where have you been?

It has been way too long since I last posted. Suffice it to say that we've been out of town without internet access. Friday, GiGi came over to visit and spend the night. She played with Rachel while Jarrad and I packed and loaded the car for our trip. Saturday, we checked into a really nice hotel in the Charlotte area. Rachel took a decent afternoon nap in the hotel-provided Pack-n-Play, and then we all went shopping! Jarrad has given me a shopping spree as an early gift for our 5-year anniversary that's coming up next month! We went to an outlet mall near our hotel. Even though I only ended up buying one thing, it was just nice to shop while Jarrad strolled Rachel around and tended to her. The mall was ridiculously crowded, which is always a little stressful, but we went back to our hotel room and bedded down for the night around 8:15pm. Rachel went right to sleep, and woke up only a time or two during the night.

Sunday we went to my grandmother's house for a get-together with my mom's family. It was the most perfect weather, so we were outside, under the giant oak trees (the very ones my grandma and papa planted years ago when they built their house). The breeze was nice and the sun was shining, and Rachel had a great time walking around and around and around in the grass. Apart from a temper-tantrum or two because I wouldn't let her eat grass nor walk down the big hill, and apart from three spider bites and a mosquito bite, she had a grand day. The bites really bothered me, but she didn't even seem to notice the welts on her ankles and wrist.

A confession: We forgot the camera for our fun weekend. I kicked myself a time or two, but, oh well, what can you do? Perhaps you can close your eyes and imagine the great pictures we missed.

Today, my good friend Brian came over to meet Rachel for the first time! Brian lives in the mountains and he doesn't make it our way often. He and his girlfriend, Megan, had tickets to a concert tonight, so they came over and spent the day with Rachel! She showed off all day, and really enjoyed Brian and Megan. Brian has 4 nieces, so he is very experienced in baby-entertaining. Rachel thought his faces and peek-a-boo games were quite amusing. She even walked right over to him and let him pick her up! She also loved Megan's flip flops (of course). Brian and I went to middle school together (in fact, he was my boyfriend in 6th grade), and we even ended up going to the same university. We've been friends forever, and I haven't seen him in such a long time. It was great to catch up with him (on his birthday!) and get to know Megan better, too!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	3
poop	1	0

This is today's stat report. Rachel had been giving me a hard time with the potty, and I was getting discouraged. Saturday, when we got to the hotel, Rachel explored our suite (yes, a suite!). She quickly found the bathroom (okay, the suite wasn't that big), and she noticed the potty right away. She did the potty sign and said "GOOgoo" (her word for potty). I took her diaper off and put her on her potty, but she was completely uninterested. She wanted to stand up, and she certainly was not having any part of actually using it. So, I carried her to the bathroom and held her sitting on the big potty. She peepeed right away! The rest of the day Saturday, she refused to sit on her little potty, but she used the big potty without protest! Sunday, she was back to her old ways, but she did use her little potty some. I guess it was just a curiosity for her. Funny!

cute moment

Included in the price of our room, the hotel had a great cooked-to-order breakfast Sunday morning. So we took Rachel, her Bumbo, and a bib downstairs early. She had banana and a few Cheerios, but she had the most fun watching all the people. I had to feel sorry for her though, as she waved at every single person who walked by, and most hardly even glanced her way. But she stayed upbeat, and continued to wave, not phased by the lack of interest. It's so hard for me to understand why every person didn't stop and speak to her! Poor baby!

non-toy toy of the day

Today, Megan let Rachel dig around in her bag! She pulled out a wrapped disposable camera, wallet, earplugs, cell phone, some receipts and cards, and a cute Tony the Tiger. They even let her keep Tony the Tiger!

life lesson

I am learning a lot about prayer, namely, that God cares about every detail of our lives, and he cares about what we care about. Friday, I ended up having to take Rachel to the doctor for a little rash she had (which turned out to be nothing). Going to the doctor was not in my plan of things to do. But Rachel and I got in the car, rushed to Target to pick up some pictures I got developed to mail with Mother's Day cards, which I stuffed and stamped before rushing straight to Rachel's doctor. Her appointment was at 4:50pm, which meant that I needed to get the cards in a blue mailbox before her appointment. With no time to spare, I simply hoped there would be a mailbox at Rachel's doctor's office. I was really stressed out. As we turned the corner, I remarked to Rachel that I should pray about the situation, but I know I obviously can't pray a mailbox into existence. Of course, there was no mailbox. As we came out of the office at 5:10pm (pretty quick, huh?), I was really mad at myself for procrastinating and being late with the cards. As I drove by the drugstore on the corner, I noticed a mailtruck. The mailman was standing behind his truck, just sorting through mail. Could it be? I pulled up next to him, held out my cards, and asked if I could give them to him. Of course he took them, and all was well. How amazing is that??