7 days, wait... months, old already!

7 months? Really?? It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown by. It seems like every day, our little girl is growing, learning, and changing. She is a lot of fun to play with, and definitely has her own little personality.
Here are a few recent pictures.

I walked in on her like this one morning while I was getting ready for work. She got really quiet, so I went to check on her. This is what I found. It was pretty funny. About 5 minutes later, she woke up and started playing again.

We've also graduated to the regular sized bath tub. She loves it because she has more room to play and scoot around.

We love making funny faces, and apparently, Dad is a great teacher.

Rayleigh & Granny K

And here is my little Stacy Lee....

Rayleigh's 7 month "stats"
Weight: 21 lbs 12 ounces
Foods: all fruits, sweet potatoes, carrots, fruits mixed with cereals or granola
She isn't crazy about the green veggies yet, and soon we will be trying some veggies mixed with meat.
Still just two teeth, but with the amount of drool lately, I'd say a few more are on the way.
She sits all the time on her own now, and she is reaching for all kinds of things. She's not quite getting near crawling, but hopefully soon. I am enjoying these last few weeks of her being immobile.
Her hair is getting a little longer, but not much thicker. Hopefully we'll be able to put bows in soon!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I always love the Christmas season, and this year is definitely no exception. In fact, this year is even better because we have someone to spoil like crazy!! Christmas shopping is even more fun this year because she is just so fun and so easy to buy for.
Dad put a few lights up on the house, and we've got the tree up.

And Rayleigh is in the Christmas spirit too, modeling her new outfit from Paige & GiGi (Piper)

Rayleigh's little boyfriend, Bryson, turned one on December 5th, and we had a party for him. She liked playing with his toys!

We took Rayleigh to see Santa Claus. She didn't mind him at all! She even smiled at him a bit. It was really cute!

My whole world:

Thanksgiving 2009

Another Thanksgiving, another year that Brianne slays the Stripper bass on Lake Texoma! We had a fabulous time this year, and I earned the title of "Fishing Goddess". The fish were a bit smaller this year, but they were still fun to catch! Piper & Paige stayed behind to play with little RayRay while Dad, Kit, myself, Kaitlyn & Wyatt went out and froze our tails off on the morning after Thanksgiving.
It started off pretty cold, well, cold by us Southerners' standards. Our Northern counterparts were a little more at home in the below freezing wind chill.
Dad on the trip out of the marina:

Wyatt on the same trip about 2 seconds later:

We had a blast fishing and caught plenty!

Wyatt even attempted to eat a fish head, but didn't get it all the way down. It was pretty funny!

Here is our total catch, 52 stripper and about 3 sand bass.

This year was a time for our family to be especially thankful for everyone and everything that we have. It has been a very tough year for some people, and we are fortunate to be so blessed. God has definitely been present in our lives this year. He gave us the most precious gift ever this year, with our beautiful Rayleigh Jean!

We are also mindful this year of the brave men & women who so selflessly serve our country to defend our freedoms, especially Rayleigh's Godfather & one of our best friends, Matt Machacek, who is now over in Afghanistan. Our love, thoughts & prayers are with you, Matt!

6 months old & our anniversary!

I can't believe how fast time has flown by. Rayleigh was 6 months old on the 13th, and Kit & I had our two year anniversary on the 17th. Our lives have changed so much in the last two years, and we feel so blessed! We have the most beautiful daughter, a wonderful home, good jobs, and great family & friends. We are so thankful for everything that we have! Also, Kit turns 31 tomorrow, so he is thankful for another birthday! :)

With Thanksgiving approaching, this is always a good time to be thankful for all of the blessings we have and mindful of those around us that are struggling and hurting. I encourage everyone to take some time this year to reach out to those less fortunate or help out a friend that is having a tough time. It can be anything from volunteering, to donating, to just lending an ear and saying a prayer with someone who needs it!

Here are a few pictures of Rayleigh from the last few of weeks. I have some on camera from her actual 6 months old birthday that I still need to download. I will add them soon!

