Davis Days

New Blog

2007-10-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-07-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

... 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!

2007-07-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-07-04T09:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

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...

Rachel Loves Red Dog

2007-06-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today Rachel was watching an Elmo movie while I was getting dressed. In the movie Elmo was hugging his blanket and singing a song about how the blanket was his best friend. Rachel immediately ran to get Red Dog from her room and then attempted to sing along with Elmo while hugging Red Dog and singing that he was her best friend! My sweet little girl...

Humoring me...

2007-06-26T19:19:00.000-07:00

Rachel was ready to settle down in her chair today to read one of her favorite books... and I wanted to take some pictures of her. So here she is being very patient with me. Such a sweetie...

Aquarium Fun

2007-06-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we took Rachel to the Dallas Aquarium Zoo. Rachel has a very strong interest in animals...and so of course she absolutely loves looking at fish and animals of any kind. Some of her favorite sights at the aquarium were the Sri Lanka aquarium (which was beautiful!), some little monkeys in the rainforest section (she kept laughing and saying "silly monkeys!"), and the penguins. We got her a little stuffed penguin in the gift shop before coming home and I can already tell that he is going to be one of her all-time favorite stuffed animals. His name: "Wee Wee." What can I say... SHE named him! She used to call all penguins "wee wees", but now she knows how to say "penguin." And so she calls her new penguin "Wee Wee the penguin!"

Taking Time to Smell the Flowers...

2007-06-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Pretty girl...

Walking with Dad

Hanging out with Mama (who wishes the hair wasn't
all in her face but it was a bit windy!)

Can I pick the flowers? Please?

Hey Diddle Diddle...

2007-06-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

We were outside this evening and Rachel looked up and saw the moon. And suddenly she exclaimed "Oh look! The cow's jumping over the moon!" :)
Gotta love her imagination...

Road Trip

2007-06-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a quick trip down to Baton Rouge to visit some of my friends. What a great time we had! Rachel was like a dream child on this trip! I am so proud of her. Traveling really is getting easier as she is getting a little older. She did have trouble sleeping the first evening...but other than that, she was just so great!

There was one funny moment that first evening. Rachel was in her Pack & Play crying because she didn't want to go to sleep. We were staying in a hotel that had a seperate living and sleeping area, and she was sleeping just around the corner from the bedroom. I had been in and out several times trying to comfort her and get her to go to sleep. Greg finally told me that I needed to just let her cry a bit and that she probably would go on to sleep. So I was sitting on our bed listening to her complain and basically "fake cry" in efforts to get me to keep running in there. After just a few minutes, though, Rachel suddenly stopped. Then she gave a frustrated little sigh and said "Where did Mama GO?" It was so hard not to laugh. I told her I was right there and to please go to sleep... and soon after she finally did.

The first night we had dinner with friends at one of my favorite restaurants in Baton Rouge... D'Angelos. My friend Erin and her daughter, Grace, were there. Rachel loved getting to meet Grace who was also adopted from China and is five years old. She loved copying everything Grace did or said.

The next day Rachel and I went shopping and out to lunch with my friends, Pam and Candi. I definitely got my "shopping fix!" Candi bought Rachel a Magna Doodle and so Rachel had fun playing with that the whole time we shopped. She never complained and we shopped all day! We went into Baby Gap where Pam and Candi proceeded to play "dress up" with Rachel. Rachel was such a good sport! She actually enjoyed trying on all of the clothes and kept posing in front of the mirror and laughing. Pam ended up getting Rachel a darling pair of jeans and a jean jacket as a late baby gift. Rachel definitely was getting spoiled by my friends on this trip!

Last night Rachel, Pam and I went over to Erin's house so that we could visit, and Rachel and Grace could play together. As soon as Rachel saw Grace's playroom she was in toy heaven! She walked into that room and said "Look at that!" The first thing they did was get into Grace's dress-up clothes. That is why Rachel is wearing a pink sparkly dress and boa in some of the pictures! Rachel loved getting dressed up and stayed in her dress the whole time we were there.

Grace later tried to get Rachel to play hide and seek. Grace hid first and Rachel stood facing a wall and counted to 10 and then said "Ready or not, here I come!" She quickly found Grace. Then Grace said it was Rachel's turn to hide. Grace then faced the wall and started counting. And Rachel went and stood next to her and counted too! Grace stopped counting and told Rachel that it was her turn to hide. Rachel said "okay" as if she understood. Then Grace faced the wall again and started counting. But again Rachel ran over and stood by Grace and counted, too! It was just too funny to watch! Pam ended up getting Rachel and took her to go hide so that Grace could get her chance to "seek."

When it was time to leave, Rachel was playing with one of Grace's toys and did not want to leave it... and proceeded to start crying. And then Grace did the sweetest thing. She ran to her room and got what was actually one of her most "prized" possessions and brought it to Rachel and told Rachel she could keep it. Rachel looked at it and said "Ohhhh" as if it was the coolest thing she had ever seen. And then she impulsively threw her arms around Grace and hugged her! What a sweet moment! I so wish I had a video of that exchange between Rachel and Grace. I'm so glad that Rachel and Grace had this chance to play together.

And now we are back home. It was so much fun to see my friends again... and so hard to say goodbye!

I was tagged...

2007-06-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Okay... I've been tagged by Sam! I'm supposed to show off a few of my favorite gadgets. So here they are:

First is my Dell Laptop! I love my laptop. I take it with me when I travel.... and I use it for everything including blogging, email, storing addresses/phone numbers, storing all of my pictures, storing all of my recipes, scrapbooking, playing games, etc. I even used it to find our new house in Washington!

This is my camera... a Panasonic Lumix. I love it!
My paper cutter! I've really gotten into scrapbooking and there is no way I could do it without my paper cutter. I am totally incapable of cutting a straight line with scissors...
My hair dryer diffuser with "fingers!" Yes... the "fingers" are very important! Since we moved back to Texas this year, my hair has been crazy! Especially as it is getting hot, my naturally curly hair simply will not allow me to straighten it anymore. So I've given up. Now I dry it with the diffuser and wear it curly every day. My I-Robot... because I truly hate to vacuum. This little guy does it for me! Gotta love that!
And finally, my favorite friend in the kitchen. This is my Vidalia Super Chopper! I have a food processor, but hate to drag it out for small jobs. And this little guy can chop something up perfectly and SO fast! Love love LOVE it!

I'm supposed to tag 5 more people. But I'm not going to! :)
How about if you want to play, then you can post your favorite gadgets on your blog and then leave a comment so we can all come see?

Just another day...

2007-06-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Rachel has a pair of sandals that lately seem to make her feet smell! The other night I was taking off her sandals and getting her ready for bed and I said "Oh Rachel! You have stinky feet!" Rachel of course died laughing and started saying "stinky feet" over and over again.

And today I learned that you just never know when your toddler is going to suddenly say something out loud and in public that you might wish they would keep to themselves. Greg, Rachel, and I were at Costco and a family walked past us. At least one person in the family apparently had somewhat questionable hygiene. As we passed them, Rachel looked up from the book she was looking at while riding in the cart and said "Oh! Stinky! Stinky FEET!" I looked at her and thought surely she wasn't referring to those people! I hope not! And Greg and I kind of laughed quietly about it. Well, the family passed us again on the next aisle... and sure enough Rachel immediately grinned said "Stinky feet! Stinky!" Oops. Okay... so how do you go about teaching tact to a 2-year-old???

I made sure we didn't pass that family again...

On the way out of the store we stopped by the cafe and got a frozen yogurt with berries. The girl who was waiting on us asked if Rachel was adopted. When we said yes, she immediately grinned and gave us a thumbs up...and then told us that she also was adopted (from Taiwan). It was really fun to meet her!

And finally... here are a couple of pictures of Rachel with her beloved animals. Rachel is SO into stuffed animals. She plays with them quite a bit every day and I love that! You can see she is about to give her panda a big smooch! Her all-time favorite companion is still Red Dog, of course.

All Aboard!

2007-06-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Rachel is getting more and more into imaginative play. The other day she was playing with her Zoe bear and I heard her ask Zoe if she wanted to "ride horsey or train?" Then Rachel said "okay, ride train!" She had lined several of her books in a row on the coffee table and then she said "all aboard" and put Zoe on one of the books... and then she started saying "choo choo!" I asked her if any of her other animals wanted to ride the train and she immediately ran to find more passengers. I just love watching her play!

Whose house is this?

2007-06-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's OURS!!!

Front of House

Back of house... needs some yardwork!

This will be Rachel's room!

Living Room

Dining Room with a View!

And this is Rachel's friend, Linlee!
Her mommy, Colleen took all of these great pictures for us today!

I'm so excited today because we have found our house in Washington! It is on one of the islands in Puget Sound.... and we are moving in on September 1st. Greg and I have been living in apartments for the last couple of years and it is going to feel so wonderful to finally be back in a house again. And I couldn't be more excited about the views from this house! I'm already daydreaming about sitting on our deck with Greg and watching the sunset over the water. And another exciting thing is that it comes with all of the furnishings... which if you have read my blog for long, you know that we lost many of our furnishings in our move to Texas last year - and we have not replaced everything. So this really is an ideal situation for us! We'll use what we need, and can store what we won't be using. It is perfect! After the horrible year we've had, getting this house really does seem like a wonderful dream.

Rachel's Bad Day

2007-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

It was a rough day for little Rachel. This morning she was in her room and she tripped over one of her toys and fell on her face... with her cheek landing on the edge of another toy. She rarely cries when falling, but she sobbed this time. Almost immediately a lump and bruise began forming on her cheek. I decided to put some ice on it... though I didn't really think she would allow that. But she loved it! She sat in my lap sniffing, watched Kipper the Dog on television and let me hold a cloth with ice on her cheek. After a while she seemed to be feeling better and I decided to put the ice away. But when I stood up, she immediately grabbed the cloth with ice and continued to hold it on her cheek. It seemed to really make her feel good!

Later, it was time for a bath. Rachel loves taking a bath so much and it always puts her in a great (and somewhat hyper) mood. She especially loves running naked all around the house after a bath! Well, today after her bath she started to sprint across the bathroom before she was dry... and of course slipped on the wet floor and crashed down banging the side of her forehead against the door facing. She actually had an indention where she hit her head! This time she screamed! I picked her up and took her to her room and sat and rocked her as she screamed. Gosh... I hate it when she hurts herself! It just makes me want to cry, too. Finally she calmed down... but it took her a little longer to get over this one.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day for her. And I hope she doesn't wake up covered in bruises down the entire right side of her face. And you know... I don't think I'll ever get to where it doesn't hurt me to see her hurt. Motherhood is interesting like that.

Dora Glasses

2007-05-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sitting in the living room reading a book while Rachel was playing in her room. Up until now, I've not really been able to read books while Rachel is awake, but she is becoming more and more interested in playing independently in her room. And so today I got to read. And I was wearing my reading glasses... something Rachel has rarely seen. (Yes... apparently as we get older we need things like reading glasses. Hate that!) Anyway... she ran into the room and saw me in my glasses and got so excited. The she started asking for Dora. I didn't know if she wanted a Dora video or her Dora coloring book or her Dora doll or her Dora... ...I'm afraid we have a LOT of Dora around here. In fact, she was wearing her Dora PJs. I hesitated and suddenly she said "Dora Glasses!" And then I remembered that Greg's sister, Julianne, had given Rachel some Dora sunglasses for Easter. So the search began. And Rachel was so thrilled when we found her Dora glasses and she wore them most of the morning. She looked so cute playing with her toys and riding her rocking horse in her cool shades...

Our Patriotic Girl!

2007-05-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Rachel received a wonderful surprise package from her friend, Kieren, today! Kieren's mom made Rachel a new dress... and she also got a pretty matching hair bow, a flag, and some suckers! Rachel was thrilled! We're ready for the Fourth of July now...

Thank you Sam and Kieren!

"Bear?"

2007-05-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have to write about the sad moment I had yesterday before going to the Build-A-Bear Workshop. Rachel has always used the word "Doy" for bear... no matter how many times we told her something was a bear, she would look at it and then say "Doy!" She literally seemed to refuse to say the word "Bear." But then yesterday she saw me looking at the Build-A-Bear website and suddenly said "Bear!" I was stunned. I picked her up and showed her a picture of a bear and asked her what it was and she said "bear." I took her into her room and got "Doy" (the bear she and dog sleep with every night) and asked her who he is. And she said "Bear."

