Vera Kate's first snow!

Well it was not alot but at least it was some!! On Saturday morning we woke up and looked out the window and there was SNOW on the ground!!! YAY!! So super fun!! We bundled Vera Kate up and headed outside before it all melted!! And trust me it was gone in an hour!! But nevertheless we got some pics and Vera Kate was a super cute snow bunny!!!

Hello Mr. Snowman!

Well we had a fabulous laid back weekend and we are busy, busy this week getting everything ready for the family to arrive for Christmas!! We are hosting Christmas this year and I am super excited!!! I will probably not be blogging any more before 2011 so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Rays!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! We pray that you and your family have a blessed Christmas!!!!!

A Family First

Yep you got it right folks... our first family photo for the Pictorial Church Directory! HAHAHA!! Growing up we always took the lovely Olan Mills photos so when Kirby Woods decided to take church photos.. I was pumped! I told Brian I dont care how much a pic is we have to get one to document... Luckily they give you a FREE 8x10!!! So here it is!!! SO wonderful!! HAHAHA!!!

Vera Kate has grown to LOVE the camera!! She is a little ham!! As soon as she sees the camera and notices that you are going to take her pic... she turns it on!! HAHA!!

Santa came a little early and she is posing in her LOVELY new high chair! Thanks Nonnie and Pops!! We LOVE it!!

And here she is posing in her jumpy thing!! Santa came early on this one too! Thanks Papa John and Annie!!! We LOVE our new jumpy!!

Vera Kate is opening her first "wrapped" gift! It is from the Carson family! She needed a little help but loved the paper!!

Thanks Carson family!! I LOVE my new PJ's!!!

We had a fun visitor for a few days!! Kayla came to play!!!!! The Ray kids LOVE Kayla!! Come back soon!!!! We LOVE you!!!

Dear Santa...

Vera Kate met good ole Santa Claus this weekend! She did really well. She was really sleepy so she just gave him a good sleepy stare!!! I am glad that we had a great first meeting with Santa:) And it was snowing on our way to meet him! How PERFECT! HA! Of course it didnt stick but it was fun!

My parents came up this weekend to keep Vera Kate while Brian and I went to our Sunday school party! We had a blast at our party and LOVED spending the weekend with Papa John and Annie! We cant wait until Christmas when everyone is here!!YAY!!

We met Santa at the Enchanted Forest in Pink Palace! It was super neat and we enjoyed it!!

Vera Kate and I posing in front of one of the trees!

Vera Kate hanging with Papa John and Annie in front of the Memphis Grizzlies tree

Wow, dad that is a cool little elf!
Vera Kate checking out the toy soldier
Loving these cool gingerbread houses:)

We had a great weekend! Brian finally caught the cold that Vera Kate and I have had. I say finally because I knew he was going to get it but he never did. But this weekend he did:( But even though we were sad he didnt feel well... Vera Kate and I LOVED having him home with us today!!

5 Months Old

Well, we are 5 months old!!! YAY!! I really cant believe it! I am soo looking forward to this Christmas with our little five month old:))
Here is what's new:

Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz (still a little petite thing)

Diaper size: 2

Clothes: mainly 6 months maybe a few 3 months items

Bottles: About 4 6oz bottles daily

Food: Oatmeal cereal, peas, and sweet potatoes (we have only tried peas and sweet taters but she likes both!) Hopefully next week we will throw a fruit in the mix!

Still sleeping all night and doing well with naps. Takes one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Still only rolling from side to side. Not rolling over yet.

Is sitting up some. Tripod sitting pretty well. Only for a bit but she is getting there!

LOVES to play and loves mommy or daddy to read and sing to her

LOVES Baxter!

Vera Kate LOVES her daddy! It is sooo cute when he gets home from work she looks at him when she first sees him and gives him a HUGE grin! It is sooo cute!!

I also LOVE the mornings when I go into her room and tell her good morning and she just SMILES! It is my favorite!

LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Baxter!

She was watching dad put together her new highchair! I am soo excited to have it!!

