Catching Up

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! I was sure when I got on to check our blog today that I had posted last week, but .....nope! Where does the time go?

I thought I'd post some random pics from the past few weeks to catch up. Pics are always more fun to look at anyway.

I finally finished the dress I started for RJ over a month ago! This was my first sewing project using a pattern, and man was I in over my head! I had to get a lot of guidance on it because I didn't know ANY of the lingo used in patterns. I've still got another one to make just like it for RJ's cousin, Kylie. Hopefully hers goes a little more smoothly.

I've discovered dresses are lot harder to sew than blankets!

Isn't it wonderful that we get to bust out the coats now?

Cuddle time with Mommy...This was a Sunday afternoon. I was kicking back and reading in the chair, and she brought up a book, opened it and sat and "read" it just like Momma. I love this little girl.

Wearing her newest outfit from Jason's grandma, Mimi.

I think those tights are tooooooo cute! I definitely couldn't pull off that outfit!
Look at that face! She is ALWAYS very full of expression when she's "talking," which helps her get her point across quite well, since we really can't understand what she's saying.
Also, notice the bruise on her forehead? It was her biggest owie yet. She tripped when we were camping last weekend and developed the BIGGEST goose egg I've ever seen. It definitely hurt.....poor baby.

Our little athlete....she loves playing with balls, and she loves kicking and chasing them.

I took this one this afternoon. We caught her "feeding" her baby doll. What she's holding is baby oil.....thank goodness that isn't a real baby! (And don't worry, the cap is childproof. It's one of the few caps in the house she can't get off).

Lacey's Bday Celebration

Monday was my sister, Lacey's, birthday. My mom, Rayleigh and I all went to church with her in Austin on Sunday (J was working) and then had a great family din' at her house for lunch. I got there early enough for church so that RJ could go to the cradle roll class; however, their teacher was out that day, so she had to join the toddler class.

I wasn't too sure how that would go, since RJ is used to sitting in a chair that she can't get out of when she goes to Bible class, and in the toddler class, they sit in normal toddler-sized chairs. The teacher got her playing with Play-do right away. She had never seen play-do before, and she was so consumed with it, that she didn't try getting out of her chair at all. I was able to leave the room with no problem and head off to my class. But, before I left, I just watched through the window on the door in amazement that my little baby is not so much a little baby anymore. She looked like a little girl in that classroom. With a swirl of emotions - a mixture of pride that she's turning into such a sweet little girl and sadness that the baby stage is almost over, I headed off to my class.

While dinner was cooking, Rayleigh provided us all with live entertainment!

And, she of course had to check out all of Lacey's aquariums - she has fish galore. Here, she's pointing to Dude, Lacey's female turtle.

Whit was able to join us from Germany via Skype. It amazes that technology can do the things it does. We video conferenced with her after dinner, and it felt like she was there with us. She even had her own spot at the table. We plopped the laptop down on one end of the table so we could all see her, and she was able to sing Happy Birthday with us, help Lacey blow out her candles, and even read the cards and laugh at the funny pictures on them.

It was a wonderful day. Spending time with family has always been so important to me. It's by far one of my greatest pleasures on this earth. I feel so blessed to have each one of them. Happy 3_rd Bday, Lace!

More Babies!

Last week my Uncle Jere and my cousin, Travis, and his wife came down with yet another Hart baby. This is the 5th great-grandchild (I think?) for the Hart family. We've all been chomping at the bit to meet him; he is too precious.

Rayleigh was quite taken with her 4 month old cuz'....isn't he a cutie?

She loves being sweet and gentle with babies, patting them, hugging them, kissing them...
However, she also can get way too excited about a having a playmate, so you have to watch her like a hawk.

Grandmother and two of her great-grands...

Mel & Morgan

So it's been a couple of weeks, now....I'm so back-logged on my posts....but Rayleigh and I went to visit one of my dearest friends, Melissa, and her daughter, Morgan. And, of course, we saw Daddy David, as well... :) We had a blast watching the babies play together. Mel, I've been practicing the whole sharing concept with Rayleigh lately, so maybe the next time we see each other she won't try to take EVERYTHING away from her little friend.