And yes, I almost cried. I have come to love her little word for bear... and I knew that when it eventually went away I would be sad. And yes, I was sad. Just another indication that my little girl is growing up.

I should have known this was coming. The other day we were looking at a book and there was a picture of a penguin. Rachel has been saying "wee wee" for penguin for a long time. Usually I say penguin, but on that day I pointed to the picture and said "look Rachel, a wee wee." And she looked at me like I had lost my mind and said "Penguin!" Oops. And then a couple of days ago we were watching a Sesame Street Video and they were singing "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and there was a bear puppet on the screen going over the mountain... and Rachel was singing along and saying bear. So I guess it shouldn't be too big of a surprise.

But then last night before Greg and I went to bed, I went in Rachel's room to change her diaper and cover her up. She woke up and handed me her Doy Bear. I handed it back to her and she said no! I said "You don't want Doy in bed with you?" And she said no! So I put him on the twin bed in her room, began tucking her in and suddenly she started saying "Doy! Doy!" I picked him up and put him back in the crib with her... and she said "Thank you mama! Night night!"

Ahhh... so maybe "Doy" isn't gone forever. I hope not.

First Trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop!

2007-05-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Build-A-Bear and the Look Project had special project today where you could go in and build a bear for free to send to older children in the orphanages in China. So Greg and I decided to go make a bear to send to China... and also to let Rachel make her own bear to keep. She had never been to Build-A-Bear before and she really seemed to have a fun time. She helped build the bear to go to China and when it was finished she hugged it close and kissed it... and walked with me to the box where we were supposed to leave the bear. And then she was not at all happy when I took the bear and put it in the box! But she quickly got over it when she realized she was going to get to make another bear to keep. She seemed to enjoy the process of kissing the heart to go inside of the bear and watched closely as her bear was sewn together. Then we took the bear for her first "bear bath." Rachel was a little nervous about the air the was coming down over the bear bath to fluff the bear, but she did okay. Then I helped Rachel dress the bear. We tried a few different outfits before choosing one Rachel liked. And yes, she did have an opinion. In fact, she had a rather strong opinion about one outfit I put on the bear. It was an especially frilly little skirt and top and Rachel immediately said "NO!" And then she started trying to rip the outfit off of the bear! Pretty funny! We then named the bear (Zoe) and got her birth certificate. As we were leaving the store, Rachel insisted on holding the rather large box all the way to the car and then the whole way home.

All Better

2007-05-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

After a couple of days (and one very long night where she had me up every 30 minutes or so until 4:00 a.m.) Rachel is feeling much much better! Few things make me as happy as seeing my baby feeling good and enjoying her day.

Bit and Pieces

2007-05-16T22:00:00.000-07:00

Lately I've thought of several things to blog about... but I haven't taken the time to blog. Mostly just a bunch of unrelated bits and pieces. So here they are in bullet points...

Rachel is sick. When I got up yesterday morning, she did not come running to me yelling "Mama! My Mama!" Greg told me that she had been playing in her room and had been much quieter than normal. About that time she walked into the living room and as soon as I saw her I knew she was sick. She sat on the couch with her hair falling in her face and seemed to be breathing fast. I took her temp and yep, she had fever. I gave her Ibuprofin and held her for a while. She lay limply in my arms. SO out of character for Rachel. After a while, I needed to get up and so I lay her on the sofa. And she stayed there. I was beginning to be concerned, when a few minutes later she got up and started playing with her toys. She has not had a cold. Really, Rachel has been so remarkably healthy since she has been home. She has only been sick with fevers a few times... and that was always because of colds or after getting some shots. I talked to my sister-in-law, Sheri, who told me a virus was going around...but I should look in Rachel's throat to be sure it didn't look like she had Strep. So I tried... but I can't see down Rachel's throat! How do you do that with a 2-year-old anyway! After her nap, she seemed much better and the Ibuprofen had her temp back to normal. Today she seemed fine (though much more whiny than usual)... until shortly after she went to bed tonight. She started crying and when I went to check on her, she felt really hot. I checked her temp and it was back up again. I gave her Ibuprofen. And then here is the amazing thing that happened! I asked her where her "ouchie" was... I pointed to her head, her throat, and then her tummy. Rachel immediately touched her throat and gave me a pitiful look! I couldn't believe it! This is the first time she has been able to let me know what is hurting when she is feeling bad. I tried to get her to drink water and she refused. I brought her out to the living room and held her for a while and she fell asleep. A little later she woke up crying again. This time her fever was not quite as high, but still there. I asked again (to make sure the first time wasn't a coincidence) where her "ouchie" was and she immediately put her hand on her throat. So I have mixed feelings tonight. Part of me feels elated that she is able to tell me what hurts. And of course, most of me is just feeling upset that she is feeling so bad and wishing I could fix it. If she is still sick tomorrow, I'm taking her to the doctor to check for Strep. Does it ever get easier for your child to be sick? I wish it were me instead.
Yesterday I was talking to Rachel and Greg... and I said to Rachel "I love your daddy!" And Rachel grinned and said "I do too!" Greg said he wondered if she had really just said that. I said it sounded like an "I do too" to me and so I'm counting it!
Rachel is terrified of the little mechanical horses and cars that kids usually enjoy riding on at the grocery store. All I have to do is ask her if she wants to ride and she immediately yells "NO!" And sometimes gets very very upset. But when we went to my brother's last weekend, she rode on one of their horses (as in a REAL horse) all by herself! Abbey (my niece) was leading the horse and my brother walked beside the horse with his hand on Rachel's back. And Rachel proudly sat in the saddle and held the reins. She even had quite the tantrum when Greg took her off the horse so Abbey ride. But she is terrified of the little car with seatbelts at the grocery store. I don't get it.
Rachel has decided that her role in our home is to make me "do stuff." She literally is constantly coming up with things that I need to do for her. Start a video. Get her some more water. Get her some crackers. Hold this toy. Hold that toy. Pretend I'm a horse so she can ride me.... The demands begin the moment I get up in the morning and continue throughout the day. She is the most demanding "boss" I've ever had. Today I "took back the television" and did something I never do... Yes, I had HGTV on all day. It was like the old days when I would take a "mental health" day from work and stay home and watch HGTV all day. Rachel was not pleased. I'm sure I'll be punished.
Rachel still loves to help me with the laundry. In fact, she had a meltdown today because I told her there was no laundry to do. Oh how I hope she still wants to do it all when she is twelve!
I've been online looking at houses in Seattle. I'm so excited about moving back to Seattle. I'm also sad because we will miss our family and friends that are in Texas and Louisiana. But for health insurance reasons we need to move. And really, our hearts are in Washington! We both just love it there so much. But that doesn't take away the mixed emotions we feel.
I'm feeling really good lately. My body seems to have finally adjusted to all the heart meds and they aren't making me so sick anymore. And I've now lost 33 pounds!
Mother's day was wonderful. Hard to believe this was already my 2nd Mother's Day. It was a great day. As I was in the shower that morning, I used the yummy Breathe Skin Conditioner from Bath & Body Works... something I just don't do much anymore. I used to be a real B&BW junkie. But lately I've just not taken the time to treat myself anymore. As I was in the shower, I decided that I would go to B&BW the next day and buy something great for myself. About an hour later, Greg gave me my Mother's Day cards... and a gift card to B&BW! Amazing how my hubbie just knows me! (He said he went in there planning to buy something for me...but got totally overwhelmed! I can believe it!)
On being a mom: I'm finding that as Rachel gets older I'm enjoying being a mom more and more. I definitely think I'm more of a "toddler person" than a "baby person!" Sometimes I feel sad that we won't have any more children... but then at the same time, I'm happy not to do the the "baby" stuff again. I also am feeling more relaxed and confident in my skills as a mom. Life is good...

Photo Challenge: Mothers

2007-05-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

The photo challenge for this week is "Mothers"... and so I wanted to do a post about the mothers in my life. I have three mothers... my mom, my stepmother, and my mother-in-law... and they are all very special to me.

Marie "Mimi" Pierron Watson

My mom, Mimi, died when I was 24 years old. She was a wonderful mom and it was hard to lose her at such a young age. Often in interacting with Rachel, I catch myself doing and saying things just like my mom used to do. And I like that. It is as if there is still a part of her inside of me. I know she would have been crazy about both Greg and Rachel! I like to think that she keeps an eye on us...

Donna Davis

Greg's mom, Donna, is very involved in our life. She lives near us and so we get to see her often and Rachel just adores her Grandma Davis! Every time we drive up to Donna's home, Rachel immediately get excited and starts yelling "Mama!" Yes, she calls both of her grandmas "mama," too. She hasn't quite figured out that "gr"sound.

Ann Watson

And finally, there is my stepmother, Ann... another favorite person in Rachel's life. My dad married Ann after my mom died and she certainly made the rest of my dad's life so very happy - and now that Dad is gone, Ann continues to be a very important part of our life. She is a wonderful grandma to Rachel and we are just so glad that she is part of our family.

See Donna's blog, Double Happiness, for more tributes to mothers!

Rocking Horse!

2007-05-10T17:16:00.001-07:00

"Daddy is the BOSS"

2007-05-09T11:38:00.000-07:00

Greg gets up with Rachel in the mornings so that I can sleep in. Yes... he is a wonderful husband! Anyway... the first thing I do when I get up every morning is go in the kitchen for a glass of water with ice. And the minute Rachel hears the ice maker, she comes running, happily yelling "Mama! Oh Mama!" I like to think that it is because she is so thrilled to see me. But just as I walk to her for a morning hug, she immediately starts demanding a cracker. Oh fine! I tell her she can have a cracker after she gives me the obligatory hug.

So Rachel gets a couple of crackers (her second breakfast) and I grab a granola bar and we sit together in the living room with our snacks. This is the routine every morning. I also usually let Rachel watch a video while she eats her crackers. This morning I decided to put on Elmo's World. Lately she has been singing very loudly along with the opening song of Elmo's World and it is so cute... I wanted to get a video of it. But today, she walked over to me and the camera and began demanding another cracker instead of singing. Darn. So I put the camera away and told her she couldn't have another cracker. A little later I decided to try again... I put Elmo's World on, grabbed the camera... and then she yelled "Cheese!" And then she began posing for pictures. Fine. I guess I won't get a video of her singing Elmo's World. I put on the Richard Scarry ABC video and she sat in my lap to watch. Oh, and she sang along... but I didn't bother to try to get a video this time.

When the video was over, I suggested she color in her coloring book for a while. She ran to her room to get her colors and coloring book. I'm still amazed at how well she is able to understand what we tell her! So she settled in and colored for a while. But then she came over to me and started whining for another video. I told her she could not watch another video. She whined louder. I responded again that no, she could not watch another video. She whined even louder and began to pull on my arm. Greg was in the kitchen and I said "Greg, you need to come talk to your daughter..." I wasn't even being all that serious when I said that. But immediately Rachel stopped whining, picked up her coloring book and colors, grinned and said "bye bye Mama...bye bye Dada" and went happily to her room to play. Hmmm....

After lunch Rachel began begging for a video again. Again, I told her no. Again, she started whining. Greg was in his office right off the living room and I tried it again. I only had to yell "Dad...." and Rachel immediately stopped whining and again went happily to play with her toys.

Okay. So what is that about??? Why is it the mere mention of getting her daddy involved causes a total change in attitude? And no, she is not afraid of her dad... she is crazy about him. She just has so much more repect for him! In fact, there are times when I'll tell her to do something and she will immediately look at him as if to see if he agrees that she should do it. It is really funny. I have no doubt that Rachel loves us both very much. But she also apparently believes that her daddy is the final authority around here.

Rachel's New Chair?

2007-05-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

She would claim it is HER chair... no matter how much I try to convince her that is it MY chair! My uncle came to visit last weekend and brought me the most wonderfully comfortable brown leather chair. I was so excited. And apparently so was Rachel. Uncle Walt and Greg barely got it into our living room before Rachel staked her claim and hopped into the chair. It is now her favorite place to sit in the living room. She used to be content to lie on the floor to color, but now she sits in the chair with her coloring book in her lap to color! And she looks like such a big girl when she does that. Although most of the time Rachel is running in circles, hopping, dancing, playing with toys, etc... at some point every day she will go crawl into the chair to quietly look at a book or watch a video... and I get yet another glimpse of the little girl my baby is growing up to be.

Just Because...

