Maybe I should change my background to Blue.....

Well, once again, I'm sorry! I promise to get back to the blogging world soon! Here are some Reuter updates!

1- It's a boy! I can't believe it, we are having the first boy on both sides of the family! We are excited and Ellie has adjusted to the idea of a brother instead of a sister! I'm warming up to the boy clothes and getting excited about a new advetnure!

2- I got a new job! I am still at WGU but now working as an Academic Mentor. Basically, I am now faculty and assist students through the Language and Communication domains in Liberal Arts. It's been a fun but challenging adventure as we are undergoing lots of change!

3- I had a great birthday! Wonderful friends and family! We had Maggie and Riley here for the week because my sister was on a cruise (lucky)! The girls were wonderful helpers and Ellie had a great time with them! Mason took all the girls out on Friday night and sent me out with a girlfriend of mine for the night. She and I went to dinner and shopped and enjoyed being out of the house and kid free for a while!

4- Finally, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Mark and Kristin's baby girl! She is due on the 15th of April- so, tomorrow! Yay! I am very excited to see my brother as a father- I know he is going to be amazing! Kristin is so cute pregnant but really ready to have the baby! So, send some love and prayers their way! Their life is getting ready to change!

I think that is it for now! Again, sorry for the lack of pictures and everything else. I'll probably just do a post soon of a million pictures!

Can I blame it on the Pregnancy???

So, I have been totally slack! I can't believe it has been almost 2 months since I blogged last! I'm sorry! I have been so tired, tired, tired and unmotivated. So, updates on the Reuter family-

1- Christmas was wonderful. I will have pictures once we start putting pictures from our NEW camera up on our computer! Ellie had a great time Christmas morning and it was fun to see the magic of Christmas! My parents were here and we enjoyed that!

2- New Years Eve- we spent with our friends- Meggen, John, Alex, Addison and Chloe- started at 4pm, had appetizers, etc. We let the girls do "Poppers" at 7pm and we were home by 9pm. It was a lot of fun!

3- I traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for work and enjoyed seeing friends and co-workers but missed my family!

4- While I was in Salt Lake, Mason earned Daddy of the year award. Ellie started throwing up in the middle of the night on Friday night....when he couldn't get it to stop, and many calls to me, the dr's office, etc- he ended up in the Emergency Room. Luckily, it wasn't crowded and when a man walks in with a sick kid the nurses go crazy and really help them out- so, they were wonderful to them. I was so thankful. They ended up giving Ellie the medicine they give cancer patients and were able to make it stop. They got home at 5:30am....slept most of the day on Saturday. I arrived home on Sunday! Thanks Sweetie for handling this!

5- We did have an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago- Baby Reuter measured big- go figure! But, the official due date is August 16. I will likely have a c-section around 39 weeks. Yay! We find out if its a boy or a girl at the end of March. Ellie says it is a girl! We'll see!

Okay, I promise to try to come back!

Disney with friends, Limo Rides and Candy Houses....

I mentioned in my last post that we were heading down to meet up with my freshman roommate Jen and her family! So, early Friday morning we headed down to Disney. We had breakfast with Pooh and friends and then went to meet up with Jen, her husband Dave, kids- Alethea, Mikaela, Caleb and Sarah, also her parents and sister. It had been almost 8 years since I had seen Jen and Dave and even longer since I had seen her family! It was wonderful! Ellie loved having "big" girls to hang out with and Mason and I enjoyed having time to chat with the adults. Jen's kids are so sweet and well behaved and were so good to Ellie! Caleb was a real trooper hanging with the girls. We loved meeting Sarah who has the sweetest personality and is truly a fighter- check out her story. I loved that Sarah warmed right up to us and let me carry her around, feed her fish and ended the day with hugs and kisses for all of us! What an amazing little girl! Thanks Jen for letting us join your family for the day- we had a great time! See photos below:









