John, Kara and Baby Rayna

Hot Summer Fashions

2009-06-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

Rayna is getting more independent lately and is starting to want to dress herself. She always has to pick out which shoes she's going to wear and likes socks for some reason. Her are two of her fashion statements.

In the top picture she's wearing all our nintendo controllers as necklaces. They definitely complete the ensemble of t-shirt and diaper (she's not wearing pants because we're potty training).

In the bottom one she has chosen to pair her t-shirt and diaper with 2 pairs of ruffled socks and pink sparkley shoes which are, of course, on the wrong feet. Very fashionable.

Girl's Week

2009-06-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

The first week in June, John's mom, sister Michaela, and a family friend and her daughter came down for a girl's week (although we did include John a few days). We went to Sea World twice, Schlitterbahn, the HUGE outlet mall in San Marcos and Paradise Canyon. It was a lot of fun. The top picture is Rayna modeling one of the new outfits Grandma bought her from the outlet mall. Of course Rayna got more things than anyone.

Rayna loves Sea World. I'm so glad we got season passes. She got to feed the dolphins and some ducks. Although you wouldn't know it from the look on her face, she really was interested in the macaw. She really loves animals and seems to enjoy the shows.

These pictures are from Paradise Canyon. I wasn't sure if Rayna would like that because it's just water-- no slides or anything but she did. She threw rocks and had fun floating around. We got her a floatie and took her out in the deep water and she enjoyed that too.

John's Current Project

2009-06-04T13:35:00.000-07:00

Now that we own our own house, we get to/have to do our own work on it. This is John's current project (I help some, but really John does most of the work). He's replacing all the siding and building a cover for the patio. It's not done yet, but this is what we've got so far. Now our patio will at least be tolerable in the 100+ heat. Unfortunately we didn't take a "before" picture.

Animal Lover

2009-06-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Rayna and Riley have a shared interest in bugs. Rayna likes to pick them up and Riley likes to eat them. Here they are both watching a fly.

Rayna and Riley have a funny relationship. They're alot like siblings. Sometimes they play together really well, but they also get jealous of each other and "fight." Sadly, Riley takes a lot of abuse but he's usually pretty tolerant. In these two pictures, Rayna is putting dust masks on his head like a hat. For whatever reason, Riley has decided to sit up and let her do it.

I like the look on his face in the second picture, like he's embarassed I'm taking a picture of him.

This last picture is of the neighbors' cat, Dante. Rayna LOVES this cat and the cat likes her too. The cat usually comes right up to her and lays down. The neighbor said that the cat doesn't normally come to people, so it's odd that she would come up to a toddler. Rayna likes to pile dirt, grass and even rocks on the cat and Dante doesn't mind. I guess they've got some kind of connection.

They Grow Up So Fast (sigh)

2009-04-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Rayna got a potty seat from a family at church. I don't think we're quite ready for potty training but she sure likes the potty. She carries it around and sits her babies on it. It's also a good place to hang out and drink juice.

Rayna likes to be outside while John is working on the house. She also likes to "help" him. The other day she picked up the screwdriver and kept saying "fix, fix." Here she's "fixing" the ladder and then the trashcan.

Rayna really likes books. The other day she was really quiet which made me worry she was into something. But when I found her this is what I saw--quietly reading books.

I put this picture in because she just looks so old.

Easter

2009-04-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after church, we went over to my Aunt Darlene and Uncle Jim's house for Easter lunch. It was a really nice afternoon with perfect weather.

I tried to get a good picture of Rayna before she got dirty or messed up but she was a little wiggly. She stayed clean for all of 10 minutes, then when we walked outside she sat down on the wet, leafy sidewalk.

Rayna really enjoyed collecting eggs. The egg hunting lasted quite awhile because the eggs kept falling out of her basket so when she turned around there were more eggs!

I tried to get a picture of all the girls gathering eggs but that didn't work out. This is the best I could get.

Here's Rayna showing off her loot.

Backyard Fun

2009-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

It got up into the 90's the other day so I let Rayna play in the water. I was going to get out her pool but got impatient trying to air it up. So I set the sprinkler up instead. I had to turn it down really low because Rayna kept getting upset when it would spray her face.

Here's a good action shot.
Here she is relaxing afterwords. Playing in the sprinkler is hard work you know.

Last night John was grilling for dinner and Rayna followed him outside. I looked out the back door and this is what I saw. (John is replacing the siding and building a cover for the patio. That's where all the wood came from)

Ducks and a Museum

2009-03-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well, here's some recent events from around our house. Our neighbor told me about a duck pond so we took Rayna to check it out. She really liked it. The ducks were really friendly. You could probably touch them if you wanted-- and Rayna did. I was a liitle concerned about that. I'm not sure how clean wild ducks are.

