Florida Fall

I know some people scoff, but I think Floridians appreciate our autumn as much as anyone else. I think we might appreciate it more, considering we don't have as many leaves to rake. ;-) Anyway, today was our first day of cooler weather! Before the girls even went outside, they were asking for their sweaters! So there they are, my little Florida Girls, ready to brave the icy temperature of SEVENTY DEGREES!!!

And just over the weekend we were in tank tops and shorts at Sea World!

A couple of weeks ago, Gracie celebrated her 6th birthday. Early that week, we had a few friends over for a birthday playdate. Gracie and I worked together that afternoon to put the stage up for her friends:

The girls had a great time dressing up, and a few times the runway got some use! (It's got a sensor so that when they head out on the runway, you hear music and applause! Thanks, Papa!) One friend brought over a particular dress that Gracie tends to wear when she goes over to their house to play. We will label this "Daddy's Worst Nightmare":

Rachael found another use for the stage when the rest of the girls were back in the bedroom being different variations of princesses...

On her actual birthday, we just had family over at the house (it's so nice to be able to fit everyone!), and Gracie got to celebrate again! Publix made the cake for the gathering with friends, but since I'd bought two packages of Funfetti mix, we were able to have a cake that night as well!

Rachael loved it too!

The girls are still enjoying school, Gracie got the Student of the Week honor last week so we were proud of her for that! (Each child gets a chance to be it, but I was still pleased!) When Rachael gets to her preschool class now, she barely spares me a wave! She just puts her little bag in her cubby, and off she goes! So far, I haven't cried over this! :-) It's actually kind of fun to see her so comfortable and enjoying herself like that, and definitely better than the alternative!

The house is ALMOST done! I am hoping that when Rachael is at preschool, I can come home and tackle the office -- maybe not get it entirely done, but at least make a decent dent! We still have a few boxes that I'm ready to sort through and get rid of -- it'll be nice to not have to keep the door closed when we have company! ;-)

All in all, things are going well! Hope you're enjoying the beginning of fall where you are!

School's Cool

So far, so good! Both girls are loving every minute of their school days!

Gracie has adapted to kindergarten as well as she has to any other change in her life, like it's all a breeze! (She gets that from her daddy!) Loves her teacher, loves her activities, and if you ask her what she likes about school, her answer is: EVERYTHING! She's already made some friends, and she actually did me a huge favor by being buddy-buddy with a little girl with sweet parents and a little sister that's close to Rachael's age! As an added bonus, they don't live far from us!

She has already come home and asked to show us a science experiment (we sprinkled pepper in a cup of water, then she put a drop of dish detergent on her fingertip and set it on the top -- she and Rachael were fascinated), she is thrilled that she gets to go to the library (er, media center, sorry) one day a week, and she adores the P.E. teacher! He is in the car loop directing traffic each day, and Grace has asked for me to park and walk her in because that way we get to drive by him! It's like a celebrity sighting every morning!

The other day she told me that two boys had asked her to marry them. She told them no. I was happy to hear that, until she told me it was because she was already going to marry her friend, Noah. And then today she asked me if I knew one of her classmates' last names. I didn't, so she caught up with him and asked him herself. He answered, and as we walked away she told me she was going to marry him. (It may have been because his last name starts with an M, I'm not sure.) After we got home and Rachael went down for her nap, I explained that it would be a while before she got married. She wanted to know how long, and I told her she'd probably be around 25 or so, because she had to finish college first. (I was giving her a couple of extra years in case she wanted to get her Master's right away or go to law school or something...)

Rachael is in heaven at preschool! She gets to paint! Play with Play-Doh! Play with stickers! She gets to PAINT! Today when we were dropping Gracie off, she said that she missed her teacher -- it was so cute! If you ask Rachael what her favorite part of school is, she will answer "Snack time!"

I am so blessed to have two girls that can entertain themselves so well! Rachael is really great when we're at home together. One of her favorite activities is actually helping me with the laundry! She even asks to help with it -- asking if she can put clothes in the "washing clean." (I'm sure she is trying to say machine, but it's so cute that it sounds like that!) With the front loaders being lower to the ground, it is very easy for her to put the dirty clothes in and transfer the wet clothes to the dryer, and I think my back appreciates that!

