HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUNNAR!!!

April 24th was Raylin's cousin Gunnar's 10th birthday. (He is the one holding Raylin.)

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Gunnar, happy birthday to you!
We hope you had a wonderful birthday Gunnar! We love you!

Spring Creek Babies

Sunday, Raylin and I went to Philadelphia to go to church at Spring Creek with my parents because Brigg was fishing in a tournament. It is always fun to go home and go to Spring Creek.

This picture is of my friends that I grew up with and we now all have babies or at least one on the way. The first girl is Mandy with her daughter Caroline and then Jessica with a baby girl on the way. Next is Rob with Sarah Alice and then me and sweet little Raylin.
This picture is of the grandmothers with their granddaughters. First is Jane Fulton with Sarah Alice Fulton. Then Jessica Stroud and Brenda Johnson and Baby Stroud. Then Gran with Raylin.

After church, we went to see Janet. I have a really cute picture of Janet holding Raylin, but she specifically asked me not to put it on the blog. She said she wasn't looking too cute. So in honor of Janet's wishes, I will not post the pic from Sunday of she and Raylin. Anyway Janet, we had a great time visiting with you Sunday. Come see us soon!

Two of the Best Years of My Life!!!

It is hard to believe that Brigg and I have been married two years today. These past two years have been wonderful! I decided to post a few pictures from MY wedding so that everyone could reminisce with me. We call it My wedding because he says I would not let him have a say in anything. During all the planning if he had an opinion, I would say this is my day - you are just lucky I am letting you be a part of it! Of course I was joking, but it has stuck. Speaking of it being my wedding, yesterday we were discussing what we were going to do tonight and he said "whatever you want to do honey. I figure since it was your wedding, then it is always going to be your anniversiary so we will do what you want to do." Isn't he just the sweetest husband in the world!

We got married in Panama City Beach, Florida and everything about April 16, 2005 was perfect. We wrote our own vows and it was so sweet. According to my friends and family, Brigg's vows were a lot sweeter than mine, but I tried. He is just so much better expressing his feelings than I am. Anyway, I am so thankful for my awesome husband and family! Happy Anniversiary Honey!!! I love you!

Check out the lovely flip flops with the suit! Doesn't that just make the picture! But those of you who know Brigg know that flip flops are the only shoes he likes to wear so this was a fight that I let him win! I really wanted him to be comfortable on MY BIG DAY! Here we are just having fun on the beach. I could not believe the photographer wanted me to lay down in the sand in my wedding dress and Brigg to sit down in his suit. But hey you only get to wear these outfits once so I guess you need to get them a little messed up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMS!!!

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Grams, Happy Birthday to You!!!"
Friday, the 13th was Raylin's Grams' birthday. We went to Seminary to take her out to eat and had a great time. Pops got some quality time with Raylin because she would not quit crying during dinner. He walked around outside with her the whole time and didn't even get to eat. I can't imagine why she is spoiled! We hope you had a wonderful birthday Grams. We Love You!!!

Because He lives!!!

Happy Easter to everybody! These are a few pictures I took of Raylin Easter day. We woke up Easter morning and the Easter bunny had dropped by and left Raylin a few toys and a Veggie Tales CD. I really think she was excited. She is just not quite sure how to express that joy yet! Then Brigg's parents, Grams and Pops, came over and brought Raylin another Easter bucket of toys and books. After this, we went to Philadelphia to go to my mama and daddy's (aka Gran and Gramp) church, which brings me to the point of the title of this post. We sang "Because He lives" Sunday morning in church and it really touched my heart, especially the second verse. "How sweet to hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride and joy he gives. But greater still, the calm assurance, this child can face uncertain days because He lives." This verse brought tears of joy to my eyes. I guess I have not sung this song since Raylin was born and now this verse means more to me than ever. It is such a peaceful and joyful feeling to know that Raylin (and every believer) "can face tomorrow, that all fear is gone, and that HE holds the future and life is worth the living, just because He lives." I pray that Brigg and I will teach Raylin the true meaning of Easter and Christmas and that she will always remember the TRUE REASON FOR BOTH SEASONS!!!

