Happy Thanksgiving!

We all have so much to be thankful for. God has been so good to us. He meets all of our needs so faithfully. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was a little different this year. Raylee was not feeling well, and had been running a fever since Wednesday, and I suspected another ear infection. Long story short -- this is how we spent ours:
First some great food at Memaw's...
Then some more great food at Moma E's...
And despite Tylenol and Motrin every 3 hours, and in lieu of closed doctor's offices, we made a trip to Children's ER, where on arrival Raylee's temp was 105.0! She was feeling so bad I could not bare to watch her suffer anymore.

They were able to finally get her temp down and just as I thought, it was an ear infection. We were able to go ahead and start on antibiotics that night and she is already feeling better. This may have been a crazy Thanksgiving, but like I said, we have so much to be thankful for. I thank God for antibiotics. And I will soon be thankful for tubes.

"Beauty Shop"

I found some pictures the other day on my camera that I had not taken. I laughed so hard when I saw them. Casey comes to our house every Friday to keep Raylee while I work, and I guess this was the fun I missed, "Beauty Shop". Sorry I missed it, but thanks to Casey for the pictures. We love you, Casey!

Chuck E Cheese's

After the doctor's visit, Beth took Raylee to Chuck E Cheese's while I went in to work for a little while. They had a great time. Beth said that Raylee was part of the entertainment during the show. Everyone was laughing at watching her dance with the characters. (check out the video-not great quality) After all the excitement, good and bad, this baby crashed.

15 Month Checkup

Another doctor visit, but this time just for a checkup. It didn't matter what we were there for, Raylee still wanted no part of it. She started by being very clinging just while we were sitting in the waiting room. Then as we walked down the halls to the exam room she started with just a little whining. And then of course all heck broke loose when the nurse came into the room. Just trying to weigh her was an ordeal. She would not let go of me so that I could sit her on the scale. The nurse suggested that I leave Raylee with her and that I go back to the exam room and maybe she would ease up a little. Well, she got weighed (24 lbs and 5 oz), but she never eased up. I could hear her screams echoing throughout the entire doctors office. I just laughed to keep from crying myself. I love my little drama queen!

So after finally calming down and sitting still in my lap for a little while (which never happens), I think she forgot where she was. She got down in the floor and started playing with everything in the room. She played in these empty cabinets for a good while before Dr. Sahlie came in and it all started again! She did not even want her to listen to her chest, she kept pushing her hand away. I don't know how Dr. Sahlie heard anything through the screams. And don't even get me started on the shots. All in all she checked out great. I hope to God we don't have to go back for anything before her 18 month checkup. Her and I both need some time to recover!

Hanging out with Payton

We hung out this weekend with our friends Joe and Mandie and their sweet little girl Payton. Raylee and Payton are beginning to be able to play together a little bit now. Raylee is still a little to rough for Payton, but it won't be long and Payton will be able to hold her own.

Christmas Village

Raylee took her first (maybe her last -JK) trip to Christmas Village last week. I don't know why I thought she would be able to nap in her stroller while we were there, cuz it was not happening! She fought it so hard for so long. You can see how sleepy she was in the first picture. But she finally gave it up and fell asleep for a whopping 20 minutes. We saw so many people we knew and Raylee even got to see her cousins Gracelyn and Kinsley and her Mema for a few minutes. The girls even gave each other bye-bye kisses. It was so cute!

Jumping on the Trampoline with Daddy

Check out the video on the sidebar too!

Our Tiny Dancer

This is just a taste of Raylee's dancing talent. If I haven't said it before, Raylee is always dancing. Almost any time she hears music she will stop what she is doing and just dance. Sometimes it is a head shake, sometimes foot stomps, but whatever it is almost always makes me laugh. This particular night in the video she danced for what seemed like forever. It may have been 10 minutes or so. She knew we all were sitting around watching her, so she just kept it up. This is only a glimpse of her performance. It took us a while to actually get the camera out because usually she stops when we do. But she danced for so long that I think she forgot about the camera. I am not sure where she gets her rythym, but the girl's got it.

My "Baby" Girl

Excited to finally get my hands on these pictures. My mom surprised me with a little flip book full of pictures for my birthday that she took one day of Raylee. Since then, I have been waiting to get them from her on CD so I could download them to my computer. I love all of them. She is getting so big and is growing up so fast. Sometimes it is surreal when I look at her and realize how much she looks like a little girl now and not a baby. But no matter what, I think I will always see her as my baby girl. My favorite is probably the last one. This leaf was hanging in a spider web and Mom took the picture as Raylee reached up for it. You may not enjoy them as much as I did, but that does not matter, I am posting them anyway. See if you notice the fading black eye. Thanks mom, what a great birthday present!

Ride'em Cowgirl

I guess you could probably call this Raylee's first real Halloween since last Halloween she was only about 10 weeks old. And boy did she strut her stuff. She really showed off. She had a pistol and a stick horse (not pictured) that made a galloping noise. We did not actually go trick or treating. We just made the rounds at Moma E and Daddy Jack's, Mema and Popa's, Bryan and Tracy's, and then ended the night at MiMi's. And trust me that was enough. She made an entrance at each stop. When we made the horse gallop she would dance around in her new boots and it was halarious. I didn't take that many pictures (don't know why), but I should have more to post as soon as I get some more from Alexis and Tracy.