I'm gonna be an Aunt!!!

In early October I am gonna be an aunt!!!!  My wonderful brother Austen and sweet sister-in-law Nicki are set to welcome their first child on October 10th!  We absolutely cannot wait to meet this little bundle of joy!

This past Monday, we got the wonderful news that they are expecting a little girl!  :)  They have chosen the gorgeous name Brooklyn Leigh Sims.  :)  

We are sooooooo excited that they are adding another little girl to our extended family.  I'm so happy that Savannah, Olivia, and Brooklyn will be close enough in age to enjoy each other and grow up together.  I see many matching dressing, bows, and outfits for our girls in the future!  :)

Nicki and Austen are an amazing couple to begin with; they love the Lord, they follow His direction and guidance, and have servants' hearts.  They are going to be fantastic parents, and little Brooklyn is one lucky girl!

Here's a sneak peak at the baby Brooklyn.....

Our Niece- Brooklyn Leigh Sims- Due October 10, 2013

We love you already Brooklyn and CANNOT wait to meet you!

Saying Goodbye to the Perry Family

When we decided to come to Saudi four years ago I could have never imagined what God had in store for us.  It was hard to leave a wonderful community, good friends, and a great church to head into the unknown of a foreign country; however, God always has a plan and knows what you need.  After our first year in Saudi, we were blessed with a large influx of families from the States.  I could have never imagined how my new friends would become my "Saudi family."  It's hard to describe to others how strangers can become so close in such a short amount of time, but when you are living the same experience the depth of friendship quickly deepens.  For three wonderful years we have been blessed with an AMAZING core group of friends that we hang out with on a day to day basis.  We've watched each others families grow, celebrated birthdays, mourned great losses, watched each other's kids when someone is sick, traveled together, and done everyday life with these friends.  I could not imagine how different our Saudi experience would have been had the good Lord not brought our families together.  It has truly been an indescribable and priceless blessing!

After three great years, the time has come for some of our paths to shift and go different directions.  This past Saturday night we said goodbye to the Perry family because the time has come for them to move on to their next adventure in Borger, Texas. 

Brooks and Lindsey came to Saudi with their two year old son Gavin three years ago.  During their time here, they added Miles and Brooklyn to their family and have made parenthood look easy.  Lindsey has an incredibly giving heart and is always willing to lend a helping hand.  Their friendship, support, and advice has been invaluable and it has truly been a blessing to know them.  My words do a feeble job of expressing how much they've meant, but thank you Perrys for the friendship and the memories!  You are truly missed!!!!

The Perrys:  Brooks (Dad), Miles, Brooklyn, Lindsey (Mom), and Gavin

The Girls: Cherie, Me, Lindsey, Stephanie, and Tara  (We missed you Heather and Amber)

The Guys:  Matt, Brooks, Micah, Brent, and Jamie (We missed you Dan and Daniel)

The Kids: Aden, Miles, Jacob, Gavin, Brooklyn, Savannah, and Tucker
(Avery was behind the scenes and we missed Luke and Jack)

All the moms with the kids.  To think, our group started out with two kids!

One last group picture!

While we are heartbroken to lose our friends, we are so thankful for the time God gave us all together, and we look forward to watching what the Lord does through them on this next journey. Praise God for His blessings, His faithfulness, and His provision!

Olivia Update, Baby Bump, and Delivery Plans

Last Tuesday I went down to Khobar for a doctor's appointment.  Miss Olivia is looking perfect!  She is weighing in a little on the larger side at two and a half pounds!  LOL!  She had her back to us the majority of the ultrasound so the pictures aren't the best, but I absolutely love seeing her sweet face!  Please continue to keep praying for healthy progress during the last trimester.  Here are two pictures from the ultrasound....

You can see the side of her face in the upper left hand corner.  Her legs and feet are in front of her face.  :)

View of her shoulder, arm, and hand covering up her face.

As of today I am 28 weeks along and officially in my third trimester!!!! During the last 8 weeks my baby bump has definitely "blossomed" and I am looking very pregnant. There is no better reason to get a big belly!  I continue to feel very good and consider that a great blessing.  :)

23 weeks

26 weeks

After lots of prayer and discussion with Brent, we have decided to go back the the US for Olivia's birth.    Lots of people have been asking me if we had a bad experience with Savannah's delivery and the answer to that is NO, but we did have a difficult time with medical issues about 3 weeks after she was born.  Our decision was based primarily on having support from family for a longer period of time, having access to medications and good pediatricians, and not spending the summer alone in Saudi.  Olivia is due right when school starts in the States so our family (on both sides) would not be able to come to Saudi for very long.  Being in the States will allow us to have access to familial support for a much longer time.  :)  Spending the entire summer in Saudi very pregnant with most of our friends gone was not a scenario that sounded fun.  It will be immensely hot and Savannah would not be able to spend much time outside here.  Most of her friends will also be gone and her play school program will be closed as well.  Shreveport may be hot, but it honestly doesn't even compare.  The ability to be able to come and go as well as having access to friends and family to keep us busy will be a great blessing!  The medical care aspect of our decision was based on the problems that Savannah had a few weeks after she was born.  We had a really hard time finding a good pediatrician, and then when we finally did we learned that we did not have access to certain medications in Saudi that could have helped with Savannah's reflux much earlier on.  We pray that Olivia will not be bothered with reflux, but if she is, it is very reassuring to know that we will have access to multiple medications to try to ease any discomfort she may experience.  I am planning to deliver in Shreveport using the doctor that I've been seeing since high school.  Savannah and I will fly out on June 26 and make the long trip home.  Please keep us in your prayers because I will be 33 weeks along and VERY large (at the rate I'm going).  :)  Brent will fly in on August 5th, and we pray that Olivia will wait for him to get here.  Happily, Brent will be able to stay for an entire month!!!  We are both really excited for him to have such a long break right when Olivia is born.  Assuming that all of the visas and paperwork is processed quickly, our plan is for Savannah, Olivia, and I to fly back to Saudi on October 3.

