Rachel Turns One!

Rachel is officially a toddler! Today is her birthday, but we had her party on Sunday. I made this banner all by myself (I copied the idea from another blog, though)! It turned out so cute and she even pointed at it several times. I figured she wouldn't even acknowledge it's presence :) It is probably one of the more successful craft projects I've ever completed.

She always falls asleep on the way home from church because she misses her afternoon nap. This is her waking up groggy and grumpy because it is 5:30 at night. Some cake will cheer her up!

She got so excited about her first present (a book from aunt Jen) that it was hard to convince her to open the rest. We finally had to distract her with wrapping paper and hide her new books so that we could open more presents! Babies are so easily pleased sometimes.

Even though it doesn't look like much, these little cakes took Matt and I a long time to do! He was such a good sport about helping. We had a hard time getting the frosting right, but I think we've got it down for next time.


Trying to hold her sippy cup with her slippery, cake covered hands.

What a festive family! It was a fun party. Some of our friends came, which was nice since we don't have any family out here. I was so excited to have Rachel's party and our friends were really great to humor us and ooh and ahh over how cute she is. They're the best!

A Day in the Life...

Over the past year, I've received a few inquires about what I do all day. I am now going to answer that question:
*Disclaimer- This is a "good day" schedule. I definitely have quite a few days where I only get off the couch to feed or change Rachel. We're working on that.

6:00- Rachel is up and ready to play!

7:00- Breakfast, hang out with Matt before he leaves at 7:30 (he gets up with her every other day, in which case I sleep until 7:00)

7:30-9:00- Play in the family room, go for a walk

9:00-10:30- Rachel takes a nap. I try and clean for about 45 minutes (remember, this is a good day schedule), then I shower and check my email, facebook, etc. The internet can suck you in, chew you up, and spit you out if you let it! Has anyone else noticed that? This is also my scripture reading time.

10:30-1:30- We have a snack, play for a while, have lunch, and play some more. The cutest thing she does right now is snuggle with me after her nap. I hold her on my lap and read or sing to her while she holds her baby doll and gives it "kisses". She will sit there for probably 15 minutes without getting antsy. It is so cute!
She is usually in the best mood right after her nap, so that is when I try and let her play on her own while I do other things (after snuggle time, of course). The only problem is that she likes to be in the same room as me ALL THE TIME. If I am sitting on the couch she will happily play with her toys by herself, but she crawls right along behind me if I head into another area of the apartment.
Sometimes during this time we walk to the mall and play in the kids' area. We also go out to lunch with my friend once a week or so.

1:45-3:15- Rachel naps again. I usually watch TV, read, or scrapbook. I also try and get dinner started during her nap.

3:30-5:30- We have a snack and play some more. About 3 times a week we go swimming, either just the 2 of us or with some of my friends. We love the pool! From 4:30-6:30 is by far Rachel's least favorite time of day, so it is nice to fill it up with pool time. Not quite sure what we'll do this winter...

5:30-6:00- Have dinner and wait for Matt to come home. Sometimes we watch the Food Network to help preserve my sanity.

6:30- Daddy comes home!!!!! He and I have dinner.

7:00-7:30- Rachel goes to bed. Matt and I usually watch a movie or read. I occasionally work on scrapbooking, but I'm in the market for an additional hobby if anyone has any ideas...

10:00-10:30- I go to bed and fall asleep in about 3 seconds. Matt sometimes stays up playing computer games for a half hour.

There you have it! This was a long and detailed post, sorry if I lost a few of you along the way.

July 4th at Our Nation's Capital

Matt and I went to downtown DC to watch the fireworks show on July 4th. One of my friends took Rachel for the whole afternoon/very late into the evening so that we didn't have to haul her around downtown. We have the nicest friends out here! Rachel would not have had a very good time, but we definitely did. We got down there around 4:00 and visited the Smithsonian Folk Life festival on the Mall. It closed pretty soon after we got there. (Jen, we were able to get some hambao, which were really good, although no competition with Pike Place).
Next we staked out our spot on the hill by the Washington Monument facing the Lincoln. The fireworks are shot off right over the reflecting pool, so we had a great view. Then we sat and chatted with our friends that came and sat through a couple of rainstorms. By the end we were all quite wet, but what's a little rain to a couple of native Oregonians? The fireworks show was very impressive and our view really was amazing. It was fun to have a night off from the responsibilities of parenthood. The only downside of the evening was the 3 hours we spent standing in line/riding the Metro home. If we did it again we would definitely drive (and I never say that about DC). Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Pictures Everywhere!

Rachel has just recently gotten to the stage where she likes looking at pictures on the wall. Her favorite is our copy of The Living Christ with a collage of Greg Olsen's pictures of Christ around it (the one that was all the rage to make at Enrichment a year or two ago). She has a book with those same pictures in it, but she gets really excited to see it on the wall. She points and smiles at it whenever I am holding her in the family room. I say, "Yes, that's Jesus". Then we point to the eagle picture, then the Salisbury Cathedral picture. Then the wedding pictures, etc. And we do this several times a day :)

This is the background on our computer. Her high chair is near the computer and every time she eats she points to the picture and gets so excited. I point, "Dad, Rachel, Mom". Repeat! The little things that excite babies...