published!

A friend of mine emailed me last week requesting that I guest-author an entry about potty training for the Prayer of Hannah blog, an informational blog written by five devoted mommies. I was super-flattered to be asked, and I had such fun recounting the thought processes that drove our potty training choices. Thank you, Christina, for the opportunity to write!

rachel 2.0

Today is our big girl's birthday! It's hard to believe how fast these last 2 years have gone by, and it's even harder to remember what our lives were like before our first pride and joy showed up. She has changed our lives in so many wonderful ways that we couldn't have predicted...we've even said we wish we would have started having kids sooner. I would not trade my current job for any job in the world!

For milestone-marking purposes, here's a list of a few of Rachel's best tricks and catch phrases:

• thinks she can reach anything if she stands on her step stool
• ends most phrases with "oooKAY?"
• finds "buggies" everywhere, and walks us through the process of disposing of each bug (even those that end up being a little piece of fuzz)
• enjoys being copied ("do dis, Mommy, do dis.")
• has a great imagination (yesterday, she made a train with her blocks, and it went through a tunnel I had made, which I intended to be a house)
• with a damp cloth, she will clean everything
• loves to "wash" dishes
• helps with laundry, including folding
• has finally grown hair long enough for a tiny sprig-like pony-tail, which she has suddenly deemed a necessity, driving her to tears when it comes out
• suddenly enjoys testing limits, including, but not limited to, grabbing at faces and hitting
• is quite good at jumping, a skill she has been perfecting for several months
• pulls out all the stops to show off for familiar friends and family, leaving her hyper for the rest of the day
• definitely favors her left hand. the world will seem so backward to her.
• appreciates chit chat--i often get this request (especially in the car), "Mommy, talk."

I may add more later, as things come to me. Rachel's big birthday bash is Saturday afternoon, with just the family. I am excited for her!!

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!

it is finished

It is difficult not to be distracted this time of year. When Christmas is over, and we come back home after hopping from one gift exchange to another, I find myself relieved, and ashamed. Jarrad and I both have large families, most of whom live close by, so, this year, we had seven Christmas get-togethers in six days. Sound like a lot? It's quite overwhelming to me, and I usually look ahead to the season with mixed feelings.

You might say Rachel racked up this year. She got a lot of really awesome toys and some super cute clothes, a few books, and some video footage to prove it. I know she is young, but I wonder what it all meant to her. I wonder what it all meant to me.

Christmas is a time for family, for food, for reminiscing, for nostalgia, for gifts, and for generosity. It is? We run around trying to see our families, but why now? Why do we do this around December 25th? I buy people stuff [they probably don't need and might not even want], but why couldn't I do that in July? I don't bake cookies, but I did last week. I try to wear red & green (colors I don't usually wear together), and we drag trees from outdoors into our homes and make them colorful and flashy...why?

Does any of it point to Christmas? Tradition, yes. Ritual, certainly. But Christmas? In our seven celebrations, Jesus was scarcely mentioned. Sure, we prayed in His name, as we were taught to do. But I'm talking about JESUS. The ONE who lived in Heaven, but decided to take on the flesh of man, enter the world as a helpless baby, humbling Himself from His perfect surroundings, from the Glory beyond our universe, to live in this--our earth, filled with defiance and mockery wrought by Sin. GOD left Glory to come here??--only to become the one sacrifice able to satisfy God's sovereign justice and demonstrate His perfect love for ME?? And that is Christmas.

I know these are not the warm and fuzzy thoughts that mark our Holiday season. I know we like to pretend it's about others--whether it's finding the perfect gift or volunteering or donating cash, people do become especially generous this time of year. Is it because that's what we've always done? Or does the "generosity" that comes with this season grow each year, ever in the effort to draw the focus away from Him. It's uncomfortable to think about what Jesus did, especially when we consider that we'll have to choose what to do with Him once we acknowledge His deed.

