First Moments

Drew's First Halloween

Our Little Frog Prince: I think he'll forgive me when he's older, but doesn't he look cute! It was half off at Babies R Us the week before Halloween. It really was exactly what I wanted, I was so thrilled!

Although he looks a little sad here, he was totally mellow in the outfit. Didn't mind wearing the suit or the hat one bit!
And it kept him warm

What a change from last year's screaming and tugging fit Sydney threw in her Tinkerbell costume - "Get off get off!" :) Now she loves to play dress up while she watches Tinkerbell... I love this girl :)

Speaking of Sydney and her fairytale make believe....
She bit into 8 apples

then fell asleep in her Cinderella dress :)

Her fun & imagination is never ending!

The Princess & The Frog Prince

This year Sydney was the most "beau'ful, wonderful - Gorilla!" in her cinderella dress. Gorilla is how she pronounces any double-L word :) Hilarious.

I bought the dress a little early, and after three days of wear and tear it really was worn and torn. My friend Cherisse altered it for me, salvaged it really, and made it what it is today - thank you Cherisse!!

Sydney actually got into trick or treating this year - so cute!! She was timid at first but once she saw they were giving out candy she exclaimed, "Oh! OH!! Okay!" and stuck out her silver Cinderella bag (compliments of Cherisse); she was as friendly as could be. At the third house she tried to walk in once they opened the door! Cracked us up. We trick or treated 7 houses or so before going to our friends', the Stebbings, Halloween party. We had a wonderful evening!

Drew's First Haircut
Before:

He was super chill during it, barely whined...

That's our Drewby :)

After: Handsome little boy!

(Mom got her hair trimmed too)

Here he is in action, at bedtime the other night :)


He is growing up so fast! We can't wait for his first birthday - in just a week and a half. Lots of photos and a video clip or two of the party to come! :) Happy Belated Halloween everyone!

Heartbeat 170 bps

Here we go again! I heard a sweet little heartbeat today for the first time, and felt like "this is real." So, woo-hoo! Baby Rawlins #3 is due to enter this world on April 30th, 2010. Perfect timing. Pace is a pro at working childbirth in between his hectic finals... why not shoot for that again this time around? His finals start May 1st and Drew was a week late... You do the math! :)

We are thrilled though, as you can imagine. This baby will be wonderful as either a girl or a boy. A girl- hooray! She'll be born in the same season as Sydney (4/14/06), and we have all those lovely clothes saved! A boy- great! He and Drew will be bosom buddies, only 18 months apart (right Michele?), and can play together :) Plus, I wouldn't need to fuss about getting new "girl" bedding for the crib. Either way, we're super excited.

To prepare for baby #3, I thought, rather then invest in a second crib (nesting starts early in this household, especially with my family coming to see us for Thanksgiving, we hope!!) I'd find cute bunk beds that can be used as twin, non-bunk beds while the kids are young. The guard rails will keep Drew in safe... And here's what we found!

We love them, first for the price (even cheaper with the discount Pace found online), and second, the customer reviews gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars!! They all raved about the beds. The boxes just arrived to today, I can't wait to set them up in Sydney's room!

My very late 20's

This week I celebrate yet another year in my "very late twenties" (AKA 33rd). I'm looking back to see what I've learned, enjoyed, and accomplished in the past 12 months... It's kind of fun to think about. Here's the list I've made:

I've made a home. Moving away from all known family and acquaintances I thought was going to be hard. However, I have learned to love this time together with just us and our two beautiful kids. Admittedly, living away with so few distractions helps one become a better wife and mother, at least I think it's working for me... Life here is good. I can only say that because we get to go home and visit so frequently! :)

I've given birth "the hard way". :) Drew's almost 1 and I can't believe how cute he is, how much fun he is play with. He says Mama now, gets around a lot by scooting and reaching, rolling and pushing backwards. He is a delight!! I must admit, I bite him daily - who wouldn't, he's so big and squishy! Even though he is still waking me up 2 times a night - fatty doesn't eat enough during the day - I am loving this stage of life with him! :)

a familiar face, Drew makes this one daily - we love it :)

Sydney is potty trained!! Now THAT is worth celebrating. Pace gets credit for beginning it, I was away in Vegas when he prayerfully and patiently found what motivated her to go pee-pee on the potty. Thank you, Pace!! Now, I have discovered what motivates to go poo-poo on the potty - with all 7 Disney Princess Barbies collected, :) Sydney has earned the right to say, "I'm a big girl now!" Hooray, Syd!!

(see, there it is again, only a little more scrunched)

Here she is on her first day of preschool - all grown up! :)

Last but least, not many woman can identify with this... While I'm slower than most moms to get to this point (it's been a few years since I became a mother) I am now beginning to feel the blessed joy of motherhood. I have to admit, I feel guilty about it, but it was hard to give up the 10 year career and professional success, walking away from everything. The paycheck was easy to give up - no big deal there. But loosing the intrinsic rewards, that was harder.

