Saturday, December 5, 2009

Disney On Ice

Well back in November we went to Disney on Ice and Raylee enjoyed it so much! She was mesmerized at first and was completely emotionless. Then she loosened up a little. She sat in Michael's lap and did not move the entire first half. But then there was intermission and the VERY LONG and drawn out Pinocchio and Mulan pieces...she was very uninterested in...She does not really know either of them and has not seen the movies so I couldn't blame her. Her favorite of course was the princesses, Nemo, and the Lion King.


When I would call her name for a pic I couldn't even get a smile. She was all business!

Soaking it all in!

This pic above is one of my favs because it was after the first scene and she started saying "Where did they go?" like the show was over! She almost got upset. I guess she thought, WAS THAT IT?!

Best family photo I could get

This was her sad face as she watched one of the princesses cry (I can't remember which one).

And her cheering and yelling "YAY" after she loosened up a little.

And her mimicking the dancers! LOVE IT!
The funniest part... We had been talking about Disney World with her for months because we were going in December (pics to come) so when we got home that night and were getting ready for bed we started asking her about who she saw, ect... She said "Disney World"!!!! We laughed so hard...if that was true, we could have saved a lot of money!!!

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

"My Child Will Never!"

She may kill me one day for this, but I just could not leave this out! After breaking our arrangement that she could "get down" in Hancock, ONLY if she did not run away from Mommy, Raylee made it quite clear that she did not like the results Mommy imposed. I then had to HOLD her. What torture...right? Well any of you who have ever had a strong willed toddler as I do, know what it is like to feel your blood boil while they kick and scream to no avail and every eye within 100 yards is on you like glue. I continued to hold my place in line, not going to give up my spot because we had been in line so long already, while my "sweet angel" kicked, screamed, cried and went limp over an over all while nearly tearing my clothes off. All happening while flashbacks of myself saying "my child will never" ran through my head!

After this went on for probably 10 long minutes in the store, we finished checking out and headed to the car where I hoped the light at the end of the tunnel would come... But, no! After many scoldings and attempts to put a stop to the madness, and another 10 or 15 minutes later, while going down the interstate, I decided I would be the one to give up. NOT GIVE IN! Just give up trying to make it stop and just relax despite the ear piercing screams coming from behind me. So as I breathed deeply and sang silently to myself, I decided to capture this precious moment on film to share with all of you!

Much to my surprise, this was the answer I was looking for. As I was filming (and yes, driving) I simply asked her, "Are you through?" And out of no where, IT STOPPED! She just simply said, "Uh huh" while nodding her head. I about died! If I had known that was all it took, I would have used those words MUCH earlier!


Tuesday, November 3, 2009

THE BIG 30!

Let me start by saying that I would consider myself hard to surprise. Not because I don't like surprises, or because I am a snoop or anything like that. I just am!
But this year they got me good! A week before my bday and on a Sunday night Beth (with the help of others) managed to surprise me by inviting us over for what I thought was dinner with the family in her new house. But as you can see there were more than family there when I walked in. I think I was more dumfounded than anything. I just did not know what to say, so I guess I did not say much at all (which is definately unlike me, just ask my Dad).

Thanks to all of my friends and family who were there to wish me a Happy Bday! I am so blessed to have such a great family and so many great friends. Love you all and thanks again!



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Worth Showing

Just some extra Halloween stuff that I have not posted yet but could not leave out...
Love the bottom right pic with her and her "punkin" that she made at Mimi and Pop's while we were out of town.
Building a ginger bread house with a little help from Lex, May, and Mommy. As you can see she enjoyed snacking on it while making it.

And these pics of her with the "puppy" that she literally carried around during her weekend with Mimi and Pop.


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Happy Bday Kinsley

After trick or treating we went to Kinsley's bday party. Yes, she was born on Halloween! I can not believe she is 17 years old. I hope Raylee's first 17 years go by a LOT slower than Kinsley's!

After a long night of trick or treating, partying, and eating WAAAAAAY too much candy, we stayed and hung out a little bit with Bryan and Tracy since all the teens had headed out to do their own thing. And there is nothing like ending a long and busy day with nice cold glass of milk and "cookies"! (which were actually crackers, but Raylee called them "cookies")


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Trick or Treat

Instead of going around our neighborhood door to door we just jumped in the car and did some "drive-by and stay a while" trick or treating. First Rock Mountain Lakes, then Lipscomb, then Pleasant Grove, then back to McCalla for the tail end of Kinsley's bday party. We only managed to make 6 or 7 stops in about 3 or 4 hours, but we were able to stay and visit a few minutes at each stop and that is what counts. But even with just a few stops Raylee had a full bucket of candy at the end of the night...minus what she insisted on openning immediately!



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Costume Party

We attended a Halloween Costume Party as a family this weekend dressed as...can you guess?

Peter Pan, Wendy, and Tinkerbell!

Michael was such a good sport, and agreed to dress as Peter Pan only if he did not have to wear tights! We had already decided on Raylee's Halloween costume (made by Nana) so we had to come up with something to go with her, and something that I could easily make myself. So Peter Pan and Wendy were the obvious choices! Below are pics of Raylee accepting "Best Costume" award for our family, singing "Some Day My Prince Will Come" during karaoke, and looking a little dazed and confused late in the evening with some party jewelry on.

And pictured below with Raylee: Peter Pan, Veronica Corningstone and Ron Burgandy from Anchorman, Spiderman, Abbi Scuito from NCIS, Wendy, and Spencer dressed as Michael's Dad! There were so many good costumes, I am sorry that I did not get pics of them all.

