Gotta be Quick!

Tracy had recently bought a precious top for Raylee and she got to wear it to church Sunday. So I was trying my best to get a good picture of her to send to Tracy so she could get to see it on her and this was the best I could get. She was in rare form that morning. She kept running to the front door, then running down the hall to tell Daddy "mone...go". Top left pic is her leaving front door, bottom right is her telling him to come on. Guess she was ready to get to church asap! Thanks for the cute outfit Tracy, it was precious!

It was a Good Day

After a long day in the sun and water, we had our weekly Evans family dinner out by the pool. This night we had steaks, baked potatoes, baked beans, rolls, etc... Then we all pulled up a chair and sat around the fire pit. And Raylee had a popsicle for dessert. She was so funny to watch. She always gets it all over herself...

This only added to the Doritos and baked beans that were already smeared all over her. Now all of that was stuck to her face and hands. Oh well, no problem a bath won't solve.

Then her and Daddy sat down to talk and reminise about the day. Love the bottom left pic, I only wish it wasn't blurry.

Swimming with Pop

This child wore herself out Sunday at the pool. And she probably wasn't the only one worn out after this day was over with. Her swimming partner...

Pop! She jumped in, swam, got out for a chip or two, and then climbed in again. I think she probably even wore Dallas (Mimi's dog - pictured here bottom left) out as well. She threw his ball for him over and over again. Usually in the pool.

Although it never rained this day, Raylee insisted, as she usually does, on carrying around the umbrella that goes with her pool chair. She learned how to block the splashes from Pop with it.

Hanging by the Pool

Just some pics from a random day at the pool. Can you see why the child is always swallowing water? Her mouth is open all the time! I don't know where in the world she gets that from (see top left pic).

Happy Birthday Mason!

We had so much fun yesterday at Raylee's buddy Mason's first birthday party! They had an oversized, blowup slip 'n' slide that all of the kids loved. Even some adults had their share of fun on it (including my hubby). Raylee loved to let the water splash in her face.

She loved to slide with Daddy...and Daddy liked it to!
And I know this next picture may tell a different story, but she even loved going by herself. She only had this look on her face during the slide and then would get up smiling.

She enjoyed playing in the kiddy pool with her good pal Payton, too. You may not be able to spot Raylee in this pic, but those are her legs flying up in the air behind Payton. Don't worry she was ok. It's one fall after another with this girl!

And this is Raylee with her buddy McKenzie. Raylee always has fun with her! She was a big help with Raylee on the slip 'n' slide. Thanks again McKenzie, Raylee loves you!

All in all it was a good day! Happy First Birthday Mason! Your party was a blast!

The Poop Incident

Ok, this may cross the line of what NOT to post on a blog, but I thought it was WAY to funny to leave out! Meghan kept Raylee a couple of days this past week and enjoyed every minute of it. Well...maybe all except this one. Meghan took her to MiMi and Pop's to swim and sent me this picture with the following text:

"I was taking off Raylee's swimmy and poop fell out...ON MY HAND!"

I laughed so hard! Now for this to really hit home I gotta tell you that Meghan, being the loving aunt that she is, has probably not changed very many poopy diapers in her lifetime until Raylee. So you can only imagine how tramatic this was for her. Even still, Raylee and Meghan are just a wee bit closer than they were before the "poop incident"! Thanks Meghan, We love you!

Memorial Day

Just some pics from Memorial Day! We swam and played volleyball even in the rain. Raylee pictured with Evan, Alexis and Josh! Great family (and friends) fun!

She Lights Up My Life!

My little actress in training has started acting like she is scared of everything in her path. But the key here is that she is "acting". When she sees things like bugs, snakes (pictures only), and even sea shells while we were at the beach she holds her hands over her mouth, gasps like she is terrified and then looks up at you to see your reaction too. She may have others fooled, but she is not fooling me. She even has this little smirk on her face as she does it. Another give away that she is faking is the fact that when she thinks no one is looking she will approach ANYTHING. It is so funny and even though I think it is cute sometimes, I don't want her to start convincing herself she actually IS scared. So I have started making her conquer these, so called, fears (except the fear of snakes, cuz thats actually a healthy one).