I read an article last month in the Ensign, "Staying Home Again", it helped me a lot. Long story short, this mother prayed to find the joy of staying home and slowly but surely it came to her. I am grateful the Lord can help us see those joys, forget ourselves more and be happy in our role of wife and most importantly, mother. There is no greater joy than marriage and family and I feel especially grateful to be able t0o participate in it! Here's to 33 more years of life and living while learning to love the ride... Happy Birthday to me! :)

5 Reasons

Five reasons I love my husband even more today!
1. For the second day in a row we were babysitter-less (it's youth conference this weekend). Instead of having me miss class he opted to take off from his externship (precious hours and experience) to be with our kids for the entire 5 hours (usually it's two) for the second day in a row! And he was truly happy to do it!!
2. He brought me my goggles, on his own accord, so I could go swim laps after class - encouraged me to do it, even though he'd be with the kids alone longer... I didn't ask to!
3. He picked me up lunch and brought the kids to see me between classes, took them to play at the Science Center.
4. He's handsome and I love his smile, I see it a ton lately (must be the slightly lighter load of his summer school) :) and...
5. Tomorrow I am taking a plane to Vegas to spend the weekend with my girlfriend and several other of her friends, alone. Cassie (from back east, see our trip to DC a year ago last October for photos, super awesome girl!) is getting married and is having her bachelorette party there! I totally wasn't thinking I could go, but Pace told me in January that he'd work that week we were in AZ visiting to earn money to pay for my ticket to go. Sniff, sniff. I can't say how thankful I am for my dear friend and wonderful husband!! "Can life get better? I submit that it can NOT!!" :) (to quote BrianRegan)

It isn't Father's Day today but I have to say again, I am so grateful for him! That he let's me go to school, encourages and supports me in all my happy endeavors, wants me to be happy, and I can't tell him enough my gratitude for him and his example. He is a tremendous blessing to me and everyone around him. Just wanted to share that :)

4th of July

Austin, TX visiting with friends
Love these guys! Missy and Greg, little boys Kayden and Eli. We had a blast! Greg is interning there for the summer, but luckily these guys are coming back to Lubbock soon (unlike the Burches, bummer!)

Fun in the sun

It is hot there, I guess it's the humidity that gets you (being from AZ never thought I'd complain about less than 100 degree weather... The kids of course loved this game of getting wet. Not as much as Greg loved wielding the power-sprayer, though!

Town Lake, Austin
You could see turtles here all over in the water, Sydney freaked out when one charged toward her in the canoe

Missy and I snuck out to watch The Proposal while the Dad's took the toddlers canoeing... Our babies slept fine in our arms - good, funny movie!!

Outlet Malls
My friend Elizabeth told me, "Exit 200 on the 35!! Best advice I can give you." She was right - super outlet malls there between San Antonio and Austin. We stopped for lunch on our way to San Antonio...

Syd thought Johnny Rockets was too loud when the waiters sang and danced the way they do... Too funny! :)

Eli - Darling little guy!

Kayden, Syd' playmate :) Sweet kid!

Side note: Drew's hair is starting to curl in the front and back - I totally dig it

In Front of the Alamo

BFF's! Syd & Kayden, they love to play together! :)

Riverwalk & Rainforest Cafe

This was super fun, aside from the smothering humidity/heat of San Antonio in July... :) We totally sweated like crazy but it was well worth it!

Cool bridges, bardges, people, shops... The Riverwalk!

Definitely not stroller friendly...

Kayden's Birthday dinner at Rainforest Cafe
Sydney was completely tripping about all the animals. Not in a good way. We thought she dlove it, oh no she was terrified! "Tiger! Scared! Gorilla, Crocodile! Whhaaa!" Clung to us. But as soon as we left she was all brave, "Ooh tiger! RAAAWWR!" Crocodile, Gorilla! Cool!" We asked her if she wanted to go back and she just fowned, shock her head and said no... Ha, that's my girl :)

Ahuh Ahuh Baby - don't know where this came from but I love it

Driving Home

The kids traveled really well, by the way, barely made a peep either one of them. We were really grateful! And look what we spotted about every mile for 30 miles between 2 small towns about 2 hours from our home... YUCK! All over the road out there!! Pace says we are NOT camping here. Yeah, no way, not even getting out of the car here.. Welcome to TX!

Oh they give me the creeps! I had one in my bed when we lived out at the base of the mountain in the city which must not be named :) ha, seriously though YUCK!

Time Flies - June

Here's what we've been up to the last month and a half:

Sydney started Parents Day Out (Lubbock's beginners preschool). She loves it! It's just 2 days a week but she's there for 6 hours. Amazingly enough she does really well for being away so long! Loves her friends... In fact now that she's started to pray on her own (she shews Dad away if he tries to coach her, she gave him a dirty look the other night like, be quiet I'm praying!) she prays for the dinosaur, fishies, turtles, friends, airplane... all the things important to her. It's so cute to witness!! At least she prays from her heart! As long as she keeps that up I guess we won't worry too much about her not sitting still, ever, in Sacrament meeting. :)

All dressed up and ready to go to "school"!

Happy Father's Day, Pace!
I found them matching ties, thanks Ashleigh! :)

Drew is still super chunk, happy as ever! We love this kid!!!

He isn't crawling yet but his two front teeth are about to come in, any day now Drewby! He's 7.5 months old :) Sweet baby!!


Summer school is great - Pace got the highest score on his Commercial Law mid term out of the entire class! Ninety out of a hundred! I am so happy for him!! Proud, he's working really hard. He's externing for a judge here in Lubbock too and is loving the experience. He watches the kids for me two hours a day, every day so I can take my classes. So far it's a tight schedule but it's working! Thank heavens!! ...Calculus just started for me today. Wish me luck.

I also started working, just 10-15 hours a week, from home for a financial advising firm here in Lubbock. So far its really cool!! So glad I have the opportunity to continue learning and keep my resume fresh! Money is good too you know :) So, yeah, life is busy (hence the lack of posting). Same excuse, different day I know :)

At the end of June we took an overnight trip to see our friends in Amarillo Just an hour and 45 mins away
So fun!! Here we are at Cadillac Ranch

The cars are buried in the ground, covered in layers of spray paint. Interesting but cool! :)


Amarillo has a free zoo! You know the kids loved that

We are in Texas... :)