when it RAINS, it pours...

Goodbye January, Hello February!

2012-01-30T05:24:00.000-08:00

Jude:

Eden (OFFICIALLY A TODDLER):

Can't Get Enough

2012-01-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

...of Our Little Man!

Jude is already four months old and has triple fat rolls on each leg... I love it!

More Pictures HERE from an impromptu photo session my sister Mary did for us:

Sad, But Look

2011-12-19T20:26:00.001-08:00

...how big my baby girl is getting!

Now it's pigtails, soon it will be braces. (sniffle sniffle)

Just Can't Wait

2011-11-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Heading out on the Long Road Drive to Texas...

Rains Family Reunion - Texas

2011-11-13T17:47:00.000-08:00

Nate had a medical conference in Texas this past week, so we tagged along to spend time with the Rains crew... Opa has nine grandkiddos now that Titus and Jude are in the picture! Here are a few pictures from the week:

The Whole Family

Daddy and his girl

Cousins with Opa (Titus didn't make the picture but everyone else is there)

Eden (19 months old)

Jude (2 months old)

Fun Sister-In-Laws

Pumpkin Patch (You Gotta Do It)

2011-10-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

My little pumpkin!

and My Bigger Pumpkin:

and the Compulsory Family Picture:

and MORE PICTURES HERE

Bath Time for Jude

2011-10-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

Fall is Here! Hooray! Apple pies, caramel, pumpkin everything....mmm. Cold nights, sunny days, no sweating... it seriously is the best time of the year!

We had an impromptu fall photo shoot after church on Sunday, with Eden in her little $2 garage sale Gymboree dress. I love good deals. And little girls in cute dresses.

CLICK HERE FOR A FEW MORE PICS OF OUR MONTH

Our Future Shopper

2011-09-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

Meet Jude!

2011-09-08T05:57:00.000-07:00

Hello World!

My name is Jude Timothy Rains. I made it easy for my mom and dad and came out in record time on Tuesday, and have been a pretty easy kid since birth... I love to sleep, and am pretty content just chilling out and watching my sister Eden run around and try to drop (heavy) things on my face. My face is still a little bruised from the speedy exit, so now that the blood is breaking down I am getting some jaundice. Other than that, I'm adjusting just fine and am excited to meet you all soon!

Love, Jude

Click here for pictures!!!

Rains Baby Boy Shower

2011-08-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Nathan's clinic surprised us with a sweet shower for our Rains baby boy last Friday! (Who is being induced on September 6th, by the way... please pray for me that day... I'm feeling a five hour labor in the works...) A few pictures from the shower:

Treats!

"Monkey on a Motorcycle" (aka Cutest Present Ever)

Big Sister Eden (17 months) opening a present of her own:

The Newly Promoted (but still handsome), Chief of Optometry Captain Rains:

Eden and Me:

Opening Presents:

ABCs and a Dolly

2011-08-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

Eden is 16 months old now and will soon be a big sister!

Two new videos to share:

A Field, some Flowers and a Family Reunion

2011-06-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Mid-June, Opa and Ingrid came to our house in Kansas, then we all headed to Sequoyah State Park in Wagoner, Oklahoma for a four day family reunion with Nate's family. These pictures are from a field on the side of the highway. :)

And a few videos:

Dancing Diva

2011-05-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

A month after her surgery, Eden's up and cruising again, our own dancing diva!

And a random rainforest video from our Topeka Zoo trip last weekend:

Rains Baby #2... It's A ____!

2011-04-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

Eden's Hospital Adventure

2011-04-10T20:03:00.000-07:00

We made it home today after Eden's 4-day hospital adventure! Definitely came back feeling so blessed, but yet with a deep sense of bittersweetness and perspective. While at Children's Mercy Hospital, we got to know a few families with really sick little kids. Their heartbreaking stories just make your gut hurt... I wish that they all got to go home today like we did. Nathan and I are so thankful that Eden's foot turned out to just be an abscess rather than a mass/tumor as originally diagnosed, and that we had such a fantastic care experience at this hospital. We have our happy Eden back, and she's on the road to being infection free, praise God!

More Pics/Videos

Walking and a Birthday

2011-03-12T19:48:00.000-08:00

Reading!

