Classic Pictures

So I decided to post some pictures that have always come up again and again in conversation or are just plain special to our family. Yes, all of them deal with Gwen. I noticed that 99% of the pictures on my computer are of Gwen, and about 1% are of Logan. There's an obscure percentage of pictures of me, but I'm usually holding Gwen. Since I'm usually in my pajamas all day now, I don't mind this at all. Anyway, here are the special pictures of our RayLo family, going back to Gwen's arrival.

I just love this picture. This is Gwen's personality in a nutshell. She's "Hangin' loose", doing her own thing, no worries, and certainly no boundaries.

Okay, this picture came about by complete accident. I had noticed that she was hugging her teddy bear and giggling, and I wanted a picture. When I looked back at the photo, I noticed that she had stuck out her tongue! Every time we see this picture, we crack up. When she gets older, this picture will definitely be a classic... and black mail.

I can't believe how many people we managed to fit in our small apartment for Gwen's baby blessing party. We were pretty much squashed like that the entire time. We'll get to do it a second time for Phoebe's blessing!

Gwen's first picture! This is the first good look I got of Gwen. Logan took a couple pictures to come show me while I was recovering from the c-section. Gwen didn't like those wires at all. The monitor kept flat lining because she kept pulling the cords off her body. She's less than an hour old in this photo. Wasn't she gorgeous? Looked just like her daddy from the moment she was born... well, from the moment they wiped the green baby poop from off her body, anyway.

This picture was taken just a couple of hours before I went into labor. I feel so huge now in this pregnancy, but I'm realizing I'm even bigger in this photo. I have three weeks of growing left to do! Let's just say two and a half.

Gwen's First Sick

The other night, Gwen started throwing up before dinner. Scared me to death, because I really didn't know how to handle it. She didn't seem phased by it though. While I'm wondering if we should rush her to the hospital, Gwen's running around the living room, smelling like puke, but completely cheerful, nonetheless. She threw up twice in her crib, soiling all of her sheets. Logan and I wound up sleeping on the couch with our little sicky, who didn't seem very sick anymore, until 4am, when Logan couldn't take Gwen's endless squirming so we moved into our bed. The next morning, we took Gwen to the doctors. Apparently, taking a sick child to the doctors is a miracle cure. Gwen ran around the doctor's office like she was the healthiest kid in the world, and the doctor confirmed her as being such. He said she probably just ate something that didn't settle well with her. The appointment was probably more for me than Gwen . I felt so much better. Gwen's such a trooper. She didn't let her tummy ache slow her down. She's awesome.

Here's a couple pictures of Gwen being sick for the first time. I know, I'm weird, but these are memories. Gotta snap as many as them as possible.

Gwen Got Tagged

1. Where is your phone? crib
2. Where is your significant other? nursery
3.Your hair color? blonde
4. Your Mother? pregnant
5. Your Father? tired
6. Your favorite thing? coo-kie
7. Your dream last night? playing
8. Your dream/goal? mess
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? singing
11. Your fear? bell
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? school
13. Where were you last night? crib
14. What you're not? shy
15. One of your wish-list items? sister
16. Where you grew up? Haven't
17. The last thing you ate? bagel
18. What are you wearing? diaper
19. Your TV? ignored
20. Your pet? bear
21. Your computer? musical
22. Your mood? curious
23. Missing someone? grandpa
24. Your car? tiny
25. Something you're not wearing? clothes
26. Favorite store? walmart
27. Your Summer? birthday
28. Love someone? definitely
29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? night
32. Something you crave? coo-kie
33. Why you blog? pictures

Four Weeks to Go!

AHHHHHH! Where has the time gone? I mean, sure this has felt like the longest pregnancy in the history of the world, but I put every thing off thinking I had plenty of time! Now, I have to cram labor prep, sanitizing the apartment, reading up on new borns again, and a million other things in four weeks. I haven't even ordered the bed yet! And we have zero clothes for her. My mom is sending a box full, so I'm hoping that arrives on time. I'm starting to feel the pressure. Then I realized, our apartment lease ends in April, and we have no idea where we're going, not even which state we'll be living it by that time. Logan's been working hard on getting his resume sent to a job he would really love, which could hire him in one of a handful of cities across the country (cross your fingers for Denver!) So I'm kind of freaking out a bit. Tons to do in such a short amount of time.

