Some Recent Pics

This is Zeke's new swimming suite and water shoes. We were trying it on before we left for South Padre Island for the weekend.

On our way to South Padre Island Zeke enjoyed some chocolate.

Zeke loved playing in the water with daddy and jumping in from the side. He had no fear in the water!

Zeke decided to get a tan while out swimming.

We went to 6 Flags Fiest Texas with the cousins and Zeke enjoyed all the rides. Here he is riding with dad in the Looney Tunes Bus.

Here is our new dog Pheobe just lounging on the couch.

Zeke LOVES his new puppy and Pheobe is getting used to all the attention from him.

Laundry Tips

#1-Check ALL pockets before washing
#2-Double Check pockets before washing
#3-If some how an orange crayon still ends up in the dryer with a large load of whites GOOD LUCK!

This was a frusterating experience. With a little 409, Spray N Wash, and a lot of time scrubing with a tooth brush I was able to save some of the clothes but not most of them. I think I will hang up Zeke's white church shirt in the laundry room as a reminder to follow my first 2 tips.

Yesterday we bought a bunk bed that can also be used as 2 twin beds. We will first use them as two beds one for Zeke and one as a guest bed in the computer room. I showed him the boxes last night and he wanted his new bed not his crib, lukily he was tired and soon fell asleep in his crib anyway. When we have them put together I will take some pictures to post.

As most of you know I have had awfull morning sickness since we found out we are expecting. It has gotten better but I still have days where nothing will stay down. The doctor was hoping this would end with my first trimester but it hasn't. I think she is concerned that I only gained 1lb in the last 4 weeks and am still not up to my original weight before all the morning sickness. I have developed a tummy and now look pregnaunt instead of just chubby, especially after I eating. We will find out if we are having a little girl of boy on June 10th it would have been sooner but this way Matt is done with work and can be there for the appointment.

If it is a girl her name will be Avalon Raine Reynolds and if it is a boy it will be Blaire Codie Reynolds. When we asked Zeke if we were having baby Avalon or Blaire he started saying baby Avy over and over so I guess that is his way of saying we are having a girl. If you ask Matt and I we would have to agree with him. We will find out in less then 4 weeks.

We have been shopping for a new couch since all we had were two small loveseats it drove Matt crazy that we couldn't lay down with out either elevating our head and legs or all curled up. Well a few weeks ago we found a huge sectional for a great price at Best Buy. It is very comfy and big enough we can all lay down at the same time with no problems.

Another new thing we recently purchased is a dog. Yes we are going to try this one more time. As you may recall this is dog #4 for us since we moved here in October. We rescued 3 others and things just didn't work our with each of them for one reason or another. Well this dog is very different from the others. Her name is Pheobe and is a 3yr old wiener dog. We got her from the shelter I sometimes volenteer at. We have had her since Saturday and things have been great. She is house broke and is used to sleeping in a crate at night, she is a lap dog and stayes by my side most of the day. She learned fast that the upstairs is off limits and is normally quite. She does bark at a man that comes over to deliver papers to my for work but other then that no barking. She is good with Zeke, I don't know how much experiance she has with kids but if Zeke does something she doesn't like she turnes around and licks him. One thing I have been trying to work on is when she is woken up or started she jerks around with her mouth open like she is going to bite. She doesn't but it is a habit I don't want her to have just in case. Also she ran out of the front door the other day and Matt had to chase her up and down the street but came back to me when I went outside. We are woking on her not going for the front door unless she is leashed and invited she is going much better.

Well Zeke is awake I will try and post pics during his nap time later.

Dressed to impress

What to Say?

I am really feeling spoiled with our weather lately. It has been in the 70's for over a week now and I am loving it. We had to go buy Zeke some sandals cause I couldn't bare putting socks and shoes on him when it is so warm. I wish it could just stay like this all year but I have been warned about the 90's that will soon be coming. Well at least we have A/C now.

I was having a rough time this morning doing my hair so I decided to cut it. Lol I know just because it is a bad hair day doesn't mean you need to chop it all off. It was fun and I like how it turned out. It is short and choppy looking I will have to take a picture of myself and show it off.

This weekend we are going to try and visit Aunt Tami and Whitney in Houston to Whitney's birthday that is on Thurs I think. We haven't seen them for a while and we have never been to their house so this will be a fun adventure.

We are all pretty healthy except for a head cold/Sinus infection that I seem to be getting. Hoping it won't stay around to long. With all of the drooling Zeke has been doing lately I think he is cutting some more teeth; this would also explain the cranky mood he has been in. As soon as I can see how many and what ones I will let you all know.

Matt and I are both staying busy with our jobs, Zeke, and our church callings. We have been going out with the missionaries a lot lately. We have met some great people and hopefully we will have a few baptisms soon. Also this last Sunday we had 2 deaf members show up for church. Both have been attending other Deaf Congregations (1 catholic 1 baptist, i think) but now they are going to start coming to our ward since we are able to interpret for them.

