to it. My dr. was right!
She was known in the nursery as the baby with all the hair. We couldn't get over it and couldn't believe how curly it got when wet. She definitely got that from the Meadows side and not from me!
Besides having crazy, curly hair, the color has also changed a few different times. As a newborn, it was a lighter shade of brown with golden highlights. It was such a unique and pretty color.
After a few months, it started to get a strawberry tint to it and we thought we were maybe going to have a strawberry blonde/redhead.
As her hair continued to grow, her roots got lighter and lighter-(a reverse melt as I like to call it) and she also got a bald spot in the back from rubbing in her car seat and bed.
The bald spot was totally hidden by her top layer of hair, but as it has come in, it is blonde and doesn't have any of the strawberry in it. Her top layer still does in the ends, so she has quite the variety of hair colors right now! I'll be so curious to see what her hair is like by the summertime.
Anyway, back to the haircut. (sorry, just trying to document as much as possible!)
The bald spot in the back I mentioned earlier had finally come in and the underneath layer of hair was shorter than the top layer, putting her hair in an awkward stage for the past few months. Plus, the remaining curls from when she was a newborn are only in her ends, making her hair get frizzy very easily. It's crazy that she had such curly hair at birth, and now it is getting straighter all the time. I loved those cute curls. Josh's mom had been offering to cut her hair for months but I wasn't ready. I finally gave in and I am so glad I did! It looks so dang cute and I know it will help her hair grow in better and more evenly. Now if I could just get her to stop pulling out her hair bows all the time!
I can't wait for it to get longer so we can do some fun pony's, piggies and braids, but I am loving her little bob right now! I LOVE roundbrushing her hair after her baths. It looks so cute! This girl was blessed with some good hair.
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Reese has always had an older look to her and people often think she is older than she is. When she was 9 months old, someone asked me if she was 18 months old! What!?! I think babies with lots of hair usually look older than bald babies and Reese has always been tall for her age, so those two things put together make her look a little older than she actually is. I knew that a haircut would only add to my baby growing up too fast.
I didn't ever think I would have a bald baby because both Josh and I had a decent amount of hair when we were born, but I never expected the amount of hair that Reese had/has. When I was in labor, my dr. came to check my progress and told me he thought she had lots of hair...(sorry if that is too much information! haha) but when she was finally born and handed to me, I couldn't believe how much hair she had and how much curl it had to it. My dr. was right!
She was known in the nursery as the baby with all the hair. We couldn't get over it and couldn't believe how curly it got when wet. She definitely got that from the Meadows side and not from me!
Besides having crazy, curly hair, the color has also changed a few different times. As a newborn, it was a lighter shade of brown with golden highlights. It was such a unique and pretty color.
This is what we woke up to almost every morning for several months
The bald spot was totally hidden by her top layer of hair, but as it has come in, it is blonde and doesn't have any of the strawberry in it. Her top layer still does in the ends, so she has quite the variety of hair colors right now! I'll be so curious to see what her hair is like by the summertime.
Anyway, back to the haircut. (sorry, just trying to document as much as possible!)
The bald spot in the back I mentioned earlier had finally come in and the underneath layer of hair was shorter than the top layer, putting her hair in an awkward stage for the past few months. Plus, the remaining curls from when she was a newborn are only in her ends, making her hair get frizzy very easily. It's crazy that she had such curly hair at birth, and now it is getting straighter all the time. I loved those cute curls. Josh's mom had been offering to cut her hair for months but I wasn't ready. I finally gave in and I am so glad I did! It looks so dang cute and I know it will help her hair grow in better and more evenly. Now if I could just get her to stop pulling out her hair bows all the time!
Before on the left, after on the right.
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Tuesday, March 4, 2014
15 months
Somehow my baby girl is already 15 months old. She is becoming more and more of a toddler and less of a baby everyday. It's oh so very bittersweet. I absolutely love watching her grow up and learn new things and reach new milestones, but at the same time, it all goes by so quickly and I just want to savor and freeze every moment.
I have honestly loved every single stage so far! I don't know if I could choose a favorite, because I love them all, but I must say that this stage is extremely fun right now. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such a happy, good-natured, beautiful baby girl, but I am forever grateful.
I want to be better at documenting her milestones, so here are some things that she has been doing lately. (beware: long post ahead!)
For the past month or so, Reese has been learning more words and animal sounds. It's amazing how quickly she is picking up on things. It's a good reminder for me to watch what I say and what kind of music and tv she is exposed to.
Here are some of the things she says right now:
Other fun things about this age....
