Raychel Joy Deines 6-17-08

Ahh, imaginations....

2011-03-24T22:51:00.002-05:00

Raychel is completely involved in her imaginary play...I love to listen, watch, and engage in her play! She will play from the moment we walk in the door until I put her to bed!

A few funny moments...

When we get in the car after daycare, she says..."Daddy is not on the road. I don't see him on the road, him not there. He has a fever. He very sick and I will have to go make him better. I give him medicine and make him all better." Mommy-"Raychel you know Daddy is not really sick, he is just at work" "I know Mommy, I just pretending!"

"Look, there is a lion! RUN, he is going to get us! (Just as we enter the house and shut the door..." "Whhewwww....we are safe! We are safe, right Mommy?"

"Mommy, I want to name my thumbs! I will name them Carra and Tenna!" Then she has them play, talk to one another, and go places. "Mommy, Tenna died! She was hit by a car and broke her head!" Previous to the naming of the thumbs, she asked me if Humpty (Dumpty) died when he fell.

She makes up her own games...I think she needs a friend to play with! She lined up blocks on the table, laid out a string as a starting line, and said "Ready, set, GOOO!" as she grabbed a block, ran across the room, and tossed it on the floor. She did this with every block-10-12 of them! At least she was somewhat tired when she was done.

She is so fun, constantly thinking and trying to put stuff together! She asks random questions and after I think about it...I can come up with what she is talking about. While in Abilene I asked if she wanted to eat at McDonald's and received no response... I repeated my question and she started crying and screaming, "I don't want to eat with the pigs!!!" WHAT?????? After a few more blocks, "No, not Old McDonald's farm...McDonalds is a place to eat like Wendy's!" LOL She was MUCH happier after that!

Thankful for...

2010-11-25T07:59:00.004-06:00

Today, as I wait for the action to begin, I am reflecting on everything I have to be thankful for! Of course I'm thankful for the little girl this blog is written for...and her Daddy and her grandparents/great-grandparents and her Aunts and Uncles...and everyone who has enriched her life.

Everyday she surprises me, makes me proud, encourages me, and fills me with JOY! Now, don't get me wrong....she also frustrates me and makes my blood pressure rise (Derek says I have to be honest!) But the truth is, the first sentence occurs more often then the frustration!

As she grows I, as well as others, have noticed that she is becoming a little mini-me. She has spunk (no, I will not say attitude!), dramatic personality, and sweetness all rolled into one very complicated little girl! But, never fear, I see her father in her too! She comes up with silly comments/remarks for people, can tease and play jokes with the best of them, and thinks and questions just like her Daddy! AND she will wake up silently, sneak into our bedroom, put her cold little right in the small of my back, and GIGGLE when I jump...now if that isn't JUST LIKE DADDY...I don't know what is!!

I LOVE to listen to her talk. It is truly a window into her mind that we are finally just beginning to open! She will finally say people's names. It is important to her that we discuss who is going to be wherever we are going. She is memorizing every name of the kids and people at daycare, all of her cousin's names, and she is getting MUCH better at saying her own name! She plays pretend with her dolls and talks about everything they are doing, "He go potty." "You come to my house?" and lots of "OKAYs" She gets VERY frustrated when Mommy or Daddy do not understand what she is saying on the first try! She will slap her legs and say, "Nooooooooo" with some sort of growl! When you finally get it right you get a sarcastic sounding YES! Did I mention that she is ALWAYS right??? She will ask me what something is and if I answer wrong, I am informed (LOUDLY!)

A favorite from the other day: Daddy went out to get something from his truck. He was already back in, but Raychel hadn't heard him. She came out of her bedroom and told me she was going to go find Daddy. She walked out of the kitchen door and Daddy scared her! After jumping she yelled, "Daddy you scared me!!!!" (He REALLY got her this time!) LOL Then she hid around the corner and tried to scare him!!

She wants a red pig, a tractor (big one), Micky Mouse cup, Dora socks, a blue toothbrush, books, candy, and cake from "Anta!" We are working on her initial S and F sounds! She is super excited about Christmas this year and we haven't even put up the tree yet!

I love to hear, "I love you Mommy. I love you Daddy" So sweet! Raychel gives the BEST hugs, sweetest kisses, and gives the most special looks!! She warms my heart, OVER and OVER! She will tell you NO when you ask for a hug and just when you walk off or move away she will come running with a grin on her face! (see...just like her Daddy!)

She gets LOTS of compliments when we are out in public. People notice how well-behaved and polite she is. And, usually, they are RIGHT! She walks with me, pushes the cart through the grocery store, and helps put items on the counter to buy. She is VERY concerned with how neat and tidy the stores are. She will pick up items from the floor and put them where they belong and even straighten out candy bars so they are going the same way with the top up! Many customers have watched her and been impressed! They all want to know if she is like that at home, well...umm...sometimes but usually not!

Someone else we are grateful for is Sara! She has done a WONDERFUL job with Raychel!! Not only is she her daycare provider but she is her Sunday School teacher too! Raychel LOVES going to Sara's. She usually runs up the steps and gives her a hug, forget MOM...I've got Sara! Many days I have to carry her to the car because she wants to stay there and play! WE are thrilled to have Sara in our lives and Raychel is blessed with a wonderful lady who truly cares about her.

Raychel knows all of her colors! She points out things everywhere, "Look, a purple truck!" or "I want that red (whatever)" The Parents as Teachers lady came in October and we played sorting games and she left information about how to help Raychel with her colors: pointing them out in public, asking her about them, etc. Yeah, she already knew them and does this herself! Sure am glad she read the instruction manual for herself before she was born!!! I think they lost it somewhere during the delivery, so Mom and Dad are stuck without!

She also knows how to count to three, four, six, eight, and ten! It depends on how many she chooses to count to at the time. The other day she was at Daddy's work, counting the cans of cleaner, dusting the tops, and turning them the right direction. Daddy said she is hired!

Raychel LOVES books. She wants to be the teacher and read them to anyone who will listen! She holds them just like a teacher, so everyone can see the pictures! She will curl up behind the couch and go through a huge basket of books; reading and talking about everything she sees!

Yep, my little girl is amazing...OF COURSE! =) I know I'm a little biased, but that is my right as a parent!!! She is magical and special beyond belief! Thanks for reading my random notes today!

10-10-10

2010-10-10T21:00:00.003-05:00

This sounded like a good day to post! I think a top 10 list is needed for 10-10-10!!!!

10. Puppy! Raychel got a puppy and named it COOKIE. This had made for MANY difficult conversations about the cookies you EAT and the cookie you PET! She LOVES Cookie. Getting a dog has changed her in many ways. She now has someone else to think about, not just her. She helps take care of Cookie. She feeds and waters her, comes out to help give her treats for going potty outside, and yells at Cookie to get down or stop. She has had to learn to keep her toys OUT of Cookie's reach. She is very conscious of this and has lost very few! She prays to God, "Thank you for Mommy, Daddy, and Cookie." everyday.

9. Potty Time! Raychel is starting to get a little interested in the Potty! We have had a few successful Pee and Poops on the potty. She is so excited about it and talks about it constantly. One day a man was walking out of church service and she proudly proclaimed, "He go poop, Mommy!" I assured her he wasn't, which made her repeat her statement louder! She comes in to check on Mommy and gives her a "Good job, Mommy! You pee! YEAH!" Recently she checked out 2 Potty books...I'm hoping she starts working that way very soon! Mommy is being patient and not pushing her! She is too strong-willed to even be encouraged!

8. Outside Play! Playing in the sandbox, running up and down the sidewalk, drawing pictures, and reading books are some of Raychel's favorite things to do outside! I think she would spend 10 hours a day at the park or just playing around outside. She plays pretend, taking orders in her play house and delivering imaginary food to your door. One night she crawled in the mini van Daddy is selling and pretended to escort us all through town. She "buckled" us in and took us everywhere we wanted to go! She is willing to get dirty, REALLY dirty...which is new too!

7. Growing! Raychel is NOT listening to her Mommy and Daddy...she is growing and growing FAST! She is in the 99%tile for height and 88%tile for weight (as of her 2 year checkup) Since then, she is STILL growing! We are in 3T and 4T clothes...quickly growing into size 9 shoes, too! Everyone thinks she is 3, no sorry...we are closer to 2 then 3! Her curly hair is growing too! I love her hair, even if she looks raggedy sometimes (okay, a lot). It matches her personality, funny and cute...and little messy! HA I haven't had it cut yet, not really sure if she would sit still long enough to cut it.

6. Eating and Cooking! We have retired the high chair to the basement and she has gotten her very own stool up at the island! She is very proud of herself for eating with Mommy and Daddy. She has been eating at tables for a long time at day care, but was never quite ready to give up her high chair at home! Trust me, I tried to convince her to switch long ago! She opens the fridge by herself and gets her milk, cheese sticks, or grapes. She picks out her own yogurt, looking at the pictures and muttering to herself, "that one, no, this one...no...okay!" She LOVES to stand on her chair and help Mommy cook. She pours, stirs, and "reads" the recipe too! She just keeps getting better. I think her favorite part now is getting out the ingredients for Mommy. She knows where most things are kept in the fridge or cabinets! She puts things away too!

5. Coloring! We still love to color. But, we also know our colors now. She can say and identify: Black, White, Purple, Orange, Blue, Red, Pink, Gray, Brown, Green, Dark Blue (Mommy wore Navy Blue one day and she didn't know what to call it!), and Brown. She knows yellow but won't say it for me! It is funny because when she WANTS to she will tell you all of her colors...when she chooses not to tell you...she will call the color something totally opposite of what you are asking her to say. Blue is RED...Black is WHITE, etc. SILLY GIRL! She was so excited tonight because she found her purple crayon...she came running in, "Look Mom, PURPLE, Go CATS!" At church Daddy sent her to the back to give her offering (after they skipped us). He told her, give it to the man in the red shirt. She proudly walked back, but found the wrong red shirt! He told her it was the NEXT red shirt! She found him! LOL

4. New Daycare! We moved to a new daycare. She is the youngest at this daycare. She is LOVING the big kids and learning so much!! Ms. Sara is sooo nice and patient with her! She has learned to take turns, sing, pray, and be more respectful! All of these things Mommy tried to teach her, but Ms. Sara is SOOO much better at it then I am! LOL (Isn't that the way it goes?) We have less behavior issues at home, even though she still acts inappropriately at daycare (sometimes). She is TWO! =) That is okay with me!

3. Letters! She is teaching herself her letters. Her first letter was "C". She tells me, "C is for Cookie and Cats" "Cookie is my best word!" She finds C's on EVERYTHING: Mommy's shirt, her conditioner bottle, yogurt, books, etc. Mommy bought her a Fridge Phonics game and she loves to push the button that makes it play the ABC's song. She can sing several of the letters now. When Mommy sings with her, "Hushie Mommy!" So...I'll just sit back and let her teach herself!

2. CHEESE! Our little girl finally smiles for the camera, but its a HUGE CHEESY smile! Sooo cute! She says, "CHEESE!!!!!" and matches it with a smile! She will say, "Mommy I cheese!" (Meaning she will smile for the camera right now!) This weekend, out at the Pumpkin farm, she would say CHEESE and then not look at the camera but giggle (knowing she was being a pain!) I am just excited that she WILL smile for the camera!

1. Talking! OH my, we have really gotten good at talking. She talks in sentences MOST of the time now. She tells Mommy and Daddy, "I love you, ____." She will repeat about anything you say, today's favorite repeat was "caffeine". She asked me why we were going to the gas station and I told her Mommy and Daddy needed caffeine! She has funny comments, "To Puppy" (Like, talk to the hand...when we discipline her she doesn't want to hear it...so she tells us to tell it to puppy!) She talks about pee and poop, a lot! She will say, "Hi" to someone and then say, "I Hi him!" to me...in case I didn't notice she told someone HI! She screams out, "Daddy WORK!" as we drive by! In church she says WAY TOO MUCH! She will ask, "All done?" in the few seconds of silence between the end of the song and the next person talking. One day a little boy was baptized, she said "He wet Mommy!" We are never really sure what she will say next in church! She is very witty and clever! She is quick to respond to situations with words-she doesn't have to stop and think as much anymore! She answers questions on the TV, sings songs and dances, whines, complains-tells me, "My neck hurts, Mommy!", tells me about funny stuff she sees, recounts events from the day or weekend, and is quite tickled at her abilities to communicate with everyone!

I could list 100 things...1000 things....a million things! She is a joy, keeps us on our toes, and definitely the BEST thing to happen in our lives so far! We are proud to share her with you!!!

Happy 10-10-10!!!

Time goes by so FAST!

2010-07-08T00:47:00.008-05:00

Wow...has it really been that long since my last post. You know, the truth is, we are having so much fun with our little amazing wonder that is Raychel, I forget to tell you all about it! I log it on Facebook, I email, and I call people...but I forget to blog! Ooops! I definitely don't want to stop blogging!

Raychel had an amazing birthday party with amazing friends and family! We went through the zoo, played at the park, and hung out at the house for dinner, presents, and cake! She was/is totally spoiled!!!

Daddy made a request for a list of Raychel's favorites.....

5. Taking a walk or going on a run with Mommy (and even better if Daddy is there too!) She says, "Mommy, I go walk?" or "I run Mommy?" She has ran over half a mile with Mommy on the track. She will also enjoy mile long walks around the neighborhood, navigating as she goes. One day she took us on a walk to our church's playground...guess she wanted to play! She did not stumble upon this, she has walked me there before and was saying, "play, play" as we walked! She loves to take her dolls for a walk in their stroller too! However she is very OCD and we have to move all dirt, grass clippings, seeds, and sticks out of the way so her doll has the smoothest ride possible!

4. Sleeping! Yep, she is a great sleeper! She goes and goes and goes until she HAS to stop! LOL Raychel has been sleeping in her big girl bed since the middle of May. She does a fabulous job of staying in bed and staying in her room until she calls for Mommy to come get her in the morning! She has really gotten into the "summer"schedule...sleeping from 8 pm to 9 am! Mommy LOVES sleeping in too, so this is great! She takes a 2 hour nap that you can almost set your clock to. She will tell you when she is tired, agree that she needs to go to bed, and begs for Mommy to read her a book before bedtime! "Book please, Mommy?" I say, yes...pick out 3. She picks one, "two", picks out another one, "two", and picks out a third one, "two"! Well at least she knows how many 3 is, even if they are all TWO! LOL EVERY number is TWO!

3. Playing Mommy! She is a Mommy to several dolls. Most of her dolls are named Mommy....but tonight one became Daddy! She said, "Hi, Daddy" and then tickled him...messing with him just like Daddy would play with her! LOL She feeds her baby dolls bottles, takes them for walks, throws them down when she is frustrated (working on this one!), and gives them the BEST hugs and kisses!

2. Coloring! Oh my, this girl LOVES to color. She scribbles and fills the entire page with color, usually just ONE color...unless Mommy asks her if she would like to add another color! She picks out pages to color, brings them to Mommy to remove from the book neatly, and then gets busy! She puts her colors on the table, moves them to a basket, stuff them in her purse, and shoves them in the trunk of her riding toy...they are VERY important to her! She also loves drawing on her magnetic drawing boards. Tonight she drew Mommy, Daddy, and Me (Raychel-she will not say her name). She actually drew circles and made eyes inside the circles and pointed to each one, telling me who they were. Then scribbled lots of other things around the person! The other thing she likes to draw are shoes....yep, she is all girl!

1. Talking! Wow, she is really starting to talk more. She is a smart little girl! Today at daycare they were reading a Mother May I book and it had a sentence about cookies. She picked that up and ran with it, asking "May I have a cookie, please?" Much to her surprise, cookies were the surprise for snack. After being rewarded for her awesome sentence she asked again and again! LOL She says fun things like, "Come on, Mom" or "Away!" (arm motions included for both) "I too" (meaning me too!) and "I two!" She pops out random sentences in her frustration of looking for something, "Where did it go, Mom, where did it go?" "What was that?" "Who is that?" "I dunno" (with the cutest little shoulder shrug) She trys to copy things she hears on TV..."O'Toodles" (Mickey Mouse) or "Map" song (Dora) and typically giggles before ever finishing! She will randomly yell, GOOO!!! or STOP Dad! It is funny because the first thing that comes out is "Stop, Mommy...she remembers it's Daddy bugging her and says, "No, Daddy", like she is correcting herself. You can't leave out, "I help" which means both the literal meaning and "I do it (all by myself)!" There are MANY, MANY more...can't list them all! Fun to watch her vocabulary change everyday!!! =)

Summer!

2010-06-10T21:13:00.003-05:00

Today was the first day I kept Raychel with me because I was actually going to be home and ENJOYING summer! What a Busy couple of weeks. I finished school, set up for bible school, prepared for an interview, taught bible school, GOT the teaching job, and packed and loaded up my classroom in Manhattan.

What has Raychel been up to? She went to bible school and kept the nursery room volunteers hopping as she tried to escape, ran around outside, and was a super helper picking up! She really enjoyed going to the church and was exhausted by 12:00 each day. She has spent other days at day care playing with a few new kids. She seems to get along well with them!

At home, Raychel has been living in timeout! She goes into time out for hitting, saying NO, and throwing tantrums...usually! We have become VERY tough and consistent with her...she is one strong-willed little girl! Good thing Daddy is JUST as tough on her as Mommy, she KNOWS she can't get away with acting however she wants! When she is not acting like a 2-year old..she really is quite adorable!

Tonight, while reading a book, it asked her "What is your favorite time?" She said, "When Mommy is home. When Daddy is home!" Awww..she is a super sweetie! Who wouldn't want their Mommy and Daddy home with them?

She gives the BIGGEST and the HARDEST hugs EVER! She gives hugs to everyone and MANY hugs are given throughout the day! She loves to tell everyone HI and BYE...with waves and smiles! She catches the eye of MANY people on the street or in the store!

She still LOVES PUPPIES! She has a puppy at daycare and will almost always tell you that her favorite thing from the whole day was the PUPPY!!!!! Maybe we'll find a puppy/dog for our home one day! We are still looking for what we HOPE will be the perfect little dog!

She LOVES to swing. She swings on the big swings and will swing for as long as you will push her. She used to not like swinging for more than 1-2 minutes at a time!

Raychel has been having fun with water this summer! She has been out to her cousins sliding on the redneck water slide and playing with her flower sprinkler and splashing in the pool. She has been helping Mom and Dad outside with the landscaping and car projects in the garage! She picked out the flowers for the front yard and helped plant the morning glory flowers that are now growing up over the arch.

She makes me laugh and take deep breaths all at once! She was yelling in the store, I whispered to her to be quiet and she YELLED BACK-WHAT MOM??? Oh my...silly girl! We have been reading together for more than an hour on most nights! She crawls into her big girl bed and we read, cuddle, and giggle together until Mom realizes it is WAY past her bedtime! She will randomly grab my face and kiss me or stop and wrap her arms around me in the middle of a book!

She has also been coloring ALL the TIME! She has gone from making single line drawings to scribbling and filling or coloring in pictures on the page! It is SOOOO funny...she calls letters, "I". So she will write, scribble, and make other marks while constantly saying I-I-I-I-I...So funny!

I love summer as I get to spend more time with her and we get to do some fun things. Next week she turns 2!!!!!! She has been practicing say, "I 2" and showing her thumb and pointer finger (like an L) But, if you ask her how old she is she will almost always respond with NO! LOL, we think that works too!

Weekend Fun

2010-05-02T08:17:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Raychel went on a "Date with Dad". This was an event sponsored by Parents as Teachers (PAT). This picture was taken when they were ready to leave for their "date". They had fun playing with a variety of toys (kitchens, puzzles, books, ride-on toys, etc.) and eating a donut hole and milk breakfast over at the grade school. Daddy's comments included how she was definitely the most energetic kiddo in the group whizzing from one activity to the next. She was even taken out by a little girl on a tricycle as Raychel ran right in front of her. They had a TON of FUN!

This weekend, after garage saling all morning, we went to BIG TRUCK day. This event was also sponsored by PAT. They had a full sized school bus, a shorter bus, police car, fire engine, ambulance, tactors, street cleaner, utility truck, and a semi.

This is Raychel on the BIG school bus, the first BIG thing we climbed in. Deer in the headlights???

Climbing into the BIG, short bus!

Sitting next to the lucky bear who gets to ride on this bus!

Planning to take the bear out and set him FREE!

Her cousins were there exploring as well. They had fun going into several of the trucks together. This was the city utility truck.

I drive it by myself now, MOM....

Adjusting the spotlight, shining it on those bad guys! Raychel in the police car. She even found the police officer's fountain drink, grabbed it, and almost had the straw in her mouth to take a drink!! Oooops! "Parents arrested at BIG TRUCK DAY for letting daughter steal Police Officer's soda pop!"

Let's try the fire truck!

The semi was pretty big, don't you think???

Hey, what's this?

Daddy DID IT!!! He rang the bell and she LAUGHED!!!!! The fire chief came around the truck and said, "OH no, they found the bell!" I told him DADDY DID IT! Before we left, several other children FOUND the bell too!

We couldn't be NEAR a playground without a time or two down the tornado slide! Daddy says, "BOO!"

After nap time, Raychel played with one of our garage sale finds! She got Barbie dress up high heels! She wears them ALL over the house and was terribly disappointed when Mommy said she couldn't wear them to the store! She can even jump and run in them...Mommy can't even do that!

This was definitately another Saturday of fun with our little girl!

Fun-Fun-Fun

2010-04-18T20:58:00.004-05:00

Today we spent a fun day as a family, doing a little of this and that together. These are just a few FUN highlights!

At the park Daddy became the tickle monster, sticking his arms through holes of the play equipment and tickling! They had been looking through the holes and saying Hi, so this surprised her! She jumped back and said, "HURT"! We'll just substitue that with...SCARY DADDY!!! LOL

Daddy taught Raychel how to make our dandelion population more dense! EVERY kid HAS to know how to help out the dandelions! Moms all over the country would be so disappointed if they didn't receive those beautiful yellow flowers picked by their loving children....RIGHT? She doesn't know how to produce enough wind to blow them off, so she devised another plan! She blows with her mouth and flips it with her hands at the same time! The result...VERY CUTE! I think dandelions are going to grow out of her hair as most of the seeds land there, making her hair fuzz that much fuzzier!

Raychel has been dancing, but I never dreamed I would get her to dance for the camera!!! While making dinner this song came on the radio...I had never heard it before and quite frankly wasn't paying much attention. Raychel started dancing and I thought it was all too cute. We came into the living room, unfolded laundry and all, to film the dancing. Later, while watching the video, I heard the song! If you can't hear it, the lyrics include, "I'm AWESOME!"

Raychel is such a FUN little girl....laughing, running (WAY TOO FAST/MUCH), whining, complaining, throwing fits, dancing, hugging, kissing, being ornery (LIKE DADDY), climbing on everything, and constantly talking.....we love her so much!

Growing up...so fast!

2010-04-10T22:13:00.004-05:00

Raychel is getting so big! She is talking a LOT more. She says things like "What's wrong?", "I help!", "I wanna go home!", "tickle, tickle", and lots more! You never know what she is going to say next! She says multi-word phrases several times a day now, which is so fun!

The other day we had an entire conversation. We were in the car and I had to pull over for an ambulance. She said, "What's that?" I told her it was an ambulance. She asked, "Why?" I said they were going to help someone with an ouchy. She said, "They hurt?" I said yes. She said, "They help?" I said, yes the ambulance will go make them feel better. She said, "Oh, good!" She amazes me!

We are working on her not saying "MINE!" all the time. She says it a lot at day care and when we are with anyone else. When we are home there is not anyone to take her things so we don't hear it too often. I know that this is just a stage she is going through, but that doesn't mean we have to let her do it constantly. I talk to her about not saying it and how she will get timeout if she does say it and that seems to help right now. Hopefully we will continue on that trend. Her day care provider is following through with her and she went from saying it 300 times a day to about 3. Okay, so the 300 might be an exaggeration...but not a very big one! She did the same thing when she learned how to say NO...she used it constantly. But, with a few days of timeout and talking...she stopped!

Raychel reached up and tickled me! She says, "tickle, tickle" and then I tickle her back...she giggles and giggles and finally says, done!

Tonight we played at the park. She LOVES to play in the sand! She fills buckets, dumps them out, and digs again. At home she doesn't have sand in her sandbox yet so she plays with dirt in the flower boxes. When she gets dirty she says, "Oh my" and brushes it off till she is clean again! LOL

I Wanna Go Home

2010-03-29T22:43:00.001-05:00

Aww....after her, "NO! I don't wanna go home" she switched it up tonight. We ate dinner at Uncle Jay and Aunt Linda's house. She finished and got down to play. As she walked past me she says, "I wanna go home!" Awww....she just wants to be home! Who can blame her for that! Visiting others is fun, but home is BEST!

She said the same thing the day before when we finished playing at the Wamego park. She said, "I go home Mom!" Can you tell it was after 7:30 and she was EXHAUSTED!

It just surprises me when she throws out a sentence like that. It seems to come from out of nowhere. But, I'm sure I do say that to her a lot. "Let's go home" and other similar sayings!

Enjoying this sweet little girl and all of her special moments! So FUN! Now, we better get some pictures of this sweet little girl...she is growing again!!! =)

What did you just say?

2010-03-23T22:12:00.002-05:00

Raychel has really started talking this past week. She says MANY phrases now and they just roll off her tongue, usually leaving you thinking...what did you just say?

Last week she was walking around while I was cleaning. She came over to me, handed me a toy, and said...."I need help!" Oh, Oooooookkkaaayyy....sure honey! I took the ball off the sticky velcro paddle and handed it to her! She signed, "Thank You" as she ran away!

Later I was putting dishes away and she came over, took a dish out of the dishwasher and put it on the counter, "I'll help mommy!" Oh, SURE....umm....thanks!

It was getting closer to bedtime and she says, "Where is Dad?" I said, "at work", and she says, "Oh."

Last week she got a few new outdoor toys and has enjoyed playing with them! Then, it snowed...on the last day of winter! On the 2nd day of Spring she opens her blinds and looks out at her toys, covered in snow, and says, "Oh, WHY?" The tone was PERFECT...she was in complete distress! LOL

Later that day she was reading a book about animals in the forest building a snowman. On one of the pictures a little bear cub was climbing up the snowman, pushing on the snowman's middle! She said, "OH NO!", and came running to me. She laid the book down, pointed at it and said, "Oh me, oh my....MOMMY, OH MY (pointing), HURT!" I tried to explain to her that it was okay and the snowman was not hurt! The bear was HELPING the snowman! She still carried the book around all day, opening it and saying..."oh my!"

Then, today, at the park I told her that we needed to head home. She replied, "No, I don't wanna go home!' My daycare provider happened to be there with her kids and heard her repeat, "No, I don't wanna go home!" So, I KNOW I didn't imagine it! Geeze, KID! Where did you pull that sentence from? I was just a little surprised by this one!

I LOVE watching her grow! It makes my heart smile to hear her sweet little voice tell me her thoughts! Even if some of them are NO..I don't want to! I LOVE hearing those precious thoughts!!!

This crazy little girl!

2010-03-12T21:45:00.001-06:00

Our sweet little Raychel is really growing up! She is slowing learning how to behave, just as Mommy and Daddy are slowing learning how to help her achieve “good” behavior. She really is a great listener and usually chooses to do the right thing. She will spill water and stop to run to the kitchen to get her towel and run back to clean up her mess! You know if Raychel says, “Uh-Oh”! and you aren’t there…she just made a mess. Before you get to her, she is usually cleaning it up. I love how she answers questions and actually knows what you are asking her. She never answers yes…only “Uh-huh” and “NO!'”.

She LOVES to wear Daddy’s hat. So, Daddy found a hat just for Raychel! She loves to wear it everywhere, take it off and on, and say, “HAT” constantly! Mommy as well as multiple stuffed animals and the cat have to try on the hat as well!

This is an actual smile! Something we NEVER get from Raychel! I asked her to smile and SHE DID! She colors in her tub at every bath time! She really enjoys coloring and is starting to learn her colors too. We go through 3 stoplights on our way to daycare every morning. She has learned that red means stop and green means go…oh, and yellow means, “UH-OH”. One day I was stopped at the light and thought I heard sirens, I wasn’t paying close attention to the light. All of a sudden I hear, “GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” and looking up the light had turned green! LOL

This smile was even cheesier! Love, love it!

Last week Raychel pulled out some books that she hadn’t read in quite a while. Before going to bed, she opened them again and asked, ‘What’s that?” I told her and then started asking her questions, “Where is the Panda?” We went through 3 books and over 70 kinds of animals in photographs and cartoon versions and she identified every single one! WOW…to say the least Dad and I were impressed! She LOVES animals and has always been interested in reading books about them. It had been so long since we had seen those books that I wasn’t even sure if I had told her what each one of them was. She also made the sounds of about 5 of them and signed 3-4 of them as well. It was a very proud moment for Mommy and Daddy! I was so happy that Dad was there for it, he is almost always there when she goes to bed but has to work so much he sometimes misses fun things! ONE day we will pay our bills and set our family up for a great life, a dream for both Mommy and Daddy! We are so happy he is working so hard for our family!

Talking to Raychel

2010-02-10T22:47:00.001-06:00

It is very fun to have conversations with Raychel. She understands more then you think she might! She was being a "toddler" at day care taking some of the kids toys and pulling hair. I talked to her about being a good girl and told her she couldn't do those things because she wasn't a mean girl! I told her that several days in a row and she hasn't done it since. I will ask her if she had a good day, if she was a good girl and she will answer..."uh-huh" enthusiastically. If she didn't have a good day, she will either say "NO" or make this low disappointing groaning sound! I have tested her answers by asking Ms. Dawn and she verifies it as true each time! LOL Every once in a while she gives me the silent treatment and will refuse to answer any questions that I ask! She sits in her car seat with her lips pursed together and pretends to ignore me. I will continue to ask questions and say silly things until this little grin/grimace comes across her face and then she breaks out into a giggle!! She can't stay quiet for long!

I have asked her, "Are you a baby?"...."NO!" "Are you a big girl?"....."NO!" "Are you inbetween?"...."UH-HUH!"

