tired tired

Has it really been so long since I blogged?? We've been busy busy, and I've not been sleeping well, so I've been tired tired. I did finish Rachel's new birthday dress. It's much smaller than the other, but it's still too big!! She can wear it, though, so she will. I think it will fit much better at the end of the summer, and she can wear a shirt under it in the fall if the weather gets cooler before it fits. I'll post pictures soon! The outfit she's wearing in this picture was given to her by Aunt Mamber...so cute!

A lot has happened...let's see if I can remember. Thursday, Aunt Mamber came over for her Thursday visit. She came over tonight, too, so we could go to Bible Study. I am soooooo happy that Rachel really loves Aunt Mamber. She seems to feel as comfy and safe in her care as she feels with me. Rachel has started separation anxiety, and she's cried when I've left her in the nursery at church the last three Sundays (although she seems to recover fairly quickly). It's sad to leave her like that, but I know it's just a phase. Tonight, though, she hardly seemed to notice when we walked out. PopPop was entertaining Rachel with some blocks. Aunt Mamber put Rachel to bed without a hitch. What a relief to know she's taken care of!

I mentioned PopPop. He's here all week painting the exterior of our house!! I'm beside myself with excitement. Jarrad has been working hard on the half bathroom that's been sitting empty for two years, waiting for its remodel. He thinks he'll be finished by her birthday! It is looking great, and I can't wait to post pics of the finished product.

Since so much work was happening at our house, Rachel and I went to visit GiGi and Pop Saturday, and we spent the night there. I definitely have decided that there's something to be said for cultures where several generations live together; it is wonderful to have so much help with Rachel, and to know I'm not the only eyes watching to keep her safe. As usual, they let me go out and run an errand or two, which does wonders for a full-time mommy's mental health, and, even though I was only gone for a little over an hour, I missed my little girl. I was glad to get home and hold her, and I think she was glad to see me too. Oh, and, once again, I have pitures, but they are held hostage on GiGi's camera.

Anyway, we've had a pretty great few days, and it's all because of great family. Praise God for his blessings!

Progress Report (Thursday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	8	6
poop	0	0

There is an explanation for the high peepee count. Thursday afternoon, Rachel told me she needed to potty. This is not unusual, but what followed had not happened in a really long time: I removed her diaper, which was dry, she sat down on the potty, and she went, right away! I was so shocked at the sequence that my mouth dropped open. Rachel thought that was hilarious. The next time she sat on the potty, as soon as she started peepeeing, she looked up at me, scrunched her nose, and dropped her mouth wide open, waiting for me to do the same. We did this all afternoon, and she apparently was so excited to see my surprised face that she would stop midstream. So, I changed a lot of barely-wet diapers, and she did a lot of partial-peepees on the potty. So funny!

Progress Report (Friday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	4
poop	0	0

Progress Report (Saturday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	3
poop	1	1

Progress Report (Sunday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	2
poop	0	0

I know I usually don't post so many potty reports at once, but I am so excited about the apparent progress. This afternoon, she told me every single time she needed to potty, and her only two diapers she used today were early this morning and at church. Yay!

cute moment

Rachel has learned to lap sit. That is, she has figured out how to come over, turn around, and sit down in my lap. She discovered this new trick on Thursday, and she kept coming over, sitting down, getting right back up, only to walk away and start all over again. She giggled every time. She doesn't get it every time though; sometimes she tried to walk right into my lap, and ends up face forward on her belly, wondering what went wrong. Today, PopPop was lying on the floor in her room, and she kept going over and sitting on his shiny bald head. She go a kick out of that!

Rachel also, for some reason, has started randomly stretching her arms straight up over her head. She'll do it now when I say, "biiiiig Rachel." I don't know what started it, but I think it's pretty cute.

non-toy toy of the day

There are so many non-toys that I can't name them all. At one point on Friday, she was walking around with a yogurt container in one hand, and a Capri-Sun pouch and a greeting card in the other. There's no stopping her!