And If a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words...

...then what is this face telling us?

Oh Happy Day!

I thought I'd celebrate my 100th post with a salute to the 15th anniversary of the shot heard 'round the world...or all of Arkansas at least! *sigh* to have those times back again.

http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=3679903&DB_OEM_ID=6100

Pretty Dresses

I was happy that Rachel finally got to wear this sweater dress I got her at a big January sale (it's from Hanna Andersson, and while I'd never spend the money it takes to pay full price for most of their stuff, I got this for a steal! I LOVE a good bargain!). It just hasn't been very chilly lately, but this Sunday morning I figured if she didn't wear it soon, she might not get to wear it. Unfortunately she completely ruined her tights, first by chewing a hole in the toe on the way to church, and then picking at a run in them until we had to completely cut off the right leg from the knee down!

So she looked so cute in her Sunday dress that I dressed her in this dress for our trip to Ikea and the mall yesterday (I plan on using it for the 4th of July too, sans undershirt).

This is her new facial expression: wide open mouth smile accompanied by complete silence! It looks so funny to me because she's usually squealing when she makes this face!

Some pictures from last week:

We went to the movies on the 14th to see Slumdog Millionaire (it is SO good!) and her MamaK had some fun playing with her hair while we were gone.

Watching TV with her Daddy in bed

Wearing one of Daddy's hats (whenever I wear my ball cap, she touches it and tries to say "hat"...it comes out as "haaaah".

There is now no chair, sofa, or bed that she can't climb up onto.

I know she'll kill me for posting this when she's older, but I couldn't resist! She reminds me of the dance at the end of The Full Monty! All she needs is one of their hats.

Washing Her Hands

Here's a video of her hand washing routine. I love how she ends the video :)

Why I Love My Valentine...

...because he knows I like more than roses! :)





I had some fun playing around with our camera. I think I almost like the dark ones best.

Learning New Things Everyday

It seems like Rachel learns some new skill or communicative ability everyday lately. I can tell that when I tell her things, she really seems to know what I'm telling her (most of the time anyway). She's like a giant sponge just soaking everything up around her! Some of the things she does now:

--When I ask her close to mealtime "are you hungry? do you want some food?" she walks straight to her highchair.

--I'll say, "let's go wash your hands" and she rubs her hands together and makes a beeline for the bathroom.

--If she's thirsty, she'll point to her sippy cup on the counter and make a clicking sound with her tongue.

--I'll ask her "do you want to read a book?" and she walks over to her books and brings one to me.

--She helps me with dressing and undressing her now. She even tries to put her own socks on, though she can't yet.

Here's some more photos of what she's doing lately.

Playing out in the front yard

Still loving her santa hat!

Trying to take the camera from me while taking pictures

Another new skill...taking off her clothes all by herself

She loves hopping into one of her two chairs (this one my grandparents got her and the pooh bear chair she got for Christmas) and "reading" her books

Showing off this year's swimsuit; it's hard to see, but it's pink and white stripes.

My How Time Flies!

Playing in the Park

We took Rachel to the park the other day and she had a ball! She seemed to like the swing, though she didn't go nuts over it. I think her favorite bit was just having a huge area to run around in and pretend that she's leading Max on his leash! :)

It was VERY windy that day. We've had lots of really windy days lately.

I love this one...looks like Joshua has both of them on a leash!

Some more of what she was up to last week...

"Are you STILL taking pictures of me??? I have serious playing to get to!"

This is so precious! She fell asleep hugging her glo-worm.

She loves pulling purse-like bags around and putting toys in them. Her size proportions are so off, if you notice her outfit, the top is 18mths (needed for the long torso) and the pants are 6-9 mths (because she's still so light...she's just now almost 22lbs). They're a bit capri-ish, but if I put her in larger ones she ends up pulling them off.

Playing Around

They're not many, but here's a few pictures of what Rachel has been up to lately.

She still likes playing in her Santa hat even though Christmas is long over

She loves loving on Max, but he'd like it if she'd stay away from his ears!