Sisters

We can’t wait to meet our little Rael. Laylie is getting so excited and thinks about her a lot throughout the day. Walking through Costco she tells us that Rael will sit right next to her in the big shopping cart while mama shops. While she reads her countless books she tells us that she will read Rael all her books and tell her stories. While she is sitting in her car seat in the car she tells us that Rael will sit right next to her. Some things she is looking forward to are – snuggling, holding her, changing her, and feeding her baby food. Laylie is going to be such a good helper and I can’t wait to watch her become a big sister. I pray daily that they have an extremely special bond as sisters and that they will build each other up in the ways of the Lord. Sisters are a true gift from the Lord!

Here is Rael at 32 weeks: Keep growing big and strong because your sister Laylie is waiting for you.

Building "Little Bear"

When I was pregnant with Laylie, Jason and I made her a special stuffed animal from Build a Bear and we put our voices in it. That evening at Build a Bear, now over 3 years ago, we picked out a super soft bunny to match her garden themed room and placed it in her crib until she arrived. Basil the bunny is one of her most cherished items and Laylie loves to play our voices over and over again that reassure her that her Mama and Dada love her.

So, this past weekend we headed down to our beautiful outdoor mall, Fashion Valley, and went to Build a Bear to make a special teddy bear for our sweet Rael. Laylie picked out the softest little teddy for Rael and named him “Little Bear.” We spent some time recording our voices and telling Rael how much we adore her. Laylie filled the teddy with fluff, placed a sweet little heart in the teddy and even made a birth certificate. Little Bear is now sitting in the corner of Rael’s crib, eagerly awaiting her to enter the world. We had a wonderful day making a special teddy for Rael that she will adore forever.
 

Here we are making "Little Bear" for Rael

Here is Jason and I 3 years ago making "Basil the Bunny" for Laylie

Our Weekend Getaway

Jason and I had the most wonderful weekend together. We celebrated Jason’s birthday, our babymoon, and our anniversary on Catalina Island last weekend and it truly was an unforgettable time. All we did was completely relax and enjoy each other's company. We boarded the Catalina Express boat Friday morning and arrived ready to soak up each other and delight in every minute of our mini-vacation. We spent the whole weekend eating delicious seafood, relaxing on the beach for hours, watching movies in our hotel room, reading books, getting a couples massage, playing a round of mini-golf, and shopping.  Boarding the boat Sunday night we felt rejuvenated after such a magnificent trip. A special thank you goes out to my remarkable parents for watching Laylie for 3 whole days while we relished in our last getaway before our little Rael enters the world. We feel so blessed to have gone on such a fun Catalina adventure - just the two of us.

Beautiful Catalina Island

A fun round of mini-golf (I won!!:-) )

32 weeks photo

Walking to the beach for the day

A picture on the pier

Laylie's a big girl now..

We are proud to announce that Laylie has moved into her "big girl" room. She has been sleeping like a princess in her full size bed all throughout the night – all 12 hours folks!! She loves having so much room to roll around and enjoys snuggle time while we read her books before bed or in the morning when she wakes up for the day. It has been a complete joy making her big girl room just for her with all of the bright colors and celebrating in the excitement of her getting older and growing up. We are so proud of our Laylie J. for adjusting so well and loving that she has her own big girl room.

Two of her favorite things...

Two of Laylie’s ALL TIME favorite things right now are….


GUM and FLIP FLOPS!!!

Her love of both of these things came from our latest trip to Colorado. I gave Laylie some gum on the airplane to and from Colorado not knowing if she would swallow it or if she would do really well chomping on it for a while. Ladies and Gentlemen, she is a pro gum chewer! She has come to love it as much as her other favorite thing - her pink sandals that we purchased at Old Navy for $5.00. She sleeps, eats, shops, and plays in these bright pink sandals. It is so fun to see what little things bring our girl so much joy – gum and flip flops…who ever knew!!