2007-04-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling sentimental and so very thankful for my family. The last 10 months or so have been absolutely crazy. My dad was diagnosed with cancer, we moved to Texas, we lost many of our belongings in that move due to "the great garlic incident", my dad died, I've been sick... It has been really really bad. I feel like we've been through a storm... our foundation shook... but it never weakened. My family has been my shelter through the storm and I am so grateful! Things are looking up now. My heart is better and I'm beginning to tolerate my meds better. Rachel is happy and thriving. I am still married to my best friend. I know that no matter what happens... I can "come home" and it will all be okay.

Here is a montage of some of my favorite pictures over the last 1-1/2 years. Turn up your speakers!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Photo Challenge - "Gotcha Day" Clothing

2007-04-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Above: "Gotcha Day" -

Rachel was 12 months old, 28 inches tall, weighed 18 pounds,

wore a size 3-6 month outfit and size 2 diapers.

Below: Today - In her "Gotcha Day" Clothing!

Rachel is 2-1/2 years old, 34 inches tall, weighs 25 pounds, wears size 24 month clothing

and size 4 diapers... and wears size 6 shoes.

And here she is in clothes that actually fit her!

This week's photo challenge was "Gotcha/Metcha Clothing." We were supposed to pull out the clothing our children were wearing on the day that we met for the first time. What an interesting challenge... and what emotions and memories it brought up for me!

I remember the day we first met Rachel like it was yesterday. It was a hot and humid Sunday afternoon in September of 2005 at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang, China. We were anxiously waiting in our room - waiting for the phone to ring to announce that Rachel was on her way to our room. Our meeting was different than many Chinese adoptions because we were not traveling as part of a large travel group, and Rachel was the only baby coming from her orphanage that day. So our guide arranged to have the orphanage director and nannies bring Rachel to our hotel room rather than the Civil Affairs Office....and we were to go to the Civil Affairs Office the next day to complete the adoption. I am so glad that this was how it worked out for us... as it was a very calm and personal moment for our family. Debbie and Terry, our cousins, were with us. Terry was the official photographer for us while we were in China and we are so thankful that he took as many pictures as he did.

Finally the phone rang and our guide said they were on their way to our room. About 5 minutes later there was a knock at the door. I'm not sure I was even breathing at this point. I feel a little breathless even thinking of that moment right now. Greg opened the door - and there she was! Our baby Rachel. And she was SO beautiful! She was very quiet... taking everything in... looking at us and the hotel room. I have no idea what thoughts must have been going through her head at that moment. She was tired, and hot and sweaty from her long journey by train from her orphanage to Nanchang. They handed her to me and I couldn't believe how tiny she was! Then Greg held her, and she seemed to immediately relax in his arms! She was wearing a little peach coverall-type outfit with yellow flowers on the front... and a matching long-sleeved peach and yellow hooded jacket that was so big it kept falling off her shoulders. She was not wearing any shoes. I looked at the tags and was shocked to see that our 12-month-old baby was wearing a size 3-6 month outfit! And it was too big!

Well... it isn't too big now! Though the top part of the coverall still fits Rachel through the shoulders/chest, it is much too short. In fact, I wasn't able to button all of the buttons on the legs of the outfit. And the pants that previously were long on her now only come to her knees! The jacket sleeves are also way to short now! It was pretty funny seeing her stuffed into that little outfit today. She's come a long way!

To see more "Gotcha Day" moments... check out Donna's blog, Double Happiness.

Late Anniversary Celebration!

2007-04-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Oh... I know. Greg and I are not who you all really want to see pictures of. It is supposed to be "all about Rachel"... right? Don't worry... I will have new pictures of her posted in the next couple of days. But today... well, it was a special day for me and Greg. Greg and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on January 3rd.... and we celebrated again today! You see... Greg is extremely hard to shop for. I literally agonize every birthday, Christmas, Anniversary, etc. over what to get him. I want to be creative. I want to buy him wonderful gifts that will somehow show him just how very much I love him... how special he is... how happy I am that he is my husband. And I usually end up buying him some shirts... or a book he doesn't really want... or well... some other unimaginative item. It is really sad.

But this year, I thought of something new! I decided to take him on a date! So I went online and started looking for ideas and finally settled on theater tickets and a nice dinner out. But the theater tickets were for a show that didn't start until April. It seemed so far away back in January... but it has been a fun date to look forward to.

So today was the day. We took Rachel to PlayCare and then we went to the Dallas Theater Center for the matinee of The Taming of the Shrew. I was really proud when we realized I had probably gotten us the best seats in the theater! The show was really very good, too. Then after the show we had dinner at Luna de Noche... an excellent Mexican restaurant. We had prime steak fajitas and agreed that they were the best fajitas we had ever had. They actually made fresh guacamole right at our table... I don't eat guacamole, but Greg said it was also the best guacomole he had ever had in his life.

And Rachel... well, she got to play, dance to the Wiggles, and eat pizza at PlayCare. So it was a fun day for her, too.

So... Happy Anniversary, again, Greg! I had a wonderful day... we should come up with excuses to "celebrate" more often!

Shopping, Crayons, and a Book

2007-04-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Today while Rachel was taking her nap, I left her with Greg and went to shop for a baby gift for some friends of ours who are expecting their first baby next month. Usually when I run errands, I always bring Rachel with me. But today I was alone. In some ways it was nice. I was able to stop and look at things longer. I didn't have to entertain anyone. But you know, I found myself missing her! She is my little buddy on shopping trips and it was sort of strange being out without her. (Note: It was also much easier!) It felt kind of like I was missing a body part or something. I always have that feeling when I go somewhere without her. We haven't done that a lot... especially our first year with her. Most of the time in that first year, I just had no desire really to go anywhere without her. I think that is a common feeling among most new parents. But as she is getting older now, it is easier... though still strange.

While I was out, I got her a box of 16 Washable Crayons. Oh my gosh! seeing her joy when we gave her the crayons was so fun! It brought back my own memories of how absolutely wonderful a brand new box of crayons was to me when I was little. For me, one of the best things about being a mom is getting to relive some of the parts of childhood I had forgotten!

On another note... our second book arrived today! It is Volume 1 of Davis Days... and covers all the blog entries from when we first arrived home with Rachel through her 2nd birthday. It is just so cool to have our blog in a book!

Rachel Update

2007-04-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've written an update on what all Rachel is doing... so here goes:

Language: We've stopped counting words. She is really taking off verbally and it is so fun to watch. She can count to 20 in English... and can count to 10 in Spanish! And no... we did not teach her to do that! I think we can thank Dora the Explorer for her Spanish language development. She recognizes some numbers and some letters of the alphabet.

One of her favorite games is to hide something and then say "Where is it? Where did it go?" several times. Then she will "find" it, point and say "There it is!"

This afternoon we were on the way to the park and Greg sneezed - and Rachel said "Bless you Daddy!" A little later we were talking about various animals and asking her what they say. She told us that a duck says "quack," cow says "moo," lion says "roar," frog says "ribbit," horse says "Neigh," etc. Then I asked her what a monkey says... I wondered if she would say "chatter chatter" because that is what her book says a monkey says. But no... when I asked her about the monkey, Rachel immediately grinned and said "OO OO AA AA!"
By the way... this is our favorite book on animal sounds: Mice Squeak, We Speak!

I'm pretty sure she has figured out what it means to say "I'm sorry"... the other day she colored on the face of one of her dolls. Greg fussed at her a bit and reminded her she can only color on paper. Several hours later, I was playing with her in her room and she suddenly picked up the doll and touched the doll's face where she had colored... and then she said "Oh no! Oh Baby... you okay? I sowwy!"

Rachel loves music and now sings quite a bit. One of her favorite songs is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She also will often sing along with songs she hears in the car. It actually is pretty funny to hear Rachel "singing" along with Jewel!

While Rachel is now saying a lot of words...and is able to mimic most things we say to her... there are several "non-words" that she continues to say. She still will not repeat the word "bear." No, all bears are "doys!" She also has stopped saying "blankie" and prefers to call all blankets "guy guy." Oh, and all penguins are "wee wees." And I love her special words like that! I actually have started calling bears doys, too, without even thinking about it! Honestly, I'm going to be really sad when Rachel stops saying "doy."

Motor Development: Rachel continues to improve in her motor skills. This has been her greatest area of weakness, but she has come so far! Our little girl who couldn't even get in a sitting up position on her own at 12 months old is now running, hopping, and dancing. This afternoon we took her to the park. She was thrilled to be there... but suddenly seemed very fearful of the swing. I was surprised, as this is something she usually enjoys. So we took her out and let her walk around a bit. She played on a rocking horse for a while. Then I attempted to put her on the slide and she screamed like she thought I was trying to kill her! I held on to her and gently lowered her down the length of the slide. She seemed okay when we got to the bottom. So I went to the top of the slide and Greg put Rachel in my arms and we slid down together. Well, she loved that! I ended up sliding down the slide with her several times.

The slide was a "double" slide, meaning it was actually two slides that were right next to each other. After going down together several times, I then put Rachel on the slide next to mine and held her hand and then we went down side-by-side a couple of times. Finally, Rachel ran and climbed to the top of the slide and happily slid down all by herself! We were so proud of her. She was proud, too. When she reached the bottom, she turned toward all of the other people in the park, raised her arms as if to get their attention, and then clapped and said "yay!" She ended up sliding down alone several more times and had a wonderful time. On our way to the car, we tried the swing again... and this time Rachel enjoyed it. So it seems as if we are finally starting to make some progress in this area.

Fine Motor Skills: Rachel seems to be excelling in this area. She is able to eat fairly well with her fork, drinks from a cup with a straw, and does well with puzzles and nesting blocks. Oh, and as you all know, she was able to use scissors to cut her own hair the other day...

In general, I think Rachel is just doing great. It has been a really really difficult year for our family. Between our cross-country move, me being sick and everything else... I have been amazed at her ability to adjust and thrive. We've had our share of typical 2-year-old tantrums and attitudes... but in general, she is just such a happy and loving little girl. She has a wonderful sense of humor and just seems to take things in stride...and for that I'm so thankful. And another important thing about Rachel: Red Dog is still her favorite companion. I have a feeling he may be going off to college with her someday.

Oh...and I just wanted to say... I'm not "bragging" when I write these things about Rachel. I just need to write them all down because they are things I never ever want to forget!

Remission!

2007-04-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

My heart function is back in the normal range. Yes, that is the wonderful and unexpected news that Greg and I received today at my cardiologist appointment!

Greg and I are beyond thrilled and relieved. Dr. Morales said that there is no way to know for sure what happened to cause me to have heart failure in the first place... or if it will stay in remission... but today he seemed so much more positive about my long-term prognosis. I think he is as surprised as we are that it went into remission so quickly.

He told us today that I will probably need to stay on the medications and be followed by a cardiologist for the rest of my life... but you know, even though the meds make me feel bad, now that I see what they have done to fix my heart, I don't mind taking them. He is not going to increase the dosages again... so hopefully soon my body will adjust to them and I'll start feeling better. He also told me that one of the reasons I'm feeling bad is that I've become "deconditioned." Apparently this is common in people who have had heart failure... you become less active and quickly lose your normal levels of stamina. So today he told me to start getting some exercise and get more active, and hopefully that will help me feel better over time. So I'll be getting out and going to the mall, park, etc. more with Rachel and start slowly trying to get my life back to the way it used to be. The thought of life back to normal sounds SO good to me! And I'm most excited about the fact that now I feel much more hopeful that I really will live to see Rachel grow up and have her own children. I feel like I got my life back today!

So the plan now is to do some bloodwork tomorrow, see him again in 3 months, get more active and enjoy life!

Deep Thoughts... seriously!

2007-04-16T14:23:00.000-07:00

Greg and I are going in to see my cardiologist on Thursday. I'm excited and nervous to hear what he has to say about my recent testing and the next steps we need to take. I have heard from his nurse that there has been some improvement in my heart function, but that I now have developed tricuspid regurgitation. I did not ask her a lot of questions because she has been known to tell us one thing only to have the doctor say something totally different! Greg and I decided we just weren't getting on that rollercoaster again this time. But I have to say that I'm thrilled to hear there has been some improvement! I just so hope that we hear lots of good news at this appointment.

