First Mother's Day

Today was a special day - my first official Mother's Day. Yes, last year when I was pregnant with Rachel really was my first Mother's Day, but this is the first one after she was born. It was a wonderful day - beautiful weather and an entire day spent with David and Rachel.

The day started with breakfast - waffles, bacon, orange juice and Hawaiian coffeee. YUM!

Then we went to the Leesburg Outlets. The weather was perfect and we wanted to spend the day outside. I also have been trying to update my wardrobe for the spring and summer and had some stores I wanted to check out.

We went to a number of stores like Carter's, Gymboree and Gap - are you noticing a trend? Nothing for Mom yet - all Rachel stores. But we did get her some cute shirts, pajamas and one piece outfits for her for day care.

Then we finally hit the stores for Mom - The Loft and Old Navy. A friend from college has been helping me pick out styles and colors of clothes that would look good on me. So I walked in to The Loft with my email print outs and pictures from the web site of clothes she recommended for me. Of course they had nothing I wanted, but it allowed me to focus on some other items that matched the styles and colors. I bought some really cute shirts that match with beige, brown, blue and white pants and felt great about my purchases.

We were there for over three hours. It was a great afternoon. Then it was off to church.

Our last stop of the day was Cracker Barrel for Sunday Chicken Dinner. It's one of my favorites. It's two chicken breast fillets dipped in fresh buttermilk and hand-breaded - served with a choice of two vegetables. YUM YUM!

I got some really special gifts too - flowers, cards, a gift certificate for a one-hour massage and a surprise gift from Tiffany's...a heart charm with "Mom" engraved on it. It is a charm that can be added to the Tiffany bracelet I already have. I also got a gift from Rachel she "made" at day care - a plaque with her hand print on the front and a poem on the back. I was so emotional opening that gift!

The day was really wonderful and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to celebrate Mother's Day. I have certainly celebrated the day with our dog before, but this year was extra special because of Rachel. It is a day I hoped for for a long time and never thought would come. I am really appreciative of everything I have and couldn't have asked for a better day.

I can't wait for next year!

10-months old

Today Rachel turned 10-months old.

She is growing and changing so much every day. She is on the move everywhere and is pulling herself up all the time - in her crib, in the pack 'n play, onto the dog bowl...anywhere she can. She has been eating more regular food - biscuits, pancakes, canned peaches, bananas, yogurt, mashed potatoes, green beans and waffles. She also loves eating her Gerber puffs and yogurt melts and still has some favorite baby foods like spring vegetables, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, pears and apricots.

She makes us laugh constantly and is always smiling. We are still so in awe of her every day - the simplicity of watching someone grow and learn is amazing. All the little things we take for granted everyday take on different meaning when you see a baby learning them for the first time. We continue to feel blessed and very thankful every day for her.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

May Day

Today is May 1st....May Day.

I was actually not familiar with what May Day is, so I did some research. Here is what I found - it is celebrated as World Labour Day:

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=may+day+history&page=1&qsrc=2105&ab=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com%2FCapitolHill%2F5202%2Fmayday.htm