Our 6 month old "stats"
Foods: We are actually eating food now!! She's had bananas, pears, peaches, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She still really likes her bottle, but we are gradually adding in more food every few nights!
Teeth: two teeth on the bottom, but I think she may be getting another one... She has been a drool monster lately!
New things this month: She is sitting all by herself now, and loves it! She has started taking a pacifier, or a suck-suck as we call it, which is odd because she never wanted one before. She has also started making funny noises with her tongue and lips. She constantly sticks out her tongue, blows air and makes noises. She thinks it's funny. She is also starting to get a little bit of hair!! :)
We aren't trying to crawl yet, but she does reach for things and can sit up if she falls forward. She's getting stronger!

A&M vs. OU game

Yes, I back-dated this post. I needed to make sure I posted this though, and I really wanted things to be in order.
Rayleigh, Kit & I went to Norman with our new friends The Merkel's to watch the OU v. Aggies football game. We had a great time with George, Sue and baby Nicolas!

The best part of the weekend though was that Paige & Piper went with us and got to experience their first OU game. Since they are big-time OU fans, it was very special that we were all able to experience it together, and even more special to them because they OU kicked the tar out of the Aggies. We got to see my Dad too, even though it was only for a little bit...
Here is a picture of Paige & Piper at the game.

Here is our little Aggie family at the game. We had to apologize to Rayleigh for having to witness such a butt kicking as her first Aggie game and that her first Aggie football experience was not at Kyle Field. We will definitely have to make it up to her!

RayRay was much more interested in watching the huge jumbotron behind us than anything else. She spent most of the game like this:

We'd heard that the fans at Norman can be pretty brutal, so we were a little nervous to go, especially with the little one. I can honestly say that we had a great time and the fans were a lot of fun and great sports! Next year, the game is in College Station, and we are ready for the whole Lee crew to come down and experience the glory that is Kyle Field!!

P.S. As always, we won half-time. Whoop!

Rayleigh: "Laughter"

Captured this clip with Rayleigh laughing at Momma. Momma was making silly noises and gestures towards Rayleigh. You'll love the responses, enjoy!

Hi Halloweens!

We had a fun Halloween this year! Rayleigh was a monkey. I hear her cousin Holt was a monkey too! I'm sure at Christmas we will have "two little monkeys jumping on the bed" at some point. :)  She had several Halloween outfits this year, including her "I love my mummy!" outfit

and her Happy Halloween outfit

and her monkey costume...

I had a work party on Friday night. I went as Sookie Stackhouse from the HBO show TrueBlood during the day, and I went as a pretty devil at night. On Saturday, I went as a NY Yankee and Kit went as a 1970's rocker...

At the party we went to Saturday, there was a little girl there that got so excited about the trick-or-treaters. She is 3 years old and was dressed as the most adorable bumble bee. Every time doorbell rang, she run to the door, throw it open, and say "HI HALLOWEENS! Here's some candy!"  It really was so adorable. Hope you all had a fun, safe Halloween!

Another trip out west

We headed out west for a weekend to spend some time with family and to give Matt one heck of a going away party before he deploys to Afghanistan. It was a great time, and Matt has a bunch of people praying for him and his troops.
Here are a few pics from the trip!

Baby Clothes!

I'm not real sure what has come over me lately, but I have had the urge to be very "domestic" and make baby clothes and other fun things... Now, when I say baby clothes, I mean I am decorating onesies and stuff I bought at the store. So maybe the correct phrase should be "spicing up" some baby clothes. At any rate, I have pleasantly surprised myself (and others, apparently) at how well they have turned out.

Here is Rayleigh modeling the first one I did. (You may have noticed that Rayleigh is sitting up all by herself in this picture. This is becoming a more and more frequent sight at the Langdon household!)  I am so excited and pleased with how the first one turned out! I have since made 2 more, one with a Christmas tree and one with an R on it. I will have pictures of those up soon.  I am thinking of maybe starting a side business by doing stuff like this and tutus and other fun stuff...
And I am also going to really put my very rusty sewing skills to the test soon by making RayRay a reversible jacket. We'll see....
I am extra excited about making baby clothes because I found out yesterday that I will have a new baby cousin to sew for in April! Congrats Jill & Aaron! The Langdon crew is so excited for the new journey you are embarking upon! You will be outstanding parents! Will I be sewing blue or pink? hhhmmmm.... we can't wait to find out!

Teeth!

