5 YEARS AND COUNTING

THIS WEEKEND MICHAEL AND I CELEBRATED 5 YEARS OF MARRIAGE. GOD BLESSED ME SO MUCH TO BE ABLE TO MARRY MY TRUE BEST FRIEND. I ONCE HEARD THIS SAYING AND THOUGHT, HOW TRUE!...IF I HAD KNOWN THAT THE REST OF MY LIFE WOULD BE SPENT WITH YOU, I WOULD HAVE STARTED THE REST OF MY LIFE SOONER! MICHAEL, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SO MANY MORE!

2 year checkup

This check up went sooooo much better that any other doctor's visit we have ever had. And thank God! Because of all of her ear infections in the past, she has had some bad experiences at the doctor and she HATES it! Well, it has been a while since we have had to go to the doc so we have been talking about it with her for some time. She got a little doctor's kit for her birthday and we have been playing with it so that she would know what to expect when she went for her 2 year check up. It came with a stethoscope, a shot, a blood pressure cuff, and even one of those things to look in ears with. We let her "doctor" us and she would even let us "doctor" her. I had hoped that this would help, and it did! The whole way to the office that morning I kept telling her we were going to the doctor and she would point to and say "ear", and "mouth"...letting me know she was going to let the doctor look in them. I would tell her "we are not going to cry, ok?" She changed her mind a little once we went back, and even though she cried a little, she actually cooperated rather than FIGHT! I was so proud of her!

Here she is playing in the waiting room. Different from the last visits when she would start crying the minute we went through the door and would not get out of my lap.

Once we went back, she acted scared, but was just quiet. We got her undressed and she got to weigh like a big girl by standing on the scale! (30 pounds) She thought she was something else, especially when the nurse gave her a little gown to put on!

Then she did so good only crying a little while the doctor looked in her ears and mouth and listened to her chest. She was still sitting in my lap though. She used to pull and tug on me and my clothes the entire time. I always looked like I had been in a brawl by the time we would leave. She did have her "come apart" when we had to lay her on the exam table to measure her though. (34 inches) I think that was tough because she felt like she was being held down. Then after the doctor left she kept saying "go" and I had to break it to her that she was going to get a shot! These are the pictures I took while we were talking about the shot to come and that she would get a sucker afterward... I couldn't help but laugh at the pitiful faces she was making!

And then... it was all over! She only cried for a second before and after the shot, and that was it.

She did so much better than I ever expected! I just hope each visit gets better. And hopefully we won't have to make any visits except for check ups.

Randomness

None of these pictures really go together except they are all completely random...so I'll explain...

These pics were taken one night at bedtime when Raylee saw her box of bandaids and just had to have one. I let her pick one out so she decided to go with Snow white. The catch was that she did not want to wear it herself, but she wanted to put it on Daddy and insisted that it go on his face. Only a "Real Man" would be able to wear a Snow White bandaid so proudly. Thanks Daddy for always being such a good sport! Just wait til I catch a picture of him at one of our many Princess tea parties these days! Last picture was taken when Mommy had to break the news that is was time for bed :(

Warning: Grape, purple, lip gloss is not very attractive when applied in large amounts... or by a 2 year old. LOL!

And can you spot my "Wild One" amongst the "WILD"?

Here is Raylee sporting her Uncle Chris' t-shirt after she expressed her need for it and her Uncle Chris so graciously gave her the shirt off his back. The hat was just the icing on the cake!
And last, but not least...pictures taken this weekend just hanging out at Mimi's.

Minus One Nap

Any Fridays that I work Raylee will go to school and Tracy will be picking her up at 230. I am so excited that she will get to spend some time with Tracy, Kinsley, and Bryan (when he is home). Last Friday was her first full day at school and she did fairly well after a rocky start. The only bad thing was that she did not sleep AT ALL at nap time! This made for a "fun" experience for Tracy and Kinsley that afternoon. She played with the bunny for a while...she had not seen it since Easter (look back at howmuch it has grown!) But Tracy said that when Kinsley got home she was DONE with her and the bunny! You can see why she was destracted from catching up on her sleep. But no worries, when the day was done Raylee was minus some sleep, but was plus some fun times with her only cousin "Kinky".