Two weeks ago Bret, Amber and the kids visited. Bret had conferences or something during the day so Amber and the kids hung out at our house. Amber was reading a book to Rayna and Samuel. I tried to get a picture but when Rayna saw I had a camera she started acting silly.

The rest of these pictures are from a children's museum that Rayna and I went to with a friend from church and her kids. I didn't know how much Rayna would enjoy it since she's still young (19 months now), but she LOVED it.

She got to milk a cow (which was a little weird) but she thought it was great. I had to get a picture of her with this little couch. I thought it was really cute.

Here is Nicole and Rayna at the airline ticket counter. Here she is shopping.

She loaded up on all the lobsters they had. She's got good taste.

And lots of bread.
I think I had as much fun watching her as she did. There were a lot of things I wanted to play with too. Maybe next time there won't be so many adults around and I can play in the miniature house with her.

John Makes the News.

2009-03-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

John was on the news tonight. He went to the gun range today and they were there interviewing people. I tried to put the video clip right on here but couldn't do it. So here is the link to it: http://www.kens5.com/video/index.html?nvid=343688&shu=1

Can't I Leave You Alone For One Minute?

2009-02-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

Before I finished up that last post I gave Rayna a graham cracker. When I came back this is what I found. At least it wasn't pudding or something.

The River Walk

2009-02-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

This weekend John's mom, brother David and cousin Joseph came down to visit. Unfortunately John was working and didn't get to do much with us (but they didn't come to see him anyway). On Saturday we went to the River Walk. Joseph took all of these pictures for us which is why they look better than all the other pictures on this blog and why he isn't in any of them.

Here is David helping Rayna drop pennies in the water Michael Jackson style.

This is when we sat down for lunch. Rayna makes sure that we don't forget to pray.

We found out that Rayna likes queso dip--alot.

Here Joesph was up on a bridge taking pictures. Rayna spotted him, thus the cheesy grin.

2009-02-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

I think Rayna may be spending too much time with the dog.

The other night I gave her a box of raisins. She dumped them all on the floor then layed on her belly and ate them-- not picking them up but just eating them off the floor.

New Swing

2009-01-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa got Rayna this swing when we moved into the house but John just recently put it up. It's funny because she likes being in it but she doesn't like to swing very much, just kind of hang there and look around.

Goodbye Christmas

2009-01-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

Alright, I know I'm behind on my posts. I'll try to catch everyone up. These are from when I took down the Christmas tree. Actually Rayna did really well with the tree. She would just poke the ornaments. She "helped" me take down the ornaments. (She also "helps" me unload the dishwasher, do the laundry and throw things in the trash. Hopefully before long she can start pulling her weight around here and doing housework !! just kidding of course.) But she really had fun when I took the lights off. The second picture didn't turn out as well as I wanted. She'd put the light in her mouth and her whole mouth would light up, but you can't tell because of the flash from the camera.

Four Christmases

2008-12-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

This Christmas was certainly different than our Christmases in Alaska. It was always a little sad being away from family during Christmas but it was sure a lot less hectic. Over the past week we had 4 different Christmases, 2 Christmas dinners (including one more to come on Sunday) in 3 different states. Rayna did really well with all the driving. (To anyone planning on traveling with a 1-year-old my advice is to get a portable dvd player-- and lots of Baby Einstein videos).

Rayna made out like a bandit this year. John's mom and step-dad got her this cute Dora table with a basket in the middle. At John's big family Christmas (which I didn't get any pictures of) there were only 2 little kids there and the mound of presents for just the two of them was as big as the couch.

John's dad and step-mom got her this tricycle. She can't peddle it yet but I'm sure you can tell from her face how much she likes it.

We had Christmas just the 3 of us today. We got her a bag of rocks since she always likes to collect them outside. I made the mistake of giving those to her first and we had a hard time getting her to open presents because she wouldn't put the rocks down.

To all of our friends and family- we hope your Christmas was enjoyable too. May you all enjoy your time with family and not forget what we're celebrating-- the birth of Jesus. Merry Christmas!!

Away in a Manger

2008-12-15T19:32:00.000-08:00

My grandmother's church does a live nativity every year. So I thought it would be good to take Rayna since I've been trying to teach her about the Christmas story. We got there before they set up and Rayna was able to check out all the animals. They had a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a goat and a llama in place of a camel. Not surprisingly Rayna loved the animals. She especially liked the donkey because he would eat hay from her hand. She tried feeding the other animals hay but they weren't having it. I didn't let her get close to the cow though. He had crazy eyes and I didn't trust him.

I tried pointing out Mary and the shepherds to her but she wasn't interested. Oh well, maybe next year.

Hey Look at Me

2008-12-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Rayna is turning out to be quite a ham. When she sees that you've got a camera she'll do one of two things: a) run over and grab the camera or b) cheese it up. Here are some prime examples.

Here she was playing with John's safety glasses. I put them on her and she even waited for me to get the camera.

