1 month old

Raylee :) 

2.22.2014

It's crazy how time is already flying! A month has pasted since Raylee was born & it has been a great month! Raylee is doing so good! She sleeps AMAZING at night... I'd be lying if I said I didn't get sleep at night. She does have her nights of waking up every 3 hours, but even that isn't that bad. She normally sleeps 4-5 hours & if I'm lucky 6-7. One night she went to bed at 1am & woke up at 8am I was shocked, but loved it haha. She's strictly breast fed & is doing so good. Alleah had a harder time with that so I ended up having her on formula, but I am determined to not let that happen (not that I'm against formula because Alleah is healthy as well) Raylee is so alert & just looking around; she's even starting to coo. She's definitely a blessing & I loved that girl more than anything! I am loving watching her grow. Being a mom is the best thing ever!! :) 

Names

Alleah Mae & Raylee Hazel 

Joey & I have always had a tough time choosing names for each of our girls, but here is how their names were chosen :)

Alleah Mae:

All through my pregnancy we kept going through name after name after name. I had gotten apps with girls names. At first we thought yes we had a name (Sydney) .. Nope that didn't stick. We made the mistake of telling my siblings and they had their jokes. My brother said he'd call her baby syd.. Then we chose Aubree. But we decided the name was to common. Her name was Aubree for the majority of my pregnancy. One night I went on one of my apps and wrote down the names I liked. I told Joey "Leah" he said "no that's to much of a common name... What about A-Leah?" I thought... "YES!" It was perfect! Wasn't super common & it was cute! We figured out the exact spelling & that was her name. In high school I always loved the middle name Mae & wanted one of my little girls to have it. It was the perfect middle name ... Wasn't a whole lot of discussion on the middle name. We knew it would be Mae from the very beginning. Alleah means "high, sublime" :)

Raylee Hazel: 

We had a harder time with choosing her name. We felt like we got lucky with Alleahs name & how cute and not common it is. I had probably 5 baby apps for names. I would text Joey names all the time from the app. He would say "no!" Or "heck no" haha. I love how Joey was so involved with choosing our kids names. We probably said we had a name for her 10 times & then end up changing our mind. We were gonna do ABC for our kid names but couldn't find a B name that we loved. At first it was going to be Bree. But then we thought "no that's to short" then it was gonna be Brianne after me (my middle name) but we just didn't want it as a first name. And then we just gave up the B name idea and looked at all names. By the last month she probably had around 8 names that we were going to choose from & ended up changing it. The last month we finally said "okay we need to get our butts in gear and choose a name!" We chose a name my mom suggested and then we had Hazel as the middle name chosen. But then one night I texted Joey while he was at work cuz I was upset that we didn't choose the first name ourselves. So Joey told me we would sit down and choose a name together. The next day we went through a million names on apps & online and just couldn't choose. We had some ideas at least and were plannin on going to the hospital and just bringing our ideas with us. But I didn't like that idea. When I went to my 37 week apt he said I didn't have much time left that she'd come any day so that night I told Joey we have to choose!! I sent him all the names we liked and we sat there staring at the names. We mixed two names that we liked together. It was perfect! Raylee is an adorable name! Joey chose Hazel after his granny that he was very close to. We went to the hospital either having Raylee Hazel in mind or Raylee Jane. We loved the way Raylee Jane sounded together, but we loved the meaning behind Raylee Hazel. So that's what we decided on. Raylee means "princess" 

Teamwork between Joey & I for both names :) 

(I didn't include all the names we decided for Raylee & Alleah but didn't use... Who knows ... We might have another girl) :) 

The Girls <3

Alleah & Raylee :) 

Alleah is 20 1/2 months old now and a very active little toddler. She is so full of energy & personality. She loves to watch Mickey Mouse clubhouse & she dances along too. She will dance when practically any music is playing. She is learning so much and it is so much fun teaching her. She talks a TON now & still babbles a lot too. She says "please" for practically everything. When she wants something she will automatically say "PLEASE" & just point at what she wants. Lately I've been trying to get her to say "please.... Blank" and teaching her new words. So far her favorite is "please juice" haha she loves apple juice! Or "please cookie" She says "thank you" too :) she can say a bunch of things... To much to write down, but the things she says the most is: "sister" "Raylee" "what is that?" And many more!! I try to do the best I can with teaching her things. I know she understands me, but it's the age to "test" me haha. I have days where I swear Alleah is testing my patience & I just need to sit down & let her get mad while I give myself a few seconds to recuperate. Alleah is very smart and very active. She runs around & plays all day. She loves to entertain herself and play with all her toys in the living room and her bedroom. She carries her baby and Elmo practically everywhere. At nap time she will throw those two in her crib haha. Soon I will start potty training. Joey and I have gotten Alleah to go potty in her big girl potty a few times, but haven't been strict about it. Time to start :) Alleah is showing signs that she's ready to be potty trained so I'm gonna start very soon :) Alleah has 4 molars, her 4 Canine teeth, & her front 8 teeth. Soooo glad teething never gave her a problem. The only teeth that gave her the most trouble were the molars. She loves food. I love that she eats everything we eat. Her favorite food would have to be spaghetti, fries, and chicken. (Not at the same time) She's just growing up way to fast! Alleah is a great little girl and we feel so blessed that she's in our life. Shes been doing so good with her new sister. Yes sometimes she gets a little jealous, but she just loves giving Raylee kisses & she wants to hold her a lot too. They will be great friends later on :) I have been thinking of ideas of what to have the theme for her 2nd birthday & so far it's between Mickey Mouse clubhouse or The lorax :) 

Raylee is 2 1/2 weeks old now. At her week check up with her doctor everything looked great! She was back to her birth weight. When we were there their doctor notice both Alleah and Raylee have a birthmark on the same exact place (behind their neck) I thought that was the coolest thing! Raylee is starting to look a lot different from her older sister. They look alike, but at the same time Raylee has different features than Alleah. Raylee is really starting to look like me. Raylee is an amazing baby! We absolutely adore & love her! She's an amazing sleeper & a happy baby. I'm very proud to say Raylee hasn't had a bottle yet! :) & I hope to stick with that for a while. She is doing awesome. She is so alert looking around. She loves her vibrating bouncer. She hates the crib I had Alleah sleep in as a newborn, but loves to sleep in her rocker or with me. 

We are so blessed to have our girls:) we love them more than anything. I'd do anything for those two!! They truly are gifts :) those two make me want more kids than what Joey & I agreed on... Sounds weird, but it's true haha. They keep me going each day. :)