The Giant Sleepover

We had a wonderful time this weekend with a bunch of my family from MN coming to visit and meet Rayna for the first time. We had yummy meals, great laughs, a family recipe book made, and so much more -- great memories! :o)

Here's the whole crew that was here -- 22 in all.
Rayna's Great Aunt Janet, Grandma Jean,

Cousin Melissa, and Cousin Cameron (6 wks younger than Rayna)

Cameron & Rayna
Grandma Jean and her sisters and sisters-in-law
The morning breakfast crewThe lunch/baby shower crew

The supper crew

Cousins Kody, Cara, and Kaylee

Kaylee, Rayna, and Cara

We had to put all the air mattresses on the pool table

when we were working on our family recipe books.

Pics from last week

Kitchen fun with Daddy

Me and Daddy after bath
I've been sticking my tongue out and making raspberries a lot lately!

Apple Orchard, Rolling Over, and more!

On Sunday we took our annual trip to the Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove. It was a beautiful day and Rayna was such a good girl.

On Wednesday night, Rayna finally rolled over from her back to her tummy! She's been so close, rolling up on her side, for the last month and a half. She finally pushed that last 5% to flip to her tummy.

She continues to do well with her veggies and cereal. We have a couple more veggies to try and then will move on to fruit. :o)

Family Photo at Edwards --

last year Rayna was just a peanut in my tummy when we were here.

The petting zoo at the Orchard.

Cousin Dessa giving Rayna a kiss.

Tractor funWe hope to take a picture of Rayna with this scarecrow each year.

Turkey Time

Mommy love...

Cutey Patooty! Bundled up for this cool fall weather.

I guess her food wasn't coming fast enough --

she was trying to eat the highchair. :o)

She loves to rub her dad's buzzed hair. It makes her giggle. :o)
She's moving and shaking these days. When I laid her down with her jungle her head was facing the same was as the lion. Somehow she twisted herself around almost 180 degrees and was pushing her feet on the bars at the top. It was pretty hilarious!

Fun Photos

Mom and Dad didn't get too many pictures taken of me this week. The week went by so fast. I've mastered green beans and tried carrots for the first time last night. :o)

This is the first time mom tried a hair bow. I think I'm pretty darn cute!
Having fun in my Entertainer.
I love to touch people's faces these days. I especially like to grab mommy's glasses.
Precious Baby Rayna!

Five Months Old

Whoa - I'm five months old. Time's flying. So many new adventures once again this week...a trip to St. Louis, I visit to a state park, and I started eating green beans.

This is my cousin Dessa giving me a hug.

Five months old today!

Daddy thinks he's cute putting me in funny poses for pictures. This one's on top of my laundry!

Grandma Jean bought me a new tummy time toy! :)

I think I got more green beans on my bib than I did in my tummy. This was a few days ago, though...I'm doing much better now!

Chillin' out like a big girl.

Mom & me at Starved Rock State Park. We didn't get very far...a lot of the trails are under water still from last week's floods; and the other trails all had steps on them. Dad said he didn't want to carry my stroller down steps for two miles. I'm not going to say he's too wussy or anything...but......

Lots of adventures this week

I know there are a lot of pictures here, but mom & dad said that I've had a lot of great adventures this week and lots of fun things to share...

I'm so close to rolling over from back to front. Mom & Dad are putting toys over to the side so that I'll roll towards them.

I put just about everything in my mouth. :)

I'm sitting up better and better. Right here I look like I'm trying to stand up during my bath!

I'm eating with a spoon these days. This was funny...as mom was feeding me I sneezed and shot food all over her arm!

Daddy was holding me next to the computer and I pulled up the pictures of me to look at. I'm cute!

Sporting some Monmouth College gear. Mommy says I should go to MC...Daddy says NIU's the place to go. We'll just have to see about that.

At the Sandwich (DeKalb County) Fair. Daddy fed me a little bit of his milkshake. It was cold!

Also at the fair...hangin' out with the dairy cows. Mom said this one's in honor of all her family and their farms.

My first weekend of football...NIU loses, the Colts lose, and the Vikings lose. Are you serious?! (I don't have any pictures of me in Vikings stuff because I don't have any that fit me right now. Hint, hint...) ;-)

SO happy!

Another Fun Week

I've had another great week. Sleeping through the night is so great! I feel so well rested in the morning and I know my mom and dad appreciate the uninterrupted sleep as well. :o)

Kiddie Academy is so much fun. I enjoy going to school each day. Miss Salme and Miss Kasia take really good care of me.

Play Time!
I started eating from a spoon this past weekend.

The first time was pretty funny...

but each day I've gotten better and better at it.

Love from my Grandfather Dave

My first guitar lesson with Daddy.

One of my many boyfriends -- Dominic Gasparino.

He was born on August 27th.

Another boyfriend -- Ezra Fulkerson.

He was born on August 11th.