Raya Recently

If Raya keeps growing like she is now, there's a good chance she'll be the perfect height for basketball. This would make her Dad and Nana VERY happy. I just hope she plays soccer ;) But her stance here makes her look like a Little Pro

Dress from G-Daddy, Basketball from Nana....

 Story of my life :)

This would be her "End of the Runway" pose

I love this little dress! Its handmade from Mexico. My Mom brought it back from her cruise.

It has little teal ducks on it

Oh, so her newest thing is Knocking. When we're in the house she goes door to door and knocks. This is her knocking on Nana's door.

Love the little bow in the back

Annoying

So its hard for me to say the weekend was Bad, because it wasn't. But it definitely wasn't the kind of weekend I would want to happen on the regular. Raya passed her cold on to me, but somehow she jumped from fever to runny nose and missed all the coughing. Which I'm sure means I'm coughing for the both of us. And after 30mins on WebMD I've convinced myself I have whooping cough. So needless to say I will be making a trip to my Doc tomorrow morning. Of course last week would be the week my Doc decided to go on vacation. She didn't check with me. But her family vacation was to ARKANSAS! So I forgive her :) I consulted with my other doc (aka WebMD) and he said Robitussin was ok to take while pregnant. So I went to Target on Friday because my coughing was seriously driving me crazy and I was at my wits end. I thought I'd just run the whole Robitussin idea by the pharmacist there and wanted to punch her in the face when she told me she didn't recommend it and I should just "ride the cough out." UHHHH. So I left Target with a bad attitude...and $50 of stuff I didn't need. Then Saturday came, the day I'd been waiting for ALL week...The Arkansas vs Alabama Game. I seriously thought about that game all week. Why? Cause I'm slightly ridiculous and because I bleed Razorback Red ;) HAHA. So Saturday was my day of redemption and hopefully it would make me forget about wanting to punch the Target pharmacist. I will be perfectly honest, I was fearful of Alabama. I mean, they're really good! So I made all my "clock wishes" (ya know, when its like 11:11 or 3:33) that Arkansas would win. WELL, the whole game the Hogs had my hopes up. I think maybe that's why the loss was even harder to except. Hello! We were winning like the whole time. And then we lose by 4. FOUR!!! UHHHH again.  So by Saturday afternoon my violent streak was alive and well. Good thing "I'm too cute to fight" LOL. So Saturday night I had cough drops for dinner and went to bed-oh and on my way I found my toothbrush in the dog cage. Pretty sure I know who left it there. Sunday I woke up to a termite infestation. And really, I didn't even have the energy to be mad. The screen to the back patio had about 30 termites just chillin on it and I discovered they were coming from their well established home that is also my door frame. Oh and did I mention they were on the INSIDE of my screen door? Seriously? Seriously. And this being the first week of Fall it was 90degrees. Go figure. And whoever decided that homes by the beach don't need air-conditioning because the sea breeze is sufficient was definitely not pregnant. Or fat ;) So now I'm a hot, coughing mess with termites and my Hogs lost. Annoying, annoying, annoying.

On a good note, Raya looked super cute in her Hog attire. And we got to spend the afternoon at the pool with some of my family. AND we got our new 46in flat screen in. Thank you Sunday!

PS- If someone puts in a toilet right next to the bathroom counter, there's a good chance you'll find a baby in your sink. FYI!

Is this a Posh Park?

Yesterday was such a great park day! Amy and I try to meet a couple times a month and this time Stephanie came too. It was so nice to be around my good friends that know me for me. Ya know, the "Kelsey Before Kids." I feel very thankful to have the girlfriends that I do (those with and without kiddos,) And its just so perfect to be able to be at the park with girls I've been close to since junior high and now be able to swap advice and info as it relates to our lives with kids in them.  The day started with the phrase "Is this a posh park because I really want to wear yoga pants?" -Steph. What was most hilarious about this convo was that I was literally putting makeup on as I said "I promise I won't judge you for wearing yoga pants to the park." First of all, who wears makeup to the park? Yah me. And I usually accompany my face of makeup with yoga pants :) It's how I roll. And thank god I did because Raya made me climb half a rock wall to prevent her from sliding down it. This was actually probably pretty funny if you happen to walk by when it happened. Raya was sitting atop a 7ft rock wall (she took the stairs, she didn't climb it) and was trying to slide down it like it was a slide. Me, being 5ft tall and 5months pregnant had only once choice, and that was to climb it. That's when my ladies, one holding a sleeping 3 month old and the other consoling her 3 year old after a heart breaking goldfish incident jumped into high gear and saved me from having to climb the whole wall :) What are friends for, right?!

Raya and Tyson-he just turned 1 this month!

