Stair Master

I spent a few days working with Raelyn on climbing the stairs. She started with a max of 4 stairs and worked her way to 6. Earlier this week, she went all the way to the top and we captured it on video.

12/52 bath time

Since it’s getting uncomfortable for me to lean over the bath tub, Mark has been giving Raelyn most of her baths. She loves when he squirts her with the rubber ducky’s! 

11/52 outside play

As soon as the weather warmed up we ran to the outdoors! One never knows how long the warm spell will last. Is spring here to stay or was this just a treat for a few days? We shall see…

Raelyn’s outdoor play currently consists of walking (running) up and down the driveway looking for “treasures” (dried leaves, rocks, sticks) to hand to mommy. Hopefully soon she’ll be ready to venture out into the grass. As of now, she’s not a fan of walking on the green stuff. ;)

10 Things after 10 Years

To celebrate our 10th anniversary I thought I would share 10 things that I have learned about marriage. I don’t claim to be a marriage expert and I won’t say we have it all figured out. We try hard and love with all that we have though.

1. Take the D word out of your vocabulary!
2. Pray for your spouse daily.
3. Give  your spouse your respect. (He/She does not have to “earn” it.)
4. Love unconditionally.
5. Forgive. Forgive. And then forgive again.
6. Speak well of your spouse.
7. Listen to your spouse. (Really listen. Don’t interrupt. Don’t try to problem solve. Just listen.)
8. Give compliments freely.
9. Fight fair.
10. Learn how your spouse needs to be loved and love him/her that way.

Oh how my list could go on and on. 10 years feels like forever and like yesterday all at the same time. I’m looking forward to the next 10 (x 10) and learning what blessings God has in store for us!

“I found the one my heart loves.”

~Song of Solomon 3:4

First Visit: Children’s Museum

Yesterday Raelyn and I had our first outing to the Children’s Museum. We met our good friends (Jennifer, Keith & Duncan) there and spent a few hours exploring.

Our first activity was to ride on the carousel. I wasn’t sure how Raelyn would react, but she loved it!

 

We spent some time at the ScienceWorks, Playscape, and Dinosphere exhibits.  Raelyn really enjoyed splashing in the water at Playscape. She also had fun playing in the “Babyscape” play area with a few other toddlers.

She was too worn out to see the trains (Keith’s favorite area of the museum"). Hopefully we’ll hit that up on our next visit. 

Indoor “Sandbox”

I’ve been trying to come up with (or find online) fun age-appropriate crafts or activities for Raelyn and I to enjoy together. We recently tried out what I am calling an indoor sandbox activity.

I poured a tub of oatmeal into a tupperware dish and then added “buried treasures”, spoons, and scoops. This activity kept Rae’s interest for a good 15 – 20 minutes and only required minimal use of the vacuum afterwards.

I chose oatmeal over dried beans or rice because I was pretty sure she would try to eat it and oatmeal would be less of a choking hazard. I was right, she put a few flakes in her mouth but quickly spit them out realizing they didn’t taste that great.

Raelyn knew this spoon could hold the oatmeal so she used one hand to pick up pieces and put into the spoon. I showed her how to use the spoon to scoop it up, but she liked doing it her way better. It’s so neat to see her mind at work!

 

To my mom readers: If you have any favorite sites or blogs with kid activity/craft/etc ideas, I would love a link!  Here are two I recently found with some great ideas: No Time For Flashcards  and  Family Fun (from Disney)  I appreciate that with both of those sites I can search by age.

10/52 pigtails

After bath time one night, I decided to see if Raelyn’s hair was long enough for pigtails. To my amazement she sat still just long enough to throw these clips in. Now that I know her hair is long enough I better run out and buy the proper pigtail holders. :)

14 Months

Our toddler. TODDLER! Just a month ago she was crawling around and now she is running around. She’s so good at it you would think she’s been a runner since birth. How do these changes happen so quickly?

Raelyn has a hearty laugh. A laugh that comes from her belly. You can almost see that in the photo above.

She can also be a serious thinker. Here she was just staring out the window, probably wondering when mommy would be done with all the photos. ;)

Raelyn is quite active. She has a ball just playing all day long. I love to see her excited look. Oh, here you go… (she was excited about finding something in this box). Her eyes get big and she makes this cute little “O” with her mouth.

Lately, one of her favorite activities is singing songs. I guess it’s more like commanding mommy to sing a song. When she wants me to sing, she finds me and claps twice. (It’s hard to capture a clap in a photo.)

Of course I am happy to please. Our song rotation includes:

• Rise and shine
• If you’re happy and you know it
• The wheels on the bus
• The itsy bitsy spider
• Baa baa black sheep
• Head and shoulders, knees and toes
• ABC’s
• Patty cake
• Mary had a little lamb
• I’m a little teapot
• I’m in the Lord’s army

Plus we are learning new songs in our Kindermusik class. Raelyn and I go on Monday morning and it’s fun to dance around and sing songs with the other mom’s and toddlers.

Time continues to fly by and we are soaking in every moment. It seems like each day she shows me something new she has learned. For instance today, she decided to incorporate peek-a-boo with her tunnel. She sat inside the tunnel and when I would say “Where’s Raelyn?”, she would peek out her head and wait for me to say “peek-a-boo!” We did this over and over. I just love being able to spend my days with my sweet girl.

9/52 on the go

Raelyn is constantly on the move. This photo proves that it’s quite difficult to capture her in the frame. I think when I started to click she was on the right side of the frame but just that quickly…

24w3d: Waterworks

I’ve officially entered the crying phase of pregnancy. I’m not sure if everyone hits it at 6 months but this is where I am.  I actually find it ridiculous when tears form in my eyes over something I would usually laugh about.

Let’s see, yesterday I teared up reminiscing about Raelyn’s first weeks and how I went through a mini-post-postpartum and cried back then about not giving birth to her or being able to breastfeed.  I also cried last night when Mark called me from his business trip and said he missed us. Oh yes, let’s not forget the tears formed because my OB reminded me, “1 lb a week, Stephanie.” (I gained 6 lb in the last 4.5 weeks.)

So far this morning I teared up when reading another mom’s blog celebrating her daughter’s first birthday and her reminiscing about one year ago today when they received a call that a baby girl had been born and the mother wanted them to be her baby’s parents. I also cried when my mom called and I told her Raelyn was up every hour last night and has vomited 4x this morning. (Although this cry was most likely exhaustion tears.)

At this point in my pregnancy I am happy that both Mark and I get to feel the baby moving quite often. It’s easiest to feel his kicks and punches when I am laying still but I am noticing his movements at other times too. It’s so strange to feel him and be reminded that there is indeed a little life growing inside of me. (Cue the tears.)

Yesterday I had my 24 week check up. All is well with baby boy. His heart rate measured around 153. Everything with the pregnancy seems to be normal and the only directive my OB gave me was to cut back on carbs and sweets (which made me laugh since we don’t eat too many of those) and do more walking (since I gained those dreaded 6 lbs. lol). My next appt is at 28 weeks where I’ll have another ultrasound to check my placenta (remember it had been too close to my cervix) and I’ll have the glucose-screening test (bring on that thick orange drink). I’m looking forward to seeing more pictures of the baby!

And no post is complete without a few pictures of the cutie pie of the house. (These are both from my phone so quality is just eh.)

Happy to get a bath this morning. Baths make everything better!

A few mornings ago when both Raelyn and Sheba were paying full attention to Mark. It’s pretty funny that the small pint bosses the big one around all day long!