Saturday night we were invited by Ellie's BFF Alex and family to join them for cooking making/decorating and then a night out on the town in a hummer limo to look at lights! What fun we had! The girls totally got in to the cutting of cookies, rolling the dough and especially the decorating! After that we let them play a little and then our chauffeur arrived to pick us up for the night. John (Alex's Dad) had packed a goodie box with delicious drinks made specially for the little girls and big kids! I think the girls had more fun being in a limo- climbing over seats moving from the front to the back, etc than they did looking at lights. Mason and I just enjoyed hanging out with Meggen and John! Rarely can we just sit and visit- so, that was a real treat!








Finally, I grew up making a Candy House each year with my family. My Dad would always build the house out of card board and then my Mom would make the icing and we would all help make the house. My Mom has been getting together with Maggie and Riley the last few years to make the house with them and this year they did it over Thanksgiving- but we couldn't join them. So, I decided we would try it ourselves. This was the first year that I built it and made the icing. Ellie only enjoyed round 1 of the making- you have to keep making more icing. She did however enjoy the eating of the candy! So, Mason and I ended up doing most of it- but it was fun and I think it was overall a success!

Christmas Fun!!!

I have been a little behind on posting- I apologize! So, we have had a few fun things going on....

The hunt for our Christmas tree. We didn't get one last year since we were going to be gone for so long and so we were excited to take Ellie out on this special adventure. It's a little weird getting excited when it is warm out, but we managed to go to a couple places and find the right tree! Ellie had a lot of fun and especially enjoyed the candy cane she was given as we left!





Friday night was the Christmas Lights Festival at North Florida. North Florida is our hospital and they have this great pond, park, grass area right next to it. Each year they have a festival to turn on the lights for the season. We invited Ellie's BFF to join us for the night and met up with some other friends while there. The girls had a blast running around and seeing Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch. The one sad part of the night was the hot chocolate- as we each got our cup of hot chocolate...Mason and I were saying- it's hot, it's hot. Ellie took a huge swig of it, promptly spit it out all over the table where they were serving it and starting crying- upon my own test I learned it wasn't hot, it was scalding....so sad. This is an event for families and I'm not sure why they had it so hot. Alex took a small sip and burned the tip of her tongue. We felt really bad about this!






As we left the festival and grabbed dinner the girls were excitedly talking about seeing Rudolph, Frosty and the Grinch....but, we didn't see Santa cause the line was too long. They have told everyone about it and I'm sure we sounded like mean parents - but really, the line was crazy!

We have a few other fun things coming up- a trip to Disney to see my freshman roommate and friend- Jen- check out her blog. A few fun parties and of course- Christmas! I'll try to be better about staying up to date throughout the rest of the holiday season!

Spend the Night Party....

Ellie's BFF Alex came over on Friday afternoon to spend the night. Ellie stayed with Alex and her family when we were in Vegas and we have been looking forward to a time when we could start to pay them back for keeping her for 3 nights. Friday was a perfect time! We picked Alex up after school and headed home- first request- homemade cookies! So, we ran to the grocery store to get the few things we needed- of course when given the option of M&M's or chocolate chips- they each picked something different. So, we made M&M/Chocolate Chip cookies! The girls did a great job- from cracking the eggs and taking turns to tasting the dough before baking it! We had a great time!



Friday night we headed out to meet up with friends at the Moes on campus and then head to the UF Women's volleyball game. The girls were so cute- they got dressed up in their matching UF cheerleader outfits. As we were walking they were shouting "Go Gators" and Ellie's favorite- "Go Tebow!" Students were watching us and laughing- not sure if they were thinking- I'm never having kids or maybe it was- wow, those are 2 cute little girls!





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They enjoyed the excitement of the volleyball game but were really too tired to last through the first game. So, we headed home for a good nights sleep. You'll notice that Alex and Ellie both still have their paci! One of their many similarities! After separating them until each were asleep, I put Ellie back in her bed and all were happy by 9pm! I did wake to chatter at 4:30am to find them sitting up, talking...but, after bringing them back to my bed, we all went back to sleep!