30 Weeks

Today, Rael and I have hit the 30 week mark which means we have only 10 more weeks to go. I can’t believe how fast this pregnancy is going and how wonderful it has been. I am feeling so great and I am blessed with tons of energy that helps me keep up with my sweet Laylie. I've been exercising every single day and trying to stay extremely healthy. Today, we went to our 30 week appointment were we got to peek at Rael and hear her heartbeat. We were able to see her adorable little face, watch her move all around in my tummy, and see that she is already head-down which explains all the kicking I am feeling in my ribs. Laylie really enjoyed seeing Rael on the ultrasound. When we heard Rael’s heartbeat, Laylie yelled, “it sounds like music” which made us all smile ear to ear. It brings so much joy to me that Laylie understands so much during this pregnancy and that she is able to go to every doctor’s appointment with Jason and I. I am starting to get really excited and thrilled about having a baby girl and I can’t wait for all the love, snuggles and that baby smell. 10 more weeks and our little daughter will be here.

After reading my pregnancy book it says Rael is around 15.7 inches long and she weighs almost 3 pounds. The comparison is like a size of a head of cabbage. Keep growing baby girl!!

Celebrating Easter

We had a wonderful and fabulous Easter this year. Laylie had her big Easter egg hunt experience at the YMCA with her cousins on Saturday, and Sunday we got together with both sides of our families to celebrate. We had an extremely fun time and I loved being with Jason and Laylie this Easter. Laylie looked darling in her dresses and she really enjoyed participating in all of the Easter festivities. The whole weekend our hearts were filled with love and gratefulness for our Savior. We really feel so blessed by what he did for us on the cross and Easter is a wonderful constant reminder of how much he truly adores his children. What a blessing!!

Butterfly Abundance

This month, the Wild Animal Park is having their butterfly exhibit. So, Laylie and I loaded up our car and met Jessica, Sammy and Micah there for a fun filled day. It was the most beautiful day with the sun shining and a cool breeze blowing throughout the park. We walked around and saw tons of animals and at the very last part of the day we went into the butterfly exhibit. Laylie and Sammy were so excited and had huge smiles on their faces as they waited in line. The butterflies were so amazing and there were tons of them flying around with every color of the rainbow. We had such a wonderful time and loved spending the day with the Davidsons. What a joy!

Spending quality time

I woke up in the middle of the night last week with my heart feeling completely blessed. I have an amazing husband who I love with all my heart, a beautiful two year old, and now a sweet baby girl on the way. How can life get any better? While I was thinking how wonderfully blessed I am, I also started thinking how life will change after we become a family of 4. My time might be stretched more and it might be more difficult to give 100% of my attention to Laylie on a daily basis, even though I will try my hardest. I have only 12 more weeks with just Laylie and it won’t be only her ever again. I really need to soak up this time that I have with her, before our life changes for the better. So, I started planning right away fun things we should do and places to see as these 12 weeks go by. Today was a day where we totally soaked up some fun and really enjoyed being together. We spent the whole day talking, laughing, creating and baking. Easter is this Sunday, so we died Easter eggs and made Easter cookies. Making memories is what I love best with my little Laylie J.

Curls and Contentment

When Laylie was in my womb I prayed for her countless times throughout the day. I prayed certain things like that she would be filled up with the Holy Spirit, that she would love the Lord with all her heart, and other fun things like that she would have musical talent like her daddy, and that she would have bright blue eyes and blonde curly hair. I just always pictured my daughter having blonde curls and helping her style it every morning. Well, the last few weeks have been interesting for the both of us. Every morning Laylie needs to be encouraged that curly hair is beautiful and adorable. She has come to the fact on her own that her hair has to be completely straight and curls just won’t do it for her anymore.  I continually encourage her by saying that God has given her the most beautiful hair and he answered her mommy’s prayer. I name each person we know that has been blessed with curls on their head and how beautiful their hair truly is. My brain tries to wrap around the idea of how she ever came up with this thought as a 2 year old and why she needs her hair to be completely straight? Each day has gotten better and better as she realizes that God has made her beautiful and special. Not only is she learning and growing, but she is teaching her mama to be pleased with what God has given her, too. We all need to rejoice in the things that God has blessed us with that we sometimes don’t really see through our own eyes. Laylie may not like the curls on her head at the moment, but practically everyone in this whole wide world wishes they had them. My little 2 year old and I are learning to be content, thankful, and really realize how blessed we are with everything we have.