buzzer beater

Rachel had a fun morning with some friends/neighbors of ours, and they absolutely ran her ragged with all the playing and snacking. So when we got home right at naptime this afternoon, she settled down to sleep pretty quickly, and I was sure we were in for a long one. Not so. My wonderful, sweet, beautiful baby girl will not take long naps! So, true to pattern, she woke up after sleeping only one hour, and was in a terribly cranky mood for the afternoon. We already had plans to meet Jarrad and some other friends for dinner, so, in spite of bad-mood Rachel, I loaded us up, and we headed out.

Although wiggly, Rachel was surprisingly cooperative and fun to have around at dinner. We went to a kids-eat-free-on-Mondays spot, and it was a zoo, which seemed to keep her adequately distracted. After eating, Jarrad had to go back to work (sad), so Rachel and I headed home to wind down for the evening. All the way home, she begged for a banana, and I appeased her with promises of such. When we walked in the door, she nearly jumped out of my arms with excitement, and insisted that she "get" the banana (she points to herself over and over, saying "get, get, get, get"). So we sat down at the table with said banana, and Rachel half-ate and half-played. She finally finished her snack, but not without a lot of silliness.

"It's time to go upstairs," I announced. "Night night," she replied. Acting silly the whole way, she slowly climbed the stairs. She pottied, and then was unusually cooperative (and giggly) during the pajama ceremony. I informed her that her cooperation had left us plenty of time to read books, and she dashed over to a book I recently returned to the floor from the closet, and we read. Then she wanted to read "Brown Bear," which we started, only to be interrupted by the distant sound of fireworks.

Rachel froze. She was sitting on her bear rug/pillow, and I was stretched out on the floor next to her. I told her someone was celebrating something with fireworks, but, as I continued to read the book, Rachel stayed very still. "Are you okay, Rachel? Are you scared?" Wide-eyed, she nodded. "Do you want Mommy to hold you?" Wide-eyed, still, she got up and came to me, arms out-stretched. I picked her up, and she curled around my torso, with her head resting on my shoulder.

I sat with her in the rocking chair, and she fell asleep without moving a muscle. She doesn't fall asleep on me often, and it was such a sweet end to a silly evening, a perfect end to a whiny afternoon, and a refreshing end to a strange day.

cute moment

All this said, as I left half-asleep Rachel in her crib, I realized my phone had exited my pocket. "Oh, well," thought I, knowing I could sneak in and retrieve it after she was sound asleep. I did sneak in, only to crawl all around her room and come out empty-handed. Hmmm--now what?? I had distinctly remembered putting the phone in my sweatshirt pocket just before sitting Rachel on the potty. It wasn't in the bathroom either. I knew I couldn't call, since I had failed to turn it to vibrate. Text message! I decided to email a text message to my phone, which would cause a brief but audible notification, which I would be able to hear over Rachel's monitor were my phone in her room. And it was. So I returned, this time armed with a small flashlight, but still unable to find the darn thing. Then I heard it. It vibrated as a reminder notification. I waited, and heard it again. And I located my phone.

It was in Rachel's crib, under Rachel's leg. How did she manage to pickpocket me through all of that sweetness?? Luckily, she was so sound asleep that she didn't even notice when I slipped the phone out. Strange...

on another note

Jarrad, Rachel and I are expecting another addition to the family in October. Yay for a sweet little brand new baby! We saw the teeny bebe on our first ultrasound this morning, which was amazing, even the second time around. I already can't wait to meet this little tater tot!