I also have so many questions to ask! The medications I'm taking have so many bad side effects and there are days that it is a struggle to even pick Rachel up and the nausea just makes me miserable. I have mentioned these issues to the nurse who always responds with "the doctor wants you to try to hang on because these medications will prolong your life." Hmmm... so how do you argue with that logic? So I keep taking them and eventually I start feeling better as my body adjusts...but then they increase the dose and I'm sick again. It is just hard sometimes. I know I keep whining about it. It's what I do when I'm not feeling well... but hey, whining on the blog gives Greg a break from hearing me whine to him! So maybe that makes it okay?

As I've gone through this, I've begun to realize what is important in life and what really doesn't matter. See, I admit that I've been one who has tended to focus instead of on the FOUR positive things someone might say to me, I focus on the ONE negative point. I'd obsess about that one negative thing and totally disregard the positives that were said. And you know...that is not good for the heart. I'm having to learn to be more relaxed about things...to let things slide and not waste my energy on things that really don't matter. And I've found out who my true friends are... and who I shouldn't count on. And you know, I'm okay with that. We had dinner with my Uncle Walt while we were in Louisiana this past week, and he said that really, we shouldn't "expect" anything from anyone... then instead of being disappointed when people let us down, we feel thrilled when people come through for us. Interesting way of looking at things.

So what really matters in my life? Well, my faith has become increasingly important. I think that often happens when you are faced with a serious illness. And maybe that is one of the good things that comes out of something like this. My husband and daughter... and our extended family are so important to me. And of course, my closest friends... you know, the ones you can call anytime and even if you haven't seen them in a long time, things are just like they always have been? The ones who seem to always know what to say... and if they don't or if they say it "wrong", it just doesn't matter, because you know they love you? Those friends are the "keepers!" So my focus has to be on those things right now. It actually is part of healing my heart! And thinking about what matters makes me feel much better than obsessing about the situations or people I wish I could change...because those things really don't matter at all in the big picture of my life.

Oh... and just in case anyone wondered... Rachel and I discussed what mattered most to her today. Here is her list: Dada, mama, grandma, Dog, Doy, outside, shopping cart, shoes, books, Elmo, The Wiggles, Winnie the Pooh, singing, dancing, hopping, Club crackers, mac & cheese, pizza, cake, and ice cream. Nice list Rachel! :)

Our Book!

2007-04-14T15:41:00.000-07:00

I'd been hearing from several people about software that converts a blog into a book...and so I checked it out and thought it was a great idea! I went to our old blog and created a book from the blog entries during our paperchase and trip to China. I got to design the dust jacket and everything! Too fun! Anyway, I finished the book quickly and ordered it...and it arrived yesterday. I love it!

I've decided I'm going to do a book for every year... each starting in September on Rachel's birthday. I'm about half-way through the second book right now... and already it is almost twice as long as the first. But I'm enjoying going back and reading all the old entries...and what a wonderful keepsake for her to have someday. And hey, it helps with the guilt of not updating her baby book!

Here is the link where you can find the software in case you are interested in making your own books: Blurb. It is supposed to download blogs automatically... but I had trouble getting it to work right when I tried to do it automatically. I ended up just doing a "text and pictures" book and added the content manually.

Rachel's "Makeover" Pictures

2007-04-14T15:24:00.000-07:00

You'll notice how much thicker the bangs are on one side of her face compared to the other. Also, if you look at the top of her head, you'll see where she cut the hair so short it is standing straight up! Greg and I laugh everytime we look at those little hairs sticking up. Greg thinks we should just cut all of her hair off to that length so it will be "even." I don't think so!

Sorry it took so long to post the pictures... we were out of town for a couple of days and then today we took Rachel and our nephew, Mitchell (and their grandma!) to the Wiggly Play Place. This is a play center with different climbing toys and activities for toddlers and young children. Rachel was thrilled to see bigger than life murals of her boyfriends... uh, I mean of The Wiggles. They also had videos playing on plasma screens and Big Red Cars that the kids could get in and drive all around the place. Rachel enjoyed driving a red car for a while, she danced and hopped, and played with various toys. She even climbed up the steps to the slide...but as usual, decided against actually sliding down the slide. It was a fun morning. Greg actually did most of the supervising while I enjoyed some fruit salad and visited with his mom in the "Yummy Yummy Cafe."

Rachel gets a makeover?

2007-04-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

This morning we got up very early to drive to Louisiana to visit my step-mother. I quickly bathed Rachel, got her dressed, and left her in her room to play while I finished packing. About 20 minutes later I called her to the bathroom so that I could blow-dry her hair. I turned on the dryer... ran a comb through her hair as I pointed the blow dryer her way... and was shocked to see clumps of her hair go flying from her head! I turned off the dryer and ran the comb through her hair again and more hair came out!

I called for Greg to come quickly because Rachel's hair was coming out in clumps. I couldn't imagine what kind of horrible illness she must have that would cause her hair to literally fall out. But then as I looked closely at her head, I saw that she had very short pieces of hair spiking up from her head. And then I knew. She had CUT her hair!

Greg looked in her room and found pieces of hair lying on the floor at the foot of her bed. And I realized exactly what had happened. I have a basket that I keep in her room... it holds diapers, wipes, her comb, lotion, nail clippers, etc... and a small pair of scissors. I never leave the basket where she can get it. But in my rush this morning, I forgot to put the basket away after I finished putting a new diaper on her after her bath. And apparently she quickly found the scissors and decided she wanted to give herself a punk-spike hairstyle!

It could have been worse. She could have hurt herself. She could have done even more damage to her hair than she did. But well, lets just say I am glad I had not been working hard to grow out her bangs! On one side of her head, the bangs look normal. On the other side, they are quite short...but there is still a very thin layer of longer bangs. And on the side of her head, she cut some of the longer shoulder length strands completely off... you can see her scalp! But really, it is not all that obvious unless you are looking for it. I'll try to get a picture of her tomorrow and post it. Oh, and no, I'm not keeping scissors in that basket anymore!

Funny Toddler

2007-04-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

Rachel loves to echo things that we say. We've definitely reached the point where we have to watch what we talk about in front of her, and we also have to spell certain words. While she loves to repeat things we say, she doesn't always say them exactly right... or in the right context. Yesterday I was giving her a bath and I said "Okay... let's get you squeaky clean!" She grinned and said "Stinky clean!" Then several times during the day yesterday she would come up to me and proudly say "Tachel stinky clean!"

Then yesterday we had lunch with Greg's family. As we were saying goodbye, I told Rachel to say "I love you" to her grandma. Rachel had already been saying "bye bye" rather enthusiastically... and she happily added "I luh you!" It was cute. But then today a maintenance guy came over to fix our broken ice maker. Rachel flirted like crazy with that poor man! She kept going over and watching him...and then brought her Easter basket to him and offered him some eggs. He had to run outside to get a tool and as he walked out of the door, Rachel yelled, "Bye bye! I luh you!" He thought that was pretty funny! Maybe we need to go back to her usual "see ya later" when saying bye bye...

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Rachel's Easter Basket

Hey! The Easter Bunny came!

Ooh... a pink rubber duckie!

And a bunny... with a ball!

Hey look, Bunny... there's stuff IN the eggs!

Yum! M&Ms ARE good! Thank you Easter Bunny!

Rachel was very very excited about her Easter basket this year. She seemed a bit surprised to be getting chocolate first thing in the morning. We actually had to confiscate all but a couple of eggs because we realized she was going to sit and eat every bite of chocolate in the whole basket in one sitting! She didn't mind "sharing" her eggs with her daddy so he could put them away for her for later. She has spent her morning walking around with her basket of goodies... kissing her bunny, talking about her eggs and duck, and dumping the basket and wearing it as a hat! It's been a great morning! Happy Easter from the Davis Family!

Little Ham

2007-04-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

The other night Rachel was sitting on the sofa playing with her Little Touch Leap Pad... she looked cute so I took her picture. As soon as the camera flashed she jumped up, ran to me saying "Tachel" and insisted on looking at the screen on the camera to see the picture. Then she got back on the sofa, actually posed with her Leap pad and said "Cheese!" Then again, she had to come see her picture. Then she said "okay" and then went to pose and say cheese again and again! She was too funny. She kept doing different poses and then actually got mad when I put the camera away. This from the girl who used to turn her head and run the opposite direction whenever I got out the camera.

Easter Portraits

2007-04-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

I had an appointment today to have portraits taken of Rachel in her Easter dress. It was a really fun outing because Greg surprised us and took the morning off to come with us for the portrait session and lunch! Having him with us is always more fun than going alone. Rachel had fun playing with the stuffed bunny, Easter eggs, and flowers at the studio...and I think we got some great pictures.

The photo challenge at Double Happiness this week was "Spring Dresses"... so this is my entry in the challenge for this week! You can check out Double Happiness to see more cute kiddos dressed in their finest spring outfits.

Testing This Week

2007-04-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty nervous this week as they are doing the repeat-testing on my heart this week to see if I'll need a defibrillator implanted in my chest. Part of me is excited to get the results... in hopes that they will show that I've had some improvement in my heart function. I'm working hard to keep a positive attitude as I truly believe that is important when dealing with a serious health problem. I think about how my mom was when she had cancer. Gosh, she was so graceful about it all! She stayed so positive and even though they initially said that she may not live more than 6 weeks, she lived almost a year after her diagnosis. And you know, she had some great times during that time. She told me that she made it a point to do something productive every day...and she also spent time visualizing her chemotherapy eating up her cancer cells like a Pac Man! It was amazing to watch her. I've seen others go through severe illness and they are so negative about it and everything else...and honestly, I believe that only makes things worse. I only hope that I can be as positive and graceful as mom was. But I would be lying if I said I was not scared. I so want a positive report from the doctor. I so don't want to hear that my function is declining. I have had some difficult days. I have a lot of nausea from my medicine and have now lost 29 pounds! Well, hey...weight loss is always good. But I'd rather it not be because I spend most of my days resisting the urge to vomit! The fatigue is overwhelming at times. We went to the grocery store yesterday and I felt like I was just dragging myself through the store. When we came home, I picked up the milk to put in the refrigerator...and was amazed by how heavy it felt! I felt I could hardly lift it!

But then I've also had some amazingly great days! On Saturday we took the train into downtown Dallas and walked around the West End Marketplace and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at The Spaghetti Warehouse. Rachel loved the outing and kept saying "Choo Choo" as we rode the train into downtown. I felt normal on Saturday and it was wonderful. So basically I have to keep reminding myself on the bad days that it is not always bad...and I need to fully enjoy those good days. And I need to stay positive. I have moments like now that I find myself fighting against this diagnosis and just wanting it all to go away. I don't know if it will go away or not... but I'm sure going to do everything I can physically and mentally to beat this! My life is so good in so many ways... I have an amazing husband and sweet daughter. I have fabulous friends and family. I love my life... even if I am tired and sick sometimes!

Reading with Daddy

2007-04-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Bunny Ears!

2007-03-31T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny was Donna's photo challenge for this week. We were supposed to get pictures of our children with the Easter Bunny. Well, Rachel is not in the least bit interested in sitting with the Easter Bunny this year... so we won't traumatize the bunny by forcing him to hold a screaming toddler. So... since I couldn't get a picture of her with the bun, I decided to get out Rachel's bunny ears and let her pretend to be the Easter Bunny! I also found some old pictures of her from last year wearing the same ears. What a difference a year makes! My baby has certainly changed... last year she looked like a little baby and this year she is a cute little girl!

Gosh, they grow up too fast!

Here is Rachel in March 2006 at 18 months old.

Rachel today at 2-1/2 years old: "Hey Mom... what is on my head?!"

"Oh my gosh! I have BUNNY EARS!!!"

"Hey! I'm a cute bunny!"

Puppy Love

2007-03-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

My Little Helper

2007-03-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Even though I think Rachel is still a bit behind in her communication skills, I've been amazed by how well she is able to comprehend what we tell her... and lately she has even started helping me out a little with chores! One of her favorite activities now is "helping" me with the laundry. She will unload the dryer for me... taking several trips to put the clean laundry on our bed so that I can fold and put it away. She also loves to help load the dryer. I will open the dryer door and then drop wet clothing from the washer onto the door of the dryer and then Rachel will push the clothes into the dryer for me. She also likes to put in the dryer sheets and close the door of the dryer. The girl loves to help her mama with laundry. She can be happily playing in her room, but will come running when it is time for her to "help." I can only wish that this love of "helping" will continue into the teenage years!

