E is for ...........Excitement!

I'm getting so EXCITED for Macy to get here!!!!!! For those of you who are wondering who Macy is and who are these girls in this picture, Macy is my future neice. My brother & his wife are expecting any day with their precious daughter. Jaylen & Macy will be just about 4 months apart and I guess I just picture myself having a picture like the one above someday when they are about 7 or 8 years old. We hope they will be good friends and not have too many "cat fights"! Please pray for a healthy delivery, baby and mommy! And I'm sure Michael could use some prayers as well. She's not due for another 2 weeks but with as many contractions as Katie is having I'll bet she's here next week!

It's been a good week for us. We enjoyed the Marriage Matters seminar at MRCC from Sunday through Wednesday. It really fills up your evenings for the week but it's all worth it. On Wednesday I had lunch with Suzanne. She took me to Nicholette's Cafe on May. I have gotten cakes from Raspberries N' Creme, which is the bakery that used to be in the cafe, but I hadn't ever eaten in the cafe. It was VERY good but I'm sure not exactly on my diet.....especially the piece of ribbon cake that we split! My parents are coming to town this weekend for Spring Sing. My sis is in the show so Gavan and I are going to watch it. Mom & Dad are excited cause they get to watch Jaylen while we go on Saturday afternoon and then they'll go that night.

I guess another exciting thing is that we're going to see Doug & Dixie next weekend. We've had it planned for a while but it has snuck up on me. We'll get to visit their new house and watch Doug coach a baseball game or 2. We'll see how Jaylen does in the car. So far, she is a great car rider cause she sleeps most of the time. I guess that means that, Katie, you have to have Macy before we leave! No pressure though!

Happy Friday tomorrow!

D is for ............. diapers.

Basically this is my life story right now. Sometimes I feel like all I do is change diapers everytime I turn around. I guess the positive thing is that she only has about 1 poopy diaper a day! It could be worse.

Jaylen made her first trip to the OKC zoo this afternoon. It turned out to be a gorgeous day and several girls took our kiddos. Jaylen really enjoyed it...........she slept almost the entire time! It was a good time for me to have some girl time with my friends. I'm sure you can see some pics of a few of the other girls' blogs as I didn't take any pics today. We visited the Collum's at Mercy tonight and got to hold precious Kinley. They were both doing great. Kinley weighed about a 1/2 of a pound more than Jay at birth and she felt SO light when I held her tonight. I guess as your kids grow their weight just grows on you. I couldn't believe the difference between them! Oh, how they grow up so fast.

C is for............Cleaning house.

Obviously this isn't me but I did some much needed cleaning today. I should do a little bit each day but instead I leave most of it to one day. Oh well, it's done now and we can enjoy the nice smell of the swifer solution. Not much else going on today. We went to church and did our part of the 24 hours of prayer, which was really cool. For those non-MRCC members, there were several booths set up in the Summitt each with a different topic to pray about. There were many different ministries, military, MRCC families, the world and it's future leaders,etc. Pretty neat thing that I'm glad we were a part of. Next stop was Sam's for grab a few things (formula, wipes, toilet paper, etc). We're going to dinner with our friends, Clay and Vanessa, so I should get ready to go. It's been so long since we've hung out with them and they haven't seen Jaylen in over a month or so. Have a good evening and we'll see many of you tomorrow!

Brandon Haynie Photography.......

I finally got Jaylen's birth announcements sent out this week and I wanted to give credit where credit is due! Our good friend, Brandon Haynie (better known as Wee) took some pics of Jaylen and created this adorable announcement for us. He's just starting out but I thought for his first job he did awesome. Sorry we couldn't send them to everyone but here is one for you to look at. If anyone would like Brandon's information just let me know & I'd be happy to get it to you.

During this photo shoot, Jaylen smiled back at us for the first time. The smile in this picture is one of her first ones. It was so sweet to capture her first smiles on camera.

Jaylen and I made it home safely this evening as did Gavan. We are all glad to be back together tonight. We had a great time with my parents. Grandma and Grandpa had a good time spoiling both of us but they hated to see us go. I guess I need to do my next letter in the alphabet, which is B.

B is for Byrds.......of course!

Love Jaylen's pink boots.......gotta love Target.

Happy Friday!

Happy 3 months......

Can't believe that Jaylen will be 3 months old tomorrow. The time has gone by so fast. We have about a zillion pics of her on our computer and I was going through them yesterday and I can't believe how much she has changed in the past 3 months. She was so little at first and now she's turning into a rolly polly. I love it. I love watching her change and do new things everyday. I'm excited for her to become more active with us but truly cherish her being my "baby". Our world is so much different now that Jaylen is in our lives. I do remember what it was like before to really not have much responsibility and have tons of freedom but I wouldn't change a thing now!

Children truly are a gift from God and they bless our lives so richly. I thank Him everyday for giving her to us. She makes everything so much sweeter.

Happy 3 months to Jaylen, Vivian and Addisyn!

Left: Jaylen about 1 week old.....she looks like a pumpkin from the jaundice.

Right: Jaylen almost 3 months old........she's growing some rolls in those thighs!

