i know, i know, i'm a terrible blogger!

eek it's been awhile since i've updated our blog, but we have been BUSY! i was in THREE beautiful weddings this summer, so we were at party after party! it was a lot of fun to see all of my friends and get some good ideas for our upcoming wedding!! so, now that my bridesmaid duties are done for the year i am in full bridezilla mode! ;) i'm planning like crazy and trying to do what i can to save a buck here or there. i CAN NOT WAIT to have all of the people we love in one room!! it will be amazing!!

ok, now onto why you all really read this blog: EVERLEIGH! our little booboo is going to be ONE year old next saturday! what a great year this has been! it has been so fun watching her grown and learn. her newest things are: high fives (thanks to auntie lindsey), LOTS of talking (maahh, dadadada, gahhgoogee), and though we're still working on that whole walking thing she can crawl like nobody's business!

Oh- and i'm sure you all know...but justin will be home in LESS THAN THREE WEEKS!!!! ahhhhh i was just telling him, i don't know if i've ever been this excited for something in my life!! this year has been long and at times tough, and we couldn't have gotten through it without the support of our amazing friends and family! so THANK YOU!! we found a great house to rent in tacoma, it's about 20 minutes from work for justin and gated (even during the day) for safety. i'm really excited to start decorating! i've even started painting some of our furniture to make it seem like new (and so it matches).

ok, here's the fun stuff...pics and videos from the past couple months:

countdown to dada

less than 90 days until my love returns home!! everleigh and i have been keeping busy in the meantime, here are some pictures of what we've been up to:

sleepy baby:


shopping for my wedding dress:


trip to idaho:




at mariah & travis' wedding:


BIG 9 month old:


megean's baby shower:




notice anything strange?:

peek-a-boo!!:

we love dada

It has been 3 weeks since my last day of work, 3 weeks of being roomies with my mom, 3 weeks since spending all day every day with my lil baby...and I LOVE IT! and I really love Justin for giving me this opportunity.

I think most of you know what's going on..but just incase here's a little summary of the past month: shortly after Justin left to go back to Iraq we had a discussion and decided that neither of us were comfortable with Everleigh and me staying at our apartment. We also decided that the best move for everyone would be for me to quit my job and move about an hour north to live with my mom until Justin comes home.

It has been soooooooooo nice to have help with Everleigh and I'm hoping that me being here is helping my mom out as well. I now spend my days reading novels to Everleigh, teaching her sign language, and training for my upcoming marathon...ok, ok, so it's more like watching cartoons (ugh FINE! reality tv), trying to get her to say mama, and it's a HALF marathon..but I have actually started running (which is a huge step for me b/c I flippin HATE running)!!

It's so fun to see how much Everleigh grows and changes everyday! She is a crawling machine now..which means constantly chasing her to remove the breakables from her grasp. She is also finally cutting her first tooth! I'm excited for her to start eating "real" food..although I have discovered that fruit baby food is delicious!

It really makes my day to see her smile and squeak at her dada when she sees him on the computer screen! she is already turning into a daddy's girl! and apparently she has the funniest mommy on the planet..because I'm really good at getting a laugh out of her, which is the BEST sound ever!!!

Ok, here's what you've all been waiting for..the photo portion:

everything happens for a reason

ok, i know i have been really bad about updating the blog..and i promise once i'm all moved and settled i will do better!! for now here is a link to our family pictures we had taken while justin was home on leave (and the best part is you can order prints right off this website..for cost!!):

http://daveandleah.smugmug.com/COOKs-Photography/Family-Photos/Jen-Reyes-Family-Shots-32010/11522105_Z9W3j#811050327_bAywU

16 days of leave...

Place: SeaTac Airport; Time: 4:00 PM; Operation: Pick up Justin from the airport!!

So i got there a GOOD 35 minutes early, just to be safe, and put in about a mile walking in circles around the same baggage claim. I was SO nervous/excited, it was the strangest feeling! I checked the giant board with all of the flight information about 700 times, ontime...ontime...ontime...landed?!?!?

So now I plant myself at the top of the stairs with all of the other army wives/girlfriends! I am watching lots of tired looking people file up the stairway and all I'm looking for between all the blurs of colors and faces is camo. In my head I'm just saying, not Justin, not Justin, not Justin..now the crowd is slowing down, okay, he's on the next flight. I am so restless by this point, I'm sure everyone around me thinks I'm nuts, I keep muttering things to Everleigh, who is laying in her stroller, just staring up at me having no idea how big this moment is.

I am watching all of the other anxious army families. Finally more blurs of color coming up the stairs! Now I'm seeing camo and I feel like my brain doesn't work, I see Justin's face looking around for me and grab the stroller to run and hug him...I bury my face in his chest as I hear all the aww's and oooh's from the fellow passengers. The thought running through my head at this moment: wait, is this really justin? or did i just get so excited that I jumped on some random soldier?! Then I hear him say 'I'm home babe'....ahhhhh, this feeling can not be described!!

We spent the next 16 days having the time of our lives! We went to NY to see friends (PP holla!), we spent quality time as a family, and we did our part to boost the economy! Here are some photos of our time together:
















Now that Justin has headed back Everleigh and I will spend the next few months wedding planning (for ourselves and our friends getting married this summer), working, playing, talking to daddy on skype, and saving money ;) Even though we are counting down the SECONDS until Justin can be home safe with us, we know that we are blessed to have each other and such a great support system in all of our family and friends near and far! We love you all..and watch your mailboxes for goodies about our wedding!!

Best Baby EVER...

I have known since Everleigh was born that she is a pretty well bahaved little girl..but I'm starting to realize just how lucky we are! She amazes me with her patience and laid back personality every day! She is just so happy all the time!! Even now that she is starting to teethe, she will whine a little but not as much as I used to whine when my wisdom teeth would go up and down. I can NOT wait to see her with her daddy today! (we are going to pick him up in a couple hours!!!) We have LOTS planned while our happy little family is reunited! Everleigh's 6 month check up, a TRIP TO NY!!, some shopping, and LOTS of quality time together! I know lots of you would love to see Justin while he's home, but we just have such a short amount of time together, that we would like to spend as much of it as possible reconnecting as a family. So please don't be offended if you don't hear from us during this time! After these couple of weeks I will have lots of fun pictures and memories to tell you all about! Here's a couple of pictures to tide you over:

Standing tall

Everleigh can stand up! she needs to hold on, but she looks so proud of herself!


We went to Yakima last weekend to visit Auntie Lindsey. Our friend brought over her ADORABLE son Patrick and they had some play time..they were so cute!

Her daddy will love this:

Giving Patrick the stiff arm


and making him cry