Welcome!

Eleanor June, born June 6 at 4:23am, weighing 7 - 11.

We were so excited to finally meet her.

Kev got to give her the first bath.

Rainey meeting her for the first time. She is so sweet and gentle with her baby sister.

Going home!

Randoms...

It's been a while since our last post. Things have been busy.

Kevin turned 30!

We took a trip to celebrate (without Rainey). This is the (loud) bird exhibit outside our room... it was a love-hate relationship.

I finished school! Sweet Kevin brought both of his girls some flowers -- Rainey was SO excited to get flowers from her Dad.

We're getting ready for #2 or at least we're starting to face that reality. Rainey can't wait to hold her.

It's finally spring, which means lots of outside time.

And I had to include 2 random pictures:

I love the beginnings of drawing people -- this is her "dancer girl." She really doesn't like to draw on paper, so I can only see these works of art on the white board...

This leotard is from her cousins, and she loves it! (as do I)

Some new faves

Green drink -- every other morning

Painting

Holding babies on her lap (I hope it lasts until the summer and is just as fun when it's her sister)

Without pictures to back them up, the list also includes dresses that can "twirl," helping Mom cook, and dancing.

Also noteworthy is our trip to NYC without Rainey. We had a blast with Kevin's parents and we got to see quite a bit for our short time. I love that city!

End of Year

I can't believe we're in 2010 and that we have a 2 year old. Here's an attempt to catch up from the end of October...

I love this picture -- she is so crazy about her Dad. We both love it when he walks in the door from work, but she won't really leave his side from that point until bedtime. She also loves puzzles. So you can see from the look on her face how pumped she is to have both things:

What a sweet, happy girl:

Back in the beginning of December, we celebrated Rainey's birthday with family. She was SO excited just to have people there to sing "Happy Birthday" to her and then to watch her blow out the candles. Her face while we were singing was priceless. We were recording instead of taking pictures, so I can't post it on here, but it was one of pure joy. And nothing is better for a parent than that, especially when it is so simple. Just a few birthday shots.

She got to open a present from Grandma when she first woke up:

She had a friend come over, and she shared her new fashion with her. Rainey always wants to put dresses over whatever she is wearing. Her favorite combo is jammies and a dress.

Just after the singing and candles. She has such a satisfied look on her face:

Opening presents with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Gramsey:

We got to have Christmas here with my family. Once again, we have great video of Christmas morning, but no pictures. Rainey loved the tree -- she would ask to go sit by the tree multiple times a day.

This is a typical face, not sure what it means. But we had a good time putting together the gingerbread house:

An amazing Christmas gift from my Dad for all of us -- tickets to the Jazz game. Look at how close Jerry Sloan is! What a night!

We visited the Mitchells in California for New Year's weekend and took Rainey to the beach--she was in heaven. She LOVED the waves, even though the water was freezing. She wanted to be nakey in the waves, and so we let her. Kevin was quite embarrassed, but I thought it was awesome.

2010 should be even better than 2009 -- Kevin just started in a new position, I finish school in May, and we'll have our second girl in June. And just that we continue to be near family is fabulous.

Such a big girl

No more high chair. And now not even a phone book!

Her very own slurpee. I can't believe I gave in, and let her have some in her own cup, but she was in heaven. I had an odd craving for one last weekend...


Last, but not least--new hair. Rainey had her first haircut! This was a big decision for me because I knew we'd lose her curls and enter a new stage... But she hates to have her hair washed or brushed. And if I put it up, she takes it out. Sadly, I couldn't go because I had to finish a project for school. It was probably a good thing because I got teary-eyed (yes, I'll admit it) when she walked through the door. I couldn't believe it! She was a different kid, not a baby anymore.

The before shot, saying good-bye to the hair as I stayed home to work:

Loved the police car (still talks about it):

Worried, but ok:

Definitely sad. She apparently cried most of the time, even with Mickey playing.

This was the face I got to see walking through the door. She was pumped to have "new hair."

And especially proud of the balloon:

end of summer

Kevin and I had our first trip away from Rainey--thanks to Kym for watching her. We got to go to Alaska with my parents and youngest sister! While we had a lot of rain, it was still beautiful and relaxing and just a fabulous trip.

We got this picture in our email while we were gone: Rainey was happy and in good hands without us. I was really enjoying my time where I could just worry about me, but when we got this, I realized how much I missed her.

Here we are on the day we were united---11 days is a LONG time. This is a block from my brother and his wife's apartment. We loved our time at the beach and with Ben and Alex!

We're back into the swing of things and Rainey is very into jumping and hanging and climbing--such a busy little bee. (Can you name the movie?) And she is so talkative.

Check out this great jumping footage. You can see how she loves to call herself "nakey." She's improved her vertical since, but not by much.

The other day, she put on my shoes and said, "Bye, Mama. I go to work" while "walking" out of my room. Earlier we had said bye to Dad as he headed off to work, so I'm sure she just wanted to join him. The nightgown is from my younger sister, so yes, it's old. Maybe you could call it vintage...But Rainey LOVES it. The other day, she had to put it on over her clothes and wear it to the farmer's market. pretty funny.

It's definitely the end of summer--we have such perfect Fall weather now. Rainey and I met our friends at Wheeler Farm, and we all had a blast. Rainey especially loved the tractor--she wasn't as into the animals as I thought she would be...

Mitchell Reunion

Blissful week in Jackson, CA at a fantastic ranch. Lots of pool time, craft time, game time, puzzle time and just hangin' out together. It was the first time we had all been together since our wedding in 2005.

It was so hot, and so we spent a lot of time in the pool. And most of the time was spent playing different games on this raft:

Papa reading stories:

All of the girl cousins, but one:

Papa and Grandma bought Rainey her first doll--you can see how excited she was: