yes, Mariah is eating out of a diaper!
Our friend, Jen, had her baby shower this weekend. Alisa and Christina did a great job hosting it and Jen was the perfect "mother to be." She was so excited about each gift, it was fun to watch her experience all of this for the first ime. This is her first baby and we are so excited to meet her little girl. Jen, you are going to be FANTASTIC Mom and you are already such a precious friend to so many of us.

Word Meaning Meme:

I was just tagged by Susie for this word meaning meme. Looks fun so here goes!

oh and the picture attatched has nothing to do with anything, just thought everyone might want to see my jewled flower on my toe!

Friend: The first thing that pops in my mind is , " I could not function with out them!" I am a person with many many friends all of them playing a huge part in my life. I have my sisters, college friends, highschool friends, Corpus friends, Church friends, mentor friends, friends at the grocery store, friends down the street and the list goes on and on. I am very thankful for the friends that have invested in me and sorry to say, but you will never get rid of me, because once your my friend your a lifer!

Vacation: I want to go on one! Living here close to the beach has been like a 2 yr vacation, but now I'm ready to save some money and go away to a place that is not hot. Just for a little while, different scenery no agendas , just our family experiencing something different together. I'm dreaming of something on the E. coast right this minute.

Church: I love mine! My whole life I've wanted to be part of a church like Bay Area. A place where meeting the unreached is the top priority, a place where I'm continually encouraged in my walk and given the opportunity to do things I never though imaginable. Our pastor seeks to obtain the unreachable because of his conviction and steadfast commitment to the vison God has given him. My spirit comes alive in our worship hour and most importantly my spirit feels on fire when I see the amount of visitors we have every week that have never stepped foot in church, or have been gone for a long time. I love being part of a body that has strong leadership and I can trust the leadership because of the fruit they are producing. God has taught me and my husband a tremendous amount during our 2 years at Bay Area, and we are so excited to see what the future holds for us.

Mountain: After I give birth, I always feel like I just climbed a huge mountain. It is the best feeling and I can't wait to hurry up and experience it again!




Okay here's my bloggin friends that I'm taggin next: Mariah, Crissy, Kori, Christina and Amy. Here's your words:
Relaxation, Morning, neighborhood, and night stand

Saturday Stuff:


There was about a half hour period today where everyone in our house was completely in their own world. We were all free to do our thing and it felt nice. Kirby by far, got the raw end of the deal, but at least he wasn't interrupted during this very important job.
He had to completely disassemble our toilet because part of the toilet paper holder had slipped from my hand while I was changing the role and jumped right down the flusher. I actually even stuck my hand downt there to catch it, (while it was flushing) and it slipped out and went down anyway. Well, because of this we've had a messed up toilet for about 4 days and Kirby and I have had to use the kids'. Talk about never getting any privacy! Thanks Kirby, not just anyone can disassemble a toilet and put it back in 30min time!
In the pic of Gwen and Claire, they are playing "puppy." If you've been in my house over the last month, you know all about this. Wel,l this morning Claire was a sick puppy and Gwen was the loving nursing owner.
The last pic is of what I got to spend my 30min doing. Yes, I listen to Gwen Stafani and love it! I lasted longer on my excercise machine because of no interruptions and my good read. The JANES Granola Bar devotional was written and edited by the Writers Bevy in our women's ministry. My good friend Alisa heads it up and it as been a HUGE success around our church. If' you'd like your own copy, I will personally mail you one. I've very proud of what they have done.

Gwen Skims!

Kirby's new skim board doubles as a ride for Gwen. She holds on and he runs as fast as he can, down the beach. Looks fun to me, but i think I 'll wait til I'm without child to try it.
For those who don't know, a skim board is something like a skateboard for the beach. It enables the rider to "skim" down the beach on just inches of flat water. I really enjoy watching Kirby doing this. I get that funny, "there's my boyfriend" feeling when I seem him on that thing.

Surprise!

