lately lately...

spring has sprung here in DC and we are LOVING it!! we have been going to a different park every day and makenzie and i go on 57 walks a day around our complex! i'm loving the nice weather and counting down the days until our pool is open cuz it is HOT here!!!!

kenz and i met our animal friends at oxon hill farms last week! it was so fun seeing her see all these animals for the first time! she loved it!

daddy and kenz reading in her tent :)

:)

unfortunately i was awful with pictures over Easter weekend, but we had a great time in Jersey visiting with friends and spending Easter Sunday with the O'Neils! Makenzie loves loves loves her cousins and we always have the best time with them!

makenzie's first Easter basket! :) (can't take credit for the adorable basket...thanks Aunt Lisa!)

enjoying a beautiful stroll around Old Town!

Jake and I went to game 2 of the Capitals/Rangers playoff! It was so much fun and much needed date night!!

too cool for school

i'll just let the pictures do the talking :)

check 'em off the list!

remember this post back in January when I said I was a crafty wannabe?? well I did it!! I actually completed them...well I did 2 of the 3, but I also did one that I didn't post about! I'm so excited about how they all turned out!

my felt flower pillow

makenzie's "you are my sunshine" sign in her room! LOVE IT!

and this fun thing is an idea I got from here You just erase and write!

I thought it was the cutest idea and wanted to give it to Jake for Valentines Day but didn't want to pay $40 for it, so i made my own inexpensive version!

It's amazing what you can get done when you ground yourself from the computer for a few days!

makenzie's first heart break

makenzie's boyfriend left her. . . .for germany. . . .boo you germany.

this is logan bowerbank. he is so so cute and makenzie just LOVES him! they played together just about every day for the last 6 months. he is the one person, besides family, that makenzie instantly recognized and she would get so excited when she saw him! a few times during church when makenzie spotted Lo across the room she would stand up and seriously yell and flail her arms at logan! it was disruptive, funny, and so very cute!

and his parents are pretty cool too! :)

we miss you Bowerbanks!!!!

but this is not good-bye, just see ya later!!!!!

bff's forever!

table for 2 please!

my dc sisters- girls night out before janie left us!

i'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!

and i just can't hide it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mr. reynolds surprised me and is taking me to the sandy beaches of florida in may for our anniversary. . . .like just the two of us. . . .as in, uninterrupted dinners out, movie theatre every night, laying at the beach allll day. . . . .and sleeping in. . . .yes, just the two of us!

our anniversary is may 20th, we are going the 25th-30th! makenzie will be watched over with loving care by her grandma ingram and we will be so sad to not see her for a few days. . . .but momma needs a vacay!!!!!

jake and i had talked all season (nba season that is) about taking a trip when the season is over (last game was last night! Holler!). so the past week i have been researching and researching where to go. but jake did not seem excited and when i would ask his opinion on a place he was just ho-hum (real word?) about everything. i didn't understand why he was dragging his feet and not excited! then when I brought it up for the 256th time he finally had to say, "OK! so i have a surprise". so basically since i wouldn't shut up about all these plans and he already had something in the works, he had to fill me in so i didn't go and plan a whole vacation without him!!

we are so so so very excited! so in 43 days i will kiss my little girl goodbye for a few days, with a tear in my eye and big fat smile on my face! :)

makenzie monday!

this was even an improvement...she used to forget to uncover her eyes! it made for a really long game of peek-a-boo!

true love :)

she works hard for her money!

party people!

we had lots of our family come to visit for makenzie's birthday party! it was so fun visiting with everyone and showing them around DC and it definitely made the party extra extra awesome! :)

we had dinner and our favorite frozen yogurt with everyone friday night, birthday party and wizards game saturday, and then saw the sights of DC on sunday!

grandma reynolds and kenzie

eliza, makenzie, kira, and alexa

kenz liking her view!

bailey and molly

the whole gang taking the metro...quite the scene!

dinner at Gaupos

the ingrams take old town :)

back home again in indiana!

after the party weekend, makenzie and i drove back to indiana with my family for a visit!

we had the best time! it was definitely makenzie's best trip to indy! she had so much fun with grandma and grandpa, was obsessed with shelby, the dog, and loved playing on their swing set! she also started walking more while we were there and is now a 100% walker!

we visited with friends, had fun with cousins, and loved every minute!

bff's lydia and makenzie

enjoying the beautiful weather that we were spoiled with!

grant giving makenzie kisses :)

they had lots of bonding time and he really loved her by the end!

IN- DC- NJ all within 24 hrs

makenzie and i flew back to dc from indy on thursday night and friday afternoon we drove up to nj for a visit with the o'neil and francis family! jake's sister, kim, and her fam, steve, isaak, and ben, were visiting from utah and we couldn't pass up the chance to see them!

we went to the knicks game friday night where isaak and ben got to be ball boys!

the rest of the weekend was spent catching up and lots of laughs!

and makenzie loved being with more cousins!

kira and caroline helping kenz!

me, makenzie and alexa walking around summit

makenzie thought it was so funny to look through the windows!

eliza, isaak, kira, ben, and makenzie having a ball in the bounce house!

ball boy bean!

ball boy i-man!

steve and jake

lisa, kim, and i at the knicks game

play that funky music

i have the spring cleaning itch, but it's cold and rainy. who wants to open their windows, organize closets, scrub floors, deep clean their kitchen, and love it while it's cold and rainy?!?! exactly. i'm in a funk.

so what do i do? i make a list. i am OBSESSED with list making. i make lists for everything. so i made a spring cleaning list. room by room. it's pretty awesome. i almost feel as if i did everything just by writing it down...too bad it doesn't work that way. but it did make me excited to do the things i wrote down. i also have the itch because we just found out that we can extend our lease for another year! this is big! the reynolds have moved EVERY SUMMER we've been married...yep....five. this will officially be our first summer to be normal people swimming, going to the park, and enjoying the beautiful weather; not searching for boxes, wrapping, boxing, packing, moving, unpacking people. i'm beyond excited! so until July 2012 we're staying put. so, as i look around our home sweet home i see lots of stuff...stuff that needs to go...stuff that we've been holding onto "just in case we moved and need it in our new place", well we aren't, and we don't need it!

the other reason for my funk...my productive juices aren't flowing...except for the list making, of course. we all get stuck in our little routines, right? well, i'm stuck in mine and need a new one. i decided yesterday that i can only check facebook monday, wednesday, friday. that makes me sound obsessed...well i'm not. but i do check it everyday, sometimes twice. i'm not on it more than a few minutes, checking the updates and pictures and then i'm done...but facebook is the gateway drug. because now i'm on the computer and i'm blog stalking, again only about 10 mintues and i'm done with that, but i'm sitting down...on the comfy couch...and makenzie is napping...it never ends well. it will be good for me, i will browse less and DO more! i'm excited.!

a sunny little party

we had a sunny little party here in reynolds land!

the invitation

i made the cake and cupcakes with homemade icing!

the room turned out so cute!

the tissue balls were made by my mother-in-law and the center pieces were cool glass bottles filled with pink and yellow candies

the birthday girl!

birthday girl with her presents and the party favors, bubble wands!

foooooooooood!

SUN chips, chicken salad SUNwiches, fruity rays of SUNSHINE, SUNkist, capriSUNS, and a SUNdae bar!

makenzie's timeline of pictures!

the host and hostess :)

is that for meeeeeee?!?!?!

finger-lickin good!

and this.....

led to this.

we're working on sharing...

having fun opening her presents!

makenzie's party has come and gone and we loved every minute of it! i had so much fun planning it and everything turned out so cute! it was such a special day for our family to celebrate our cutie and felt so loved having our friends there and lots of family come to town to join us!