2011-03-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Eden's Valentine's Day Photoshoot

2011-02-14T07:57:00.000-08:00

Love is in the Air! We hung up a v-day tablecloth and tried our best to get a few pics of squirmy Eden... enjoy!

And More Photoshoot Pics!

Snow Day!

2011-01-17T07:06:00.001-08:00

Eden's First Driving Lesson

2011-01-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

Eden's New Playspot - The Pantry

2010-12-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

december videos

2010-12-19T16:51:00.000-08:00

a quick update

2010-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Nathan and I hired our first real babysitter this weekend and went out to a military ball! The ball was a bit lame but it was awesome to go on a date and find a wonderful babysitter... totally worth the money!

and a few videos of Nate and Eden:

christmas card

2010-11-28T18:19:00.001-08:00

Merry Montage Christmas

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

random dancing Rains

2010-11-18T17:13:00.000-08:00

found this random video that my brother-in-law posted of us Rains clan dancing together back in September... so fun!

KSU and More

2010-11-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Well, summer is officially over - we had our first snowfall here last night! It was too hot to do anything outside this summer, so now that summer is over, we are getting outside as much as possible before it's too cold to be outside. From my calculations, there are approximately 3 days in the fall and 3 days in the spring where you can be outside in Kansas without melting or freezing. :)

Here are a few videos, and pictures from Kansas City (woot woot) where we went this Thursday and Friday since Nathan got the days off for Veteran's Day.

Kansas City Pics

Back in Kansas!

2010-11-03T05:17:00.001-07:00

We are back in Kansas, as a family... after 9 weeks apart, it is SO good to be home! Mom flew back out here with Eden and and me and stayed for a few days... here are some pics of our time together:

PICS

some new videos!

2010-10-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Some new videos of our adventures in Oregon and Texas!

Love, Sweet Love and Granny's OSU Boys

2010-09-01T22:28:00.001-07:00

Isaac (Caitlin's uber-cute, uber-chubby 7-month-old) came over for a visit today, as both he and Eden happened to be in Oregon! It was love, sweet tender love... a few pics here for your enjoyment:

And to top off the evening...I caught Granny on candid camera:

Home, Sweet Home

2010-08-31T09:46:00.001-07:00

So, we are temporarily "Home" for now! While Nathan does his two months of military training in San Antonio, Texas, we'll be living with my parents in Oregon. It's bittersweet to be apart, but so fun to be hanging out with Oregon friends and family!

Eden is getting so big! We went to the beach yesterday and she tried ice cream (*a major no-no, I know... but just a lick or two*).

CLICK FOR BEACH PICS

Mmmm....thank you nursing!

2010-08-18T13:26:00.001-07:00

i LOVE nursing. love that I can eat a piece of chocolate cake at 3pm, with no apparent cause for celebration, with minimal worry that it will go to my hips. thank you breastfeeding!

Splish Splash I'm a Taking a Bath!

2010-08-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

This video is a bit grainy due to the poor lighting, but I can't resist showing off cute Eden to you guys! She cut her first tooth last week and is growing up so fast.

Untitled from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

The Earth Declares His Glory

2010-08-03T05:15:00.000-07:00

Sure. It’s 113 degrees here with the humidity index and the wasps are the size of my hand. But ain’t she pretty?! (No photoshop used here!)

Psalm 19:1-6 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.”

Psalm 93:1 “The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.”

Highwaters, Mutton Bustin’ & a Soccer League

2010-07-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

Who Wears Highwaters? Eden!
Any woman 5’8” or taller faces the universal challenge of finding pants that go past her ankles, and it seems that Miss Eden has taken up this quest early in life. Already, at the ripe ‘ole age of four months, her long legs are unfashionably poking out of her six-month outfit...

Mutton Bustin’ and More
The Riley County Fair and Rodeo hit town this weekend… we live approximately four minutes from the festivities and figured we owed it to ourselves to check out the Kansas wonder. Good thing we did! From insect displays to pig & goat shows and a rodeo, it was a yee-haw good time. Five points to anyone who can tell me what mutton bustin’ is…

A Soccer League
Nathan found friends (sports) this weekend! Nathan coerced me into playing soccer with him yesterday, so we wandered over to a nearby field with Eden, in the sweltering (but 20 degree cooler than normal) 85 degree weather. We’d been kicking the ball around for a while when what to our wandering eyes did appear but other soccer players! They rode their bikes in, popping out from the woodwork. Nathan was THRILLED and quick joined in on their game. (All the soccer players were in full soccer regalia, and Nathan had on his swimming trunks, running shoes and baseball hat.) They play a few times a week, and you can bet your lil heart that Nathan will be there too.

