i like my kids

I mean, ain't they cute?? :)

first pajama party

My mom had a birthday last week, so my sister-in-law and I loaded up our kids (four, total--Tyler, almost 4 yrs / Rachel, 3.5 / Carly, 10 mos / Emma, 7 months) and took them all to visit MiMi. The big kids got to sleep in the same room for the first time ever (MiMi also slept in the room to make sure there was not too much silliness going on). It seemed to happen all of a sudden, but Tyler and Rachel have really begun to enjoy playing together. Here are just a few of the priceless moments the children experienced together... And, can I just add that I think my nephew is HILARIOUS?? And that he is just like my brother...

toddling

Well, it's done. Carly is officially done being my little baby. A little over a week ago, she officially took up walking as her new favorite way to get around. Over the span of about 3 days, she went from insisting on holding someone's hands to walk around (i.e. she was unhappy and very vocal about it if we weren't perpetually helping her walk), to cruising around the entire downstairs by herself (very creatively, I might add) to taking a few steps here and there, to wanting to walk without help (i.e. she brushed us off when we offered her a hand). That's a lot of learning in such a short time! I don't quite know where it is she's wanting so badly to go, but she's going, and I guess that's keeping her happy for now. She is also able to bend over, pick something up, and stand again. And the past couple of days, she's been really into trying to pick up big things (like the Boppy pillow). The video below is from one week ago, on Friday. You can see Eager Big Sister "helping" Carly walk, and then pretending to be a baby herself. Silly girls.

crawling to a crawl

I've decided that I really love having two much more than just having one. They entertain each other, and it's music to my ears when Rachel asks, "When's Carly gonna wake up?" as her sister is napping. For now, it seems almost easier to have two. But my world is rapidly changing. Check out what Carly figured out a few days ago--and know that she is becoming more and more proficient every day. EEK! (Note: this is MY first movie attempt. Jarrad is usually the movie-maker, but I thought I'd give it a whirl...)

my little baby

Our sweet little Carly turns 6 months old tomorrow. Praise God we seem to have an answer for her persistent cough: acid reflux or Tracheomalacia, either of which she will grow out of without consequence. We have medication for acid reflux, but I haven't been able to bring myself to give it to her yet. If she has it, it sure doesn't seem to bother her, aside from the normal amount of spit up (still significantly less than we experienced when Rachel was a baby), and, of course, the congestion/cough. It doesn't make her fussy, keep her up at night, or cause her trouble breathing. On the other hand, if she gets another ear infection, I sure will kick myself for not giving it to her. Oh, these mommy decisions...

I finally started Carly on rice cereal about a week and a half ago. I'm rather hesitant when it comes to food, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's such a tangible sign that my baby won't be a baby forever, or maybe it's just because we can't avoid having "another mouth to feed" any longer, but whatever it is, I put it off as long as I can. She loves it, though, and she caught on to the whole deal rather quickly (my baby, my little baby..). I can hardly stand it!

She's great fun now, too. I can't believe how proficient she is becoming. She was playing with an input toy a couple of days ago, and she was actually picking up the balls and putting them right where they belonged! (my baby, my little baby).. She can sit up on her own quite well (although I still don't leave her sitting by herself), and she wants to get moving so badly. She thinks Rachel is hilarious, and she has the cutest habit of keeping the very tip of her index finger perched right inside her bottom lip. She is as pleasant as any baby I've ever been around, and I love her sweet little voice that she's finding more and more (she's gone from cooing to "yayayaya" to "dadadada" in the past week). She also L-O-V-E-S being naked (or "nakedy" as Rachel and I call it), and will giggle at nothing when she's free from diaper and clothes.

And speaking of diapers, yes--she still wears them. She goes on the potty some, of course, but I don't foresee a diaper-free future for quite some time. We do love catching what we catch, though, and she definitely knows what's going on now. (my baby, my little baby). I am less enchanted now with pottying and cloth diapering, and I'm happy to move into a season when it's all just a part of normal life--the potty, the cloth diapers, the laundry. With Rachel, I resorted back to disposable diapers pretty readily, but now I don't even think of it, really, because cloth is what we're used to.

The first picture here shows how much Rachel loves that her sissy is growing into a playmate. I can't turn my back on Carly for more than a few minutes before Rachel has surrounded her with toys. I sometimes can't find Carly in the mound, and she seems to get overwhelmed at times, but I do think it's sweet.

Below is the face Daddy will want her to use on all the boys:

babydoll

Here's a video of Rachel with her new favorite plaything--Carly:

serenade

Here's the scene at our house, first thing in the morning...

old news

We got snow last week! Rachel LOVED it [of course]. She even learned how to make a snow angel...

to the beach and beyond

Since my last post, we've had a most relaxing family vacation at the beach, Rachel's first real experience. We went last year, but she was still just so enthralled to be walking and independent, that she mostly walked circles on the beach, in our condo, and wherever else we were. She hardly noticed the water and the sand last year, but this year, she was fascinated by all of it. She loved swimming, especially in the pool, where she figured out how to slowly get herself around with the aid of her swimmies and nothing else. "Rachel do it by yourself" was her catch phrase for the week, and she did: she jumped in, she swam, she dug holes in the sand, and she collected seashells, all "by yourself."

