Busy Busy!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long (this is being posted on Sept. 29th, but it'll say it was longer ago because I uploaded the pics about ten days ago). We were out of town last week, and I'll post some great photos soon of our trip. But for now, here's some photos of recent weeks. I don't have much time, so I'll condense the commentary: the first two are from Addie's birthday party (my friend Crystal's 2 year old). She is such a cutie! She wanted to be with Rachel, but Rachel wouldn't let go of her daddy, so Addie just climbed right up there with her! I included a picture of the cake because it's too pretty not to! The last 3 pictures are of more trouble making, her Cindy Lu Who hairdo, and the last one Daddy claims it helps him get reception for the radio. :)

More photos soon!

Finally!

After many weeks of practice, Rachel can now respond "yes" by nodding her head. What's so funny is how she does it, with lots of shoulder and neck action! :)

My Middle Name Is Chaos

As you can infer from the title of this blog entry, Rachel is keeping us on our toes 24/7. She is in constant motion and hates to be restricted (making car trips really fun!). The other night I asked her in a fit of frustration, "Why must you get into everything that we don't want you to get into?" She gave me this look that said, "Why must you deny me everything that I want to get at?" She's gonna be a tricky one I have a feeling. Just when I thought we had a great schedule going, it looks like she's transitioning, making naptime difficult and grouchiness is at an all time high it seems. But we'll get through this too. :)

Rachel had her 9 month dr's appt last week and she's doing really well. She's up to 18 pounds and she's a whopping 30 inches long. I can't believe my 9 month old is 2 1/2 feet tall! I can say "tall" now too because she pulls herself up on everything now. He had her checked for anemia, and the bad news is she tested slightly anemic. So we're getting some iron drops in our morning cereal and she seems to be taking to that just fine. The good news is, she again proved herself to be possibly the toughest baby in the universe when getting her blood drawn. The doctor said she'd get a finger stick for the test, but when we arrived at the lab, they said "Oh no, we don't do those anymore. We'll be taking the blood out of her arm." I got scared, but I was careful to hold her arm straight (that was the most important thing the nurse said, otherwise the needle might break off in her arm...that made me feel much better!). Of course she hollered and cried when she got stuck, but to my alarm and ease, she stopped before the vial had even filled up! What a little trooper she is! :) so much NOT like her mother in this area!

My little girl with the punk rock morning hair

Her "I didn't do it" look...

...reserved for times like this.

This is such a funny picture...she somehow got the cord to the keyboard wrapped around her leg and over her shoulder and started dragging it around!

"Helping" Daddy put the TotLoks on the bathroom cabinets (by the way, those magnetic TotLoks are awesome! Kids can't figure them out, you just have to have the magnet to open them).

Rachel's Baptism

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these photos. I was really busy getting ready for Rachel's baptism a couple of weeks ago, but it was worth it. It was a really wonderful and special day! We had lots of family with us, and everyone had a good time. It was an interesting experience for all of us, as Joshua and I both did not grow up in churches that baptise babies. I really like our Anglican church though, (think Episcopal, but they report to England, not the US...if you follow religious news stories you'll understand the reasons for the split, but I don't want to get into any of that here). It's a large and very friendly and active church with many members who didn't grow up in Anglican or Episcopal churches either. I see her baptism as us giving her the gift of faith and a Christian upbringing. One day she will choose whether to accept that gift, and I've little doubt that she'll make the right choice. If later she wants to be baptised again, then God bless her for it! :)

There's a ton of pictures, so I'll just describe the day through captions. (as a side note, now I know how famous people feel...we had FOUR cameras capturing the day! It was like having the paparazzi follow us around! I can't imagine what it'll be like when she graduates from high school!)

Getting ready at the church. I wasn't about to make her ride in her car seat in this big long gown!

Playing peek-a-boo over my shoulder

I love baby bonnets...they should wear them more...she looks like a little Quaker baby!

Some more artistic photos her Uncle Joe took inside the chapel. These turned out really well.

This was right after her baptism with Rev. Andy. She didn't cry at all, though it helped that she was first and the water would have still been a little warm. Rachel was the first of about 5 baptisms that day (we opted to have her baptism on a Saturday instead of in front of the whole church during a Sunday service; there were 4 other babies and one young man about 12 years old). We have a lot of pictures like this with each of us looking at a different camera!A family photo after the service...

...And another outside the church. Again, each of us looking at a different camera (or no camera at all as in Rachel's case!)

Her baptism cake...it was a joint effort of her daddy and me both. I baked it and decorated most of it, (I have to thank Chuck for what little I do know about cake decorating...I have to brag a little...that's not fondant on that smooth white surface :) it's the best buttercream recipe I've ever used) but Joshua free handed the cross and did so well! The writing unfortunately is mine, something I've never been good at.
Opening gifts before dinner...she got some really nice gifts, this one is a precious little children's Bible with her name embossed on the front

She also received 2 cross necklaces, one silver and one gold, each from one of her grandmothers

If the messier you are means the more you like something, then she REALLY liked my lasagna!
A sweet picture with her two grandmothers
This was her first cake, and again, she seemed to enjoy it