We again got all dressed up on Saturday to tailgate and hear the band before the football game! The girls had a great time in the bounce house, bounce slide, climbing a tree, and just shouting for the gators!





We took Alex home and Ellie didn't even make it back to our house before falling asleep for 3 hours!


We look forward to our next spend the night party....

Below Freezing in Florida!!!

Well, we have finally had our first "cold" morning. I have to say that Mason and I have looked forward to some chilly weather as that's what we think fall is supposed to be. Anyway, Ellie has gotten used to the warm Florida weather and has fought us a little on switching from summer dresses to long sleeve dresses and to wear socks, etc. But, this morning, we woke and started talking about how cold it was going to be and how we all needed to wear warm clothes. Ellie actually got excited and asked me to take pictures of her all bundled up! So, here you go-

Wonderful Wedding Weekend!!

I can't believe Courtney's wedding has come and gone- it was a wonderful wedding weekend and every detail was perfect!

Ellie and I drove up to Atlanta on Wednesday night to spend a little quiet time with the Bride before the festivities began. We headed straight to her Mom's adorable condo for some dinner and fun. Ellie loved seeing her Aunt NeyNey (Nee Nee) and getting some quality time with her Mom too. We worked on Courtney's gift for Chris and just enjoyed hanging out.

Thursday- Court headed out to meet up with her parents, Chris and his parents for a special lunch at Horseradish Grill- I'm so jealous! Ellie and I headed to my brother's house for me to do some work. Ellie loved hanging out with Uncle Mark and their dogs. That afternoon we again met up with Courtney for manicures and pedicures! It was a lot of fun and Ellie loved getting her fingernails and toenails painted with Mommy and Aunt NeyNey. Thursday night we met my parents at Mark's restaurant- Ecco. It was delicious and lots of fun. Ellie loved seeing Uncle Mark in action as he raced from one end of the restaurant to the other all night long.

Friday we woke with great anticipation as this was the beginning of the wedding festivities. We had an incredible Bride's maids luncheon at the home of Tom Cousins (fabulous house) and then a great rehearsal dinner with some southern bbq at the Chastain Horse Park. I tried to get up and toast Courtney but kept tearing up...so, I kept it short! :) My parents were there too and after the actual rehearsal my sister and family drove through and picked up Ellie. She needed some sleep to prepare for her big day!

Saturday- Mason arrived early and I headed to the salon for lunch and hair time. We had a lot of fun just hanging out with the wedding party and relaxing before the wedding. Mason, Tricia, Maggie and Riley met us at the church a couple hours before the wedding for photos, etc. Ellie looked absolutely precious in her dress and seemed ready for her debut!

Wedding time- 6pm.....we processed in, Court looked absolutely AMAZING. Ellie and her ring bearer friend Sumner did a good job. They looked so cute....Ellie stole his pillow, they fought over the bouquet, made a couple trips to see their Dad's during the ceremony but in general were quite good for being 3! The wedding ended and we hopped on the trolley heading to East Lake Country Club for a wonderful party celebrating Courtney and Chris! We danced, ate and had a great time. Ellie especially loved the dancing. As she started falling asleep on my shoulder, my sister took her home with them for bedtime!




Sunday- as if all the festivities weren't enough....we had an appointment to get a Wilson family photo done- we haven't had one that wasn't at our weddings since I was in middle school....so, after a late night and a lot of fun, it was tough to get up and make it there by 9. We got there about 15 minutes late but did manage to get some great pictures. I'll have to share those later when I get mine!

It was a great weekend! Courtney looked beautiful and Ellie was precious! Can't believe it has finally come and gone!

Mason and I are happy to report that we aren't planning on traveling anymore for a while! Home Sweet Home! I'll be back with photos....