15 Weeks and Counting

I am 15 weeks today. I just got back a little while ago from the doctor. Everything looks great. I've only gained 1 pound. That's good. I got to hear the heart beat. Dr. W said the heartbeat sounds like a boy to him. Only time will tell! He's probably right. I think he's been in the biz long enough to give an accurate guess. They took blood for the maternal serum alpha fetoprotein test. This is the lovely test we had come back with a false positive with Alex. It's not mandatory, but I opt for it anyway. If there were to be a problem in utero, we'd like to know as early as possible. Praying for good results. We should get results in about a week.

We're still pondering names. We have no idea for a boy. If it is a boy, we'll have to dig deep since we have already used all the names we LOVED. Now it seems a bit more challenging because even if we like the name, sometimes it brings to mind kids we've played ball with or taught in Sunday school. LOL... and those are usually the ones you remember .. and not for good reason! :)
We've got 2 girl names. We'll divulge when the time is right.

Monday I had my endocrinologist appointment. He upped my dose of Synthroid to 137 mcg. from 125 mcg.  He seems to think that will be good until the baby is born. I go back in 2 months to check again. Feeling like a human pin cushion. You'd think I'd be used to needles by now between pregnancies & thyroid issues, but I'm not. I still cringe!

I feel great. I have no nausea which is a true blessing. I'm having to remind myself that there is life growing inside since nothing really fits and I'm not quite in maternity clothes either. Trying to take it easy & enjoy this last pregnancy.
I will go back to Dr. W in 5 weeks to get the big ultrasound. I'll be 20 weeks then. Very excited to find out what this baby is!
Til next time.......

Spring Break in Blue Ridge

About 3 weeks before Spring Break, we had the idea of going back to Blue Ridge, GA and staying in a cabin that we had previously stayed in. The boys ask us all the time, "when can we go back & stay in the cabin with the piano & "hotpool"?" Well, we decided to book it & spend the last 4 days of our Spring Break in the mountains! We had a great time & ate LOTS of yummy food! We arrived around 4 o'clock on Thursday afternoon. Went in, got settled & headed out for groceries where we spent more on 4 days worth of groceries than I normally spend on 2 weeks worth of groceries! We ate good!
Friday morning we got up & the boys wanted to go fishing. However, it was very misty rainy and there was a chance of thunderstorms. We headed out anyway looking for some water to wet our hooks! Lake Blue Ridge has been drained in order to fix the dam and won't be filled up again until the rainwaters fill it. I wonder if that's why there was so many homes for sale in Blue Ridge. I bet that eats into the town's profits since that lake is beautiful and offers so much recreation for the area. Anyway, we ended up in McCaysville, GA on the Tennessee border at a park called Horseshoe Bend Park on the Toccoa River. It was a very nice park & after going into ACE for a few fishing supplies and the local IGA store for a can of corn for bait... we baited their hooks hoping the rain would stop. The rain stopped and the haze finally burned off to reveal a beautiful sunshiney day! The boys never caught a fish, but Allan caught one small rainbow trout. He tried to get Nate to reel it in, but Nate was by a little waterfall area of the river and couldn't hear him over the water rushing. He let Nate hold it up & have his pic made as if he caught it. That made Nate's day! After staying at the park all day, we headed back to the cabin and grilled yummy baby back ribs! The kids played in the "hotpool" for a long time. Then after dinner we played UNO. Nate became quite the little player & schooled us a few times!
On Saturday, we were up early to find something else to do. We ended up driving into Morganton and taking a small hike to a Swinging Bridge over the Toccoa River. It was on the Benton MacKaye trail. We found a neat little waterfall. Lucy loved playing in the water! Then, the boys wanted to go fishing again. So, we went on an adventure trying to find another public area to fish at since the Horseshoe Bend Park was about a 45 min to hour drive from where we were. We ended up on the Toccoa River again in the Aska Adventure area next to the Shallowford Bridge. That water was faster moving than the other area & we didn't stay long. I learned I am not a river fisher... I'd rather fish a lake! We stopped & got hot boiled peanuts & other snacks and headed back to the cabin. We had planned a yummy dinner, but were so full from boiled peanuts that we just cooked some garlic shrimp while the boys enjoyed the "hotpool" then we watched Terminator 2. Nate had been wanting to see it & since it was on TV it was a "better" version for him to watch.
Sunday morning came way too soon! We hated leaving our mini-vacation, but we had to get back to reality. Of course, we made a stop at Mercier's Orchard for a jar of jalapeno peach jelly (my pick) and southern peach pecan preserves (Allan's pick). We all got a fried pie and some old fashioned sodas made with cane sugar. Yummy and we spent $50 less than we did last time! We disciplined ourselves because that's what it takes when you go in that place. Everything looks & sounds so yummy! We walked around downtown Blue Ridge & browsed through a couple shops and the boys played at the little park in the center of town before heading back home. We had a yummy dinner of grilled ribeyes, grilled onions and corn on the cob and yummy parmesan red potatoes! It was the perfect ending to our Spring Break!
Here's a few photos of our trip! Enjoy!

