Raelee

Wow, I can't believe my little Rae bug is ONE! Where in the heck did this last year go? I just hope the next semester goes by as fast and then time needs to SLOW DOWN. We celebrated Raelee's birthday early in the month due to Christmas and family members that work in healthcare(schedules for nurses are not very fun). Raelee was so funny when we sang to her, she sat there with her wide eyes, super serious. And blowing out the candle? Forget about it! She didn't even want to eat her awesome cake that my dad made for her. She kept trying to give it to me. However, she LOVED/LOVES her presents. She was good about sharing her new toys with Miles and Stokes too.
     On the 21st(Rae's actual birthday) I had to work, sad. But it was cool, because with Brad's new job he has the 2 weeks around Christmas off, so he was able to be home with her. I woke Raelee up before I left for work(probably not very nice, it was 6am), I wanted to see her before I was gone for the next 12 hours. We sang happy birthday to her and she was sooooo super excited and happy. Brad said the whole day she was just happy as could be, never even cried.  It was fun at work, because I took care of patients that their new babies now have the same birthday as Rae, and one of them was in the same room I was in a year ago. Sweet memories!

  

Fun times!

I am soooooo excited to have the next four days off. Sorry CRMC but I will not being answering my phone when you call to see if I can come work extra. This time of year is CRAZY in the baby business. All our rooms have been full almost every shift I've worked the last few months. And the days I work in the nursery are INSANE. I love my job, but man, I need a rest. This morning I washed all my uniforms, pumping supplies, and Raelee's bottles to put them away, not to be seen or thought about until Tuesday. We have a full and fun packed weekend ahead.

    

A morning before I left for work about 1 month ago

Blessings

For Thanksgiving this year, we were able to travel to Alabama where my mom's side of the family lives. I worked last Thanksgiving, and then had Raelee just before Christmas, so we hadn't been there for a major holiday since 2008. What! Craziness! Ya'll don't even know, but my grandma and family cook some of the best food there is. I seriously wanted to cry when I tasted the feast! The turkey was the best I've ever had, and the veggies, yum yum! Butter beans, field peas, collards, creamed corn, I would keep going, but I'm making myself hungry. This probably sounds bad how I'm going on and on about food, but ya'll it.is.soooo.good! It was awesome to be able to see my family too. My uncle just had his first child this year, she's 5 months old now. Raelee looked so grown next to her. It made me realize Rae's not a little baby anymore. sad :( It was fun to see my grandma, Raelee even let her hold her for a bit.
Anyway, Thanksgiving is such a great holiday to make us realize all our many blessings. Basically everything we have. But this year I am especially thankful for my little Raelee and for awesome peeps to watch her when I have to work. On that note, I'm also thankful for employment and being able to contribute to our family income and help pay the bills, so all that stress isn't on Brad. I'm soooo thankful for Brad's new job, it's truly a blessing how it came about. And lastly, I'm super thankful that Brad only has one more semester(for now) of school!! WhootWhoot! It'll be great to have somewhat of a normal schedule once he graduates.




















The feast














our fixin's, round 1




















nap time with Raelee's uncle's




















Raelee with her great-grandma St. Mary















Us with Grandma

zebra time

Raelee was loving this zebra at this Blimes's last night. She was soo funny, I didn't catch the best parts on video. Oh and she's in just a diaper cause she was eating a lollipop and was VERY messy.

Halloween

Raelee with her pumpkin. Couldn't get one of her looking at the camera too, silly girl.




















Raelee was the tooth fairy and she took our teeth while we were sleeping.















The little tooth fairy




















Her hair is finally long enough for pigtails. I lOVE them...
















...however, her hair is not so cute when they come out. This is her first time brushing her own hair.

Gap casting call

Raelee needs your votes. Go here once a day to vote. This pic by LindseyLou

Seaworld

We spent the weekend in Orlando with Brad's parents for their 29th wedding anniversary. We spent two days at Seaworld and had a BLAST! I hadn't been since I was a child, and Brad had never been, or Raelee :) It was so neat to see all the marine life. We were able to touch a dolphin and stingrays. The stingrays are kinda freaky feeling. Raelee loved everything! She would put her little finger against the glass and point at the fish, dolphines, or whatever was on the other side, sooo cute! She was so good too, never cried, she sat in her stroller looking at everything. When she looked tired, we would lay her down and she would just close her eyes and go to sleep. I couldn't believe how good she was. The weather was GORGEOUS while we were there too. Still hot, though that was expected, but with a good breeze. It was the perfect vacation.













During the shamu show





















Happy 29 years!
















Self pic















in the artic at the bear caves