I am proud to say that little Rayleigh Jean is the proud new owner of two front teeth!! They cut through yesterday on the bottom. It was so exciting. I was totally surprised because she hadn't really been acting any differently. She was gnawing on my finger as normal when, low & behold, I felt teeth!! You can see them cut through and you can definitely feel them. My little one is growing up so quickly! (Pictures soon to come)

The Giggle

There are few times in a person's life when they are just supremely and uncontrollably happy... For me, a few of those moments include when I was accepted to Texas A&M, the first time I kissed Kit, when we got married, and when I found out we were having a baby... However, I had a moment this week that I think may have lept to the top of that list...

Since Kit is coaching football this fall, Rayleigh & I get a lot of time together, just us girls... Our afternoon routine includes me picking her up from the babysitter, going home & watching The Young & the Restless, making a little bit of dinner and giving Rayleigh a bottle or attemping some cereal and maybe a bath. While we watch Y&R, I hold her in my lap and play with her. This week, I was playing peek-a-boo with her when all of a sudden, she started CRACKING UP. It wasn't like her little squeal of glee that she normally does, but a full on laugh. She got the belly shake and everything. It was hysterical. I was trying to be serious because it made her laugh harder, but I couldn't keep it in. So there we were, both of us just laughing at each other.

That happened I guess on Thursday and then again yesterday. Yesterday I was smart enough to go grab the phone and call my mom so they could hear it. It was so funny, and her giggle is so precious. The smile on her face is worth more than any amount of money in the world. I am so fortunate to have such a beautiful daughter. I am so proud of her and humbled by her every day! It's an amazing experience to be a parent, to know that someone else's life is way more valuable and important than your own. I look forward to so many more of these moments!!

Already 4 months old...

I can't believe my little Rayleigh is already 4 months old. She is the best thing I have ever done, and I am eternally grateful and proud to be her mother! Here are a few pictures of her. She is trying hard to roll over and sit on her own.. She is making lots of new sounds and faces now, and it's so fun to be around her. I love her!

To view a more pictures, click here. You can see pics all the way from our wedding until now.

Labor Day Weekend

Working in the hospitality industry means I don't normally get the regular holidays off that everyone else does... While I miss getting those holidays off, I am extremely grateful to have such a flexible schedule and laid-back workin environment. It is definitely a fair trade-off.

Our holiday weekend started off by Kit & I driving Rayleigh to Oklahoma so she could stay with my Dad and Piper for the weekend while we went to College Station. It was a longer trip than Rayleigh would have liked, especially since she was sick for the first time... (Just FYI, baby throw-up is not exactly a good look on me) She was a trooper though, and did pretty well. I was so excited to get to go to College Station for the game with Kit that I hadn't really anticipated how far away we would be from her or how much we would miss her. Leaving her that night with my Dad was harder than expected... It really made me think about how hard it must have been on my parents when Cameron & I were growing up and they had to switch weekends and time between the two of them...It was especially hard for me to leave her because she was sick for the first time and because this was the first time that I was going to be more than 30 minutes away from her. After a few tears and lots of consoling from Kit on the way home, I was a lot better and looking forward to the weekend.

I had to work Saturday morning for a few hours, so we didn't get to leave for The Homeland until about 1:00p or so. We finally arrived to campus around 4:00p and headed directly to the Chicken to meet up with Matt & Lori who were well ahead of us in terms of consumption so we proceeded to do our best to catch up.

Then, we went to the game where the Aggies put a whooping on the Lobos of New Mexico: 41-6. It was a great game, and we had fabulous seats (courtesy of some Ol' Ags in the A&M club I started in Granbury). We had a great time at the game. We then headed back to the Chicken and had a few beers, a few shots, and a lot of good times.

It was so good to get to hang out with Matt & Lori!! We had a blast! I always love spending time with them because they are so much fun, and Kit & Matt get along so well.



We came home early on Sunday, and Piper, Paige & Dad brought RayRay all the way back to Granbury and spent the night with us. We all had breakfast together on Monday for my birthday before they headed back to Oklahoma.

All in all, it was a great time. Kit & I really enjoyed the time to ourselves, but we were sure happy to have our baby back! :)



To view pictures from Labor Day weekend and more, click here.

Baptism pictures

You can view all of the pictures by clicking here.

