Dress Up and Catch Up

I apologize for not uploading very many pictures lately. It's not that I am not taking the time to put them on the website, but I just haven't been taking pictures lately! Anytime I get out the camera, Raelyn is obsessed with it and I can't get a good shot! If I ask her to smile, she scrunches up her face for 2 seconds then runs to the camera to look at the picture, not even giving me time to take one!

One of Raelyn's new favorite activities is playing dress up. I took these pictures below the first night we dressed up, and since then we have added several purses, shiny silver shoes, necklaces, and a pink tutu to the mix. She is so funny to watch when she prances around in her dress up clothes!

It is hard to believe how much she is talking and learning lately. She has been putting 2 words together for a couple months now, but it starting to string 3 words together now. I won't be able to list all the words she knows because there are just too many. Raelyn has a huge imagination already and loves to play games. A frequent game is "Night, Night....Awake!" She will tell me to go night-night and say "shhhhhh" then wait for a few seconds and yell "Awake!" I am then supposed to pop off the pillow and yell. Another favorite is when she pretends to pick up rocks and move them around. Sometimes she says they are "heavy" and grunts while picking them up! It's really funny to watch her.

This week Raelyn is going to start "school" so that I have time to work on my dissertation and other writing projects in the morning. She will go for a few hours 3 mornings a week. This morning we went to visit her classroom and she seemed to really enjoy all the new toys and new friends to play with.

This fall we will be a very busy family. Jackson is an assistant coach for football and I am an assistant coach for the high school cheerleaders. Between all the practices and games we will be running around like crazy. That isn't a bad thing though! I feel like I've been cooped up in the house all summer between the morning sickness then all this super hot weather! I'm ready to start all my writing projects and be more involved with cheerleading and church. Currently, I am working on my dissertation, and a book chapter and two other manuscripts with my academic adviser. Writing and research is what I would really love to do once I'm done with school. With the baby coming in January, we decided that I should postpone internship until next school year. That means that until January I get to do ALOT of writing, which I am very excited about!

I am currently 17 weeks along in the pregnancy. The nausea started getting better at about 14 weeks, but every once in awhile I will feel yucky still. I do have headaches pretty much every day though. So far everything is going well. We will have an ultrasound on Sept. 3rd and will maybe find out the gender of the baby, if he/she cooperates! I've felt the baby move a few times, which has been exciting!!

I will try to take more pictures and keep things updated. It seems like the busier I am the more productive I am, so maybe being busier this fall when motivate me to take more pictures too!