Amelia Mozart Reed

As usual, it's been a month since I posted. There is just so much going on it's hard to keep up! I'll start you off with a wicked cute video of Amelia playing the piano...more pictures to follow (hopefully before next month!).

Reed Family Highlights

So I realized after that last post that all of the highlights are about Amelia...of course she is the star of all of the photos and the most important thing in our lives, but there are a few other things going on as well. :o)

1) We sold our house and bought a new one. We closed on both houses last Friday but have been living at North Kelsey still. Long story but it worked out well for everyone involved. We are going to move the first boxes into our new house this afternoon and move in for good next weekend! So excited! North Kelsey has served us well for the past 4 years but it is time for something bigger. We are moving to 16 Winding Way, still in South Portland. It's a few miles from our house now in a great neighborhood, which hopefully has lots of teenage girls that like to babysit!

More pictures to come after we actually move in!

2) I, Christy, have started my own business. As you know, we use cloth diapers on Amelia and I'm pretty obsessed with talking about them and encouraging my friends to use them. I figured there had to be some way I could show many different kinds of modern cloth diapers to friends so they could see that the ones I use are not the only option. After a few Google searches, I found that the online company Everything Birth has consultants that hold diaper parties! I wanted to book my first party right away but with a bit more research, learned that I could BE a consultant and earn commission from selling diapers. After a few chats with Rob (he's a cloth fan too so it didn't take much convincing), I signed on as a Diaper Parties Consultant. It's an independent contractor position so it's like having my own business-just with a bit less money and work than starting from scratch.

Anyway, since signing on, I've had my first party which produced a bunch of sales and have been contacted a few times from others who want to have parties. I'm so excited to promote cloth diapering and make some extra money at the same time. Also, it turns out that Everything Birth is based out of Falmouth Maine, the next town north. Crystal White, the owner and founder, has built the business from a small midwife supply company to the international business that is currently run out of her garage, while raising 3 kids!

So, contact me for all of your cloth diapering needs! I have a Facebook page too (please "like" it to show your support). Also, use the link to the right to check out the website.

This is my display from an open house at a local kids second hand store. Unfortunately the owner didn't advertise much and NO ONE showed up...sad way to spend last Saturday. I guess there are some disappointments that come with running a business.

Amelia showing off the merch.

Thank you cards hanging out to dry at my first diaper party!

Display from my first party. Hopefully there are many more to come!

Highlights from April

Since I apparently can not post more than twice a month, I thought I'd give you some highlights from the past few weeks. They are in reverse order because Blogspot does that and I'm too lazy to reverse it one picture at a time...

Babylegs is having a photo contest...so we've got lots of pictures sportin' the new wear.

Just hangin' with Daddy on the floor.

Senior Picture pose

Outside (finally!)

Easter Sunday

Playing with Anica in pretty dresses!

Helping Daddy finish his coffee

First Easter Basket...with lots of candy!

On Saturday, April 23, we joined thousands of other cloth diapering babies at the Great Cloth Diaper Change to try to set a Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneousness. Over 400 locations worldwide participated...we are still waiting to see if we got the required 10,000 babies changed to be in the Book! Here we are at the PeekaBoo Children's Center in Westbrook with Sebastian, Lily, and Tristan waiting to be changed at exactly 12:30 EST.

My college roommate, Jessie Pappenfus, and her baby Laelia came back east to visit her family. We spent a day with them and the girls had a great time! You can see a whole album of it here.

Videos coming soon! Stay tuned.

5 Months!

Well, if you are following closely enough you may have noticed that Amelia skipped right from 3 months to 5 months. We told you she was advanced...

Amelia is 14lbs, 13oz today and long. Not sure exactly how long but she fits nicely into 6-9 month sleepers already. She loves to sit up, when I go to get her in the morning she is trying to do a stomach crunch with her chin into her chest. She also blows raspberries at everything and is starting to babble with different syllables.

So here are her monthly pictures with 4 AND 5 tacked on. She has grown so much! I had a killer time getting her to lay still with the whale for the picture...some outtakes and a video to follow:

1 Week

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

Outtakes...

This is why I couldn't get a good shot...

The Elle Club

Amelia and I babysat for the Woodman girls (Elle 3 year, Sadie 1.5 years) all day last Thursday. After building several forts (most of which consisted of couch cushions on the floor), Elle inducted Amelia into her exclusive club (which previously consisted of only stuffed animals) and invited her into the only fort that actually had walls and a roof. Amelia loved it.

New Babies Everywhere! (Warning: sappy post)

I have always loved babies and was always excited when a friend announced she was pregnant but having a baby of my own takes it to a whole different level. Yesterday, April 8, two of my dear friends from home (Massachusetts) had their first babies.

Meg and Dave Rezac welcomed Marlow into the extra-utero world at 2:36AM

and

Kristin and Josh McKeen had Kylie that same afternoon.

All of my post-partum emotions came rushing out and tears of joy poured down my face as I thought of our little family's first days almost 5 months ago. Even writing this is bringing tears to my eyes! Thinking of the indescribable joy and excitement mixed with exhaustion and fear of the unknown that comes with being responsible for such a dependent new life makes my heart pour out to these new parents. I know, as most of your reading this do, how crazy those first weeks are and how quickly they fly by. It's kind of a shame that those precious moments are all but lost in the sleepless nights, recovery from birth, worry about not knowing what to do, and crazy post-partum emotions. But I do remember holding our sweet girl in my arms and just staring at her beautiful face-which I still do many times each day. This is my daughter-she is half me. I carried her and my womb supported her little life as she grew and developed and now my body still nourishes her and I care for her.

Babies are a lot of work-there is no doubt about that. But they are also the most amazing, fulfilling, life-changing, blessings that this life can offer and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Sounds kind of cliche-but cliche's have to start somewhere, right?

I guess all of this blab is just to say how excited I am for the Rezacs and the McKeens and the Pappenfuses, and McGillvrays, and Johnsons, and VanBeeks, and my sister and all the expectant parents due this summer and fall: the Bryants, Bernards, Wades, and Woodmans. It must just be that time in my life when everyone is starting families but it seems to me like we are having another baby boom! Maybe it's just like when you get a new car and all of a sudden notice that everyone drives that kind of car...

Either way-I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many new parents to share this experience with. I am so excited for Amelia to have friends both near and far to grow up with.

Congratulations to all my friends that have recently had babies or are about to have babies!

Who needs toys?

Amelia has found pleasure in the simple things in life: Paper Bags and Shoulder Rides