This morning she wore this really cute dress to church and I wanted to get a picture of her. I surprised her with the first picture but once she realized what was going on she gave me a big grin.

She likes to step into our shoes but usually they're too heavy for her to walk in. But she was walking around the house in these. Once I had the camera she kept looking back at me and grinning like, "Hey, are you getting this, Mom?"

Our House

2008-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, people have asked me to post some pictures of our house so here you go. I took these awhile ago but never put them on, and I kept meaning to go out front and take a picture of the outside of the house but as you can tell that didn't happen. And now it is 10:15 and dark, so sorry.

It already looks different. We've painted and hung up curtains and such. But it's a two story with a living room and a den downstairs along with the kitchen and a half bath. Upstairs are 4 bedrooms and 2 baths. Anyway, we are really happy with it.

Happy Halloween (or "You Want Me to Wear That?")

2008-11-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

So last year I found this peanut costume on clearance. But as Halloween got closer I wasn't sure where she could wear it. Since we haven't found a church yet there was no fall festival to take her to and I thought she was probably too young to take trick-or-treating. But the costume was so cute I didn't want it to go to waste.

So I just took to some of the houses on our street. She actually seemed to enjoy it and it was a good way for me to meet some of the neighbors I hadn't met yet. When we got home I let her have one of the suckers which she enjoyed (although her aim wasn't that great and she ended up with a very sticky face).

She also liked all the other trick-or-treaters and hung around the door most of the night as I handed out candy.

San Antonio at Last

2008-11-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

From Missouri we went down to San Antonio. My Grandma was nice enough to let us stay with her indefinitely. She lives out in the country and Rayna just loved being outside. She loved to gather as many rocks as she could hold in her hand. She also really likes the cows (she moos now).

She gets along well with my Grandma (we call here Ma-maw for Rayna). Rayna brings her her shoes so Ma-maw will take her outside.

We ended up only staying with Grandma for about 3 weeks. After only about a week of looking we found a house we both really liked and we were able to get into it pretty quickly. I'm going to try and do a post soon with pictures of the house and more details so I won't go into that now.

2008-11-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Alright, well it's time to catch everyone up on what has happened the past month and a half. We're finally settled in our house (more on that later) and have our computer up so here goes.

After we left John's mom's house in OKC we went to his dad's in Missouri. Rayna took to her Ma and Pa pretty quickly. She really liked their cat and liked going to feed the chickens with Pa.

She also got to have her 3rd birthday party. I'm sure you can tell from the pictures but she made quick work of that cake.

John went hunting with his dad and he did get small doe. It may have been small but it tastes really good.

We had been house hunting online and we found a house we really liked. So we asked my grandma (who was acting as our realtor) to look into it. It was in a perfect location, close to the base, on a cul-de-sac and had a huge backyard. Grandma looked at it and liked it and since we trusted her opinion we put on offer on it. We didn't get it but we weren't upset about it. We knew that God had a plan and if that wasn't the house there was another one.

Birthday Bash

2008-09-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a big party with John's family for Rayna's birthday. It was princess themed, she even got a birthday princess outfit. She was a little unsure of all the new people at first but she warmed up to everyone. I think she started to like having an audience (just like a true princess).

This was her cake before she got ahold of it.

I found this crown for her. I wasn't sure if she would wear it or not but once she saw the cake she forgot all about the crown.

Here is the princess at the end of a very good day.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day weekend we all went out to John's Uncle Jay and Aunt Connie's. They live north of Stillwater. Rayna got to see horses for the first time and really liked them, but she kept calling them "dogs."

Rayna got to see her first Oklahoma thunderstorm. She kept wanting to play in the water so finally Grandma took her out and she got drenched.

Happy Birthday Rayna

2008-08-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Rayna's first birthday while we were with my parents and Uncle Clark and Aunt Mupp (aka Danielle). Giving her the cake was pretty funny. It took her a minute to decide what to do but you can see she dove right in. She was a chocolatey mess. She also got to open some presents including a princess doll. She'll have another birthday party with John's family once he gets down. She ought to be pro at eating cake by then.

Water Baby

2008-08-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Rayna was finally able to play in a pool. Nana and Padron got her a frog pool for her birthday (Grandma and Grandpa got her one too, but it rained nearly the whole time we were at their house). She really had a good time and she really liked the water that sprayed out. I guess she's not too disappointed that we aren't in Alaska anymore.

We're Here

2008-08-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, Rayna and I are in Oklahoma now. We got here Friday morning. Rayna did pretty well on the plane. The wait at the Anchorage airport was rough. She was getting cranky and wanted to move around but I couldn't leave or stuff, then when we got on the plane she wanted to crawl all around and wouldn't stay in her seat. I was hoping she would go to sleep since it was a six hour overnight flight and she eventually did but I didn't. I thought we were going to miss our connecting flight in Dallas because I had the wrong gate number but it ended up being late anyway. Then because of weather we sat on the runway for over an hour waiting to take off. It was a very long night and I'm glad it's over but all in all she did very well. But anyway, we're here and now we're just waiting for John and Riley to come down. They should leave next week.