Rayleigh's Baptism Weekend

Yesterday, August 22, we baptized Rayleigh at Saint Frances Cabrini church here in Granbury. It was truly an amazing experience. I was very surprised how emotional I felt as the deacon baptized my little one with holy water. I became choked up and overwhelmed as my precious, perfect little angel received the Holy Spirit. I find comfort in knowing that we are beginning her journey as a Christian together as a family, and that she will forever be in God's grace. Rayleigh is an amazing gift from the Lord, and I am so thankful to Him for her and the love that she brings into our lives.
We were really excited to have everyone in town. I got to spend a lot of time with my cousin Lori, whom I love like a sister. Lori & her husband Matt (who is also a college friend of mine) are Rayleigh's godparents. We feel so honored to have them take on that task. I know from my experiences with both of them that they are two of the most devout Christians I know, and I have 100% faith in their ability to counsel Rayleigh in the future and for them to help us raise her to have a stron Christian faith.
We also had my parents, Doug & Mary Kaye, sister Makemma, brother Cameron and my grandparents, Leon & JoAnn, visiting. I was thrilled to have Granny & PoPo visit us and get to see our home. I think they liked it! My friend Alissa came as well and hung out with us all night as we partied! Emily & Josh came to baptism and lunch with us. It was good to see them.
After the baptism ceremony, us big kids went and played golf and drank some beer. Then we went out to the Langdon ranch for dinner and more celebrating. It was a great day, and we all had so much fun!!

Livin' la vida loca!

So the last year has flown by!! I can't believe how much our lives have changed since August 2008. In the last 12 months, Kit & I both got new jobs, moved, bought our first house, and welcomed our first child. Whew! What chaos! It has been crazy but so wonderful.

The move was tough on us (especially me) at first, but as we have gotten settled, it has progressively gotten better. We are starting to make more friends and getting closer with some we already had.

Our friends Katherine & Terry Smith live across the street from us. I worked with Kat at my previous job, and it was just coincidence that Kit & I bought a house across from them. The Good Lord works in mysterious ways because Katherine has been my saving grace. They have an 8 month old son, Bryson. It has been such a blessing to have a brand new mom and great friend over the past year because I can bounce ideas off of her and get advice on mom stuff & just adjusting to life in Granbury. Our husbands are also both from Granbury and grew up playing baseball together. Kit & Terry love watching the Texas Rangers games on TV. It's been a real blessing to become such great friends and hang out with them all the time! I love their little boy like he is my own, and it has been so neat to watch him grow and change over the last year.

In addition to Katherine & Terry, our friends Jeanne & Aaron Stone live three houses down in the opposite direction. Aaron & Kit coached baseball together last year, and Jeanne & I have become friends through the boys. They have two little girls, Lynlee (2 & 1/2 yrs) & Rylan (10 months). We love hanging out with them too, even though they are Red Raiders and won't let us forget it! ha ha. Aaron is a photographer and is the one that took Rayleigh's baby pictures. This is a picture of Lynlee & Rylan with Cinch. They love him!! Aaron was mad because he can't ever get Lynlee to smile & pose, and the night I was taking these, she loved the camera!!

We've been out to the Langdon Ranch a few times lately too. I love going out to the ranch. It is so peaceful and beautiful there. It is definitely a nice reprieve from the hustle & bustle of town. Rayleigh has finally gotten to meet some of her Langdon family. She met her Great Aunt & Uncle Mimi & Jerry a couple of weeks ago, and she got to meet her Great-Aunt Julie on Monday.

I love this picture of Rayleigh & Joe (Kit's Dad). It cracks me up!

Here are RayRay & Kit's mom, Karen.
Last week, my cousin Sydney & Makemma came out to stay with us for a week so they could help with Rayleigh. We went swimming out at the ranch. It was my first time in a swimsuit since I had RayRay, and it was less than fun... But I am working on it!! It was also Rayleigh's first time to go swimming. She liked it ok, but was getting hungry (surprise, surprise) and got a little fussy.

Here are me, RayRay, & Makemma swimming at the Langdon's.

We went to Lubbock last weekend. My brother Cameron graduated from Texas Tech! Although I am sad he is a Red Raider and not an Aggie, I am very excited and proud that he graduated!! We had an awesome time hanging out with him and his buddies over the weekend. It was also a blast to hang out with my sister Sallye. I don't get to see her very often, but we always have a good time when we do! I don't have any pictures yet from graduation, but I will post them when I do.

That's about all for now. I have a lot more pictures, so if you want to go to my Picasa Album and check them out, feel free.