I theorize that this vacation will go down in history as our easiest because we had three of us hanging out with just 2-year-old Rachel all week (GiGi came with us), and sweet, young, innocent Rachel was perfectly content to play and enjoy her surroundings at all times. When she wanted to go from the ocean to the pool, we went, and when she wanted Daddy to play with her, he did. Next year, and forevermore, she will have to share everything. And I'm sure that, just when we think it should get easier--when the kids are old enough to kind of take care of themselves--they'll start getting grand, conflicting ideas of all the things they'd rather be doing. One will want Daddy to come to the pool, while one will refuse to leave the beach, and another will just want to go inside for lunch, or maybe off to the local beach junk store. And so, in honor of the most relaxing vacation ever, a video by Daddy...

cinderella

Rachel cooks.

Rachel shops. Rachel does laundry.

Rachel sorts Daddy's coupon spoils.

the emperor's wipes

Rachel is suddenly talking up a storm--even putting multiple words together to make primitive sentences. Since she's relatively intelligible [to us] now, it's fun to listen to her imitate us in her play. She's learning a lot about pretending, and has developed quite the sense of humor, believing herself to be the funniest kid on the block.

Rachel likes to play with wipes. I don't know if it's the crinkle of the package, or what, but she'll carry around a pack of wipes, opening and closing them. She is understanding plenty now, that I feel confident giving her complex instructions, like, "You may open the wipes, but do not get any wipes out," and she listens well. Tonight, she was playing with her new favorite friends, Ducky and Monkey. She brought over a pack of wipes, and I reminded her not to get any out. She opened the pack, glanced over, then reached down with her index finger and thumb pinched together. She poked at the wipes and then jerked her hand back up and patted Ducky on the bottom with the imaginary wipe she held. She looked at me, grinning, proud of her invention. Jarrad and I laughed, and we ooo'd and ahh'd at her game, so it continued. By bed time, Rachel had bathed herself, her daddy, and me completely with imaginary wipes, and she even ate a few, although she was laughing so hard I'm surprised she didn't choke.

Who needs TV with this kind of entertainment??

Speaking of TV, but totally unrelated, here's a video of Rachel hunting pine cones a couple weeks ago...

encore

biker chick

who am i?

We had company for dinner tonight, and Rachel became all smiles and cutes. The best thing, though, is that she got really snuggly and lovey on her mommy. She kept wanting hugs, and she squeezed her cheek to mine, grinning. She repeated, "Maaamaaaa" really sweetly, patting my arm and smiling. While I was eating, she sat next to me with her arm locked around mine, and she kept crawling in my lap, just to sit there. She did run around some and show off in other ways, but she seemed really proud of me tonight, for whatever reason. And that felt so good.

non-toy toy of the day

Jarrad was doing some yard work over the weekend, and Rachel and I decided to help after her nap. Rachel followed right behind her daddy, picking up sticks and pine cones from the yard. Once he was satisfied that the yard was cleared, Jarrad began trimming stragglies from a couple of the bushes. Just as I was thinking I should get Rachel some toy garden tools, she walks up to a bush with a stick and begins her own pruning. Why would I think I need to buy her little plastic toys? The stick she had was the perfect tool to "snip snip." She also found a "broom" (a pine twig with pine straw still on one end), and she swept up all the sidewalks.

mac and cheese productions

Uma taught Rachel a very important skill when we were visiting in the mountains...

tuesday post

First of all, I would like to report an abrupt ending to Rachel's paci usage. That's right--we packaged them up and "mailed" them to the hospital for little babies yesterday. I was anticipating a loooooong night last night, but Rachel did great! I have been dreading the end of paci era, and I am relieved that it hasn't been a big deal so far. I hadn't planned to take them away so early, but Rachel face and lips have been so chapped lately, and she always had a weird white film on the inside of her lips whenever she woke up, so I decided the time had come.

We have also officially switched to training pants by day. Rachel is finally big enough for the smallest sized cheap training pants, and I am relieved to be rid of diapering a busy toddler. She averaged two accidents for the first few days, but she's only had one (usually during dinner) or none for the past 3 or 4 days. There are still times when she wears diapers: when she sleeps, and when we're on long car rides, for church and for a babysitter. She doesn't seem to mind switching back and forth for now.

Saying "byebye" to the paci and "byebye" to diapers really makes me feel like my little girl is growing up. To prove she is getting closer to two every day, the last week or so has been full of meltdown after temper tantrum after extreme mood swing. It's a roller coaster living with a toddler! Here's a video of Rachel begging for a cracker, as she does innumerable times a day. She usually uses a sign she made up for cracker, but she already knew that I knew what she wanted, so she didn't bother here...