Little Lady

2008-08-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

I just had to post these pictures. Yesterday when we got home from church, I let the dog out. Rayna likes to watch him do his doggy business. She looked so cute standing there in her little fairy dress. She looks like a little girl now and not a baby (sigh).

Well, this is definitely my last post from Alaska. The movers come on Wednesday and Rayna and I leave Thursday. I can't believe it's already here. If you had told me 4 years ago I would be this sad to leave Alaska, I would have thought you were crazy. God has really blessed us here. I'm glad He brought us here (despite my protests) and I'm glad He doesn't always give us what we want.

2008-08-03T16:08:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a long time since the last post-- we've been having computer issues. This may be my last post from Alaska. Rayna and I have less than 2 weeks before we leave. I was hoping we would get to do more around here before we left but it just hasn't panned out. The weather's been pretty crappy and John's been working nights. But last week we went out to McHugh Creek and hiked around. It was perfect-- John's one day off that week that he didn't have to do anything and the one day it wasn't cloudy or rainy. Here's Rayna hiking with John.

Here is Rayna sitting in front of McHugh Creek.

Here you can see the Turnagain arm (the water) in the background. I'm definitely going to miss scenery like this.

Here's a picture from the most recent "photo shoot" that Carina did with Rayna and Abigail. They're both 11 months now and unfortunately we won't get to see them grow together anymore.

Moving Update

2008-07-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

We've finally begun to nail down some moving dates. So here is what it looks like so far. I'm planning on flying down with Rayna and John's dad is going to fly up and then drive down with him (and Riley of course). The movers will be here August 13-15th. Rayna and I will fly out on the night of the 14th and get into OKC on the 15th. I'll stay in OKC for about a week or so, probably until John leaves Alaska which should be around the 20th or 21st. Then I'll go down to Altus until John makes it to Oklahoma which should be about a week. Then we'll be in OKC again for 2 weeks? I'm not sure about that, I think that may depend on how long it takes them to drive down. Then we'll drive to Missouri and spend I think 2 weeks there as well. Then we'll drive down to San Antonio.

So that's how it looks now--it makes me tired just thinking about it. But I'm excited to see everyone again. So if you are interested in seeing us in any of those areas, just let us know and hopefully we can get together. As it gets closer we should know more definitive dates for everything.

Also we would appreciate prayer as we get ready for this because it is really stressful. Pray that my flight with Rayna would go smoothly (I'm not looking forward to flying by myself with a 12 month old!), that John and his dad would be safe driving down, that everything would go smoothly with the movers, carpet cleaners, house inspections ect, and for us finding a house in San Antonio.

4th of July

2008-07-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

This was Rayna's first 4th of July. We went to the parade downtown. She enjoyed it but it was just too much for a baby I guess.

Happy 4th of July!!

Fairbanks and Bacon Grease

2008-07-08T12:13:00.000-07:00

My parents (aka Nana and Padron) came up for one last visit. We decided to drive up to Fairbanks since I had never been there either. After that long carride I was very glad I decided to fly back with Rayna rather than drive. Other than the drive we all had fun.

Here is Rayna having a good time at the museum at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).

Here we are in front of the pipeline-- Rayna was not impressed.

We went to Northpole, Alaska but Rayna didn't think much of Santa.

Here is what happened a few hours before my parents got here. Rayna found my jar of bacon grease. Fortunately she didn't eat any but she did smear it on herself, the floor and the cabinet.

First Camping Trip

2008-06-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took Rayna on her first camping trip out at Hatcher's Pass. She did really well and seemed to have fun. She didn't try to get in the campfire and slept fine with me in the tent. She did eat some dirt and sticks but that's what babies do. I was hoping we'd see some wildlife but we didn't even though there were a couple piles of moose droppings near our camp.

Little Monkey

2008-05-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Rayna turned 9 months on Monday. She may not be walking yet, but she is turning out to be quite a little monkey. She climbs all over everything. This is what I caught her doing yesterday. She is just a little too short to see out the window, so she figured out her own solution.

This is what happened today. She fell asleep during lunch. I think it's so funny how babies can fall asleep in the middle of anything.

New Baby!

2008-05-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

I hope no one freaked out too much when they read the title. No, the new baby in question is not mine. My brother Bret and sisiter-in-law just had their second baby- a little girl named Hazel Nicole. She was born early this morning, is 7 lb 7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. So I'm an aunt again. I'm so excited for them (I love having a little girl) but mostly for Rayna. I'm really happy that she'll have a cousin so close in age to play with. Unfortunately we won't get to see her for a few months but hopefully I'll get to see some pictures of her soon.

