Long Weekend on the Beach

This was the perfect week to spend a few days on the beach! After being closed up in our house for 3 days, thanks to the ice storm, Raelyn and I flew out to meet Mark in Marco Island, FL for a long weekend.

The resort was fabulous and very kid friendly! Here we are our first morning getting ready to take a stroll on the beach. We were excited to share our love of the sand and sea with Raelyn.

 

Daddy had to get back to meetings, but didn’t want to miss Raelyn’s first time to see the ocean. :)

She wasn’t so sure about getting her feet wet though.

We played in the sand awhile when Daddy went back to work. Raelyn didn’t mind the sand on her skin and even tried chasing the seagulls!

We spent the afternoon at the children’s pool, where the water temperature was regulated.

Saturday Mark had more free time to spend with us. We started off the day with another stroll along the beach.

She held on tight when she realized daddy was taking her out into the water!

 

After a mid-morning snack, we all headed to the pool for some splashing fun.

Raelyn and I enjoyed a peaceful (and cloudy) sunset together, while Mark attended his final work dinner.

We enjoyed a special mini-vacation just the three of us. Raelyn may not remember her first vacation, but we’ll have photos to prove that she did indeed have her very own vacation with mommy and daddy pre-brother. ;)

Plus it was awesome to get out of the frozen tundra, even if only for a few days!

5/52 eating sand

Raelyn’s first experience on the beach was a success. She was hesitant at first but after feeling the sand between her toes she decided to take a bite!

20 weeks – It’s a…

Here’s one thing I’ll never understand… pregnancy math. According to pregnancy math, I’m officially half way through. But, the first 4 weeks one isn’t actually pregnant. So shouldn’t 1/2 way be at what we call 22 weeks? Has anyone else ever pondered this?

Friday I had my 20 week appointment. All is well so far. I was happily surprised to learn that I had only gained 3lbs since my last appointment. I feel like I’ve really sprouted out since then so it’s nice to know I’m not packing on the lbs like I thought (so far). We learned during the ultrasound that the placenta is still close to my cervix so I’ll need another ultrasound in 8 weeks to recheck it. Nothing to worry about at this point. If it doesn’t move farther away then my doctor will plan on a c-section. We would both rather avoid a c-section but it won’t be the end of the world if my doctor deems it necessary for a safer delivery.

Here are a few ultrasound pictures.

The ultrasound tech was quite thorough. She showed us the baby’s brain (and mentioned we have a smart baby), kidney’s, liver, heart, bladder, eyes, nose, mouth, arms, fingers, legs, feet, etc. It was pretty amazing! The baby was laying face down so we didn’t get a profile view but hopefully will at the next ultrasound. All of the baby’s measurements were right on target at either 19w5d or 19w4d (Friday I was 19w4d). Perfect!

Well, that’s about it for the 20 week update. Oh, did you want to know the gender?  For modesty, I’ll keep that photo offline. But I will tell you that we’re having a…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOY!!!

4/52 a new style

This isn’t the most well-composed or prettiest photo, but it tells a story. This week, I finally went out and purchased some maternity clothing. It’s getting way too difficult to squeeze this belly into my regular jeans!

Sick Day Soup

What’s a mom to do when her little girl wakes up sick on a cold winter Thursday? This mom gets to work making homemade chicken soup during nap time.

Step 1: Sear the chicken pieces in olive oil.

 

Step 2: Dice the onion, celery, and carrots.

Step 3: Add veggies and seasonings to the pot.

Step 4: Cover chicken with water and throw in a few bay leaves. Simmer until chicken is falling off bone.

Step 5: Remove chicken and shred.

Step 6: Add shredded chicken back to pot and simmer until heated through. (Don’t forget to add salt!)

Step 7: Ladle into bowls and serve!

Unfortunately, Raelyn just spit hers out. I didn’t take it personally though since she spit out all food this particular day. I guess when you have a stomach virus NOTHING is appetizing. That’s ok, Mark and I enjoyed our bowls!

Here is the cutie pie on one of her sick days last week. She was enjoying her Classical Baby DVD.

3/52 snow day

Raelyn wasn’t happy that her daddy was out of town from Sunday to Wednesday this week. She was so excited to stand at the window and watch him shovel the driveway on Thursday afternoon. She watched him the full 35 minutes that he was out there working. There’s no doubt that Raelyn is a daddy’s girl. :)

Rachelle’s Birthday Party

Saturday was Rachelle’s 3rd birthday and her mom threw a splendid party to celebrate!

First, we made a little craft from photos and Angelina Ballerina frames.

Then, Rachelle opened up her birthday presents. She received some neat things, including a few Angelina Ballerina items. Best of all, Rachelle will be starting ballet classes soon just like Angelina.  Aunt Stephanie also started ballet lessons at age 3. :)

Ashli baked a scrumptious lasagna for the birthday dinner and we finished off the party with delicious cake!

I do believe that  Rachelle and all of her guests enjoyed her 3rd birthday party. :) Happy Birthday, Rachelle!

2/52 scary tunnel

Raelyn received this cool tunnel for her birthday from Grandma & Grandpa Repko. I spent an afternoon this week trying to get her to crawl through it. The best I could get her to do was sit and play at the opening. I’m sure soon enough she’ll be crawling back and forth through the tunnel with ease!

Cheesy Corn Fritters Recipe

I tried a new item for Raelyn’s lunch today and it was a hit so I thought I would share it with you.  I hope your kids enjoy it as much as she did.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg

• 3/4 cup milk (generous)

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 3/4 cup flour

• 1/3 cup corn kernels (no salt or sugar added)

• 4 Tbsp grated cheese (cheddar or your favorite blend)

• 1 tsp snipped chives

• 2 tsp oil

Directions:

Beat the egg and milk with a fork in small bowl. Add the flour and baking powder and beat until smooth. Stir in the corn, cheese, and chives. Heat the oil in skillet and drop tablespoonfuls of batter into skillet. Cook on each side until the fritters are puffed up and golden. Drain on paper towels and serve.

My Notes:

I used a can of corn, but 1/3 cup isn’t much. I think  using frozen corn that you cook first would make more sense. These were easy to make and there wasn’t much oil to drain from the fritters. This recipe will make a lot. Raelyn ate 3 during lunch and I saved the remainder of the batter for another day. I think this would make a great “take-a-long”. Easy to pack and throw in the bag for when you go out to eat or to someone else’s home. The recipe says to serve extra corn and mini carrot sticks along side. I served broccoli and unsweetened applesauce as her sides. :)

12 Months

As I prepared to take Raelyn’s 12 month photos it made me a little sad to put the final monthly circle on her top. Of course there will be many more photos to come, just none with the little month circle.

Raelyn has accomplished a lot in her first 12 months of life! Let’s compare her first day and her 365th day…

What a difference a year makes!

Raelyn has become quite the singer. She loves to listen to her music and just “ah ah ah” along to it. Remember “laughing wars”? She now has “singing wars” too. She likes to see who will “ah” the loudest and longest. She wins much of the time. :) Singing is often the first thing she does when she wakes up from a nap. I’ll hear her loud and clear over the monitor just “ah’ing” away.

She has a new habit of sticking out her tongue, making clicking noises with it, and licking her lips. I’m sure it’s just a phase or maybe she is newly aware of this body part? Either way, it’s cute for now.

Raelyn has two favorite “lovey” toys. One is her purple blankie bear. She’s been sleeping with the blankie since birth and when she’s playing in her room she likes to help him “escape” from the crib. The other is her baby doll she got for Christmas. If you ask her, “Where’s your baby doll?” She’ll go get her and give her big hugs. It’s so cute!

Right now we are working on the transition from formula in bottles to milk in a sippy cup. So far she isn’t that interested in milk. She would rather drink water from a sippy. If her sippy has milk she’ll take a small drink and then throw it down. Hopefully we’ll have a break through soon!

