look who's all smiles

five weeks old


six weeks old

31 to a better woman

Chris attended Mayfair's men's retreat last March. Sounds like he had a good time bonding with the males, and he came home with some homework. One of the guys discussed "The Art of Manliness", which is a website devoted to reviving the lost art of manliness. The website did a series of posts titled "30 Days to a Better Man", which is a list of tasks. John took the list and adapted it some, reported about his experiences, and challenged the guys to do the tasks. Chris worked on his list and I found it intriguing.

I found myself wondering if there was something like this for us gals. I did some internet searching and came up with little to nothing about improving yourself as a woman. Mostly it's geared toward women trying to get a man, and they don't have very detailed tasks. So I made my own list and started working on it. Then morning sickness took over and I let my list fall by the wayside. i thought since it's a new year and time for setting goals, now would be a good time to start on my list again.

I came up with 31 things because of Proverbs 31, which seems to be a good model of a woman, but the list isn't based on this passage. A few of the tasks are borrowed from the guys list, some are things I want to be better at, some are things inspired by my love of Little House of the Prairie and Jane Austin books, and some are focused on what I consider to be feminine. After I started making my list I discovered the book called Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be: A 90-day Guide to Living the Proverbs 31 Life by Donna Partow. Sometime I might try it, but for now I like my list. I tried to make it so that you could be at any station in life (single or married, children or none). When I first attempted this list I found it easier to not try and set myself up to sticking to a particular order or time frame. I am hoping to blog about my experience completing each task. It may not be your cup of tea, but if you want I'd love to have you join me on this journey!

Here's the list:

1: pick a virtue
2: groom
3: find a mentor
4: snail mail
5: planning
6: get something girly
7: sew/craft something
8: be an early bird
9: mind your manners
10: get your apron on
11: read the bible
12: organize/clean
13: make it from scratch
14: healthy habits
15: preserve something
16: pray everyday
17: use a handkerchief
18: finances
19: plan a girls night
20: no electronics for entertainment
21: respect/support a guy
22: go green
23: host someone
24: plant something
25: charity
26: change a tire
27: be a better friend
28: education
29: self-defense
30: take care of someone
31: reflect

shearing the sheep

I didn't get a chance to post about Elle's first Christmas program because it was right before Todd was born. I thought it would be a good post to mention it along with her first haircut! Elle was a sheep in the pen next to the stable with all her toddler friends. She wasn't real sure about what was going on and if she wanted to participate, but she made it through. They were all so cute!



Elle's hair was so long it was getting difficult to get the tangles out. Friday, we took her to Jennifer at Duncan Bro. who Chris and I go to. She was pretty freaked out, but eventually she found pinching Daddy's nose to take her mind off of what was going on. Now she's tangle free!

1+1=2

We're now saying "the kids". It seems so funny. We've made it a month with two and I finally feel like we're getting back on track. I think the holidays kept us from getting back into a regular schedule before now. So far I've learned that it makes things easier if we keep Elle on her schedule and I've got to plan ahead if I want to do anything. I've also set me up what I call the nursing nest. I have my laptop and a TV tray set up as my desk near the chair where I nurse Todd and it's help me stay on top of some things. Here's some more pics from our life with two:


Mops is already his buddy.

Todd at 3 and 4 weeks with his Christmas presents.


Don't worry I was supervising!

our christmas 2011

Elle's gift from Santa! This trampoline folds up and fits perfectly under her bed. No more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Seems like everyone was making cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Here's our version that wasn't from scratch, but still yummy and quick for a momma who's not getting much sleep. Two cans of pillsbury cinnamon rolls arranged on a cookie sheet to make a christmas tree then sprinkled with Christmas sprinkles.

We went to Tulsa for two nights and decided to spare family of a night with a newborn and stay at embassy suites. They have really good deals on christmas, i guess because not many people stay at a hotel. Here's Elle jumping on our king sized bed. She did awesome sleeping in the adjacent room and was really excited to sleep on the pull-out couch.

Did I mention the indoor pool?

Todd sitting poolside

Elle and her cousin Ruby. Aren't they cute in their matching swimsuits?

a new appreciation for mary

Todd Reid
December 7, 2011 at 8:31 a.m.
7 lbs. 7 oz.
20.5 in.

I'll try to be brief and not give any gory details, but I want to tell Todd's birth story as my first post back. My contractions started shortly after midnight, but were not consistent or intense until just before 5 am. Then Chris and I decided to head to the hospital. Once I got up and took a shower the contractions became more intense and were closer together. We left Elle in the care of our wonderful neighbor, Charlie until my mom could arrive. We left for the hospital, but just had to go down the street. We did have to find our way around a train and when we arrived at the hospital there was no room at the inn and ended up delivering in one of the observation rooms. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 a.m.. My labor progressed so quickly that I didn't get an epidural or any pain meds. My water broke right after the anesthesiologist came in and Todd was born at 8:31 a.m. They put him in my arms immediately and it was so wonderful. Chris was able to get a picture just then and it is so special to us. We spent most of the day in the observation room while we waited for a postpartum room. It was worth it though because the nurses gave us one of the rooms with a double bed because they felt sorry for us. (It was really nice, but during the night it felt a little weird every time someone came in.) All in all I'm glad it happened the way it did. Even though it was a bit more painful and I doubted whether I was going to make it, it was a much better experience going all natural. I had an easier and faster recovery.

Having a baby around Christmas time and without pain meds has given me a new perspective on Christ's birth. Afterwards, I started wondering about all sorts of things. I had two nurses and four doctors, not to mention Chris working with me, but were Mary and Joseph all alone? Chris got to cut Todd's cord. Did Joseph know what to do with all that stuff? A nurse gave Todd a bath and removed all the yucky stuff. What did Mary and Joseph do to clean Jesus? Chris was such a wonderful support through everything. He held my hands and helped me get through the contractions as well as motivating me to keep going when I felt so tired. It was the first time I really thought about Joseph holding Mary's hand as she pushed. It made the observation room seem so glamorous when I thought of Mary laying in the hay. Sorry if this is just a bunch of ramblings, but I wanted to share how Todd has already changed me.

I'll post more about our experience with two kids later. Here's some pics of our early days at home. We have been blessed beyond belief!

We made Todd a birthday cake. This was on my list of baby countdown activities, but we didn't get to it. BTW- that's a fox since that's what the meaning of Todd is.


Todd and I hanging out one of the first nights Chris went back to dorm duty.


Loaded up to take Elle to school.


Getting his street in early with big sis.


Todd about a week or so old.

ossm christmas brunch

Sunday we went to the OSSM Christmas Brunch for faculty and staff. It was at the Frank and Merle Buttram House, which used to be the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The current owners have lived there about 16 years and are actually the parents of one of Chris' classmates from his days at OSSM. It was pretty fancy and thankfully Elle didn't break anything. They had one of those little people nativity sets out and the hostess also got out some mega blocks for Elle and her friend Andre to play with. Here's a pic of what the house originally looked like, but it still looks very similar. Where the couch is in the far left imagine a GIGANTIC christmas tree.

Here's a couple of pics Lori, our friend and the PR gal for OSSM, took of us. I think it's a pretty good pic of me since I'm on the verge of pygmy hippo!