We are WALKING!! =)

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!!!

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...

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

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!