One Year Behind Us!

Yesterday was Rachel's birthday and we had a busy day. Lots of errands to run and I had to work last night, so I really didn't get many pictures of her on her birthday. These are the only two I have, but I do plan on getting a lot from her party. She didn't get anything special eat on her birthday because I really didn't follow many of the eating guidelines with her. She already had eggs, peanut butter, and cow's milk. There is basically no food that is off limits to her, but I do limit her sweets intake much more than my own. We did share an ice cream sandwich a few days ago though. She is doing really good drinking milk out of a straw sippy cup for all her meals. With the other ones, she was making a huge mess by letting most of the milk flow out of her mouth. So, she is actually drinking with this kind. Very nice. She has become slightly pickier about food, but is overall a very good eater still. I have also noticed that if I leave some food that she didn't want to eat on her tray long enough and that is all she has got left, she will start to pick at it.
I found her flipped out hair to be really funny this morning, so I took a picture. She goes right for the camera when I get it out so that is why they are close up.






This next picture was during her second round of antibiotics and she had a nasty diaper rash. I let her play for 2 hours naked to help air it out a little. We played outside for a while, but then came in to avoid a sun burn. She did not pee or poop at all.
Rachel was playing in her room one day and found her old carseat. She happily started playing in it and I think we will be getting to that stage where playing with chairs and carseats are really fun.

I find it so cute that she looks around things or just how she plays so different than before. She is getting better with running behind the walker. She is also letting go of things now to stand by herself. The longest has been about 10 seconds. We have been trying to get her to walk to things or people, but she seems to prefer taking a lunge or nosediving towards it. She has gotten one step in and then fell on her face.


Update on the house next door: the renter is moving in today and the inside is done. The outside is not done because of the stupid tree that fell and CSX being really slow about doing anything with it. I did a lot of work in the front yard and put some landscaping in. It is not done though because I need to grow some other plants from my own cutting so that will take a few weeks to get them started.

The weather has been awesome lately and I have been spending most of my free time at the gym or digging around in our yard. I replaced/cut back all my plants and put down new mulch. I put in some more dianthus because the one I had looks great after the winter. I also am trying my hand at roses, only two though, but they look great so far. I bought some more crotons, red sister ti plants, ixora, and day lilies. Some new ones I got are soprano and straw flower. I planted 36 gladiola bulbs in the back yard and am really hoping they take. My amaryllis are about to bloom! I also decided to grow some veggies since we eat so many. I bought some already started green and red pepper plants. I planted some green and yellow squash seeds in pots and am just waiting to see some sprouts! It is so exiciting, especially to know that I can grow some of my own food and save money!
My veggies and gardenia, which has many blooms for the first time!
Amaryllis
Dianthus with some aztec grass as a border (not new, they hold up really well).
Japanese boxwood that are about 4 years old. They are doing awesome and I cut them a little to give them some shape and make them more even.
Daylilies around the border. I alternated the normal gold/yellow with a new one I got at the plant show which I was told has a rose/salmon color bloom. We will find out! I have a yellow ixora in the middle.

On the right is one of the new roses and to the left of that is the strawflower with an orange bloom.These are all sopranos that I got at the plant show and I cannot find them anywhere else, but they looked pretty and easy to maintain.
The house next door. We cut back all of the 8 foot high shrubs and than was done with a chainsaw. I went back through with some lobbers and make them looks nicer and removed all of the weeds and vines that were growing through them. It was a nightmare. I also removed all of the weeds and vines right in front of the house, which took me about 6 hours total. You cannot really see any of the plants I put in but my selection was very limited as the whole yard gets almost no sun. Either way, the yard looks way better.
As for the gym, I have been trying to exercise about 7 or so hours per week. Sometimes I double up on the classes and work out for two hours back to back. Since the fall when I did the bootcamp class, I have lost 3-4 pounds and 2.5% of body fat. My Body Mass Index has also gone down by 2 points. I am feeling great and highly recommend exercising as a way to get more energy and feel good about yourself! I have accomplished all of this by not really eating much better than I was before either. If you know me, you know I love to eat and have no will power.

