Family Pictures

Well, this was difficult this year but we did end up with a few keepers.


Rachel giving Lydia (her favorite baby) a smooch.

Christmas Lane

We made it out to Christmas Lane on Friday night and it was crowded, but much warmer than the originally planned night. Rachel had a good time looking at everything. She has learned who Santa is now and likes to point him out at all of the stores we visit. I really thought she would like the train ride since she loves the rides at Busch Gardens and loves watching the trains go by in our backyard. After one lap around the track, she was screaming and they stopped to let her off.

We went with the Winter family, so they are in some of the pictures too.


She was jumping up and down to the music here.

Esther's classic smile




Licking a fence post! At least it wasn't covered in ice.
She likes running up and down the aisle as she waited in line for the train. Since she is a clumsy, she fell.



Matt thought this was neat (I don't know why)
We are both fighting sinus infections still and Rachel had to be put on a stronger antibiotic. Hopefully we will see some improvement soon. Grandma and Hank are coming in tonight and I am really excited to see them. I am also excited that I will have a babysitter for my running since I cannot take Rachel to the gym.

Victory!

One major milestone down... Rachel is now eating really well with a spoon and fork. We started off with the fork and she liked stabbing pieces of food and did well with it. The spoon however was a struggle because she likes to turn in upside down midway to her mouth and of course, everything just fell off into her lap. So, I gave the spoon a rest for a week or so and today I gave it back. She ate this mexican casserole and yogurt like a pro! While the yogurt was still a little messy, she was not eating it with her fingers like last time I posted. I am so happy about this achievement!





Matt and I went to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) on Monday. Yes, it was very cold and windy, but we made it. Katie watched Rachel and after being out there for a few minutes, I suddenly felt bad for all of the other children being drug along by their parents in what felt like 30 degree weather. We didn't do everything there, but most of it, and finished in just over 5 hours. Matt went back to work today after being off for 5 days and this morning he called and told me he took pictures of icicles outside. Not too often you will see those in Florida, but it has been a chilly week. I woke up this morning not feeling too well. I think I might be getting a sinus infection. This has hampered my desire to run, but I did run 5 miles at the gym yesterday. I think I will sit today out and do another run tomorrow. I skipped last Saturdays long run and really don't want to do that again. So 11 miles here I come...hopefully. My car is being worked on at the Toyota dealership and we got a rental from there. Matt pulls in a Camry. It drives so nice and looks so pretty. However, I still want an Odyssey. It is always fun to drive something a little different than what you are used to though.

Santa Baby

This little girl didn't mind being on Santa's lap at all. She has been very difficult lately in regards to smiling in a picture. We tried to take family pictures at the Winter's house with Katie's dad being our free photographer. We took many pictures and a few turned out good. It is just so hard to get her to smile these days. Nothing at all like last year when all of the pictures were good and we had a hard time choosing which ones we liked best. I will post some of those as soon as I get them from Katie.

He Who Must Not Be Name...

Rachel, Lauren, Hannah, Kate, and I met my mom at her work and went to International Plaza to have pictures with Santa and eat pizza at CPK. Last year was not really successful with Hannah and Kate. Rachel didn't get her picture taken last year. I wasn't going to do it this year either, but my mom offered to buy a basic package, so I said okay. We have no Christmas dress and anything that really matches with red, white, green, or black. So, I just took a dress that fit. Rachel was fine sitting on Santa's lap, but she is a real pain when it comes to getting a good smile for a picture. So, she is just kind of staring at the camera. However, this sure beats Hannah and Kate's picture. Hannah was screaming and Kate didn't trust Santa, so Lauren and mom had to sit with them and Santa too. I got such a great laugh from it all! I will put Rachel's picture up sometime. This is at home where she liked to put one shoe on and walk/stumble around in it.

Just taking a fall.
The camera was on a weird setting.




And now to the fish tank. We went out on Friday and bought a clown fish as our first fish. We asked Rachel what she wanted to name him/her and she said "fish" because that is all she knows. Matt thought about it for a few days and came up with something great. I have read the Harry Potter books and Matt has just started getting into them, so he thought that Lord Voldemort would be a great name for our very tiny fish. I loved it!



We got some rock, but need to get more. We can add more fish in a few weeks, so hopefully be can pick up a starfish, some snails, and another fish for Lord Voldemort to play with. If I find the other one dead though...that will not be a good sign. Overall, the tank looks great and Rachel likes to watch the "fish."

Tonight is my last class and of course it is finals, so not much for me to do except run them through the scantron machine and submit their final grades. I have really enjoyed my classes this semester and will miss many of my students. However, some of them have signed up for next semester with me, so that will be nice.

Matt and I are going to Disney on Monday to use our free passes. It will be a very cold day, but we still haven't decided what park to go to. That will be fun either way. Date day for us! We are also going to Walk Through Bethlehem on Friday with some people and Christmas Lane. Rachel really really likes Christmas trees and lights, so I know she will love Christmas Lane. We have a nice winter coat for the cold now, thanks to a great deal at Children's Place.

"O Christmas Tree"

Well, the Christmas tree is up and Matt actually helped me with it. That is amazing enough in itself because he really dislikes the tradition of a Christmas tree. I understand, but I knew that Rachel would really enjoy it. I have very few decorations and the tree is not that big and when you only have to decorate half of it, 10 minutes is about all it took us. Rachel has managed to already break on of the stocking holders, but thankfully it didn't shatter, but just a hand fell off. I cannot find it. I am working with her on "one finger touch" so she can touch things, but not pull them off and break them. She walked up to the tree and said "wow" and then reached for it and said "no no" a lot and over and over again. I also have a Veggie Tales nativity scene that sings when you push a button. It is "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in an awful veggie voice, but she loves it.

I taught her who Ernie is.


I cannot believe that her hair goes back into a ponytail better than mine does. It is getting so long, but everyone loves it.


Matt got some stuff for his fish tank in today, so we now have the sand and rock at the bottom and water. We are working on getting the right salinity level and hopefully on Friday, we will go buy our first fish. Probably going to be a clown fish (Nemo). Apparently, they are pretty durable. Rachel loves fish and really enjoyed going into the pet stores and watching the rodents, birds, and fish. She even notices our beta fish, Mr. Henry Robert, on the windowsill as she washed her hands. I will post some pictures soon of the tank. I have 3 more classes left at HCC until my 5 week break!