Today we spent the morning at home, and before lunch I was treated to a concert (Rachael the Musician sitting on a chair using unsharpened pencils as drumsticks while music played), went to the doctor (Dr. Rachael listened to my heart and declared, "It's working!" -- good to know!), and got a haircut (Rachael the Stylist said, "Looks good!").

Soon we'll be celebrating Grace's 6th birthday! Time definitely does fly by, but I think that's only a bad thing if you're not paying attention as you go!

First Day #2

Little Miss Rachael has been so excited about school! Last night we went to Target, and for some reason she thought we were going to take her to school then. When we told her we were just going to a store, she started wailing! This morning, she was all excited! She was practicing saying her teacher's name, she was talking about seeing her friends -- she was thrilled!

When we got to the classroom, she immediately headed for a table with crayons and paper. There were a couple of kids who started crying (and one who bolted out the door after her mommy left!), but Rachael wasn't one of them!

Rachael was checking out one of her new friends, who was crying.

Enough of that -- back to coloring!

I gave her a high five as I left, and then she rushed around to give me a hug. Well, I thought she was coming to give me a hug. I thought she said, "Mommy! Wait!" So I stopped and knelt down to hug her, and then she looked at me and said, "Mommy! PAINT!" I had told her a long time ago that they might paint sometimes in her class -- apparently she remembered that! I told her maybe she could go ask her teacher, and as she headed towards her, I made my exit. I waited in the hall for a little bit, trying to stay out of sight. I didn't hear my girl crying, so I left.

Then I cried. Just a little! After I ran a couple of errands, coming back to the house with no one here except Snickers was a little strange! I look forward to picking her up (in just a little bit actually) and hearing all about her first day!

UPDATE: Rachael came out the door from preschool with a note from her teacher saying she went potty TWO TIMES, and she was "a great helper"! :-) As if that wasn't enough, when we brought Gracie home, she showed us how she can tie her shoes all by herself!

Happy Days!

Rachael had family, pizza and cake at her birthday festivities -- what more can a 2-year-old ask for? We had one happy birthday girl! She scored some fun presents, and Papa even brought along a few for both girls, including one that I especially cannot wait to see them use! It'll have to be when they have a couple of friends over, though. They can use their new dress up clothes and either walk the runway or be rock stars -- and with how the girls have been dancing to the clock radio I put in their room, they might opt for that!

When I went in to get the girls ready on Rachael's birthday, I reminded Grace what day it was. She asked excitedly, "Can she say the ABCs now? Will we be able to understand her better?"

And actually, just today I realized how much clearer Rachael has become! She went in for her checkup today and when the nurse asked if she was saying at least 50 words, I was stumped -- am I really supposed to be counting?? Anyway, the nurse remarked that she knew what Rachael was saying when she talked. I have known what she is saying, but I figured it was because I'm around her the most! Good to know that it's clear enough for the general public (including our babysitter, who mentioned it when we got home)! She was especially coherent during her check up, even while she was screaming! And she didn't even get any shots!

Since she had such a rough time, I took her to a park before we had to go get Grace. I know all of you north of me are going to roll your eyes, but IT WAS COLD! I knew it was time to go when her nose was bright red! She had a blast though!

Now to get all philosophical (or something)... While we were at the playground, I was having so much fun with Rachael and for a moment I wished I'd brought my camera with me. Then I thought about a blog post I just read (click here). I relaxed and just watched her fearlessly tackle the slide on the bigger playground and thought about other times I was with the girls and I didn't have my camera -- and I didn't need a picture to remember. Like the time I took Grace shopping with me and we had so much fun together -- even in one store, when I was looking at purses, she would take the smaller ones and throw them over her shoulder. I'd hear, "Mommy, look!" and there she would be, strutting down the aisle with some crazy handbag at her side. I smile every time I think about that, even without photographic evidence! :-)

The post also talked about handing over the camera to actually be in the pictures. I hope that more moms (and shutterbug dads as well) will do that -- one day their kids are going to want pictures of their parents, they're going to want pictures of themselves with their parents. So thank you, Kim (and I guess John Mayer), for those thoughts!

