Rane In Action

Well I tried my best to catch Rane in his smiling action but this was what I ended up with.....

He is MUCH more of a ham than this and we enjoy his smiles and coos all day long and he is always SO happy to stare at our faces!! He loves to be held right in front of your face and his eyes will light up and a big grin will stretch across his face! Oh I just love it! He is such an amazing blessing in our lives and I am thankful for him (and his super duper easiness!!!) each and every day. Oh and Ella Ann was decked out in her Cinderella costume complete with her crown, a.k.a. her headband, and was behind me curling my hair with her curling iron....ahhhh...this is her new favorite thing and I am loving it. While I nurse Rane she will fix my hair and do my nails and makeup. It's fantastic! Yes she dolls Spencer up as well and we both ask her to do it because it feels so good!!

I also decided last week that I was very unhappy with the double stroller I had picked out. It is meant for mall strolls and not the exercising machine I needed it to be..especially on Atlanta sidewalks! Soooo...I posted pictures and a description of it on Craigslist and sold it that same afternoon! Yeay! I immediately turned around and bought a jogging stroller (after lots of research) for the same price. It arrived at my doorstep a few days ago and we have really been enjoying it. It is so much better on the roads and is very easy to maneuver. Ella Ann loves it because she gets to sit right beside Rane and touch him nonstop! :) Here are some pictures of the kids "playing" in it after I (yes I said I) put it together. Well, I can't really say I did a good job because the front wheel fell off when I took it out for a test drive and I sliced my finger wide open and blood was dripping all over the sidewalk when I tried to put it back on. I ended up taking Ella Ann out and pushing it with the front raised all the way back to the car wash so the two men (who also had just put air in the tires for me) could put it back on securely for me. Needless to say I had Spencer check out the rest of my work when he got home! Oh and yes the kids were fine after they slammed into the pavement!!!!

Ella Ann stuffed her animals in the seat with her (there are two underneath her) and she decided Rane needed one as well!

A friend of Spencer's family knit this adorable hat for Rane and I just love it!

Double the Party

This weekend we took our very first road trip as a family of four! All went well to and from Tennessee to celebrate Carter's 4th birthday and Seth's 2nd! We had a great time seeing everyone. Wayne, Connie, Nanny, Mike and Vickie drove down from Kentucky Saturday morning to see Rane. The only family that has seen Rane up to this point were the grandparents so everyone was excited to see our newest addition. Ella Ann did great sharing her baby brother...mainly because she was SO excited to play with Carter and Seth!

We left Friday late afternoon and hit major traffic and tagged an hour onto our drive, not fun, but we made it. Rane proved to be a good little traveler (does he really have a choice??) and we never heard a peep from him during either drive. Ella Ann kept asking us if she was going to eat cake even though it wasn't her birthday because she thinks the only time she can eat birthday cake is if it's HER birthday! She had fun watching Carter and Seth open their presents and really enjoyed playing with their new toys with them.

On Sunday we went to church and stayed for lunch. It was nice not to have to be in a rush to get home. When we got to our house there was a big package on our front porch from Disney...yeay! Mimi and Grandpa were just there last week so they sent Ella Ann and Rane some presents. Ella Ann's face lit up like a light bulb when she saw her Cinderella costume complete with "glass" slippers and a light up magic wand! Her exact words: "I'm going to carry this wand where ever I go!" Rane got a cute little onsie for this summer and a Mickey bib...we break them in early with Disney as you can tell!! We will not be taking Ella Ann to Disney World until she is 5 but she is always saying, "When I get bigger, I can go to Disney World and see where Mickey lives and see Donald and Goofy and Minnie and Pluto and Cinderella and Belle...etc.!" You get the picture! She is soooo ready but we are not! :)

Okay so again I took a lot of pictures so click HERE to view them. I also threw in some that you all have seen before because I wanted to add them in for my friends on Facebook that don't read our blog.

Our Valentine's Day

What a great day! The four of us spent Valentine's Day together just enjoying each other's company. Spencer and I decided to take our chances and go out to a relatively nice dinner at Buckhead Diner on Friday night with both kids. Well they were both fantastic and on their very best behavior! Ella Ann enjoyed some fries, along with the food I packed for her, and some of Spencer's chocolate shake. Her very first! I had amazing pan-seared tuna which my lips have not touched in over 10 looooooooong months (pregnancy and raw fish for some reason do not go together) so I was SO happy and savored every bite! It's my favorite food...too bad it costs an arm and a leg but what can I say, does it surprise you that I would pick the most expensive thing? :) Spencer really liked his meal as well so we will certainly be back! :) My very sweet husband also sent me a bouquet of beautiful tulips and irises for Valentine's Day that arrived yesterday afternoon. They are so pretty but I will wait to take a picture until they are fully opened.