Raelyn seems to favor her left hand when eating. She uses her right hand to wave and give high fives though. She likes to wave hi and will sometimes wave bye to daddy when he leaves for work in the morning.

She will give kisses too! If I say, “Give mama a kiss.” She will lean in and put her lips to mine. She’ll do this for dada too. We both love it!

Raelyn isn’t walking yet, but she will take up to four unassisted steps when she feels like it. She has also started going from a sitting to standing position without using furniture to pull up.

She loves to “read”! She entertains herself with books for 10+ minutes at a time. Of course we also have mommy reading time several times a day too. She sits patiently in my lap while I read the story. She happily turns the pages for me.

I’m sure there is much more I could say about our 1 year old. She is beautiful inside and out! I’m looking forward to watching her personality develop more and more as she enters this “toddler” stage.

 

Raelyn, mommy and daddy couldn’t have asked for a more perfect daughter! You are so special and loved by many, especially us!!

Raelyn Turns One

Yesterday was a big day in our home! It’s hard to believe that Raelyn is ONE. Wow, what a special year it has been!

We started the day with a birthday breakfast (French toast and scrambled eggs) and a duet of the “Happy Birthday” song by mommy and daddy. ;)

Her birthday cakes were dropped off later in the morning by Miss Julie, who recently started a cake business in her spare time.

The first guests to arrive were Uncle Jason, Aunt Jenny, and Avery so we had a moment to snap a picture of Avery’s gift to Raelyn. I think Raelyn likes it! ;)

Raelyn was well dressed in her birthday outfit made by Auntie Peeper (aka: sewing goddess).

Guests trickled in, snacks were eaten, chatter commenced, and kids played. All of that before we opened presents!  Raelyn had a ball with everyone here to celebrate her birthday. She especially loved looking at all the cards.

I think Raelyn was impressed that the whole crowd was singing to her!

She didn’t need much prompting to “dig in”.  We were all impressed by her tidy way of digging in. :)

Raelyn told us that she had a great day and is very thankful to all of her guests who helped her celebrate!

 

If you would like to experience her party (over again or for the first time), check out the videos below. Enjoy!

 

1/52 high five

We’ve been teaching Raelyn the fine art of high fiving the last several weeks. She almost has it mastered!

52 Week Project

There are lots of photography sites and lots of “a year in photos” type photography projects you could take part in. The thing is, I’m not a photographer. I’m just a mom with a nice point-n-shoot (with manual options) camera who wants to take some decent shots of her kids, life, family, etc. I want to try to capture real life moments as Raelyn and baby #2 grow.

So, I’m not joining any of those professional projects. I’m just going to create my own here on the blog. I’m planning to share with you a photo a week (hopefully each Friday). This will prompt me to take more photos and try to actually  learn how to use my camera!

Anyone with me? Oh, come on. Post your favorite photo of the week on your blog one day a week too. Let’s keep each other accountable for recording more memories!

Tomorrow I’ll share my  week 1 photo. :)

New Year: 2011

We had a super relaxing New Year’s Day. Raelyn allowed us the pleasure of sleeping in and then I put the pot of beans on to cook for a few hours.

Don’t worry, our breakfast included the obligatory cabbage. If you’re not sure how to cook cabbage for breakfast, it’s great sautéed with a bit of bacon and onion. Mmmm, good eats!

Jason, Jenny, and Avery came over for our traditional New Year’s Day lunch (usually we go to their place but we switched it up this year). Jason made us some fabulous stuffed cabbage and I made the beans and cornbread. Unfortunately, my Marsh was out of Jiffy cornbread mix. Even Raelyn had a bite of the beans so I think we’re all set for fortune and health this year. ;)

The girls enjoyed chasing each other around and playing together.

There were a lot of Avery hugs given to Raelyn.

And one of the cousins was willing to smile for the camera. 

Welcome home 2011!