The never ending Cruise 2012

This year we decided to take our Annual "Altman, Petersen, Cain & Ledezma Cruise" in Late August. The dates that the cruise were planned for was August 19th to 26th... Well we did set sail on The 19th, but we arrived home a few days later than planned. This was due to Tropical Storm Isaac! It was blocking everywhere we wanted to go... But in true Reecie fashion--- we did not let it steal our Joy! We had planned on going to St. Thomas and St. Maarten and home... The seas had other plans, but here are just a few pictures of how much fun we really had!

 

 

Here is a picture from our first meal on the boat. This is where Reece and Abby created their bond as cousins for the week.

 

 Here we have Reecie and her Pappa A chillin! This was something that became a regular occurrence on the trip!

 

Here we have Gigi and her Adult Juice.

 

This is Reecie and I sunning in the pool!

 

Here we have Reecie falling in love with beautiful cars just like her mommy and daddy!

 

I love this picture of my sweetie in her sombrero.

 

This is a picture of Reece and Abby loving on Pappa A during a water show.

 

Here we have Reece and Abby at Reecie's very first birthday party thrown for her by

BB and Pappa A!

 

What a big cake!

 

Adult Juice Girls tradition!

 

We ever got a night out thanks to Pappa and BB!

 

Here is a picture of BB and almost all of her girls right after we found out that we were going to be on the boat a few extra days. Can't you tell she looks heart broken!

 

This is Reece and BB playing Cards!

 

 

Here we have Reece and Scarlett talking about what kind of trouble they can get into next...

 

 

Finally here is Reece and Abby after bath time together. This was the last night, and they had to give each other one last goodnight kiss!!! What a great week despite the crazy turn of events. Thanks to Pappa and BB for making it all possible! We love you so much!

 

 



FaceTime

Well this week was a week of firsts. On Wednesday Ryan went out of town on his very first "business trip." He went to Austin for a CIC (certified insurance counselor) training. He was gone all week. So I was a single mom for the first time...
Another fun first, was us getting to use FaceTime on our iPads. Here is a super cute picture of Reece talking to her daddy on FaceTime one night before her evening bath. This was fun, but I would much rather have him home!

Family Birthdays

So Ryan's family has a tradition that they celebrate everyone's birthday together every year. They do this by having a group birthday party once a quarter for everyone that had a birthday, or will have, in that particular quarter of the year. This weekend we celebrated the 2nd and 3rd quarter birthdays at Great Aunt Nan's house. That means... you guessed it! It was our first opportunity to celebrate a birthday for Reece!!!

Even though her birthday is not for another four weeks... We got the party started early!

Here is Reece getting a first look at the Birthday cake. As you can see she was quite impressed, and ready to dig in. 

This next picture was taken as we were singing happy birthday to everyone. Reece wasn't quite sure why her cousins decided to lean in and try to blow out her candle... Lol. 

Now it's time for the good stuff! Reece has been a big chocolate fan for quite a while!

But just like her mommy, Reece' favorite is Ice-cream!

Here is Reece wearing one of her gifts. Karen and Donald gave her a night gown, and it has a matching gown to put on her baby doll. Since she doesn't have a baby doll we put the gown on "her" teddy bear. The quotations are because this bear was actually mine (Alisha) until a few days ago. I have had this teddy bear for a VERY long time, and I slept with it every night until the day I got married (no laughing needed). Reece has now decided it is hers, and since I love her SO much... I gave it to her. 

This is one of her other favorite new gifts. It is a mini water-bottle just like mommy and daddy have. She loves to drink out of our water bottles better than her own sippy cups, so Nonni got Reece her very own CamelBak! She LOVES it!

Once again Thank you for all of the great gifts! We feel so blessed, and love you all!!!

Guess Who Is 11?

MONTHS OLD!!  It is our little Reece.  As you can see, she is still full of life, energy and excitement.  To see the world through her eyes is priceless.

So, what has been going on with us over the past few weeks?  Well let me start by saying Reece has not slowed down.  I think it was a few days after she turned 10 months old when she started fully walking.  Before we would get steps here and there, but mostly crawling.  Now, all she does is walk.  She walks to greet me at the front door when I come walking in from work, and that melts my heart.  She walks to chase Beaux and Bella, and she has even started to get a little pep in her step.  I think we are soon to discover what a running 11 month old is like.  My whole goal for Reece was to be walking by the time she turned 10 months old and we did it!