She loves music. She gets so happy and excited when she hears a fun song and will raise her hands in the air, or clap or shake her bum. It's so cute. She doesn't quite have the attention span to sit down and watch a movie or any shows yet, but she LOVES the theme song for Sofia the First and the Hot Dog dance song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She gets so excited when she hears them. We listen to the Frozen soundtrack a lot and she loves it! She especially loves "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" and clicks her tongue right on queue when it gets to the part where Anna sings "It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, watching the hours tick by." She is a smart little girl.
She has always been a good sleeper, but was also a major night owl and we were lucky if we could get her down before 10:00 p.m. She is finally going down each night between 8-8:30 and sleeping until 7:30-8ish the next morning. It's awesome! I always miss her when she goes to sleep, but it gives me the chance to get in some work hours or get other stuff done when she goes down for the night
One of the most exciting things she has done recently is take her first steps. For the past few weeks, she has been taking steps here and there and in the last few days, she is doing it more and more and I know one of these days she will just go for it and not sit down after 7-8 steps. I'm not gonna lie, I am so ready for her to walk and say goodbye to crawling. I know walking will bring new challenges, but I am so done with dirty hands, socks and knees and holes in her cute pants. And I may or may not have several pairs of cute shoes that I am dying for her to wear.
I am so grateful she is finally taking steps. For months I was a little worried that something was wrong because she would not put weight on her legs. She finally started doing it a little bit around 9-10 months old, and even then it was hard to come by. Usually once babies can support their own heads, they will stand up when you hold them on your lap. Reese would never do that. She would always lift up her tiny little legs and act so put out that we were trying to make her stand. Our pediatrician, who I love by the way, did some observations and exercises with her to make sure her muscle tone was what it needed to be and to be sure that she didn't have cerebral palsy or anything like that. He assured me that she was fine and would put weight on her legs when she was ready. He was right and around 10-11 months, she started to pull herself up to anything and everything. She is quite the monkey and can climb up on the couches and climbed out of her crib at 11 months, which just about gave me a heart attack when I heard the thud from her fall. I am convinced part of her slowness to put weight on her legs and walk is because she has the longest, skinniest baby legs ever and the skinniest little feet. She is in the 5% for weight and 82% for height, but her head is in the 89%, so it must take a lot of work for those skinny legs to support that noggin. haha. She is my little string bean.
A sad but cute story from her 15 month checkup: When it came time to get her shots, I had to hold her on my lap a certain way so the nurse could give her the shots without her wiggling too much and as soon as the first shot went in, Reese started crying and kept saying "all done! all done!" over and over again. It was so sad but so cute at the same time. I always dread watching her get shots, but I know it is for the best.
She is wearing 6-12 month sized socks in this picture and clearly they are too big. She usually wears 0-6 month socks because of her skinny little feet and legs.
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I have honestly loved every single stage so far! I don't know if I could choose a favorite, because I love them all, but I must say that this stage is extremely fun right now. I don't know how I got so lucky to have such a happy, good-natured, beautiful baby girl, but I am forever grateful.
I want to be better at documenting her milestones, so here are some things that she has been doing lately. (beware: long post ahead!)
For the past month or so, Reese has been learning more words and animal sounds. It's amazing how quickly she is picking up on things. It's a good reminder for me to watch what I say and what kind of music and tv she is exposed to.
Here are some of the things she says right now:
- mama
- dada
- more
- ball
- bow
- sock
- uh oh
- no no (of course)
- hi
- bye bye
- baby (she always whispers it. so cute.)
- beep beep (this means belly button. in order to distract her while I change her diaper, I say, "Where's your belly button" and then I push her belly button and say "beep beep" and now she is always trying to push her "beep beep" and look for mine and Josh's belly buttons)
- all gone
- all done
- night night
- gaga (grandma)
- cacka (cracker)
- baba (bottle/sippy cup)
- good girl
- quack quack (ducky) side note: "quack" was her first official word
- meow (kitty)
- woof woof (doggy)
- tweet tweet (birdie)
- whoooo (owl)
- hssssssssss (snake)
- oh ha ha ha (monkey)
- roar (lion...she always whispers the roar. so cute)
- if you ask her what a fishy says, she makes a fishy face
- if you ask her what a bunny says, she scrunches her nose and sniffs. It is so cute.
Other fun things about this age....
She loves music. She gets so happy and excited when she hears a fun song and will raise her hands in the air, or clap or shake her bum. It's so cute. She doesn't quite have the attention span to sit down and watch a movie or any shows yet, but she LOVES the theme song for Sofia the First and the Hot Dog dance song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She gets so excited when she hears them. We listen to the Frozen soundtrack a lot and she loves it! She especially loves "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" and clicks her tongue right on queue when it gets to the part where Anna sings "It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, watching the hours tick by." She is a smart little girl.
