Wrap It Up In Reynolds

Happy Valentine's Day

2012-02-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

Grace's 1st Birthday

2011-10-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, we had the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of a sweet 1 year old, Grace. We loved getting to see how big she has gotten and her new accomplishments, including walking! We all enjoyed spending time with her and Trinity and Diana.

2011-09-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I saw a blog with some cute ideas for Halloween and I came across a shirt that a lady had made for her little girl. She took a blown up copy of a picture of some halloween material and and cut out the skeleton and ghost from it and cut it out with white material, sewed it onto a black shirt and added a bow to it. Super Cute! Well, since I can't sew I decided to do the same thing, but paint it on a shirt instead and this is the final product! I am so excited about it and I think it will be great for Addison to wear this next month.

Much Love,The Reynolds

South Plains Fair 2011

2011-09-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

We had another great year at the fair. Addison was very very excited about going on the rides this year. She was pretty timid last year about getting on the rides, except for the carousel, but not this time a round. We did the carousel, along with 2 other kiddie rides that she had no problem going on by herself. We also decided that this year we would venture and do a family ride with the ferris wheel. I thought for sure that she would feel a little nervous once we got on and got moving, but she kept saying "when is it going to go faster". I think she is over her toddler fears! She even said she wanted to go on the bungee cord ride that you have to pay about $50 dollars to ride..lol! Crazy girl, I think not! As usual, she loved to see the animals and pet as many as she could and we enjoyed some of the great fair food. It was a little hot,but overall it was a great Sunday afternoon at the fair!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Addison's Favs

2011-09-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Addison gets quite excited when she hears this song coming on. She starts to wiggle and as fast as can, will try and sing along with the song.

With this bundle of joy, Addison now will randomly shout out "BLUBBER, MUCLUCKS, GAZEBO" It is the funniest thing and very very odd!

And we just think it is too cute that our daughter already has an interest in great musical talents such as the Roots. Thank you Nick Jr for showing children's music videos!

This last song, is just the sweetest little children's song and when we are in the car, Addison sings it over and over. Love It!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Remember, Horses, and Apples

2011-09-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend. We started out with a trip over to Bryan Kastman park where they have a tribute every year to 9/11. It is such a neat sight to see all of the flags displayed. Addison walked over and said over and over again "Holey Moley, look at all of those flags". She was in awe! As of right now, we do not feel it is the right time to talk to Addison about what happened because she would not understand, but we want her to be aware that we will always try and make an effort to show her the beautiful tribute that our city gives to all who have been affected by that horrible day.

On Saturday, we took Addison downtown to see The Parade of the Horses. With the Cowboy Symposium here for the weekend, they begin this event with a parade of many horses, cowboys, and cowgirls that take persetional through downtown and down to the Civic Center where the symposium would begin. Addison LOVED the parade. She was most excited at the end when she say her "favorite cowboy" of all....THE MASKED RIDER! It was a great morning to go and we were so glad to start another new tradition for our family.

The last part of our weekend, ended in Idalou at Apple Country Orchards where they held their annual Apple Butter Festival. We attempted to pet some sheep and goats (though they were a little spooked by the live music next to their pins), had a delicious apple turnover, Addison had her face painted, walked around the orchard and picked some apples, waited in line for the hayride just in time for the rain to start pouring. We were quite wet by the end of the event, but we had fun and Addison loved getting drenched by the rain.

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Beautiful Dreary Weather

2011-09-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day on Sunday with the "fall" weather. Leaves were blowing, the temperature was in the low 70s and the small of rain went on throughout the day. It was absolutely beautiful and so nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors without sweating and feeling like you are going to pass out from heat exhaustion. We took Addison to the park after dinner to feed her "lucy goosey" and to have some fun on the playground. Perfect!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Time for a Cookout

2011-09-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

We headed out this Saturday afternoon to Thomas' yearly Honors College Cookout! This was fun because we were able to help Thomas in the morning get ready for the cookout by running errands with him and trucking all of the food over to the dorm. Addison, as usual, was a big hit with the students. She was very social with them. She had to talk about her new school, her boots, and show anyone and everyone how she can run and jump. LOL When we left she was so sad and told me that she wanted to spend more time with Daddy's students. We absolutely love being able to go and do these great events for Thomas' work because it just means more time to spend with Daddy! The day ended perfectly with a 50-10 winning score against Texas State. GO TECH! Can't wait for next year!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Isn't She Lovely!?