Another interesting thing happened the other night. It was time for Rachel to go to bed and as has been her routine lately, she was actively protesting that fact. I took her clothes off in the living room and then told her to take her clothes to her bedroom... since she loves taking things places, it seemed an easy way to lure her to her room! Anyway, she grinned, grabbed her clothes and ran for her room. I followed behind her at a bit of a distance...fully expecting to find the clothing laying on the floor of her room. But instead, as I walked in her room, I found her carefully placing her clothes in her hamper and then replacing the top of the hamper! I couldn't believe it!

It is just so much fun watching Rachel and seeing what all she is beginning to be able to do. Other than the occasional 2-year-old tantrums, this really is such a fun age!

A Family Picture

2007-03-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Why I love Seattle...

2007-03-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Greg on the ferry with Seattle in the background.

At our favorite Thai restaurant with cousins Debbie & Terry, and our Aunt Sandy... this restaurant is on Whidbey Island. It is on a bluff with beautiful views of the Sound.

My good friend, Colleen... and Linlee!

Rachel and Linlee loved playing together every week.

Greg at Deception Point... a beautiful part of Whidbey Island.

So Greg and I have news! We are moving back to Seattle in August! We had planned to stay in Texas for at least 2 years when we first moved here, but for health insurance reasons (long story!) and my heart problem, I need to be back in Washington as soon as possible. So really, the decision to go back has been made for us.

I have mixed emotions about the move... really for just one reason. It is really hard for us to leave our family members that live near us right now. In fact, I actually cried when we told my brother and his family that we were moving back. We moved to Texas primarily because my dad was sick and I was homesick for my family. And while I love Washington State, I know I will once again miss my family here. Life is just complicated like that sometimes. Hopefully we will all make an effort to visit each other occasionally and talk on the phone fairly often.

So that is the reason I feel sad.

BUT... I have to say, I absolutely love Seattle! I love the clean air... I love that it doesn't have excessively hot summers... I love ferry boats... I love that there are so many things to do there... I love the ocean and the mountains... I love the friends and family we have in Washington... I love the TALL trees! There are just so many reasons to love the Pacific Northweat... and for those reasons, I'm excited to get back up there!

Talking

2007-03-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

Rachel has been talking more and more lately. She pretty much repeats whatever we say to her. And she also is coming up to us and saying things to us. Problem is... we often have no idea what she is saying! Most of the time, she will continue repeating herself for a while and then give up. But sometimes she becomes frustrated. That is hard because I've so looked forward to when she would start talking to us, but now that she is, it does lead to frustration for her (and us). Hopefully soon we'll get better at figuring out what she is saying.

Some things are very clear, though! The other day Greg was driving through a shopping center parking lot and passed a pizza place that we like. From the backseat we heard Rachel say "Pizza!" I didn't know she could say pizza! So of course, I was excited and asked her to say it again...which she did. Unfortunately this led to her becoming upset, though... because we did not go eat pizza as she had hoped.

Tonight we went to dinner at a Chinese buffet. At the end of the meal, I got a piece of chocolate cake for myself and a couple of small cookies for Rachel. After a little while, Rachel looked at me and said "And now.....(dramatic pause) CAKE!" And then she opened her mouth and sat expectantly waiting for me to put a bite of cake in her mouth. Cute! And yes, she did get a bite (or several!) of cake.

She has gotten very good about saying "thank you" and I have started working with her on saying "please" when she asks for something. And so she has enthusiastically started saying "cheese" instead! And it always makes me laugh.

So we are enjoying this increase in talking that Rachel is having. She still isn't saying a lot of sentences...and much of her "talking" still sounds a lot like babbling with a few words inserted here and there. Greg and I wonder if this is normal for a child her age. But we aren't worried about it. I'll actually miss the babbling... that has just been such a Rachel trademark since the day we first met her. I'll also miss other things... like how she calls all bears "Doy." I think I'll be really sad when she starts actually saying "bear."

Funny Face

2007-03-10T19:33:00.000-08:00

This is Rachel's new "camera face." Lately, when she first sees me point a camera in her direction, she immediately freezes. Then her eyes get this big "deer in the headlights" look and she plasters on a stiff smile. I will take the picture and quite often she will then run to look at the picture on the camera's screen and say "Tachel!" Then after the initial first shot, she relaxes and I can get some better shots... sometimes. Not tonight, though. We were on our way out the door for church and she was very intent on "herding" her parents out the door already! She is a girl who likes to GO!

Playing Outside

2007-03-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

The weather has been beautiful lately and the temperatures are in the upper 70s. Perfect weather for playing on the balcony outside!

Peek-a-Boo!

2007-03-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

We're All Okay

2007-03-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a few emails from people asking if everything is okay because I've not updated the blog in a while. And yes... everything is okay. In my last post I talked about how great I had felt for a couple of days... but unfortunately, things went a bit downhill in this past week. Mostly just side effects from the medicines I have to take... and starting today I'm now doubling the dose of the worst medication. Hoping that I'll adjust quickly to the increased dose.

Yesterday was an interesting day for us. I had to have outpatient surgery yesterday... and we were unable to get someone to stay with Rachel for the day. So Greg's mom came with us so that she could help Greg take care of Rachel in the waiting room. Definitely not our first choice to have Rachel with us...but you know, she and Grandma did great! I packed a bag with various toys and treats and she apparently did very well. And it was a LONG day! We left home at 6:30 a.m. and did not get discharged from the hospital until around 8:30 p.m. The surgery went fairly well, except the anesthesiologist had some trouble doing the spinal block. Yes, he actually inserted a needle into my spine and then decided he didn't like the location. So he took it out and started all over...inserting another needle! I was not very happy with him. Then for some reason, the block apparently didn't work well, and they needed to give me massive doses of IV anesthesia, too... they told Greg after the surgery that I started having a lot of pain in the middle of the surgery. Thankfully I have no memory of any of that! Anyway, I'm glad that is behind me and I'm feeling much better today.

Oh, and there was another "parenting adventure" yesterday. We were finally in the car on the way home from the hospital. It is about an hour drive from where we live to the hospital... and about 2 bocks into the drive, Rachel threw up! Yes, she did something similar in the car almost a year ago...and for a long time after that, I always kept extra clothing and other emergency items in the car with us. Well, I've never needed to use those items and now that Rachel is 2-1/2, I'd stopped keeping things like that in the car. Big mistake. So here I was, recovering from surgery, but standing outside wiping vomit off Rachel and her clothing and her carseat. We then went to Target to get her something dry to wear. I'm sure I was quite the sight... full of pain meds and wobbling around Target in cropped pants and sandals...but with these ugly white knee-high stockings they told me to wear for 24 hours after the surgery to protect me from blood clots... and I had on no makeup and had terrible bed-head hair and two neon-colored hospital bracelets on my wrist. I just didn't think much of it at the time... I just wanted to get Rachel out of her wet clothing and warm again. Thinking about it today... well, let's just say I'm glad it is not the Target I typically shop at!

We finally made it home around 10:00 and all collapsed into bed. I don't think my own bed ever felt so good!

Oh, and I think I'll start keeping extra clothing/blankets/supplies in our car again...lesson learned!

Thanks to everyone who emailed me... I'll be writing back later today. For now... I think I need aother nap! :)

Feeling Good, update & a Funny!

2007-02-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

It has been such a wonderful weekend! I have felt GREAT! I mean, like better than before I started my treatment for my heart! Funny how you take feeling good for granted until you have been sick for a while... and suddenly you really appreciate how wonderful it is to feel good. This weekend it is like I've turned a corner and I have more energy, I don't feel like I'm going to pass out every time I stand up, I can walk across the room without getting out of breath. I actually bathed Rachel, cleaned her room, cleaned the kitchen, and did several loads of laundry today. I also played with Rachel and actually forgot that my heart is "sick". I even made Greg set up the tripod so we could take some family pictures! Greg's mom came over and multiple times she commented that it was nice to see me looking so good, especially after how sick I was last week. So I'm enjoying this right now. I have a week left and then next week the doctor is doubling my medications. And that will make me feel sick again. But now I know to keep in mind that even if I feel sick next week, it won't last forever. I just have to give it a few weeks and then I should start feeling better again. I can do this... and it is good to really know that. I had moments in the last couple of weeks when I wasn't so sure. This is a better place to be.

Update on my heart: I had that test a couple of weeks ago to see if I'm at high risk for sudden cardiac death... and found out this past week that the test came back positive showing that I am at risk. But... when they did the test, my resting heart rate was 127(!) and so the doctor said he is not sure how valid the results are. Because of this, he is going to try to up the doses of my medications a bit faster than previously planned... and he is going to re-do all of the original testing in April rather than waiting until August as previously planned. Based on how those tests come out, he'll make a decision on whether I should have an automatic defibrillator implanted in my chest. I feel disappointed that the test did not show me as low risk for sudden death... but also relieved that my doctor is going to do all the re-testing earlier than planned so we can see if there is any improvement and to be 100% sure it is necessary before having a defibrillator implanted. And while I don't want to have a defibrillator... gosh, I'm so glad that there is such a thing if it turns out that it could save my life! So... for now, we wait. And we think positive thoughts.

And finally, for the funny: Today Rachel shut the door to her room and then was unable to open it again. So she came running to Greg saying "Help! DOG! Help! DOG!" Greg went with her to see what was wrong and opened her bedroom door for her. Rachel rushed in, grabbed dog, and began "consoling" him. Hmmm... seems she was acting out the drama that took place here the other night when we were not able to get her door open and she became so frightened! :) Funny how kids remember and process events. And even more fun to watch as she plays "mommy" to her Red Dog. Yes, she makes me smile every day!

Photo Challenge... Gimme a G!

2007-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

The photo challenge from Double Happiness this weeks is brought to you by the letter G! Yes... I have been assigned the letter G and I have to post 10 pictures of things I love that start with the letter G:

GOD

Greg...

Girls... as in my girl, Rachel!

Good Friends!

Giraffes!

Gymboree!

Good night time

Gingersnaps!

Gophers...

Grins!

Dinner's Ready!

2007-02-22T13:32:00.000-08:00

Adjusting to all of these heart failure medications has not been easy for me. I actually ended up at the hospital this weekend on IV fluids due to a stomach bug made worse by medications that already had me dehydrated. Not fun at all. And one of the hardest things for me has been keeping up with things around home. My energy level is just too low right now to do everything that I'm used to doing, which is extremely frustrating for me. One of the things that has been especially hard has been cooking dinner at night. And it has always been important to me to have a hot meal at night for my family.

Another blogger wrote about something called Dream Dinners where you can go prepare several meals at one time to bring home and freeze...and I was intrigued. Then Greg's mom mentioned something called Super Suppers that her sister in California uses... and it seemed to be the same sort of place. So I checked it out and we have both of those places right here in the Dallas area. Super Suppers is really close, so Greg and I checked them out today. Greg watched Rachel while I prepared a few meals. It was actually fun! All of the ingredients are already cut up/prepared at the cooking stations... you just follow the posted instructions, put the meals together, cover and bring them home. Then they do all the clean up after you leave! Gotta love that! We walked out with meals for the next 6 days... and I was so happy I just wanted to cry. Dinner's ready!

An Only Child

2007-02-21T13:57:00.000-08:00

Rachel is going to be an only child. And I have such mixed feelings about that. Before Greg and I moved to Texas, we had decided that we would pursue an adoption from Korea once we were all moved in and settled. The move was stressful. My dad's death was more stress. The garlic fiasco... well, that was a disaster. We decided we couldn't even think about the possibility of another adoption any time soon. But then there was still that lingering doubt... do we really want another child? We aren't getting any younger...so we better not wait too long. Rachel is 2...and we don't want a huge age difference. But we just weren't sure what we wanted to do, so we have done nothing. And then I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy - and the decision really is no longer ours to make. There will be no more children. Rachel will be an only child. And I just don't know how I feel about that.

I know I feel completely satisfied with just Rachel. She is perfect for us and we have a great life together, just the three of us. I think where I feel concern is I wonder how it will be for her... growing up as an only child. I know as a child, there were many times I would have loved for my brother to disappear! I would not have had to fight over who got to ride in the front seat of the car, who got to pick which cartoon we'd watch on Saturday morning, etc. But I also would have missed out on so much. My brother taught me how to drive. He stood up for me a few times when kids picked on me on the playground. He was there with me when we buried both of our parents. I'm so grateful to have my brother. And Rachel won't have that. For that, I guess I'm feeling sad.