I was given a surprise shower at my JANES leaders meeting last Tuesday. I was completely surprised when some of my girlfriends walked out with an adorable cake, shaped likes blocks . Following that was an amazing diaper cake, which I had never even heard of. These girls are SO creative! I also received a bag full of baby goodies , which was so fun to look through because it made it actually real to me that another little person is coming.
I am very blessed with friends like these women.

As the baby arrival gets closer and closer I'm realizing how much our little girl club is going to change. Rather we have another princess or prince , the Reed girl club as of now is going to take on some changes. I'm trying to love on my girls as much as I can and reinforce unconditional love. I know that things don't have to change too much between me and them , but the first few weeks will be different. Thankfully, since they have begun to share a room they have gotten a lot closer, caring for one another and playing better together. Claire receives from Gwen what she was getting solely from me. Even though it seems crazy, I'm still glad I'm having all these munchkins so close together. I love seeing them bond and become an entity all by themselves. Claire and Gwen have something that is separate from me and my prayer is that this baby will find it's nitch also.
The pics are just random shots from the last week. Notice Claire's attire. (There isn't one most of the time!)
Gwen took the pic of her Bear and Claire. She specifically ask that it be put on my blog.

Majic girl

is what I'm calling my friend Jana who spent this last week with us. She took vacation time to help me out due to my early contractions and docs orders to "keep the baby in another week." Well that week is over now and we are trying to remember life without Jana. ( She's been gone about 7 hours) I cannot begin to list the many wonderful acts of service Jana did for our family. However, I will do my best. Moms out there, please don't burn up with jealously!
First she arrived with a bag of tricks for the girls, ( disney movies, bath toys and matching tees), fresh veges to add to dinners, an array of nail polish for peticures, and a belated b-day present for me ( brownsugar fig lotion and body spray from Bath and Body Works.)
She went grocery shopping, made awesome dinners, cleaned my kitchen, did laundry, took the girls on daily outings, gave baths, dressed and brushed the girls' hair, put the girls down for naps, made cookies with the girls, let me sleep in, gave me a peticure, plucked my eyebrows, drew me a bath, ironed my clothes, sewed an infant car seat cover from scratch ( the one I had was looking pretty bad) and many more I can't remember now.
Jana truly has the gift of service. She was amazing and I could see how God was giving me good gifts through her. I will never be able to repay Jana for the restful, peaceful , pampered week she gave me. She is going to have made my transition into mother of 3 much easier by the break i was able to enjoy and peace that set in on my house as she served. God is truly at work in her and I pray she is blessed 10 fold at everything she puts her hands to work at.
Thank you Jana, thank you thank you thank you. You did Majic in our home!

Eating my own words

A while ago I blogged about Dove Chocolate and how annoyed I was at the cheesy messages inside. In the blog I stated some messages I thought would be better. Well, yesterday I received a late birthday gift from a good friend in Austin in which she had hand wrapped tons of Dove chocolate and inside each had a message. So awesome I thought. Up until this morning , yes I had some Dove after breakfast, all the messages had been beautiful scriptures, "Brillant" I thought of my friend. Then after my cereal when I decided to eat two or three I came upon upon messages such as "Get over yourself" and " You should work out after you eat this" Not quite the most feel good words to read as I stuff my mouth with chocolate at 9am! These quotes ended with the saying " a message from yourself."
So I guess some sweet friends of mine are really reading my blog and I better watch what I say or else I'll be eating them.
Julie, you are the only person I know who would hand wrap chocolate and hand write messages in them. Very clever!

I haven't blogged in forever. So I'm trying to catch up. These are some pics of us just hanging out. I've been busy with being pregnant, having fun with visitors, and working on JANES stuff. I'm glad the summer is coming to a close, even though I really love summer. I'm ready to know I only have a month until littlest Reed arrives and I'm seriously ready for it cool off! That's coming from a beach girl, who loves to be outside. Right now i don't even like getting the mail or throwing the trash out. We've kept busy inside though. Gwen and Claire both tried to do Pilates for Pregnancy with me today. That was a total hoot! We needed certain props we didn't have and Gwen and i both had trouble with the leg squats. We needed some kind of poles for balance , which we didn't have so Gwen ran and got us a broom and a mop to hold on it at one point. Claire was mad to not have a prop, so she decided to start shooting us with the broom.
That's all for now, gotta bathe these girls. They're outside with Kirby at the moment doing a "concert."

