Wordless Wednesday: Fishing for Catfish

Climbing Mount Laundry

Lately Raylee has been trying to climb on everything in order to get herself into a standing position. When I am holding her she is always grabbing on to the neckline of my shirt trying to pull herself up (people have been seeing a little bit more of me than they were supposed to see, which has created some very embarrassing moments). She can't quite pull herself up to furniture yet since she is so short, but I have a feeling it's not too far in the future. Well, last night Corey was doing laundry and Raylee found a new love: climbing the mountains of laundry. We were just happy it kept her entertained for awhile!

St. George

This past weekend we headed down for the sunny skies of St. George. Corey's grandma lives down there, so we try to go down there a couple times a year, but we haven't been able to go down there since Raylee was born. It was lots of fun, although it wasn't as warm as I had hoped, but I think everyone else enjoyed the warm, but not too hot, temps.

We weren't down there a for very long, so we were constantly on the go trying to get everything in. We got to go swimming a couple of times, and we went shopping to the outlets and the mall, and at night we would go out to dinner with Corey's grandma and then go back to her place to visit for awhile.

It was tons of fun, but vacations sure are different with a baby! Raylee was ornery half the time because it was hard to try and fit in a couple naps when we were always on the go, but it all worked itself out with only a couple crying fits.

Anyway, here are some pics of us in the pool. It was Raylee's first time swimming and so of course I took WAY too many pictures. She is just too cute, I couln't help it ;). The pool was really warm, and so Raylee LOVED it. She would just float in her little tube, and she was so relaxed she was almost asleep.

Raylee and her cousin Morgan were best buds on this trip!

Raylee absolutely loves her Grandpa Bryce, and she had tons of fun playing with him in the pool.

House Update

So, things with our house have been moving incredibly fast. In the beginning they told us it would take 6-8 months to complete which would have been in August to October, then after they started it they told us it would be 90 days which would be sometime in July. Last week we met with the building supervisor again to make sure everything was going well and he told us he is planning on having it done in mid June. That's only a month away!!

It is really exciting that it's coming so quickly, but that's also a bad thing. In the months that they were building we have been and were planning on saving money for all the things that we will need such as a fridge, the yard, and we were hoping some couches. Now that it is coming so fast we might have to wait on the furniture (boo hoo). Oh well, having to wait for a while to get couches is a small price to pay for getting a new house!

Right now, our house is actually looking like a house (which makes me even more excited, and makes the wait seem even longer!). They now have all the dry wall up throughout the house.
Here are some pics: This is a picture from in the front room, looking at the stairs that lead up to the bedrooms.
This is taken in the family room looking up into the kitchen

Wordless Wednesday and Her Favorite Toy

Mommy's New Assistant

I am pretty sure everybody knows this, but I work at home from an internet marketing company. I am on the computer for a few hours everyday, and so I usually try to just put Raylee on the floor with some toys so she can play, or I put her in the activity center thingie (I realize that's not a word, but I'm using it anyways!). Well, when she won't go on the floor or her activity thingie then she sits on my lap and plays with some toys and is good as gold.

Not anymore!

Apparently those days are gone. Now Raylee is fascinated by the computer, and thinks she needs to help mommy work. She loves to bang on the keyboard, and has made all sorts of weird things come up, and has even popped a few keys off. Who knows what words I have misspelled lately that I haven't caught. Oh, well! Even though it's annoying, I can't help but think she's cute when she does it!

She's always has her tongue out!

The "What's for dinner?" Blues

What's for dinner? The dreaded question that I have to ask myself every single day. So after almost four years you would think I would have plenty of answers to this simple question, but alas I do not. I saw on someones blog recently that they had been tagged and had to list all the meals on their menu for the week. Mine would be a whole lot of I don't knows! It seems like every day the same thing happens when Corey gets home from work.

Corey: What's for dinnner?
Me: I don't know, what do you want?
Corey: Whatever you want to make me.
Me: I want to make you whatever you want.

And on it goes until I say a couple choices and he chooses between them. I really don't mind the actual cooking part. I just hate the deciding part (big shocker, huh?! Me, decide something?), and it doesn't help when your hubby is a picky eater. I usually end up with a few ideas in my head and we end up having them over and over again until I think of something new.

So if anybody has any yummy ideas that your family loves, I would love to get some new ideas!

Here is a recipe that Corey and I love, just in case you are in the same boat as me and want something new!

Chicken Manicotti

1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast tenders
14 uncooked manicotti
(2 1/2 ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained, optional
1 (30 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce, any variety
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Spread about 1/3 of the spaghetti sauce in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. 2. Sprinkle garlic salt on chicken and cook.
3. Insert cooked chicken into uncooked manicotti shells, stuffing from each end of shell to fill if necessary.
4. Place shells on spaghetti sauce in dish.
5. Pour remaining spaghetti sauce evenly over shells, covering completely.
6. Pour 1/2 cup water around edges of baking dish
7. Sprinkle with olives and cheese.
8. heat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Bake in covered baking dish about 1 hour, or until shells are tender.

My Little Scooter

I have such a weird child! I am starting to wonder if weirdness is hereditary (I have been told many a times how weird I am, and Corey is right up there with me!). Raylee started scooting around a couple of weeks ago which is pretty exciting and not so weird in and of itself, but the way she does it is pretty hilarious. Gotta love the face she's making, right!

Most babies army crawl or push themselves backwards, but not my baby! She smashes her head down against the ground and sticks her bum up in the air and pushes with her feet, then she puts her bum back down and lifts her head up to see where she is and does it again. I kind of feel bad for her because after awhile of scooting around on the carpet she gets a rug burn on the side of her head. I have tried to work with her to start crawling but as soon as I put her on all fours she lays her head on the ground like its too heavy to hold up (she does have a pretty big head, so maybe it really is too heavy?!!).

So now when Corey goes in to say goodbye to her in the morning, this is what he finds. Her little bum up in the air with her head smashed into the corner of the crib, fast asleep.

These are just some random pics:

Raylee's new shades. She is ready for the summer, now the sun just needs to come out and stay out!

This picture is especially for Josi. She wanted to see Raylee in her cute new green dress. We found this super cute store in the fashion place mall called Naartjie that has adorable kids clothes. Don't mind the drool. It seems like the only time I can get a picture with out her covered in drool is if she's naked!

We have a hole!

Never in my life did I think I would be excited about a hole in the ground, but this hole happens to be the site of our future home! Last week Corey met with the building supervisor and signed the final papers before they started building our home. They dug the hole yesterday and the building supervisor said it would be done in 90 days in good weather.

It is starting to seem real now, although now I am worried that the things we chose aren't going to look good, especially the color or the stucco. It is so hard to know what things are going to look like from the little square they show you! Oh, well. It's too late to do anything now so I will just hope for the best!

Bathtime Beauty

I know I already have a bath picture on here, but I love these pictures I took last night during Raylees bath. For some reason the best pictures I take are in the bath, although maybe I just think they're the best because I love naked babies!

I just love her big brown eyes!