But only child or not, I know my daughter will always be surrounded by people who love her. She has a lot of extended family who love her...and I have no doubt she will have many friends throughout her life - because, really, that is who she is. She just seems to know how to draw people in. She has been blessed with amazing "people-skills" that really, Greg and I do not possess ourselves! And I know that those people-skills will ensure that while she is an only child, she'll never feel alone. For that, I feel so thankful.

Panic!

2007-02-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

When we decided to move from Washington to Texas last fall, we went online and chose an apartment sight-unseen. It was a risk. But we figured anything would be fine for the first year and well, we got lucky! I love our apartment! One of the things I especially like are the attention to details when it comes to such things as crown molding, fixtures, and interior doors. Oh, I especially loved the doors when we finally saw our apartment... nice, heavy 6-panel doors. Such a nice touch...
...Until tonight.

Tonight Rachel was having a particularly difficult time falling asleep. I had already been in to check on her once and she was still crying loudly. So I asked Greg to go check on her. After a few seconds I heard a lot of banging... and much louder crying... and then Greg came back and said Rachel's door would not open! What??? I went to check and sure enough, that door was not budging! We tried opening the door with a credit card. We used kitchen knives and screwdrivers on that door. The door was not locked...we could hear the lock going in and out as we wiggled a knife in the lock, but the knob was jammed and would not turn. We threw our bodies against the door...and still, it would not open. And Rachel became more and more hysterical as she realized that we couldn't get to her. She started screaming "mama!" And it just broke my heart. I started singing to her and she calmed down... but if I stopped for even a moment, she started screaming. And every time she heard her daddy attempt to get in the door, she screamed even more.

Greg called the emergency maintenance and told them the situation... and within minutes we heard someone running up the stairs and down the hall to our apartment. It felt like such a long time, but he did finally get the door open. They will be returning tomorrow to fix the now broken door (that I used to think was so pretty!).

I picked Rachel up from her crib and she was soaking with sweat and tears and literally shaking. I know she must have felt so afraid... but she calmed down quickly and is now sound asleep. And my own adrenaline rush is finally subsiding. Nothing like hearing your baby screaming for you and being unable to get to her! Of course, I knew she was not in any danger, but I hated that she was so scared.

Mystery Solved...

2007-02-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

Lately Rachel has been talking about her stuffed horse, especially during a certain part of the Wiggles where some children are galloping around in horse costumes. Also, lately, I've been finding her large stuffed horse abandoned halfway down the hall between her bedroom and the living room. Well, this morning, Rachel was bringing various stuffed friends out of her room to show me... she brought out "monk" (her monkey), and "puppy" (yeah... we are real original with names around here), and a few others. Finally, I told her to go get her horse. She immediately said "horse!" and ran for her room. I waited. And waited. Then I heard an "uh oh" coming from the hall. Greg looked to see what was happening and started laughing. Apparently, Rachel feels the need to "ride" her horse from the bedroom to the living room... by sitting on his back and scooting along the floor. And apparently she had lost her balance, fell off and hit her head on the wall. We got her to get back on the horse so I could snap a picture! She attempted to "ride him" into the living room, but got tired, gave up, and left him abandoned, once again, in the hall. And so now I know.

Poor Dog...

2007-02-14T21:35:00.000-08:00

He doesn't look very happy here... as Rachel has him in a choke-hold between

her knees while hugging (gasp!) another dog!!!

Yes... I'm afraid she is already stomping on hearts... or at least on Red Dog's heart.

A very sad moment for Red Dog.

Oh, but wait! Valentine Dog has been tossed aside... and it is all about Red Dog again!

Toddlers can be fickle, you know...

The two greatest loves of my life...

2007-02-14T19:44:00.000-08:00

Ahhh... the pillow guitar!

2007-02-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

Rachel newest passion is playing the "pillow guitar" while she dances around the room to the Wiggles! Yes, she grabs a throw pillow off the sofa, holds it like a guitar, and strums away while dancing and singing. It is the funniest thing to watch! Today she sat beside me on the sofa and we both played our pillow guitars and sang the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star...and Rachel surprised me by singing most of the words with me! These are the fun moments of being a mom...

Wild Card Photo Challenge: Moods

2007-02-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Patient...

Serious...

Awe-struck...

Mischievious...

Joy...

Donna and the girls at Double Happiness are not feeling well, so this week's photo challenge is "wild card." I decided to do "The Many Moods of Rachel." Hope you all feel better soon, Donna!

Yesterday

2007-02-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a tough day for me. I've debated about whether to blog about it... but then thought about the whole purpose of this blog. This blog is primarily for Rachel and for our family and friends so they can keep with what is going on with her and us. It is not an adoption blog anymore, but a blog about our family... and a keepsake for Rachel to have someday. And what is happening right now is a very significant event in our family.

I was having some side effects from my medicine yesterday that I wasn't sure were normal and called the nurse...who told me to come in to see the doctor. So we took Rachel to PlayCare and Greg and I went to see the doctor. He wasn't too concerned about the side effects, but was concerned that my heart rate still has not slowed down...and so gave me another medication to add to my collection of bottles. In all now, I'm taking 6 different pills every day. That is a lot of pills for me... someone who hates to even take ibuprofen for a headache. While we were there, we had a chance to ask the doctor more questions about my condition. We found out that the type of cardiomyopathy that I have is called primary dilated cardiomyopathy - though I'm fortunate that in my case, my heart hasn't greatly enlarged... only a bit of thickening has happened and we hope to halt that process with medication. I know my heart is "failing", and I asked him what my odds are of going into full congestive heart failure and he said the odds are pretty good that that will happen. He said that the goal of the medications I'm taking is to try to prevent that and to keep me out of the hospital. But he also reminded me that he can not make predictions until the next big round of tests in 6 months that will show what direction my heart is going... and that since I am young, there is also a good chance that the meds will work and I'll get better. We just don't know what will happen.

Last night I did some more reading about dilated cardiomyopathy and read that in most cases, the patient dies within 5 years of diagnosis. It was just before bedtime when I read that... and I went to check on Rachel before going to bed, and as I stood there looking at my sweet baby girl sleeping in her crib... I just fell apart. It was incredibly hard for me to contemplate that I could die before she is even 7 years old. I guess my mind was just tired and I went to that "dark place" of imagining dying and leaving Greg and Rachel... and honestly, I just couldn't bear that thought. It was a rough evening.

And now, this morning, I'm feeling better. It is a beautiful day. Rachel is up and happily dancing to the Wiggles. And I think I'll see if Greg can take a break and maybe we can all go to the park for a while. I'm going to try to start focusing my energy on being positive, but I'll admit, it is hard sometimes. I'm frustrated right now that already, because of medicine side effects, I'm finding it hard to keep up with taking care of the house, and even getting Rachel bathed and dressed is tiring at times. I got out of breath folding a load of laundry and had to lie down. I get out of breath just walking across the room. I hate that. But my doctor told me that the side effects get better over time and that they will help prolong my life, and so I really have no choice but to take them. I guess I should be thankful for them. I'm working on that...

Rachel's Favorite "Hat"

2007-02-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

Making Progress!

2007-02-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

So I'm feeling pretty happy today... because I've now lost 15 pounds! When I think about it, I'm so happy that Greg and I started this "healthy eating" lifestyle before I was diagnosed with the cardiomyopathy. This way, I already have some success behind me and can feel really optimistic that I won't have trouble continuing to lose weight... which is important for my heart. Today we are getting an exercise bicycle so that I can start doing some exercise here at home. It is interesting how this whole heart issue works. I need to get more exercise, but I also need to get more rest. I need to get more exercise, but I have to take medication that causes nausea, and fatigue, as well as breathlessness and chest pain with much activity. The side effects should get better over time, though. I absolutely hate taking medication of any type...so I especially hate taking something that is making me feel bad when before, really, I didn't feel bad at all. But at the same time I know that if I don't treat this, I will die. Well, I guess that is incentive to take those pills!

Night Night

2007-02-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

I was feeling a bit tired this afternoon and lay down on the sofa. Rachel immediately got all of the blankets that she sleeps with and carefully covered me up with the blankets. Then she went to get Red Dog and Doy (Bear) and tucked them in with me... saying "Night Night!" She gave me a kiss and then went to her room. How cute is that?!

Photo Challenge: Sleeping Babies!

2007-02-02T17:32:00.000-08:00

The Double Happiness photo challenge this week is Sleeping Babies! This challenge was fun because I just think Rachel is so adorable when she is sleeping. She also sleeps so soundly that I really don't have to worry about waking her up when I snap a few pictures. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Rachel while sleeping:

Rachel at our hotel in China... 12 months old.

14 months old... look at those sweet cheeks!

18 months old... Rachel and her old friend, Red Dog!

19 months old...she was playing IN the gift bag and fell asleep!

24 months old... sleeping at our hotel in Dallas after the long trip down from Seattle.

Heart Update

2007-02-01T21:24:00.000-08:00

So I finally got through all the testing and had an appointment with the cardiologist to go over the results today. It was not the worst diagnosis... but it still is not good. He told me that I do have Primary Cardiomyopathy...which as I wrote before means that my heart is not able to properly pump blood to the rest of my body. There is no way to know what has caused this... he said that it may have been a virus that traveled to my heart and damaged it. It may also have been caused by lupus. We probably will never know for sure. And I guess it doesn't really matter.

What matters now is what are we going to do to fix it! Starting tomorrow I have three medications that I have to take...and I also have to check my blood pressure twice a day to be sure it is not getting too low. Apparently a couple of the meds lower blood pressure and since my bp is already on the low side of normal, we have to really watch to be sure it doesn't drop too much. Next week I'm having another test to be sure I'm not at high risk for something called "Sudden Cardiac Death." If that test shows I am at risk, then I will have to have an automatic defibrillator implanted in my chest. I really really do not want to have to do that! Of course, I also don't want to have sudden death. So... my vote is that we find out I'm not at high risk for that!

I'm dreading having to take the meds. The doctor told me that the meds would probably make me feel pretty bad for a few weeks and then I'll start to feel better. But about the time I start to feel better, he said he would probably need to increase the dosages and that would make me feel bad all over again. He said mainly I'll feel short of breath and extremely fatigued. NOT good side effects for the mom of an active 2-year-old! Over time, as they get the medication levels adjusted, I should start feeling better.

Gosh, I'm sounding all "gloom and doom." I'm sorry! It is just a lot to take in, I guess. One funny thing... the doctor was walking down the hall with us after our appointment and he mentioned that there are some "support groups" that I could go to. When Greg and I got in the car to leave I immediately told him that I wasn't going to any support group with a bunch of sick heart patients! Then I had to laugh, because I remembered my mom actually said that exact same thing when she was diagnosed with cancer and informed of the support groups she could attend. She immediately said "I'm not going to any support group with a bunch of sick people!" I guess I really am my mom's daughter!

So... here is the plan: Take meds, do some more testing, eat healthy, get some exercise, rest, limit salt, avoid caffiene, avoid any undue stress, and pray. Oh...and I'd sure appreciate any prayers/positive thoughts you could send my way!

Fun Facts About Rachel

2007-01-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

While we were waiting for Rachel I bought a baby book with the greatest of intentions of filling it completely with every milestone and lots of pictures. And it sits on a shelf. I suppose that this blog really has become the place where I record those milestones and memories I don't want to ever forget. So today I thought I'd write about some fun facts about Rachel:

Language: Rachel was really slow to start talking...so much so that I actually was worried for a while and she was in speech therapy. I still worry sometimes, as she still is showing some delays in communication. But she is making progress and it is so fun to watch! When someone is leaving, Rachel will say "Bye bye. See ya later!" And it just cracks me up every time to hear that little voice saying "see ya later!" She has also recently discovered the word "ow!" She will be playing in her room and then we'll hear "ow!" and she will come running out to report her various "injuries." One time she actually bumped her head on something on purpose just so she could say "Ow... head!" She is learning the different sounds that animals make and will even bend her arms and flap them like a duck as she says "quack quack!" She also has started saying "whoops" or "oh my!" when she drops something, trips, etc. I have no idea where the "oh my" came from...but it is funny to hear her say it. The other fun thing is listening to her try to sing along with songs! Even "grown up" songs that Greg and I will be listening to in the car... often we will hear Rachel suddenly start singing along. So fun!

