Happy Birthday, Rayleigh!

Wow! I can't believe you are already 2, Rayleigh!! You are SO smart. You truly amaze us with how quickly you learn and pick up on things. Not a day goes by that you don't learn something new. You have become quite adventurous lately as well, climbing and jumping all over everything & everyone! You & Bryson are definitely making the most out of the toddler trampoline from Nana, Doodles & KiKi. You guys are in it all the time, and it's funny to see you both get braver and braver! The couches have become your personal obstacle course, and you about give us a heartache several times a day by crawling and jumping all over everything. 
You are such a talker. I mean, seriously. You pick up and say words that I don't hear most kinder-gardeners saying. Lately, when we ask you and question you don't know the answer to, you say "Um..." and think about it and then tell us an answer. It's really cute. 
You are definitely not a baby anymore. You are a little girl with such a grown-up personality. You know what you like and don't like, and the only way we can convince you otherwise is to make you think it's your idea. You are very headstrong, but so sweet and such a lover at the same time... 
We have started getting more and more random "I love you"s from you out of the blue lately. It melts our heart every time. You love to cuddle and hug & kiss us. You are a little possessive of us, even with each other... If I kiss Daddy's cheek, you want to kiss Daddy's cheek and then tell me "My kisses, Momma." You also love to carry your baby dolls & stuffed animals around and give them kisses. You like to feed them and give them drinks out of your sippy cups. 
Right now, by far, your most favorite thing in the whole world is Dora the Explorer. You would watch Dora or Diego all day every day if we'd let you. It's crazy. You are even having a Dora birthday party this weekend when PawPaw & GiGi come down. It's going to be great, and I am so excited to see your face when you see all of the Dora stuff.
We went to West Texas on your actual birthday weekend, May 13th. We went all the way to St. Lawrence and saw PoPo & Granny, Jill & Abigail, Craig, Tara, Holt & the twins Hudson & Henley, Bitzy & Doug, Halie, Lexie, and all of the rest of the St. Lawrence crew. We even went to a polka dance. You had a BLAST dancing and playing with the girls at the dance. We threw a little birthday party for you and Abigail on Friday night, and it was a blast for everyone!  Here are a few pictures of us from the party. 

Momma, Rayleigh laughing, and Nana

Here Momma, you try some. 

Rayleigh, you are such a perfect gift from God. I treasure every day, minute, second, moment I get to spend with you. We love you! Happy birthday!

Catch up!

Ok. I know. I get the "Bad Blogger" award for the last few months. (You, my dear few readers, are going to have help me stay on top of things!) It's not that we have been boring and lame or that I haven't taken a bunch of pictures of our adorable little girl. It's that I've been a little lazy and a little... well, blah. 


What is "blah" you might ask? Well, this time of year it always feels like I lose a little bit of myself. I don't realize it a whole lot until I reach about the end of April and then it usually hits me... When I say "I lose a little bit of myself", it's because my husband is definitely more than a little bit of who I am. In fact, he is quite a bit, and during this time of year, he is gone A LOT. And I miss him.  And right about now is when we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 


Baseball season is finally over! YAY! School is almost out, and things around the house should start to mellow out a little bit. This is the busy season for me at work, but nothing I can't handle with the help of my wonderful husband. We are looking forward to a relaxing summer and time spent with family and friends. 


Rayleigh is ADORABLE these days. It truly amazes me how smart and beautiful she is. She catches on so quickly and is one of those "critical thinkers". You can just see her brain making the connections and absorbing information. What a blessing she is! I see God working through her every day! 


My Rotary club started a mentoring project this year, and coincidentally, Kit's campus was picked. I have LOVED working with the 9th graders. It is such a fun age, and the kids are great. They have their moments, but who doesn't?  It has been a huge boost to my morale and spirit to be with these kids 2-4 days per week for a few hours at a time. I think know I am getting more out of it than they are, but I hope I am making a positive impression on them as well. 


This year for Easter, we had a "Langdon Easter" at the lake house, lovingly called Meanwhile. We had cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandmothers, and in-laws, total about 35-40 people. It was a great time! I even got to meet a few of the more distant Langdon family members. Rayleigh LOVED hunting eggs and jumping in the bouncy house. It was hard to keep her out of the bouncy house, and for pretty much the entire day, either Kit or I watched Rayleigh crawl in and out of that big house! 

She loved to stand at the netting and try to "get" us. 

It was a beautiful day to hunt eggs. A little overcast, but still warm. 

Langdon Easter 2011

Now it's time to start planning her 2nd birthday party. EEK!