Our Duck Family

I took this picture last May on a visit to Stone Mountain Park. We were riding around checking out their campsites. I just loved the family of ducks on the bank by the water. They looked so cute together. Then, today, I was reading my verse of the day, Jeremiah 17:7-8 But blessed is Allan & Kelly who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. Allan & Kelly will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Now when I look at this picture, I can see Allan & myself as the parent ducks and the four baby ducks represent the children the Lord has entrusted us with. I am thankful for the confidence & peace the Lord has given us as He trusts us with another baby duck. Our family is like the tree that is planted by the water...rooted in the Living Water. With that Living Water in our daily diet, we'll not give way to fear when the heat comes and will not worry in a year of drought. We are quite confident that whatever the Lord brings us to, He'll bring us through. Thank you Jesus for being our Living Water that quenches our spiritual thirst & sustains us!

With Obedience Comes Blessing

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by the assistant teaching director of my weekly Bible study. She wanted me to share something with the 100 ladies on March 2nd. My first thought was "I have nothing to share with these ladies who are much wiser & more spiritually mature than myself." But as I thought & prayed about what to share, obedience kept coming to mind. I find it pretty ironic since I think of myself as anything but obedient most times. But, in reflecting, I found several times where I was obedient & how the Lord blessed that obedience... so there it was: My Topic! So, I'm going to post what I shared with these ladies. I was scared out of my mind. As much as I love to talk, don't ask me to stand in front of 100 ladies and give me a microphone. Surely, I'll faint & make a fool of myself. But, the Lord showed up & I made it through without fainting! I hope it encourages you if you are struggling with something the Lord is calling you to do to just respond obediently.... you will be blessed for doing so!!

When L*** approached me with the idea of me sharing with you ladies, I thought she must be confused. Surely, she has mistaken me for a much wiser, more spiritually mature person. Immediately, the devil starts in on me attacking my insecurities with: fears of criticism, judgment, embarrassment, and failure. This happens to me each time the Lord has called me to do something which requires obedience. It happened when I was called into CBS leadership, when I was called to my 1st mission trip last summer to the Dominican Republic, when He led me to host & lead a Bible Study in my house, when He showed me He wanted me to teach a group of 9th grade girls at church and now when He wants me to share what He’s been teaching me with you all.

I am humbled that He calls me into these roles. I’ve learned that all He requires of me is to be an obedient and willing vessel. He will do the rest! And He’s proven that over and over because I know that alone I can’t accomplish the missions He’s called me to, but with Him every and anything can be accomplished!
So, obedience is what He’s been teaching me about. One of the largest tests in obedience was His calling me to serve Him on the Dominican Republic trip last summer. Even though I had prayed for Him to present the opportunity for missions and He was faithful to answer that prayer, I still wrestled with obedience. I am a stay at home wife & mother. Could I really leave my husband and 3 young boys (then aged 6, 5 & 3) ?? Could they really survive without me?? Surely, not!  Luke 14:26 became a reality & finally made sense to me. He had instructed me to go to the Dominican and I had to choose obedience and serve Him, not put my husband and children before Him. I really wish my natural inclination is obedience, it’s not. I’m learning obedience is a choice; a daily choice for me. While in the Dominican we were having devotion time on the beach one night. It was a beautiful night with a full moon reflecting on the ocean. While sitting there, I began reflecting on everything I had experienced while on the trip and thought WOW, what a blessing to have experienced all of this & what a privilege it was to be the hands & feet of Jesus to the men, women & children while on that trip. I would have missed out on so much if I had chosen not to follow His lead and gave way to my insecurities. I was in awe at how far He had brought me in my life to get me to the point of being on mission for Him. If you had asked me 7 years ago if I would be on a mission trip in the Dominican Republic, I would have laughed and thought absolutely not and went right back to my self-centered world I was living in. Everything the Lord has done in my life in the past 7 years is a direct result of faith and obedience. It took faith and obedience for me to surrender my life to Him, it took obedience for me to step out in faith for the leadership roles He’s called me to and the mission trip definitely took obedience. I want to obey Him because I love Him and am so thankful for what He’s done in my life! I owe Him nothing less than all of myself!
We just saw when studying Saul how the Lord had huge blessings for Saul, but because of his disobedience in choosing to do things his way, the blessing was passed on to David. That makes me wonder how many blessings the Lord originally intended for me but because of my lack of obedience has now been passed on to perhaps one of ya’ll. It challenges me to always be listening for when God is calling me to do something and I pray my response is always cheerful obedience.
True joy, fulfillment and happiness do not come from knowledge, but by what we do with that knowledge.