2008-05-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

Well, there's nothing interesting happening with us but we seem to be pretty busy. John took me out for lunch for my first mother's day then went hunting (story of my life). It's finally starting to warm up and get green. But I realized today that I'm going to die when we get to San Antonio. It was in the mid 40's, I had a short sleeved shirt on and light jacket. In the car I had to air conditioner on and was sweating. I'm not ready for Texas heat.

Rayna has this block that plays music and makes noise and such. Riley is really interested in the parts that squeek so he'll jump up to see what's going on. Rayna that thinks it's really funny.

I got a new mirror and hadn't hung it up yet so it was in the hallway. Rayna was crawling by and noticed the "other baby." It kept her occupied for quite awhile. She laughed and tried to touch the baby in the mirror. I guess she was trying to bite her too.

This past week Rayna learned how to climb the stairs and she is so proud of herself. Now she's that much closer to being able to go anywhere and get into anything.

8 Month Pictures

2008-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here are Rayna's 8 month pictures, I know they're a little late. I'll try to post more about what else she is doing tomorrow.

(late) 7 months

2008-05-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know I'm a little behind. Rayna actually turned 8 months on April 26th but I still haven't taken official 8 month pictures yet and I never put up her 7 month pictures. So here they are (the 7 month pictures, I mean). My friend Carina was nice enough to take pictures for me again. The bottom one is with her daughter Abigail who is only 5 days older than Rayna.

April Showers....

2008-04-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

I thought all of you "outside" (aka the lower 48) would be interested to see this. I took this picture this afternoon. It's been snowing hard all day and so far we have 1 1/2 feet. I was a little surprised but not disappointed. I know I won't get to enjoy (yes, I said "enjoy") snow for a couple of years. That's spring in Alaska for you.

2008-04-19T16:20:00.001-07:00

Rayna has started pulling up--- on everything. She will pull herself up on anything she can get to. I came around the corner this morning and this is what I found. I definitely think she'll be walking before her first birthday.

Now that Rayna is moving around she thinks she can help herself to Riley's toys. Riley is really good with her, he never snaps at her, but he thinks it's ok for them to share. Here they are both enjoying a bone.

I just had to put this one on because you can really see how beautiful and blue her eyes are (I guess I'm becoming one of those moms).

Mmmm...

2008-04-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

Rayna wants to try things other than baby food now but she's limited by the fact that she only has one tooth. This morning I let her share some of the blueberry pancakes I made which she loved (top picture).
She also really loves crackers but I think it has more to do with the fact that she gets to hold them herself.

She's getting better (and faster) at crawling. Sometimes she sneaks up behind Riley and surprises him which is pretty funny. She's also started pulling up and she figured out how to open drawers.

7 Months

2008-03-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally starting to look like spring around here. The snow has melted off the sidewalks enough that we can take her out in the stroller again. We hadn't been able to since Oct/Nov. She really seemed to enjoy it, especially when Riley would run up in front of her. She would laugh (Riley does look pretty funny when he runs).

Here is Rayna in her Easter dress. She only got to wear it for about 20 minutes at church then she spit up all over it. Oh well, I guess that's how it goes with a baby.

As of yesterday Rayna is 7 months old. She's over half way through her first year. Hopefully this next week I'll take some more pictures of her with my friend Carina. She is getting her first tooth and has started scooting. Mostly she scoots after Riley and whatever he is chewing on. It's hard to believe she's so big.

Daddy's Girl

2008-03-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

I think Rayna is going to be a Daddy's girl. She definitely knows John and his voice. She's alway curious when he wears a hat and tries to grab it off his head. So he put it on her and we got this cute picture.

The bottom picture was just a cute one.

Future Sooner

2008-03-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

I don't think these pictures need much explanation. I think it's pretty obvious crimson and cream are her colors.

Buddies

2008-03-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

I thought this was really cute, and typical. Rayna fell asleep in my arms and Riley decided he wanted to take a nap with her so he got as close as he could. His ear was draped over her head, but it slipped down before this picture.

Vive La Alamo!

2008-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have not yet heard, John got his assignment and we are moving to San Antonio. John is still very upset to leave Alaska. I'll be sad to go too, but it will definitely be nice to be closer to family. We don't have to be there until the end of September so we'll get to spend one last summer here (and avoid the hot San Antonio summer).

Rondy and the Iditarod

2008-02-26T14:57:00.002-08:00

Rondy (Fur Rondez-Vous) is going on right now in Anchorage. They have all kinds of stuff going on around town and it ends with the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. On Saturday we went downtown to watch the dog sled races. It's fun, they bring in snow for the dogs to run on and they run through the streets. I never get tired of watching those dogs, they look like they're having so much fun. And for those of you who haven't ever seen them, they are not the pretty huskies you see in the movies. They look like scrappy greyhounds. And they truly love to run. They have to keep them tied up because if they get loose they just run off. In fact one got loose while we were there and was just running around downtown. This coming Saturday is the start of the Iditarod. They show it on TV here, but since you all won't be able to see that, you can keep up with it at www.adn.com/iditarod/. It lasts about a week and a half. I think it took the winner 8 days last year.