My Claire. She loves to sit in anything she can fit her little booty in. This is her, while I wash the car. Even though a 2yr old can be hard on a pregnant mommy it sure can be cute too!

Gwen went to her first Tea Party a few week ago.

She was totally psyched about it. The invitation said to dress up so I was curious what my jean skirt tee shirt girl might come up with. We have a crate full of fabulous dress up clothes, but the mere fact that everyone else would be wearing these types of outfits caused my little individualist to strut her stuff her own way!
The Tea party was grand, complete with real tea cups, real tea, and pink goodies to eat. They also made hats and jewlery! Gwen's hat was by far the most original. I love experiecing these first time occasions with my girls and i'm sooo glad I went with my gut instinct to leave Claire at home even though she too was invited. I cannot imagine what she would have done to that nicely arranged table!

It's been said, I'm not very consistent with my girls naps. This pic should give you a little glimpse of what I'm trying to work with.
Can you see what Gwen is laying in? It's a baby bath tub. And yes, she insisted on sleeping in it for about 3 days!

VERY LARGE BELLIES AND SOME LITTLE ONES TOO


Danced the night away at our good friend Daniels' B-day party. Our hometeam from church currently has 6 pregos in it, 5 of which were at this party. It was a sight to see us all dancing. We all had a blast hanging out on Dan and Alisa's deck listening to a really good live band, dancing and laughing for hours.
My personal highlights were: Watching Mariah dance and dance and dance , sitting inside with the girls discussing Chapter 5 ( sorry there is a hidden meaning in that , which I cannot reveal to the public, but if you read For Women Only then you'll know) and watching Kirby talk from inside, so that I could only see his hand movements and the listeners face. I knew he was animated but WOW that was fun to watch! Lastly, I loved dancing with all my home-girls.
Dan and Alisa thanks for a great party, and Happy Birthday Daniel!

Girly Girls


Gwen got up yesterday morning and announced she needed to get her ears pierced, TODAY. Being the cautious decision maker she is , I jumped in the shower and we were at the mall in very quick time. I have no idea what spurred this desire but I was soo glad it was her idea. Once we were there she convinced Claire to get her ears pierced too. Claire was gung ho until she wittnessed the procedure. Gwen was very brave. She got over the sting quickly and was ready to hold Claire's hand. After an adamant "NOOOOOO" from Claire and some major will power of my own, we got Miss. Claire through it and within minutes they both were all smiles with their new jewels. Gwen chose a turquoise blue stone and Claire got sparkly blue flowers. Mariah and her kiddos came to wittness the occasion and I know this is why I was brave enough to get them both done and why backing out wasn't a question for Gwen.

Gwen is very excited and wants everyone to know about her ears, so please if you have a minute comment at the end of the entry and I'll read it to her. It will make her day!

The Fun and the sand never end...........

over here off of Whitecap beach that is. We had friends in this weekend, a college friend of mine and his sweet wife and two kids. We kicked it at the beach, grilled, and basically completely exhausted our kiddos. Oh and the guys even put the kids to bed one night so Christina and I could go eat Italian. ( Very fun Christina thanks!)
Keith and I attended Dallas Christian College together and Christina was there after I graduated. They have two kids, Alex is 5 and Abby is 5mo. It's wild to sit across from Kieth and his wife and drink coffee and joke around just like we did in college, exept everything about our lives are so completely different than 7 or so years ago. What's really a blessing is among all the good life changes, we are still the same people and that is what is so precious about friendships.
A good memory I have about Keith is this. The day I was to meet up with Kirby for our first "date" I had spent a good while primping but trying really hard to not look like I had tried really hard. Girls you know about this technique. Anyway, before leaving Kieth pronounced " Sunny you look real pretty, I think the prettiest you have ever looked." He knew at the time (now I'm sure he doesn't even remember saying this) how important that statment was and it gave me confidence that I looked how I felt. I looked the prettiest I had ever looked because I knew I was about to meet up with my soul mate and I needed that little bit of affirmation from a guy friend that Keith knew how to give in just the right measure.
Keith and Christina, we had blast. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!