John 13:17 - Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them


James 1:22-25 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do


Luke 11:28 – Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it”


1 Samuel 15:22 - But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams
A little quote I came across while preparing for my trip to the Dominican Republic that I loved was this: The Lord doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called!
So, what I want to leave you with today is if the Lord is calling you into a leadership role, or to go on a mission trip or lead a group of kids, or anything that takes you outside of your comfort zone, respond obediently! Don’t allow Satan’s lies to discourage you from the work the Lord has intended for you! With obedience comes blessing.

Rainey, Party of Six, Your Table Is Ready

Yes, you read that right! Our family will expand by two feet come October 2011. We are beyond excited! We are thrilled and are eagerly anticipating this arrival. We have known for quite a while that we wanted another baby. We were just unsure of how the additon would come... either by adoption or by getting pregnant. Adoption still has a soft spot in our hearts and we had decided we'd pursue that route if we couldn't have one on our own. Praise the Lord it only took 2 months of trying and we were pregnant. We have known for 4 weeks and just shared with family & friends after our 1st doctor's appointment on Friday. The boys are very excited. I think the pregnancy with this baby is going to definitely be memorable. The boys are older and will be able to remember watching mommy's belly grow, feeling the baby move and seeing it roll around in my belly. Even though they are boys, I know they will be great helpers! Hard to believe Seth will be 5 when this one arrives and just one month after that Nate will be 8! Wow! Last time we brought a baby home we had 3 in diapers! They are all excited and curious to know how fast it will grow and when will my belly start getting "fat" haha and when it will be born. Nate & Alex want a baby sister. Seth wants a baby brother. Of course everyone's first comment was 'maybe this one will be a girl.' Our hearts aren't set on either/or. Naturally, we want a healthy baby. If we have a boy, that's fantastic. Clearly, we know boys best & are equipped. If it's a girl, that will be fantastic, too. She will have 3 older brothers to protect her! Psalm 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
We know life in the Rainey family will be busy, but we trust in the Lord's plan for our family. We sought him diligently while making this decision and He was faithful to hear our prayers and answer. We know that if He brings us to something, He'll be there to walk us through it! 1 Timothy 1:2 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service.
Stay tuned for more updates & pictures. This definitely gives me more to blog about! :)

Chain Buster Race

Over the weekend, Allan participated in his first mountain bike race with 2 of his friends in Oconee County at Heritage Park. The race was 9 hours long. And, they got 2nd place in the 9 hour competition. There was also a 6 hour competition. The boys & I are so proud of him!! I do believe this is the first of many races for him! WAY TO GO DADDY!!! We love you & are so proud of you!! XOXO

Working hard to get up that hill... mile #8

SUPRISE!! Daddy is happy to see us!

The Muddy Bike

Allan after he completed an 8 mile lap

The Set Up

The Boys waiting on Daddy

The Team: Chris, Ryan & Allan

Way to go guys!

Stinkin' Cute Alex

Flash Back.... 3 Days Before Seth's Arrival

Since I've been flashing back through pics of the boys when they were smaller, thought I'd add this one to the mix!

Man, was I preggo or what?!?! I was so miserable... Seth was a BIG OL BAYBAY!! 9 pounds 3 weeks early! And, what's with that mullet hairdo... that's called a certain beautician at a certain shop that I won't divulge.. would hate to put her out of business! haha I seriously hated that haircut! Whew.. my back hurts just looking at this pic! haha

Alex Busted!

Trip Down Memory Lane

Here's my Say Baby in 2007 at PCB.

My Men: Love 'Em

Snowed In

This week has been an eventful week! Late last week, we started hearing predictions of snow & ice. But, if you live in Georgia, you learn to not really believe the weather men until you actually see snow or ice. So many times they get us excited, bread and milk go flying off the grocery store shelves and then nothing. That wasn't the case this time. We thought *maybe* we might get 1 or 2 days off of school. We never thought it would end up being a whopping 5 whole days! The news was on almost 24-7. They spent so much time covering the snow and ice that it was 2 days after the horrible shooting in Arizona before I heard about it. Anyway, Atlanta is SNOW-NOT prepared for this much snow & ice. I really don't understand why people get so upset by it. It's not like it happens all the time so why invest SNOW much money into plows & other equipment only to use it every few years. All the truckers that want to whine on TV about how horrible Atlanta roads were should have been smart and watched the news and avoided the Atlanta area as much as they could. It never fails though, people will always find something to whine about.
We had a great time playing in the snow. Eventually, the thrill wore off & the boys just wanted to stay inside where it was warm and play games.
My snow week started out lovely as well. At 2:36AM Monday morning, I woke to a POP. Panic shot right though me. I had indeed snapped one of my porcelain veneers off in my sleep while *i think* grinding my teeth. So thankful we've been home all week. It looks absolutely terrible. I know, that's vain... but I worked in the dental field & pretty smiles are important to me. Thankfully, Dr. Baxter will be able to fix it first thing on Monday morning. That's the office where I worked before becoming a stay at home mom. They are an awesome group of people and do beautiful work! Love them! So, I guess you could have called my week Snowed In & Snaggle Tooth. Enjoy some of our pictures of our snow!

