Daddy Daughter Date

Craig Started a tradition of daddy daughter date every year when The princess on Ice show comes to town. This year Cali was soooo excited that she would tell all her friends,"my dad is taking me on a date to see princess on ice!" I lost count how many people she told. She was thrilled out of her mind. So Mommy worked on getting her all dolled up for her big date....Craig takes her to paradise bakery for dinner before the big show. She informed me that they had a secret the whole time about getting a cookie at paradise. She had a grilled cheese for her meal and loved it.
This is the face of a happy girl! I think it is so wonderful that Craig does this for her. It means so much for her to get one on one time with daddy. I hope they continue the tradition for as long as she loves princesses! This was truly the best night of her life.

My Baby goes to Kindergarten

Well It's official....My baby is in kindergarten. What an exciting time for Cali. She has been so excited for several months to start school. She is anxious to learn and socialize. She is such a fun little girl with so much happiness in her sweet personality. She has a love for life and Is looking forward to learning so much in school this year. I didn't start crying until I was walking to my car without her. I am happy she has come this far in her life but very sad to be loosing my baby to a big girl. I am so Lucky to have her as my daughter. I am so proud of you Cali! Here are some great pics from her first day of school and Ms. Mowers class......

Cali Turns 5!!!

My sweet baby girl Turned Five today. It is bitter sweet. I am sad you have become a kid and not so much my baby anymore. I adore you at this age so much. You are just so HAPPY all the time. Sure you have upset feelings sometimes but you never throw tantrums which is amazing for a 5 year old. You are always smiling and are just the sweetest girl. I love you so much and I am so proud you are 5.

5 things I love about Cali

1. She truly has the best hair of any child I have ever seen. I am not saying this because I am her mother and I am biased. It really is amazing.

2. You LOVE camping and lizard hunting but you are such a girly girl too. Anything Princess makes you happy.

3. You are starting Kindergarden this year. You are going to do great. We are so proud you will be in school this year.

4. Your favorite food is chinese food. You love it. I can't get you to eat much else and you are a huge lover of chocolate milk.

5. Your favorite color is still Pink. I am not looking forward to the day you say you HATE pink but I know it's coming. I know because I did that to my mom.

You really are an amazing little girl. I love you so much and I love to watch you grow. You have blessed my life beyond words. I needed you in my life that is clear. I am so glad you are my sweet Cali girl. I look forward to your many birthdays to come and I am the luckiest mom in the world to have you as my daughter. The best thing about you is you are 100% a mommas girl. I love it!

This is Cali on her big 5th birthday:

Summer = Swim

Summer for us sure = swimming. Lots of swimming. We do swim lessons for the kids every year at my inlaws house. It is so awesomje and convenient accept there is no bathroom close by. Other than that issue it is so nice to have a private pool to have lessons. A nice girl Craig gre up with named Michelle and her assistant Miriam, works with them every summer. It has made a huge difference in there swimming ability. Because of Michelle we were able to get Andrew started with Pre comp swim team. We are trying a new club called cottonwood heights this summer and so far it has been much better. On 1 day a week Michelle works with him on perfecting his strokes and 2 days a week he practices at the outdoor club pool. This pool is my inlaws....

This is Andrew at practice doing pushups and warming up foranother day of swim practice.

This is Andrew swimming at his most recent swim meet. He swam 3 heats. 25yrd Butterfly, 25 yrd Breast strok and 25 yrd free style. He got first place in all three heats. Way to go Andrew! We are so proud of you. You are awesome!

The next sport we have lined up for him is tackle football. Mom is not ready for this but dad has been planning it since he was born. I hope he is ready for that because I sure am not!

All about Cali

Now that the school year has started again It has only just occured to me that my Baby(Cali) is grwing up all too fast. Cali has started her second year of pre school. She is going to a lady in my sister in laws neighborhood who has a school in her basement. She had taught all the other Reese children and this year Cali and her cousins whom she calls "her girls". She calls them that because they are identical twins and she doen't know which is which. She was very excited to start pre school again. She has such a desire to learn new things.

This is teacher Cathy
This is also Cali's first year of Dance. We decided to put the girls in Ballet this year once a week. I just think thewy look so adorable in these ballet leos and too too's(spelling?)

Her ballet instructor Becky
Putting on her ballet shoes

Reese, baby girl

Cali Lynn Reese was born at 12:59 p.m. 4 years ago today at sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene Oregon. It was one of the most amazing days of my life. I was induced at 7:30 in the morning. After the doctor broke my water I started contracting away. I recieved my epidural which didn't go in smoothly. After the third time I was poked it finally started working and I was comfortable. Things seemed to progress so fast. It was a lot of work but after 19 minutes of hard pushing, you were born. You cried so loud but The doctor layed you on my chest and my life was changed forever. I got to hold you for as long as I wanted. It was like the world stopped all around us just for that moment. I had a daughter. A sweet black haired bundle of joy. You were 8 lbs. 8 ounces and 19&3/4 long. When the nurse gave you your bath you really liked the warm water. You were covered in vernix so it took a little while to clean you up. It was a beautiful Friday after noon. It was so sunny and beautiful outside. I was overwhelmed with joy and I was so happy to finally see your face. My dreams came true the day you were born and you have blessed my life everyday since. I love you Cali Lynn and I am so proud you are my daughter. You have been such a joy to watch as you grow. The past 4 years have been so wonderful. We are lucky to have you in our family. I only hope that I can be the mother you have dreamed of. Happy Birthday honey. I love you!

Cali's Fishy face

Cali informed me today that she knows how to make a fishy face. I thought I would share because it is so cute!