I sit here writing, as guilty as the next, having once again fallen for the tale that this season is about family (the highlight for us this year was seeing Jarrad's little brother). It isn't about family. It isn't about giving. It is nether about being thankful, courteous, compassionate, nor humble. As wonderful and desirable as those traits are in December, they are year-round. But on December 25th, I ought celebrate the coming of the One who makes those qualities possible in me, in spite of myself. I ought celebrate Christ Jesus.

whew!

Jarrad and I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of one of Rachel's little toys playing music over and over. What isn't a loud toy during the day is a really really loud toy by night, and I remembered that she had had this particular toy in her crib after naptime (where was it hidden at bedtime?). Jarrad said, "What is that?" I said, "It's her stupid (pardon the language) keyring toy--I forgot it was in her crib." "Is she awake?" he asked. "Well, she probably is now." Each song immediately followed the one before, as if she was depressing the play-a-song button continuously, though she was silent and still. When I entered her room, she lay there, sound asleep, gripping this awful toy. I pulled it away from her (I really had to yank it), and she grumbled and rolled over, but stayed asleep. WHEW!

reformation day

Okay, so Rachel dressed up for Halloween...

We went to the mall, where some of the stores do Trick-or-Treating early in the evening. It was perfect timing to be able to get Rachel in the bed at a reasonable hour, it was free, and it was indoors. Rachel had so much fun, but she didn't make it very far around the mall. She spent almost the entire evening in front of the candy store. There was a gorilla there, giving handfuls of gum to passersby. Rachel approached tentatively at first. He tried several ways to get her to dig into his bucket of gum, but she was unsure. Finally, he set the gum down and pretended to walk away, and Rachel made a break for it, picking up the entire bucket to swipe. He laughed and said she could keep the whole bucket of gum! So she carried it a few feet away, where she settled herself on the floor to examine her loot. A girl from the store brought over a little paper bag, which Rachel immediately began to fill with gum. She focused on this task for about 25 minutes, and then began to help fill other Trick-or-Treaters' bags with gum. Aunt Mamber met us there, and she and I just sat and watched Rachel interact with everyone. I was amazed that she didn't try to take off any part of her costume, nor did she claim to be hungry or need to potty. Incidentally, she wore training pants on our little excursion, and she stayed dry like a champ--our first 100% accident-free day!

She was pretty wiped out by the time we got home, and she went to sleep pretty easily after some snuggle time (she has been really snuggly lately).

once upon a time...

A long, long time ago--in February, I believe--I submitted Rachel's picture to the BabyLegs website for their "Customer Gallery." It never showed up, and I quit checking in June or July. Now that the weather is cooler, I just decided to order her a couple more pairs of BabyLegs, and, when I checked their site, her picture was up! It appears in the February pictures in the Customer Gallery. I think their website is pretty terrible, but it's still neat for her to be on there! Scroll all the way down to the bottom to see two pictures of your favorite BabyLegs lady...

I'VE BEEN TAGGED

My friend Denise tagged me! I've never done a "tag" before, so this might be kind of fun!

Here are the rules: Tagees should write a blog post of eight random facts about themselves. At the end of the post, more bloggers are tagged. Go to their blog, leave a comment telling them they're tagged.

1. I love to sing. Because I love to sing, I learned to play guitar. What's better than singing with the radio?--singing to your own strum, without any competition from the real singer.

2. I love to dance. Before I had Rachel to occupy my time, but after I became a real, married grown-up, I would occasionally put on some hiphop really loud and dance around the living room. In college, I loved going to dance clubs on Thursday nights.

3. I've never had more than a sip of alcohol (gross), never smoked a cigarette (or anything else), don't drink coffee, and am not Mormon.

4. I like to consider myself a bit of a rebel, counter-culture even, but I'm really a goody-two-shoes. Wait...maybe that is counter-culture...