I had Spencer and Ella Ann's gifts waiting for them at breakfast when they woke up this morning. Ella Ann loved her bag-o-junk (all from the dollar aisle at Target). I asked her what her favorite item was and she said, "The PINK marshmallows!" Of course! The kid loves marshmallows but had never tasted pink ones so she was thrilled and was eating them before breakfast...I know, doesn't sound like me at all but it IS Valentine's Day!

Ella Ann, Rane and I went to Nordstrom this morning and baked some festive cupcakes after lunch. We took some to our neighbors next door because I cannot have 24 cupcakes sitting around my house! Her and Spencer headed out to the pet store after nap time to buy Ella Ann a goldfish (her real V-Day present). They came home with Blueski, our new pet.

We also gave Rane his very first real bath this evening because his umbilical cord finally fell off this week! He loved it, unlike Ella Ann who screamed and hollered during her first bath...still does to this day! :)

Ella Ann and Rane earlier this week. Poor Rane! He always gets the life squeezed out of him in her arms!

Mara Kate and Jana also came over for our weekly playdate. I found them reading in bed together...so cute!

Before dinner Friday night.

I had to take a picture of his stylin' shoes Grandpa got him!

Opening her Valentine goodie bag this morning.

Eating a big marshmallow at 7:15 a.m.

All the junk!

I dyed her oatmeal pink and made a heart in it...I tried to make something into the shape of a heart at each meal today.

Well she iced two cupcakes and then decided she'd rather watch me ice and her eat!

This would be Blueski.

Ella Ann and her new friend! Oh and this is what she looked like most of the day. Spencer asked her if she could accessorize any more! Hey Minnie needs her bling!

Baby Rane in the tub!

More of Our Funny Girl

Just had to share the following:

A man with two earrings was checking our groceries out at Kroger Friday afternoon.
Ella Ann: "Mommy, that man has earrings! Why does he have earrings?" (Yes he can hear her.)
Me Mortified: "Yes he has earrings and that's okay. Boys can wear earrings if they want to."
Ella Ann: "No they can't! Boys don't wear earrings girls do! Silly boy!"
Oh my. I apologize and tell him she's just curious. Good grief. I'm sure she would find it very weird that her Daddy once wore an earring...... :)

This morning Spencer asked Ella Ann if she was going to work.
Ella Ann: "No! Girls don't go to work, boys do!"
That's right Ella Ann!!! :)

Today on the way home from school I had the windows rolled down on her side because it is 70 degrees here. I see her start to flap her arms and kick her legs so I ask her what in the world is wrong. Her response: "I'm kicking the air away from me!!!" If that wasn't funny enough here is some more and this is just in the car today!
We are listening to her Toddler Bible Songs cd and she says, "Mommy! They are singing about heaven! I love heaven! I want to go to heaven!
Me: "We will go to heaven one day when God calls us home."
Ella Ann starts whining so I ask her what's wrong. "But I want to go home and stay at home."
Me: "We are going home."
Ella Ann: "But you said we were going to heaven!!"
I love this kid!

Another conversation starts:
Me: "Ella Ann, did you get to wear the pink tutu today at school?" (She evidently wears a pink tutu every time at school because I hear about it when I pick her up...."Lucy Kate wears the yellow tutu and I wear the pink tutu." is what she tells me.)
Ella Ann: "No Adam was wearing the pink tutu."
Okay I already started laughing with that but I continue on and ask her, "Well did you get to wear it when he was finished?"
Ella Ann: "No, boys don't share! Adam said to me 'NOOOO!!' He was not nice. Miss Lynn did not make him share with me."

Yes I pretty much laughed the entire way home.

Second Child Syndrome

This is what the pediatrician said to me as I explained to her Friday morning that Rane was sick and Ella Ann, unfortunately, was to blame. Poor little guy caught Ella Ann's nasty cold that she's been nursing for over a week now. I knew it was bound to happen when last week she was leaning over Rane in his car seat and let out a huge sneeze all over him! His cry sounds more like a croak and he's stopped up, but otherwise the doctor said he was okay...just a head cold that should clear up in 1-2 weeks. Great. He's still his sweet self and I even managed to capture a smile on camera this weekend!! On a side note, I have to tell you another Ella Ann funny. When we were driving to the pediatrician's office Ella Ann informed me that her husband was not sick. So I ask, "Who's your husband?" She responded, "My husband's at work." Again I ask who her husband is and she gives me this matter-of-fact response, "Daddy."



I went ahead and had the doctor do Rane's 1-month check up since that was going to be another visit on Tuesday. I knew he had gained some weight but I was shocked when the scale read 9 pounds 10 ounces! He gained a whopping 2 pounds 6 ounces in less than 1 month! Rane also grew 2 1/2 inches! He is in the 50th percentile for weight, 75th for height, and 25th for head circumference. Atta boy! He's even grown out of his newborn clothes!


