baby girl.

these are our most recent sonogram pics - they were taken on march 24, 2010, at about 27 weeks. it was actually a surprise sonogram. i had been feeling some pressure and stuff that i didn't remember feeling with emma. when i expressed my concern, dr. hsu wanted to go ahead and do some fetal monitoring, a sonogram and an exam, just to make sure what i was feeling wasn't contractions or pre-term labor.

and we were fine. :) my fluid level is great, baby rylie is movin' and groovin' like a little diva, and there is no progress whatsoever... which is GREAT news at 27 weeks... maybe at 37 weeks, if i hear that there's no progress, i'll be a little frustrated. :) but for now, it's great!

right now, we're 30 weeks along - that leaves only 10 weeks - 70 days!! - until we are expecting to meet our sweet baby girl! we can't wait to meet her and see what she looks like, and begin getting to know who God has already made her to be. what a blessing!

here are the pictures of our girl - we already think she's so beautiful - and just might have mommy's nose. :) it will be so fun to see how different/similar our two girls are!

sweet rylie's profile - mommy's nose?

touching her toes! :)

her little foot is on the right, her fist on the left

another profile shot - see her fist to the right?

and her eyelid, and her sweet lips & chin?

i LOVE this one... you can see her little poochy lips & her chunky cheeks!

creepy, i know... but look how you can see her eyes!

...in this one, too - you can see her left eyeball (the top one)

crazy!!!

still here.

... that i am.

promise.

i have lots to blog about - i just feel like i never have enough time and want to save my über important posts for when i have enough time to really invest in them.

ha.

anyway, i promise to post pictures and stories galore. very soon. this week, maybe. or even this weekend.

stay tuned. it'll be worth the wait.

{maybe. hehe}

girlie.

so this post is just over a month overdue. i'm dreadfully sorry. i wanted to include the sonogram pictures with our "gender reveal," and jason was just able to scan them and get them to me... so it's overdue.

i think it's so funny that with 34 votes on our little baby poll, the vote was split RIGHT down the middle, with 17 guessing girl and 17 guessing boy! really??? well, i guess there was a 50/50 chance... and 50% of you guessed correctly...

we're having another baby girl!

we have decided to name emma's baby sister, rylie elizabeth. we can't wait to see how God has designed her to be the perfect "new addition" to our little family.

here are the sonogram pictures of baby rylie... they were taken on january 28th - i was a little over 20 weeks along.

here is our sweet girl's profile... it's amazing how identical it is to emma's sonogram! hopefully i'll post that soon!

she's looking right at us! see her skull? kinda creepy, i know... BIG eye-sockets. :)

i love this little foot. 

(her foot looks like emma's too!)

another face-to-face - see her big healthy brain?

she's so smart already! :)

another little profile shot. love those chunky cheeks!

see her arm up by her face? looks like she's already a little drama queen with her hand on her forehead, woe-is-me style

a shot of "the goods."

basically, her two little legs, like she's sitting on the screen... 

the little "hamburger" lines mean girl!

and just in case you didn't catch it in the first image, the sonogram technician has spelled it out for you: "FEMALE." :) again, there's the little hamburger to the left of the telling letters. :)

so, another little girl for the rains family - maybe we are destined for spunky little princesses! :)

i'll post pictures of our super special reveal party soon. but now, i'm exhausted, and i'm going to sleep!

emma words.

last week, when we were visiting jackie, michael, and baby eliana, jason and i were sitting cozy on the couch. jason was holding eliana, and i was looking adoringly at them - probably thinking a) how excited i am to have our own little one so soon, and b) how great my hubby is with babies!

emma sighed, gestured towards eliana, and, in all seriousness, said to me:

"baby... i KNOW you want THIS baby, but that's jackie's baby. you can't have her. we're gonna get our own baby really soon, ok? you just have to wait..."

i love my daughter's concern for my sanity. i may have run off with baby girl blow if emma hadn't been there to speak some sense into me. :)

baby eliana michelle.

a new love has been added to our "family."

sweet baby girl

in daddy's arms

hi mommy!

we are so blessed to have an amazing group of friends. God has surrounded us with sweet brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking this journey of life with us, and it is a blessing to have the opportunity to walk with them, as well.

in october, our group welcomed miss shiloh ann smith to the world with reci & marc. she is such a joy!

