Valentines Day

Josh and I have never been into Valentines Day. I always tell him I would rather him choose another day to give me flowers or do something special rather than a day when everyone else does. So this year we didn't plan anything as usual. We did get Raegan a Valentines Word World DVD and I made her a little necklace. We went to church and on the way home I jokingly asked Josh where he was taking me for our romantic dinner. He suggested jokingly suggested Cracker Barrell and I said that sounded like a great idea. If you know us you know Cracker Barrell is one of our favorite places to eat. I am not sure why I like it so much but I do. I think it's the atmoshere with the fire and country feel. I also like it because they let kids of any age order a kids meal and that is what i always get ( it's more than enough food for me!). So after Raegan's nap we got ready and headed off to our romantic dinner at Cracker Barrel. We had a nice time and it was just my speed. The pictures above are of Raegan dressed and ready to head out for our "Valentines date"!

Birthday Party #2

Over the weekend we had Raegan's family birthday party. It was supposed to be the saturday after her birthday but we had to reschedule due to snow. Unfortunately a lot of people who were going to be able to come to the first party weren't able to make it to the rescheduled one so it ended up just being us and all of Raegan's grandparents. Raegan didn't seem to mind though. She was excited when all of her grandparents arrived and she was able to spend the day being the center of attention ( not that she currently isn't already always the center of attention). She enjoyed showing off her new bikes to everyone. She got a tricylcle from mommy and daddy and a pink scooter from Uncle Dave, Aunt Erin and Tyler. I shared before that I didn't know what kind of cake to make for her since she doesn't really like cake but one time she did have rice krispie treats and she liked them ( she calls them ricey cake) so I decided to make a rice krispie train cake. She loves trains so when she saw it she was really excited. We sang happy birthday to her and she liked blowing out the candles. In fact she kept saying again so we sang to her twice so she could blow out the candles twice. Then she decided she liked the M&M's on the cake better than the "ricey cake" so she ended up eating a pile of M&M's for her birthday treat. It was a fun day celebrating our sweet girl's birthday and we all enjoyed having our family here with us! The only bad part was when Raegan woke up from her nap and realized everyone had left and she started crying hysterically. She is not very good with good-byes! But we hope she had a happy 2nd birthday!

A LOT MORE SNOW!

We were planning on having a birthday party for Raegan this saturday. She had her Tea Party on tuesday but it was just for the girls and we were planning on having another party on saturday mostly for our family to come celebrate with Raegan. In the beginning of the week they were calling for snow but I thought we would wait and see what the forecast was towards the end of the week. By midweek we pretty much knew that we were in for another big storm ( with big being an understatement). When Raegan and I were out for her 2 year checkup appointment ( which I will put in another post) I decided to check at the mall for a snowsuit. We didn't have one for her for the last couple of snow storms and after the last storm I realized that she did indeed like the snow, I decided it would be good to have a snowsuit ( especially if the Snowmagedeon did indeed hit). We walked around for a while with no luck, not even lined windpants left! But I decided to check JCPenney's. They had all of their winter stuff on clearance but I couldn't find anything in the toddler boy or girl sections. I decided to check the baby section and they had pink one piece snowsuits- the kind you would put on a small baby. I happened to notice a huge "baby" snowsuit on the rack and when I checked the rack, the size was sure enough 24 months! And the best part is that it was 80% off so I got it for 10 bucks! Today we tried it on Raegan in the morning. It was so funny, she reminded us of a cross between the boy in the Christmas Story and an Ooompa Loompa. I call her my pink marshmellow. I asked her if she was an Ooompa Loompa and she said " no, I a snowman". Our little pink snowman! She loved it and wanted to keep it on all morning. Eventually we got if off of her but later on when her friend Christian came by to borrow our sled Raegan started crying "outside! outside!". She had a little bit of a runny nose but she was doing much better today and after putting her "marshmellow" suit on her this morning I wasn't worried about her not being able to stay warm. I think I would have even gone out and played in the snow if I had a warm snowsuit like that! So we bundled her up again and went outside for a bit. It is a crazy amount of snow! The only place to go sledding was in the street but there were no cars at all out. Our neighbors car was even blocking the street so we knew no cars would come by. Desi and Josh took Raegan down the hill a couple of times on the sled and she really liked it. We didn't stay out long but when we came in Raegan was still nice and warm from being in her snowsuit. I wasn't looking forward to being snowed in again this weekend but it turned out to be a really nice weekend. We had good family time and I also got a lot of cleaning and organizing done which made me feel productive. They are calling for more snow this week though so that should be interesting! I had a nice weekend but I won't be upset if spring decides to show up early this year ( although I'm not counting on it!).

Birthday with Mommy and Daddy!