Rachel is really talking a lot lately, too, although her words are few and often unintelligible. She kind of just talks about whatever she can name, putting the words together into nonsensical sentences. My favorite is that she likes to say "maamaaaa" so sweetly now, and she absolutely yells "DADDY, DAAAADDY," when Jarrad's in another room. Also, whenever I say, "where's the _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever I can't find at the moment), Rachel immediately calls for whatever it is--"jaaaacket, jaaaaacket,"--and then hugs and kisses the item as soon as we find it.

cute moment

Today, we got in the car to go to the grocery store. Rachel started yelling "glasses, glasses, glasses" (in her language, of course), as she pointed to my suglasses that were clipped to the visor. I put them on, and she said, "yay!!" and clapped her hands.

Rachel had a meltdown one day because I wouldn't let her climb onto the coffee table, where she intended to sit on a little plush couch that goes with one of her dolls. I did let her sit on the toy couch on this chair, though, and that made her happy enough.

And, finally--last but not least--we visited MiMi and Poppy over the weekend, with Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. Tyler has suddenly become very interested in Rachel, so getting the two to pose for a picture wasn't difficult. Awwwwwww.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has enjoyed learning to use crayons and stickers. Her artwork would be so fun, if she didn't usually ball it up and declare it "TA" (i.e. trash) as soon as she was finished. I guess she's one of those artists.

another byte of mac and cheese

Rachel in her latest starring role...

mac and cheese

Rachel was awake early this morning, at 6:00am. She held up pretty well, though, and she went right to sleep at 9:00am for her morning nap. My cousin DeeDee's kids, Sarah(5) and David(3), came over around 9:30am to stay for a little while. When Rachel woke up around 10:30am, the three of us headed upstairs to greet her. Sarah and David went right into Rachel's room and started playing with her toys, as Rachel watched from the crib. I offered several times to get her down so she could play too, but she seemed content observing from afar. When she finally thought it was safe, she agreed to join in the play. The big kids intrigued Rachel, and they had fun watching her toddle around.

Rachel begged to go outside all day today. I told her "no." There is no way we are playing outside when it's 100 degrees. How do people survive without air conditioning? It's amazing.

Aunt Mamber came by this afternoon, and she and Jarrad hung out with Rachel while I got to go hang out with some former coworkers of mine. It's nice to finally feel like I'm getting a life back, but it's kind of sad at the same time, because it means my baby is growing up (I know those of you with older children think I'm crazy, but just let me be melodramatic at the moment, thank you very much).

Progress Report

After hearing about my friend's early potty training success, I was motivated anew today. Rachel wore a cotton diaper sans waterproof cover most of the day, and I took her to the big potty regularly. It worked out great, and I'm encouraged. Sitting her on the little potty had become quite the power struggle (she begs and whines and fusses and cries for her toys), but she does great in the bathroom, as if she knows what that room is for; she gets right down to business. She also loves watching it flush down as she waves and says "bye bye."

I didn't keep count today, but I think Rachel wet three diapers and pooped twice in her diaper (I still don't know what is up with that).

cute moment

Rachel figured out how to push her ride-on car toy around today. She still is not sure how to ride on it, but she was really proud of pushing it and steering it.

non-toy toy of the day

Washcloths (video by Jarrad)

the fix

Many of you are wondering what is going on with the blog. Well, Rachel and Anna are off teaching a soccer camp in Anna's home town this week. Many people have contacted me wanting to get a "Rachel Fix", so I thought I would provide just that...

clown shoes

Yesterday was a long day, even though we took two field trips. Between her naps, Rachel and I went to visit our neighbor, Mr. Henry. He enjoys watching Rachel walking circles around him. Rachel even asked to sit in his lap, and sat there nicely for at least 30 seconds before squirming to get down. After her afternoon nap, we went over to see Ms. Kathy, another friend. Her son, Glenn, is getting married in two weeks, so she's been getting ready for the wedding.

Today was busy, which is a good thing. We had lunch with some other mommies and children. Rachel enjoyed watching the big kids play, and everyone was impressed at how much she ate. Fifteen-month-old Murphy ate a de-crusted peanut butter sandwich for lunch. Rachel had half a peanut butter sandwich, a bunch of macaroni and cheese, lots of fruit, and some banana pudding. She ate and ate and ate and kept signing "more." Even I was amazed.

We also ran a few errands late this afternoon right before dinner. We took a nice walk after dinner, and Rachel watched from her stroller as I pruned a couple of our bushes outside (can you believe it?). She got antsy and we came inside and played in her room until bedtime. For the first time in several days, Rachel seemed to be in a really great mood. She was giggly and content, and she wanted to snuggle, so she came and sat in my lap pretty often.

With the exception of tonight, here is an example of the kind of days we have been having. I think she must be getting some new teeth...

Progress Regress Report

She still is refusing to even sit on the potty. The only time she has used it in the last three days is when I caught her about to poop in her pants, and I rushed her onto the potty in time to catch it. Every other poop has been in her pants, right at naptime or first thing in the morning. She hasn't peepeed in the potty in three days either. Sad.

cute moment

Before we left Mr. Henry's house yesterday, I asked Rachel for a hug, but instead, she went right over to Mr. Henry and hugged his leg. It's like she was rubbing it in my face that I didn't get a hug!

Here's a video of Rachel working really hard.

non-toy toy of the day

We went to WalMart today, and I couldn't resist getting Rachel a new toy...check out these fake crocs!