Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Raylee and I had so much fun at the Pumpkin Patch with with her friend Brooklyn from church and Brooklyn's Nonnie and Bop Bop (AKA: Bro. Bruce and Patty). These girls played so hard! They rode the hay ride and the train, and played in almost all of the inflatables that they had. We waited of course until the "big kids" were gone so just the two of them could enjoy themselves, and they did. Raylee had a tough time staying on her feet in most of them, but what is new, right? I swear that child does not know the meaning of slow. They also loved some of the other simple games like the bing-bag toss, wich ended up just a bing-bag drop through the hole. Lots of fun times with lots of fun friends.

My Little Outdoors Gal!

The girl loves a stick!



The girl loves to ride anything: wagon, swing, even the lawnmower! Just trying to catch up on some pictures and posts that are long overdue. Forgive me!

Spending some time with Cousin Madelyn

Raylee got to spend some time with her cousin Madelyn at Moma E's house last weekend. They had so much fun! Madelyn was so great with her. She is going to be such a great big sister.

First ER Visit!

We had our first and hopefully our last visit to Children's ER last weekend. Raylee fell down the steps at MiMi and Pop's house and I was so privileged to have been able to witness the whole thing (LOL). As you all know she is as busy as they come and she found the cracked basement door before I did. I found her just as she began to tumble (just out of my reach) down 15 hardwood steps to a concrete floor. As you can imaging, it seemed like she fell for an eternity. And everyone at the house was definitely rattled. I have replayed the horrible site over and over in my head. Feeling like such an unfit mother, I called the doc's office.

The nurse on call that I spoke with, after Raylee was quickly consoled, suggested that we take her in to be checked out just because of the length of the fall and type of floor. They ended up doing a CT scan of her head to make sure there was nothing unseen going on, and PRAISE GOD everything was normal. Surprisingly, the only bruise or scratch was this black eye that she so proudly sported for a few days. I knew she was hard headed, but this just proved it.

We have ALL recovered well and just thank God for protecting our baby!

Cheap Fun!

I have been trying so hard lately to find fun things to do with Raylee that are cheap or even better, FREE. I can tell she is starting to get board sitting at home everyday. So we spent an hour or so the other day at the Humane Society just looking at dogs. Not that we need any more dog at our house, but Raylee just loves them. She was able to walk around from window to window and they were at her eye level. Much different than at home where the dogs tower over her. She seemed to have so much fun. So today we took a trip to McDonalds with Beth to play on their playground. She was a little scared of the tunnels at first and wanted me to carry her, but seeing how I was crawling through the tunnels myself, that was impossible. After the 2nd or 3rd time (Beth and I taking turns of course) through and down the slide she loosened up a little and began to go on ahead of me. But she still stayed close enough to grab me if she wanted.

I also posted these pictures of her first Halloween shirt for this year. It says "Mummy loves me". She grabbed it off of a rack in WalMart as I was browsing and just had to have it. The little Mummy blinks every time she moves. You should see her trying to walk with her head held over in front of her to watch the shirt blink. And if you know her, she is a fall waiting to happen anyway (no clue where she got that from) so this was not helping matters. It was halarious for the first 15 minutes that she had it on. Then she forgot about in until she saw herself in the mirror and it all started again. Another form of cheap fun! God is good!

My Little Stripper

I guess I knew the day would come when Raylee would begin to undress herself. I am just glad the first time was not in public. This is how I found her when she woke up today. She usually plays for a few minutes when she wakes up before I go in to get her. Guess she was ready to get those PJ's off. I just hope I have more time before she learns how to get that diaper off. I have heard the horror stories about kids taking off their diapers and smearing poop everywhere. Although Raylee may be, I don't think I am ready for that much "fun" yet!

First trip to the Zoo!

Yesterday me, Michael and Raylee went to the zoo. This was Raylee's first trip to the zoo and I was anxious to see how she would act. She did not really get too excited about the snakes, alligators, turtles or birds. I think it was hard for her to even notice them because they were all very still and kind of blended in with everything. But she paid alot more attention to the giraffes, camels, and of course the monkeys. (Check out the video "Monkey Business") I would not have been surprised if her little arm was sore the next day from all of the pointing she did. I think the monkeys and giraffes were her favorite. We also rode the train, but she was not impressed. She did not want to just sit! I still say that probably her favorite part of the whole trip was the mist maker that Daddy took her through on the way out. (Check out the video "The Mist") She probably pushed that button 20 times. She was soaked by the time we got in the car. Mommy, Daddy and Raylee had a great time!

UFC Atlanta

Ok, so I know it's crazy, but Michael and I went to Atlanta for the weekend along with several other couples to see the UFC fights that were in town. I actually ran in to "Rampage" Jackson at the mall in Atlanta the day of the fights. He was just there doing some shopping I guess. And of course, without meaning to, I acted like a fool when I saw him. I asked for a picture with him and I think I surprised him because I knew who he was. Anyway, before long I had blown his cover and attracted a crowd. Michael and the guys had split from us and did not believe us when we called to tell them who we had seen. By the time they made it to where we were he had already walked away to do some more shopping and his "photo shoot" was over. But they were still able to see him at a glance. We had a great weekend except for the results of some of the fights. If you know anything about the UFC, Chuck Liddell lost which was a shocker! He was knocked out cold and laid out in the ring for obout 5 minutes solid. It was a little scary to wittness. Anyway, It was exciting anyway just to have been there in person.

1 year old Pics

Happy First Birthday Raylee!

After a weekend of partying Raylee, Mommy and Daddy are exhausted. We had 2 birthday parties for Raylee this weekend. First, just an immediate family party on Thursday and then a friends and extended family party on Saturday. I was trying to keep both very simple, but we ended up going overboard as usual. Raylee got so many great things to play with and to wear and guess who had to open every present. You guessed it, Mommy! I guess I never thought about it, but she could care less about the gifts until they were unwrapped. Even then she was so overwhelmed with all of the toys she did not know which one to play with. I think every toy she got plays some kind of music. She danced ( and is still dancing ) to all of it. Thank you so much to everyone who helped get ready for the parties and thanks to everyone for all of the great gifts. I have yet to find a place for them all and doubt I ever will. Happy Birthday Raylee! You are SO loved!