2 weeks ago, we gathered in the waiting room at the medical center of carrollton, anticipating the arrival of eliana michelle blow. most of us were there all day, and it was a great memory, and i think, a great new tradition for the babies-to-come in the future! :)

eliana is perfect. just perfect. we are so happy for jackie & michael and cannot wait to see how the Lord changes eliana's life as she grows into a beautiful little girl and a woman of God. we're excited for emma to get to grow up with these girls, and to introduce our new little one to both eliana and shiloh in june!

life is so rich!

emma words.

so, one thing i would like to do on here, is to take the time to record some of the funny thing miss emma says throughout the day. at three-years-old, she is constantly making profound declarations that boggle our minds... some are sweet, some make us laugh so hard we almost pee in our pants, some make us simply scratch our chins in confusion...

but either way, we for sure don't want to forget the words that come out of her precious mouth. because i know that so soon, we won't be shocked and awed by her words... because she'll be grown up, and it'll be normal for her to talk to much. makes me a bit sad.

anyway... a daily occurrence right now is for emma to call us "baby."
as in: "baby, i can't snuggle-nuggle with you right now, because i'm playing with my trains."

or as she is standing on my shins and i'm asking her to get off because it hurts mommy:
"baby, i'm not hurting you... i promise. you will be ok."

and she always has the gravest look on her face when she says it. too funny.

so, two nights ago, we were hanging out in the living room, and i was messing with jason by pretending to have things to talk about so he would pause the dvr. :) (i'm so mischievous.) finally, emma looked at me and exclaimed:

"baby - it's not ok! this world is MESSED UP!"

needless to say, jason and i lost it. where did she hear that??? oh my.

and so true! but hopefully she won't truly know the weight of her words for many years to come.

gender reveal invitation.

i whipped up this little invite today for a gender reveal party we're throwing for our family next week after our "revealing" sonogram for baby rains. :)

i actually made this on powerpoint and just saved it as a jpeg file. i'm really excited about how it turned out... i think it's super cute, cheery, and fun. :) cupcakes will be a big part of the evening... our little announcement will be made with them!

can't wait!

cast your vote.

i've added a fun little feature to our blog!

at the top of the right sidebar, you'll find a little poll, asking for you to make your guess on the gender of the little one growing inside me!

we go to the doctor to *hopefully* find out on thursday, january 28th, and i'd love to see what the popular guess is! :) make your guess, and sometime on the 28th or 29th (after we've revealed baby's gender to our family and closest friends), i will reveal the answer to YOU! (granted baby cooperates and lets us see his/her goods!)

so, go cast your vote... i want to see what you think! :)

{you can leave a comment with your guess, too... it'll be fun to see who's right!}

baby rains at 11 weeks.

even though i am over 17 weeks now, and we'll be having another sonogram in a couple weeks, i wanted to update with pictures from our LAST sonogram, which was at 11 weeks. our baby has grown SO much since then, and i cannot WAIT to see how. :)

here is our baby:

12/1/09 - 11 weeks exactly
:: about the size of a fig ::

you really can see the little one, now... see baby's head, and little legs & feet at the bottom?

 baby was kicking and squirming like crazy! :)

 you can see the profile a little better here... little nose and mouth/chin... and his/her tiny forehead... it's amazing to me that this little human really exists - and is fully formed - yet still only 1 1/2 inches long!

 baby rains turned to look at us full-on! do you see his/her eyes?? baby still kinda looks like an alien, here... but we love our little alien! :) hehe

 baby rains was moving his/her arms, too... you can see a tiny hand right up by his/her head... it was amazing!

baby rains, just over 1 1/2 inches long, is now almost fully formed. his/her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under his/her gums, and some of his/her bones are beginning to harden.

baby is already busy kicking and stretching. these movements will become more frequent as his/her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. baby rains is even starting to have tiny hiccups! :)

we can't wait to see our little one again on the 28th... AND find out if baby rains #2 is a girl or a boy!

any guesses??? :)

christmas card 2009.

this post (like all others coming soon) is super overdue!