Little Miss Raya

Sydney- she's 3. Syd was so sweet with Raya. She was hand feeding her goldfish and brought her a Barbie to play with. It was so cute watching them together. 

Steph and Tyson

Raya and Jackson- he's 2. I have super cute pictures of them together. They're BFFs. When we pull up in the car and Raya sees him she gets soooo excited. Its the cutest thing ever. And Jackson says "Kelsey! Raya!" Uh, LOVE IT!

Amy and Carter-he's 3 months old. Seriously, could they be any cuter? Amy, I'm gonna need you to not look so cute when you meet me next time ;)

Thanks ladies for a perfect afternoon of no judgement. Lol. Love you girls!!!

17 Months- Raya Recently

Raya-

Such a fun age!!! You are just about to enter the world of words...you've added just a few new ones in the last week, making it clear that no matter what I do, you will grow up :( This week has been my first week that I've become just a little anxious about having a 2nd baby. Only because you're seriously my BFF and I can't imagine adding another personality (aka new baby) to the mix. I love our days together. You are the absolute light of my life and so much fun. You know how to be funny and you joke around all the time. You are the sweetest thing and cuddle and love on me all day long. You truly are my side-kick and I am so very very lucky to have a girl like you!

This past week you had your very first cold. It was just a little chest cold, but you needed antibiotics. You were still a little pistol despite your pitiful cough and runny nose. You HATE the doctor. Literally, all he did was use a stethoscope to hear your chest and you FLIPPED out. Clearly you don't like strangers all up in your grill. Either that or Daddy taught you that whenever a boy you don't know gets too close scream and holler until he stops or someone saves you. I'm fine with either. You're feeling much better now, but you passed on your disease to me, and well, I could've lived without that.

Waiting for the Doctor

You weigh about 22 pounds. You fit into all of your 12month clothes, except your pants-those are high waters on you now. You are able to wear a lot of your 18month clothes now too. You are such a little peanut! You are long, I'm not sure how tall, but when we're at the park you are the same height as a lot of the 2year olds. You just started wearing a size 6 shoe, which blows me away. I remember when we bought you a pair of size 6 Nikes and I thought to myself "Oh she'll fit in these when she's like 3" And now you fit in them! I think a size 6 is a little big for a 17month old, but I'm not for sure.  You have all but your 4 back molars. You've had almost all your teeth since about 14 months. You got your teeth FAST! You sleep through the night. You usually go to bed between 8 and 10. You've just recently started waking up around 7. You usually slept until at least 8, so I'm trying to get use to this early morning thing. It's totally ok with me if you want to go back to the 8am routine :) You've gone back to 2 naps a day- one around 11 and one around 5. I think you're going through another growth spurt, which would explain the 2 naps. You don't really eat much, so that's been the toughest thing lately. Its not so much that you're picky, you just only want a few bites here and there. 

In your size 6 Nikes :)

I look forward to this next month with you! I love you <3

Love, Mom

24 weeks

Only 112 days to go! According to my weekly BabyCenter updates he's about a foot long and weighs over a pound. I feel him moving a lot. I felt Raya move a lot too. From what I remember, I feel like he has more kicks and jolts. Raya's movements felt like rolls and wiggles. There's a good chance I already said this in a previous post, but I'm pregnant, so short term memory isn't one of my strengths. It's crazy to think that in just 4 months Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, My Bday, New Years AND this Baby will all happen.  Then throw in a baby shower, maternity pics and a couple other fun weekends and he'll be here before I know it. Still not sure how I feel about this :) But I guess it doesn't matter how I feel cause he's comin when he's comin!

This is my most recent prego pic...24 weeks with Baby Boy

                                                

       This was me @ 24 weeks with Raya

I might be a little big bigger this time around, but I might have been a little bit bigger when I got pregnant this time around :) (And by might I mean I definitely was)

I would tell you that Raya doesn't get that there's a baby in my belly, but since I was about 7 or 8 weeks she's become slightly obsessed with my belly. She always wants to rest her head on it while watching TV and if its time for a nap or bed she wants to fall asleep on it. This week while she was watching cartoons and resting her head on my stomach baby boy started kicking her :) Sibling rivalry has begun! I'm not sure if she noticed it. He was kicking pretty hard. I keep trying to plan it out and let her feel it with her hand. Maybe I can get it on video! We shall see....

These are a few pictures I took with my computer. Not the most flattering, but still so sweet.

And I finally changed some things in my settings, so now anyone can comment on my posts :) I'm having fun blogging. I just found out this week that I can turn all my posts into a book! So one day I'm sure I'll have a library of books about these kids. I just hope when #2 gets here I'll still have time, because I really love this new hobby of documenting! 

NEW WORDS!!!

