Happy 2nd Birthday, Princess.

Wow! 2 years old. Raegan woke up this morning at the exact time she was born two years ago~ 8:15am on September 28th. She was just 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 19.5 inches long that day, and the first miracle I've ever witnessed. I cannot believe she's two.

The first thing she did today was open her big present from mom and dad~ a pink car! Then she barely ate breakfast because she kept climbing down to sit in her new car...



Next came the beautiful princess gown and shoes we picked out from GREAT Grandma & Grandpa Schepman! Thanks so much! After she had her royal attire on, it was time for a few more gifts before the other princesses flooded in.

We had nine of Raegan's 2 year-old girlfriends over from 10am-noon, and they all came decked out in beautiful gowns! Raegan helped me put together a playlist of our favorite Disney princess songs, so get your favorite one going in your head as you read on...






Every princess decorated her own crown with sparkly crayons and stickers.

Here are all the pretty princesses on the couch, awaiting the yummy cupcakes! I made mini chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and pink sprinkles, per Raegan's request.


All the girls sat on the floor to eat their treats and we sang "Happy Birthday." Raegan had TWO cupcakes!


Next, presents! I cannot believe all the cool gifts Raegan received. Thanks so much to all our friends for showering her today! Princess cell phones, cute clothes, an apron, art supplies, and Princess dress up shoes... Raegan didn't even fully understand that there were more presents after the first one... the last gift was a total hit! Susanne got Raegan a six set box of Princess shoes, and every princess crowded around to try them on!


It was wonderful to talk and drink coffee while our beautiful babes played together. I love having friends in our home, and it was such a fun way to celebrate our big girl. Look what we found under the treat table...


After the party was over Raegan and her friend Jane were all tuckered out! Night night!

Food, glorious food!

Well, my appetite is back for the most part! And I'm loving cooking these days-not anything elaborate, but it's really the first time I've ever been excited about cooking. I think having somebody live with us has really helped kick me into high gear as far as meal planning, shopping, and creativity in the kitchen. This is a picture of my beautiful taco salad from last night...

...I know it's just a salad, but isn't it pretty?

77 books for $10.00!

I hit up a used book sale outside the Tacoma Mall this weekend. A friend told me about these great deals, so I decided to stop by... I didn't make it until the last day of the sale, Sunday. It actually turned out to be a great thing, because by then you could pay $10 for as many books as you could fit into a brown paper bag! I got "Cliffords", "Bearenstein Bears", lots of board books, and Golden books, and all for just $10! Raegan has been in heaven!

I put half of them away for the rainy days to come. And we had to take some toys off of her pink bookshelf to hold all of her new treasures. (I'm not a huge reader, but I do LOVE children's books~ in fact, Jordan used to take me to Border's when we were engaged to let me pick out a kids book on a date!) The best part of all was that the money everybody spent went to the children's hospital- what a good idea!

Princess Raegan!

Playing Princess dress up in the front yard. Raegam loves her clip-on earrings, and kept them on for a good 10 minutes this time. We actually don't have too much of a dress up collection yet, surprising I know, but the few things we do have are really fun!

My loves

It's still beautiful out,
and perfect for after dinner silliness in our backyard.




Raegan made a drum set out of her buckets. (She's my little musician)

Rejoining the human race!

It's official. I'm 14 weeks, in the second trimester, and feeling tons better! It felt like the day would never come, but one morning I woke up last week and the overwhelming nausea was gone! Hallelujah! I really do feel like I'm rejoining society. My house is cleaner and everybody is just happier in our home when momma feels good. (And I cut my hair to make life that much simpler... I'm having fun with short hair!)

First day of school!

I love the fall! A group of moms in my community are all home schooling their children, and we're pitching in together to run a Co-op once a week during the school year. Raegan even has her own 2 year old class! She gets to take music, art, science, and character classes. And I'm leading worship and teaching music to the older classes.


Mommy and Daddy are so proud of our little girl!


So, today was the "first day of school!" Everything went really smoothly, and it was really really fun! You can only guess that Raegan had a blast with her friends!
Raegan and Ava were playing piano while the mommys were getting things ready for the day...


Raegan's classroom!! Gabbi, Claire, and Raegan waiting for Mrs. Solomon to bring them to the circle for music!

Playing outside after lunch~

Fair Weekend

We have made it a family tradition to drive over the pass to Ellensburg for Labor Day weekend. My parents are awesome- yummy meals, and lots of help with Raegan! They make my life so much better... (wish they lived closer) Anyway, we took Raegan to the fair, and she loved it! Cows, sheep, chickens, rabbits, and goats galore. She pet them all and talked about it for days afterward! She even played a fair game (pick a duck) and won a sparkly baton! Oh, and a woman asked us if Raegan would pose petting a sheep to take a picture for the Washington Tribune Newspaper! That reminds me, I should look that up online... And Megan and her kids were in town from Virginia, so the girls danced and laughed the night away after dinner Saturday night! So, we had a restful and fun weekend with family and friends and can't wait for next year! Thanks mom and dad!

Just the two of us...

A few weeks ago, Raegan and I flew to Des Moines to visit the Boleys! Raegan just adores her three "big girl" cousins, so she had a blast playing with them every day!

We finally got to see their new farm- chickens, Charlotte the cow, and a huge garden. My sister-in-law amazes me. She manages the land AND home-schools her girls, among other things!
Also, I finally made it to my first Iowa State Fair. It was pushing 100 degrees, so we were melting a bit, but it was really fun. After a few days in Iowa, we drove down the Lake of the Ozarks for some family time on the lake.
The weather wasn't very good, but we made the best of it.

We took the girls on fun jet-ski rides and Raegan loved swimming, even with her life jacket on. She really liked riding in the boat, with the wind in her face, snuggled into mommy. (I liked that too)
I'm really glad we made the trip, and although I was pretty sick most of the time, I know I can fly alone with a child now, and it was great to see family! I forgot my camera, so these are a couple iphone pics I took at the fair and the airport...