I'm trying to make sure we get to see all the things we wanted to since we'll be leaving this summer. I can't believe we've been here almost 4 years, or that we only have about 6 months left. So, if any of you are still wanting to visit, you better get busy planning that trip!

6 Months

2008-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Rayna is six months today. I can't believe how big she is. She's hitting her milestones early and I feel like her baby-hood is flying by. She doesn't crawl yet but she's getting close and I don't think it will be much longer. She has figured out her walker though so she's already grabbing anything within reach. She also deliberatley chases the dog now. So he's pretty wary of her when she's in the walker. She's had him pinned up against the wall a couple times and sometimes his food bowl gets scooted along under the walker. That really seems to upset him.

Here's some pictures of her eating prunes. She LOVES prunes. She makes all kinds of noises and gets upset if I'm not spooning fast enough.

Berry Cute

2008-02-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Today Rayna got a package from her uncle Clark and soon-to-be aunt Danielle. Among the other cute things in there was Rayna's first pair of sun glasses (and strawberry sun glasses at that!) I thought she looked to cute not too share this picture. Riley, on the other hand.... I'm sure he thought his days of being dressed up were over once the baby was born.

Sitting up

2008-02-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

Rayna finally learned to sit up on her own. She's still a little wobbly so I usually put pillows behind her. And when she gets motivated she rolls around quite a bit on the floor too.

I thought this picture was cute. Here she is taking a nap in our bed, but this is how she always sleeps-- with her arms behind her head. Of course, Riley is never far away, even when she's sleeping.

Watching the World Go By

2008-01-29T10:30:00.000-08:00

Alright, I finally got around to posting some pictures. Rayna turned 5 months on the 26th, so hopefully sometime this week I'll take some real 5 month pictures. We discovered that she likes to stare out the window. I think she likes watching the cars drive by.
You can tell from the last picture that she still has a bald spot in the back. She's still rockin' the baby mullet too (but you can't really see it here).

Four Months

2008-01-05T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here are Rayna's 4 month pictues. She's actually been 4 months for 2 weeks, I just haven't gotten around to posting pictures. In the top two she's wearing her weenie dog outfit in honor of Riley (thanks to Katy and her parents). In the bottom two she's declaring her love for Nana and Padron. As you can see, I'm still having trouble controlling her fuzzy, wild hair. Oh well, at least she has hair. At her 4 month appointment she weighed just over 13 pounds. I was surprised, I thought she would weigh more than that. But she's right in the 50th percentile.

Well, there's been alot going on here. Nothing that's big news to anyone else, but in our little world it is. First of all Rayna has started on solids. She's really funny to watch eat and so far she likes everything except peas-- they made her really mad. It's nice that I don't have to nurse quite so much anymore.

I'm starting back to work on the 10th. I'm only working 3 days this month and I'm really excited. This will be my first time to leave Rayna but I think John can handle it. I wasn't sure it was going to work out because she wouldn't take a bottle but now that she's eating solids it should be ok.

John and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary yesterday. On the one hand I can't believe it's been that long, but on the other hand it feels like we've just always been married. We didn't do much though, since we still can't leave Rayna with a sitter. I'm feel very blessed to be married to such a great man who is also such a good dad.

For all of you who are wondering, no, we still don't know where we are moving to yet. I'm not sure when we will know, hopefully soon. And finally, for the news I'm most excited about. Bret and Amber found out they're having a girl. So

Rayna will have girl cousin to play with who will only be about 9 months younger than her. I'm excited to have another little girl in the family for me to buy for.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from all of us. Rayna opened her first Christmas presents this year (she actually did help tear the paper --and then proceeded to put it in her mouth). Riley had to make sure the presents were all okay.

You can see the surprise on her face, "Are these all for me?!"

After she checked out all the new toys (and by "checked out" I mean shook and tasted) she was pretty worn out.

(Almost) On the Move

2007-12-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

Rayna has started to like her bouncy seat. I think she's starting to understand that she's the one making it bounce. She doesn't have much control yet and is still a little spastic. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but she has started rolling over. She's pretty good at it and sometimes she even pulls her legs up under her and sticks her butt up in the air.

Apology

2007-12-16T15:21:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to clarify and apologize for something I posted earlier. In the post of Rayna's 3 month pictures, I had said I thought I might get pictures done professionally next time, but it was cheaper having my friend do it. It's been pointed out to me that this might have come off as sounding a little haughty and that I didn't think Carina did a good job. That was not how I meant it at all and for the record, I think Carina did a great job and I was really happy with the pictures. I was thinking about getting some professional pictures done because I know some family members would like to have the traditional sitting-in-a-cute-dress pictures. Anyway, I hope that comment wasn't taken the wrong way, but if it was, I apologize and I hope I didn't hurt any feelings.

