Here are a few pictures of Raine opening her package from Brandi, Brian and the boys. There are also a few of her showing off her room after we rearranged it. She is so funny these days. She told us her first joke a few weeks ago. We were telling her knock knock jokes and then she wanted to try. So she told us her joke, after we said "Who's there" she said "Grandma Nina" "That's funny huh?" She is too cute. We were playing ball and wrestling in the basement and she said "playing, playing, sooo happy!"
Finally we are moved in and loving it! Raine spends so much time playing and having fun and we can all just relax. It is so nice and we really love it here! Here are some pictures of our new house! We can't wait to have you over to visit!
Wow, it's been a month since I posted last! Well, you haven't missed anything too exciting. We are still stuck in limbo. We do have a house to rent in Colorado, we are just waiting to here back from the lady so we can find out where to send the rent check and when we can get the keys. We are all soooooo excited to get moved in and settled! Our new house is so nice, we will have so much room and a beautiful, big back yard! I'm so excited I can't hardly stand it. Raine is super excited to have her own room again and all her toys and of course the couch. She loves our couch and misses it dearly. :) She is super excited because she gets a kitchen set when we move in.
Raine's 2nd birthday was on Sunday the 1st. We recently watched the "Happy Birthday" Signing Time dvd so she has been saying/signing happy birthday and talking about what we do on birthdays. She was really excited to have her birthday! We had a fun day. Raine got to do pretty much anything she wanted. She had hot chocolate, eggs and toast for breakfast. Then we got ready and went to the mall to play at the play center in the mall. She had a blast playing on all the breakfast items. She pushed a little girl off a banana. (This little girl looked like she was about ready so shove Raine off and Raine just gave her a little nudge and the girl slid right off). Then we walked around the mall and looked in a toy store. Then Dan took us to the Wizard's Chest, a really cool toy store where he bought her dragon. We spent a good 2 hours there. It was really fun. We all looked and played with all the toys. Raine got to pick out what she wanted and she got a stuffed pony, bubbles, a wind up dinosaur, and 4 tiny plastic dragons. The dragons seem to be her favorite - she is doing pretend play with them. She dances them around and says, "Hello there" in a cute high pitched voice. It is really adorable! After all that we had Raine's favorite foods for dinner: homemade mac and cheese and green beans. For dessert we had brownies, cookies and jello jigglers. Raine was helping me make the brownies and while they were baking she wanted her candle out so I unwrapped it and gave it to her and what did she do? She took a bite out of it! She was shocked to find out that it was not yummy candy but yucky wax!
She really is growing up, she no longer says "gargatons" she can say cartoons now. Her new favorite words are "Awesome", "Adorable", and "Dude". Dan was talking to someone on the phone the other day and he told them "I love you man" and I have now heard Raine say that a few times. She is such a silly little girl.
So, here we are back in cold Colorado. Dan is working hard in Denver and Raine and I are hanging out with everyone in Alamosa. We will all be so happy to finally have our own home again so we can all be together again. We miss each other terribly.
It sounds like Dan's job is going really well. He is putting in long hours and working a lot, but they are making progress and doing well. It sounds like he is enjoying it, he is such a natural leader that it is perfect for him. Plus he gets to work with his friend and learn a lot about build computers and stuff like that. He was soldering computer parts today when I talked to him.
I think Raine likes getting to play with everyone's toys. It seems to be easier for her to relax and warm up when everywhere we go there are toys for her to play with. We are excited to get to play with Jordan tomorrow at Grandma Trisha's. I think Raine will really like having more kid interaction. Raine has also been playing with Jaiden and Zach. Poor Jaiden gets stressed out because she keeps telling him that his toys are hers. That is one of her new favorites phrases, "My toy, My food, My mommy." She doesn't seem to mind the cold too much and she thinks the snow is, "cool, huh?" Raine also likes seeing all the wild life. We have seen deer wandering around town and cows and horses everywhere.
Since we've been here in Alamosa we have gone to Denver with my mom and Jaiden, to Chuck E. Cheese in Springs (Raine's first trip there), hung out and played with Grandma Trisha and Aunt Roberta, played at Papa & Grandma 'Chele's and decorated the tree with Nana. Nana took Raine and Jaiden to Build A Bear while we were in Denver, which she thought was pretty neat. She is going to be pretty spoiled because Grammy Tami wants to take her to Build A Bear too. It was so hard for her to choose a bear. She loved everything I showed her. :) She had a pretty easy time picking out an outfit and accessories though, she found a skateboard that she liked, but she settled on a baby bear kit. I think she would have been just as happy with just the baby bottle, silly little girl.