this was the christmas card from the rains family this year... i designed it at vistaprint.com and think it turned out really great - especially for what it is! the colors on the actual card are SO much more vivid and festive... the scanner didn't do it justice. :)

...and i love this picture for 2 reasons:

1) emma's smile is simply irresistable! it is definitely kiss-worthy... and we laugh, because she totally looks like she came right from an episode of "toddlers and tiaras!" don't you think? :)

2) this is our very first picture as a family of four! our friends, the stewarts, snapped this photo at a trip to the big orange pumpkin farm in october - right after we'd found out about the little bean growing inside of me. so fun!

missing.

i know, i know... its been nearly two months since i've posted! i must say that i have excuses... good ones, too! i mean, finishing school, graduation, being pregnant and exhausted, having a 3-year-old, thanksgiving and christmas, a trip to destin, a new year's trip to ohio for a funeral... whew... its been one crazy 2-months!

but they are over now. and i am done with school.

and currently, i am home. in a quiet house. with my daughter at mother's day out.

and no homework to do! :)

so, i promise... i will be catching you up on all of our adventures from november and december... this week!

promise.

right now, i have to finish some plans for lindsey's 21st birthday. fun stuff.

there will be posts about that too, i'm sure of it. :)

what a gift.

"who can know motherhood but a mother? how could anyone explain the quickening of a child in the womb, the ache of sorely taxed hips or the waves of labor pains to anyone who hasn't given physical life to another? on the other hand, what person can fathom the depths of joy that attend motherhood in its glories? can anyone who is not a mother imagine the delights that come from the very existence of one's children?

what a gift."

- GK


i found this quote today, and i loved it. maybe because i am a mother, or maybe simply because i am pregnant & emotional...it brought tears to my eyes.

i have no idea who "gk" is, but obviously "she" must be a mother...

f i v e.

our wedding day :: 11.07.2004

2009 :: still best friends.

2009 :: still enjoying life.

5 years later :: october 2009
{our first photo as a family of F O U R}

yesterday, jason and i celebrated our first major milestone as a married couple (aside from babies & buying our first home)... our 5 - Y E A R :: A N N I V E R S A R Y.

it sounds so strange to say we've been married for 5 years - i feel like i walked down the aisle just yesterday. it's crazy how quickly life goes by. sometimes i want to just press "pause" and sit and enjoy it for awhile ya know? i mean... 5 years ago, today, we were spending our first night of our honeymoon at disney world... our second night together as husband & wife (or ever, for that matter)! we had only dreams and hopes for the years to come.

today, 5 years later, we have a home, a precious daughter, a little one on the way, a job full of opportunities, 6 weeks until college graduation, and a whole group-hug full of the best friends and family we could ask for.

we have cried, stressed, laughed, prayed, dreamed, prayed and grown a lot. God shows us how to love each other the way He designed a little more every day. it's really neat to think that i've gone through so much of the important stuff with jason... and to think about how much more we'll go through together. it's nice to know it will be him. i couldn't think of anyone i'd rather face this life with!

five years. we've come a long way. i can't wait to see how far He'll take us over the next 5 years. :)

happy anniversary, love! i am so blessed by your love and friendship, and the father you are to our children. i love you!

peanut baby.

baby rains at exactly 7 weeks

on tuesday, jason and i had the blessing of seeing our new baby and hearing his/her heartbeat for the first time! even though we've been through this once before, with emma kate, it was still such a miracle and a precious moment to listen to the tiny beating heart of our baby.

right now, the baby is about the size of a blueberry, but will double in size by next week! {in the picture, our little one looks a little peanut-esque, don't you think?} i love getting updates from the bump & baby center, telling us how our little peanut baby is growing this week.

this is what baby center says is going on inside my body, right now:

"Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body."

isn't that just incredible? i am in awe of God's work in our lives from the time we "arrive." :) i cannot wait to experience this little one's growth over the next 8 months... i wonder if i'll be able to tell differences between this little one and emma kate, even while he/she is still in the womb?

what do you mamas think? what was your experience?

oh, and just in case you couldn't see baby rains in that picture, the sonographer was kind enough to point it out with an arrow and the word "baby." just in case.