She has always been a good sleeper, but was also a major night owl and we were lucky if we could get her down before 10:00 p.m. She is finally going down each night between 8-8:30 and sleeping until 7:30-8ish the next morning. It's awesome! I always miss her when she goes to sleep, but it gives me the chance to get in some work hours or get other stuff done when she goes down for the night
One of the most exciting things she has done recently is take her first steps. For the past few weeks, she has been taking steps here and there and in the last few days, she is doing it more and more and I know one of these days she will just go for it and not sit down after 7-8 steps. I'm not gonna lie, I am so ready for her to walk and say goodbye to crawling. I know walking will bring new challenges, but I am so done with dirty hands, socks and knees and holes in her cute pants. And I may or may not have several pairs of cute shoes that I am dying for her to wear.
I am so grateful she is finally taking steps. For months I was a little worried that something was wrong because she would not put weight on her legs. She finally started doing it a little bit around 9-10 months old, and even then it was hard to come by. Usually once babies can support their own heads, they will stand up when you hold them on your lap. Reese would never do that. She would always lift up her tiny little legs and act so put out that we were trying to make her stand. Our pediatrician, who I love by the way, did some observations and exercises with her to make sure her muscle tone was what it needed to be and to be sure that she didn't have cerebral palsy or anything like that. He assured me that she was fine and would put weight on her legs when she was ready. He was right and around 10-11 months, she started to pull herself up to anything and everything. She is quite the monkey and can climb up on the couches and climbed out of her crib at 11 months, which just about gave me a heart attack when I heard the thud from her fall. I am convinced part of her slowness to put weight on her legs and walk is because she has the longest, skinniest baby legs ever and the skinniest little feet. She is in the 5% for weight and 82% for height, but her head is in the 89%, so it must take a lot of work for those skinny legs to support that noggin. haha. She is my little string bean.
A sad but cute story from her 15 month checkup: When it came time to get her shots, I had to hold her on my lap a certain way so the nurse could give her the shots without her wiggling too much and as soon as the first shot went in, Reese started crying and kept saying "all done! all done!" over and over again. It was so sad but so cute at the same time. I always dread watching her get shots, but I know it is for the best.
She is wearing 6-12 month sized socks in this picture and clearly they are too big. She usually wears 0-6 month socks because of her skinny little feet and legs.
She climbed from the floor up on to the couch and up on to the top of the couch like this all by herself. (don't mind the paper blinds. Our basement still needs some final touches)
Lately Reese has been a total mama's girl. I love it so much, even though it can make it hard to get things done sometimes. I know she may not always be a mama's girl, so I am enjoying every minute of it. She had her first ear infection along with a bad cold last week and only wanted me. I hated that she was sick and not feeling well, but I loved all of the cuddles I got. Even though she prefers me most of the time, she absolutely loves her dad. He can make her laugh harder than anyone else and almost everyday she will look out the window and say "dada" in hopes that he is coming home. She gets so excited when he comes home from work. She also LOVES both of her grandmas. Whenever we leave either of our parent's, she is always crying and reaching for grandma. I'm glad she loves them both so much and I know they feel the same towards her. She loves all the attention she gets from Josh's brothers and their wives and she always reaches for my brother Tyson whenever she sees him. I'm glad she is loved by so many and that she loves them back.
Reese also loves animals right now. She loves my family's dog (Elle Woods) and is always wanting to give her treats and follow her everywhere. If we are ever with friends that have dogs or cats, Reese will do everything in her power to know where that animal is the whole time.
Right now she completely obsessed with babies and kids, but especially babies. She is such a social little thing. All during Relief Society each Sunday, she is trying to get to all the babies in the room. (3 more months until nursery! haha) This past weekend we were with some friends that have a nine month old baby girl and Reese wanted to be near her the whole night and kept trying to hug her and give her kisses. She also has a baby doll that she got for Christmas and she loves to hold her and rock her. It's amazing how young motherly instinct can kick in. I think she might be ready to be a big sister!
This baby doll was the best $7 Santa ever spent!
Right now Reese has 4 teeth on the top and 3 on the bottom, with a 4th on the bottom getting close to coming in. I keep trying to check for molars, but that is not an easy task with a wiggly one-year-old. Teething is definitely not a fun process for anyone involved. So far she has handled it pretty well as long as I give her a little Motrin or Tylenol so hopefully the same will ring true when her molars come in. I tell you what though, nursing sure changes once they get teeth. Ouch. And yes, we are still nursing a few times a day and I love it! (minus the biting of course) I don't know when we'll stop, but I know our days are limited, so I am just enjoying that extra special time I get to spend snuggling her.
I love this little girl more than words can say. She is my sunshine!
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