Tonight we celebrated Raegan's birthday again when Josh came home from work. We didn't really have a special birthday dinner since Raegan doesn't really have a favorite meal yet. She got to eat steamed broccoli which is probably still her favorite food. But after dinner she got to have a special birthday treat. As I have mentioned she is not really that into cake or cookies. Sometimes she wants them and sometimes she doesn't. But like every other member in this family she loves ice cream and milkshakes! So for her birthday "cake" she got to have her very own milkshake from a yummy frozen custard place that's right around the corner from our house. We sang happy birthday to her and then she proceeded to drink her entire milkshake. She wanted to talk to Grandma and Pop Pop on the computer so we did that. And while she was talking to them we gave her her present from us. She got a pink Radio Flyer tricycle. We know she probably won't be able to use it right away especially considering the snow on the ground and expected blizzard that is coming our way but we figured it would be a good thing for her to have this spring and summer. She loved it! It has buttons that make blinker noises and radio noises. And she likes opening the seat up and putting things inside. We had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday with her. Unfortunately if the weather forecast holds up we are probably going to have to cancel her family birthday party that we had scheduled for saturday. But we are glad that we were able to celebrate with our little 2 year old today!

Birthday Tea Party!

Today is Raegan's 2nd Birthday and I planned a tea party for her and her friends. I decorated the house last night with a happy birthday bannerz, flowers, balloons and pink polka dot tableclothes. In the morning when I went in to get her out of her crib I said "happy birthday!" and she said " boons! ( balloons!)". We had been talking about how she gets balloons and a cake for her birthday and I guess she remembered. She came down and had her sippy and watched one episode of her favorite show, Word World while I got the food ready and set up for her party. We got her dressed in her tea party dress and then everyone started to arrive! Josh and I had given her an early birthday present the night before which happened to be a tea set so Raegan enjoyed showing everyone her tea set and serving water! My parents also gave her a new table with chairs for her big girl room and we set that up downstairs because it was perfect for a tea party! Once everyone arrived we had our first activity, dressing up in jewelry. Raegan loves to put " pretties" on and her and her friends enjoyed layering lots of bracelets and necklaces on. After that we had some tea party snacks which included lemon tea cakes, maple scones, fruit with fruit dip and cheese cut into the shape of flowers. The moms drank coffee even though it was a tea party. After our tea party snacks we had decorated tea pots with stickers and then we colored teapot and teacup birthday coloring sheets. The girls did a great job at decorating and I think they all had fun. We sang happy birthday to Raegan which she enjoyed. We didn't have a cake for her since it was still pretty early in the day but Raegan enjoyed the singing. Then Raegan opened her gifts and she was blessed by wonderful, thoughtful gifts. We had a really fun time and I felt so blessed to have had so many wonderful friends come over to celebrate our little girl. My friend Rachael even brought her two little girls down from Baltimore for the tea party! It was a wonderful way to celebrate Raegan with great friends!

Happy Birthday Raegan!

To My Precious Raegan Isabella,

I can't believe that 2 years ago today you were placed in my arms for the first time. It doesn't seem possible that 2 years have already passed since you were born and yet now I can't imagine my life or this world without you. You were such a special gift to your daddy and I. There is never a day that goes by that I don't thank God for the precious gift that He gave us when He gave us you. I am still in awe that He would choose to bless us with such a wonderful daughter.

This past year you have grown so much! Sometimes I want you to slow down because you are growing and changing so fast! But it is so neat to see you learning and growing into who God made you be. You went from a baby who wasn't even walking at your last birthday to an energetic toddler who is always running around, jumping and constantly making us laugh and smile. It is so neat to hear all of the words that you have learned and to watch as you read and say the alphabet. You are such a joy to all those who meet you and even at 2 you have already made a big difference in lives of people all around you. I remember not too long ago walking out of the grocery store and we walked by a lady. I wasn't planning on stopping to talk to her so I just smiled at her but as you were holding my hand you stopped and let go of my hand and waved to her and said "hi!". I remember her saying that she was having a bad day and that you had just made her day for her. You are a little angel Raegan who is always brightening someone's day. This past year has been tough for mommy too as mommy and daddy were trying to add a brother or sister to our family. There were two times that we were really sad because we were told that it wasn't time for us to have a baby even though we really wanted one. And everytime I was sad you always knew how to make mommy smile again. You are always asking "what's wrong mommy", or "what's wrong Ada ( Kona)?" or "what's wrong baby?" when a baby is crying. You have such a warm and caring heart for a little girl your age. Even after mommy and daddy got the good news that there is a baby in mommy's tummy, there were a lot of painful shots that mommy had to have in order to help the baby grow.. When daddy would have to give the shots to mommy you would always come over and hold my hand and rub my back. That helped mommy so much and I will never forget those sweet moments of you caring for me. You have been such a big help to mommy over this year. You have helped me in your life more than you will probably understand. And I know that when your little brother or sister comes, you are going to be the best big sister ever!

I don't even have the words to tell you how much you mean to me. All of the hugs, and kisses and " I love you's " could not even come close to telling you how much I love you! You are a precious gift from God and I will never stop giving thanks for you!

I am looking forward to this next year of your life. I am excited to see how much you change in the next year. To see more of your personality coming out. To have fun times with our family and our friends. And to see you become a big sister! We have so much to look forward to. I am so blessed to be your mommy! Happy 2^nd Birthday my precious girl! May you always know how much you are loved!

Love Always,

Mommy