Beggining to Look A Lot Like Christmas

2007-12-15T16:23:00.000-08:00

Here's Rayna and Riley getting in the Christmas spirit. I think Riley was embarrased to wear the hat. I actually had a hard time getting a picture of just Rayna because Riley wouldn't get away from her. She has recently started to notice Riley much to his dismay I think. He runs off when she tries to touch him. I guess he liked it better when he just layed there.
I had to put the bottom pictue on there because I thought it was so funny. Now that her hair is starting to grow I can't get it to lay down so it's always sticking up. I think she looks like Kramer with that expression and the crazy hair.

Also, a couple days ago, John filled out his dream sheet for where he would like to be stationed next. Number one was Colorado Springs and number two was Ohio. I'm not sure how long it will be until we find out but I'll keep everyone posted.

We did finally get some snow (on top of ice unfortunately) and it's been cold enough for it to stick around. Today when I went out it was 17 degrees.

3 Month Pictures

2007-12-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pictures my friend Carina took for me. I think I might do professional ones next time, but I don't know--these are so much cheaper. The baby in the bottom picture is her daughter Abigail. She is only 5 days older than Rayna. That was fun being pregnant at the same time with her.

I thought I might start a little section at the end of each post about the weather here. I know most people are interested in that. Right now we do not have like 3 feet of snow, in fact we don't have any. We got about a foot before Thanksgiving but then it all melted. Today I think it got up to about 25 and it was really sunny.
Sunrise was 9:45 and sunset was 3:50.

3 Months Already

2007-11-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

Rayna turned 3 months today. She is so much fun now. She's "talking" all the time and laughs at us. She thinks John is especially funny. As you can see she is lifting herself off of her stomach and today she rolled over!! It was very exciting except it reminds me that it won't be very long until she's crawling and into everything.

I've been trying to post some videos I took of her, but so far it hasn't worked. I'll keep trying though. My friend and I are going to take some portraits of our babies on Thursday (her baby girl is 5 days older than Rayna) so I'll try and post some of those 3 months pictures later this week.

Making Up For Lack of Hair

2007-11-20T15:09:00.000-08:00

I don't know if everyone will think these pictures are as funny as I do. We've been given quite a few hats but I think the brown furry one is my favorite. To me there's just something amusing about a baby in a hat. The one at the bottom is actually a little jacket that goes with a poodle outfit, but I think it looks like a (cute) powdered wig. Rayna is such a good sport about letting me dress her up.

2007-11-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

Whose Baby?

2007-11-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

Riley really likes Rayna. When she's in her swing or any other place he can keep an eye on her, he's right there. At first I thought it was more jealousy, but now I think he's protective (that and he really wants to lick her face. Smells like milk.... mmm). In fact, I haven't even had to use the baby monitor yet. If she starts to cry or fuss, he'll whine and bark. Sometimes he'll even come in the other room and stare at me until I go get her. And when I get up to feed her at night, he gets up too. He'll just watch us and then go back to bed. I guess he wants to make sure I'm taking good care of his baby.

Happy Halloween

2007-11-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

For Halloween we didn't go trick-or-treating and our church didn't have a family night this year. We did dress Rayna up anyway. And in case you can't read it in the pictures, she was a sack of potatoes.

Also, she had her 2 month appointment on Tuesday. She was 11 lb 6 oz. I don't remember how long he said she was, but she is in the 80th percentile for length. She also got her first shots. I knew it was coming, but it was still hard to watch. I told John he has to take her next time.

2 Months Old

2007-10-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Our sweet baby is 2 months old today. She is such a blessing. Sometimes I find myslef staring at her while she's sleeping and can't believe she's mine. God certainly is good.

As a side note in other blessing news-- for those of you who don't know yet, my brother Bret and his wife Amber are pregnant again. She is due in May. I'm hoping for a girl so Rayna can have a girl cousin to play with.

Meeting my Maw

2007-10-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Rayna's Maw (John's step-mom Pam) came up to visit this week. As you can see from the middle picture, Rayna thinks she's pretty funny. She is such a happy baby. She especially likes to be naked. Her favorite thing is getting her diaper changed, for some reason it makes her happy.
She also really likes her Bumbo (the blue chair at the bottom). I can sit her on the counter while I cook and we sit her at the table while we eat.

OU Fans

2007-10-08T17:24:00.001-07:00

We watched OU beat Texas on Saturday. John, of course, was very happy to see his Sooners win. As you can see, Rayna wasn't quite as impressed.

4 Weeks Today

2007-09-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Rayna is 4 weeks old today. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. She is actually smiling at us now (but she still has plenty of gas smiles too). Of course she can't hold her head up yet, but she tries so hard.