One day, in the car, she was screaming and whining and yelling "NO!" I started asking her questions to see what she would say "NO" to! She answered all of my questions with a "NO!" until I asked her, "Are you trying to be difficult?" and she responded with a great big, "YES!!!!!" Either a really good time to change your answer or?!?!?!?! LOL

When she learned the word, NO, she (of course) used it all the time. We told her she couldn't tell Ms. Dawn NO and she couldn't tell Mommy and Daddy NO when we told her to do something. One night she did that and I put her in timeout...she was not a fan, of course. About 10 minutes later I told her to pick something up and she turned and said, "N--"..."UH-HUH" and picked it up! LOL I love that thought process! I want to tell Mom, NOOOOOOOOOOOO but, oh yeah....I'm not supposed to....so I guess I'll just do it!

She also sometimes answers NO because that is the word she wants to say, but not the right answer. So we ask her, "Do you want to go take a bath? (HER FAVORITE) and she says, NO and then there is a pause, cute smile, head tilt, and a "UH-HUH"! Other times she stops mid-NO and changes it to a yes! We get these looks from her like, why do you try to trick me!!! LOL

She is quite FUN!!! =)

"When you become a mother... You are no longer the picture, You become the frame."

The Little Helper!

2010-02-10T22:31:00.001-06:00

Raychel has been cooking with me for about 3 weeks now. She helps almost every single night and is frustrated when I have dinner made (frozen meals) or there is not much she can do to help (like breading chicken). She carries all the ingredients from the cupboards or fridge and puts them gently on the counter. Then I put her up on the counter where she helps me measure, stir, and prepare the entire meal. She holds measuring cups until I tell her to pour them, she sprinkles cheese to cover the entire casserole, and dumps contents of cans. She has become quite good at dumping without spilling or dropping the cup/can into the mix! She has only spilt 2 times...very tidy cook, unlike her mother!

She helps me put away dishes too. She stacks all the tupperware, cups, plastic bowls, and her plates. She finds the ones that match and puts them together. Then carries them to their proper home and puts them away neatly. She actually rearranges things if they don't go in straight! I let her stand on the counter and put the high stuff (plastic only) away and she LOVES it!!! When we do dishes she is in charge of putting the silverware in the holder. She sorts it out and places it going the correct direction. When all the dishes are in there she pushes the racks in, shuts the soap dispenser, and closes the door.

Is she a neat-freak??? Okay, MAYBE...but she LOVES IT!

We have been asking her to pick up her toys and she does this nightly and at least twice a day on the weekends. Previously, we didn't always ask her to do it because Mommy was tired and just wanted to get her to bed! LOL She knows where everything is and sets things straight and neat. Even her little horse and giraffe figures have to be standing up on her table! LOL She normally does all of this when we ask her, the first time. Sometimes she puts things away after she is done playing with them! She did that all day last Sunday!

Potty Training or Potty Playing

2010-02-07T17:56:00.001-06:00

However you want to look at it, Raychel has gone pee pee on the potty twice now!!! I put out the potty seat 2 weeks ago and by the end of the first night she used it all by herself! I asked her last night (2-6-10) and she said yes and went immediately after sitting down. I am NOT going to push her or make her sit down and try unless she tells me "YES" when I ask if she needs to go. I know she is still very young! I am proud of her for doing it two times! She tried to make it two other times, but Mommy was too slow in getting her there. Her diaper told me that she just went though...so I think she is starting to figure out some things! I am hoping to work with this summer, since I can be home with her!

Mommy's Little Helper and Daddy's Little Sweetie!

2010-01-24T17:10:00.005-06:00

Raychel is growing up so fast. She amazes me every day at how much she understands, what she wants to be able to do, and what she actually does! She is saying so many words now and can really communicate just about anything she wants or needs.

She LOVES to help me and spends each weeknight sitting on the kitchen counter helping me make dinner! She holds measuring cups while I fill them with liquid or dry ingredients and only dumps them when I ask her too. She stirs both hot and cold ingredients! (I use a long spoon and she holds the very end on the hot stuff and I hold her above it, so no harm is done!) She taste-tests a little of everything and whole lots of some things...cheese tops the list! She gets upset when her creation goes in the oven and she can't eat it immediately.. She says, "Awww" like she is just devastated that her hard work is disappearing.

I give her towels to clean her table, the floors, walls, or other areas with! She loves scrubbing things. We do dishes together and she puts her feet in the sink and scrapes food from pans that I have already cleaned! She also used the scrubber to clean the walls around my sink! LOL This picture was from winter break. We filled the sink up and let her play in the water. She was taste-testing the water too! We were both wet from head to toe...it was VERY FUN!

She also helps by putting her laundry in the dirty clothes basket, picking up her toys, putting everyone's trash or dirty dishes away, and cleaning up her tub toys! For some reason she thinks that trash (like paper bags or boxes) go in the hallway on the other side of the baby gate. Perhaps that is because the recycling is at the other end of the hallway, she is definitely on the right track with her choices. If the trash is food related, i.e. the wrapper from a burger then it goes in the sink! Wendy's may not keep her employed if she washes the burger wrappers and reuses them! One night Derek and I ate dinner after her and ate in the living room while she watched a show. We were done and she came to get our plates, stacked them, and carried them out to the kitchen and dropped them into the sink! Thank goodness for Corelle, no breaking involved! We find many things in the sink that she thinks need to be cleaned! her pretend dishes, random toys, and wrappers! Oh and she is better about bringing in her things from the car then I am! Yep...when she feels like it, she is quite the little helper! Other times, well....she IS just a kid! =)

It makes it fun to have a little helper around the house, however it is challenging to find what SHE can do at times! Usually she is happy with ANY little tiny thing she can do! She knows that if she wants to help, she has to listen and be good...so it certainly makes for happy and easy-going evenings!
Picture from the first snow storm. Raychel's first thought about the cold and snow was....I'M COLD, this is WEIRD, LET ME GO BACK IN! Now she loves to get her snowboots on and head outside!

She is becoming quite the little Daddy's girl! She asks about him all the time and is TRUELY ecstatic when he is home or comes home. One week I had 3 meetings on 3 different days after school, meaning Daddy picked her up from Daycare. After the first two days I told her that I would be picking her up...she said, "Dad?" and I said, "No, ME!"...she said, "Awww...." I explained that he would be home when we got there and that pleased her enough she responded with an, "Ok!". The next day, when I told her that Daddy was picking her up again...she waved her arms FRANTICALLY while yelling, YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! He is definitely the "preferred" daycare pick-up person! Perhaps that is because Daddy has done MANY fun things with her when he picks her up! Most recently he picked her up and they went sledding in the park. He brought her snow boots and hat and they went down a real hill several times! Our old daycare was closer to the house (about 3 blocks away) and he would walk to get her and pull her back in the wagon, let her drive her Go-Kart back, or just let her run back. HE IS A GREAT DADDY!!!!

Just a picture from the backyard! I wasn't there when they went down the hill! She loves to be pulled around too!

A fun week

2009-12-13T20:34:00.004-06:00

I enjoyed a few extra days at home with Raychel. After 2 days snow days, she developed a fever associated with teething. She always runs a high fever for 2-3 days when she is teething!

By the time the weekend was over we were both more than a little ready to get out of the house! We spent Saturday shopping for Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma. I think she had fun!

Raychel as a reindeer. We tried to dress up like Santa and his reindeer. We were desperate for something "new and different" to do!

She also started kissing Mommy if she accidentally hit me. We were reading books, laying on the floor, and she reached for a book and then swung back to give it to me...hit me right in the face (OUCH!). She leaned over and kissed me...said, "uh oh! Mommy? mwahh!" Later she thought if she hit me, she could kiss me! So she would tap me on the head with a toy and then kiss me! I explained to her that she didn't have to hit Mommy to kiss Mommy! LOL She stopped hitting me and kissed me about 5 more times! She can be SOOO sweet!

She learned how to say "BOO!" We have played peek-a-boo for a LONG time, but she never tried to play back until this weekend! So fun! She covers her face with her hands or a blanket and says, "Boo" in this low, deep tone! She, of course, cracks up laughing if you pretend to be scared! Tonight, going to the grocery store, she disrupted my thinking with a "Boo" that did actually scare me and we both laughed!
I have been taping all the kids Christmas shows that usually come on when she is going to bed and we watched many of them while we were home. I am trying to help her understand what all this stuff is! She knows who Santa is now and if you ask what he says, she will say..."HO!" We may need to add in the other 2 HO's there...but too cute!

Last night I wrapped presents and put them under the tree. Boy do I wish I had a camera ready to go when she woke up! She came out and noticed the presents immediately! She stared at them, then squatted down to get a better look, and walked around the tree squatting occaisionally to get a good look! I left for a minute and she brought a present to me! She was less than thrilled when I told her she couldn't touch them! But, she hasn't touched them since! Now, when I'm taking a nap and Dad is in charge...she touches the ornaments and everything! Tee Hee....at least it was one she could touch! Note the picture below! Normally she does not mess with the tree. She closely observes the tree several times a day, walking around it about 1 foot from the tree! She is doing a great job, I just knew we would have to have a baby gate around it...but no! =)

We have a Baby Einstein video that she loves to watch. There is a reindeer puppet that pops out of the box and she was yelling, "BOO!" at it tonight. At the end of the show all the characters go to sleep as they play, Silent Night. Santa comes into the picture and puts his finger on his lips and shhhh! As we were going to bed and I was telling her goodnight, she leaned over and put her finger on her mouth and shhhhhushed ME! LOL

She has also taken an intrest in going to the potty. I really don't think she knows what to do when she gets there, but STILL! =) She has a book with baby words in it. One of the pages is about the potty. She points to it, signs "bath", and runs to the bathroom door. The sign, "bath", now means...I want to brush my teeth, go to the bathroom, and take a bath! LOL She goes in and puts the potty seat on the potty. I take off her diaper and she is happy to sit for a minute! The first time we went, she said... "POOP!" Wouldn't that be great? She hasn't done anything...but you have to start somewhere!

We have been trying to take pictures all weekend for our Christmas card! She is bound and determined to NOT smile for the camera! It took both of us to get a picture! She has a great poker face... DARN KID!! Soo cute and I can't capture it to remember it FOREVER!

New words this week....BOO, poop, HO (Ho-Ho), and farm.

December pictures...so far!

2009-12-09T14:07:00.006-06:00

Do you like this fashion statment? These are her shiny black boots with heart-shaped lights on them.

Working on her laptop!

Our attempt to get a picture in front of the tree...she doesn't sit or stand for long.

Taking the one and only ornament off the tree that she can touch. It is a stuffed, red apple that says #1 Teacher...here she is saying, "Mine!"

Another great fashion statement!

This one is the best...no need for tights when you could just wear Daddy's socks!

Ready to go out and play in the snow!

A sled ride... it was a little scary!

November pictures

2009-12-09T11:51:00.006-06:00

Raychel is a happy little girl! We even get to catch some of those smiles on camera once in a while! She is not a big fan of the camera!

On her shirt...chocolate! She laughed so loud she drooled it all over! LOL

This is her Princess Jeep! WAY TOO BIG for her but really cheap and she loves to climb in it!

She has to stand to drive it, but has driven it a few feet!

Raychel and JJ! He is so good to her!

Raychel playing in her new big girl style room! She has a table at her height, bean bag chairs, and pillows on the floor for comfortable reading. She loves to play in there by herself, like a big girl!

Coloring...she loves it...especially with a pen! She was on a mission to run away from me with her pen...she just knew I would take it! LOL

Coloring at Thanksgiving.

Lainie and Raychel! They scooted across this window sill until Raychel fell off the end! LOL...She got up, went to the other end, and looked at Lainie like she did something wrong! LOL Silly girl!

Raychel riding on Great Grandma D's tractor planter! She just barely fits!

We went to the airport to greet Santa. He flew into Clay Center on Black Friday.

Hi Santa....she did shake his hand...but I think she is still trying to figure out who that guy is!

Helping Dad put up the Christmas tree!

Wow...neat-o Dad!

This one is next Dad! GIVE ME THAT CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!!

Silly shots!

Halloween pictures!

2009-12-09T11:13:00.005-06:00

After lots of searching for orange pants/duck legs, Daddy found a pair of light pink sweatpants that I dyed orange. She did NOT like the hat, but eventually decided it wasn't that bad and wore it most of the night. She LOVED collecting candy and caught onto the fun really fast! We pulled her in the wagon because we couldn't get shoes in her web feet but she walked up to all of the houses and didn't seem to mind! She did not enjoy the pumpkin carving this year. She loves playing outside and played for hours while Mommy raked the yard! It is so nice to give her a little space to explore and know that she will listen when you say stop or no....so she remains safe! =)

I have noticed...

2009-12-09T10:27:00.002-06:00

that my posts have significantly decreased since she has been walking! LOL Maybe that is because I am chasing her everywhere and by the time she goes to bed, I'm pooped! She is running everywhere now and is MUCH taller/can reach everything...so I'm jumping even more! Oh and did I mention that she CLIMBS??? Yep, on everything! She also dives off couches...sometimes into bean bags and sometimes into end tables and onto the floor. I have managed to upload pictures to Facebook as it seems FASTER...so I hope you have kept up there!

What is happening with our little Raychel Joy? Oh my goodness, there are so many things I don't even know where to start. She is becoming this wonderful, joyful, ornery, sweet, loving, fun, and fantastic little person! Did I mention ornery? Her Daddy and I adore this little angel!

She sleeps...very well. She still takes 2 naps for a minimum of an hour and a half, but more typically 2 hours or more! Just like her Daddy there! That and she runs and moves CONSTANTLY when she is awake, so she has to recharge often!

She runs, very fast. She LOVES to be chased by Daddy and Grandmas and Grandpas! She runs around and around the island and the kitchen/dining room area. She likes to hide from you and jump out...she laughs, giggles, and shrieks the whole time. She will hide on the other side of her crib and try to crouch down low enough so you can't see her!

She climbs on everything. She throws her whole leg up, instead of her knee, on couches, chairs, table tops, and even her crib. She likes to stand on the couch, walk around, and always gives the "you caught me" look when Mommy says, "SIT DOWN!". She climbs up and down steps, on her own. She also can climb in and out of the car and her car seat.

She talks....a lot! Her favorite word, currently, is PUPPY! It all started with a puppy that she spent some time with at Thanksgiving. She likes little dogs and continually says puppy! Her day care has a small dog (puppy to her) that she plays with all day. Maybe her Mommy and Daddy will get weak and buy her a small dog to have as a companion! She also loves the word, "MINE!". She takes anything and announces to the world that it is now HERS! Oh and she also recently started with, "BOO". She has a Peek-a-Block with a chick hatching from an egg on the inside...you push the button and the egg opens further and she yells, "Boo!" Other favorites are...done, Mommy (which is usually repeated continuously), Dawn (her day care provider), up, down, on, off, cat, dog, out, go, Daddy, ooohhhh, uh huh, uh ohhh, yes, eat, all done, try again, cow, duck, and more. She has several 2-3 word phrases that she uses. She does not say, No...amazingly enough...but she does shake her head NO! =)

She is so serious. I think she is thinking all the time. She is a smart little cookie. She counts to one! She stacks blocks and puts one down and says, "One" and then looks to me to count the rest. She twists open bottles and cups, stacks things, and finds matches. She loves to play with food containers and cups. We have tea parties and make things with her pots and pans. For Christmas we are giving her my Strawberry Shortcake kitchen that I had growing up. I am sure she will LOVE playing with that!