Zeke has developed a scream that hurts the ears. He uses it when he is upset and or frustrated with something. It drives Matt and I crazy! We have tried a few ways of "punishment" but he ends up thinking it is funny or no big deal and doesn't work in changing his bad behavior. Any suggestions?

So it looks like we will be making a short trip to Utah towards the end of May for a family function. Matt doesn't have many days left to take work off so we will see how we can work around that. Zeke and I will hopefully be in Utah for a few days longer then Matt but time will tell. When I buy or airline tickets I will let you all know when. We are hoping they go down some before we have to buy them.

New Adventures

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long since we have posted. We have been to Utah to visit family and busy with life and work. First let me say what a blessing my part time job has been. It has allowed us to have a little less stress in our lives. I wasn't looking for a job and the Lord put it right in my lap. So far I have been able to do all of my work work at home with Zeke with me, no day care needed!!! Also my boss was very gracious about my trip to Utah and things. The ranch is in the process of building some offices, one for me so working at home all of the time may be ending sometime next year, but as far as I know having Zeke there shouldn't be a problem as long as I can keep him entertained there a few hours a day.

Now for those of you who don't know we no longer have BluBell. We found her a home with two home schooled children, other dogs, horses and 5 acres to run on and dig up. I am sure she is lonving life. But luckily a few days after we found her a home Matt found me a puppy!!! A teacher at his school found a pregnant dog abandon by their farm. The dog had 3 puppies and now one lives at our house. His name is Stewy. He is a purebred Heinz 57, and a very beautiful one at that. We belaive he has beagle, a shepard of some sort, and blue healer in him. He has been doing pretty well with potty training but his need to chew on things he shouldn't is driving us crazy. He I guess gets board of the things we bought for him to chew on and goes in serach of something new. Mainly Zeke's clothes, toys, and any power cords. With time things will hopefully get better.

Being the only LDS members in my neighborhood has been a new experience. For Christmas most of my gifts tended to be more related to Christ then in the past. We have given out plates with Jesus' hand signing I love you, as well as DVD's of Mr Kruger's Christmas to non-members friends (yes Dave we do have friends) and neighbors. I hope they enjoy their gifts.
Zeke has grown sooo much. Everyone kept commenting about it while we were in Utah. He about 13 months old and wears 24 month clothing (well the pants are rolled up for his short legs). He has also put on the weight. He is about 27 lbs currently and feels like much more after you have been holding him for very long. He started to really walk while we were in Utah and just keeps getting better. I thought he was into everything before!

On Christmas Eve will will be going to a friends house and eating appetizers. Then we will go look at Christmas lights with Matt's sister Jill and her family. Christmas day we will open presents in the morning at home then spend some time with the Cardon's then in the evening our wards 2 full time missionaries are coming over to call their families.

Since Matt was called to be Ward mission leader we have been able to spend more time with the missionaries and have really enjoyed it. We often go out on disscusinos with them. Lately I have been going with them to a recent converts house. After they teach a lesson I teach everyone a bit of sign language. This women is VERY hard of hearing and has a lot of trouble in church understanding what is being said. We are hoping that she will get to a point that with the help of Matt and I interpreting for her she will be able to "hear" it all.

On Sunday I was asked to do sign language for a few of the songs in out Christmas program. I was very happy to do so and it went really well. After the meeting some brothers came up and told Matt and I that there is actually a deaf man in our ward. He used to come to church and a lady from another ward would interpret for him. but he hadn't been coming for a while. I don't know why they didn't tell us this the first time I did sign laguage in sacrament meeting weeks ago!?! Anyway after church Matt went and visited this man and his family and he said he would come to the ward starting in January. He is married to a catholic women who is also deaf and have been attending her brothers ministry. The Lord keeps showing us different reasons he put us where he did. We wondered at first but we trusted in him and now we are starting to understand.

We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and remembers what this holiday is all about!!!

A New Camera!

Here are some pictures I took this week with the new camera I got for work. It is a Nikon SLR camera and takes great shots. Now I need to learn what all he setting do and the pictures can be even better. The first pictures were taken at Kenna's soccer game which they won 3-0!

Zeke loves rocks...

...and the dog's water...

..... and unrolling the toilet paper.

BluBell is still living with us but Rosco has found a home at the Ranch that I have started working at.

The kids

My first ravioli dinner!!! I loved it, can you tell?

I found mom's box of chalk. Happy Halloween?!?

Just playing.

Zeke sometimes gets so frustrated that all he can do is scream. Here is an example.

We got a dog. Her name is BluBell. She is a lab mix. She is about months old and full of energy. Zeke loves to try and play with her and chew on rawhide with her. I think we should just buy Zeke some dog toys because he plays with them more then his own.

BluBell waiting for Zeke to feed her from his try. Something we have tried to stop but Zeke doesn't want to listen.

This is Rosco. I found him in front of our house yesterday looking for food in a neighbors garbage. So I have been trying to find his home. He has no tags and is not chipped. So for now we have two dogs and BluBell is loving it.

They love to play tug with each other. One will grab a sock and take it to the other. Then they will grab on and tug.