So glad to have been able to spend time with friends and family! We had such a blast!

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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Critter Creek

Well, the day we drove back from Gatlinburg I made sure that we left early enough to get home to spend some time with Raylee. We got home just in time to pick her up from school after her nap. The Pumpkin Patch was already closed for the day (guess bc it was a weekday) so we decided to take her to Critter Creek for some fun! We went last year but Daddy did not get to go with us so we were glad to go as a family (funny to look at pics from last year, check them out)! She loved feeding the animals, and as you can see, when they were eating from the cup, Raylee's tongue was hanging out too! It was cute! She even got to feed the bear by pouring food (which consisted of cheerios and marsh mellows that SHE wanted to eat) down a long tube that ran into cage. Then she got to get down and get up close and personal in a small fenced in area with some pigs, baby cows, and goats! She thought that was funny until they were actually FACE to FACE, then Daddy had to pick her up.
Thanks to a camera timer we were able to get a family pic!

Just love this pic!


We had a great time and enjoyed just watching her be her usual self. But can someone, please tell me why is seems like she had changed so much in the 3 days we were gone?

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Much Needed R&R

Michael and I had such a great time in the mountains! If it weren't for Raylee, I would not have wanted to come home. The weather was beautiful, the trees were beautiful, and the much needed rest and relaxation was beautiful as well. It was good to get away just the 2 of us for a couple of days, but we were glad to get home in time to spend some time with Raylee before getting back to work the next day!








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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Gatlinburg Getaway

Michael and I are going to Gatlinburg this weekend for my 30th Birthday! We have not been away by ourselves since our 1 year anniversary. I am super excited! I am sure I will have plenty of pics to post when we get back, but can't promise I will post them promptly. Raylee will be staying with MiMi and PopPop Friday and Saturday and then with Nanna and Daddy Bruce Sunday night. I am also sure I will have a lot of pictures from them of Raylee's weekend to post next week too.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Bama Homecoming

We went to Bama's Homecoming game this past weekend. First let me say that for some reason Raylee did not take a nap that day before we left. She just layed in the bed for 2 hours, but never fell asleep! So I was completely SCARED of what was to come since this was a 6:45 game! I even thought that she would fall asleep on the way down, but no... So we headed out about 3:30 so we could get there and have time to hang out and tailgate. And I have to say...this baby was soooo good. She hung in there and had a ball! She was a little hard to keep up with while we were tailgating, but she was just her usual selft. During the game she yelled "Go, Go, Go" and "Roll Tide" as much as anyone. What was funny was that she kept loosing sight of Big Al on the sidelines and she would ask with her hands up "Where Al?"
Then Aunt May got to twirl with the Alumni band during the halftime show. So we went down to the sidelines and sneakily handed Raylee over the fence to Meghan so she could get some pics with her on the field like we did 2 years ago. She was so tired that she hardly even smiled for us. She was in a daze for the most part. She got more excited later seeing these pics of herself with Big Al than she did when she saw him in person. She was just a zombee by then. After the halftime show we made it back to our tailgate area and then quickly shed some layers and then headed home. She was asleep less than 15 minutes down the road. We had a great time and even Daddy, being the AU fan that he is enjoyed himself. I guess to be fair we will have to find an Auburn game to take Raylee to before the season is over.
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Western Day

Last week was Homecoming week at Raylee's school and they had a theme for each day. I had actually forgotten about it until I saw someone's post on Sunday night at bedtime that the next day (Mon) was Western Day. So at the last minute I dug around to try to find her Halloween costume from last year, praying the whole time that it would fit. Well, I found it and it did fit! The skirt was a little shorter, but I just put some leggings on her and we luckily had a black tshirt that I could turn inside out to go under it. Unfortunately the pink cowgirl boots did not fit, but we made do. I took some pics that night as we tried it all on since I don't see her in the mornings before school. But we made sure Daddy had clear instructions on all of her assessories which included a sheriff star, and cowboy had. We left the stick horse at home though. I am sure that would have been a big hit with the rest of the class!
Once again she did not hesitate to put on a show with her horse!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Cooking with Mommy


Just some cute pics of Raylee licking the beaters after helping me make a cake. It was Red Velvet and we enjoyed making it almost as much as we enjoyed eating it!

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"BEE, FIVE"

Last weekend was McAdory's Homecoming. Kinsley was in the Homecoming Court this year so of course we had to join in on the festivities. Here is Raylee waiting on the Homecoming parade on Thursday.



And then Tracy took her to the pep rally on Friday after she picked her up from school. She apparently enjoyed it! And of course she did her usual...dancing. (video to come)
And then on Friday we went to the game. Raylee yelled "Go! Go! Go!" at the players, it was so funny! and of course loved dancing with the band.
And then there was halftime. Raylee yelled for Kinsley on our cue, but she never saw her from the stands, too many people on the field, I guess.
But by far, the highlight of her night (better yet, her week) was when Bradley (Kinsley's BF) took her to see the Yellow Jacket and she got to give him a high five. She is still talking about it a week and a half later. This past Thursday night when I was putting her to bed I told her she was going to school the next day. She said "Tracy, bee, five". I had to break it to her that yes Tracy would pick her up, but they would not be going to the pep rally or the game. Any time she sees a bee she has to say "bee, five" and throw up her hand in a high five motion. Too funny! Thank goodness we got a picture.






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