She is also giggly. Did I mention ornery? Daddy has taught her how to lift the back of my shirt and put her cold hands on my back...which of course produces shrieking from both of us. She can be very ticklish behind her knees, armpits, collar bone, tummy, and toes. She likes to act like she is going to do something she is not supposed to do and then giggle when we tell her no or stop.

She is very good at feeding herself. She uses a fork and a spoon very well to scoop her food. Unfortunately she also likes to play with her food and if Mommy is not watching it gets dumped, launched off the high chair, or squished and swished across the room! She loves her veggies (broccoli, lima beans, and peas are among her favorites), pasta, grapes, bananas, raisens, and chocolate covered plums! She has a VERY BIG SWEET TOOTH! She loves chocolate and suckers...too much! LOL

She loves her dolly. She pushes her around in the stroller, feeds her, hugs her, kisses her, and snuggles with her. She also loves shoes and slippers. She tries to put them on herself and sometimes succeeds, but mostly brings them to me and says, "On Mom."

I could probably keep going, but I've probably bored you all by now! That is okay...I will have all the memories for later! =)

How to take care of "Doll" by Raychel and a few notes from Mom

2009-10-10T08:03:00.004-05:00

First: Throw her into the stroller and PUSH!!!
Second: FLIP her over and OUT!

Third: Give her a hug and catch a little of your favorite show.

Third: Complain to someone about how much work this is!

Fourth: Drop the baby in the laundry basket to be washed.

\]\Fifth: Inspect baby. Sixth: Put baby in basket, so you can have some alone time.

Seventh: Take the airplane for a trip into town.

Eigth: Try on some fuzzy purple slippers.

Ninth: Try them out while you take a trip to the salon. Busy Moms need great hair too!

Tenth: Decide the left slipper is NOT for you. But the right one is quite nice.

and Finally: Watch some more of your favorite show. The baby is okay, right...afterall she is in the basket!

This whole episode took place one after another, like she was really on a "mission" to do all of these things! I wish I had the video camera charged, it would have been hilarious to share!

Raychel has quite the personality. She gets very excited about some things and extremely frustrated within seconds if something doesn't go her way. I think I've taught her to be neat as she picks up after herself whether she dropped food or toys. Don't get me wrong, our living room still gets littered with toys but sometimes she determines that some things MUST be put away and NOW! She has a lot to say and can be very loud if she chooses!

She loves climbing on everything! This is dangerous for us...cause she has very good balance, so she tries to go HIGH! She is able to climb our front steps without holding onto anything. She will use the hand rail more often to help herself up the steps.

Raychel has said a few phrases: "Go see Dad!", when she wants to go to Dad's 2nd job at the apartments, "I try 'gin (again)" when she tries to do something and then fails, "where Dad?" especially in the morning when it is just her and I, and "Hi (insert person or cat here) (Mom, Dad, JJ)". Sometimes it sounds like she says other things but I'm never quite sure. These sayings are very clear!

Just recently she learned how to laugh at things and thinks everything is hilarious. Daddy and her have many special games, but one is to chase each other around the kitchen. While I was making dinner the other day they chased each other giggling around and around the island for 5 minutes solid! It was sooooo funny. I wish I could have gotten the video camera to record those giggles...but I knew as soon as I would leave to get it she would stop! OH SO FUNNY! In the bathtub the other day she figured out how to throw her water balls at me. They are like fabric covered sponges that are ping pong ball size. She loves to squeeze them out! Then, she threw one when I wasn't looking, started giggling, and I did too...totally caught off guard! SILLY GIRL!!! She did this several more times, especially when I wasn't looking, and we both left the bathroom with wet hair!

She changes SO much everyday it is almost impossible to recolect all the funny little things she does when I'm late in posting things! LOL I'll have to stay up to date as I know I want to remember all her "funnies"

State Fair 2009

2009-10-09T21:33:00.005-05:00

Our day started of really early, as we headed to the Post-Wide garage sales on Fort Riley. On the list...18-24 month clothes for this growing girl! JACKPOT...we found a LOT of very cheap and very nice clothes and a few toys. By the time we were done and headed to the fair, this was the sweet little girl in the backseat! We HAD to have this picture. This is how Raychel sleeps, with the blanket around her neck. Even if she is laying on ther stomach in her crib, the blanket is wrapped around her neck. She is so funny!

She is a little more awake now, as we start through the fair. She was a little confused with all of the people and happenings around her!

We found a giant sock monkey and HAD to take a picture! She reached over and touched the monkey gently...oops....the eye wasn't attached!!!! LOVE her reaction, the photographer didn't even know it happened but the camera caught it!

We stuck the eye back in place and decided this was the safer way to take the picture! LOL

Then, we entered the kiddie discovery area! Raychel LOVED playing with the different grains (wheat, beans, sunflower seeds, etc.)!

CHEESE!!!!!!

Look Mom...I'm a bronc rider! LOL...okay maybe not a bronc rider, but a cowgirl for sure!

Daddy and Raychel took a ride on the train. Notice her hands behind her head. This is how she rides in her car seat too! LOL

She loved the train...HI MOM!!!!!!!!!

We had supper with Nick and Crystal! Nick worked at his office's booth for the evening, but was allowed a lunch break!

Derek was just THRILLED to take this picture, huh??? LOL

This was the BEST part of our whole trip! We let Raychelplay in the splash park before we went home. This is a giant sunflower with several different types of fountains that pop up and down randomly. Some come straight up, others have three rings of water.

She thought this was WONDERFUL after she realized we were going to let her get wet.

It was hilarious to see her stick her face in, like.....water, where did you go? Then it would pop up and hit her in the face. She was scared and would go running for Daddy. She got a hug and would run right back out!

This was the big fountain in the middle! Raychel looked but decided that she didn't want to attempt that one!

GOTCHA! Water in the face!

After getting wet in the fountain a diaper and clothing change was in order. We headed to the petting zoo before leaving for the evening. She was interested until the VERY first animal we COULD bet was more interested in NIBBLING her!!! She was way too scared to touch anything else, but did want to stay and look!

They had a baby zebra, giraffe, and other fun animals for the kids!

Shoe fetish!

2009-10-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

She has a shoe fetish! Not sure how she became so obsessed...
Check out this ensemble! LOL Gotta love the monkey PJ's and black patton shoes!

I LOVE THESE SHOES!!!!!!!!

They make me happy!

BAD MOMMY AWARD....Okay, just BUSY award!

2009-10-09T20:14:00.004-05:00

Daddy and Raychel at the Zoo at the end of August! (Yep...it's been a while since I've posted...sorry!)
We had to take a "text" break...She LOVES Daddy's phone.
This is one way to help Raychel leave the zoo...she likes it too!

She was just learning to climb...this one was a little too high!

Ahhh...this I can climb on!

Daddy and Raychel checking out the wolves!

Look Mom...I can climb up on the little wall!

Up I go!

MONKEY!!! The monkey was looking right at us...Raychel thought that was pretty neat!"DUCK!" Well...something like that...they are all ducks to her!

Finger painting FUN!

2009-08-27T20:19:00.000-05:00

Raychel tried finger painting. She likes to paint with pudding and yogurt, so I thought...hey, how about paint? First dip....WHAT was that?

This is kinda cool Mom...you want to try it??

SMEAR...

OOOhhh...what is all over my hand??? (Not to mention her head!)
MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get me outta here!! This stuff is terrible, yucky, no good, disgusting, and down-right gross! By the way, those feelings came right after a smiling painter was designing her masterpiece!

Missing My Raychel!

2009-08-23T14:47:00.006-05:00

School is underway...the past few weeks have been hard for Raychel and Mommy. Raychel is starting to adjust to day care again, she has some good days and bad days still. Last week she spent one day home with Grandma Sherry because day care was closed, two days at day care, and then one day with Dad and one day with Grandma Sandy because she was running a fever! So...we never seem to be consistant enough to get into a schedule! Hopefully THIS week will work! =)
Raychel has learned how to get on and off of her toys and loves being pushed around the room. She is starting to figure out how to push herself, doing it right now by accident!

LOVE my stroller! I love riding in it and climbing in it! She will get stuck many times, sticking her feet in small spaces and we hear an, "Uh, uh, uh....Mom!" before we come to help! LOL

Raychel got M&M's one day when Mommy decided she needed a little chcolate...pretty soon she was HOOKED! Ooops! This is the "duck" face...see that bill? That is chocolate smeared all over her face!

ME WANT THE CAMERA!!!

I am getting ready Mom...just let me brush my hair and we can go!! She is such a girly girl!

Reading, reading, reading. She loves to learn the signs or sounds for objects in her books. Then, she will sit and read them and use her signs or make the sounds. She is so fun to watch...SPONGE!!!!

Way too LONG!

2009-08-06T21:55:00.009-05:00

Wow, it has been WAY TOO LONG since I posted last! Raychel and I had so much fun over the summer that I forgot to update along the way! This little girl continues to amaze me and brighten every moment of my day! She started back to day care this week and it has been quite traumatic for both of us...we peel her off of me, give her to day care, and Mommy and Raychel cry. Raychel cries most of the day but Mommy has to be a BIG girl and get all of her work done! I am hoping that this will stop soon....We are back 5 days tomorrow and seeing a few positives! I know she will get used to it, just hard to go through the process! BE STRONG RAYCHEL!!! One day Mommy knows that she will wish you still wanted me as badly as you do now...

What has Raychel been up too? Playing, reading books, saying new words, connecting animals and their sounds and saying those sounds, walking up to 6 blocks at a time, running, giggling, playing on the piano, stacking and nesting blocks, eating grapes-watermelon-green beans-peas-carrots-broccoli (just a few of her very favorite foods--gee, wish I could get her to eat something healthy!), switched to milk, left the bottle behind (July 20th), dressing up with necklaces, watching Barney, playing chase and peek-a-boo with Daddy, growing hair (little curls in the back too) and sleeping all night long.

Funnies and surprises:

Mommy was taking a nap one afternoon and Daddy and Raychel were doing laundry. She spied Mommy when they went to get hangers and the race was on....she would run to the door and Daddy would block her. She would laugh, run across the room and try again...eventually she decided she would sneak around through the kitchen to Mommy's door! Smart little girl...there is more then one way to beat Daddy! Her reward: Waking up Mommy!

I really did cut her hot dog up in little pieces! She grabbed the whole thing and took her own BIG GIRL bites! :P

One day at Grandma S's she got excited upon seeing a picture of all her cousins. She pointed to her only boy cousin and said, "Riley" just as clear as day! She REALLY likes Riley. She watched him show his pigs and cheered/clapped when he won Reserve in his class/breed! Then, she found a picture at our house and tried saying "Jackie" (his sister). I'm sure the rest are next! I think she loves all her cousins!

She waves and says HI to EVERYONE we see at EVERY store we go too! And she says it like she is SOOO EXCITED to see them! LOL Such a fun age!

She gives the BEST hugs and kisses. If she can't reach you to kiss you, she will blow one or make a kissing noise and lean towards you! She is very loving! So much so that one night when Mommy was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, she came running over and where I usually move my head back there was a wall...so she left a bruise on Mommy's cheek! Mommy cried...Raychel didn't! =)

Tonight, in the bathtub, she used her bath tub markers and wrote a letter J. I didn't think anything of it...its just a mark, right? Then, she says.... J!!! I wrote another J next to it...she looked at it and said...cat! (Our cat's name is JJ!) WHAAAATTTT?????? Was it an accident? I have no idea!

Pancakes are her favorite breakfast food. She held up the pancake the other day and said, "Good, Mom!" Then, stuffed a huge bite in her mouth and giggled!

Her animal book is her favorite book. She is learning the names, sounds, or signs for many of the animals. Earlier this month she lost her book for a few days (err, Mom ruined it and we had to buy a new one). We picked up a new one and she refused to let go of it, even fell asleep holding onto it on the way home!

Playing peek-a-boo and chase are her favorite activities. Daddy and Raychel play chase all over the house (especially around the doors of the kitchen and through the living room) and around the kitchen island. I HAVE to get them on video...hopefully soon! =)

Itsy-Bitsy-Spider is her favorite song. She CAN do all the actions, but rarely shows anyone but Mom. She will always do the "spider" part though and giggles when you sing it to her!

She learned how to push her wooden duck and musical push toy around the house. You would think that she is copying Mommy vacumming, but the reality is that she is TERRIFIED of the vacumm and Mommy does that when she goes to bed! =) She was VERY PROUD of herself for learning how to do that!

We were getting ready for bed one night and Raychel was busy with her visor. I asked her what was on her hat and she replied with, "MOO"! (Yes, it was a Cow visor!)

Raychel was standing in the bath tub one night....holding onto her hand I told her to sit down...about that time she wiped out and went down...laughing she said, "I DID!"

She received a dress as a late birthday present. I put it over her head and she pranced through the living room. Later I asked if she thought she was pretty in the dress, she looked down at it, back at me with a big smile, and said, "YES!"

As you can see she is a handful of FUN...a true JOY in our lives! =) We LOVE watching her grow up and never grow tired of sharing all of her developments!!

12 Months Old!!!

2009-07-08T14:22:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know she is almost 13 months old...but thought I better share some of the things she is doing now!!

--Running: she really gets going now although she still stumbles and falls when she goes too fast!

--Talking: she is babling and holding conversations with herself, her stuffed animals, and other people!

--Reading: she requires that someone read books to her all the time now! =) Okay, maybe she doesn't require it because if you don't or can't read to her she will read it herself. She has a favorite, "Happy Baby Words" book that she has been known to look at for a 1/2 hour by herself! Yep...she likes her books! She goes on duck hunts too and will find every book she knows has a duck in it, find the duck, proclaim, "DUCK!" loudly, throw it down and find another! SILLY GIRL!

--Going on walks: Raychel and I go for walks down the sidewalk! She makes it about 2 blocks down the street before she gets tired! We even made it to the end of the block, over to the alley, and back up the alley to our house agian! She is happy if she is outside and moving!

--Stacking blocks: She started stacking blocks now. She stacked 3 of them before knocking them down!

--Helping me cook: She LOVES to watch and even more thrilled to dump stuff in to help me cook. I have to hold her when we make meals now and she seems so proud to eat anything she helped with! I can even sit her on the counter and she will watch, without grabbing everything!!!

--Eating big girl food! She has finished all her baby food and I do not dare buy anymore! She gave up on baby cereal too, so we are exploring a whole new world...breakfast food!!! She LOVES it! She also discovered she likes cooked broccoli and watermelon! Oh, we are also 100% off formula. She has been drinking milk for a couple weeks now. She LOVES it and drinks more milk then she ever did formula! Now, we have to figure out how to get her to drink it out of a sippy cup!

--Whining: Yep, that's right, I'm sharing something less positive!! However, she is a good listener. She used to bring a book to me and instantly whine to be picked up and when she found out Mom wouldn't pick her up if she did that she quickly stopped. Now I get a nice hands in the air and an UP MOM! She still whines while waiting for a bottle...we are working on that! =)

--Answers questions and talking appropriately: We ask, "How are you?" and she will reply, "Good!" or Do you want to do or eat _____?" and she says, "Yes!" When she sees someone she will say, "Hiiiii!"