2011-08-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

This is Addison trying to be Juliet from "Gnomeo and Juliet" She put a pair of her old leggings on her head. Cracks us up! She came up with this on her own.

She has a beard like her dad!

Much Love,

The Reynolds

Back to School

2011-08-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

We all had a great first week back to school.
I started on Monday with only 5 boys. Compared to 11 last year, this is a GREAT start. Of course we still have our ups and downs with the boys, but I will take it any day of the week knowing that I can really handle these situations so much easier!
Thomas had his first class on Thursday that he is a TA for. It went well and he starts all of his other classes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As for our girlie girl, she started her first day in 3 year old preschool at All Saints Episcopal School on Wednesday. Her teacher is Mrs. Easton and her assistant is Ms. Carol, she has about 10 kids as a whole in the class. I took off in the morning so that I could go with Thomas to take her. She has been so ready all summer to go to her new school and that day her excitement was just as strong. She looked more than adorable in her uniform and she had her bag, napmat, and lunchbox to add to the mix! She was able to go to all of her special classes in the three days she was there: music, library, spanish, and gross motor (PE) in which she called the teacher the "Comfy pants lady", cracks me up! At the end of the day when I pick her up she is definitely sleepy but very happy and eager to head back the next morning!
We are feeling so happy about this school and it is going to be very hard to not want to keep her there for years to come. Much to consider in the later months before a new school year begins.
I think this year is going to be a very busy year for all three of us with our school experiences, but I feel it is going to be a very positive one! YAY!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

The Dance Catastrophe

2011-08-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

This summer, we signed Addison up in a starter ballet class at our community center for $30 for the entire summer. The first day we were able to watch and meet the teacher, who was a young girl from Tech, and then the rest of the summer we had to sit out in the hall sitting area in expectations of seeing our little dancers the last day of the summer! I was so excited that she was able to show me a few little beginner dance moves and that every Wednesday night she was so happy when she arrived and left the class. This last Wednesday was her last class and I was eager and video camera ready! To my surprise, I was about to scream the entire time I was in there watching this train wreck of a class. I was very very proud of my daughter for being so well behaved and avoiding bad behavior temptations the entire class. I will simply list the issues I had with this class and I refuse to show the video because I do not wish to be reminded!!

There were little girls in this class that are allowed to do whatever they want and the parents sat and laughed and had no problems with the fact that their child wes not following the minimal directions given and not participating in the activites.
There was no class room management going on at all!! The teacher in me was ready to go crazy on this situation.
Where was the dancing? I saw a teacher read a story about a ballet dancer, I saw 2 dance moves, freeze "dancing" or running, and jumping over a piece of material.

Please write your name

2011-06-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

As school was ending, I was trying to think of some of the things that I needed to work on with Addison during the summer to get her geared up for school in the fall. I thought of all the things that our 3 year old class would do at our school (Martin) when the I was still there. One of the things that the kids really struggled with and the teachers were constantly working on was the kids writing. They worked on their names everyday. So, I knew that was something that Addison would absolutely love doing. She enjoys drawing and working at her art table, so this was going to be up her alley! Let me tell you, she has surpassed our expectations. I did not think that she would catch on this quickly to writing her name and much more.


This was the first week of the summer. I helped her trace her name so she would understand how to follow the dots and then while talking her through it, she wrote independently on the bottom.

This was Addison writing her name on Friday. She was so proud of it, she told me I had to take a picture! She is getting too good!

This was Addison's name today. She did not have any help from Mommy and Daddy. Way to go girl!

After having Addison write her name everyday, she has quickly picked up a couple of great skills that are going to be so great for her in a new school, but also just great skills that all kids need. She has began to identify lowercase letters quite a bit easier and she is now spelling her first name independently. Along with taking a picture of her name, she wanted me to take picture of her spelling her name. Here she is...

