Bye Bye

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!

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!!!!

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

Our First Tantrum

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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...

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...

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!

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...

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...

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!

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

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!

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)!

Rest in Peace Great Grandpa

Grandpa Sievers passed away this weekend. While we mourn his passing, we know that he is in a better place. He is no longer stuck in a bed, he is happy and free. The following videos are soooo precious and will definitely be shared with Raychel many years down the road. This was a visit to see Great Grandpa when she was just over one month old! (7-19-08)

As we knew the time was drawing near, we were able to make one last visit to see him last Friday evening. Derek woke him up and as soon as he saw Derek, Raychel, and Jill a HUGE smile came upon his face. He just stared at Raychel with that smile for a long time. He woke up one more time while we were there and we all three shared hugs with him and were able to say goodbye!

When you are tired...

Just lay down and take a nap!!! Raychel was busy playing and the next thing I know, she looks like this!! LOL She was folded up in quite an interesting angle!


Another interesting angle...This is Raychel trying to crawl! I know it has something to do with my legs and arms, but WHAT do I do with them???