We are having WAY TOO MUCH FUN this summer!!! I know it's only July 8th but before I know it, it will be Aug. 8th and I'll probably be dropping her off at day care and working at school by then!!! =( Hopefully many more fun days to come before that day arrives!!

4th of July Fun

2009-07-08T13:32:00.008-05:00

On July 1st and 2nd we went to visit Great Grandma T in Horton, KS! Her birthday was July 1st! Raychel had fun running around her house, playing with the ducks by the lake, and eating pizza and cake with her cousins!

On July 3rd, Clay Center had their 4th of July celebration! We went down to check out some of the festivities. Unfortunately a storm stopped our fun and they continued their party on the 5th of July! Raychel sporting her cousin's hat!! =)

Mommy and Raychel at the 3rd of July-4th of July celebration!!! Maybe we are related! LOL

We headed to Wamego for 4th of July again this year! We had fun eating at Toto's Tacoz for lunch, touring the car show, and watching fireworks! OH and there was Nick's awesome smoked ribs and brisket for dinner! Raychel preferred the watermelon, but she did eat some brisket!

Before heading out for lunch Daddy and Raychel went for a ride on Nick's new lawn mower! Raychel thought it was prettty cool, just a little loud!

Here she is signing, EAT MOM!!! So, we ended our lawn mower expedition and headed for lunch!

This is the Deines family from 2008 and 2009 in front of the same vehicle at the Wamego Car Show! Daddy worked on this car and we are still waiting to find the owner! Maybe next year!!

Do you think she grew, just a little??? LOL Unfortunately Mom and Dad don't look much different!

Raychel at the car show, sporting her hat! Rain was threatening and it is hard to talk her into the hat when the sun is not out! So...it went by the wayside quickly!!

We got lost at the car show and found a playground instead! It was so cute, she ran up to back side of the General Store sign and bent down as if she was asking..."May I help you?" Of course, Mom didn't have her camera out that time. She wouldn't hang out on the other side of the counter again!

She walked through the tunnel going from Mommy to Crystal and back again!

I bet she will be jumping up there next year instead of waiting for Mommy to help her crawl up!

We left the playground when she grabbed a wasp. We are thinking that she got bit but not badly because there wasn't any swelling, her thumb was just a little bit red.and she wouldn't let me touch it. She just held onto her thumb! Poor little girl! She was brave though. She didn't cry, just shook her hand and got scooped up by Mommy! Gee....first she grabs the flames on her birthday candles, then she grabs the wasp that lands on the toy she was playing on...we really need to teach that girl what to touch and what to look at!!!

We went back to Nick and Crystal's house for a nap. She wasn't too interested in napping, but did snooze for about 45 minutes! She was up and running strong again and we left to see the parade (sorry, no pictures). She LOVED the parade! She liked the little cars and the horses, OH and the people giving out pretty red, silver, and blue necklaces! The parade was at 6:00, so she was getting hungry. She sat on my lap and munched on spaghetti noodles and ham during the parade, a little unique but defintely yummy for her! After the parade we ate OUR dinner! Nick smoked ribs and brisket, YUMMY!!! Raychel ate an entire bowl full of watermelon...more then I could eat! I think she likes watermelon!! =)

About 9:00 we decided we needed Ice Cream and headed into Manhattan! Raychel was still awake and playing happily!!! (SURPRISE!) We stopped at K-Mart and she ran all over the entire store....literally!!! There was no one there but us, so she didn't bother anyone! We hurried back for fireworks!!

She loved the fireworks, that or they scared her really badly!!! She had ear plugs in, thankfully, as we were pretty close to the action! She would start to turn around and hide, but then just HAD to watch that stuff in the sky! She made it 25 out of 30 minutes, enjoying the last half in Daddy's lap! Then, she popped up and climbed onto my nap and went to sleep! Yep...she slept through the Grand Finale!!! Silly girl!

She slept all the way home (even being moved in her car seat from one car to the other) and then went straight to bed here, sleeping for 10 hours!!! Mommy needed the sleep too, so I was thrilled!

Helping Daddy!

2009-06-28T22:15:00.002-05:00

Saturday night she helped Daddy fix the lawnmower, well TRY to fix the lawnmower. We found out later that it is not fixable, so now it is for sale...but it is our friend's mower and they already got another one, so it is all good!
She grabbed two of Daddy's wrenches and tried to help him fix the mower! Then, she climbed up on the mower (Mommy put her on the seat). She thought that was GREAT!!!

She also enjoyed running around the yard and stepping UP and DOWN the single step along the sidewalk in the back yard! No, Mommy didn't know she was going down but we saw the whole thing! She slowly took one foot of and while it was falling down, she brought the other one with it...so it was almost like a jump off the step! She landed like it was NO BIG DEAL and continued walking to help Daddy! Going up, she holds onto the garage and simply steps up!

NEW TOYS!!!

2009-06-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

Raychel got to try out two new toys! Daddy found a table and chairs on eBay for her birthday. We spent her birthday "cash" to purchase this new toy! Both the tables and chairs are adjustable and may fit her for at least 5 years!!!

This is her first touch of the "new thing" in her living room!

She gets to sit at the table....OH...COOL!

This is pretty awesome Mommy and Daddy!

No, its REALLY AWESOME...I LOVE IT!!! =)

Later, she colored a picture WHILE watching TV!! She is multi-tasking already! She scribbles on one side of the paper, flips it over and scribbles on the other side. This repeats until both sides are sufficiently scribbled upon!!! =)

Raychel also tried out her new pool! She thinks its pretty fun with all the toys attached to it!

Hi, Giraffe! (which she said while reading a book with a giraffe in it).

Checking out the toys on the pool!

I like to garden and swim at the same time!

RAYCHEL TV!!!

2009-06-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

We got a new-to-us entertainment center, but it is sitting in the middle of our living room because Daddy's co-worker has a bigger one that would suit us better and he is looking for a smaller one, so will trade for our new one!

While it is sitting in our living room, Daddy found a new favorite TV show! It's RAYCHEL TV!!!!! He LOVES to watch RAYCHEL TV! She fits just perfectly, another cm taller and she would hit her head!!!!

She is crouching down, giving Mommy a silly smile!!

Now we watch RAYCHEL TV every night! Sorry, but it is only available in OUR living room! Currently, no cable networks have picked up the show...we are not sure why!!!

Playing Dress-Up

2009-06-24T21:47:00.000-05:00

Raychel spied her Halloween costume while Mommy was putting away clothes today. She said, 'That-That-That"...in other words, Mommy...I want that, give it to me, put it on, and let me run around and play in it! =) Wheww...good thing I understand her so well! LOL

She kept reaching back for the wings....not quite understanding what they were!

See...I told you she LOVED drinking out of her new straw cup!

What are these things anyway???

She also enjoyed coloring in her new BARNEY coloring book, while dressed as a lady bug!! =)

Trying to Harvest with Grandpa

2009-06-23T21:40:00.001-05:00

Today we went to "try" and harvest with Grandpa! Our day didn't go exactly as planned, but neither did Grandpas, Grandmas, Uncle Jays, or Daddy's day!!! WHAT, you are asking, happened???
Well...after nap time we headed to find Grandpa in the field. He was not moving.... :( The combine kept getting clogged and wouldn't feed the wheat through correctly. He made several calls and before we knew it Grandma, Mommy, and I were on our way to get parts for Grandpa. Uncle Jay and Daddy were heading to Abilene to help Grandpa put on the new parts! Around 10:00 that night, everyone got to go home and Grandpa tried to harvest again the next day!

Oh well...I thought it was pretty hot, pretty scary, and pretty BIG anyway!!! Maybe Mommy will take me back on another day to "try again"!

I learned how to drink out of a straw!

2009-06-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

We have been trying for about a month to help Raychel learn how to drink out of a straw. So, Daddy comes home today, drinking a BIG cup of water, and gives it to a very interested Raychel. She sucks it right up and starts hauling it around the house, drinking it!

Daddy is proud of the fact that HE taught her how to drink from a straw. I say, if you think its that easy then I'll let you POTTY TRAIN TOO!!! =) LOL

She carries it around the house now! She is a hydrated little girl!!! =) WATER is YUMMY and it is EVEN BETTER out of a straw!!!

I GET TO RIDE GOING FORWARD!!!!

2009-06-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

Daddy got her car seat turned around to face forward! This is Raychel discovering her new view! The first picture she is like...MOM...why is the camera here?!?!?!

THEN...she discovered there was something different!!! She threw her arms up and shrieked!!!
It may have been 100 degrees outside, but she was HAPPY-HAPPY-HAPPY!!!

Mommy turned around and snapped another picture from the front seat. Needless to say, she LOVES her new "view" of the world!!!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

2009-06-22T20:17:00.001-05:00

Raychel's first birthday party was AWESOME!!! =) After spending all morning on Friday creating and making 2 cakes and 72 cupcakes and spending the evening decorating, we were ready!!! =)

Fortunately or unfortunately, it was raining outside! Fortunately because it meant that her Grandpa S and Uncle Jeff could come as they couldn't be in the field harvesting and unfortunately because we couldn't party inside and out! So, we crowded together (all 22 of us) in our living/dining room and PARTIED!!! =)

This "MONKEY BUSINESS" all started when Grandma O made Daddy Derek a sock monkey (on the right) when he was a little boy!

This is Derek, receiving his sock monkey!!

He LOVED his sock monkey too!!

Around 26 years later, Raychel Joy met her sock monkey.

She LOVED her sock monkey from the very first time she met her!

AND....6 months later...on her 1st Birthday, we celebrated...Sock Monkey style!!!

This is her sock monkey cake! All designed, cut out, and decorated by Mommy! Cocoa Krispies make the wonderful brown monkey, everything else is yummy frosting!

This is RAYCHEL's CAKE to eat and destroy on her own...see later pictures! =)

These are the mini cupcakes, most of them anyway, that our guests enjoyed with ice cream on a very sultry and rainy day!

Raychel and Mommy with her Monkey Cake and her Raychel cake!

Close up of the birthday girl before the party started!

Spending some time with my Grandma S!

Enjoying a Daddy Hug before the party started!

BEAUTIFUL LITTLE GIRL!!!

Eating my lunch, while Great Grandma S said HELLO!!!

Grandpa S had to say hello too!

Everyone else ate their lunch while she played. They enjoyed chips, fresh veggies from Uncle Jay's garden, and deli sandwiches. Everyone seemed to enjoy their lunch!

Aunt Alaina came up from Texas for my party too!!

Just checking out all my "LOOT"! Later she would open presents (although she was getting WAY tired), we tried!!!

She did like the pretty bow!

This is a gift from Grandma O. It is a sock monkey quilt with many family memories and important events surrounding the monkeys!

After a tiny melt down during presents, she snuck away to a somewhat quiet kitchen to check out one of her new toys!

Then....we sang and lit the candles!!

SHE GRABBED THE OPEN FLAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were all trying to help her blow them out and instead she grabbed them, putting them out! She was not hurt, just shocked!!! Aunt Linda has it all on video and I'll add that clip later!

She checked out her cake and was very "girly" about tasting the treat!
Finally, she started dipping her fingers in, pulling them out, and licking them off!! Well, that is one way to do it!
Once she was on a sugar high, she started flinging her hands...sending sprays of frosting across the room!
It was WAY past nap time when the ice cream came out! She may look tortured here, but in fact she begged for Daddy to share his ice cream with her and used the little bit of energy she had left to slurp some of the sweet treat!

Hugs goodbye to my party guests and then she crashed for about 2 hours!!!

At 5:00 we had our friends and their children over for ANOTHER party! We sent the "boys" out to BBQ and the "girls" entertained the kids inside. We had a living room full of 7 kids under the age of 8! =) We had a blast all evening long, but we were so busy we forgot to get the camera out...DARN!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYCHEL JOY!!

2009-06-17T21:25:00.005-05:00

WE cannot believe its been ONE YEAR!!! WOW, it went by SOOOO fast!!!!! It was SOOOO hard and it was SOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOO FUN!!! =) Everything has changed, nothing will ever be the same again, and we wouldn't trade it for the world!!!

She has gone from this little, itty bitty helpless beauty to this walking, talking, laughing, and loving beauty!!! The BIG party is SATURDAY!

Today was her first day to try out the pool! We have a little plastic pool in the backyard. She has never been to "hip" to the water...but she tried it! She was done in about 10 minutes, she wanted to run around the yard instead! Maybe we will take her to Manhattan where you can walk in the splash park!!

Testing out the water...hmm, this seems okay!

SPLASH!! She usually doesn't do this because it gets on her face and she HATES that! So, one splash was all we got!
Okay MOM, I'm DONE! I'm getting out now! =)

Sliding at the Park!

2009-06-11T21:28:00.002-05:00

WOW....we went to the park with friends today and she decided to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the slide!!!! THE BIG SLIDE!!!

She crawls up the steps of the slide, with someone behind her, crawls around, sits down, and WHEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

She used her shoes to control her own speed and would scream and throw her hands up when she would speed up on the way down! LOL

Smiles, Monkey, Books, and a little Spaghetti!

2009-06-09T22:26:00.004-05:00

Daddy took the smile pictures! He just kept clicking and she was LOVIN' it!

Raychel loves to read the newspaper! She carries it around the house until she decides to taste it!

Don't you read your newspaper like this???

Raychel smiling in her Monkey Birthday shirt!

Birthday Shirt!

Raychel LOVES her sock monkey! Monkey was her first word, although she only signs it and makes monkey noises now! She also signs the phrase, going bananas, while making her monkey sounds! The sign is easy...you basically wave your hands above your head!!

She carries Monkey all over the house and hugs it, kisses it, throws it on the ground, drags it, and steps on it!!! Poor Monkey! =)

She makes Monkey feel all better!

She undresses Monkey!

She hugs Monkey! By the way....Monkey's name is Monkey. Her Daddy had one growing up and I asked him what he named his monkey...typical male response, Monkey! So, her monkey is affectionally known as Monkey!

SHE LOVES HER BOOKS!!! This is what it looks like near her toys almost everyday. Her bedroom books look like this too and her books downstairs. Hmmm..which one do I want now?

Raychel had fun eating spaghetti for the first time! Mommy had fun cleaning it up! Good thing I used to work in the infant room at day care! I was totally prepared!!! =)

Yes...it is a MONKEY plate!

Grandpa Jerry's Birthday Party and Picnic

2009-06-01T21:16:00.002-05:00

Raychel started walking and running with her arms thrown back, like in the video below. I think it was a transition to a whole new level of balance power. Unfortunately, she hasn't done it since...so this is the only video I have. But, after church she took off running with arms thrown back...we all thought it was hilarious!!

We celebrated Grandpa Jerry's birthday this weekend in Abilene. Almost all the grandkids are in the next two pictures...Natalie was sleeping! He received TWO flashlights that attach to your hat for hands-free light. Ooops...Jay and I didn't communicate very well. Jeff said he almost got him a regular flashlight too! THAT would have been hilarious! Grandpa, your kids all think you need to see the light! OR Grandpa, your kids all think you can't SEE! LOL (sorry....I couldn't help myself)

Mom got him a new game! It is called Lasso Golf! Essentially it is a PVC pipe stand with three horizontal bars (high, medium, and low). It comes with two different colored sets of balls that are connected with string...see picture of Raychel below. You throw the ball at the stand and get different points for wrapping it around different bars! IT IS FUN!!