TWO-morrow!

It was almost two years ago that I was curling up on the bed, on the couch, on the floor, telling myself that I was just overreacting and it was yet another false alarm. After about two hours of it not letting up, I figured we might want to just go ahead and get to the hospital. I also wondered how strong my resolve to not have any pain meds would be when I got there. It ended up that Rachael answered that question for me -- I was 8 cm when they checked me, and Rachael was well on her way out! After maybe 20 minutes of pushing, there she was!

God uses children in wonderful ways. Grace showed me many, many things I had to work on! God used Rachael to show me how to rely on Him through trials. As she seemed to have one something after another, I always felt a peace knowing that He was in control. Even as heartbreaking as watching her struggle with different things has been, there's been that peace that passes understanding, knowing that He has a reason for everything.

Rachael is our little comedienne. If she does something to entertain and gets a positive reaction, she will do it again and again, loving the spotlight! I think she's going to be my buddy when she's old enough to ride roller coasters -- she seems to have no fear! She is very particular about the things that she wants and doesn't want. She is independent in many ways, but still shows us that she needs us by giving the childcare workers grief when we leave her on Sunday mornings!

She has the best smile -- one friend said very early on that Rachael just looked mischievous, and that about sums her up! It's adorable when she walks out of a room and casts a glance over her shoulder back at us, giving us a sly smile and a look that says, "Don't you wish you knew what I was up to?"

Grace seemed to come out a toddler, walking and talking early, seeming like a miniature adult before we could blink our eyes! Rachael has been our baby girl, but even still, she's growing up so fast! But just like her sister, the older she gets, the more fun it is! Watching her little personality grow is exciting -- even when it just seems to be getting stronger as each day goes by!!

Right now my favorite thing has to be when she offers us 'mooches -- smooches! She picked up that word from Daddy and it is so precious when she offers them to us! Almost as good as her 'ugs!

So Happy Birthday to our Rachael tomorrow! There will be a slideshow up soon, a picture for each month -- it's amazing how she has changed!

The Christmas Spirit

Nothing can scare the Grinch out of you faster than preschoolers singing Christmas songs! We were treated to it twice in one week.

Here's Grace as we went on our way to her VPK Christmas program last week. Each of the VPK classes sang three songs, and in between each one they "skated" around the sanctuary. Grace skated, smiled, and sang. And for those of you that encountered the Rachael of Thanksgiving Week, I know you will be shocked to hear that she sat through the entire performance without a whimper!! It was wonderful! The only time she made noise was to shout out to her big sister! So sweet!

Then this past Sunday, the children's choirs at church had their concert. I actually have video of that, and I may try to upload it. Grace sang her heart out, every word was clearly enunciated. Many thanks go to Miss Shannon for bringing about this change!

Here are Grace and Faith before the concert. It doesn't get any cuter than this:

Rachael was in the nursery during the performance, but afterwards she came out to visit with Grace and her friends. She was fascinated by one of the trees in the church, and had to touch almost every ornament within her reach -- she was covered in glitter when she was done!

And this picture is to produce evidence of Rachael being Daddy's Little Girl. Like Chris, she doesn't seem to get cold very easily. It was VERY cold Sunday night, and as soon as she got outside she took her little jacket off!

Hope your holiday season has begun well!

Mama's Helper

That's my little helper there. Rachael can be anywhere in the apartment, and if she hears the dishwasher being opened, she'll come running. She loves to unload! One day I was in the girls' room putting away their laundry and I thought I heard the dishwasher opening. Sure enough, I walked into the kitchen to find Rachael pulling silverware out of the basket on the bottom! I double and triple check to make sure the door locks shut now!!

Last week our church had a ladies' night out, and Chris went to meet some guys to play basketball. He left early to set up and took Grace with him, and I brought Rachael when I left. She saw me grab my camera and started pointing at it. "You want me to take a picture?" I asked. She nodded. So I took a picture -- can you tell she's saying "cheeeeese"? :-)

Rachael has definitely been trying to talk a whole lot more! It's a lot of fun to watch her babbling, clearly trying to communicate something! One day we were with Nana, and Nana whispered, "I love you" to Rachael. Rachael started whispering back to her, telling her a bunch of secrets! It's so much fun!

