New experiences and discoveries

 Raelynn seems to learn something new everyday and is a blast to hang out with.  Here are a few things we've done recently.

We met Santa for the first time!  She looked him up and down and waited until after the picture to start frowning.  

She discovered that not only are dog toys fun, but so is the basket we keep them in. 

Sorry I can't turn it.  I took it on my phone. 

Last week Raelynn had her 9 month check up.  She was 18 lbs, 11 oz and 28.8 inches.  She scored off the charts for fine motor skills and communication.  She was only average on her gross motor skills, and since that's just not normal for Raelynn, our pediatrician said we should work with her on pulling up on furniture and cruising.  

Phase one of our assignment....... Complete  :)  Now we just have to get her confidence up enough to try taking some steps. 

Photo Bomb

I'm way behind as usual.  Raelynn was sick for almost 2 weeks straight and we've been very busy.  Raelynn has just taken off.  She army crawls everywhere and is in to everything.  She can now sit herself up while laying in the boppy or on her tummy.  She babbles constantly and loves making a huge mess with her toys.  We had to move her crib mattress down today.  I have caught her on her knees, hanging on to the side rail, socks thrown overboard, while singing "da da da" several times in the last few days.

We decided to convert our never used office into a playroom and have been working hard at making it a fun place.  I'm excited about Raelynn growing into it and watching our friends' kids enjoy it in the mean time.  Here's what we were able to do with our small budget.

We also made a trip to San Angelo for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time and were able to get some great Christmas card pictures. 

Busy Little Girl

We always seem to miss chances to catch Raelynn doing all the cute things she does on video.  The dogs get in the way, the battery dies, or she just stops doing it before we can get it and refuses to perform on demand.  :)  Today I was able to catch Raelynn doing 2 of her favorite things.

At a recent play date I showed Raelynn that she could make noise by hitting the bottom of an empty tote.  Her friend, Jack, thought it was old news (hehe) but she thought it was fantastic. We gave her an empty formula container that she loves to chase and hit.  Today, I gave her a stick and showed her that it made a different noise. Girl is smart, cause she went to town playing her new "drum".  (sorry, I can't get the video to rotate)

We've also been encouraging Raelynn to crawl.  She likes to get on the hardwood floor and just kind of slides herself around so she hasn't been too keen on the idea.  I've gotten her to army crawl on the rug towards something she wants a couple of times, but she never wants to do it when Matthew is home.  Today I got her to go for my Kindle!  (Again, sorry I can't rotate the video.  I shot it on my phone.)

Halloween and the Playroom

Since I quit Facebook I've had several people tell me they miss all of our pics of Raelynn.  I thought it might be easier to keep everyone in the loop with a blog then trying to remember who I emailed or texted.  I'll do my best to update often, so save our site to your favorites if you want stay in the know.

Wednesday was Raelynn's first Halloween. She dressed up and we went trick or treating with our good friends The Harrells. We only hit a block or so of houses and then hung out for a little while to help hand out candy.  Since she can't eat candy yet, we let her play with it for a while.

So, I did not make it to the gym 4 days this week. I did make it 3 days and I got a great at home workout painting our office to turn it into a playroom.

Here is the room before we started painting.  3 walls are the same color as our livingroom and 1 wall got stripes.  It took 2 coats of each color to get it done. 

We has more help than we knew what to do with.  Raelynn loved the sound the paper made when it crinkled, but we had to take it away when she started trying to eat it.  

Here's the accent wall with just the natural light from the window.  The colors look really dark so...

I took a picture with the overhead light on.  

I think it turned out pretty well.  Matthew pain-stakingly marked out all of the lines with a yard stick and a level then went back and taped them.  He's so helpful!  Now we just need to win the lottery so we can fill the room with toys and storage.  Haha 

Back on the Wagon (again)

So, I've started over, again. I'm not sure how many mulligans I've had,but i like to think that it's the fact that I keep trying that counts.
Anyway, I joined our nearest YMCA about 3 weeks ago. My plans hit the gym were ended before they began when Raelynn was sick for the entire first week of my membership. I was also sad to have to miss MOPS and Bible study. Luckily, she was only sick for 4 days,and I was able to get started last Monday.
Being the incredibly intelligent person I am, I decided to jump in the deep end and go to Bodypump for my first workout. If you've never been, its a weight lifting class set to music. Its fun, but I knew better. I did bodypump every week for a good stretch in college. So, I decided I was going to get serious, got me and Raelynn up & to the Y in time for the 8:30am class. I was proud of myself for remembering the proper form & to use the lowest weights. What I didn't remember was that even if you use no weight, you leave class feeling like you're made of spaghetti. I was seriously worried I wouldn't be able to carry Raelynn to the car. We made it, but was so sore the next 3 days I had trouble sitting down (and standing up) and felt like I walked like a wooden puppet. I had to make myself do 45 minutes on the elliptical machines on Tuesday and Thursday in an attempt to loosen up. By Friday I felt I had control of nh legs again. So, last week I made it to the gym and actually worked out 3 days.
This week started well. I did Bodypump again on Monday. No soreness this time, so I guess I already need to add a little weight to my bar. I missed my class this morning to make it to the grocery store between naps. Tomorrow I have Bible study & a tutoring session, but am going to try to at least hit the elliptical for a bit if I can squeeze it in. My goal is to make it to the gym 4 days this week.
On a medical note: I saw a new doctor who works with women and their hormones last month. She did a full work up, and other than a couple of vitamins she wants me to take, I'm healthy. She believes my weight problems are tied to my PCOS. She changed my birth control and put me on a medication that forces my cells to accept the insulin my body makes instead of storing it as fat. So far I've noticed I have a little more energy and a few of my other symptoms seem to be slowly improving. She also encouraged me to cut out carbs after lunch. You never really think about how much of a certain type of food you actually eat until you try not too. Its been an adjustment, but Matthew is doing it with me, and that helps.