Happy Birthday to YOU!

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!!

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!

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!

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

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