{jon lilley found that pretty humorous. he likes to think about how funny it would be if the arrow said, "turtle" instead of "baby." ha!}

new look.

i have seen a few friends give their ol' blog-a-roos a cute little facelift using shabbyblogs.com, so i thought i'd give it a try.

i'm super happy with the new look! {and it was easy, too!}

what do you think?

paperbag books :: group lesson plan.

this is for my group from dr. haag's class!

sorry these wouldn't upload any other way... i hope this isn't too confusing.

here are the directions for how to make our paper bag books:

here's what you'll need:
- 4 standard lunch-size brown paper sacks
- scissors
- hole punch
- ribbon, yarn, twine, a shoelace :)... something to tie it together
- decorative scissors (optional)
- glue stick (or glue dots, something strong)
- colored cardstock, scrapbook paper, construction paper, etc.
- white printer paper/copy paper

1. Hold the bag so it is still flat. Using the scissors, slice the closed edge of the bag, so that both ends are open. Do this to all four bags.


2. Fold the bags in half, so that there is a crease in the center, and the open edges meet.


3. Punch holes (with the bag folded) along the spine.


4. Nest the folded bags inside each other and tie them together through the holes.

5. Glue a colored piece of paper (big enough to write questions on) on each right-hand page of the book, and on the front. There should be 8 pages with colored paper on them, including the cover.

i thought the students could write a couple words to describe themselves on the card in the cover pocket. :) mine says "girly, mommy, wife, loves pumpkin-flavored things!"

6. Glue a white square of paper on each left-hand page of the book, for illustrations. There should be 7 pages with white paper on them.


7. Slide scraps of paper (about 4.75"...long enough to see without digging) into the pockets.


8. Write (or print out and glue) questions on the colored pages, illustrate accordingly on the white pages and write the answer or response on the card that slips into the pocket... And you're done!









I hope these direction make sense!!! If you are having trouble, please let me know and I'll just make a book for you and you can fill it out when we meet early on Thursday. :)

If there are different questions we want to ask (we need one more question) please let me know, so everyone can plan accordingly! :)

This is super simple... mine would be TONS cuter if I were doing it as a scrapbook or something... they're great little gifts for friends or kids or family members. :) Have fun and let me know if you need help!

four.

we are so excited to announce that around june 22nd of 2010, our little family of three will become a family of four! : )

we are beyond thrilled and thankful to our God for creating the precious life growing inside me.

emma is constantly talking about the baby she has started calling "baby jacob," and how she will be a "big sister princess."

we covet your prayers during the next 8 months, and i'm excited to share our little journey with you! (you can follow along with the little ticker i added on the sidebar ----->)

3 years.

emma kate turned 3 years old today... three. years. old.

i can't believe it. 3 sounds so - old! well, not old, i guess... but it definitely does not sound like a sweet baby girl. i don't think we can say that we're the parents of a toddler. doesn't 3 qualify a kid as a "preschooler?"

we love the little girl that our emma is becoming. she is such a joy. and when i think back on the last 3 years, its hard to believe that the tiny baby we held on october 5, 2006 is the same child that we kissed goodnight, tonight, in 2009.

here is a little timeline of emma's life in pictures:

our sweet baby girl, right after she was born:
thursday, october 5, 2006
6:34 pm
7 pounds, 12 ounces
21.75 inches

emma kate, after we brought her home from the hospital. so tiny & sweet! (i wonder what she's dreaming about...)




















6 months old
april 2007


















9 months old
july 2007
(look at those little toothies!)


















our princess on her 1st birthday!
october 5, 2007


















18 months old
april 2008
(changing so much, already!)




















at her 2nd birthday party!
october 5, 2008




















our fairy princess at her 3rd birthday party!
october 2009... three years later.














she is our biggest joy in life. we love her more than we can ever say. it actually physically hurts when i think about how much i love her... i just can't put it into words.

it has been so amazing to get to see glimpses of God's love for me as my Heavenly Father, through my love for emma as her mother. i love how He has used my role as a parent to reveal Himself to me over and over again.


i thank my God for blessing me with my beautiful daughter.

what did we do 3 years ago, before emma was here? it's crazy to think about...

i cannot imagine my life without her.