Rachael also loves to point out who she's with, and who she likes to talk to. Mama, Daddy and "Gway" are the most popular. When I say, "Who are you?" her answer is always "Baby." She will not say her own name, and I am starting to think she's just being stubborn, or maybe she just wants to constantly remind us that she is the baby!! Of course, one time I told her she was just trouble, and now once in a while when I ask her who she is, she'll answer, "Twubble." Uh-oh! ;-)

One thing I'm going to try to get on video is a conversation I like to have with her. I ask her a bunch of questions, and her answer everytime is this sweet, melodic, "No-oooooh!" It can be pretty funny depending on the question!

Can you believe she's going to be 2 in just two months?! I can't!

Before it's too late...

Halloween is not my favorite time of year. Truth be told, if I could skip it I probably would. However, there are always plenty of alternative fun activities for the kids to do and dressing up is usually expected. This year I even participated:

In case you can't tell, I was Sarah Palin, and there with me was a fella with a sign saying he was Joe the Plumber. THAT was pretty funny!

Here is our little Dolphins cheerleader -- it was difficult to get a still shot of her, because she was a wiggle worm, especially when the Chick-fil-A cow was around! She was given an award for being "prettiest" that night, awww!

Here are two of the sweetest little fairies you'll ever see. Grace and her "BFF" Faith (who was Tinkerbell).

Grace and Faith have been friends pretty much since Faith was born! That might have something to do with their mothers being as close to sisters as you can get without having the same parents!


I got to take the girls to a fall festival one of the local churches had, and afterwards I took them out for a very, very late dinner. They were having the best time hanging out, and the woman in line behind me remarked at how cute they were, and how sweet they were together. While I was ordering, I heard her speaking to them, and when I finished she said, "I just asked them if they were sisters or friends, and they said both! Isn't that precious?" That definitely warmed my heart!


If you haven't already, don't forget to...

Mullet, be gone!

Okay, so maybe it isn't every mother's worst nightmare, but as Rachael's hair grew, I noticed the top wasn't growing as fast as the back, and the back was getting a little wild. So there she sat -- business in the front, party in the back. Grace's hair was so easy -- I was even able to cut it myself! I made the rookie mistake of cutting her bangs too far back, but otherwise it was pretty simple. Then Chris' barber took the task of keeping it trimmed, and now we've moved to my stylist for her hair. With Rachael's, though, I didn't want to make any mistakes! I also didn't want to be the one responsible if all her little curls disappeared!

I asked a friend if she knew of any places that specifically did kids' hair, and she answered, "Snip-Its." It was GREAT! It was $16.95 for the haircut, a certificate, and a little lock of her hair in a delicate little bag tied with a ribbon. That's a little steep, but in the end I think Chris and I both agreed it was worth it! The stylist was patient and was able to stay with Rachael no matter how she moved, and her hair looks so good!

The Before Shot! Rachael was remarkably happy! She had only taken a quick snooze in the car on the way up to the shop and we were afraid she'd be out of sorts. Nope! She was amazing the whole time, no fussing at all!

Here's the stylist at work, with Rachael gripping one of the two lollipops she was given while she was there, and holding a mirror she'd been given. You can also see bubbles -- there was a little girl who was there, I believe she was someone's granddaughter, and she was blowing bubbles to entertain Grace! They had a small cushioned sitting area in front of the chair, as well as a monitor that they showed their own little cartoons on. It was the same in each of their stations.

Before I could say "Billy Ray Cyrus," the cut was over, and the stylist had managed to put two little piggy tails in Rachael's hair, complete with ribbons! I think you can see the improvement! When her hair dries, there's still so much bounce!

This is Rachael giggling after the stylist dusted to get any stray hairs off of her. :-) I don't know if you can see it, but she also swiped Rachael's hair with PINK coloring! She offered to put some in Grace's hair, but Grace declined. Grace was more focused on taking the little cards that they'd given her and Rachael and putting it into the machine in front of the register that spit a toy out at them!