Raine has been very silly these last few days. I think she may be having Daddy with drawls. :) Today she was telling me that I was a "Silly Billy Bean", when I asked her if she was a silly billy bean she said yes and giggled. She has informed me that pretty much everyone we know is a silly billy bean. :) That includes you.
We did our limited Christmas shopping last weekend (and some online shopping last week). We are only getting for the kids this year, so we were able to get a few things we hope they will all enjoy. I am excited to be closer so we can spend more time with everyone and have a better idea of what the kids are interested in. We are trying to limit our shopping for Raine until we get settled into the new house, so we will just do a small Christmas and big birthday for her this year. Raine and I are also working on Christmas cards so I will get those sent out eventually. :)
I am so thankful for my family! I am so thankful to be a mom, especially Raine's mom! She really is the best thing and I am so grateful for her. I am so thankful to have a wonderful, sweet and fun husband who works so hard for us so that I can be home with Raine! I am so thankful that my mom is also my friend! I am thankful for my siblings, who I love to watch grow and learn and become the people they are! I am thankful for my wonderful mother-in-law, I could not have even imagined a better one! I am thankful for all of the family I have inherited from Dan, everyone is so loving and so wonderful, truly a family! I am thankful for the opportunity to move back to Colorado and for the new adventures to come. Happy Thanksgiving!
Raine is such a little sponge and is learning new things so fast, I can hardly keep up!
Raine's favorites: Books, pretend play, talking, playing in the dirt and bubble baths.
Favorite word: BANANA! (she loves to say banana several different ways, she yells it or emphasises a different syllable each time)
Favorite phrase: Cool, huh and Daddy Dunna!
New sentences: You scared me! No, No touch the TV button.
New words: gargartons (cartoons) - she has too many to list, but this one took me a while to figure out. Oh, and goya (yoga).
She is quite the character! I hope next time we see everyone she won't be so shy and will let her little personality shine!
Moving update:
We are pretty much all packed up, Oliver is on his way here with his semi as I type this! We will be leaving Arizona in just a few days.
On December 1st we will be moving to Colorado. Dan got a great new job in Denver as a Project Manager so we are happily moving back to our home state. We are going to miss the friends we have made here in Phoenix, but it will be so nice to be closer to most of our family! We are really excited about Dan's new job. He will be getting great experience and learning so much! He might also get to work from home a bit.
Our first month or so will be pretty crazy because we will be staying in different places. Dan will pretty much immediately go to Denver and start work while Raine and I will stay in Alamosa with family until we find a great place to live in Denver. Raine and I are going to miss Dan so much! But we will hopefully get to see him on weekends and such.
I am pretty excited about the move (not the actual moving part - I hate that part) but the new experiences it will bring. We get to start a new little life. I am hoping we can find a rental house with room for an office for Dan and a yoga room for me so that I can start teaching more classes again. I truly feel that this is the right thing at the right time, this is what we are supposed to be doing.
In Raine news: This little girl is the silliest, smartest, cutest little thing. She said her first full sentence earlier this week: "No, no, touch the TV button." Adorable, right? I wish I could report that it was "I love you mommy" or something. We are just in awe of how smart she is, I know every parent feels that way but it is still amazing. I was packing up some stuff last night and I wrote "Bathroom" on the box, as it was full of bathroom related items, as I was writing Raine was pointing out the letters to me. She correctly identified "h", "o", and "m". I was very impressed! She is also a good little counter, she can count to 5. I was counting with her the other night and she started saying the number that came after whatever I just said. Dan and I were surprised because we didn't realize she knew all that. Her vocabulary is pretty expansive now, she knows and can say just about everything she comes into contact with. One of her favorite games is identifing things and tellling me where they are or where they go. Being a mom is so fun!
I am so excited that many of you will get to spend more time with Raine now that we will be in Colorado! We really miss everyone and want Raine to be able to know her family. I am so glad we have the opportunity to give her that gift.
