Safety First

We are all about safety here at the Kreider household! Even if we're just playing in the driveway, you never know when you might suffer a head injury... =)
Raegan noticed her new bike helmet sitting on the shelf in the garage and whined and pointed until I pulled it out and put it on her head. Then she happily tooled around the yard for about 15 minutes with it on. I could not stop laughing!

Is there such a thing as the terrible 15 months?

My latest challenge with Raegan is at mealtimes. Suddenly we are lucky to get through a meal without half of it on the floor and the other half rubbed in her hair.
"NO!" and "Stop!" and "Naughty!" and grabbing her hands do not work. My loud reprimands are met with laughter and more hair rubbing. I am very frusterated.
Luckily my wise friend Sara suggested a new tactic. One that I should have thought of sooner. Taking the food AWAY. Duh. I guess I was worried she would starve...Sara assures me that she won't.
We'll see what happens at dinner tonight...

The Eckerts

My friend Jenniffer and her husband Jim and kids Tyler, Jayce, and Addison were in town these past two weeks and made an effort to come and visit Raegan and I.
I met Jenn when Tyler was in preschool at the Head Start Center where I was a social worker many moons ago.
We developed a friendship and have kept in touch ever since, even after two job changes (for me) and two moves to two different states (for her-Jim is in the Air Force). Recently they moved to sunny Florida and I am forever drooling over her blog and the pictures of the ocean and beautiful sand!
She says she'd like to take my house and move it to Florida. I say, I'll take it! Tell me when the moving truck is on its way.

Fun times in Naperville

Raegan and I just returned from a mid-week "vacation" to visit our friends the Leys' in Illinois. It was a great way to break up the week and to bond with our friends. Sara and I got some good "girl-time" in (hint: a night out with margaritas and mexican food, catching up on General Hospital and other trashy t.v. shows, and shopping at the Outlets) and the kids had a great time just playing together. Finally, they are old enough and close enough in age to actually interact with each other! Raegan humored Zach with his relentless "chase" game and Zach put up with Raegan getting into all of his favorite toys.
Even though the weather was pretty hot and sticky and our beach plans were dashed on Wednesday, we had a GREAT time.
Thanks so much guys for hosting us and we're looking forward to your visit next month!



Playing together in the mall play-area

Eating Flav-O-Ices....

Waiting patiently for the "magical" fountain

New jammies

Grandma Posie sent Raegan these new pajamas and they are so cute and comfy that I just had to take a picture (they also glow in the dark...a fun novelty!). At the last second she put her hands behind her head so this is what I got. Such a little model.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the present! We LOVE getting packages in the mail! =)
P.S. She loves the stuffed bird that tweets too...she carries it around and holds it up to her cheek. Aww! 

Daddy's Girl

Even though Raegan still clings to me most of the time she definitely has a special place in her heart for her Daddy. There is nothing I love more then to hear her squeals of delight when Brad walks in the door from work. I just love how excited she gets when she is with her Daddy and watching the two people I love most interact and have so much fun with each other totally warms my heart. I am a lucky woman.

Adding to the mix

Today I had my old high school girlfriends over so we could all meet the newest addition, Sam (who lives in Chicago). There were only 4 of us here today (Lisa won't be here until Friday) with 5 kids ranging in age from 7 years to 6 weeks!
It's always good to catch up with these girls and it's especially fun because we don't get to see each other that often.
Here are just a few fun pics from our day.



Momma Camie & Sam












A Sam Close-Up. Such a pumpkin and a BIG cuddler!










Sam, Raegan, and Addison (Kade and Isaac were outside playing).
A "typical" baby group photo. =) This was the best of the bunch I took!

"Stripahs" and "Steamahs"

If you didn't catch on from the title of my post, we are home from the Cape and have brought the New England accent with us. =) In Midwestern-speak it would say Stripers (a fish), and Steamers (clams)".
We had a WONDERFUL time on our vacation. The weather was perfect, our hosts were more than gracious, the boys caught fish, and Raegan has found two new loves; tidepools and the beach. There was a great beach there that was always at low tide so we were able to park our chairs and towels on the wet, hard sand and let her run around and splash in the tidepools to her hearts content!
Brad had his fill of seafood and I had plenty of relaxation time!

Fishing for Stripers








Looking for hermit crabs










Skaket Beach at low tide...our favorite hang out!








Watching the Fourth of July parade










Thanks Steve and Stacey for a great trip! Hope we're invited back again sometime!!