Five Star Pig Sale

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

Our first ER visit!

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!

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

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???

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!

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...

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!!!

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

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!

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!