Proud Mama


We receieved a letter today, announcing Gwen had won a drawing contest in our Island Times newletter. Her drawing wa entitled "Plumeria." She received an award, a gift certificate to Build a Bear and most importantly, her drawing will be published in the July edition of the newsletter. She was very proud, as were her parents.

Car Date
This was really fun. We bought coffee, a couple of newspapers and some pop tarts and headed to the beach for our date.
Upon seeing the sand swirling around like crazy, sitting on the sea wall with coffee and newspapers didn't look appealing. So we parked and enjoyed Texas radio, the view of the beach, our coffee( Circle K coffee is surprisingly really good and fresh!) and the peace and quiet of just being together. Going on a weekly date is really cool, because the expectations are much less, knowing it's a regular deal and it's much easier to just relax.
After the car got too stuffy we headed to the pier where we watched the waves come rolling in, and waited for the moon to rise. It finally did just as we were leaving and we actually watched it underneath the pier.
I would recommend to all you mommies that you plan a date to do the stuff you like but with out little ones hanging on you, and just enjoy being with your man, with no agenda.

Still Feeling It at 30!


love and full of life that is. My actual B-day was Thursday. I love to celebrate any occassion, my birthdaybeing a personal favorite. Kirby is calling this my birthday month! All day on Thursday I was serenanded on the hour every hour until 4pm by family and friends. Thanks to Mariah for this. She also stayed with her kids and mine for the night, so Kirby and I could run off to Port "A." We had a blast. Ate at Trout Street Grill, which looks over the marina, strolled around after , then headed to our cute little cottage. Had delicious Kolaches and coffee in the morning on the patio of a new java spot. Very relaxing, A BIG thanks to Mariah!
Also, note the earrings I'm wearing, they were hand made by my friend Heather.
I think I'm gonna like 30. God has been so good to me, I can only imagine life getting better.

Celebrating 30!

My friends celebrated my 30th b-day with my last night. My girl-friends insisted we all go out to eat and have a mini party to celebrate. It was a great evening out on the deck at Pier 99, Our home-team all came plus my friend Crissy and her husband Dustin. The girls bought me a delicious red-velvet cake and a gift certificate for 2 hours of cleaning from a cleaning service. WOW. Gotta love your girl friends. To top if all off, Mariah is spending the night with our girls on my actual b-day so Kirby can whisk me off to dinner and a night away.
When ask if I feel old turning 30 my answer is always the same, " Not as long as I can keep looking as young as my husband who is 7 years older."
Blessings I have received this 30th year:

A new baby on the way

A great Home team to share life with ( Especially important with no family in town)

The opportunity to create and lead JANES

Christmas with my family at my very own house(thanks Mom and Dad)

H.E.B Camp with my sisters

Every day I have with my little girls

Another year to live with my favorite person in the world...... my husband and best friend, Kirby.

WE LOVE OUR KIRBY BECAUSE:
He loves us unconditionally

He makes every day an adventure

He adores his girls

He puts God first

He lets us sleep on him

He's very cute...

And many many more

HAPPY DADDY'S DAY KIRBY!