The other night at the ballpark while walking around with Alexis, they spotted lightning bugs! Don't you remember being facinated by them as a kid? Well, after all the "I'm scared" drama was over, we caught some pics and a video of her holding one and letting it crawl on her hand. She even cried if anyone besides Mommy, herself, or Alexis was holding the lightning bug. (Sorry Mrs. Sharon!) The poor bug did not have a chance. It kept trying to fly away and we kept catching it over and over again. Raylee thought that was the funniest thing, to watch it fly away and then watch us catch it again.

I can not believe this little drama queen is all mine. And she truly does light up my life!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Any of you that have an almost 2 year old would probably agree that keeping them occupied is sometimes a major task. And its no different with Raylee. While waiting for our softball game to either get underway or be called off because of the torrential downpour the other night, several of us just hung out on Alexis and Chris' front porch (they live in the parsonage in back of the church and right next to the softball field). Well, if I haven't said it before, this child loves to get wet. Whether it be in the pool, with a hose pipe, stomping in every puddle she can find, or by playing in the rain. So you can imagine how hard it was to keep her distracted. On her travels in and out and in and out of the front door, Raylee happened to find these orange cones that Uncle Chris had. (Don't ask, cuz I don't know!) And they were a life saver. I tried to get a good picture of her, Meghan, and Pop with them on their heads, but between my camera phone's delay and Raylee's eagerness to move, this was the best I could do. They still turned out kinda cute, I think!

Teeny-Weeny MultiColored PolkaDot Bikini

My Beach Beauty!

Evans/Handley Beach Trip

Last week after Memorial Day we went to the Beach with the "college and career" from church. This actually turned out to be a trip that included: us and Meghan, and then Jason, Jessica, Kelsey, Megan, and Spencer Handley. We had beautiful weather and no rain, which was surprising after it rained on us the entire drive down.

We had fun in the sun...

Once again, Raylee loved the beach! Michael did not get to go with us when we went in March so this was his first time to see her on the beach since before she was walking. We sat under the tent, played in the sand, played in the ocean, all the usual stuff of course, but I think Raylee enjoyed rubbing sunscreen on our backs the most. (Don't ask!)

We went to Margaritaville...

and had a blast. Raylee enjoyed her dog shaped balloon for about 2 minutes and then after a little twisting/untwisting the cute little dog was now a snake. She then enjoyed it for a little while longer, swinging it and hitting anyone with in a couple of feet (notice the pics). After it was all said and done she had popped her balloon as well as Kelsey and Megan's... sorry girls! They also had a carousel that Raylee got to ride with Daddy. She was so funny. Every time she would pass by me she would throw up that hand and scream "ByE!"

And as you can tell, we NAPPED!

I caught Michael and he caught me. We took Raylee's pack-n-play for her to sleep in and we knew it would be a challenge since she has learned that she can climb out on her own. We literally had to lay down with her until she fell asleep and then put her in the pack-n-play ever so gently to keep her from waking up. We took turns putting her down for naps and bedtime so of course we each took our share of cat naps as well.

Raylee did so well on the ride down. She was awake the entire time on the way down, but was ready for a nap as soon as we got there. Then on the drive back she finally fell asleep by the time we got to Pelham, which only gave her a small nap before we got home. This is the picture of her asleep in the car...hair is a mess and passy has fallen out. Too cute!

What has been going on?

Well, I don't think we have been any busier than usual, but for some reason I have fallen behind on blogging. We have been spending a lot of time with friends and family, and a lot of time at the pool at Mimi and Pop's. We did go to the beach last week, so I will post those pics soon too, but for now I will try to catch up on the other pics I have.

Raylee hanging out at Nana and Daddy Bruce's...

Notice the mischeiveous look in the bottom center pic, I love it!

And Raylee hanging out with Aunt Beth for the day...

Raylee enjoys spending the day at Beth and Jason's cuz she gets to sleep in the big bed for her naps and Beth will even lay down and sleep with her. She thinks she runs the show over there, and by the time we pick her up Raylee and Beth are both ready for another nap!

Like I said, we have also been hanging out at Mimi and Pop's by the pool. We were there all day for Memorial day, and then Raylee spent the afternoon with them on Sunday too. But for some reason I don't have any pics. I don't know how that happened, but I do know that Alexis and Pop have taken some lately so I will get pics from them to post soon.

(PS to Alexis, Mimi, and Pop... Please send pics asap)