5. I'm an athlete, but I hate to exercise. You will never catch me running without a ball in my hands or feet. Why do people run? Chase me, and I can run. Give me a ball, and I can run. Otherwise, where are all these people going?? 26.2 miles and you end up right back where you started. No thanks.

6. I have the greatest family, and I married the greatest family. I have two cousins and a brother who live within a short drive (and we actually keep up with each other), and Jarrad has three sisters, a mom & stepdad, grandparents, an aunt, and two cousins close by, too. Almost everyone we love dearly lives in our state, so we get to see them all often, and, most importantly, Rachel gets to know them too!

7. I speak Spanish, and I love learning about language acquisition and speech development. Cued language is a fascination of mine, and I practice it at random times. Rachel finds it funny, too.

8. It doesn't come into question as much anymore, but in my youth, my ethnicity was a ready conversation-maker. In high school, the coach of our rival basketball team called me, "the little Chinese girl." My junior year, I had my picture made at the prom with a Cambodian boy from my school. His family all wanted to know if I was Cambodian when the pictures came back. When I speak Spanish to Hispanics, they always ask where I'm from. A person once asked me if I was Czechoslovakian, and I used to always get questions from tellers and cashiers to the tune of, "Are you all white?" For the record, I am "all white" (whatever that means). I think my family has some German blood and maybe something else European, but, as far as I can tell, there's nothing interesting in our heritage.

Who I'll tag:
Lisa
Christina
Kelley
April
Jay
Shelly

the ONE!

I can't believe it's Rachel's birthday!! How does a year go by so fast, when they went so slowly before? Aunt KiKi made the most beautiful scrapbook of Rachel's first year...it's unbelievable how little she was, and how much she's grown.

We had a great weekend, ending with a great party for Rachel. Rachel even had three great-grandparents (GGPaw and MeMaw, and Grandma Mae) at her party! Unfortunately, with all the partying, we never stopped and took pictures with them. I'm really sad about that, but we'll have to make up for it on another visit. Here's a slideshow from today's festivities!

Happy Fathers Day to all the daddies out there. Rachel is so blessed to have a wonderful, loving, involved daddy. I couldn't be happier that the man who has made such a wonderful husband to me for five years (our anniversary was June 15th!), has made an equally-as-wonderful daddy. I always hoped we'd have at least one girl, because little girls LOVE their daddies. Rachel is definitely no exception!! (And Jarrad will tell you, I'm no exception either...I love you Daddy...er...I guess you're "Poppy" now!)

Progress Report

Rachel has done really well this weekend. She has actually been telling us she needs to potty more than half the time, and her diaper is staying dry a lot more of those times. I'm excited, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up [again].

cute moment

All weekend, Rachel has been really excited about sitting on things. She finds her target, she turns, and she sits. She still misses a lot, and she often tries to sit on things that are un-sit-on-able (like the sliding glass door), but she still gets really excited over her little triumphs.

non-toy toy of the day

Of course, Rachel loved the wrapping paper and giftbags from her party today. We visited MiMi and Poppy Friday and Saturday, and she fell in love with their kitty cat (named Bear...try to explain that one to a 1-year-old). She constantly went flying to the door, meowing at the top of her lungs. A couple times, Bear was feeling purry, and he brushed up against Rachel, walking round and round. Rachel was thrilled, and she is still talking about him ("MOW...MOW...MOOOOOOW...").

THIS JUST IN: Will is one year old!

I was just looking at my friend Lisa's blog, and she reminded me that today is our buddy Will's birthday (I'm the worst at remembering birthdays). He was born a few days before Rachel, but he had a long road ahead of him because he weighed only three pounds! He has really grown this year, and I have been amazed by him and his mommy Christina. Check out their blog and praise God with them!

THIS JUST IN: Will is a two-timer!

Two days after Rachel's big date with Will, he was caught with another girl! I guess Will and Leah are pretty cute together...

Rachel isn't worried, though, as she only has eyes for Alexander. You may recall that we've agreed to an arranged marriage between these two.