Alisha has started working at a new property which is closer to our house and has been a blessing to our family.  We get to spend more time with each other and She does not have to drive over 2 hours every day.  We have gotten to have lunch together a few times during the month, which is nice to get to spend time with each other.

Me and Alisha have both been doing CrossFit.  This has really changed our lives for the better.  We are in better shape, better health and are doing it together.  Alisha has lost somewhere around 15 pounds and I have lost around 13.  The most noticeable change is in our clothes.  We have both had to go down in shirt and pant sizes.  The best part is that Reece is there cheering us on.

We are actually competing in a WOD (Workout Of the Day), this Saturday to support 31 fallen soldiers that lost their lives on August 6, 2011.  A great cause for a great WOD.

So all that to let you know, we have been busy.  We are continuing to cherish every moment we get with Reece and love her more than we could have ever thought.  We also, love to hear her giggle.  Right before bath time, is when she giggles the most.  We wish you could all hear it.  We will have to post a video of the giggle monster.

Anyway, we hope all of you have a great week.  Thanks for reading.

The Cain Crew

Fast Paced Life

I know that the last few weeks we haven't posted a blog... but our lives have been very crazy! A few weeks ago Ryan and I took Reece on her very first plane ride to Tulsa, OK. The main reason for the trip was because my step-mother Brenda was turning 60 years old. The bonus of the trip is that my very best friend Kat, lives in Tulsa. We were able to spend one night with them before driving on to Fort Smith, AR to see my parents. 

 Here we are with our two daughters 3 weeks ago. As you can see Kat is 37 weeks pregnant, and due any day now. I loved getting to see her belly!

 Here is Reece and my dad at Brenda's party. She was in desperate need of a nap, but decided she would just watch Pappa A instead. She loves her Pappa!

 Here is Reecie with Pappa at breakfast before we left town. 

This weekend we celebrated the summer Birthdays in Ryan's family. Those birthdays were Aidan, Joey, Aunt Nan & myself. As a few of you might remember I turned 30 a few weeks ago. It was a great time of fellowship and awesome gifts! 

I also need to send an I LOVE YOU --- I'M SORRY! to my dad, because I forgot his birthday 2 days ago... I Love you dad! I'm Sorry!!!!!!!

A Piece of History

So, I hope that everyone has had a great 4th of July Holiday! I know that our little family was grateful for the day of rest in the middle of the week. The only thing that we did today, was get little Reecie Pie's picture taken in an outfit that has been in Ryan's family for 37 years. It is this cute little sailor outfit, that you see below. The outfit was originally purchased in 1975 for Ryan's older brother Robert "Rob" William Cain. Some of you may not know that Ryan had an older brother. The reason for that is because when Rob was 3 months old he was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer. He passed away when he was almost 3 years old. So you can imagine how special this original picture, and the outfit, is to the Cain Family.

So when Ryan was born they decided to take his picture in the outfit as well. Next, when Bethany (Ryan's younger sister) came along they got a picture of her in a very similar outfit (it was actually a dress that we could not find). They also took pictures of Bethany's two sons, Joey and Aidan, in the exact same sailor outfit. Below you can see the history of the outfit. This is a tradition that we are proud to carry on with Reece and any other little ones that have yet to be born...

This is Rob at 11 and 1/2 months.

This is Ryan at 11 months.

This is Bethany at 10 and 1/2 months. 

This is Joey at 11 months. 

This was Aidan at 10 months. 

And Finally... Her is our Cutie Pie Reece at 10 months!

Reecie Loves PawPaw

Reecie finally got to meet her paw paw today! PawPaw (Tim) had to make an unexpected trip to Houston to what he does best... Save The Day! He drove all night to get to Houston, and put in a hard days work. Then after all that work, and no sleep... He made a special trip to our house to take Reecie out to dinner (Ryan and I got to come too)! She loved spending time with PawPaw, and can't wait to spend a little more time with him before he heads back up NorthWest to the Panhandle.