Meanwhile, Spencer headed off to Toccoa this weekend to work so the three of us had to occupy ourselves. I went to a great consignment sale on Saturday morning at a church down the street. It was half-price day so I expected it to be picked over but it was not! I put Rane in his sling so I could shop a little easier. Well in the first 3 minutes I had already found two very cute outfits for Rane and then he decided to pee all over himself, the sling and me. So I carried him around crying for a few more minutes and got Ella Ann ready to go home and change because I was determined to find more bargains...I was on a mission! On our way out Ella Ann is trotting to keep up with me so she falls down and skins her already-skinned knees again so I have her screaming and Rane as well and I can do absolutely nothing. Such fun. I managed to get everyone taken care of when we got home and I raced back to the sale to dig around some more. I was glad I made it back because I ended up getting several things for Rane, books for both of them and a guitar for Ella Ann (50 cents!). See below for pictures of my loot! We just played around the house yesterday afternoon. Ella Ann and I played doctor and while she held the stethoscope up to my heart she told me she heard animals and they sounded fantastic. It was good to know they are alive and kickin' in there! :)

This morning when I was feeding Rane at 5 in the living room I hear, "Mommy!! I'm all wet!" So I have to interrupt Rane eating which is terrible in itself because it takes him forever to eat sometimes, especially in the early morning, and I go in Ella Ann's room and she's completely soaked herself, bobbie/horsey, blanket and sheets. So I have to strip her down and throw some towels down in her bed because I was way too lazy to change the sheets. It was quite a morning before dawn today.


It's super nice here so we went for a walk on Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday. We are very much looking forward to when Spencer gets home later this evening. I honestly don't know how single moms do it with two or more kids. It is work!

Rane's new outfits....

a few closeups. I spent $.50-$5 on each item! Not bad at all!

A long time ago at Mandy's house I saw this idea displayed on her refrigerator. Carter's teacher at school writes a letter and then beside it makes it out of dots for him to connect. We've been doing this for a while in finger paint and she LOVES it. So when we were playing school yesterday (one of her new favorite things) I decided to do it with markers...much easier on me but Ella Ann of course prefers the finger paint. She is singing the completed alphabet in the above picture and showing her work off below.

The letters I wrote are in gray. I didn't help her a bit and she did so well!

Rane relaxing in the swing, which we do not move because each time he gets going in it he vomits like crazy!

Not a good picture but it's the beautiful smile!!!!!!!! That was work to get that too!

I took this at 6 a.m. this morning because he didn't want to go back to sleep so I brought him to bed with me to watch the news. Mandy let me borrow this Miracle Blanket and a miracle blanket it is! It looks similar to a straight jacket (honestly it does) and he sleeps like a champ in it!

A Good Week

Well we are back to our usual routines...thank goodness! We managed to get out and about every single day and I am proud to say I have conquered the grocery with 2 kids! Rane is still doing great...no crying and he's up only 1 time at night! Yeay! He started smiling and cooing earlier this week and it's soooo cute! He's so different from Ella Ann and I expected everything to be exactly like it was with her, i.e., frequently up at night, spitting up..err...vomiting on me like crazy, and feeling like my world was collapsing! Fortunately I haven't experienced any of that..yet! Ella Ann is back to her old self and I have figured out how to successfully feed Rane while still sitting on the floor playing with Ella Ann and her beloved doll house.

Papa and Nana also came down this weekend for a quick visit. They got up beyond early Saturday morning and drove down here to see us. While they spent some quality time with the kids, Spencer went to watch a ballgame and I made it to the gym...alone! We ordered in dinner Saturday evening and mainly just sat around and enjoyed each other's company. They went to church with us this morning and left after that. We will see them again soon so it was an easier goodbye. Ella Ann sure enjoyed having them here because of the extra attention she received!


A friend from church took pictures of the kids last week. HERE is the link to view them if you haven't seen them already.


Here are some pictures from our week:

Rane's favorite sleeping position...sprawled out like a cat in the sun!

I bought this sling in hopes of carrying him around in it so I could run errands a little easier with two kids. Well after watching a very complicated video on how to operate it and several efforts of putting Rane in it only to have him scream because he hated it I took it to Ruth's house (queen of slings) on Friday to have her show me how it works. Well duhh...I was doing it sooo wrong! Now when I put him in it he's as happy as a clam...and pretty darn cute may I add!

Rane is ALWAYS arching his back until he forms a backwards "C". It's hard to tell from the picture, but he's doing it. He also folds his little hands under his chin while doing this move and I could swear he's posing!

Relaxing on the rug in his room. His Aunt Mandy gave him this adorable outfit and it was the very first boy item of clothing I received...way back this summer. It's hard to believe he's here and already wearing it!

Playing with Papa on Saturday....

Nana getting her grandchild fix...

Before church on Sunday.