Your sister and brother

We thought now would be a good time to introduce you to your canine brother and sister. Halle is a black lab mix and is very loyal and a good watchdog. She will never let anyone harm you. Logan is a Cavalier King Charles and is very fun loving and the best lapdog. We keep warning them about your arrival but we aren't sure if they get it.

Once a year we like to be really mean, dress them up in Winter sweaters, and laugh and take pictures of them. From the video, you can tell Halle does not like Christmas at the Riddell house :)

Belly Pics

After getting harassed by all of my friends that live far away and want to see pictures of my pregnant belly, here are a few pictures from this week. I am 25 weeks along now - on the downhill slope! I am sorry to disappoint all of my far away friends. I am not a cute pregnant woman and I am not carrying a little "basketball" out front. I would like to think that Reese is growing in my chest, butt, thighs, etc. but I know that just isn't the truth. Looks like I'll be doing the Danksin Triathlon next June to help lose this weight...:)

Crib Arrived!

Jeff and his dad Fred were very busy the day after Thanksgiving. No, they were not fighting the crowds at the mall in search of their wife's perfect Christmas gift. They were moving furniture and putting together a crib and cradle!

The cradle you see above is one that Jeff and his brother and cousins all were in when they were babies. We freshened it up with some new bedding and are going to put new wheels on it as well.

The crib is sturdy and strong and ready for you Reese! Your grandma Martha bought you some cute and super soft animals to hold - Paco the Pony and Pascal the Elephant. They are eagerly awaiting your arrival just as we are! We could not get the mobile to fit to the crib so we are going to hang it from the ceiling above. All we need are some crib sheets and we are all set!

My Dad

This time of year is always hard for me because my dad's birthday is in October, he passed away in November, and he always MADE the holidays what they were in our house. I think about him every day but it is always harder this time of year. I know a lot of you knew my dad, Jim Cheatham, and a lot of you did not (but you probably almost feel like you know him from all of the crazy stories). I know Jeff wishes he got to meet him too.

It was very sad not having him there on my wedding day and even sadder he is not here now. I know most people probably wouldn't call up their dads about morning sickness, heartburn, and the weepies, but I would. I was dad's gal in every sense. Not "daddy's little girl" - I don't think I was babied or overly spoiled by him, we just loved each other's company! He was the dad that told me I could do whatever I set my eyes on, the dad that drove to Austin in the middle of the night when I got in a stupid fight with a boyfriend to take me out to breakfast, the dad that sent me 8 cards for my birthday in the mail even though we lived in the same house. He was my dad and I wish he was here just to talk to, give me advice, and one of his great, big hugs.

Reese, I know you will never get to meet him, but I hope I can share stories and pictures so that you know who he was. He would love you so much! So I thought I would start today with some pictures so you get a sense of who he was.

I had to put a picture on here of us doing his FAVORITE thing in the WHOLE world (besides eating of course) - deep sea fishing. He loved it so much and any excuse to get to Florida, San Juan, or the coast, he would. We loved to fish as a family until my brother and I became too cool to wake up at 3am on a Saturday to go fishing.

He also LOVED football. I think he loved UT more than I did! In this picture he is wearing those stupid foam horns and kissing me on the cheek in my dorm room my Freshman year. He was so proud of me!

The last picture my dad is somewhere in the Caribbean, can't remember where. I think my step-mom, Beth took this picture. It is a great picture but the story behind it is even better. When my dad was in a bad car wreck that left him paralyzed in his 20s, he lost a tooth. Well, on the cruise was when his fake tooth decided to fall out. So the guy who normally had a big grin on his face, had to spend the rest of the trip smiling with his lips closed!

I hope this will help you get to know him and it helps me to spend a little time crying and remembering him. I just hope Jeff and I can be half as great of parents as he was. And I'll sign off the way he did all of his cards and letter...God Bless, Dad (with a smiley face in the D :)).