While I hate the idea of being away from Brent for such a long time, we truly do feel that this is the right decision and will make the best of the situation.  I have to say, I have a really great hubby who is willing to let me stay in the States for so long.  It is a great sacrifice for him to make and I do appreciate it!

With all of that said, please keep us in your prayers as we have so many adjustments coming up.  Pray that Brent makes it in time for Olivia's birth.  Pray that Savannah and I have an easy and safe trip.  Pray for God to prepare Savannah for all the changes that will be coming.  Pray for Brent and I to be able to adjust quickly and easily to life with two children.  Pray that we will be able to give each of our children the time and attention that they need.  Thank you friends, for loving us, supporting us, and most importantly praying for us!  :)

Saudi Life Lately

May has been an extremely busy month for us, but we have enjoyed lots of time and wonderful moments together.  We've spent quite a lot of time outside in the backyard enjoying the slide, water table, and just having fun!  A few weekends ago, we pulled out the water table for Savannah to play with.  When I went inside to get some more water, I came back outside to discover a surprise......

Someone has figured out how to climb INTO her water table!  After seeing this, we decided it might be a good time to pull out the little blow up pool and let her play in that too.  LOL!  She had a great time.

Savannah has also started LOVING bubbles!!!  We've had lots of fun watching her chase them down.

One of the many perks of living here is being able to walk outside the back door and go straight to the beach!  Savannah absolutely LOVES the beach and playing in the water!!!  It's to the point that she often tries to take off for the beach while we are on our nightly walks.  :)

Brooklyn, Brent, and Savannah

This is so much fun!!

Have I mentioned that it's getting HOT here really early this year!!!  This was the weather last Thursday.... and no it's not a dry heat.  We live on the beach so it is actually ridiculously humid!

Aren't you jealous?

For the past two weeks we had the pleasure of keeping our friends, the Sperlings, dog Gizmo.  Savannah LOOOOOVVVEES Gizmo!!!!  He is so good with her, and she has learned how to be gentle when she pets him.  Our little sweet pea grew quite attached to Gizmo during his stay.  She looked for him first thing in the morning and wanted to play with him all day.  Her absolute favorite activity with Gizmo was taking him for a walk!  Every night after dinner, we go for a walk and she really enjoyed our walks while Gizmo was here!  It got to the point that we had to hide the leash because she wanted to walk him four or five times a day.  :)  Sweet Gizmo is such a good dog and I think he even enjoyed Savannah too!  :)

Happy girl!

Last Saturday, my friends Cherie, Lindsey and I went down to Khobar for a spa day at the hospital we've all had our babies.  Our mani/pedi sessions were WONDERFUL!!!  Had we known that this spa  was there I have a feeling we would have made many trips!

With the end of school approaching, we are also having to say goodbye to many of our friends who are repatriating back to the US or moving on to other international assignments.  Last Wednesday, we had a large goodbye luncheon for the Chevron ladies that are leaving Saudi.  We had a wonderful time together getting to celebrate special friendships!

Group picture:  All of the ladies sitting down are moving on.  :(

In the midst of everything going on, we've also had special moments of snuggles and hugs.  :)

What can I say other than, we are truly blessed!

Big Girl Bed!!

On Wednesday, May 1, a big change happened in the Railey household...... Savannah moved into her big girl bed!!!!!  I have to be honest, I had been dreading the transition from her crib to the bed!  I was simply terrified that she was going to flip over the rails or somehow fall out.  With Olivia on the way, we wanted to give Savannah plenty of time to transition to a big girl bed, so we decided to make the big move at least 8 weeks before going home to the States.  We figured this would give her enough time to get used to being in a big girl bed instead of trying to make the transition in Shreveport.  

So, I decided to move the twin sized bed into her room a week before we made the transition so that we could make it as "gradual" as possible.  That afternoon when I brought her into her room for her nap, she was SOOOOOO excited to see the bed in her room!  I was shocked!  She immediately wanted to get down, ran over to the bed, and asked to get in.  When I put her on the bed she immediately laid down and asked for her lovey.  She knew what that big girl bed was for!  :)  This reaction greatly helped ease my worries!  I have to give a very thankful shout out to our friends the Sperlings who graciously got Savannah's bedding into Saudi from the States.   We really appreciated it!

That Wednesday night was the big night!  We moved the crib out of her room and moved her bed into it's permanent position. When it was time to go to bed Savannah was really excited to get to lay down in her big girl bed.  We left the room hoping and praying that it would go well, and it did!  The only difference that we noticed is that it took her a little while longer to fall asleep, but other than that it was like any other night!  :)  I am soooo proud!

It's just another sign that our little pumpkin is growing up!  

Checking things out.

Out!