My kinda day

Monday was one of those days, where your body just sinks into the bed at the end of it and you feel so good about being tired. The girls and I started the day in Port "A" swimming with my girlfriend Alisa and her son. When we returned home, Kirby was ready for the beach! So I drank another cup of joe and we loaded up the girls. The surf was beautiful and the water pretty clear. We walked the beach looking for cool shells, watching the surfers and enjoying a rare nonwindy experience at the Beach. The girls were hip in their "surfer shorts" (AKA- boys swim trunks) that Kirby loves to buy them.
After the beach, Mariah brought her kids over so she and Dave could go grocery shopping together and we had 2 hours of high velocity fun. Singing , dancing and dressing up.
After Mariah picked up her kids, I quickly turned my pool-beach hair into something dateable ( I did take a shower, just no time for hairwashing) and put on a cute flowy skirt with squenced top. We whisked our kids, to Alisa's house and were off to eat some Italian. Alisa begged us stay gone awhile so after a nice quiet, delicious meal complete with a chocolate mousse that was to die for, we headed back to the beach. Oh I almost forgot to mention how cute my Kirb looked, hands down the most handsome man around! We sat on the sea- wall and waited for the moon to rise for an hour and half. It was so beautiful with the sun setting behind us making an array of colors on the water and in the sky. I really enjoyed resting my tired body in the arms of my beloved and just relaxing. Thanks again Alisa for giving us that time!

Sunday morning Coffee Time

I love Sundays. This morning I woke to birds singing and a very active baby in my belly. The girls were content to drink their coffee ( mostly chocolate milk with a tiny bit of coffee ) and watch cartoons and I was so happy with their content nature I gave them Fruit Loops for breakfast! (Gasp)
We'll go to church this afternoon and I'm sure I"ll loose all this energy I have right now around noon, so I'm off to clean a bath room!

Torn Between Two Passions

My love for the healthy stuff and my cravings for chocolate are at serious war right now. Not any chocolate though, it's gotta be DOVE. I'm not a chocolate lover but DOVE may have turned me into one.
One problem I have though is with the fluffy, cheesey, always uplifting Dove messages hidden inside each piece.
Here are some messages I wish they would try instead
"Get over yourself"
" After you eat this, you should excercise"
" Don't always follow your heart, use your head and moral judgement more often"
"Time is ticking away, start being productive"
" Make sure you brush your teeth after eating this"

Does anyone else get sick of those dumb messages?

JANES KIDS RULE AT SEA WORLD

went with the "original JANES" and our kiddos to Sea world and our kids were absolutely awesome. We Janes had as much fun as they did, or more. We three hot mamas strolled in the sun with our kiddos for 6 hours , and never was there a boring minute. Crissy graciously did a lemonade run for my prego self at one time, that saved my life, and Mariah proved Gwen was not too scared of every ride by taking charge and putting Gwen in line with her. I guess my assumption that Gwen is a scaredy cat like me is all messed up now.
It was pure joy watching my girls watch Shamu jump out of the water . Although, The whole "BELIEVE" idea of the show got a bit ridiculous near the end. No help, when Mariah starts laughing as the trainer gives her "testimony" about how she always wanted to be a whale trainer and now her dream has come true. Just as I take in how Gwen is soaking in all in, I hear a muffled laugh beside me as Mariah trys to hold in her opinion of how cheesey this is getting. Gwen is still dreaming of being a Whale Trainer however, she is wondering how that will work if she is too scared of swimming lessons.
Other funny moments were when Crissy bared all to the crowd leaving SHAMU , we missed this though, but caught her red face just after. Also, Mariah and I wittnessed a kid on a leash who's Mom took a quick rt turn and the poor kid richocheted off our stroller and into her Mom at a very high speed. Before I could feel sorry for her, Mariah is busting out with laughter, which of course got me going and it was pretty embarrassing on our part, I hope the mom didn't see us!
I was very impressed with how much of a trooper Gwen was once she got tired and hot. She never complained her legs hurt and had a smile just about the entire time. She even found a flower seed pod by some pretty flowers that she mangaged to get home with her, saying we could plant it and remember Sea World. Is she her Dadddy or what?
I absolutley delighted in hanging with my girl friends for 2 days, chasing our kiddos, chatting at the table with cake, and coffee in the morning. Crissy's thanks for being such an amazing hostess, sorry I couldn't have been more help, but it was nice being someone elses' guest, I will admit.
Take wait to take on the Zoo next!
For some reason I can't load pics yet, so this is all you readers get for now. Sorry.