New Blog

We have a new blog! I had made it password protected because I felt we needed to know who all was reading now that Rachel is getting older. But the password was a pain! People kept losing it... or it wouldn't let people in. People would have to put in the password 2 and 3 times before they were allowed access. It was just more trouble than it was worth.

So... we have removed the password protection. If you want to access the new blog, just send me an email at anne@freedombuilders.org and let me know, and I'll give you the new web address.

Favorite Toy...

... well, not counting Dog of course!

Rachel has fallen in love with the MagnaDoodle! She spends a lot of time every day playing with her large MagnaDoddle. It has even gotten to the point that when we go somewhere in the car, she will start asking for her "Magna-Doody" as she calls it. So today I got her a travel-sized one for the car. She was thrilled.

She is actually getting pretty good at drawing circles, too. Of course, she also likes to ask me to draw things for her. Today I drew a cat for her. Then she asked me to draw a puppy. When I presented her with my first attempt, she said it was a bunny... and then asked again for a puppy. My second attempt was apparently a pony. On the third attempt, she just looked at me as if she had given up all hope for a puppy. Finally, on my fourth attempt, she smiled and said "Puppy! Good job Mama!" After all that, I think maybe she should have also given me a sticker!

Happy Birthday Greg! And Happy Fourth of July!

Today was Greg's 39th birthday! And what a day it was. We invited some of his family over to have dinner. The day started a bit rough for me because I had another bout of insomnia last night that kept me up until 4:00 a.m. But I got up this morning and started my preparations for the day. I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. Then when I decided to make the cake, I dropped an egg on the floor. So I had to clean that part of the floor again. Rachel was in one of her more hyper/demanding moods and well, let's just say we weren't getting along so well. I gave Rachel a bath only to have her mutilate an orange right after her bath and completely cover every inch of her body with orange juice. I cleaned her up again. I took the first layer of Greg's cake out of the pan and it broke into about 3 pieces. I was upset... but decided I could still work with it. Then I took the other layer out of it's pan and it came out perfectly! I was excited. And then somehow I managed to drop that perfect layer on the floor and it was like a chocolate cake explosion across the kitchen floor. And I only had about 2 hours before his family was coming over and there was no time to make another cake... and well, I started crying. Greg said he would go buy a cake and asked if I'd rather just go out to dinner instead of cooking. But no... this was his day and I wanted to fix his favorite meal for him (Thai Chicken Pizza). So I cleaned the kitchen floor for the third time and then ran to the store and bought a cake. When I got back I put the chicken in a bowl, made the marinade sauce, and stirred it all together. Then I picked up the bowl to take it to the fridge. And yes... I dropped the bowl to the floor... and it landed upside down and the chicken and sauce was on the floor. Ugh. I have no idea what my problem was today! I wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time. Greg came into the kitchen and said that at least the floor was very clean! :) And well... here was our secret tonight... we picked the chicken up, put it back into the bowl and yes, I served that chicken tonight. Oh... and I cleaned the kitchen floor for the fourth time. We didn't tell our guests what happened... though they do read the blog so they will know very soon. But my gosh... the floor was honestly EXTREMELY clean at this point. (I know! Now no one will ever want to eat at our house again...).

Thankfully, that was the end of the mishaps and the evening turned out to be very fun! We had a great visit... and we even got to see some fireworks off in the distance. After a bad day, it turned out to be a great night...

And Happy Birthday Greg! I look forward to being with you for many many more years, honey! :)

Rachel's Newest "Stats"

Lately Rachel has been looking taller to me... she seems to be losing much of her "baby" look. I'm just amazed at how fast my baby is growing up... and while I absolutely love seeing her grow into such a wonderful little girl, part of me wants to somehow stop time now so she won't grow up too fast! Here are her latest stats:

Height: 35 inches! (14th percentile)

Weight: 27 pounds (17th percentile)

And for fun, I found a height predictor online. It is based on a child's current height and weight and predicts adult height. According to this, Rachel will be about 5 feet 1.6 inches tall as an adult.

Here are the links to the sites I used:

Growth Charts

Height Predictor

Thunderstorms

We've been having some major thunderstorms lately and Rachel is afraid of thunder. A couple of nights ago Rachel was unable to sleep because of a storm. I had to go lie with her on the twin bed in her room because she was so upset by the loud thunder and lightening. Once the storm died down I put her back in her crib. As she started to drift off to sleep, she was once again awakened by the sound of thunder in the distance... and started screaming again. Poor baby. Finally, I turned on the television in her room and let her watch cartoons for about 20 minutes...hoping that maybe it would distract her and help her relax. I have to say, I felt pretty funny letting her lie in bed in the dark and watch cartoons at 11:30 p.m. But it worked. After about 20 minutes, the storm had moved on and she was feeling more relaxed and secure. I turned off the television and she went right to sleep.

Then yesterday she was taking a nap when a storm came through. And of course it woke her up. She got up and just stood beside me and seemed a bit uneasy and tired. So I grabbed some pillows and blankets and made her a snuggly spot on the floor in the living room right by where I was sitting. She was so happy! She snuggled down in the blankets with Red Dog and happily watched her favorite movie: Elmo in Grouchland. She didn't go to sleep, but at least she got some rest.

We have storms in the forecast for the next SEVEN days. Poor Rachel...