Lasso golf balls! Raychel thought they were great fun!

Natalie thought Grandpa was hilarious!!! She has the BEST smile and GIGGLE!!! I even got to hold her while Raychel was sleeping! She is not a fan of letting Mommy hold other babies yet!

Derek got some good bonding time in with Lainie. They read books for quite a while on the couch!
Who needs Daddy to read, I have got it covered!!! She is really into her books and spends most of her time looking through them, pointing, saying the words she knows or signing them! Occasionally, when she is ready to learn more, she will bring them to me and ask about certain objects!

Raychel is ready for her birthday party. She LOVED the wrapping paper!

On Sunday, we had a wonderful picnic lunch with Grandpa and Grandma O and Great Grandma S at the Zoo Park in town. Afterwards, when the cotton got too thick, we headed back to the house! Raychel had fun showing off all her talents!

She has started dancing. Her favorite tune is Camp Town Races, played by her airplane toy. She walks over and pushes the button. This means...MOM sing...Raychel DANCE! And we do it OVER and OVER and OVER!!! Too FUN!!!

She also learned how to turn the TV on and off! Good thing we have practiced sign language and using the words off and on. So, I can tell her to turn it back on! The other day, when I told her we were going outside to play, she ran over and turned the TV off before we left! LOL

Raychel is also exploring her drummer side!!! Make sure you have your speakers on HIGH for FULL EFFECT!!! LOL

11 things I LOVE about being 11 months old!

2009-05-27T08:47:00.001-05:00

1. WALKING!!! I am walking everywhere right now and crawling up and down steps or walking with Mommy's hand!

2. BEING OUTSIDE!!! I LOVE to play outside. I run over to the front door and say, "OUT, OUT, GO"!!! I could spend the whole day outside! I love to pick up sticks and carry them around, I try to eat rocks but Mommy always catches me, and I like to play with balls and sidewalk chalk!

3. TALKING!!! I say many words now. I say: mama (MOM), dada (DAA), cat, that ('dat), dog, frog, duck (that's a BIG one), up, down, off, on, in, out, go, (she likes opposites-if you didn't notice), and most recently STOP (with a wagging finger) If Mom remembers more later, she'll add them...

4. SIGNING! I still sign some words, others I have stopped. I no longer say, Monkey-my first word, I will only sign it!! SILLY!!! I sign: cat, duck, bird, want, all done, bottle, eat, go bananas, monkey, and stop. (that's all Mom can think of right now!)

5. DANCING! I love to dance, now that I'm pretty steady on my feet! I twirl, direct (with my hands), bounces at my knees, and the most recent dance move is crouching and hitting my hands on the ground--really looks like I am worshiping! I will not let Mommy video tape my dancing, I stop IMMEDIATELY if I see that camera out!

6. EATING! I have stopped eating those yucky baby food dinners...EWWW! One day my Mommy and Daddy gave me a McDonald's cheeseburger and I realized they had been holding back the "good stuff" from me! I like popcorn chicken, macaroni and cheese, crackers, steamed carrots, apples, bananas, and yogurt...to name a few! I'm sure Mom will give me more good stuff, like the Wendy's frostys and fries she let me try!!! MMMMmmmm!

7. READING BOOKS!!! Mom has given me the best books ever! They have ducks, sing songs, have bright colors, have ribbons, have plastic lady bugs and crickets...wow they are all AMAZING!!! Oh, and she has Tweety books too...although I'm still very confused because Tweety bird LOOKS like a DUCK but Mommy keeps calling it a bird!!

8. Playing with BALLS!! One day I was at Grandma's house and I had the best time playing with her ball. Now, I LOVE THEM!! Mommy and Daddy got me a beach ball, a pink light weight ball, and red small bouncy ball, and a small red and yellow soft ball! They are all great! I like to throw them over the baby gate and into Daddy's office! Daddy likes to bounce them off my head...FUN!!

9. Pulling the fan light ON and OFF and turning the TV ON and OFF!!! Daddy holds me up high and I pull on the string on the ceiling fan to turn the light on and off...so fun! Sometimes I hit it with my hands and have to chase it and catch it!! I tried to get Mommy to hold me up high enough, but she can't get me up that high! I also like to turn the TV on and off! Mommy doesn't like it very much, but I think its HILARIOUS!

10. CLIMBING UP STAIRS!! I love to walk from the car into the house. I hold onto Mommy's hand and climb them with my left and right feet....just like the big people do! It is sooo fun!

11. I LOVE MY MOMMY AND DADDY!!! I blow them kisses, give them hugs, we laugh together, and they are just the best ever! (okay...you are all thinking, we know who is typing all this...but I'm out of things to type! LOL)

Wedding, Landscaping, and a Baptism...Oh my!

2009-05-24T20:04:00.001-05:00

This weekend we went to White City to a friend's wedding. Raychel enjoyed the ceremony as it was outside and she LOVES to be outside! She had a blast at the reception too! She found the door to the kitchen and kept sneaking out...you would think she could read since there was a sign on the door that said, "No children allowed!". How do they sense these things?? LOL

Daddy just retrieved her and THERE SHE GOES AGAIN!!! LOL

Enjoying a drink with lunch!

She actually stopped the bride and groom's first dance by walking out to the dance floor. They had been so busy moving and wedding planning, they didn't know she was walking! They both cheered! Everybody dance now!! =)

YEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! This so soooooo FUN!!!!!!!! =)We...okay Daddy...put an arbor at the end of our sidewalk. It is attached to two whisky barrels that will be filled with flowers! HOPEFULLY, the Morning Glory will climb over the arbor before the end of summer!

Raychel thought it was great fun to watch Daddy use his power tools! She kept stealing the U ring that he was trying to install too...that was FUNNY! ;)

When he was away getting supplies, she tried out the local sticks! YES, it is a stick...not a cigar! Mommy's words...and I quote..."OUT OF MOUTH, RAYCHEL!"

When Daddy didn't come back soon enough, she started to the back yard to find him! She is starting to explore more, leave familiar areas, and go with or without Mommy and Daddy! She had never walked down this path before, but she was determined to find Daddy!

Daddy thought she was a perfect fit for the barrels!

Raychel already has selective hearing (like her Daddy...HA!!) She likes to play games!

This is the only picture I got on my camera before taking over a head photographer (not for my talent, but for my skill...I can push the right button!) for the baptism. This is Raychel climbing at the front of the church with her cousins, Riley and Jackie.

Graduations and Parties!

2009-05-17T08:00:00.003-05:00

Saturday we attended cousin Jessica's college graduation! Raychel loved playing ball with Grandpa O! She was thoroughly entertained! Camera...well, I forgot that in the car! LOL

Sunday, after church we headed to Easton's first birthday party! Easton's Mommy and Daddy were in our child birth education class. He is about one month older then Raychel. Raychel had a blast roaming around the party, playing with the other kids, and enjoying the sunshine!

They hired a photographer to take pictures of each family in attendance. I thought that was a cool idea and a great rememberance for Easton when he gets older. This is the picture of our family! Now, when he looks back he can say...look how OLD they have gotten! LOL

We had to leave his party early to head to cousin Lynn's graduation party. She walked all over the building, happy to be out of the car. After eating, she cruised outside. She is really getting good at walking on rough terrain!

SHE DISCOVERED HER TONGUE!!!!!!!!!!! LOL While we were outside playing she found this GREAT toy in her mouth! Then, she was obsessed with it!

She learned that Daddy had one too and that was AWESOME!

My two little tongue sweeties!

Having fun eating!

2009-05-14T22:38:00.003-05:00

Tonight Raychel enjoyed Macaroni and Cheese, Ham, Peaches, crackers, and Squash! She worked up quite the appetite from playing outside! She is LOVING eating "REAL" food! Although, she is still really picky! We are trying lots of different types of food! She hated Ravioli and mashed potatoes but loves bread and plain Ramen noodles. She also loves BBQ sauce (sucks it off the hamburger), McDonald's cheeseburger, fries from anywhere, Frostys from Wendys, and Nilla Wafers! Wow...she sounds like a healthy eater! We can still talk her into eating the fruit and cereal for breakfast and a container of veggies for lunch and dinner...so she is getting SOMETHING healthy in there!

She is learning how to use a spoon, fork, and plate. She knows what to do once there is food on the spoon but is not talented at getting it on there, although she tries!

Just SHOVE it IN!! =)

I LOVE HER LAUGH?? SQUEAL??? SHRIEK???

Playing outside!

2009-05-14T22:03:00.006-05:00

Raychel and I enjoyed playing outside tonight! I brought out sand/outdoor toys and she had a blast all evening. She has become so confident and GOOD at walking around compared to last weekend when she wouldn't walk anywhere outside without holding onto my hand! She is thrilled to be outside and explores everywhere in the front yard! Too bad Mom got bit by those pesky mosquitos! I tried to watch her carefully and killed a few around her, so hopefully she wasn't bitten. I will have to go find bug spray for HER, especially!

She climbs up the steps on all fours, unless I hold her hands, and plays on the porch! Mom is behind her with hands close for catching, although I wasn't needed once! SHE may be confident in her abilities, but MOM is not as confident!

We came in for dinner and after we ate, this is the look I got when I told her we weren't going outside! She walks to the door and says, "Go, Go, GO!" She even said, "Da-Da OUT!" Daddy was working in the office and had not gone out with us to play! MOM CAVED!!!!!!!! So much for making dinner for Dad and me...we'll eat later!

We are WALKING!! =)

2009-05-12T21:52:00.006-05:00

Raychel has taken off this week. She is walking all around rooms, from one room to another, and stepping over things in her way. She is starting to become a professional! LOL Okay...maybe she has a lot more practice to do...but for 10 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days old...she is doing AWESOME!!!

Of course she is still posing and making those adorable faces!

She is on her way to the couch...

And she just arrived at the couch, TA-DA!!!!!!

Next stop...get Mommy...she has that camera out again!

This is a video of her walking last week, when she really started getting better! =)

The next 2 videos are from today (5-12)...She is walking around and it is about 8:45 at night, WAY past her bedtime...but she is still going strong! We were out with my family from Texas tonight! FUN!

This is when she decided to leave the room tonight! She headed out to the hallway! I love her almost-fall-over-recovery!!!

Picture Post!!!

2009-05-10T08:12:00.009-05:00

Just playing at home! =)

Daddy and Raychel inside the shop at McPherson! Funny story, the tire on our stroller was low and Daddy found the air bubble in the shop and aired it up in the middle of the guided tour! LOL

Daddy and Raychel in a 1920's Fire Engine! This was one of Daddy's favorites at the show.

Raychel cheesing with the T-Shirt surprise Daddy got that morning. It is HIS "yellow" Torino, but its pink and says, "Paint it pink, Daddy!" He loves it!

On Sunday, after the car show, we went back to Newton and spent time with all the guys he was in school with and their families. Raychel checked out all the toys!

Jon LOVES kids and Raychel thought he was pretty great too!

Playing the piano on this toy!

Of course she found a spoon to play with....Err, eat them!

Daddy was happy that she found some cars to play with too!

Raychel playing with Brian and Tara's two little ones!

I came home from work one afternoon last week, Derek had picked up Raychel, and this is what I found. He came home with her (awake) and set her down to play. Her forehead hit the floor, her body landed, her legs pulled up, and she was out for about 45 minutes!

Raychel LOVES Barney.

Cheesy smile, a little scary!

Oh, that is better!

This is Raychel's favorite book...Ten Little Ladybugs! It could be because it has 10 little plastic ladybugs to touch and feel!

Raychel and Audrey swinging in the park while their Daddies looked at cars at the car show in Manhattan. Audrey and Raychel last met when they were 3 and 6 months old at the Clay Center car show! Wow, they have grown and changed soo much!

Raychel leans forward....I'm flying Mommy!

Raychel in the Ladybug! This is a cool park!

Peek-a-Boo Mommy! The black surface behind her is made of recycled rubber. It is smooth and springy...Raychel could crawl on it or walk and fall down without it hurting a bit.

Raychel in her hat, looking for more stars!

Raychel and Daddy at the BBQ we had later that day in the park.

OH MY...

2009-05-06T21:20:00.002-05:00

I absolutely CANNOT believe that it has been 3 weeks since I last updated the blog!!! We have been soooo busy that I haven't sat down long enough to update!! So...let me catch you up!

Raychel is 10.5 months old...

**She is walking (getting better everyday and this week she is walking across rooms)
**She is talking (I have lost track of everything, but she is signing bird, cat, and STOP now and says cat and stars)
**She is ORNERY!!!! (I'll share some funnies below)

I go in to pick her up in the morning and reach down to get her, she hops down and crawls across the crib. When I get down to the other end, she crawls back. We were both laughing by the end!

When she is doing something she KNOWS she shouldn't be doing (getting something off the table, eating something off the floor, going into a room she shouldn't be in) and you call her name, she will just start "running". We call it running, but really she is crawling...it is just that fast. Then, she gets pretty far away and will turn around to look at you like, "I didn't do it...honest!". Now, if she is eating something...she will pop that in her mouth before she runs!

I put a basket of toys in front of the end table to keep her from getting to the remotes and drinks on the table, but it doesn't stop her! She climbs into the basket and on the toys to get to the stuff!

If you ask her to stop doing something, she signs stop and then continues doing it until you get more serious with her...she KNOWS what it means...she CHOOSES to ignore! (How do they learn this so young?)

**She knows where your nose is and will be happy to hit it, poke it, or pick it...depending on where her fingers land!

**She follows Mommy's directions in the bath tub. Put the duck IN the cup, put the cup in the cup (nesting), put the baby duck on the mommy duck (has a flat spot for the babies to sit), put the duck ON the cup...etc.!

**She LOVES to go up and down steps. She holds my hand because she has to lean so far to get her leg up to the next step, but then she pushes up to the next step alone. We go up and down at least 2-3 times a night outside.

**She LOVES to walk from the porch to the car and the car into wherever we are going!

**She giggles and laughs... A LOT! She is almost always HAPPY! The other night she started laughing at something, while finishing dinner, and we spent almost 45 minutes giggling back and forth to one another.

**She POINTS at everything and wants to know what it is and then repeats something...even if it sounds nothing like what you said!

**She loves her Daddy and points at him and says, Da-Da, DAA-DAA, DADEEE!!! She asks for him when he is not there and calls to him when he walks by in the house. She even hits Mom in the head, pointing at his picture on the wall as we pass it on the wall! Oh, occasionally she says Mom or Ma-Ma...but Daddy is definitely a favorite word (oh, and PERSON) for her!

**She tasted a McDonald's cheeseburger this last weekend and now she doesn't want baby food! So, we are constantly searching for something she will eat now. She likes cheese crackers, Ritz crackers, peaches, ham, ground beef, bread, potato, golden grahams, vanilla wafers, and we are still trying others! She likes chocolate, but we don't think it likes her. We haven't found another night that we would like to be up with a screaming baby, so we haven't tried it again to make sure!

**Occasionally, she will eat more or stay up later and that allows her to sleep through the night. It has happened at least a couple times a week for the past couple weeks...Mom LOVES the break!