All day Monday I tried to get a picture of the girls together, wearing t-shirts that said "I Am Adorable!" The best laid plans... Here are the girls out in the (finally) green grass -- the only picture of them together I could snag!

Goldilocks

A public plea to my little sister, Katrina... You're going to help me with this hair, right?! This is Rachael after her bath, and this is how her hair stays until she lays on it. Or sits in her carseat. I refuse to mousse her baby hair... I think.

And yesterday I got bold and attempted piggy tails in that hair.

She would take them out from time to time, but would always let me put them back in until the end of the day. She had quite an interesting look going for her then, but it was easy enough to wet her hair and get the springy, bouncy curls back!

This hair is going to be fun!

Bookworm Baby

Just a sweet picture of Rachael with her favorite book, Love and Kisses by Sarah Wilson. This was actually a book of Grace's that she also loved, and out of all the books that the two of them have, this is the one Rachael's shown a fondness for. She will bring it to me to read it for her -- actually, she will bring it to me to hold it so she can turn the pages! Grace and I have heard it so often I think we both can recite it by heart.

The little rocking chair Rachael is sitting in is one that the girls' GG (Chris' grandma) found when I was pregnant with her. Both girls love sitting in it -- Grace has rocked her baby dolls in it, and Rachael just likes to rock in it and say, "Wheeeee!" Before I took that picture, though, she climbed up in it by herself and started "reading."

A Clean Birthday Girl!

The moment of truth had arrived. Daddy had placed Rachael's high chair in the kitchen. Rachael was topless. The cake was before her. Was all that pomp and circumstance necessary? NO! She barely got any on her face, let alone anywhere else! :-D But Rachael enjoyed her birthday and she (and Grace) has enjoyed playing with the toys she received!

The Cake. (Thanks Publix!)

This is IT??

This toy made her smile!

Rachael turns 1 YEAR next week!

The Rachael Report!

This kid has been busy! Not only is she sprouting teeth, but she decided to hit several milestones at once! Just in the past week or two, we have heard her calling "Mama-mama-mama!" if she's on her way to Vanessa, and "Dada-dada-dada!" if she's on her way to Chris. That is good enough for us -- we're officially marking those as her first words!

She's also started clapping, and she'll even give us a "high five" if we ask for it -- Grace thinks that is great, she loves it when Rachael smacks her hand! There have also been a couple of times when Mommy's gotten a big, sloppy baby mouth on her face when she requests kisses!

And, the biggest news, we've got a walker! Several times she has taken tentative but completely unassisted steps! The poor thing is usually wearing pants that are too long for her, so she doesn't get far before those get in her way -- we're working on that! Her big motivation is FOOD! Boy oh boy, if we're eating something and she thinks she wants a bite (which is most of the time), nothing will get in her way!

In one month this little kiddo will be a year old -- where has the time gone??

Here's a picture Papa took of the girls after Grace's Christmas choir performance -- don't they look like good buddies?

Let me hear the, "Awwww!"

Chompers!

A great shot of Rachael's top teeth, and you can see more on their way! "Power teething" as one friend called it! She's got two on the bottom coming in the same way, only it's the one on the left that's coming in further on the bottom, so she's all snaggle-toothed! :-) But it's precious to see her smiling with those pearly whites, even if they're all mismatched! Check out those sweeping eyelashes too! Daddy's in TROUBLE with these girls!!

TEEEEEEETH!

"No haaaaiiiir for my hairbrush!" ;-)

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

Nine Months!

Rachael is 9 months old now! She goes in for her checkup tomorrow morning, so I may update this with her stats after that. She's crawling around like crazy, and she loves to crawl after Grace -- and when she does, she hollers something that sounds an awful lot like, "Hey! Hey!" It's so cute! She babbles a lot, and most definitely squawks a lot! If you are on the phone with us, you might get an earful! She's pulling up and sometimes standing on her own -- but she can take her time on the whole walking thing! As you can see from the picture on the left, no teeth yet! She is definitely still a Daddy's Girl and she still gives the most laughs to her big sister! We all love this girl!