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Reynolds shoot 2011

2011-06-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello!
So we have our photos from our most recent photo shoot! We wanted to share with everyone and show some of our favorites. If you would like to check them all out go to the picasa site. The link is on the side of the blog here.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

This year, I think Thomas had a pretty good Father's Day. During the week Addison and I surprised Thomas with a couple hand made gifts from the 2 of us. We got a picture that was taken at the Autism walk and added some wording on it along with a frame for him to hang up at his office. I also did a special tshirt for him. I got Addison to draw a large picture of Thomas along with writing Daddy at the bottom on freezer paper. We went and picked out a shirt for Thomas and I cut out the drawing and ironed it on the shirt and painted it. Now he has an original Addison art shirt to wear and to show off.
For Father's Day weekend, we headed over to Midland to spend some time with Thomas's family and our friends. While we were there, Thomas and Ronnie went to Home Depot with Addison for a special edition of their kids workshop just for Father's Day. They made a mini tool box. I think they had a great time!

To end Father's Day, The whole family and The Vaughns pitched in to help surprise Thomas with a new IPAD for Father's Day and an early birthday gift. He has been wanting one for a long time now and I think he is very very happy.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day!
Much Love,
The Reynolds

Bad Mommy Moment

2011-06-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

So, I have a couple of times felt guilty for spanking Addison or getting upset for something that really was not that big of a deal. Well, yesterday I had a blow up moment!
Many of you know the issues that we have with Addison at meal time, trying to get her to eat is a constant battle. We had to move quickly at dinner last night because we had ballet at 6. I started her with dinner 40 minutes before we had to go thinking that would be enough time. Of course, I was constantly getting onto her trying to get her to eat and my frustration level was at a high! We got through dinner and was on our way to getting dressed and out the door. I told her we were going to use the bathroom one last time and as I turn she is sitting on the floor...red faced...this is her I feel like pooping face. For the most part these days, she will get up and go on her own, but yesterday..NOPE. She pooped in her pants and because I had not fully cooled myself off from dinner, I snapped! I screamed at the top of my lungs, holding back the bad words, and trying as hard as I could to not punch a hole in the wall. I thought, why this, why now, you know what to do!! I just was sooo sooo angry. I didn't talk to her the entire way to ballet and once we got there, I crawled in the back seat with her and apologized to her. I explained why I was mad and that I was wrong for getting upset like that. I also told her how mommy should have reacted.
The reason I am sharing this is because I really felt like a CRAPPY mom last night! I never have reacted that way to her and I thought, oh god I scarred her for life! This afternoon while I was hanging out looking at my Parents magazine while Addison was taking her nap, there was a section called, "Bad Mommy Moments" and there was one that was exactly like what happened to me. It made me feel so relieved that it happens to everyone. I want other moms to know that it is okay if you loose your temper and as the magazine shares, sometimes we can't be perfect! I stress so much to Addison to take deep breaths when she gets upset and I guess last night I needed to do the same thing! So no more bad thoughts on being a bad mommy, I know I am a good mom and it is okay for me to fumble every once in a while.

Let's cool off!

2011-06-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

We decided last week that we really needed a way to battle the heat that we have been having lately. The pool was the best idea we had, so we headed straight for Midland Saturday morning. We had Tosha, Justin, and the 3 boys, Lonetta, Kirk, Reba, and Michael, and our wonderful friends the Horsley's! We spend the whole afternoon hanging out by the pool and enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, and homemade ice cream. It was such a great Saturday doing nothing but relaxing and having fun!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Pizza Pinwheels

2011-06-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Addison and I had alot of fun making this great lunch the other day, and I wanted to share it with all the other moms that might read this and are looking for some fun cooking recipes for moms/kids.

ingredients:
1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
1/4 cup ranch dressing
Shredded Colby-Monterey Jack Cheese (or any kind that you like)
1/2 cup diced pepperoni
Pizza sauce or ranch dressing if you want to dip

1. Let your child spread flour on a surface, and roll pizza dough into a large rectangle (great for talking about shapes). With a basting brush, let your child "paint" the ranch dressing on top of the pizza dough. Let your child sprinkle the top with cheese and pepperoni. Roll up jelly-roll style.
2. Cut into 1 in. slices. Place onto a greased baking sheet. Bake 425 for 10-13 minutes. Serve warm with the pizza sauce or ranch if you would like. Refrigerate leftovers.

Addison loved these! She is not a pepperoni fan, but did not even seen bothered by them because they were cut so small and the yummyness of cheese and the pizza dough was great for her!

