PIPER SOPHIA RAY

Well, she is finally here!! Precious little Piper joined our family on November 18th at 7:18 am, weighing in at 9.2 lbs and 20 inches long!! She is beautiful. We were all shocked at how big she was, but she is perfect and we love every pound of her. I was in the hospital Thursday - Sunday, so the girls came up each day to check in on their new little sister. My mom was home keeping things going at the house, and Jason was with me at the hospital most of the time. I just enjoyed the quiet time alone in the hospital holding and bonding with Piper, knowing that when I got home the quiet, peaceful time was over. We are so blessed to have added another wonderful baby girl to our family!







Mia and Lily just adore her, but are ready for her to do more than just eat, sleep and poop. Lily loves to help change her diapers (even the poopy ones) and gives her lots of hugs and kisses. Mia just wants to hold her all the time. They are being so kind and sweet with her - they will be the best big sisters ever!!

BIRTHDAY DAY!!

On November 6 both Jason and Lily have a birthday, and this year was a biggie!! My sweet husband is now FORTY!! For months I have schemed and dreamed up party ideas, but Jason made it clear that they only thing he wanted on his big day was to watch his beloved Utes play TCU. No party, no hoopla, etc. Boring! But I have to admit, being 38 weeks pregnant and not at all interested in entertaining, cooking or cleaning - I happily agreed to his plan. We decided to keep it a low-key family day. However, sweet Lily was not so excited about the days plans. She woke up that morning and started asking when her friends were coming over for a party. I had to remind her that she already had her birthday party and that today we were going to party as a family! She quickly responded, "I do not like that kind of party!" Sorry Lily. Jason and Lily got pancakes with candles for breakfast and then we opened presents. Lily quickly forgot her party woes when she opened her new scooter and hurried out the door to ride it - now she can finally keep up with the big kids. She and Mia spent that rest of the day outside playing with their friends. Jason got to enjoy the football game in peace (and with his favorite tacos), while mom got to rest. What a great birthday.

The birthday breakfast buddies!


Opening presents...and so proud to be 4.


The new scooter.


Ok, so have I mentioned what great neighbors/friends we have? Our friends knew I hadn't planned much (and I think they felt sorry for Jason), so they planned a fantastic dinner for us at their house. It was so wonderful!! The kids played, and we got to eat a nice dinner and chat. I did do some baking and made Jason's favorite key lime pie and Lily wanted chocolate cake - so they each had their own dessert for candles after dinner! With all of Lily's chocolate requests this week we are all sick of chocolate, for now. :) Bring on Thanksgiving and some good old pumpkin pie.



I had to add this picture - it is Lily with her birthday crown on (again) and finishing off her cherished chicken nuggets for lunch of Saturday. What a precious birthday girl. :)



Getting through these birthdays was the last thing on my list before this baby comes!! Now I am just counting the days until we have a new little girl in the family. So stay tuned - I hope to be posting baby photos soon.

Pre-Birthday Party

Lily had her birthday party a few days before her actual birthday this year. She really wanted to go bowling, but since I have a huge bowling ball inside my belly there is no way I wanted to do that. So, I convinced her to have a painting party at the kids art shop, and she jumped all over it! No matter what we did she was certain that it had to be decorated with My Little Pony and she wanted chocolate cupcakes! She is a girl who knows what she wants!! We had a great day. She had 8 little friends come and pick a ceramic piece to paint...and they all created masterpieces to take home. Of course there was some play time, cupcakes and presents, too. Here are a few shots from the party and our little Lily, that isn't so little anymore now that she is FOUR.






On Friday she got to be the Birthday Queen at school, and I brought treats for her class - this time her request was chocolate brownies with sprinkles. I bought her a birthday headband that got tossed aside for the paper crown her teachers gave her to wear for the day. She wore her birthday crown home and went outside to play with her friends, refusing to take off the crown. She even pulled it out again on Saturday to wear.



