Fall Festival

Child's World had their Fall Festival party and the kids were able to wear their costume.  Raleigh chose to be Minnie Mouse this year which was fine with us.  The only thing we had to buy that we didn't have was a black shirt to wear under it.  :)  The party was a huge success thanks to all the work that Kim did to organize and get everything together!  We had a couple of crafts and tons of food for the kids.  This was my first day to take Raleigh to school.  It was wonderful getting to drop her off and then be there with her to help at the party and then take her home with me.  I'm so glad I've had some days saved up so I can take off for days like this!

Ready to go to school

 Taking the "sin" out of the pumpkin before carving it

 Raleigh and sweet Payton

The funniest thing that happened was when Kim told Payton that she needed to eat her fruit before she could get dessert.  Well, I look over and she's picking up her fruit and moving it to Raleigh's plate.  Raleigh didn't mind at all because she wanted more watermelon so Payton gave her some!  :)

 Some play time before heading home

Playing School

Oh my goodness!  When Raleigh's playing I can see myself in her!  Grandma and Papa pulled down my old dolls and a baby bed, carrier, and a little Fisher-Price schoolhouse.  Well, Raleigh was playing with the schoolhouse just like I use to do.  The teachers name was Miss Jennifer and some of the kids were getting in trouble.  When Papa was playing with her some of the kids went up on the roof!  I love toys that can be passed down so she can love them as much as I did!

28 weeks

I went for my 28 week check up which included an ultrasound to check my placenta and the baby.  Good news...the placenta is where it needs to be for a normal delivery and baby boy is no longer breech!  He had a good heartbeat at 139 bpm.  Then the bad news...my cervical length had shortened which could cause preterm labor.  They'll check it again in a week.  This baby boy is already giving me fits...we can't seem to just get a normal report!  :)

Christmas Shoe Boxes

Child's World was collecting Christmas shoe boxes for children in the Ukraine and who live in the mountains of North Georgia.  Before we found this out I had told Jason that I would like for us to participate in Operation Christmas Child this year, but then this came along so we decided to help out with it.  Raleigh was very helpful when we went to pick everything out.  We kept explaining to her that we were getting things for boys and girls who didn't have toys like she does to play with and their parents can't go buy it for them for Christmas.  The main lesson we tried to teach her in all of this is that this is what Christmas is all about and we give to others because Jesus gave so much to us.  Hopefully some of it sank in and she'll remember it again when we start talking more about Christmas!

Child's World Pumpkin Patch

Raleigh's "field trip" for the month of October was a hayride and visit to the Child's World pumpkin patch.  We had so much fun on the hayride and looking at all the scarecrows.  Raleigh was most excited about the scarecrow dressed as Snow White.  Mrs. Kathy had some babies being born at the cabbage patch.  I told her I would not be calling her when I go into labor.  :)  After the hayride Raleigh got to pick out a pumpkin.  It was so much fun and I'm so glad I was able to be with her!

Disney Princesses on Ice

We decided to surprise Raleigh and take her to see Disney Princesses on Ice.  We didn't tell her until we woke her up from her nap right before we left.  That was the best decision ever because otherwise it would have been a million questions every day until the time we left.  Jason's parents ended up not being able to go so we were able to invite Amanda and Ryleigh to go with us.  The girls had the best time!  The show did the best job of telling the stories of Tiana (Princess and the Frog), Cinderella, and Rapunzel (Tangled).  When they finished the stories all the princesses came out...my favorite part!  It was so much fun to watch Raleigh and Ryleigh's faces as they took it all in.  I'm so glad we were able to do this with Raleigh before baby brother gets here!

Raleigh's First Haircut!

Two months shy of 4 years old and it was time for Raleigh to have her first haircut.  Since family pictures were coming up we thought Raleigh's hair might look better to have a little trim.  I will say I was definitely nervous and would not get much cut off at all!  There wasn't even enough for me to keep a "first curl."  Since Raleigh's hair grew in a "v" shape, we just had a little trim in the back to work towards evening it out.  Even though there wasn't much cut it still helped the look and looks healthier.

Shampoo...looking scared!

 First cuts!

 All finished and beautiful!

 Not much different, but much better!