Blog Slacking=Sarah Really Busy

Yes, I have been really busy. In contradiction to what Matt thinks, I do actually do more than sit around all day. Matt's younger brother, Brett, got married this past Sunday. We had some family in town for that and Matt's uncle stayed with us. He owns many guns and mailed a few of them down so a group of them could go shooting on Saturday. Matt had a great time! Meanwhile, I got my hair recolored and cut. This time, I put some red in it. I like it! After that, Rachel and I met my parents and sister and the girls down at the outlet malls. I got some clothes for me and one shirt for Rachel (it was on the $2 rack at Children's Place). I got home just in time to repack all our stuff and head off to a chili cook-off with our Sunday School class. I didn't bring any chili, but there was plenty to go around anyways. Sunday was a rainy day, so they moved the outdoor wedding to where the reception was held. Things were running a little behind, but in the end, Brett and Sara got married. Matt took yesterday off to drive people to the airport/port for their cruise. I cleaned up the house and went to the gym. Rachel has been getting a cough and gross snout again, but she seems to be getting better on her own. I have finalized the place of her party and will be sending out e-vites today. (Hopefully). There are two more classes until my spring break at HCC and I am definitely looking forward to small break. Rachel has also been standing a little more on her own. I think the longest is about 5 seconds. No movement on walking, but I don't expect that for a while. She is getting a little more selective about what she eats. I can't tell if it is from her being sick or just picky. Here are some pictures:


Our guest judges at the chili cook-off. George and Sandra Thomason (our assistant senior pastor and wife)
Some of the bigger boys play around.

My little cutie sleeping until 8am this morning. I love it!

This is her new wedding/Easter outfit. I love the little tongue sticking out of her mouth.



Apparently Matt was just taking pictures of her and she kept doing this pose.


For those of you who are bothered by the number of pictures taken of her with her hair hanging in her face, don't worry. I am becoming very diligent in pulling it back in a little ponytail.

Catch Up!

We have been busy and I have been loving the beautiful and finally warm weather so I have been working out in the yard instead of updating my blog. The weather has really put me in the gardening mood, but I don't want to buy any new plants yet, so I will settle for pulling weeds and spraying stuff. Maybe I will even start getting a tan.

Rachel first started playing with this toy at a friend's house. I decided to get her one for our fridge, so I spent the money and she loves to play with it. Of course, she just takes all the pieces off and scatters them, but I don't mind picking them up (for now).

Rachel is looking rather fresh and clean after her really messy lunch and a bath. She is wearing an outfit that her soon to be aunt Sara gave her for Christmas. 18 month clothes are starting to fit her well. The 12 month stuff is getting packed away.
Going after the camera.


These two pictures are from yesterday when she was at the whiniest I think I have ever encountered. Seriously, all she did was whine and cry. It was really pathetic and I realized that maybe she was sick. Well, she was and I felt really bad afterward. She had a 101.6 degree fever and some Tylenol made her feel better. I cuddled and rocked her and she was so sweet. I actually almost rocked her to sleep. She would never do that normally (thankfully)

Those poor pajamas got worn to two days in a row. They are finally getting washed.
Looking cool in the shades.
Mesmerized by Baby Einstein. Snack time favorite.




I also put together this car for her that doubles as a walker. She got it for Christmas and decided to get it out.
Checking out her new wheels.

She would still much rather crawl than practice with a walker. I did get her to stand by herself for a few seconds.


Dad in charge of her hair before church. Eek!


We did a few baby proofing things in the house. I decided I really didn't want to move some cleaners and such, so I bought one of these for the cabinet under the sink. We moved her baby gate from her room to the entrance to the family room. I also got a pack of outlet covers, but that is about it.

We are still working on the house next door, but progress is being made. This Sunday is tree cutting/burning day. The huge hole in the ground is just waiting for a fire to be lit. Matt has only a few more days on the Verizon event team and then he will be going back to his normal M-F 7:00 to 3:30 schedule. We both cannot wait to have a normal life and routine again. My spring break is coming up in a few weeks. It will be so nice to have my days completely free for one
week.