Other Highlights
1. We found a church that we like pretty well… Crestview, so we’ll be checking that out again this week. Looking forward to getting settled after five Sundays of church shopping.
2. I am making friends!
3. Nathan loves his job and is seeing 16 or so patients each day in his own satellite clinic on post, with a few staff of his own. Thank you for your prayers!
4. HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY BABY!!!!

Welcome to Kansas!

2010-07-12T05:36:00.001-07:00

Attention people! We made it to Kansas(s) and now have Internet! Nathan is an army man, all but two boxes are unpacked in our house, and today I saw my first tornado warning flash across the t.v. screen! Life is pretty good here in Kansas. Here are the Top 10 highlights from our past month...

1. Marlon and Nathan drove our two cars from Oregon to Kansas in a five day roadtrip. They took their time and stopped at lively attractions including the main highlight, the Colgate Country Showdown in (fill in small town name here), Nebraska.

2. Eden learned how to roll over and laugh!

3. Eden plays in her "Jenny" jump up.

4. And she eats in her highchair! The ole’ girl does lots o’ tricks now.
http://www.vimeo.com/13268152

5. We met friends! Steve and Chelsie, another Army couple, and we’ve hung out with them a few times. Thank you Lord. He’s an Chinook (*THANKS FOR THE CORRECTION, STEVE) helicopter pilot so that’s rather, well, rad.

6. And I met another friend Annie and we go on walks and to this women’s Beth Moore bible study each week. So weird to have to “meet friends” again.

7. Nathan got a BBQ for his birthday and we've been BBQing it up. So hot and humid here, but just gorgeous with lots of green rolling hills and rivers.

8. Still church shopping and soon I will be part time job shopping… prayers welcome! Looking forward to having places to plug in and serve with purpose.

9. Nathan got 50 pieces of Army equipment for no apparent reason that now reside in our water heater closet. Shovels, weighted vests, etc. At least $2000 + of equipment, none needed.

10. My #1 highlight here is, of course, looking outside at the clouds and plotting the latest thunderstorm and/or tornado. None yet, but we did see an awesome rainbow in our backyard after a rainstorm:

Vacation Videos

2010-06-16T22:54:00.000-07:00

Golden Puffs - The Fuel of Champs from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Brown Artificial Turf? from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Suzy Ruins Rice Crispy's from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Tony Causes Accident from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Bath Time Fun

2010-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Eden at 2.5 months enjoying her bath!

Smiley Bath Time from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Making it Official!

2010-06-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

Nathan swore into office this morning... in transition as a 0-2 1st Lieutenant until he walks onto Ft. Riley when he'll be automatically promoted to an o-3 Captain.

Video here for your enjoyment:

Army movers come on Friday the 18th to pack up our stuff for us, then we move the following week. Here we come Kansas!

Texas!

2010-05-31T13:32:00.000-07:00

We've been having a blast with the Rains family in Texas! We spent last week in Austin with Jonathan (Nathan's brother) and his family, as well as Ingrid (Nathan's sister), her fun roommate Kerri and Marlon (Nathan's dad). We've spent this Memorial Weekend together in San Antonio at Marco's (Nathan's brother), spending time as a giant Rains family. Later on today, the Austin crew will head home and we'll spend this week in San Antonio and then down at Corpus Christi, playing at the beach with Marco and his family before heading back to Oregon next week. Aside from bugs and 100 degrees weather, it's wonderful here.

Puppet Show from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Dr. Nathan Rains, O.D.

2010-05-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

After 21 years of schooling, despite torrential downpour during his outdoor graduation ceremony (where we sat without umbrellas, p.s.), I now present to you Dr. Nathan Rains, O.D.! Graduating with honors and everything... so proud of you baby. It's been so fun to share part of this journey with you. We had a lot of fun attending a fancy-pants dinner on a golf course, another one downtown at the Convention Center, then commencement and graduation ceremonies at Pacific. Topped off the festivities with a hoedown bbq for friends & family at my parents.