Enjoy and Much Love,
The Reynolds

Finn's 6th Birthday

2011-06-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Our sweet boy is 6 years old today! I still remember the day we decided to make a 200 and some dollar purchase on him in the parking lot of what was Albertsons. The whole day we had been on a "search" for our new puppy. We had gone to a pet store and saw a dachsaund puppy that was super cute, but decided to sit on it for the day to make our decision. We went to the pet adoptions at PetSmart but saw nothing. After our search we went to dinner and on the way home there was a truck in the parking lot and from a far away distance I saw the sign "Beagles" I high-tailed it all the way across three lanes and screeched into the parking lot. There were two puppies left, a female which a couple was looking at and a male that was all by his lonesome. This puppy became our Finnagen. We got money out of the ATM there and took him home. He was a pedigree Beagle, but as much of you all have seen, Finn is definitely a goliath inbred beagle.
We truly love him and he is the sweetest boy! Although he drives us crazy with his car riding, kleenex, sock, and underwear stealing, and whining that goes on consistently we would not trade him for the world! We love you Finny boy and Happy Birthday!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Friends Weekend

2011-06-05T19:11:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had our first vacation of the summer to Fredericksburg. We went with our friends Trinity, Diana, and Grace; Jen and Mike; Erin and her fiance' Craig. We stayed at the Avery Haus which is under the same Bed and Breakfast company that Thomas and I stayed at for one of our anniversaries. It was absolutely beautiful! 4 bedroom house, with wonderful porches, awesome kitchen, and a great living room for the kids to hang out in.
We spent the whole day on Saturday on Main Street shopping, enjoying each other's company, eating and drinking! It was wonderful and our two little girls of the group did Awesome! On Sunday, we went and traveled around to 3 wineries. The last two, Grape Creek and Becker were absolutely beautiful and we spent quite a while enjoying the scenery and the rest enjoyed the wine!
Monday we headed home, glad to get back onto our routine but sad to say goodbye to our great friends. We had such a great great time and loved our Friends weekend! Can't wait for the next one!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

2011-06-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

2011-03-20T18:58:00.000-07:00

Well, this week we had our wonderful and extremely enjoyable Spring Break. We were not able to take a trip somewhere like we have normally done in years past, because of all the lovely school work that Thomas has had. It was a great opportunity for him to catch up on some reading and try and get ahead for the following week. He also had to continue with his job at the Honors College, no Spring Break for Tech employees...boo. So, while he was off being productive, Addison and I had some fun!

This whole week, Addison has blessed us with a 7-8:00 wake up call rather than 6:30. It was glorious! I hope that this will be the case when summer rolls around. As for the events of our Spring Break, we took the pups to the vet, we went to the Science Spectrum, Safety City to practice our trike riding, Holly Hops Ice Cream shop, the Mud Room for some pottery painting, a lunch date with Daddy at Home Cafe' and lots and lots of time playing in the backyard and trike riding up and down our street. We also had a day with Daddy on Thursday. He took off to spend one day at home with us. It was a story time day. We went to the library and checked out some new books and went to story time which was about Gardens. Addison was very involved and loved it! We also went to the Texas Tech Museum that evening to go to Bedtime at the Museum: How Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. Addison was able to look at fossils and listen to the dinosaur book on a nap mat in the middle of the dinosaur exhibits, go in the back and make a very large dinosaur head, and have an M & M cookie (her fav!!) and apple juice dinosaur snack. WE LOVED THIS! It will become a Reynolds monthly activity.

To end our Spring Break, we have been able to spend Saturday and Sunday with Nana and Poppa. Addison ,of course, has loved this! She also was able to go to one of her really good buddies' (from school) birthday party at Jump N' Jungle. I do not want this week to end. It is so hard to have such a great week and end it to go back to work. Summer needs to come quick, quick, quick!

Take a gander at the pics if you would like!
http://picasaweb.google.com/tomjessaddy

Much Love,
The Reynolds

ABC book

2011-03-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this neat idea I came across to make for Addison. It is an ABC book that is made with random photos from the time Addison was born up until now. I wanted to give Addison something special for her Valentine's gift that was homemade, educational, and something that she would connect with. She has been really into the alphabet and this was a great way to extend her learning skills to pictures of herself with letters. All you need to do is pick some of your favorites pictures that you can add a word to for a letter and print the words on it (photoshop or picnik) and take it to Walgreens or Walmart to print. Then buy a cheap photo album, I found Addison's for 3 dollars at Walmart, and add a cover to it (I used my cricut to make one) and slip in the photos! TaaDaa!! I am really proud of it and I think it is a great keep sake!
Go to the picasa site to look at the photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tomjessaddy

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Let's build a car

2011-03-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we took Addison to another one of the first Saturday of the month Home Depot Kids Workshop. This month they were building a race car. There is not much to say other then the fact that she truly enjoys getting out and getting involved in activities and that I wanted to share our photos!! Again, go and check out our picasa website to see the photos.