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The Raineys Take On DC

Well, the Raineys are back in Dacula, GA. The Washington Monument is still standing & as far as I know National Security didn't have to be called while we were there! We had a fantastic time. The boys first flight went ridiculously smooth. I mean, family of 5 getting through TSA security took maybe 10 minutes. I was shocked and very happy. We weren't too sure about our flight leaving on time because so many flights were being cancelled and delayed due to the weather up north. However, we boarded our plane right on time and off we went! While flying, Seth so seriously looked at me and asked, "Mommy, when are we going to see Jupiter?" I guess he thought we were going to the moon! They all had a great time listening to XM radio with the earphones the airline attendant gave them for the first half of the flight. The second half they were ZONKED out! I guess getting up at 4 AM wore them out. We arrived on time and went straight to Laurie & Wellington's apartment where we exchanged Christmas gifts. Then, Laurie & I hit up Target for things Allan & I couldn't bring or fit in our carry on luggage. Once we got checked into our hotel, we all went to a little sandwich shop called Cosi. It was super yummy. I was feeling pretty crummy, so we called it a night and went our separate ways. I started coming down with a fever, had chills and was achy all over. Thank the Lord for email prayer chains and answered prayers! I got one started as soon as I got to the hotel room. I was in bed by 8 PM and that hasn't happened since I was probably 12! haha! During the night, my fever broke and I felt much better. I was so worried that our much anticipated trip was going to have a damper put on it with me being sick. Tuesday morning, I woke feeling much better. Nothing that DayQuil couldn't help. And, thankfully, for the remainder of our trip, I remained fever free. Tuesday, we went to the Museum of Natural History and Museum of American History. The boys enjoyed that. I do believe of the whole trip that riding the Metro and all the escalators was the highlight of their trip! LOL. I mean, if you ask, they'll give you the "approved" answers like the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial, but deep down I know they LOVED the Metro! Tuesday night we went to Outback Steakhouse. It was soooo yummy! I had forgotten how long it had actually been since we had eaten at one. Very good! On Wednesday, we walked about a million miles. We started out at Arlington National Cemetery. I love to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I don't even know how to put it in words what it feels like to watch that. I guess I just love Washington, DC and all the history it holds even though if you know me, you know I'm no history buff! After Arlington, we walked across the Arlington Memorial Bridge. It crosses the Potomac River and is such a beautiful bridge. It ends at the Lincoln Memorial. We spent time there, had a little snack, took some pictures and started off again on our journey. We walked then to the Washington Monument, had a Rainey Boy Style wrestling session which drew quite a bit of attention. But, they needed to get out some energy! Next stop, we went to the White House and then stopped to pick up a few souvenirs. We walked through more of downtown DC and I was loving all the buildings. I wish I could take a picture of every building I saw. They are all so beautiful and unique. I love the city. After that we decided to call it a day and go find something to eat. We headed back into Arlington and ate dinner at California Tortilla. Nothing fancy, but a fast and yummy meal. Thursday was our last sight-seeing day. We decided that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Air & Space Museum would be a good finale.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was closed, so we didn't get to see them printing money. So, we headed on over to the Air & Space Museum. They enjoyed it, but by this day I do believe they had had enough of the museums. We hit the highlights, took a few pictures of the Capitol at dusk and ventured off for dinner after Mommy had time to cool down from their rambunctiousness. :) We had a super yummy meal at Hard Rock Cafe! The California burger was so yummy! We hit up another souvenir place and headed back to Arlington to get ready for our venture home Friday afternoon. We were all exhausted! Friday morning, we had a yummy brunch at IHOP before heading back to Ronald Reagan for our flight back home. Poor Laurie & Wellington I'm sure were glad to see us go with all our craziness! We surely are thankful for them and all their help with the boys this week! Couldn't have done it without you guys!! Thanks for helping us & being our "tour-guides"!!
All in all, we had a fantastic time. The boys were troopers even more than I give them credit for! Even though their feet hurt and they complained about it, they still kept on keeping on! Our journey back home went as smooth as the journey to DC. Our boys are great little travelers! It was so great to sleep in my own bed last night! Til next time, DC...
Enjoy some pictures, but be prepared this is only 120 of the 700 I took!! :)

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