**She LOVES her new day care! She sometimes comes home covered in dirt or something else she got into while playing, but we know it means she had fun! When we come to pick her up she isn't screaming and crawling to us as fast as she can. Instead, she looks to say HI and then continues in her activities. She LOVES play group and story time that she gets to go to and so far has slept through all the Zoo visits (the stroller walk gets her every time).

**She wears shoes now. Before, she wasn't too interested in shoes. She would pull them off or seem to complain about them while crawling. Now that she is walking, it was a MUST...and she adapted quickly. We have found LOTS of cheap shoes, so she has sandles that flash, hot pink tennis shoes, and even a pair of moccasins (thank you Grandma O).

**She loves balls. She likes to play catch and is pretty good at throwing the ball straight to you! The problem is that it makes her sit still, so she doesn't play for very long. I imagine that when she is really sure on her feet, she will play all the time!

**I'll add more when I think of what I haven't told you yet! It has been a MAJOR month for growth and changes! Not only are we too busy to sit down, she is too much fun to let her play by herself so we can update! LOL

I'll have to post pictures tomorrow...it is bedtime! I know...I know...sorry, that is what you REALLY wanted to see!! LOL

Five Star Pig Sale

2009-04-19T14:06:00.001-05:00

Grandpa S has a pig sale every year. This was Raychel's first sale. She was not so sure abut the pigs! Maggie, Grandpa, and Raychel got down to pet the pigs and Raychel pulled away quickly! She was not a fan!

She didn't mind being in the pen with the pigs, as long as Grandpa was holding her tight and stayed far way from those noisy things!

Cousin Lainie loved the pigs! She was brushing their hair and making them look pretty for the sale!

Raychel thought it might be better to ride in her stroller and look at them with her stuffed pigpo close to save her!

Aunt Linda took the picture of Raychel relaxing on the table. She likes the "business" end of this sale! Grandpa and Grandma O came and picked up Raychel after the sale started. It was her bedtime and Mommy and Daddy were very busy doing the paperwork part of the sale! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma O!

New toy cubby/shelf!

2009-04-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

Mommy found this for sale online and sent Daddy to Junction City to get it Friday night! It wasn't EXACTLY what Mommy thought it would be...I thought it was white and solid wood. Instead it is white and bright yellow, made of particle board! But...it will be perfect in the Tweety basement one day and works great right now! Mommy spent over two hours scraping the sticky leftovers of contact paper that covered the entire thing at one point! Raychel LOVES her new shelf!

She can reach all of her toys and see what she wants to play with too! She likes to make her drums play and dance beside the shelf! She can dance and hold on if she starts to lose her balance!

Strong Girl and Keys

2009-04-17T15:17:00.000-05:00

This is Word World...a show where all the "characters and backgrounds" are made out of their name. Ex: A barn is made from the letters BARN or a fly is made out of FLY. Anyway...she likes this show too! This is a Friday afternoon, she stole my keys and wouldn't give them up without crying. Being Friday, she kept the keys! LOL

And...NO standing too close to the TV will not hurt your eyes...it has been proven! =) I know what you are all thinking!!

Anyway... you are watching this to notice this strong little girl. She bends down, like a catcher, and then stands right back up without holding on to anything. Look twice, she doesn't touch the TV until she is upright! You go girl!!! =)

Okay...turn your volume on HIGH...then you will experience Raychel's delight in discovering keys on a stainless steel bowl!!! LOL

Walking

2009-04-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

She is walking! Well....kinda! She took her first 5 steps on Easter between her Grandpa and her Daddy! Since then she has made many attempts and usually gets about 2-3 steps before deciding she can get there faster if she just crawls! I'm sure we'll have a strong walker soon enough! For now, we will enjoy her efforts!

Easter Part 3

2009-04-13T11:16:00.000-05:00

We went to church with Grandma and Grandpa S in Abilene and then ate lunch at Aunt Meredith's and Uncle Jeff's house. After eating, Grandma S got to spend some time with Raychel. Great Grandma S enjoyed watching!

They played patty cake! Raychel also got a spoon! Spoons are the BEST toys EVER!!!

When Raychel was born, cousin Riley bought her a pair of HIS favorite shoes...crocs! Unfortunately the store didn't have a very small size! He bought the smallest they sold and she can FINALLY fit into them!!! So much growing...so little time! Cousin Jackie, cousin Riley, and Raychel posed for a few hundred pictures! Afterwards, Raychel slid right off Riley's lap and onto the floor! Riley did a great controlled fall and she landed happily! See picture below! LOL

After landing on the floor...too cute to pass up a picture!

After lunch, we headed to Great Grandma D's Easter get together. This is what she looked like when we got there! She missed all of her naps that day! She did wake up and play in the house for a while before we left!

I enjoyed three nights of full sleep. I think we wore her out enough on our Easter trips that she had no energy to wake up! Woo Hoo...can we do this every weekend? Okay...let's not go too far!

Easter Part 2

2009-04-11T11:07:00.000-05:00

After meeting the Easter bunny we headed to Abilene for a BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa O, Great Grandma and Grandpa O, Great Grandma S, Curtis and family, and Vanessa and family. It was a house full! I don't know WHY I don't get the camera out...Grr!

We enjoyed a BBQ, the older kids went for an Easter Egg hunt, and Raychel took a very long nap! This is when I find the camera... She was crammed into the pack and play, laying the short way with her face smooshed up against the end. Silly Girl!

By the end of the visit, she finally decided that Great Grandma O was okay and played with them on the couch. Lots of bouncing and climbing! She thought Great Grandpa O was pretty cool. She even reserved her sole words for the day for him, saying "Bye-Bye" with a wave as we left! Maybe she feels close to him, as their hair do's are quite similar! LOL

It was fun to see everyone and Raychel enjoyed all the extra attention!!!

Easter part 1

2009-04-11T10:54:00.001-05:00

Daddy and Raychel are ready to go down to the easter egg hunt and to get pictures with the Easter Bunny! Look...Mommy got a bow in her hair!! Woo Hoo!!!

I think she adores her Daddy....what do you think?

This is my edited version of this picture...thought I would share! =)

So, we get down to the park and find the Easter Bunny....err, SCARY Easter Bunny! Raychel took one looat at him and said....

MOMMY...LET'S GO!!!!!!!!! This guy is FUNNY LOOKING!!!!!!We were waiting for the Easter Egg hunt to start. No Raychel was not IN the hunt, but we thought she would appreciate watching the kids running for eggs! This picture was snapped about 3 seconds before...THE BIG ONE!!! That's right...THE BIGGEST, YUCKIEST, RUNNIEST, and SLIMIEST sneeze I've ever seen from her! LOL We tried to use the inside of her coat but that was NOT enough! So, we headed off to the car and home to clean up THE BIG ONE! So, she will hunt next year with NO prior experience...Daddy is hoping she is just a natural...he wants the candy!!! LOL

She loves Barney!

2009-04-09T14:48:00.002-05:00

She loves Barney...that's right...the big purple dinosaur! During spring break, it came on and she went from whining and needing a nap to totally in love with the big purple dinosaur. That is when I knew we were in trouble!!!

Now, with our DVR, I can tape it for her and we watch it in the evening. So it magically comes on and she is sooo happy! If you listen closely, you can hear it playing in the background!

Play Time

2009-04-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

Raychel loves to watch Wheel of Fortune! They clap and clap and clap...SHE LOVES CLAPPING!!! So, here is Raychel playing and watching...if you listen carefully you can hear the TV in the background and know her clapping is matching theirs! She is so silly!! =)

Pigpo is going to take a ride on the Hippo.

Raychel is a jumper! Sometimes she just starts jumping and you better hold on tight! She likes to jump with Daddy!

Saying HI to Daddy!!! She loves to throw toys over the gate and say Hi Daddy!

Raychel is so close to walking! She is not really sure about these push toys, but she tries! She has been going to play group at day care on Wednesdays. They say that she tries to use them more there, watching the other kids really helps!

Shoes

2009-04-08T12:42:00.001-05:00

Raychel is wearing shoes everyday now. She was NEVER a huge fan of shoes however as she is getting closer to walking and plays at play group, she needs them! When you put her shoes on, she kicks her feet and stares at them like...WHAT ARE YOU??? The Crocs were perfect for her though because they were so lightweight.

Pointing

2009-04-08T12:20:00.000-05:00

Raychel has started pointing at everyone and everything! It is too cute!! =) Just had to share!

Our first ER visit!

2009-04-05T22:17:00.002-05:00

Well.....long weekend! I brought Raychel home Thursday night from day care and she had 102 fever! With medication, I kept it down to between 100-101 all day on Friday. By 7:00 on Friday it spiked to 103.9!!!!! I was not comfortable with that, so off to the ER we went!

She had the fever and was all congested...but nothing else! (THANKFULLY!)

They said her throat was red, did a strep test...but no strep. They checked her ears, but they were fine. So, they just said she has "something" and gave her Amoxicillin and sent her home! She was a happy "sick" baby. She would play and play until she would start slowing falling forward or just fall over backwards...that is when Mommy took her back to bed! Her fever broke around 3:30 on Saturday morning. We spent a few hours playing until Mommy put her back to bed...no more play time, Mommy is tired! She has been a totally different girl with her medication, soooo glad we took her!

Saturday, we headed to Manhattan to have tires swapped and get needed supplies. Her fever came back, slightly to 99-100. Tylenol quickly removed her fever though. She finally ate 1.5 meals on Saturday!

Sunday, the whole family slept!!! She was up from 8:00-9:00 with Mommy and we all went to sleep till noon! After another nap, we headed to Abilene to fix Grandpa's truck. She had been fever free today, for the most part. She felt a little warm in the afternoon, so gave some Tylenol to help. She ate 3 good meals today! She is still struggling with a runny and stuffy nose and a little cough. Poor girl can hardly drink a bottle as she can hardly breathe through her nose!

All weekend she would spend about 2 hours up and 3 hours asleep, sometimes less up and more asleep! So this "something" is definitely taking a toll on her!

I am wondering if she is also working on some molars... She is chewing on toys and usually has her finger clear in the back of her mouth. Maybe her low grade fever is related to that! I know she was fussy today when her fever came back and seemed to be in pain. Time will tell!

So, we are going to try day care tomorrow (thinking that her fever will be okay and may be teething related) and see how she does. I may be home another day or two with her though...we'll see!

Coloring!

2009-03-29T21:19:00.003-05:00

Raychel started coloring this weekend! I think she likes it, but I'm not sure that she has a clue as to what is going on! She tried coloring with her fingers but no color came out...LOL!

Our art teacher at school tells the kids that they shouldn't talk while they are doing their art work, as the right and left side of the brain are used while talking and drawing. So, to be GREAT ARTISTS, they need to be quiet! Well....maybe that is all she needs! LOL

She is also learning that she can't put them in her mouth! Did I mention that she shakes her head no? Hmmm...does that mean we have told her no and shook our head too much?? LOL

THE WORKS OF ART! =) Aren't they beautiful! We have them up on the kitchen cabinets and she looks at them and smiles while she eats! I think she is a proud artist!

Church and Kisses

2009-03-29T20:50:00.004-05:00

So, Raychel has become MORE fun to take to church! Today, during silent prayer this was EXACTLY what she sounded like! Hey...at least she didn't yell bye bye like last week! Make sure you turn your volume up for FULL EFFECT!

I guess she is also blowing kisses! Someone else must have taught her that...but I won't complain! LOL

Pig...or Pink Hippo???

2009-03-29T20:42:00.003-05:00

Saturday afternoon, Derek got an email saying that a garage sale was giving everything else away for free at 1:00. So, being the "conservative" parents we are,...we RUSHED down there at 1:00!! LOL

We found this pink pig or hippo...depending on how you want to look at it. We handed it to Raychel and she latched on, refusing to let go! It is really soft and has a rattle in it, who wouldn't love it??

So, we got the pig/hippo...pigpo? and a few books! She was thrilled and we loved the price tag!

First step!

2009-03-29T17:37:00.003-05:00

Raychel took her first step today! She was standing next to me and saw the cat. She took one step toward him and then stopped, she thought about another step for about 30 seconds, then decided just to crawl to him instead!!

Watch out world, Raychel is getting CLOSE, CLOSE, CLOSE to walking!

Daddy, I hear you...

2009-03-28T19:54:00.003-05:00

Daddy was in the office, talking on the phone. Raychel could hear him and wanted IN!!! She was yelling at the door and reached the door knob before I got the camera out! She knows how to get it, now she just needs to turn the handle! Uh oh!

Copy Cat! Raychel has hit the "copy cat" stage! Here she was clapping after me! She likes to cough, laugh, inhale like she is in shock, wave, and clap!

Daddy did Raychel's HAIR!!!

2009-03-24T21:18:00.002-05:00

Her very first MOHAWK...complements of DADDY!!!! See...she DOES have hair!!! LOL

Mommy couldn't believe it!

Daddy was quite proud of his hair styling talents!

Daddy's Hat

2009-03-22T08:01:00.002-05:00

Raychel loves Daddy's hat! She has learned how to pull up and then off, so no more frustrated Raychel pulling out instead of up! She kinda thinks it is fun to wear it backwards! We kinda think it's cute! LOL

She is just so darn cute!

I'm 9 months old!

2009-03-17T20:57:00.003-05:00

Raychel is 9 months old...can you believe that? She has been with us as long as we were waiting for her to come now...seems like the waiting part was MUCH longer! This cutie-pa-tootie is so fun and so challenging at the same time!!! LOL

She sure knows how to share her feelings with us! Lately, she is not interested in doing much but crying if Mommy leaves the room. She follows me (and PREFERS to be carried) everywhere I go. Although, she cries more then she is carried...can't have a spoiled Raychel (well not TOO spoiled!).

She learned to say "Bye-Bye!" and wave, but she has no idea what it means! She sure smiles when someone says bye bye to her now though...thinking, "They can do that too???...WOW!"

Monkey was her first word and she LOVES her Monkey...she sleeps on top of him, plays with him while she waits to be picked up, hugs him tight when she is scared, and expects him to go EVERYWHERE with her! She recognizes the sign for monkey, but has only tried it one time! I think she must think it is easier to just say mon-Key! You can barely hear the "mon" and the "KEY" is much louder!

She is a BIG girl! She fits into 12 month clothes perfectly...we'll find out next Tuesday how big she really is! UPDATE: She weighed in at 20.9lbs (81%) and 29 inches tall (90%)! She loves to crawl everywhere and the speed changes depending on who is chasing her or WHAT she did! When she did something wrong and has been caught, she crawls REALLY fast toward Mommy! Silly girl! She LOVES to stand...all the time! She stands and walks along and ON the couches and chairs, stands in her crib (instead of sleeping!), stands at her table and stands next to you! She will walk with you, holding her hands, and has tried to get that first step going a few times! She has no fear and loves to be thrown in the air, do somersaults off our laps, and tried to launch off the changing table! Thanks Alaina, she stopped to check out your drawer pulls...allowing Mom to catch her and flip her back over! I was standing right there, but reaching into the drawer! EEEEKkkk!!

SMILE, SMILE, GIGGLE, and LAUGH....the FUN part of Raychel! She LOVES to be scared....but you don't have to work too hard...just surprise her with a loud, "BOO!" She is definitely the highlight of our life!