Much Love,
The Reynolds

We did it!

2011-03-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

A Little note of excitement!!! Addison is officially riding her tricycle. We have taken a ride around the block two days in a row with zero help from mommy. YAY!! I am so proud of her and so glad that we are done with that frustration, but there is something new to tackle everyday...I wonder what will be next. Oh Yea, night time with panties!!

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Roswell

2011-02-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we took the opportunity with mom in town to head over to Roswell to visit my Grandpa. He has been having some health problems as of the last couple of month and we really wanted to go over and just check to see how things are going to and let him know that we were thinking about him. He has definitely aged and lost quite a bit of weight since his stomach problems have occured, so it was bit of a change for us. We miss him very much and we were so happy to see that things were going not great but alright for him!
While there we went to breakfast at IHOP where Grandpa go to see the misbehaving side of Addison! It was a lovely meal, needless to say, I was stressed to the max. She calmed down after a couple of visits with Nana to some of the friends in the park that my grandpa lives in. We then took Addison (without Grandpa) to the free zoo that Roswell has. It is a great little park to walk around in and enjoy the outdoors. She was able to chase a rooster, talk to a deer, pet a pony, and view a couple other animals and she was ready for the park. After the park we took her to the alien McDonalds, which is the first fast food play area we have let her play in. I am little afraid of all the crazy kids and the mega amount of germs/dirtiness that is associated with them. I went in with her for supervision and luckily there were no other kids playing at that time. We had dinner with Ellie and Grandpa at the Roswell version of Pei Wei which was quite yummy and then some custard for dessert. On Sunday, we of course went to church. Grandpa did the sermon that weekend and he was amazing. I had never heard my Grandpa give a sermon before and I was very very proud of him. Everyone was coming up and telling him how great it was and I definitely was proud to be sitting next to him as his granddaughter!
Check out some of the pictures that we took at our picasa sight!
http://picasaweb.google.com/tomjessaddy

Much Love,
The Reynolds

PS While writing this, Thomas is in the bedroom putting Addison to bed. She is doing something and he is getting on to her. She starts crying and saying that she wants her momma. Daddy tells her to quiet down and she tells him don't talk to me! LOL I think we officially have a 2 1/2 year old teenager!! Oh My the fun we have!

Let's Go to Mommy's school

2011-02-21T19:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been trying to post some pictures of Addison's fun day with Mommy at her school, but the silly Blogger is telling me I have met my limit of photos that can go on my blog. 773 is not alot!! LOL, so now I have to figure out what I need to do with that.

Anyways, I wanted to share the great day that Addison had with me at Smith Elementary. She has been asking to come with me to school for quite some time and finally decided that she was old enough and ready for something so structured and more serious than just a daycare setting. It also is a good test to see how she does for her upcoming (keeping our fingers crossed) school at All Saints Episcopal for the 3 year old Pre-K program. Since NaNa was in town, Addison could come to my school and if it was a little too overwhelming, she could bring Addy home to detox. She was very tired by the end of the day, but she did sooo well! She did all the activities with us and never protested. I absolutely loved having her there with me. She was scared at first of one of my friends that had a little melt down at the beginning of the day, but after that was done she felt that all the kids were perfectly normal. She even met some new friends that she loved playing with. Enjoy the pics on picasa!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tomjessaddy

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Addison loved her party and had lots of sugary goodness. I could not send out the Valentine's card to everyone, so I wanted to share our family Valentine (colored card) on here. I also wanted to share the Valentine (black and white card) that Addison gave to her friends at school with a bunch of yummy kisses.

Love you to all of our wonderful friends and family and Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow Day!