Rachel was also very slow to start walking. She is a very cautious little girl and I guess she wanted to be very sure she wouldn't hurt herself before she decided to start walking. But she is actually running now...and dancing! She knows most of the dance moves on her "Wiggles" videos and will happily dance and sing along while watching her videos. When we take her to children's play areas at malls, she usually is hesitant at first. She will only venture out a little bit at first and then often will come running back to hug me and be sure I'm still there. She does quickly get comfortable and enjoys playing on all the toys. She is still afraid of slides. I'm not sure what that is about. The little girl who LOVES for her daddy to swing her in the air upside down is afraid of slides. Last time we were at a play place, she kept repeatedly going up the steps of the slide and then backing back down. She just couldn't get herself to take the plunge and go down the slide.

Her favorite toys: Red Dog is still the love of her life. She also loves her stuffed bear, "Doy." Both Dog and Doy must sleep with her every night. And NO other stuffed animal is allowed to sleep with her. She actually will become quite agitated if we try to toss another animal in bed with her at night! Favorite toys are her shopping cart, puzzles, books, and coloring books. She also enjoys playing with her dolls. Of course, the television remote, car keys, cell phones, my books and magazines... those are all favorites, too... though she doesn't get to play with them much!

She is very affectionate and often will run in the room just to give me or Greg a hug. If I've been gone for a little while and then come back, I'm greeted with "Yay! Mama! My mama!" and she will run to hug me and pat my back. She is also very much a daddy's girl. She loves to crawl up in his lap and snuggle...and seeks him out for tickles and fun.

But it is not all sunshine and sweetness around here. She definitely embraces the fact that she is TWO and has a mind of her own. She is not shy about letting us know when she is unhappy about something. She can throw herself down on the ground and have some impressive tantrums from time to time. Thankfully, this seems to be happening less often lately.

Life is definitely interesting with a toddler in the house!

Bye Bye Doy!

2007-01-27T08:41:00.000-08:00

We went to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Thursday so that Greg could go to a conference. That afternoon we took Rachel to the Tulsa Zoo. We practically had the entire zoo to ourselves! It was a cool day and there was still a lot of ice on the ground from the recent ice/snow storm. I guess a lot of people would have thought it was too cold for a zoo day, but we thought it was perfect!

The first animal we saw was a wonderful huge white polar bear. As I've mentioned before, Rachel calls ALL bears "Doy." She absolutely loved the polar bear. He was swimming and everytime he would swim away from us she would say "back Doy,", asking him to come back to us. When it was time to leave and go see other animals, she cried and said "bye bye Doy" several times. We then spent the next couple of hours seeing lots of other animals. Rachel would repeat their names back to us: duck, tiger, sheep, bird, monkey, elephant, snake, etc. She seemed to really enjoy seeing all of the animals. But as we left the zoo and walked out to our car, Rachel looked back, waved, and quietly said "bye bye, Doy." The polar bear obviously was her favorite!

Photo Challenge: Profiles

2007-01-26T09:16:00.000-08:00

The photo challenge from Donna at Double Happiness this week is: Profiles!

I actually have gotten a lot of "profile" pictures of Rachel because she has a habit of turning her head just as I snap a picture of her. I had fun going back through all of our photos looking for some favorite profile pictures! Here is what I found:

Meeting for the first time... Nanchang, China - September 25, 2005

October 8, 2005 - Flying home from China....safe in her daddy's arms.

At the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival... Rachel tries to eat a tulip.

Rachel and Greg... my two favorite profiles!

And finally, one of our engagement photos...October 2001

Our Funny Girl...

2007-01-24T13:42:00.000-08:00

Rachel and I were at the mall the other day and passed a photo studio with a sign on the window advertising a free 8x10. Rachel had been in an excellent mood all morning and looked cute - just dressed in everyday clothes, nothing fancy...and I decided it might be a good time to have her picture taken. I was right. Rachel actually let her little personality shine through for these pictures. At one point the photographer handed her a red heart to hold. Rachel immediately dropped the heart to the ground, put one foot on it and then made a "kissy" face! We couldn't stop laughing! The photographer loved that picture so much she asked me to sign a release so they could blow it up and use it as advertising in the store. Of course, as Greg said... he hopes this isn't a sign of things to come - Rachel stomping on a bunch of boy's hearts! :)

More Motivataion

2007-01-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

Greg and I have been doing great! (If you aren't aware of what we've been doing... click the DIET link on the side and you can read all about it.) We've been motivated and actually enjoying our new eating lifestyle. Really... I had all the motivation I needed. But I got a very healthy dose of extra motivation today.

I got some bad news today. My doctor's office called with the results of some tests I've recently had because of an irregular heartbeat...and I have a problem with my heart. To say I'm floored is an understatement. The nurse said the doctor thinks I have Restrictive Cardiomyopathy. This is not good news. Apparently what this means is that my heart has become very stiff and rigid for some reason...and now it is not able to fill with enough blood, and it also is not able to pump the blood out as well as it needs to. This condition leads to congestive heart failure. They want me to come back for an echocardiogram to try to determine what has caused this problem. There are several things that may have caused it: It may be a genetic issue that we are just discovering, I may have a problem with a valve (that hopefully they can treat with medication), or I may have had a virus that has managed to move into my heart and has caused damage. I got on the internet after getting this news (BAD idea) and read all kinds of things that really scared me. So... I'm not going to read anything else about it. I just need to go finish with this testing...talk to my doctor...and get a game plan together to take care of my heart. The good news is that I don't have any blocked arteries or anything like that! I was happy to hear that.

So what does this mean. Well... I'm going to be okay. I'm am determined that I will be OKAY! I will continue my healthy eating choices... I will pray (and pray some more!)... I will be positive. Even though my tendency has been to fear the worst, I am going to fight against that tendency. I have to be okay... so I will be okay. So bring on the grilled chicken, fruits & veggies... I'm gonna get healthy!

Rachel's Pirate Dance

2007-01-19T18:22:00.001-08:00

So this video may not be exciting to anyone but me and Greg... but I still needed to post it on Rachel's blog because, well, I love it! Rachel loves the Wiggles and lately has been asking to see one of their videos a couple of times each day. What is fun about this is that she has actually learned most of their dance steps and dances along with them... and even is starting to sing along! The girl I thought would never talk is actually trying to sing now! It is fun to hear her singing "quack quack cock-a-doodle-doo! along with the Wiggles. In this video, she is doing the Pirate Dance...and if you listen, you'll even hear her say "aargh" along with the pirates...

Shoes!

2007-01-19T18:15:00.000-08:00

Donna's photo challenge for this week is SHOES! Well, Rachel just loves shoes. I've never really been a "shoe person"... but my daughter definitely is! She doesn't care much for going shopping with me anymore, unless we are going to a shoe store. Last time I took her for some new shoes, she wanted to try on every pair in the store. And she had a meltdown when it was time to leave the store. Then the other day I was at a shoe store buying some shoes for myself. She was so interested in all of the shoes, even though they were not fun kid's shoes... and once again, she was very unhappy when it was time to leave the store.

For Christmas we got her a box of Disney Princess dress-up shoes... and she was in shoe heaven! At some point every day she is getting a pair of those shoes out and playing with them. She also loves all of her own shoes, but I think her favorite shoes would have to be her boots. Our niece, Alicia, learned while babysitting Rachel that the best way to get Rachel to stop crying is to put those boots on her! Rachel also loves taking her shoes (and socks) off and putting them back on... repeatedly. She will often do this when she gets bored while riding in her carseat.

So... she is a shoe lover. I wonder how that will be for us when she is a teenager! Greg already is not happy with the number of shoes Rachel has... as she has more shoes than either of us! Oh... and thanks a lot Donna... now Greg is going to see this picture of all of Rachel's shoes! :) He wonders why in the world she needs more than one pair...

A Request...

2007-01-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

I was having a conversation with my sister-in-law the other night and she was talking about a friend of hers who has two "adopted children", but is sad that they never had their "own child." I just couldn't help but feel a little sting, as Rachel was adopted, but she certainly is "my own!" Sure, I didn't give birth to her, but that is such a small part of the actual process of being a parent. I have vowed to love her forever as my child. I have wiped her nose and her tears. I have sat up at night with her when she has been sick. I have fed her, bathed her, hugged her, played with her, laughed and cried with her. I was there to watch her learn to crawl and take those first tentative steps. She is my little girl and I couldn't love her any more if I had given birth to her. So when I hear that, I feel a little sting. But I also feel concern...because I know that Rachel will be hearing people say things like that. And I don't ever want her to doubt for even a minute that she is our own.

Greg and I have a wonderful extended family and many friends who all love Rachel...and for that we are so thankful. So please know that this post is not a complaint, but simply a request. Greg and I are not the type of people who get all caught up in what is politically correct...and we are not easily offended when people say things that may not be considered okay in the adoption circles. We understand that sometimes people just say things and they mean no harm...they may have no idea that what they say may be hurtful. So... here is my request: When it comes to talking about Rachel, Greg and I refer to her simply as our daughter. Yes, she was adopted... but that was a legal process that is now behind us, and now she is just our daughter. Not our "adopted daughter." We just don't feel the need to add that qualifier. My request of my family is that she be referred to simply as your granddaughter, cousin, niece... Not your "adopted granddaughter", "adopted niece," etc. After all, she will be calling you grandma, uncle/aunt, cousin...and she will not be adding "adopted" to those words. She will simply be loving you and calling you HER family! :)

He Loves Me...

2007-01-16T15:33:00.000-08:00

Today I have been feeling out of sorts. Just not in a great mood. Everything is bugging me. I want to pull the covers back over my head and try again tomorrow... yes, that kind of day. And I've even felt a bit aggravated with Greg because he doesn't seem to "get" what I'm telling him is my problem.... but you know what, he does "get" me. While Rachel was napping this afternoon, I took a long hot shower which really helped...and when I got out of the shower, these flowers were waiting for me. He got me flowers. So while he may not fully understand every little thing I might be feeling (and really, I shouldn't expect that of anyone!), he does understand me and knows how to show me he loves me... no matter what! Hey Greg... I love you!

The "Nigh Nigh" game...

2007-01-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

One of Rachel's favorite activities is to pretend to go "night night" whenever she is on the sofa in the living room. She will work hard to get the pillow positioned just right, and then she will grab the covers and lay down and say "Ahhhh... nigh nigh" and close her eyes very briefly. And the she grins, gets up, and starts the whole process all over again. Yes... she makes me smile...

Staying Healthy for Rachel

2007-01-14T18:25:00.000-08:00

Greg and I read that book "You on a Diet" and started on a "healthy eating plan" a week ago...and we are doing really well! We had a bit of a medical "wake-up call" this week which has just made us all the more motivated. Funny how things happen sometimes. Anyway, we actually started a blog to journal (and probably rant on the hard days!) and didn't plan to really make it all that public... though I have found that people are already discovering it! So... I figured I'd just post about it here and invite whoever would like to come visit to come on over and check it out. We could use all the support and encouragement we can get! Here is the link: http://annegregonadiet.blogspot.com/ and I'll also put a link on the side bar. And hey...if anyone else is doing something similar and is blogging about it, I'd love to come check out how you are doing. We could start a bloggy support group! :)

More Elmo Pictures...

2007-01-13T14:46:00.000-08:00

...because I just can't help myself!

"Doy...meet Elmo. Elmo...meet the Doy chair!"

Note: Rachel calls ALL bears "Doy"! In fact, today she and Greg had a disagreement over whether it is "Winnie the Pooh" or "Winnie the Doy"! Too funny!

Rachel Loves Elmo

2007-01-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

At 15 months old... look how little she was!

Just after her 2nd Birthday.

In her Elmo nightgown while training with Alicia for her teenage years!

Today: Elmo is about to get a KISS!

Okay Mom... Enough pictures already!

The Double Happiness photo challenge for this week is: Elmo! So this was an easy one for us because Rachel loves Elmo! We have some Elmo videos, a stuffed Elmo, an Elmo bath toy, Elmos books, an Elmo toy that plays different songs that Rachel loves to dance with, and more. Rachel even has some Elmo clothing! I had said that I wouldn't be buying character-themed clothing...but when you see your child's eyes light up at the sight of an Elmo shirt, you can't help but give in! Here are a few pictures of Rachel with Elmo...from last year to today:

Rachel's Room

2007-01-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

When we were waiting to adopt Rachel I spent a lot of time setting up her room. It was fun and a great way to pass the time during the long wait. I often would sit in the rocking chair and imagine what it would be like to have my little girl home. The pictures above show what her room looked like before she came home. And I actually thought her room would continue to look like this...

But here is what her room looks like now!

