Singing & Dancing Bear

Great Grandpa and Grandma Gensler gave Reagan a singing/dancing bear for her birthday. When they originally gave it to her she wasn't sure what to think. In fact, she cried. It's been sitting on the bed in Reagan's room as a decoration since her birthday and she rarely pays attention to it. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, however, she has become interested in it and whenever she gets up from her nap insists on seeing the bear. As you can see from the expressions below Reagan now LOVES her singing/dancing bear. Thank you Great Grandma and Grandpa!!!

Halloween Costume

I purchased this duck costume while I was pregnant with Reagan because I thought it was so funny. I'm so glad I did because I haven't seen anything I like nearly as well this year. I couldn't stand it any longer so I dressed her up in the costume a couple of weeks ago and Tim and I just laughed. Actually Reagan thought it was pretty funny too. Even though we have a month to go before Halloween I thought I would dress her up today and get some pictures to share with all of you - especially the Grandmas who have been asking to see it. Hope you enjoy our cute little duck! :)

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As soon as Reagan had her costume on she started saying "cheese." She doesn't typically do that for pictures and we don't ask her too so I'm not sure where that came from. lol :)

A very excited and happy duck!
A naughty duck (trying to get onto the bed)
Don't you just love that big fluffy duck head and belly???
I love the duck feet too! lol :)
Silly duck!
Serious duck

Gifts

Thank you to everyone who has given us so much for Reagan. We appreciate all the toys and clothing! This blog features several recent gifts Reagan has received or grown into. Thanks again to everyone as this hardly even begins to cover all of you!

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Go Uncle Jimmy!!! I've been meaning to take a picture of Reagan wearing her "Wildcats" t-shirt in support of Uncle Jimmy's football season for a couple of weeks and get it posted. Sorry it took so long but we've been thinking about you Uncle Jimmy! Thanks to Aunt Denise and Uncle John who gave Reagan this t-shirt last Christmas! :)

This week Reagan received a Hello Kitty package from Aunt Arla. When I told Reagan there was a package from Aunt Arla at the door she walked right past it and started looking around - I think she was expecting to see Aunt Arla instead of the package. lol :) We're looking forward to using this beach towel next month with Grandma Sherry, Grandpa Ted, and the Stiriz and Mitchell family! :)
Checking out a candy Hello Kitty bracelet. I couldn't get Reagan to figure out what to do with it at first so she just wore it and looked at it. After lunch today for some some reason she suddenly realized it was eadible and stood there eating it saying "mmm, yummy" over and over again.
Here's a picture with a lot of punch - Reagan is sitting in her box from Aunt Arla, wearing her t-shirt from Aunt Denise, drinking water from her Hello Kitty cup from Grandma Sherry, watching a Sesame Street tape from Grandma Karen. Thank you everyone!!! :)

The box was small for Reagan to begin with but that didn't stop her from trying to lean over and get a bit more comfortable.
Until CRASH!!! Boy was Miss Reagan mad about that - you can kind of see the red face. lol :)
Not deterred for long and back in the box immediately watching Sesame Street and drinking water...

Lounging

For the last couple of weeks when Tim gets home and I'm finishing getting dinner ready Reagan has wanted to go out on the deck. She has been pretty cute and funny "lounging" but I never have my camera around. Well, I ran to get it earlier this week and she refused to lounge at all. She finally did for a second but was acting like a little goofball so these pictures are more silly than sweet and cute... Oh well... If she decides to cooperate another evening I'll try again. In the meanwhile you can get an idea of her lounging with Daddy. lol :)

Saturday Afternoon Outing

Last Saturday afternoon we decided to check out the play area at a near by mall. Reagan had fun for the most part but it was pretty busy and she didn't want to share the frog (shown below).

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Reagan first discovered this ladybug was fun to climb on

Next Reagan discovered this frog and determined it was hers and only hers. Normally Reagan enjoys playing with other children but she did not want anyone to so much as touch this frog. Who knows what type of reasoning was going through her head...
My frog!!!I love this frog!!!
This was Reagan's first ride on this sort of toy. It only took her the one ride to figure out where the quarters went and where the start button was. lol :)

Puddles

This afternoon Reagan and I went out for a walk after I thought it had stopped raining. It turned out it was still sprinkling so we decided instead of going to the park we would stick close to the house and jump in puddles. This was Reagan's first puddle jumping experience but I think she had a great time! She kept saying "Water!" "Splash!" and "Stomp!" I sure wish Holly had been here to enjoy the fun with us too! :)

Stomping in puddles sure makes a girl thirsty!!!
After we came in Reagan settled down in this small rocker to read books to herself - she looked so sweet!

The 5 LaBar Great Grandchildren

This past Labor Day weekend we had a "LaBar" Day weekend in Union City, Michigan. We were able to have the 5 LaBar great grandchildren together for the first time. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and want to send a super huge thanks out to Aunt Jolene and Uncle David who hosted nearly 25 people in their home over the course of the weekend!!! It was so wonderful to be together instead of in hotels but what a huge undertaking to have that many people in your house all weekend long. Thank you so much! Thank you also to everyone who traveled cross country to be there. Besides those who live in Michigan family came in from California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, and of course DC. We can't wait to see you all again and only hope the rest of the LaBar's can join us next time too!

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We tried a number of times to get pictures of the kids throughout the weekend but with a 3 year old, three 1 year olds, and a 7 month old you can imagine the challenge getting a good picture presented...

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Here's the best picture of the kids in matching pj's taken by Granpa Ted. Our definition of success: No one is screaming and you can see everyone's face As good as it gets before church
You can also check out a video of this photo shoot at the following You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37F8DWdKIZ8

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This was a picture taken of the youngest grandchildren on the church steps at the 50th wedding anniversary of Helen and William LaBar.
We thought it would be fun to try and get a picture of the great grandchildren on the same steps. Here's what happens when you put small children on steps and ask them to sit still for a picture. :)

Maybe if we include the original grandkids, now the Moms and Dads, the picture will be more successful? Not a chance!

Before people started leaving on Monday morning the Grandpas each happened to be holding one of their grandchildren while they were talking in the kitchen. Isn't this a sweet picture?
Then we thought we'd try one more group picture of the Grandpa's and all their grandchildren and it turned out pretty well! :)

Playing Outside

Dorothy brought both a bouncy toy and pool for the kids to play with outside and needless to say they all loved them both! Thanks so much for arranging and providing so much fun!

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What goes up... must come down...
Brendan, Reagan, and Rory bouncing away
Riley proving he's a great bouncer too!
Heidi and Reagan playing in the pool

Heidi, Rory, and Reagan
Reagan and Brendan working out whether the water is more fun in or out of the pool

Reagan has recently started holding my face and butting her head against mine. It's so precious! :)

Reagan and Heidi enjoyed sharing their toys with each other all weekend...
Reagan and Great Grandma LaBar