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 :)