Happy Birthday Raegan M.J

My sweet little Raegan.
You are my very own angel. I love you.
You are a light and a joy.
When I think about you, my heart smiles.

I love you , I love you
xo xo
mom

Reverse Lense Photography

Two Years old
Loves:
singing
her babies
taking a nap with Dada's pillow
treats
swimming at the "pooooool!!"
Cailliou
books
painting and drawing
having Seth and I draw her a cookie, baby, bottle, apple and a paci
shoes
playing in the front seat of the car with dad
park (of course)
helping mom with dinner and dishes
Talking to Nana, Papa and Opa on the phone
Having her arm tickled before bed
giving kisses to mom and dad
doing something silly and saying "dad...dad...look"

In the Yard

On Saturday we made a trip to Home Depot in an effort to spruce up our yard a little bit. We have a big planter box that's been in the works, but we also wanted some bird feeders and a pretty flower pot for the patio. We had no idea what flowers to get or how to arrange them in the pot, so we kind of guessed. It seemed to work out just fine. It looks nice and hopefully everything will survive! It feels so good to have my hands in the dirt planting things. It's seriously a lot of fun to me. Especially when Seth is with me and Rae is helping us:)

We read that humming birds are year round here and if you make the nectar extra sweet the first few times, more will come!

I'm excited to have birds to watch with Raegan. Whenever she hears them singing outside she looks at me and says "whats that?...tweet tweet?!?" then runs to the window and shouts "HIIIII" and waves so hard! Hopefully now we'll have lots and lots of birds to say hi to:)

This tiny bird was our first visitor to the new feeder! We are counting on him to spread the word.

A walk in the park

Seth keeps telling me that spring and fall are the best seasons here in Portland & so far I totally agree. Last fall was beautiful and had such incredible weather. Now I am getting a taste of spring and loving it already. There are so many trees about to bloom, flowers popping up and the air is so fresh. We have been going on walks and playing at the park almost every day over the last week. I just hope its not a fake arrival and everything turns grey again!

Last weekend we got to visit the beach with our friends the Brintons. It was fun seeing Rae play on the shore and run from the waves. I miss the sand and the water and it felt good to hear the ocean again. We packed a lunch and had a BBQ on the sand. Then Seth and the Brintons went on a bike ride while Rae and I played with her baby in the sand and snacked on the leftover food.

Some things we've been up to

We went on a weekend road trip to Washington to visit Uncle Craig & Aunt Melinda. It was nice to get away for a little bit, be with family and eat some really good food that I didn't have to make myself! Plus the doll house and toys they had out was a dream come true for Raegan. She played non stop.

Then we gave potty training a try.....

Long story short, she is still in diapers and we are both okay with it for now.

Then we went to an amusement park. Well actually we played around on Photo booth one night after dinner, but Rae probably had just as much fun doing that as she would at a park. She really got a kick out of it.

She kept pulling Seth & I together and putting her arms around us. We must be in need of a good family photo or something.

This is a favorite pass time of Raes. She loves to get a pile of books (specifically "Cat & the hat" "On the night you were born" and "Poems for busy babies") and flip through the pages while singing. Yesterday she did it for 40min. straight. Which gave me time to unload the dishwasher, make dinner and set the table.

This is just a funny video of Rae playing mommy. She LOVES babies and loves to rock her dolls and sing to them. (Oh, and the head band she is wearing was a kick she was on for like one afternoon. She thought it was sooooo funny to have on her head. And it was:)

Childrens Museum

We spent our MLK day at the children's museum. Raegans favorite part was definitely the mini grocery store where she could shop for food and check out at the mini check out stand. We spent most of our time in that one room!

Thinking of Spring

These are two sewing projects I am about to attempt. They seem like good beginner choices, but I'm still kind of intimidated. I'm hoping once I get started I'll feel more confident. Do any of my talented seamstress Hawaii friends want to fly to Portland and walk me though a pattern or two? Come on Katie??? Meg??? Jonna??? Anyone?!

The Market Skirt: MADE

Pillowcase Dress: Jen leheny's Blog

Naughty or Nice?

Umm....this picture is funny now, but at the time I was a bit frustrated trying to get Rae to smile sweetly for the camera and instead she would either pull faces like this, or totally sad/ tired faces that looked pretty pitiful. Keep in mind I have never seen her do this face until right then. Where did she see someone doing this? Or is it just child instinct!? Too funny.

I wanted to say Merry Christmas now when I have the chance and before things get super crazy with traveling, family and friends. I'm so grateful for this time of year. I'm grateful to have the gospel in my life and to know that Christ was born and lived and died for me. My life is rich with blessings and love and I know that comes from choosing to live Gospel principals and follow Christs example. I testify that Christ is my Savior, my Lord and Redeemer and I love Him.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!