Sara Mays

During my week long hospital stay, some of my nearest and dearest friends came to meet the newest addition to the Chanon family. Railey and Sara Mays are lucky girls to have so many "aunts" and "uncles" who love them so!

Almost time to go home...let the fun begin!

On the Night You Were Born

On the night you were born, The moon smiled with such wonder That the stars peeked in to see you And the night wind whispered, “Life will never be the same.”

Because there had never been anyone like you…ever in the world.

So enchanted with you were the wind and the rain

That they whispered the sound of your wonderful name.

It sailed through the farmland

High on the breeze…

Over the ocean…

And through the trees…

Until everyone heard it

And everyone knew

Of the one and only ever you.

Not once had there been such eyes,

Such a nose,

Such silly, wiggly, wonderful toes.

When the polar bears heard,

They danced until dawn.

From faraway places,

The geese flew home.

The moon stayed up until

Morning next day.

And none of the ladybugs flew away.

So whenever you doubt just how special you are

And you wonder who loves you, how much and how far,

Listen for geese honking high in the sky.

(They’re singing a song to remember you by.)

or notice the bears asleep at the zoo.

(It’s because they’ve been dancing all night for you!)

Or drift off to sleep to the sound of the wind.

(Listen closely…it’s whispering your name again!)

If the moon stays up until morning one day,

Or a ladybug lands and decides to stay,

Or a little bird sits at your window awhile,

It’s because they’re all hoping to see you smile…

For never before in story or rhyme

(not even once upon a time)

Has the world ever known a you, my friend,

And it never will, not ever again…

Heaven blew every trumpet

And played every horn

On the wonderful, marvelous

Night you were born.



Do as I say....

Over the past year or so, I have realized that I need to watch what I say around Railey...it seems like overnight she turned into a little tape recorder that repeats EVERYTHING I say. Here are a few of my favorites over the past week...

• Me: How did you sleep last night Railey
  Railey: Not good. My baby was kicking me all night long
• This morning, I called downstairs to Railey to ask if she wanted to put on makeup with me to go to school. She came upstairs and perched herself on the tub beside the sink...her usual spot. After about a minute, I handed her the makeup brush and she asked me to hold on because she needed to prop her feet up, they were swelling.
• She asked that when she finished her bagel if I would make her another. Of course I said yes. Railey's response? Mommy, you're my hero!

I have no idea where she came up with the last one but the other two....I have a pretty good guess:)

The Little Things

Most of the past two weeks have been spent trying to prepare Railey for the day that she becomes a big sister. For the most part, she is excited and tells me how much she loves Sara Mays. We have only had one little outburst when she told me that she wanted to sit on her sister...I am choosing to concentrate on the positive though and have accepted the fact that there is, no doubt, going to be a transition for the next little while.

This weekend was especially busy since I go to the doctor on Monday. My delivery date is set for one week from Tuesday (only 8 days away) but on my last visit Dr. Moore suggested that I don't eat in the morning in case they have to take me in immediately for the low amniotic fluid they have been monitoring.

Tonight, Railey, Tutu and I went to run one last errand (Michael's fabric for the ribbon on the bassinet) and then out to dinner. On the way home, I noticed some major construction that had started on a side street close to our house. I slowed down the car, turned around, and we all went to see the "excavators" as Railey calls them (one of her books calls them excavators instead of bulldozers....it stuck). Tutu even took her out of the car to touch all three of the bulldozers.

Railey couldn't have been happier...this is an understatement. Made me realize that it is the spur of the moment, unexpected surprises that mean the most to my little girl.

The Princess Palace

Finally, Railey has a bedroom that is worthy of a princess! Once we finally completed the attic renovations and moved upstairs, it was time for Railey to move into her new bedroom (our old master bedroom) so Sara Mays could have the nursery.

She resisted at first, which was expected, but now loves her new pink bedroom!

Attic Renovation

3 1/2 years.....

That is how long it has taken us to complete renovations on our attic. After using three contractors, we finally decided to go with someone that was very highly recommended and it definitely paid off. As the daughter of a CPA, I definitely can appreciate that there are many times that saving money is important but this is 100% not one of those times.

As you will see from the pictures, we still need to get the bathroom mirrors installed but Paul and I are moved upstairs and Railey is in our old bedroom. Here are the pictures of the attic bathroom...Railey's bedroom pictures will come soon:)

Railey and her boyfriend Clay

Railey: I want Clay to come over to our house (Clay plays piano and guitar for the band)

Me: I am sure that we can ask him to come over soon.

Railey: To spend the night

Me: Where would he sleep?

Railey: In Mommy and Daddy's bed!

Me: Where would Mommy and Daddy sleep?

Railey: You would SHARE Mommy!

This past weekend I decided that I was going to take Railey to her first real concerts. Probably a little bit too soon but since Paul was in town with the Zac Brown Band AND Railey's Uncle Ryan was in town with Sister Hazel, I decided that we should make a weekend of it.

First stop on Saturday was Alpharetta to hang out with Daddy and play drums onstage. This is officially her favorite thing to do. She got to see all of the guys in the band and even though she tried to act shy, they didn't cut her any slack. She hugged Zac, got her shoe pulled off by Hop and got chased and tickled by Clay.



After this, we went directly to Woodstock to see Sister Hazel and got to go on the tour bus to see all of the guys. Uncle Kappy took Railey on stage to see the concert from the drummer point of view and once it was time for her to get off of the stage, she was UPSET! Needless to say, 6 hours into our adventure, it was time to come home.

The next night we picked up Deana and headed up to the Sunday night ZBB show. Railey did good but was pretty restless sitting in a seat. She kept wanting to go backstage (I think she just liked showing her laminate to the security guy) and I had to explain at least 20 times why she couldn't go on stage and help Sweets play the drums. Hands down, the best part(s) of her night were when Clay kept on waving to her from the stage....I think Railey has her first crush.



We had to leave early but when we got home, Railey insisted that she sleep with her laminates....