P.S. Baby Eden is now two months old! 13lbs and 24 inches long now, in the 94th percentile for both height and weight. She had just gotten a few shots on the day this picture was taken... it's amazing what baby Tylenol can do!

on the map...

2010-04-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ode to Manhattan, KS

Manhattan, Manhattan, where art thou?
In the middle of nowhere, I assume.
What is near you besides Walmart and stuff?
Just Dorothy and tornadoes.

Oh Kansas, oh Kansas, I got my storm cellar.

Oh how thou summers are hot and stinky

and your winters, cold and frostbitten.

We shall see. We shall see. We shall see. Manhattan.

Here's to the Happy Couple

2010-04-19T12:35:00.001-07:00

Jeffrey and Angela got married yesterday! They are seriously the most beautiful, happiest couple EVER - they could have walked straight into a bridal catalogue. The Lord even gave them the wedding present of drop dead gorgeous weather, sandwiched in between two nasty rainy days. We are so excited for them to share life together and start the next chapter of their Cinderella fairy tale story authored by the Lord himself. Check out the happy couple here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=529763303525&ref=mf

Nathan took Friday off from work and we made the trek up to Gig Harbor, WA to be part of the wedding weekend. He had the lovely responsibility of caring for 3.5 week old Eden most of the weekend while I played with the wedding party... WOOHOO! It was awesome to feel independent again - I loved hanging out with all the girls and more or less forgetting about Eden. (whoops) Poor Nathan... he did awesome though and now has a thorough appreciation of what it's like to stay home with Eden each day. Even though she's an easy baby it's still exhausting work. Thank you so much babes!! My family was all there (Jon's even visiting from Africa) so they pitched in too... thanks guys.

getting ready to party! from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Suzy & Eden at wedding from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

"Thanks for taking such good care of me, Uncle Jon...I love laying on my face."

Tired After Partying it up with the Big Kids

Easter Bunny

2010-04-04T13:09:00.000-07:00

Look what Nana (Grandma Beth) brought Eden! Her very own Easter basket, which we of course had to dump out all over her. She got a sugar high and needed a lil loving afterwards....

And here are some: Other pics from first two weeks

more pics

2010-03-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/rains.nathan/Eden?feat=email#

And Eden Makes Three!

2010-03-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

WELCOME EDEN ELIZABETH RAINS.

DOB: 3.22.2010 @ 11:34 PM

Weight: 7 lbs 11 oz

Height: 21 inches

Beautiful healthy little girl.

You don’t have to go, but you can’t stay here… as of Monday, you’re OUT kiddo!

2010-03-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Reasons Not to Induce

• Heightened risk of c-section
• Stronger, more painful contractions

Reasons to Induce

• Elevated blood pressure -my doctor doesn’t want me to go past my due date
• My doctor is going out of town for two weeks on Wednesday
• Family and friends are in town this weekend and next week
• My mom never went into labor naturally and had to induce with all of us kids – there’s a good chance I’d have the same issue
• Tired of heartburn and being pregnant
• Planned – I love planned things…

Nathan and I swore we’d never induce labor, but alas, when Dr. Barrett suggested it again to us yesterday, I finally gave in. I’m ready to get this baby out! Scheduled to go in at midnight this Sunday and be induced with Misoprostol. Please pray for a smooth and relatively easy labor! We’ll consider it a success if we can just avoid a c-section and come out with a healthy baby. We can’t wait to meet baby Eden!

T-3 weeks to go!

2010-03-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

Pre-Garden Fun

2010-03-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Nathan "bought Eden" this fancy-pants HD video camera. He's been loving it and uploaded a few videos this weekend from the past couple of months. I'll share them here for you guys... we're trying to soak in the "pre-garden" fun while we can!! Crazy to think we'll be parents in just a few short weeks.

Late White Christmas from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Suzy Cookie Mix from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

Suzy Green Pants from Nathan Rains on Vimeo.

last summer fun

2010-02-23T08:57:00.000-08:00

We cleaned off the internal memory from our camera this weekend and found these pictures from Nic and Becky's wedding! Look at handsome groomsman Nate...that's my babe.