Tracy, I hope for your sake she learns to nap at school soon! Hopefully she will tomorrow!

First Day of K2 :(

Well today was Raylee's first day of K2. She only went for half a day, but it went well I guess. I think she had a little bit of a rough start and apparently was hard to calm down after I left her. She does not usually cry when she is left in the nursery at church and stuff like that, but she knows the kids and the teachers are familiar to her. Hopefully it will not take her long to get comfortable with her new teacher and classmates. She will only be going a couple days a week and I think it will be good for her. She has always either been at home with me, and then days that I work she is used to being with Nana, Beth, or Casey and usually at her own house. I had a rough start too and I still get emotional thinking about her having to stay all day on Friday, but we will cross that bridge when we get there. Just keep us in your prayers!

Mommy's Little Princess!

Saturday we celebrated Raylee's birthday. Lately Raylee has been in love with all of the Disney princesses, and since we are going to Disney in December (can't wait), I decided to have a Princess themed party. Raylee even dressed up as Snow White for the party, thanks to my mom's great sewing talent. Her outfit was complete with dressup high heels! They did not last very long though...too hard to walk in I suppose. But besides the sweltering heat...she had a great time!

We began by opening gifts. She still seemed a little destracted, she wanted to play with everything she opened at that minute and it was a chore to get her to open the next gift. But she got so many cute things. Thanks everyone!

Then it was cake time! The cakes turned out beautifully!...and they tasted great too! Thank God for Christina's great talent too!

When it came time to blow out the candles, Raylee was actually able to do it herself this year. She loved hearing everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to her.

And of course she (and everyone else) enjoyed eating the cake too.

After the presents were opened and the cake and icecream were eaten it was time to cool off. She had tried earlier to cool off Merilyn Monroe style, but that only worked for a minute or two.

So of course the only real option was to dive right in!

We even finished off the day with some princess bubbles!

We had such a great time. Still can't believe I am the Mommy of a two year old!

Introducing...PINKY

Well after all of the excitement at the Disney store, it took some time for Raylee to get focused on building her bear.

First she picked out the bear she wanted...

then on to the suffing...

she loved to press the petal to make the suffing come out!

she picked out a heart...
and then had to rub it in her hands so she wouldn't get cold...

touch it to her cheek to give her a kiss...

and then hold it to her heart and close her eyes and make a wish...

and then she was all hers!

She gave her a bath, and picked out some clothes.

She even got to name her and get her a birth certificate.

And as for the final result...Introducing... PINKY!

A little side tracked

Tracy and Kinsley took Raylee to Build a Bear for her birthday on Saturday. We got there before Build a Bear opened so while we waited we were a little side tracked by the Disney store which was right next door. I know they are glad that Mommy tagged along because Raylee would have let them buy the entire store for her. She went crazy, running from one thing to the next. It was so funny! The stack of stuffed animals in the back was completely overwhelming for her. She just continued to point and call out by name the ones familiar to her.

It was hard for her to decide exactly what she "needed"

...so she just got it all! Here she is wanting to carry the bag herself. I guess she thought we were going to take it from her.

I think I have decided that we will just save our money and instead of going to Disney World in December, we will just take a couple of mini-trips to the Disney store! Wait...on second thought, that may not save us very much money at all!

From Day 1 to Day 730

I can not believe by baby is 2 years old! It really does seem like yesterday I was looking at her for the first time. I am so blessed to be her Mommy. I love her more and more every day. I can't even imagine that I could love her more, but as each day passes and before I know it, i do! Happy Birthday Raylee-bug!

And now for the pics from the Birthday Weekend! Stay tuned! (and stay patient)