Easter at Gran and Gramps in Philly

These are pictures from Gran and Gramps. The first picture is of my sweet grandmother, Mom, holding Raylin. I am so glad Mom got to come to Gran's for Easter. We had so much fun at Gran and Gramp's. The second picture is of Gran telling the Easter story to all of the boys. She had Easter eggs with a clue in each one of them about something from the story of Jesus being crucified and resurrected. Each of my nephews opened one or two eggs and they knew on most of them what the clue in the egg meant. For example, there was a crown of thorns in one egg and they all knew that this symbolized the crown that Jesus wore on the cross. This was a wonderful way to tell the Easter story and remind them that this day is about JESUS! While they were doing this, Gramp and Brigg were outside hiding Easter eggs. They hid 5o eggs filled with candy or money(if you were lucky enough to find these - they were really hard to find). The boys and adults had so much fun hunting eggs. We missed Elle Elise and Creed. They had to stay at home with their daddies because they may have the chicken pox. Hope they are feeling better soon!

More Easter Pics

These are pictures of my nephews and Raylin dying Easter eggs. All of the boys had so much fun! Gran had so much Easter stuff for them to do. They loved dying eggs and she even packed up all the dye and took it to Meridian so Elle Elise could dye eggs! She also had cupcakes for all of the kids with "Peeps" sitting on top of them. And she had a little bucket filled with toys for each grandchild. Thank you so much to Gran and Gramp for all the Easter fun we had Sunday. I cannot wait for Raylin to actually be old enough to enjoy and appreciate everything you do! We love ya'll!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

Saturday, April 7th was Brigg's 32nd birthday. He celebrated by building me a deck all day. What a great husband! He and his dad worked from 6:30 am until 7:00 pm on a deck in our backyard. I did tell him not to work on his birthday, but he insisted. Thank you honey! I love my deck! And I did get him an awesome birthday present and take him to Tico's Saturday night. Happy Birthday! I hope you had a great day, even though you had to work hard. We love you so much. You are the best husband and daddy! I am so thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing man! We love you lots!

Four Months Old

Raylin was four months old Wednesday, April 4th. How time flies! She is growing so much. We went to the doctor Thursday, the 4th for her 4 month checkup and she is now 13 pounds, 12 ounces and 25 inches long. She was in the 75th - 80th percentile for her height and the 50th percentile for her weight. It looks like she is going to be tall and skinny like her daddy. Yeah! We went to see a new pediatrician and he was great. He said to start her on rice cereal two times a day. This second picture was the first time she tried it. She likes it sometimes and then sometimes she will throw a fit and refuse to eat it. She is just not quite sure about the whole eating with a spoon! Dr. Edwards also changed her formula and put her on Alimentum which is way more expensive than what she was on so if any of you would like to contribute to Raylin's Food Fund, we would greatly appreciate it :) HA! We are so thankful to God that she is a healthy baby girl and that she is continuing to grow stronger each day. Sorry about the pictures being turned funny. That is just the way they posted and I did not really want to redo the whole thing, so just look at her sideways!

Bunny Pictures

These are the bunny pictures that Lisa Patti took last Friday. Raylin slept through the whole session so we did not get a lot of different shots. I know these pictures probably look the same to everybody, but there are some small differences. The first picture is my favorite. The second picture the goose(that's what the photographer called him) and Raylin are both sleeping and the third picture is a nice shot of the goose eating Raylin's bracelet. I think Raylin looks pretty "healthy" in the second and third picture as you can see by her many chins and her many rolls on her legs. I thought maybe this was just me seeing this since I am her mother, but no. Andrea let me know real quick. She said "Oh those pictures are so sweet. She looks so big." So here are the bunny pictures with my "healthy" baby, as I like to call her. Brigg has started calling her "CB", and I will let ya'll figure those initials out on your own because I can't even post that about my sweet, precious angel! Oh and I'm not sure why my pictures have this nice white border around them. I just scanned them and that is how they turned out. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. If any of you computer whizzes know what I'm doing wrong, comment and let me know. Thanks!

Holding On!

