The August month

Everything goes in Reed's mouth...

and that includes chalk, crayons, pencils,

leaves, dirt, sticks, rocks, bugs... I could

go on and on. Moms, I need your help!

Is this typical? What do I do?!

He LOVES to talk about (and find) the moon

and the stars in the sky.

A little dairy obsession

makes up a big part of every day in Reed's life.

A visit from papa and grandma-

Reed just loves his papa, talks about him all the time,

and this night needed his papa to get him ready for bed.

Mommy rates 2nd when papa's around!

Owen & Ellie came to play one evening-

and this happened...

all because a [innocent] mom told Reed

that he should love on his friends

instead of hitting them. !!!

I can't be blamed.

Impromptu/spontaneous/unplanned

were all bad words to me.

*Before* I married Rod. They challenged the

organizer in me, I guess. They threw me off my groove.

Now I am so thankful for this quality

in my husband, and the amazing times that we

have had because of it.

One such time was when he announced that we

should go get ice cream...

that Reed needed his first cone.

Mommy liked her raspberry yumminess...

and Reed was delighted with his very own cone!

Oddly, he didn't seem to have any trouble finishing

the whole thing all by himself,

even though most meals he barely eats two bites.

...good to the last dribble.

This is a normal occurrence in our house:

Reed often ditches his pants but loves

to wear a pair of shoes!

A new transition happened this month-

Reed moved to a new room with a 'big boy' bed!

We were surprised at how easily he made the switch-

promptly rejected rocking,

and goes to sleep on his own with just a story

and a cup of milk.

Of course, his blankets and puppy, lamb, and piggy

must be close by as well!

Setting up was so much fun...

I need to get some pictures of the finished room now.

He experienced his first ride on a carousel,

which he told us WAS NOT fun. Oh bummer, I guess

Mommy will have to find another buddy to ride with.

Our month ended with a big finale-

a trip to Kansas!

We rode with Stephen & Rachel there,

with a little stop at a zoo,

and then ended up at Jason & Kendra's house

for a FUN family weekend.

Cousins were re-acquainted,

and playtime became action-packed.

Come on... hurry! There's memories to be made!

Saturday all day was spent at a Amish festival

complete with buggy races, tractor pulls, the biggest

parade I have ever seen, cattle roping, and homemade ice cream.

Oh- and lots more that I didn't mention.

Sunday began like every day should...

with a cinnamon roll that fills up

a whole dinner plate!

We spent the afternoon stuffing backpacks

to send to children in Haiti who don't have any

school supplies.

And then before we were ready,

it was time to pack up and go home.

We spent the night at Rachel's family's farm-

and she kindly took some 'belly pictures'

while we had such neat lighting from

a beautiful Kansas sunset.

Rod took the kiddo's on a ride

and Reed couldn't believe how big

cows are in real life.

He got to meet the smallest animals

of the farm- they got to meet

his [loving] squeezes.

***after looking through these pictures, I realized that

I left a couple things out when I was listing the things

Reed likes to put in his mouth.

Should've included fingers, toys, and shoestrings!

Seriously, if you are a mom with experience in this,

please leave advice in the comments quickly

before our whole house ends up in Reeds stomach!