I had a dream the other day that I had my baby, and she was beautiful! The dream was so realistic. Phoebe looked like a newborn, with her puffy, sleepy eyes, and chubby, pink cheeks. She looked like me (except for the eyes. All my children will have Logan's eyes.) When I woke up, I was so disappointed. I wanted my baby back. This was the first dream I had about the baby. When I was pregnant with Gwen, I had dreams about her all the time. They were mostly scary, though. Like, I put her down somewhere and I couldn't remember where. I'm glad the baby dreams are finally starting up. Man, I'm putting everything off this time around, huh?

Going off topic, here's a picture of Gwen's new fashion style. This is the way Gwen's been insisting on wearing her shirts. If I fix it, she'll get really upset, and somehow squirm her arm back out of her sleeve. She's our little Tarzan woman.

Tagged: One Word Answers

1. Where is your phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? couch
3. Your hair color? blonde
4. Your Mother? giving
5. Your Father? funny
6. Your favorite thing? dishwasher
7. Your dream last night? forgot
8. Your dream/goal? published
9. The room you're in? living
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? whales
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? small
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. What you're not? mathematical
15. One of your wish-list items? glider
16. Where you grew up? Jersey
17. The last thing you ate? spaghetti
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? background
20. Your pet? Logan
21. Your computer? on
22. Your mood? paranoid
23. Missing someone? yes
24. Your car? messy
25. Something you're not wearing? socks
26. Favorite store? book
27. Your Summer? exciting
28. Love someone? extremely
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? unsure
32. Something you crave? dirt
33. Why you blog? pressure

I tag Becca and Michelle.

Her Father's Daughter

Gwen is a little stink, and I used to think the rebellious blood I used to have when I was little flowed through her veins, but now I'm expecting I'm not the one to blame. Today we got out the crayons so Gwen could color me a new picture, and she was doing very well for a while. That is until she got bored with coloring. She started stacking the crayons and lining them up in different ways. Then she started sticking them in her mouth. I knew this was coming, because I expect she thinks the crayons look like candy, and she always winds up sticking the crayons in her mouth. I usually have to take them away and she melts in a tantrum. But today I was having success with the simple "No" command. Of course, I had to say it multiple times, but she would stop sucking on the crayon and continue with her play.

I don't know how many of you know this story, but I'll recap for the story's sake. When Logan was two or three, he was watching his mother make homemade lolipops. She had to leave the room for a second, and she told Logan to not eat any of the lolipops. When she came back, she asked him if he had eaten any of them, to which he proudly replied, "Nope! I just licked them!" And, apparently, he had licked every single one.

Well!

I don't know if sneakiness is genetic, but when I told Gwen not to eat her crayons, she looked at me, brought her yellow crayon to her mouth, stuck out her tongue, and started licking it! Like father like daughter.

Oh, well. At least I got a pretty new picture to hang on my fridge.

Babies and Things

I have a little over five weeks to go. I didn't know how hard the second pregnancy would be compared to the first. You'd think I would have had some practice with the first one that would make the second pregnancy easier, but no. ' Course not. I guess it's harder because I had my pregnancies so close together. And maybe because Gwen was delivered C-section? Or probably because I have absolutely no exercise routine except chasing Gwen around. My doctor kind of gave me a lecture about exercise and encouraged me to get involved with pilates. Yeah, I'll get right on that. Gwen would just love it. Every time I get on the floor to pick something up, Gwen squeals and runs at me, wanting me to give her a piggy back ride. She'd think I was a real life amusement park if I started pilates every day. It doesn't help either that this baby is using my lungs for kick boxing. If I started exercising, I'd have to have an oxygen tank handy.

This month should be an exciting one. My brother Shaun's wife is having their first baby around the end of January, making me an aunt for the first time. They're having a boy, and I'm super excited for them. I didn't think I'd be an aunt ever. Too bad I'll probably not see my little nephew until he's much older, since most of my family live in New Jersey. Only my immediate family has met Gwen, even. Except my dad and brothers, that is. Plane tickets have finally started becoming reasonable again, but I can't fly. I'm going to make sure we get back to New Jersey sometime this year. Also this month is my birthday. This means we're going out to eat at a real live sit-down fancy restaurant. Probably Garcia's. Mmm, I love tampico chicken.

Because I think every post should have pictures in it, I've posted some favorites I've taken recently.

No pictures of me, of course. Not for a long time.