Look at Raylin holding her toy all by herself. She can now hold that letter "D" and bring it up to her mouth to teethe on. Yippee! She has been able to hold a toy for a while, but just not coordinated enough to get it to her mouth so this is really exciting. I know each of you are jumping up and down joyfully with me as you read this and you are as excited as I am that I no longer have to sit there and hold the toy in her mouth for her. However, I do still have to sit right beside her while she plays. She likes company! I'm pretty sure she got that trait from me. She loves to play on her activity mat or just on a blanket with toys, but I can't leave her alone. She wants me right there with her at all times which kind of makes it hard to get anything done in the house. But that reminds me of a poem my mother has hanging in her house - "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep." So anytime I think there is something I really need to get done, like blogging:) or washing clothes, I think of that poem and continue to sit right there beside Raylin singing and reading to her. By the way, she is sleeping while I am blogging. I am not neglecting her during playtime. I should be washing clothes and cleaning the kitchen, but I know you all want to see these pictures of Raylin and I just couldn't wait to tell you about her latest achievement.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHA!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Sha-Na-Na, Happy Birthday to you! We went to Moe's Thursday night to celebrate Sha's birthday. So much fun - Gotta love girl's night out! The second picture is of the girls in our small group at Pinelake except Andrea. She had to work.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KERI!!!

Yesterday was our sweet friend Keri's birthday. Keri lives in Birmingham and we do not get to see her much. We miss you Keri and hope to see you soon. We hope you had a wonderful birthday! This picture is when Keri came to visit Raylin for the first time.

Raylin Modeling her Bunny Bib from Gran

Friday, we went to have bunny pictures made. We went with Hank and Andrea. Raylin slept through her bunny pics, but Hank was awake and ate goldfish the whole time. Raylin was sound asleep and Lisa Patti put the bunny under one of her arms and a goose under the other arm and took the pictures. The goose started eating Raylin's bracelet. It was so cute. I can't wait to see the pictures!

Amy's Baby Shower

We had a baby shower for my friend, Amy Sharpe on Sunday. We had so much fun. The first picture is of Amy with all the hostesses and the diaper cake that Angie, Carri and I put together. The next picture is of Amy showing off baby Caroline. We can't wait for her to get here. Amy and I were neighbors growing up and have been friends for as long as I can remember. So I am so excited that Raylin and Caroline are going to be the same age. I know they will be the best of friends. The third picture is of Amy with her mother, Barbara. Amy's parents and my parents still live by one another in Philly. And the last picture is of sweet Raylin. She looked so pretty all dressed up for Amy and Caroline's shower.

Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo Saturday with Aunt Julie, Uncle John, Eli and Elle Elise. We had a great time. As you can see by the pictures, Raylin slept most of the time. But, I think she really enjoyed riding in her stroller. She does not like the sun in her face and I figured that out real quick once we got out of the car. I didn't get too many pictures of her with the animals, but there is one with Raylin and the elephants. She was sleeping so she didn't get to see them, but I have a picture to show her one day so that she will know we went to the zoo. Maybe we will go again this fall and she may want to actually look at the animals instead of sleeping. I do think she saw the monkeys and that was about it so I'm glad HER visit to the zoo was free!

Cousins

These are some pictures of Raylin with her many cousins. The first one is of her oldest cousins, Gunnar and Ben. The second pic is of Duke giving Raylin a kiss. The third pic is Raylin with her only girl cousin, Elle Elise. The next pic is Eli, Seger, Elle Elise and Raylin. And finally Raylin with Gabe who lives in Kansas City. We miss them so much and can't wait to see them.

At The Park

This was Raylin's first trip to the park. We had a great time. We went with Pops, Chad, Andrea and Hank. Raylin liked to swing, but I think it made her sleepy. She was sound asleep when we left the park. I think we only stayed out there about 20 minutes. She was just exhausted from all the fun that day. First, we met the Edwards at the material store which I am sure she really enjoyed. Then we all went to eat at McAllisters and sat outside. Finally, we went to the park. So she had already been very busy by the time we got to the park.

Three Months Old - 03/04/2007

These are pictures from March 4th when Raylin was 3 months old. I cannot believe it has been three months. I thank the Lord everyday for the precious, beautiful baby girl that he has brought into our lives. She is such a happy baby with the exception of 7pm - 8pm. Not real sure what happens then, but nothing will make her happy. She is smiling now at everything and talking so much more. I can't understand her yet, but I am getting there. She loves to look at the fan and she will smile so big. I now understand the Jimmy Buffett song, "Little Miss Magic" where he talks about his daughter being "constantly amazed by the fans of the blade on the ceiling." Right now as I am writing this, she is laying on our bed smiling at the fan.