no excuses

We haven't really been that busy, and we have had some visits from friends, and we've gone a few places, too, so don't ask why I haven't blogged. I guess you could say I've been experiencing blogger's block. But the weather has turned cooler and my spirits are up, so I'm attempting a post.

I always feel guilty when I don't get to spend much quality time with Rachel, even if she's spending quality time with her daddy or other family. I don't know why that is, except that I think God puts a special kind of worry in the heart of a mommy. I am thoroughly convinced that no one will take care of her as well as I do--even though she really doesn't require much these days...just keep her belly full and a pair of shoes nearby, and that child stays pretty happy. Saturday night, Jarrad stayed home with Rachel while I went out with some girlfriends from church. We had dinner and painted pottery, and it was a lot of fun. Jarrad didn't have any responsibilities at church this week, so he brought Rachel Sunday morning and took her back home while I stayed and helped teach a kids' Sunday school. Rachel went down for her nap about an hour after I got home, and I left for a soccer game before she was up again. I didn't see her the rest of the night because we had Community Group and PopPop and Aunt Mamber babysat. I was happy to see her little smiling face this morning, and I'm pretty sure she was happy to see me too.

Jarrad installed Rachel's new car seat this afternoon, and it is HUGE. She looked like such a big girl, and such a little girl at the same time! This car seat lasts through 80 lbs, so we won't have to buy another one for a long time. To give her a chance to try it out, PopPop and Uma took us all out to dinner, which was a real treat, especially at the end of the meal when Rachel wanted to run around talking to everyone. Uma chased her while we relaxed!

cute moment

Jarrad and PopPop decided to bring Rachel to my soccer game for a few minutes Sunday afternoon. They reported that Rachel walked around in the grass, picking up every tiny piece of trash, and demanding that PopPop carry her to drop it into the trash can. She's such a good citizen. At halftime of our game, our team was sitting around drinking our water and Gatorade. Rachel found a cooler, and the owner let Rachel take all the items out one by one. She then replaced the items in the cooler and commanded the girl to put her gatorade in there, too. She proceeded around our group, collecting unclaimed bottles and deposting them into the cooler. Everyone appropriately exclaimed over her cuteness, and I was a proud mommy.

non-toy toy of the day

Trash, water bottles, and coolers, oh my. Rachel additionally loved playing with a napkin at dinner tonight. She also played with her food.