I love my husband!

Happy Anniversary, Chris! I love you so much!

Thanksgiving (a little late)!

Well, Thanksgiving came and went, and I began to panic! I didn't take any pictures!! Rachael's first Thanksgiving and I had nothing to show for it! Thankfully, my nephew, Blake, took several pictures and was kind enough to share them with me! Thank you so much, Blake!

We had a great time visiting with my sister and her family while they were here, celebrating not only Thanksgiving but my niece, Savannah's, 2nd birthday!

On Savannah's birthday, the whole gang went to the zoo. It was the best time I've had at the zoo in a while because we had a full day and got to see everything we wanted to -- without splinters!! :-)

Uncle Jerry was sweet enough to get crackers so Grace could feed the giraffe, and helped her reach!

Here's Rachael doing her giraffe impersonation!
This isn't the sharpest picture, but it shows all the girls!! That's me pushing Rachael with Katrina (carrying my new niece or nephew in her tummy) next to me, and that's our "new" sister, Ashley, up front with her little nieces tagging along with her. GIRL POWER!

Here are Savannah and Grace taking a look at a book in Nana's kitchen.

It's hard to get preschoolers to smile on cue, especially on national holidays! But they had a lot of fun together!

This is Rachael on Thanksgiving Day! Playing with the beads, every kid's favorite thing!

Thanksgiving was full of good food and great visits, and well-behaved children! What a blessing! Hope everyone else enjoyed theirs as well!

Lovely Little Lovelies!!

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of Rachael sporting one of her new hair clips! These are wonderful, I cannot even begin to tell you how great they are! They stayed in her hair for almost 5 hours -- through car rides, 3 of Daddy's softball games, and some touching from Grace as she exclaimed, "It's so cute!" Rachael never messed with it once, she didn't even notice it was there!

I got these from a this shop at Etsy.com -- if you've not heard of that website, you should check it out! Everything on there, from art to clothes to accessories, is handmade. Many of the shops I've gone to are run by stay-at-home-moms, and I like the thought of supporting their endeavors! I have only made two purchases (so far... "window shopping" at Etsy is addictive), but they were so quick and easy and I got what I ordered right away!

As far as these clips go, I wish they had been around when I was first doing Grace's hair! We managed because she had so much, but these would've made life easier -- it was rare for me to find a barrette that would stay put! If you have a little girl, especially a baby girl, and you want to doll them up, these clips are for you! I have seen pictures of them on baby girls with less hair than Rachael!

Can you tell I'm excited about these? I doubt I'll ever have Rachael out without one in her hair! ;-) And now I can just let her curls fly! :-D Her hair is flat in those pictures because Daddy insisted on brushing it flat after her bath last night! :-D

Hair-Raising Adventures

I can't take this family anywhere without someone getting injured! ;-) We took the girls to the zoo last weekend, and right before we went into the vulture exhibit, Grace started crying that her finger hurt. *sigh* Sure enough, she'd gotten a teeny tiny little splinter in it! Chris tried to get it out, but after Grace terrified numerous other zoo visitors with her shrieking, we decided it might be best to go to their First Aid station. Guess what -- they don't have one! The woman in the office got Chris a splinter kit and the drama intensified. Rachael watched with great interest as I sat Grace on my lap to hold her still while Chris worked the teeniest, tiniest splinter out of her finger. You would have thought he was taking her finger OFF with how she carried on! (She comes by that honestly, stories of my reactions to shots at the doctor's office are legendary.) Anyhow, the splinter was removed and the kind employees at the zoo gave Grace water in a Dora cup, a page of Little Mermaid tattoos (two of which I had to wear on my ankle to convince her that they wouldn't hurt), a Band Aid (essential, you know, no matter what the injury), and a Curious George doll. That was actually another reason I wanted to go to somewhere more "official" for the extraction process -- I knew they would spoil her and that might offer her some comfort!


We had a great time at the zoo, the weather was gorgeous! Grace got to feed the giraffe (you can see him here clearly enjoying his snack), and I had to take a picture of this alligator because he really creeped Grace and I out with his toothy grin! He just sat there like that for the longest time, completely still, showing his teeth! Maybe alligators do that all the time, I don't know!



Now, Miss Rachael has been providing us with much entertainment because of her hair! It's been curling and flipping all over the place, but mainly we've been calling her "Spike" or "Mohawk" because of the curls at the very tippy top of her head! As you can see, she's got a little Alfalfa thing going on! Yes, it's really adorable, but if she's not in head-to-toe pink, her hairdo has her mistaken for a baby boy sometimes! You moms know how frustrating that can be, but thankfully we may have a solution! I found out about these adorable hair clips, and I have seen pictures of babies with less hair than Rachael wearing them! We ordered a set for her and I can't wait to try them out -- and you can bet I'll show off some pictures!


Rachael has been showing more and more personality lately! She offers big ol' gummy grins when people talk to her, and she'll wave hello and good-bye as well! That gummy grin may be soon be a thing of the past, we are pretty sure we see some pearly whites ready to poke their way through! As if that wasn't enough, the girl loves to cruise and she now manages to play with whatever is fascinating her at the moment while standing up. I cannot believe that in two months we will be celebrating her 1st birthday! Where has the time gone?!