2011-02-01T19:29:00.000-08:00

School Cancelled
See the Snow Outside
Bundle Up
Cold Icy Wind
Throw some snow
Make a Snow Angel
Come in after 10 minutes
Have some Hot Chocolate
YAY Snow Day!

ch
Much Love,
The Reynolds

Mally's Birthday

2011-02-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago, when we adopted Mally, we decided that we would come up with a date that would celebrate her birthday and give us a marker of about how old she was. Well. today is the day that we chose for the BIG day. Today Mally is 6 years old. She is a big old mess of a weiner dog with lots of drama and issues, but we love her very much. Happy Birthday our sweet Mally Dog. Sorry you have had a horrible wintery birthday.

Much Love,
The Reynolds

The new room

2011-01-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally have Addison's room almost done. I wanted to share the updated pics. We have two more walls, on other side of the window, that we need to put some pictures on, but I haven't quite decided what I want to do yet. Mom went back to IKEA and found the material that matches her comforter and cut out the characters and framed them, so that she would have a collage on top of her dresser. And I was really excited to find the old window at an antique shop here in town to display Addison's art work. My plan is to switch it out every now and then. I also was able to find a metal sign to go on her night stand that says, " You are my sunshine", I sing this to Addison at night, so that is a little something special to have (at least for me). Anyways, hope you all like it! We do! It is so cozy, I think Thomas and I could spend all our time in there.

Much Love,
The Reynolds

Riding Solo

2011-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Santa brought Addison a brand new tricycle. She has been on a trike before, but has never really experienced pushing wheels and steering (lots of coordination for a toddler). She has seen her good buddy Brooklyn, take off like the wind on her trike and Addison just loved it, so we thought that this was going to be a quick pick up for our sweet Addy. Well.....I think we forgot about how Addison's gross motor skills are much less developed then Brooklyn's! Brooklyn has always been a very fast mover..crawling, walking, jumping, etc. and Addison has been a couple trails behind her.( She is like her mommy..:-( ) Not a problem for us!! We just thought the bike would be different. Anyways..I want to take you through the play by play of Addison learning her new trike riding abilities and where we are as of now! Here we go!!

1. Day after Christmas we decide to head outside at Nana and Poppa's house and start the trike training process. It is a good start, she has her feet on the pedals and her hands on the handle bars.

2. Daddy showing Addison with his hands how her feet need to push on the pedals and go..right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot.

3. Still in trike riding position, but not really moving anywhere, because she is not pushing on the pedals.

4. Says she can't do it, and gets off. Looks like there might not be a whole lot of motivation here.

5. Brings the trike, with her hands-not riding it, over to the curb where there are...LEAVES!

6. We get her to get back on her trike, with the assurance that she is able to put her new leaves in her handy dandy basket in the front of her trike. We tell her that she should ride her leaves around on her new trike...with voices of doubted enthusiasm.

7. She agrees and Daddy pushes her for support and in hopes of getting her to start pedaling on her own.

8. eh....That is no go! It is back to the exciting leaves. HOOORAY!! Well, better luck next time...right?!

Well for the next couple of weeks, we have been trying to get Addison on the bike with frustrations from parents and daughter. She has not had the motivation to pedal and we are so set on our daughter being smart enough that she should be able to figure this out. Well, she is smart enough...she just does not want to do it!

On to this week! We are pedaling...only about 3 feet at a time, but we are pedaling. Let me tell you our play by play for this week.

1. She is pedaling! "Addison you are doing it!!" YAY!!!

2. "You got it! You got it!!"

3. "Smile at Momma!! We are so proud of you for riding your bike!!"

4. "Addison, put your feet back on the pedals!! We are not scooting!!"

5. Okay, we are back to pedaling again. "You can do it Baby!! Keep going! Lets go ride down the sidewalk!"

6. And this...CRASH...is why she can only make it 3 feet. We have figured out the pedaling to some degree and we have now added in a new step of what? Steering.

We have been trying to stay very positive with her and we know that she is going to get this! We are using it has a first/then technique. First you ride your bike then you can play on your swing. It is a must do physical play time activity before any others so that we can practice. I know, you probably think we are drill sergeants! But how else will she learn, and as I said before we are being positive...I hope!

Anyways, keep us in your thoughts and well wishes and we tackle the task of riding the trike with some pushes, guiding, and coaching to riding all by herself and zooming down our sidewalk. ( I know that is a nightmare in itself!)

Much Love,
The Reynolds