Alphabet Challenge.....

Well, I'm going to do the alphabet challenge like Suzanne. Like she said, I might not get one every single day but I'll get it done. I don't have a personal picture for the first one (I won't gross you out with my sweaty body) but I googled one for you. I just got back from my fitness class so I thought this was time appropriate.

A is for Activity................

Lots of laundry and packing today for me with all of us leaving tomorrow for several days. I'm excited to go see my parents and their super excited to see Jaylen! We'll miss Gavan while he is in Charleston though. I know he's going to miss us too, mainly Jaylen! Please pray for safe travels for Jaylen and I driving to Wichita and Gavan flying to Charleston, WV as well. We'll all get back on Thursday evening.

Hope everyone enjoys your week. I think the weather might be decent.....at least maybe for a day or two.

Quote of the day.........

Gavan: "I'm so pumped that we got the travel channel on HD now."

You know its a good day when they add a new HD channel.............and you actually get excited about it.

Ok, sorry but a couple more pics.....

Smiley girl......Jaylen with her valentines!

Had to have matching socks......

Just had to post a quick pic of my sweet valentine!

Happy Heart Day!.......

First off, happy valentine's day to my sweet husband, Gavan and my adorable daughter, Jaylen. Gav, you are my rock, best friend, and soulmate and I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for making me who I am today, for loving me for so long and giving me Jaylen. I couldn't be happier at this point in my life. I feel as if everything is in place and couldn't ask for anything to change. You are my life.

Secondly, to change the subject...........could I lose anymore hair? Seriously. Handfulls fall out whenever I shower and blow dry it. It is driving me crazy cause its everywhere. It's always on my shirts and all over the bathroom floor. I guess that's what happens when you have a baby and your hormones are trying to get back on track!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Spend it with the ones you love.

Mall walking......

You know you are a mall walker when you have price tags stuck to the wheels of your stroller! Yesterday I kept noticing something white on one of the wheels and when I finally stopped to look, it was several price tags stuck together on the wheel. I'm sure it was from one of the baby stores in Northpark where I window shop. Such cute stuff but super expensive. I get lots of ideas to come home and try to make though! I also get a few dirty looks from some of the elderly people who walk out there. There are about 15-20 men & women over 60 who walk out there everyday and I'm just about the only one my age. I don't know if they don't like me walking faster than them or if it's the stroller or if they think that is their territory! Oh well, I don't mind the looks......its just funny.

I'm walking at Penn Square today cause we're meeting Gavan for lunch. It will be interesting there cause there will be so many more people. Oh well.....new stores to window shop at! Speaking of.......I better jet to meet him on time! Have a good hump day!

Just some pics.......

Jaylen & me........love her little jeans.

She fell asleep on her playmat so I scooted her up again the couch.

At first Jaylen screamed everytime she got her diaper changed but she loves laying on her changing table now. She just kicks her legs and bicycles her arms!

She not a huge fan of tummy time yet but we'll get there......sweet smile.

Obviously, she was not in the mood for pictures........but I just couldn't resist. Thanks to the Ferrell's for this adorable outfit! She's got on her red shoes just like her mommy.

She was just waking up from a little catnap. This was her first time to wear a skirt.......she wore it more like a tube top most of the day cause it wouldn't stay down at her waist (it was too big but I wanted her to wear it!). Love the red tights too!

Look how chubby she's getting......she's sort of slouched here so it is emphasizing her tummy but she's putting on some pounds, which is good!

Can't believe she'll be 3 months old in just about a week! I know I say this a lot but it has gone so fast! She's such a sweet baby and she still sleeps a lot. She's a good eater, pooper, shopper.....you name it! And she hasn't gotten sick yet so we'll keep our fingers crossed! Well, we're off to the grocery store while Gavan is gone. I guess I haven't updated on the boat lately...........his dad bought it last weekend. They were detailing it and checking all the lights and fuses and stuff this week. Gavan went down there this morning to pick it up. They actually take him the Lake Thunderbird (he bought it in Norman) and let Gavan drive it to make sure it runs okay before he leaves with it! It will be fun this summer........but I'm still dreading having to get into a swimsuit. I guess it's just more motivation for me!

Late New Year's pic....

I wanted to post this pic right after New Year's but it was on mom's camera and I just got it from her. We spent the holiday in Wichita at mom and dad's playing poker and stuff. Their neighbor gave us some excitement at midnight by setting off 50,000 black cats in the middle of the street. I'm not exaggerating on that number either (my mom talked to him the next morning). They went off for like 5 minutes, not kidding. Good times.......black cats, poker, me being sleep deprived and barely staying up till midnight, and Gavan getting sloshed with sparkling white grape juice!

Here's another pic ( I just got from mom) of all my cousins on my dad's side of the family with or Grandma in front holding Jaylen, her first great-grandchild. We had to celebrate christmas after new year's this year. It's always fun going to Grandma's. Up until this year, ALL of my family stays in the same house. Us cousins usually just sleep on air mattresses all over the floor! The last several years we've had marriages and now the great-grandchildren are being added so we can't all fit anymore but we've had many memories together.