The Rachel Post

I've been a little behind in blogging about the girls and I need to get these posted before I forget.  Rachel turned 9 months in July while we were in Utah.  She changed so much during the 5 weeks we were in Utah and learned so many new things.  She learned to feed herself (finally!) which made things a lot easier for me because I could give her some cheerios and she would eat them herself, instead of sitting with her mouth open waiting for me to give them to her like a baby bird.  She also learned to push herself into the sitting position when she was laying down and she started to army crawl to toys she wanted.  She also learned to say 'dog', 'cat' and 'bubble bath' (crazy, but so cute).  She also started doing a fake cough to get attention.  She's such a cutie!


A couple weeks ago she turned 10 months and she's still learning and growing so fast.  She's a super fast army crawler now and she loves to crawl toward things she knows she's not supposed to have and wait for someone to chase her down.  She is getting good at pulling herself up on her knees and I know it won't be too much longer before she pulls herself to standing.  She has learned to say 'duck' (which sounds a lot like 'dog' and 'cat') but I can't ger her to say it very often.  She's very vocal, but most of what she says is not English.  She seems to have no interest at all at saying 'mama' although 'dada' is a common phrase.  She's really good at pattycake and dancing when she hears music.  Over the past month or so she has also completely rejected baby food.  She will only eat food she sees us eating (and she isn't fooled by us pretending to eat baby food) so she's turned into a regular little kid, eating mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, cheese sticks, yogurt, and Mexican food (it's a favorite of hers- even if it is a little spicy).  Eating with the big people has helped her chunk up again a little- for a while she turned into quite the skinny gal.
She's also sleeping through the night (usually about 12 hours straight) with a long nap or two during the day. She loves watching Eden and following her around. Eden has even taught her how to do a really girlie shreik (which I'm sure our neighbors love to hear). We love having our Rachel around. She keeps me busy every day but I enjoy it.

Getting her to hold still for pictures is getting tricky.  Actually, getting her to hold still ever is a little tricky.

This is Eden's astronaut helmut she wore in her empty box rocket.  We couldn't resist putting it on Rachel.

I'm a little bit obsessed with Rachel's eyelashes.  They are so long, but so light that I can only see them when the light is shining on them.  I had to snap this picture one day while I was feeding her lunch.  The next two pictures just make me laugh.  I love this girl and her cheeks.

Eden and Rachel, but mostly Rachel

I just wanted to do a couple quick posts of some pictures of the girls.  Eden is such a great big sister.  She loves Rachel so much and helps me out with her so much.  One of Eden's favorite things to do is to try to "match" Rachel when I get her dressed.  She tries to wear the same colors and patterns.  So she was very excited when we got the girls matching jammies.  She wants to wear them every night.  Rachel doesn't seem to care whether she matches her sister or not, but as you can tell from the pictures, she does like to be by Eden.  Eden can always make her smile.

Rachel fell asleep on the couch one night leaning up against Andy and she looked so sweet I just had to snap a picture (or two or three...).

Rachel is now officially 8 months old.  She got her first tooth (bottom right front) the day before she turned 8 months.  We're still waiting for the other front bottom tooth to make an appearance.  She is getting really good at rolling and loves to be on the floor rolling around exploring.  All the rolling has thinned her out quite a bit too.  She's by no means skinny, but she's lost a couple chins and some of the folds in her thighs.  She's also sprouting some new hair on top.  She's got a great mohawk going on- we try to curl it a little bit.  She's recently discovered that we have a cat and it has caught her attention enough that she tries to say "cat" when she sees it.  So far, it sounds a lot like "dad" but we're working on it.  My mom says that "cat" was my first word, so maybe it runs in the family.  She just figured out clapping and signing "more" when she wants a snack.  Now if only I could get her to feed herself...  She's my little baby bird and will only hold her mouth open for food- she won't pick it up and put it in herself.  I also got her to start sleeping through the night this past month- it was a lot easier to do than I was expecting.  I just stopped feeding her when she cried and would instead give her back her binkie and walk out.  I thought she would cry for hours the first few nights, but she just went right back to sleep.  If I had known it would be that easy I would have done it months ago! That's our little Rachel at 8 months old.  We sure love having her in our family!

What a way to start the new year!

I can't think of a better way to start a new year than with these two cuties. They make me smile and laugh every day and I just can't resist them!

Eden is now almost 4 1/2 and is such a little smartie. She likes to read books and tell jokes and play pretend and be a big sister. Princesses and 'House' are her current favorite things to play. She also loves to color and do crafts.

Rachel is 3 months old now and is growing so fast. I love to kiss her chubby little cheeks and see her smile and stick out her tongue. She is getting quite vocal and loves to

make noises and coo at us. She loves to be around people and will smile at anyone who will smile at her!

December

Here's a few pictures we've taken this month. We've been pretty busy getting ready for Christmas and trying to stay warm. Eden is a great big sister and helps me out a lot and Rachel is getting chubby and smiley. Andy has had most of the month off so we've been having a lot of fun with him as well. We hope you enjoy!

Rachel's Blessing

Andy's parents were here visiting for Thanksgiving so we decided to bless Rachel while they were here. Rachel didn't cry at all and Andy did a good job and didn't surprise me by changing her name at the last minute.

My mom made my blessing dress and I have always thought that was really special so I wanted to make a dress for Rachel. I thought it turned out pretty good, considering I have never made a blessing dress before. It was pretty long and Andy had trouble finding where Rachel ended and the dress kept going. Marcia made the pretty afghan for Rachel and we used it when she was blessed as well. We love our little Rachel Elizabeth!

More Pictures

Rachel is already five weeks old and the time is just flying by. We're having so much fun with her in our home. Eden is a great big sister and loves to hold Rachel and give her kisses and take care of her.

Rachel is a pretty good sleeper (on most nights) and when she is awake she is very alert and studies what is going on around her. The past few days she has also started to smile at us when we are talking to her. It is so fun to see those smiles (although we haven't been able to catch them on camera yet). She is also gaining weight and getting a double chin and chubby cheeks. She's so much fun to hold and snuggle with.

On the 15th I took pictures of Rachel at one month, sitting on the quilt I made for her. I thought the pictures turned out pretty cute, although I couldn't get Rachel to look at the camera. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

New Baby

I know some of you have been waiting a while to see these pictures- 20 days to be exact. On October 15 we welcomed our second little girl into the world. Rachel Elizabeth was born at 11:33 am, weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 10 ounces. I had a really easy delivery- just a couple hours of labor- and I'm feeling great now. Rachel is quite a cutie and we are really enjoying having her in our famiy. Eden loves having a little sister (as long as she isn't crying) and we love it when she sleeps for more than an hour at night. We'll try to be better about posting pictures in the future. Rachel has already changed so much since she was born- she's put on some weight and is getting chubby cheeks and a second chin. We hope you enjoy these pics!

This picture was taken right after we told Eden she had a little sister. She was so excited because that is what she had wished for. I love the look on her face.

Our two girlies. Eden is a great big sister.
More pictures to come when we have a chance....