Christmas in Kiawah

We spent Christmas in Kiawah and had a great time! The girls loved every second and being able to spend time with so many different people...but they REALLY loved spending time with their cousin, Cooper! He was so good with them and they became really close buddies while we were there! Since we've gotten home, they're carrying his picture around with them and kissing it all of the time. It's so sweet! The girls got spoiled rotten, of course and are having so much fun with all of their new toys and books since we've gotten home.  Cooper got a motorized Mini Cooper car from Santa. The girls were obsessed with it and spent the majority of Christmas morning just sitting in it watching everyone.  Riley, however, liked to open presents...A LOT. She wanted to help every single person open their presents. It was hilarious. She'd just shout "OPEN!" and go from present to present. We could have put rocks or old gum in the boxes and she wouldn't have cared...she just liked opening the presents! The day after Christmas, my Grandparents (GiGi and Grandpa as the girls call them) and Uncle Ron and Aunt Conni came. We had a lot more fun and Riley got to open even MORE presents. All in all it was a fantastic Christmas. We missed all of our family that we didn't get to see this year and we hope that everyone...family and friends, had a very blessed Christmas like we did!

Christmas with Grandpa and Stephanie

Matt's Dad (Grandpa David) and his fiance, Stephanie, live in Long Boat Key, Florida...which we now know is only about 4 1/2 hours from us. They came last weekend to see the girls (and us) and to celebrate an early Christmas. We had a great time and it was so much fun to see the girls with their Grandpa. They love him very much. He had gone shopping all by himself to pick out their Christmas presents...isn't that sweet!?! He did a fabulous job and the girls love everything that he brought them! They got brand new Cleveland Indians t-shirts, so hopefully they'll bring the team some much needed luck this year! Stephanie picked out the cutest dresses for them too, which they've already worn twice! She has great taste! The girls loved having them here and so did we. We look forward to seeing them again soon! Hopefully we won't go so long between visits this time!

Family Pictures

I have been wanting to take family pictures for the LONGEST time. For my birthday, Laurie gave me a gift certificate to get them taken at the beach here in Jacksonville. The photographers were amazing and were so patient with Reagan and Riley. Riley wasn't feeling the best that day (we took her to the doctor the next day and found out she had a double ear infection...poor baby!) but she was still a trooper and we even got one or two smiles out of her! The pictures were all fantastic but there are over 200 of them...so here are just a few that I liked the best! I can't wait to do this again!!!

Some things never change

We took the girls to the PGA Tour Employee Christmas Party this weekend with Nana and BopBop.  It was amazing and in the years to come the girls will absolutely LOVE it. This year....not so much. Especially because Santa continues to scare the you know what out of them. HAAAA! It sure makes for some good pictures though...we'll see if this year they end up on the front page of the paper again!
I'm going to include last year's picture just for comparison....

20 months old today

I can't believe it. 20 months?!?! Where is the time going!!!??? I haven't done a post in a while that details what both girls are up to and that describes their personalities, so while they're actually napping for me I thought I'd take advantage and brag on my girls a bit. (The video above is what they do ALL the time now...Reagan shouts "Hands!" and they hold hands and run around the house and laugh the whole time. Still in their pjs in this video....it must have been early in the morning!).

Reagan-
I swear, this kid is just so fun. I know that every parent thinks that their kids are just the smartest ones around and are amazed at what they can do. But Matt and I REALLY think that Reagan is smart. (not quite sure where she got that from!). She knows so many words, has already started stringing words together into mini-sentences ("I got it", "What is that?",) and seems to pick things up from Matt and I after just one time of hearing it.  She likes to take our fingers and count things (but she gets stuck at the number one...) and is just so amazing. I LOVE watching how creative and inquisitive she is. She absolutely loves to color and also loves her sister more than anything else in the world. "Sissy" is her first word every morning (Riley's too) and she watches out for her which is so special. Reagan still loves to cuddle and hug and sit in our laps and read. She'll read by herself for a loooong time too, which is nice. Elmo is still her favorite but she loves ducks, bunnies and monkeys too! She loves to be outside and has recently started digging in the dirt (not my favorite activity). She loves walks and riding in the wagon. She continues to be stubborn and when she wants something she does NOT like to wait for it or be told "no."  She can throw some pretty good tantrums but thank GOD, she's never had one out of the house...she saves all of her best drama just for me. I love hanging out with her and just think she is fantastic. I can't wait for her to wake up in the morning so that we can start playing together. She makes me so happy!

