One year check-up

Today we saw the pediatrician for Rachel's one year check-up. She weighed 20 pounds, 8 ounces and was 29 1/4 inches long. She can start drinking whole milk and eating eggs.

Hard to believe one year ago she was only 5 pounds, 6 ounces and was 18 1/4 inches long.

What a year it's been - starting day care, her baptism, first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first wedding (cousin Kendra), and the first official Mother's Day and Father's Day for David and I.

Next check-up - October 16th when Rachel is 15-months old. We were given the ultimatum - Rachel needs to be walking by then, so we will be working on that. Stay tuned...

Almost there...

Today Rachel turns 11-months old. One more month until she is one. Boy has the time gone by fast.

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

9 months old!

Today is Rachel's 9-month birthday! WOW! She is getting so big. She is crawling now, she has two teeth that are coming in and she is pulling herself up to stand. All this happened in the last two weeks. She is so grown up, but yet is still such a little girl.

It is so much fun to watch her crawl. Since she really just started doing it this week, she is still a little awkward. She moves almost like a robot. And she only crawls a few feet and then sits down. She wants to hold onto everything and pull herself up.

We had her 9-month check up this morning - no shots! She weighed 18 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 27 1/4 inches long. She is in the 45% for both categories. She had been at the 25% for weight since she was born, so she is catching up. She was always about 50% for height.

She had moved to Level 2 of Gerber Baby Food, but the doctor said this morning that she should be eating three meals a day and 2 snacks. And that she can eat the food we are eating, just cut up or mashed to meet her needs. So at day care this morning I took one of their menus and selected some food for her to eat over the next two weeks...things like mashed potatoes, yogurt, cinnamon apples, peaches, green beans, bananas. We'll see how she does!

Anyway, happy birthday Rachel! The next big birthday is one year - oh boy!

April Fool's Day

What is the history of April Fool's Day?

http://www.ask.com/bar?q=april+fool+day+originated&page=1&qsrc=178&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.april-fools.us%2Fhistory-april-fools.htm

PS Did you say "Rabbit, Rabbit" today? It's also another first of the month!