We also have our first ear infection:( BOOO! Vera Kate has had a cold since Thanksgiving and well I guess I am a bad mom but I didnt call the doc until yesterday. I guess I get it honestly seeing as my mom let Stu go with a broken arm for a week before taking him to the doc! HA! Dont call DHS Stuart is very successful and he survived!! HAHA! Anyways, no... Vera Kate was still herself. No fever, eating, sleeping... you know the normal. She just had a runny nose! Well finally yesterday I called. She had been waking up during the night a couple times this last week and seemed a little more fussy! So I called. THankfully! But the doc said it really wasnt that bad just a little red and infected! So now we are taking that yummy amoxicillin! The yummy pink, thick medicine! She is doing good with it and it is hopefully going to knock that ear infection out!!!!

We are hopefully going to meet Santa this weekend!! I will keep you posted!

Baby Food Making

So I have started the baby food making process! Yes, I know crazy but it actually was fun and it will help us save a little dollar!! When breastfeeding did not work for me I decided that I would make Vera Kate's baby food when it became time to help us save some money that we have spent on the unexpected formula!! But you know God is good and even though I was devastated about the whole breastfeeding thing... it has all been good and totally worked out!! I believe the Lord taught me a HUGe lesson in all of that! I will have to save that for a later post:)
Anyways, Vera Kate tried some green peas over the past week and did well and now we are going to try mommy's sweet potatoes!! I will let you know if she likes:)))


Yummy sweet taters!!
We kept our little buddy Nate for a little while this morning and the kids had fun! I was a little nervous about keeping two under 9 months:) HA! But it was fine and actually really fun! Nate kept Vera Kate entertained and we LOVED having the company!!
Shhh! Dont tell Nate's daddy that he played with Vera Kate's doll!

HA! I even managed to get a picture of both of them looking at me! So CUTE!!

Barely walking...

Well, Brian and I are walking around like a bunch of old folks!!! Why you ask?? Probably because we completed a half-marathon on Saturday!!!!! Yes, we did it! Brian ran fast and finished right under 2 hours! Karen and I finished and that is all that matters!!!!! We had a blast walking/running together! Thanks Karen for hanging with me and not leaving me:)))) Back in the summer Brian asked me... Hey Sal, do you want to do the St Jude half again? I said um... sure it will be a great way for me to lose my baby weight! HA! Well, I failed to think about the fact that I would have a new baby that would make training a tad bit difficult!!!! Oh well!! I kept trying to get Brian to let me drop out and do the 5K! He was like.. no lets try and do what we signed up for! So we did and I am honestly glad that I did it! It really is fun and it really does give you a sense of accomplishment however as I am typing this every bone and muscle and fiber from my hips down hurt and is sore!!!!! Poor Vera Kate she is probably wondering what in the world is wrong with my parents and why are they moving sooo slow to get my bottle!!!

Thanks to my dad, Papa John, for coming up to keep Vera Kate while we did the half! She loved hanging out with you!! Baxter was especially excited that Papa John came up!! HAHA! Whenever my dad is around Bax is right underneath him. He LOVES to sleep with Papa John! On Friday night when my dad went to sleep Bax was right behind him and Bax didnt budge and we didnt see him until dad woke up Saturday morning!!

After we finished the half on Saturday we ate lunch with my dad and then before actually sitting down and relaxing we headed to Nesbit, MS to the Merry Christmas Tree farm to cut down the Ray family Christmas tree! Brian and I knew that if we sat down and relaxed for a minute we were not getting back up so we just kept on going and crashed after everything was done!!

Vera Kate with the half marathoners pre- run! She was cheesing big!!!

Getting ready!

Running down Beale!

We HAD to get our picture with Santa in between mile 3 and 4!

Of course a pic with Elvis is a priority after completing 13.1 miles in Memphis!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE FINISHED!!! Got the medal and sore muscles to prove it!!!

Thanks for being a fabulous running/walking partner! After 13.1 miles we solved all the world's problems:))

Vera Kate with us post half! She looks a little frightened! But she was oh sooo proud of dad, mom, and Aunt Karen!

Down to the Merry Christmas tree farm we went!!

Going to get my first Christmas tree!

Found it!! Daddy and Vera Kate found the perfect one!

Family photo with Vera Kate's first Christmas tree

Checking out our tree!

We ran into our friends and neighbors Allie and Julie

Watching dad bring in the tree

Our BEAUTIFUL tree!!!

We had a fabulous weekend!!! We are truly loving this holiday season with Vera Kate!!