Sign language...here she is telling me that she has a dirty diaper! She claps her hands together two times...which is a variation of the correct message. She can be hard to catch though, she just assumes you are watching her at all times and she doesn't need your attention before she tells you! Other signs she will do: stars, more, eat, diaper change, play, all done, and bye bye. Her actions show me that she understands other signs: Mommy, Daddy, Raychel, monkey, duck, drink, no, and kitty (I feel like I'm forgetting something, so I may add more later!) Words she says: Monkey, Duck (ducky), Da-Da, and bye-bye.

For those of you wondering...YES, this is her baby book! When I finally get time to scrap book all of this and fill out her actual baby book, I want to know and remember EVERYTHING! LOL

I know...it isn't the best picture...but I tried! She has 6 teeth now! 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Some more must be starting somewhere because she has sure been complaining!

Bye Bye

2009-03-15T16:03:00.006-05:00

Raychel learned to say Bye Bye this weekend! She said it loudly in the middle of church, sorry Pastor Larry but your sermon is over in this girl's eyes! Of course I couldn't catch her saying bye bye and waving at the same time...but how about separately? I love that she waves at herself but, if you think about it, that is what it looks like from her point of view! Such a silly girl!! I am quite certain she has no idea what it means, but it is fun to say!

She also started saying, Da-Da, Du (Duck), and she attempted Shoe (but doesn't form her lips correctly...VERY FUNNY THOUGH!), and she is still saying Monkey! I will try to catch these on video, but she clams up when the camera comes out! Why can't she just perform?? GEEZE! ;)

A post by Raychel...well, I think this is what she would say!

2009-03-08T15:14:00.000-05:00

My Grandpa Rod and Grandma Sherry bought me "The Original Rubber Duck"! Actually, they bought TWO! I LOVE my ducks! I squeeze them and they makes noise, I chew them and they taste so good, and I carry them all around the house just for fun. Oh, they are great in the tub too!
Would you like to read a book with me? I love my books! I dig through them, find my favorite, and read away. Sometimes I ask Mom to read them too me! My favorites are the Peek-A-Boo books, the duck book, and my first colors book! They are so cool!

My Daddy is tickling me...Oh boy, Oh boy...I laugh and laugh! LOL Don't touch my feet though...those are sooo ticklish!

hahahha hahaha

Need a Smile...we've got plenty!!!!

2009-03-08T09:10:00.002-05:00

No words needed....these are Raychel's smiles from last week!!!

Our First Tantrum

2009-03-05T21:57:00.001-06:00

Raychel had her first tantrum today... It's a funny story, really!

We received her Easter dress in the mail (Yes, eBay!) and Daddy said, "Let's try it on!" So, we put it on! She immediately started crying, then screaming, and then shrieking!!! Apparently, that was NOT what she wanted to be doing at that time! To make matters worse, we couldn't get the dress off of her! It is not stretchy, AT ALL!! She was a mess of flailing arms and legs, which did not help (imagine that)!

Finally, we removed the dress. We tried to console her, tried redirecting her attention, and tried ignoring her...but to no avail. When she wouldn't stop screaming, we put her in her crib. She spent the next 45 minutes wailing in her room! At one point she stopped, so I went in to get her. She had fallen asleep and my entry woke her up and she started screaming again...so I walked back out!

FINALLY...........she stopped and seemed perfectly happy the rest of the night!

What started it all...this sweet little dress!

I had to edit and add to this note! We got her 9 month pictures taken in the dress. AFTER the pictures I pulled REALLY, REALLY hard on the zipper and it came down further making it a SNAP (err, zip) to take off the dress! So...here is a picture with her in the "tantrum dress" minus the tantrum! LOL

Raychel in Daddy's Boots

2009-02-28T08:48:00.001-06:00

SHE IS CHANGING SOOOOO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Raychel at 2 1/2 months.
This is Raychel at almost 8 months (V-Day)!

Drinking...Mt. Dew!

2009-02-25T15:33:00.000-06:00

While playing in the kitchen, Raychel stops to dig through the box of pop on the floor. She found one of Mom's drinks and tries it out...I think she will be a good little Mt. Dew drinker! That was a full can of pop and we were wondering if she new how to hold a cup!

Well...she is 8 months old now!

2009-02-21T22:54:00.002-06:00

Where do I begin??? She is VERY mobile, she grows an inch a day, and we continue to be amazed on a daily basis!

She is pulling herself up to standing and even turns around without falling down now! She still falls quite a bit. She doesn't know how to bend over and pick something up, but she continues to try and falls everytime...that is usually followed by screaming! Today the screaming was followed by a shiner on ther left eye! Poor thing!

She likes to stand at this table and push all the buttons, it is also the cause of many owies! It doesn't slow her down though! I know if she understood, she would tell her Aunt Linda and Uncle Jay thank you for letting me borrow this toy!

She likes to go "bowl-riding" and spend time with her Daddy! Daddy has been busy working the last couple days and she was attached to him like glue today! We went out to eat at lunch and when Daddy got up to get more to eat, she watched him the whole time! Who is Mommy?? LOL She LOVES her DADDY!!

She also makes a mess...EVERYWHERE! She drags her toys around the house, leaving them here and there! If we don't clean up at night, we would definitely hear a robber before he ever got to our bedroom!

JJ, the cat, also likes to play with Raychel. They have a new routine. While I am making dinner, JJ walks around the island and Raychel chases/follows him. But, being a cat...he lets her get close but not actually EVER catch her. After about 5-6 times around the island, Raychel gets frustrated and stops...JJ just sits across from her and stares at her! Today they did it around the shared wall of the dining room/kitchen...so out the door way to the hallway, into the kitchen, across the kitchen, out the doorway into the dining room, across the dining room back out to the hallway...OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!!!!!!!! And this is the girl who DIDN'T take a nap...geeze!!!!!!!

She is a true JOY and we love spending every minute with her! She is full of smiles and those smiles are getting filled up with teeth! She has her bottom two, her eye (incisor) teeth on the top, and her top left center tooth is about half-way out! She has done so well with her teething! After she got her first 2, she learned what the pain was and now she rarely even complains about the pain!

We did take her to the doctor, just to make sure it was a normal cold and nothing else... When they weighed her, she was more than 19 lbs. and over 28 inches long! According to the computer, that puts her in the 75% for weight and 90-95% height. BIG GIRL wears 12 month clothing. Only a few pieces still fit that are smaller then that!

Noisy Toys

2009-02-21T21:19:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to say, THANK YOU, to everyone who has bought us NOISY TOYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just ONE example of her using one noisy toy to make the other one NOISY! She has lined them all up before and continued to hit them as they stopped making noise, so there was NEVER a quite moment!

To get the full effect, you really have to turn your volume all the way up and REPLAY it OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!!!!!!!!! We also found out that when the toys are inside a steel bowl, the sound is MUCH MUCH LOUDER!!!!!!

Mommy and Raychel

2009-02-21T18:06:00.005-06:00

Raychel was busy playing...so I thought I would say, "HI!" I mean...BOO! Watch her JUMP! You can't see very well but she LOVES being scared and has a huge smile on her face!

Raychel and I were playing, BOO! She loves this game as well!! She is just SOOO much fun!

Did she say, yeah?... Okay, she probably didn't, but it sure sounds like it! Mommy says, "Raychel?" Raychel says, "Yeah?" LOL

Daddy and Raychel

2009-02-21T15:43:00.005-06:00

Daddy received a LARGE stainless steel bowl for his birthday this year. When he was young, his father used to put him in a bowl much like this one and send him flying across the house! Now, he gets to give Raychel rides in a bowl too! It is perfect for holding on and she loves it! Here is their first trip together!

Raychel loves to be scared! We wait until she isn't expecting it and say, "BOO" and she laughs at us!! We can get her to jump pretty good if she REALLY isn't expecting it! This was the 2nd or 3rd time Daddy did this to her in a row, before I turned on the camera, and she was STILL reacting to the "scare!"

A little signing...

2009-02-21T14:32:00.004-06:00

She is asking for "Stars" her puffy cereal that is star shaped. It is supposed to be her pointer fingers pointing up and back down, but she uses all her fingers and points to the sides! Eventually she'll have the ability to do it correctly!

I try to catch her doing other things, but it is hard! =)

This one is her saying more...but this time there was a long break between them. I think sometimes she thinks..."Duh, MOM...you know what I want more of!!!!!!"

Signing Time...

2009-01-26T19:28:00.003-06:00

Raychel is really picking up on this sign language stuff! Raychel started using two signs together on Saturday and continued on Sunday (which is when I realize that she actually knew what she was doing). She asked for STARS (her puffy cereal), then she asked for MORE STARS!

Then, Sunday, she surprised me again. She was playing with her toys, stopped, cried out, and crawled over to me...then she signed "diaper change". I kind of ignored her, thinking she was just playing with her hands...boy was I wrong! She kept telling me diaper change over and over....so I checked...YEP it was dirty! Part of me wondered if she really knew what she was saying or it just worked out that way. She couldn't tell me that, could she?

During dinner tonight (Monday) she was telling me diaper change instead of MORE, I just thought that she was confusing them (since they both use both hands) but when we were done eating she was still showing me diaper change. I checked, YEP-Dirty Diaper!

Okay, so she has another poopy diaper tonight...now you all know how poopy our daughter is! She crawled over to us on the couch and told us again.... Daddy took this one!

It is fun to watch her learning and using sign language!

Daddy's Birthday!

2009-01-26T18:40:00.003-06:00

Happy 28th Birthday Daddy!! (1-24-09) We spent the day together as a family! That is about the only part of our plans that worked out...but we still had fun!!!

Originally headed to the Natural History Museum in Topeka, we ended up at Clay County Historical Museum!! Just a LITTLE difference there! We took the self-guided 3 floor tour through the museum, stepping over MOUNDS of Christmas decor that had been taken down and laying down on the floor! But, we found some neat stuff! It is located in the old hospital, so many small rooms honoring all the small cities in Clay County plus a few extras!

Here, Raychel and Daddy are taking a break in the hallway! All smiles from Daddy and daughter! Of course, Monkey came along for the ride...he is becoming a necessity, like the diaper bag! Raychel LOVES her Monkey!!!

Then, we stopped in for a hair cut in one room! They had 2 old barber chairs and they looked just perfect for Raychel to sit in...shhh, don't tell them! Problem was neither Raychel or Monkey needed a hair cut! Although, Raychel DOES have one hair Daddy found that is about 3 inches long (MUCH longer then all the rest)...so maybe she DOES need A HAIR cut...but just ONE! ;)

Speaking of hair....Daddy found something mighty special!!! This is a 5 lb. hair ball that was cut out of a cow's stomach! Pretty big, huh??

In the entry way there is a large horse statue! We had to stop on the way out for pictures!

Unfortunately, we also left some throw up on the saddle! SHHHHHhhhhhhhh...DO NOT tell them! We did our very best to remove all traces before leaving, but couldn't figure out how to tell the lady we threw up on the horse!

After the museum, Derek and Raychel took naps in the car on the way to Manhattan. We went shopping for the other part of Derek's present. Unfortunately they were out of the book...Hemi in the Barn.

Of course we had to stop at Auto Zone, then on to Famous Daves! Where we found a super long wait and no time left to eat at the restaurant. We got Famous Daves To Go and went back to Nick and Crystal's house in Wamego, our babysitters...oh and friends! We thought we could go to the late movie, Gran Tornio...but it started TOOOOO LATE!!!!!!

So, Topeka Museum (nope)-Book present (nope)-eating at Famous Dave's (kinda-To GO)-watching Gran Torino (nope)....spending time together and having fun...YES!!!!!! =) 1 out of 5 isn't bad, right????

She did it...

2009-01-19T10:00:00.004-06:00

She pulled up on the couch to standing today! Mommy was sitting on the couch, looking at the computer and a little hand hits my knee...to my surprise my SEVEN month old is standing there smiling at me!!!!!!!!!!! Mommy shrieked and hugged her!

She surprises me EVERYDAY!!!!!!!! This picture is not from today. This was from Saturday. Daddy stood her up there and she thought it was pretty cool! Now she does it on her own...WOWSERS! =)

Update: As of Wednesday night (1-21-09) she is crawing all over the house, she gets into any room...follows Mom everywhere. She will pull up and stand for a very long time at the exercise ball or couch and is getting very stable! She doesn't want to fall asleep because she is so excited about all her new skills! So, bedtime is more difficult now! She eats her bottle and then is ready to play again. Usually an hour or so later we can convince her to sleep! She plays happily all over the living room until then! (I guess you have to have something to complain about!)

Note to readers...

2009-01-18T17:16:00.004-06:00

I'll admit...I was behind on posts! REALLY behind! I post-dated everything, so it would be in the right spot for scrapbook and baby book purposes! So, you will have to scroll through and pick out the new ones! I think the earliest one is December 13-14th! =)

Happy Reading!!!

Playing with Daddy!

2009-01-18T16:17:00.001-06:00

Who needs a toy, CATS make you CRAWL!!!!

2009-01-18T15:41:00.005-06:00

Raychel has been trying to crawl for a while now, but SHE CAN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Saturday, January 10th, 2009 she crawled 3 steps! Both Mommy and Daddy saw her do it and cheered so loudly...she stopped to see what the big deal was!!! LOL

This is her first attempt, but her legs weren't quite in the right place!

The cat really helps! This was a week later, yesterday morning. JJ seems to like Raychel, as he lets her pull on him and grab his fur and he will come back for more! Well, Raychel absolutely loves it because she LOVES JJ!!!!!

She does it...she crawls...anywhere and everywhere she wants to go!

7 things I love about being 7 MONTHS OLD!

2009-01-17T16:33:00.000-06:00

A post by Raychel.... (well, she told Mommy what to write!)

1. I can CRAWL!!!!!!!!!! I can get to Mommy, Daddy, JJ, and everything else Mommy tries to hide from me!

2. I get to eat 3 meals a day!!! Mommy gives me green and orange veggies, all kinds of fruits, and dinners with meat! I LOVE Green Beans and PEAS the MOST!!! =) Don't get me wrong though, I still LOVE my bottle too!

3. I am learning sign language. I know STARS, which means I want the puffy star cereal, and Bottle. Those are my favorites. I understand when Mommy makes some signs too! I understand Mommy, Daddy, all done, more, kitty, and monkey.

4. I can drag my toys all over the room. If the bucket is not empty, I am not done playing yet! Then, I make Mommy and Daddy pick them all up when I'm done!

5. I like to stand up, pull myself up holding Mommy or Daddy's hands, and I can stand up holding onto the couch. I even balanced once not holding onto anything...that was kinda scary!

6. I can fly! Well, I feel like I'm flying when Mommy and Daddy hold me above their heads. They throw me into the air and I laugh and drool all over them!!!!!

7. And FINALLY....I HAVE TEETH!!!!!!!!! Okay, I'll admit, getting the teeth in my mouth is NOT so fun! But...did you know I can use them to bite tons of stuff and eat! That is great fun!

NOTE: Raychel has 3 teeth now. Two on the bottom and one that is coming in on the far right...about where the incisor teeth would be. I'm not sure what is going on with this tooth, it is coming in really crooked!

Raychel standing all by herself, holding onto the couch AND standing all by herself (note: that lasted .2 seconds)!