Baby Eden Shower

2010-02-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

My sweet aunties threw Eden (and me) a baby shower this past Saturday… and we SCORED! I think she officially has more cute outfits than me – definitely more comfortable ones for sure. Too bad onesies don’t come in adult sizes…

Thank you Proebstel Clan and friends for the shower! The planning, thoughtfulness, yummy goodies, games, and generosity. We are so thankful.

From baby eden shower!

Shower Pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/suzanne.rains/BabyEdenShower

military nate

2010-01-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

Look at handsome military Nate! Stare deeply at his freshly-shaved goatee and Army short hair, his crisp uniform and steel-toed boots... my favorite 2nd lieutenant out there! Serving active duty as optomotrist-in-training up at Ft. Lewis for the next 45 days... get 'em while it's hot!

hawaii!

2009-12-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

Hello again people! Give me grace as I'm just getting on this blogging bandwagon... my goal is to do more than one post per month... so I mean, I'm pretty close...

3 weeks before Nathan's week long break between his second and third clinical rotations, we decided on a spur moment to buy tickets to Hawaii! Two $300 round trip tickets later, we were planning a Hawaii vacation for November 8th - 13th. God's SO good and provides so well... we called up Daniel and Erin Chinen and it turned out they were to be at a missions conference during our time there, so they offered up their home for us to stay at, and gave us one of their cars for the whole week.

It was the best vacation ever! We drove up and down the North Shore, exploring remote beaches, eating twice at an awesome lil burger joint, and staring awestruck at surfing studs cruising their winter 20-30 ft. swells. We'd have morning devos at a quiet little Kailua coffee shop, followed by leisurely strolls on the nearby beach. Thrown in there was snorkeling at Haunama Bay, body surfing at Waimea Bay, and surfing at Waikiki. On Veteran's Day we hit up Pearl Harbor which was a sobering but memorable experience. We finished up our week with two nights at the Illikai, a hotel on the Waikiki stretch, and time with Daniel and Erin. It was so fun to spend time with her and get to know her baby, Caleb, a little better! (She's due two weeks before me). We came back refreshed and rejuvenated.

Pics from our vacation here! http://picasaweb.google.com/rains.nathan/HawaiiNov200902

Nathan's now in the middle of his third rotation up at Madigan Army Hospital at Ft. Lewis in Tacoma... it's from Nov. 15th - Feb. 12th... he's rocking it and we're getting used to time apart. Weekends are the best time of the week for sure; we're thankful for Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years and MLK day sprinkled throughout this rotation. Makes time go quicker and gives us something to look forward to! May you all be truly blessed this Holiday season and come to know Jesus as more than just a baby in a manger... he is our Savior!

it's a .... .... ....

2009-10-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

It took us forever to make up our minds if we'd find out the gender of this baby Rains, but alas, suspense won out! We went to the prenatal appointment today, and the baby was perfect. LONG, long legs (weird, I know), 10 fingers, 10 toes (phew), just cute! Weighing in at a whopping 12 ounces... woohoo!

I always thought I felt some random pressure on the left side of my abdomen and now I know why... I looked up at the ultrasound screen, and right when I saw the baby stretch out its legs against one of the uterus walls, there was the pressure against my side! Dang long legs... I can only imagine what it will feel like at 9 months if this is just barely 5 months along!

WELL, the moment you've been waiting for.... do you have any predictions? What do you think the baby is, Boy or Girl?

..................
..................
................

Testing

.................
.................
....................

Testing

.................
................
...................

Sure you don't want to change your mind?!!!

.....................
.................
..............

Last chance!!!

................
...............
.....................

It's a................

........................
........................
.......................

.......................GIRL!!!Eden Elizabeth - due March 26th!

Proof

2009-09-29T15:43:00.000-07:00

Proof - 6 week ultrasound on 8/6/09... looks like NOTHING, but there is a little leech in there, sucking the life out of me and providing justification for my narcolepsy habit. I love sleeping, and I love eating plain english muffins in the morning. The only thing better is mac&cheese with tuna fish. Everything else makes me want to hurl. Yes, definitely pregnant.