Riley-
Riley has really, really, really come out of her shell during the past few months. She has found her voice and loves to use it. She sings all day long. I mean it. She is constantly humming or singing some sort of tune (usually some form of Twinkle Twinkle, but she adds every word she knows into the tune now...hilarious). She lays in bed and just sings away and chit chats to herself. It's so fun to listen to. She has developed such a fun personality and has become really silly!!! She thinks it's hilarious to take her shoes off in the car and put them on her hands and then wave at me in the rear view mirror.  She loves to laugh and loves to make other people laugh. Her "sissy" is her favorite person in the world. I love how much these two love each other...I hope it always stays that way. Riley is so sweet and kind. Every time someone sneezes she says "Bless you" in the softest, sweetest voice you've ever heard and it just melts my heart every single time. She has also started giving really big leg hugs (you know...where she attaches to your legs and doesn't want to let go). She isn't as independent in her play as Reagan and likes for me to be around at all times. But, I've watched her in her little classroom at school and she plays very well by herself there...so maybe it's just me! She does NOT like it when I'm not in her viewing area...which can be tough to get much done.  She loves, loves, loves our neighbor's cat named "Goose" which is hysterical because Matt and I have never been cat people really.  He comes to our house numerous times throughout the day and cries at the door. As soon as they hear it the girls go crazy shouting "GOOSE!!!" and want to give him treats. (yes, I give the cat treats...don't judge. It keeps the girls happy. I can just see my dad now!!!). She also loves Elmo and the vacuum (she calls it "backy") and likes to help me clean the house. She loves to take things apart and put things together and loves to be outside doing anything! I'm so happy that we live somewhere warm as much as these two like to be outside! Both girls still LOVE their daddy so much. I think that their favorite part of the day is when they hear him come home.  They also wave goodbye to him at the window every morning and blow him kisses until they can't see the car anymore. Just like with Reagan, I honestly look forward to when Riley wakes up from naps and first thing in the morning so that I can hang out with her. Riley is ridiculously pigeon toed and sometimes drags one of her feet when she gets going really fast. And she is FAST. I honestly continue to be amazed that she had such a sick heart. You would never in a million years guess that anything was ever wrong with this child...she is such a miracle. We started physical therapy again for her legs to see if we can straighten them out a bit! She sure has adapted well though, as she can lap Reagan around the house. She is so speedy and makes my heart so very, very happy!!!
I can't imagine loving anything more than these two precious girls. I am so blessed!

We're back in business

Well, it's been quite some time since I've updated Reagan and Riley's blog! Sorry about that...we were so busy before Thanksgiving, and the girls were sick for about 2 weeks, which meant that we didn't really have much to report on! We did have quite an adventure in Cleveland for Thanksgiving this year though...
We left on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to travel to Cleveland to visit Nana Susan and Anthony, and the rest of Matt's family (minus the Cavotta's who we really missed!). The girls did great on the plane ride there...although, they are definitely in the stage where they do NOT like being told that they have to sit still for an extended period of time. Riley sat on my lap and Reagan was with Matt.  Riley was a bit like wrestling with a wet fish for 2 1/2 hours...she wanted to be just about anywhere other than on my lap. But she looked cute so I think the other passengers forgave us! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family and believe it or not, the weather on Thanksgiving day was about 60 and sunny. The girls even played outside! Matt's Uncle Frank was a huge hit and entertained the girls non-stop. Aunt Ronna brought the girls some stuffed dogs that they carry with them wherever they go. Aunt Liza and Uncle Mark were there and just spoiled them rotten, as usual. It was a fantastic day and we all have so much to be thankful for!

Reagan started coughing pretty badly on Thanksgiving day, but we didn't think too much of it because she was her normal, fun self and she had been sick before we had gotten to Cleveland (although, I should have known something was up, because she'd stopped coughing for about a week by that point). It continued to go downhill on Friday and on Saturday morning she ended up being transported by ambulance to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in downtown Cleveland where she ended up staying for the next 4 days. It was awful, to be honest.  She was so, so sick. She was diagnosed with pneumonia and just couldn't seem to get better. Once the antibiotics kicked in, and the IV fluids were increased (and she was on oxygen non-stop) she started to improve. It was really scary for Matt and I (and everyone else) and we are so, so thankful to the doctors and nurses there that took such good care of her. We were also very thankful to Nana Susan and Anthony who let us extend our stay for so much longer than expected and who took such great care of Riley while we were traveling back and forth between their house and the hospital. We couldn't have done it without them!  We also got a surprise visit from BopBop (my dad!!!) who was traveling to Erie, PA to flyfish and went out of his way to stop at the hospital to cheer Reagan up! She gave him some smiles and it made me feel so much better to see him too.
All in all, it was wonderful to see everyone, but I don't think we'll be traveling on an airplane with these two anytime soon! We are back at home, Reagan has gotten a clean bill of health and is back to her normal, sassy self! Yay!!!!! Here's hoping that the rest of the year is a healthy one for all of us!!!