She's had a solid handful of words:
Mama, Dada, Dog, Hot, Hi, Bye, Wow, and Nana.

This week she's had 4 new ones: No, Thanks, All Done and Kick It!
I'd love to be able to say that I taught her Thanks by practicing with her every time I handed her something, but she got this word from just paying attention. I wonder what other words she'll say that I would swear I'd never teach her but she picks up on her own. Oh can't wait for those. Lol. At Target tonight we were totally that family that lets their kid play in the store with a ball (deal with it) and she was rolling the ball and told Gentry to "Kick It!" I missed it because I was too busy picking out piggy banks that were ridiculously cheap and I just had to have matching pink and blue ones. Did you ever notice when there's kids playing around in the store, if they're super cute (and not being super annoying) they some how get away with it? Raya definietly did. A couple times she'd take her ball and roll it like she was pitching it kick ball style to some random person walking down they isle and they'd die. It was so funny. That Target trip was quite eventful :) Seriously, who needs Chuck E Cheese when you can just go to Target!

These pictures are from yesterday. I set my oreo down and thought the dogs got it until I stumbled across this kid in a box behind the couch...and found my oreo.

She has no shame :)

Later that night when Gentry got home he found the side of the cookie that had no frosting (the one in her left hand.) It was on the couch. Guess she's a frosting kinda girl.

Finger Painting...then body painting...then tasting it :)

I've been waiting forever to let Raya finger paint. I felt like it was an activity she would love because she could be outside and get as messy as she wanted. And it was :) BUT, I thought I'd be clever and let her use brown paint on pink paper so her first masterpiece would match her room. (I may or may not have also chose the brown paint because I wanted to get rid of this color first because its such a poopy color ;) and I didn't want to waste the good colors until she was actually painting) The thing about brown paint is it looks exactly like chocolate syrup and trying to explain to a 16 month old why she can't eat it was impossible. The painting went great! She loved it. She painted some on the paper, painted a lot on her body, and tasted it about 5 times (wayyyy better than expected.) It was a fun little afternoon outside!

i LOVE when she poses 

This one's for YOU!

Because I'm a mom that "participates" ;)

I'm an official Souper!

I thought I posted this weeks ago...but clearly I didn't, so here it is! 2 weeks late :(


One of my best girlfriends, Cathleen, started a blog called Donut Soup. She started it because she felt she knew "so many talented people in lots of different industries that work jobs that may or may not include these passions, and I wanted to write about them to tell their story. Lets think of Donut Soup like this: A place where there’s a mix (ahem, “soup”) of telling stories about my friends or things that I love (ahem, “donut”). Anyone who knows me knows I can’t say no to a delicious, mouthwatering pastry such as those heavenly round lifesaver delicacies. There’s nothing better than a maple bar, let me tell you. Yowza." Its a brilliant idea. And seriously, this girl has quite a group of talented friends! I think she probably has a rule about it or something- like she can only be your friend if you've got your "ish" together and know how to rock it.

Speaking of having your "ish" together and knowing how to rock it, she featured me! HAHA, I'm shameless ;) It was such a fun night with her. Basically, my interview sums up what its like every time we hang out, which is probably why we've been friends for close to 20 years. She's such a great writer and its so fun to read her blog (even when its not about me, i promise!) She also posts things here and there that she loves or finds really creative. She's a little Creative Cathleen, as I like to call her. (I may or may not have just made that name up ;) 
Interview: Tan, Big Hair, Animal Print

Life Support is Re-connected

And by life support I mean Internet and Cable. Wow! 2 whole weeks. I made it. Thanks to my trusty iPhone I wasn't totally living in a cave, but still! I watched Raya's fav movie, "Elmo in Grouchland," at least 4 times a day. Times that by 15 days and, well, lets just say I know all the songs by heart.  Embarrassing. Numerous times I found myself searching for a new Elmo movie simply because I wanted a new one to watch. WHAT? This is Raya watching the movie. She's clearly concerned about Elmo's well-being.

And he's OK!

Anyways...we're all moved in. The unpacking process is movin along. Slowly, but surely. Raya has been soooo easy throughout the whole move, but I really can only leave her unattended for so long, so I don't get much done when Gentry's at work. She's had some dates with Nana which are amazingly helpful, so I know by the end of the month we'll be all settled in :)
This is what happens when we get too caught up unpacking...

Still totally into Elmo's adventure. Guess that's multitasking?!

I'm now 23 weeks pregnant and feeling good! Moving was exhausting, as expected, but Gentry made sure I didn't work too hard. And I totally didn't :) I did what I could, but by 10pm I was READY for BED! Gentry stayed up till like 4 every morning putting stuff away or setting things up...I'm a lucky girl. Looking forward to being all done!