Two weeks old

2007-09-09T18:20:00.001-07:00

Rayna is two weeks old today. Somehow it's seems like she's been around longer than that--maybe it's the lack of sleep clouding my judgement. Anyway, she is doing very well. At her 2 week appointment on Friday, she weighed 7 lb 14 oz. So she's gained a pound past her birth weight.

She and I had our first day alone on Saturday after Nana and Padrone left. We survived. As you can see from the bottom picture, Riley is getting used to the new situation. He is still obviously jealous though and wants to be right in the middle of things.

She's Here!

2007-08-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Well, Rayna Kae

finally decided it was time to come out. She was born August 26th at 3:03 am. She was 6 lb 14 oz and 21 inches-- so she is long and skinny. We were really blessed with a good labor and delivery. John's mom got in at 4 in the afternoon and by about 7 I was having regular contractions. We went in to the hospital at about 12:30 and she was born at 3. I was only in active labor for a little over 2 hours.

Unfortunately we had to stay in the hospital for 4 days (which is why I'm only now posting this). There turned out to be nothing wrong, but her respiratory rate was high and they had to run all kinds of tests. But God blessed us with a healthy baby and I was able to get 4 days of rest in the hospital.

Riley vs the Bear

2007-07-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

John shot this bear last year, but he just recently got it back from the taxidermist. When he brought it home Riley really didn't know what to think about it. He spend alot of time checking it out. He would alternate between wagging his tail at it and growling at it. He even tried to chew the ears a couple times. Then after he had thuroughly checked it out, he spent the rest of the night laying there and staring at it.

36 weeks

2007-07-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Alright, so here I am at 36 weeks. I'm really not that big (or so everyone tells me). Actually, at my last appointment (32 weeks), my belly was measuring 4 weeks behind, so they did a sonogram and the baby was actually measuring a few days ahead. So apparently it's just the way I'm carrying her. I had another appointment today and I was still measuring behind, but only 3 weeks this time. So I've only got 4 weeks to go (that's assuming she comes on time) and no we don't have a name yet so don't ask.

We had a blessing this past week. John was supposed to go TDY for 10 days to Vanauatu (sp?) which is by Fiji. He ended up not having to go because they didn't finish with his passport in time. It wouldn't have been bad since it was only supposed to be 10 days, but they told the woman who was going in his place that it was going to be extended to 20-30 days. So most likely he would have missed the birth. But he's happy he has more time to fish.

Trip to Denali and Beyers Lake

2007-06-26T18:10:00.001-07:00

2 weeks ago John and I took one last trip before the baby comes. We were going to go to Denali National Park but decided to go the Beyer's Lake (which is in Denali State park) instead. It's just as pretty and less tourist-y. Plus you can get just as close to Denali (Mt McKinnley for you outsiders) without going into the park.
This first picture is part of the train tracks that go from Anchorage up to Fairbanks. The next one is of the River that runs through Denali National Park. When people go white water rafting in Denali, that's the river they go on.
The next one is a suspension bridge at Beyers lake. The next 2 are of us walking around Beyers Lake. One day we rented a canoe and went around the whole lake. Riley got to swim beside the canoe for a little bit. The last two are of us in front of Denali. You can see it just to the right of my head. It's kind of covered by clouds, but there are very few days of the year when it isn't.

Riley in the Spring

2007-06-05T20:37:00.001-07:00

I thought everyone might enjoy this picture of Riley enjoying the flowers.

7 Months Worth of Belly

2007-06-04T22:47:00.000-07:00

So here I am at 7 months. If I look a little haggard it's because this was taken in the morning after I had worked all night.

7 months

2007-06-01T20:03:00.001-07:00

As of Tuesday (the 29th) I am now 28 weeks, or 7 months. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Everything was normal. The baby is supposedly about 2.5 lbs right now (so why is it I've gained like 20 lbs?). Actually I don't know how much I've gained. When I was getting weighed i didn't look at the scale and told her not to tell me, so we'll pretend I've only gained 5.

Next week John and I have a child birth class. He was upset that I would take up one of his days off for a class when he'd like to spend every spare minute bear (or moose, or caribou, or anything that moves) hunting. So anyone who wants to give him a hard time for having his priorities out of whack, feel free.

In other news, John finally is being moved to the ER. He was originally going to start in July but now it looks like he won't be going until August. Oh, also for those of you who have been asking, John and I started baby registries at Baby Depot (in Burlington Coat Factory) and JC Penny. Both of them you can see and buy stuff online. This is not a solicitation for gifts, so don't feel obligated.

ps. Sorry there is no picture. John actually took one, but then he took the camera hunting so hopefully i can post it when he get back tomorrow.

6 months and counting

2007-05-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

For those who have lost track, I am now 6 months pregnant. Here is a picture for those who haven't seen me. Everyone tells me I'm barely showing, but I feel huge.