For dinner I surprised her with her favorite meal - McD's nuggets and fries for the whole family (to try and be healthy I did make some coleslaw, which of course no one ate). Did you know they have a 50 piece nugget family meal deal? At first Jason thought I was crazy, but believe it or not - we finished off a good amount on Friday night, and then the kids ate the rest for lunch the next day. It sounds gross now, but at the time it was kind of fun. :)

TRICK-or-TREAT

Finally, the time for more candy than our family will ever consume in one year!! The girls looked so adorable in their costumes - Mia chose to be a cupcake and Lily wanted to use the clown costume that Mia wore a few years ago. It was dad's turn to do the walking around the neighborhood since mom is too big and pregnant for the job this year. They were gone for a long time and returned with bags full of candy. Even today when I ask Mia what she wants to eat her first response is, "Candy from my bag!" and it is usually followed with me saying something like, "That is not an option right now. Would you like a sandwich?" We have two little girls that LOVE sugar (especially chocolate) - who needs protein and vegetables??

Mia posing as our cutie cupcake!


The girls and friends ready to start to the fun!




Lily and Russ - our great neighbor, and the girls like to call him "uncle Russ." He turned 50 on Halloween.

Lily and Annie back with their loot, and trying a little of it all. I love the sugar smiles!!

Pre-Halloween

I cannot believe these days how many ways people come up with to stretch out Halloween and the chance to dress up (and to increase opportunities for lots of candy). To name a few we were involved with - dress up and a party for preschool, for dance class, for church trunk-or-treat and then for Halloween night. I guess the good news is that you get a lot of use from the costume you purchase each year! There was lots of discussion this year about Halloween's official night out since it was on a Sunday. Some in our neighborhood and at church went out of Saturday, but the Rays are traditional and we stuck to Sunday evening out with our neighbors and friends.

Here are some photos leading up to the big night out.

Mia's school doesn't have a dress up day for Halloween, but they have spirit week leading up to it and each day is something fun. Her favorite day was slipper day.


Lily got to dress up for her school parade and party.


Our cute clown - and one of the only non-princess costumes in her class.


The kids of the cul-de-sac enjoying dinner before we got costumes on to go trick-or-treating.

Short Break

Ok, I am back...my husband decided to buy a new computer (finally he got the mac he's been wanting) and it has taken me some time to get used to using it for photos and blogging, but now I can say that I love it (after many frustrating hours of figuring it out)!! Plus, with getting everything ready for the arrival of our new baby (my c-section is scheduled for Nov 18, but I won't complain if she wants to come earlier than that), Mia's many hours of homework and school projects, October/Halloween and its many parties and preparing for 2 big birthdays (Jason and Lily) - life has gotten away from me over the last few months.

So, I am going to try and do a quick catch up...

A few weeks ago we spent a morning at the pumpkin patch finding just the right pumpkins for carving and for Mia's school project.


Here is Mia's Pout Pout Fish pumpkin for school - she was one of the winners for first grade!


Another one of Mia's projects - a diorama of the desert. She got to pick an animal, and she went for the camel.

Back to Preschool

Lily just finished her first week of preschool - and she loves it! It was a rough week and a half watching Mia go off to school every day, and knowing she had to stay home with me - all alone. Not only was her sister leaving her behind, but her good buddy, Annie, was starting kindergarten this year and she was no longer around for play dates. She wouldn't want to play with me because she said "it was more fun playing with kids, not moms!" She was dying for her school to start. Finally the first day came, and she was all smiles - with her nap mat and lunch box ready the night before. She has fantastic teachers and was sad that today was Saturday and she couldn't go to school. I have to admit, I really do miss my great shopping companion during the day while she is gone. But I am taking advantage of the time alone, realizing that in about 9 weeks it will all be over for a while. :)

Lily and her gear for the day!

 

All smiles, and looking so cute.

 

In class, and ready to go.