Although, she didn't understand sharing well, she really was sweet with Morgan and thoroughly enjoyed kissing and hugging her every few minutes. And I must say Morgan was quite taken with Rayleigh, as well. They loved entertaining each other and gabbing back and forth.

For old times' sake, we went running together with the babies in tow.


Rayleigh doesn't mind the stroller, but she wants it to be moving as much as possible. She was a little frustrated we were taking so long getting started. We were hitting Morgan's naptime, so as you can see, she's quite content all bundled up in her seat. She is such a sweet baby girl.
All together, we had a wonderful time with our friends, and we're looking forward to our camping trip with them next week! Hopefully we don't get rained out!

Friends forever....

I thought I'd post some random pics that I meant to write blogs on way back when they were taken. Each of the pics had a fun story to it, but I never got around to the computer. So, you're getting the condensed version today, and well, we all know pics are more fun than reading. So...

One of Rayleigh's new past times when we're at Paw-Paw and Gigi's house...

Rayleigh is definitely a climer - has been for some time now. I took this maybe a month ago. I found her just chillin' in her grocery cart one day, humming and nodding her head up and down.

I also watched her climb into her high chair for the very first time yesterday. She was quite proud of herself, as you can see, and she very politely signed that she was ready to eat her snack. Oh, she's also trained to go get a bib out of her drawer and bring it to me when it's time to eat. She's always so proud of herself when she does it. What a helper!

Smile for the camera!

...or don't.

Rayleigh was out with me when I was moving the sprinklers one evening, and the temptation got the best of her. So, I just decided to go with it. She had a blast and was sopping wet when we came inside for dinner.

Rayleigh's first personalized piece of clothing. My Aunt Rebecca and her girls got it for her at this cute little boutique in Austin called The Monogram Lady. I absolutely love it.

I caught her trick riding again yesterday squealing, "Wew! Wew! Wew! Wew!" By the time I turned on the camera, she saw me and was on her way down because she KNOWS better than to do it when I'm looking.

First REAL Horse Ride!

Well, sort of.

It wasn't necessarily a "ride." It was more of just a real horse sit.

She loves petting TOM, and we have to watch her close because she also likes to pull TOM's ears....

She wasn't real sure of it at first, as you can see. I was having to physically spread her legs when I put her up there, and although she never fussed, you could tell from her expression that she just didn't quite feel comfy getting up on top of that live horse. She's not scared of horses. In fact, she'll walk right up to a horse. A dog on the other hand....she'll run the other direction. You can tell we don't have any dogs.

She relaxed once Daddy got her and put her up there. But when the horse decided to move - Whoa, get me off this thing! - was the look she had written all over her face.

Rayleigh is such a horse girl. She is all things horses. She loves reading her horse books, riding her rocking horses every time she passes by them, riding her horse-on-wheels, cuddling with her stuffed animal horses, and playing with all her other horse toys. She asks me all day long if we can go see the horse (by making the horse sound), and whenever we do go outside, the moment our feet touch the great outdoors, she starts calling the horse. This is totally Ken Proffitt's grandchild.

I love our sweet little family...

God, you've been so good to us - Thank you.

Another First....Rayleigh Meets the Potty Chair

I decided to go ahead and get a training potty for Rayleigh yesterday when I was at the store. She understands a lot. She loves to mimic people (pretending to cook, clean, etc.), and since she's always in the bathroom when I'm in there, I figured I might as well get her one so she can start practicing by sitting on hers while I'm sitting on mine (just to get used to the idea).

When do most people start potty training, anyway?
And, as I was reading the "potty training guide" that came with the chair, it suggested even letting them get used to it by letting them sit on it in other rooms around the house, like in the living room while watching TV. Has anyone done that?
We have no idea what we're getting into.

Me - "Rayleigh look at the camera so we can take a picture of you on your potty for the first time."

RJ - "What on earth is this thing? Whatever it is, it fits me perfectly!"

RJ - "How about if I try it like this?"


Me - "No, Silly Goose. Your foot doesn't go in there."
RJ - "Heheheh....this is so fun! I LOVE my new chair!"


"Cheese!"

(For some odd reason, she has started closing her eyes when she smiles and says "Cheese!" for the camera. I don't know if she is doing it to save herself from the flash, or if she's just trying to be funny...she does like to ham things up, so who knows?)