And this is just one corner of her room! As you can see, Rachel trashes her room on a daily basis. She plays with her stuffed animals. She looks at her books. She plays with her dolls and has them go "night-night" in their crib. She watches a little Noggin on television. She plays with stickers and colors. She rolls her shopping cart around and pretends to shop. She climbs on everything! She just has a wonderful time. And so really, this is what her room should look like! No... it is not pretty. But there is plenty of time for that when she is older. Her job now is to play and have fun. And well, maybe learn to help mommy pick up all of her toys each night!

But then at night... well... this is what I see when I go in her room. And she is exactly who I was waiting for and dreaming about during the long wait to bring her home!

ABC's About Me!

2007-01-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

Donna's blog had this fun little ABC's About Me questionnaire, so I decided to play along!

A - available or taken: Taken!
B- best friend: Greg
C- cake or pie: Definitely Cake!
D- drink of choice: Diet Coke, but I am trying to like water more!
E-essential item you use everyday: Diapers.... and my computer.
F-favorite color: Red
G-gummy bears or worms: Bears
H-hometown: Born in Baton Rouge, grew up in Monroe, LA, my heart is still in Seattle, currently living in Dallas.
I-indulgence: Chocolate
J-January or February: January... I like the relaxed feeling of the holidays being over.
K-kid's names: Rachel Elizabeth (28 months)
L-life incomplete without: God and my family.
M-marriage date: January 3, 2002
N-number of siblings: 1 brother, 2 step-sisters.
O-oranges or apples: Apples
P-phobias or fears: Flying stinging insects.
Q-favorite quote: I don't have one... how sad is that?
R-reason to smile: Thinking about how much I love my husband and daughter...oh, and chocolate!
S-season: In Dallas, the Fall because I know we are about to get a break from the heat. In Seattle, Summer... not much rain, warmer and beautiful!
T-tag 3 people: If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged!
U-unknown fact about me: I'm not telling! :)
V-veggie I don't like: Lima Beans
W-worst habit: I worry WAY more than I should about everything!
X-xrays: I've had a few...
Y-your favorite food: Chicken Marsala and breadsticks with Alfredo Sauce from Olive Garden. And yes, it has to be the Olive Garden!
Z-zodiac: Libra

Feeling thankful for...

2007-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

...my family! Yesterday Greg and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. If you've been reading this blog for long, you know that we've had some hard times this year with my dad's illness and death, and the "garlic fiasco" during our move. I found myself feeling a bit down during the holidays... but then last night Greg and I got to go out on a much needed "date" while his mom and sisters babysat Rachel. And then today I took this series of photos of Greg and Rachel... and looking that them tonight, I can't tell you the sense of peace, love, and security that came over me. This is my family! I can't wait to see what the next five years bring...and the next five...and the next five. I think I'm feeling better now... :)

I Got the Potty Training Blues!

2007-01-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Rachel is becoming more and more interested in potty training. We have gone through several spurts of attempting to work on potty training... she would show interest and then would have no interest and so we wouldn't worry about it for a while. Recently, though, she has learned to say "poo poo" and knows that she needs to go to the "pot pot".

So tonight I was reading her a book before bed when she got very hyper and got out of my lap and sat on the floor and smiled at me. I smiled back and waited to see what she was going to do. Suddenly she looked at me and said "poo poo!" I asked her if she wanted to go to the "pot pot" and she jumped up and ran for her bathroom. I followed her, got her diaper off and she sat down. Within seconds she stood up and looked in her pot. Nothing there. I told her to sit back down. She sat down and again, within seconds she stood up and looked in the pot. I told her that there was no "poo poo" and at that moment I heard a "plop" and looked down to see that she had pooped on the floor. Oops! I told her to sit down on her pot so I could clean it up... and as she turned to get back on her pot, she stepped right in the poop. Oh no. So I took her foot and was trying to wipe the poop off of it when she suddenly reached down and grabbed a handful of poop! Ick!!! As I reached for her arm to get to her hand to wipe it, she suddenly grabbed MY hand and spread the poop into MY Hand. Okay... now I was not doing so well. At the same time, she put her foot back in the remaining poop on the floor and began smearing it around the floor. I said "NO" and she jerked up to look at me and I knew that I had screwed up! So I quickly softened my voice and started telling her what a good job she had done to tell me she needed to poo poo and I'm proud of her... and so on. She grinned. Finally I get her cleaned up and in the meantime she also peed in her pot.,..and I praised her for that. I then went to the sink and began washing my hands. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rachel reach down and pick up her pot with the pee in it. Oh... please... no! But she walked very purposefully to the big toilet and I saw that she was going to empty her pot into the toilet! I said "Good job Rachel, just dump it in the big potty!" She took her pot and instead of just dumping it in the bowl, she began wildly shaking it spraying her pee all over the bathroom. I sighed. She then grinned at me with that adorable little face and said "Sticka?"

And of course she got a sticker... because really, this is huge progress. She finally has the language to tell me when she needs to use the potty... and is interested in doing that. And that is huge. But I do have to say, I'm not all that good about dealing with things like poop! Really... I'm just not! So tonight, after I tucked my baby girl in bed and kissed her and Dog goodnight... I went to clean her bathroom that smelled like a truckstop.... and I told Greg I'm not so sure I'm going to survive potty training.

Greg finds this all incredibly funny, by the way... and tells me to be thankful that she didn't eat the poop while it was in her hand. Okay... for that I truly am thankful!

Oh No.

2006-12-31T12:56:00.000-08:00

Last night I went in to check on Rachel like I always do before Greg and I went to bed for the night. Well... THIS is what I found! Her nice warm blue PJs were off and towards the end of her bed...and as cold as it was, she was in nothing but a diaper. And thank goodness she still had that diaper on! She apparently had gotten a little chilled because she had attempted to cover herself with one of her blankets. All I can say is "Oh No!" I think we are starting a new phase of "development"... and I'm scared. Greg says we need to get some duct tape for her diapers so we can rest assured that at least those will stay on at night!

The Wedding

2006-12-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

Jamie, Mitchell, Harry, and Sean

Sheldon and Clare

Rachel playing with the cute little appetizer fork.

Alicia & Chauncey

Rachel with her cousins

Greg's brother got married on Thursday. It was a long day for Rachel, but she did okay. Weddings are tough for a 2-year-old. It was at her grandma's house and she just didn't understand why she was not allowed to run around and chatter loudly like she typically does at Grammy's house. She probably also did not understand why suddenly she was not the center of attention! And it is really hard to explain to a 2-year-old that she needs to be quiet now. So... I stood at the back prepared to remove her if needed. She munched on crackers for a while. She played with Alicia's cell phone and a napkin. But she did become progressively restless. When she suddenly got frustrated and crumpled a cracker down Greg's shirt I knew it was time for us to go take a walk. I hated to miss the end of the ceremony, but I didn't want Rachel to have a meltdown in the middle of Sheldon & Clare's wedding. After the ceremony, the photographers then moved us all around taking pictures. Rachel did fairly well with that, but not great. Finally it was time to drive over to the restaurant for the reception dinner. It was at a wonderful Italian restaurant in Dallas... and I can't remember the name! But it was very upscale. So much so that they did not even have highchairs because, really, it was not the kind of place you bring a baby. The waiter walked to a hamburger joint nearby and brought us a highchair. Rachel ate garlic bread for her meal. Not all that balanced, but again, there really was not a lot of kid-friendly choices. And hey, she was thrilled with her basket of garlic bread! I also gave her bites of my chicken. My new sister-in-law is from England and has two little boys, Harry and Jamie, ages 5 and 7. The boys are absolutely adorable and have great accents! And they fit right in with Sheldon's son, Mitchel, who is 6. All of the boys were very interested in Rachel and had a lot of fun talking and playing with her. It will be fun getting together with them over the years. While the age difference is really noticeable now, as time goes by it won't be a big deal and I think they will all become good friends. Above are just a few random photos from the day.

Photo Challenge - "Then and Now"

2006-12-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

Donna's photo challenge this week is "Then and Now". In this challenge we were to take our referral photos of Rachel and then take photos now to compare how she has changed. The goal was to have the pose and clothing in the "now" pictures be similar to the referral pictures. So... we got her wearing something red and with similar facial expressions. Obviously we couldn't get a current picture of Rachel in a baby-walker as she is a big 2-year-old now, so we just got a picture of her playing with some of the toys she enjoys now.

It is amazing how fast they grow. I remember looking for the first time at her referral pictures 1-1/2 years ago and being amazed that she would be my little girl. I couldn't wait to meet her and see who she was... and I remember thinking that she looked like she had a fun little personality. I thought she was beautiful and I also noticed that she had a little quirky lop-sided smile and it made me smile. I was right about her personality. Rachel is such an outgoing and friendly little girl. She loves her family and friends and is always excited to see them. She loves to "entertain" others and receive applause. As her pediatrician in Washington said, she has already mastered her "People Skills"...well, except for sharing. But she IS two! I could probably learn a lot from her, as I tend to be a lot quieter and less extroverted than Rachel. Oh...and she still has the quirky smile and it still makes me smile whenever I see it.

The Wedding Cake

2006-12-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

Today is Greg's brother's wedding. And I made the wedding cake! Yes... that is right. I actually MADE the wedding cake! Have I ever made a wedding cake before? No. Will I ever offer to make a wedding cake again? Ummm.... NO.

Let's just say that yesterday was just a tad stressful. First we had the issue of not having any bowls quite big enough for mixing up the amount of cake batter needed for a larger than normal cake. I solved that issue. I mixed it up in three batches and got the layers in the oven. Then... well, I turned on the oven light to check on the progress of the layers... and found that one of them had billowed up like a mushroom and it had what looked like two golf balls popping out of the middle. Hmmmm....that's not good. Then two other layers were overflowing the pans. It was a continual waterfall of cake batter down into the bottom of our oven. Oops! I re-read the directions for making the cake and I really had followed all of the directions! I had no idea why that was happening. All I could think was that the cake was NOT going to be okay and I'd better find a Plan B and FAST. So I got on the phone and called about four bakeries... and when they heard the wedding was scheduled the next day, they said they could not help me. I pleaded with a couple of grocery store bakeries to just sell me some plain, un-iced layers... but they would not do it. I was totally freaking out. I told Greg to call his brother and ask him just how important a traditional wedding cake was to his bride. Greg refused and said to just wait and see what happened with the layers in the oven. Meanwhile, I had visions of showing up with a sheet cake and having my new sister-in-law hate me forever.

Well, the cake actually turned out just great! The oven is a disaster... but the layers cooked evenly and flattened back out nicely. I had to trim the tops a bit...but you usually do have to do that with a cake like this. So I got it iced... assembled the layers... added the silk flowers... added the topper... and woo hoo! It's a wedding cake!!! Greg's sister, Julianne, helped me with the flowers and then we transported it to Greg's mom's place late last night, as that is where the wedding will be today. And I breathed a sigh of relief to have it out of my sight and to no longer be responsible for it.

Lesson learned. If you want me to make a cute kid's cake or a pretty birthday cake... I can do that. But if you want a wedding cake, I'm SO not the one to call! :)

Piano Duet

2006-12-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

Sean and Rachel enjoyed playing the piano together on Christmas morning. Sean is actually a very good little pianist. Rachel, well, she enjoyed banging on the keys. She had a great time. Sean was very patient, but you can tell that he was getting a bit tired of his pesky little cousin banging the keys as he played Pachelbel's Canon.

i-Robot

2006-12-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

So what am I doing right now? Oh... sitting on the sofa writing a blog entry AND vacuuming at the same time! That is right... I have a new best friend! Meet i-Robot, the Roomba Vacuum. Greg got me this cute little guy for Christmas and let me just say I am thrilled! He is RED, he is cute, and he is doing a great job on our carpet... I just have to supervise. Rachel is not too sure about him, though. She runs to Greg and asked to be picked up everytime the robot comes near her. But I love him! Now... where is the robot that can cook, wash dishes, and change diapers?

Santa was HERE!

2006-12-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

Or in Rachel's own words: "Oooooh!" and "WOW!" and "Thanks!"

Woo Hoo! SHOES!

2006-12-25T08:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

Alicia, Sean, and Rachel in the backseat on the way to Weatherford.

Rachel supervising John as he keeps the fire going.

Rachel with her Aunt Linda.

Rachel with her Uncle David and cousin, Abbey.
Cousins: Abbey, John, Sean, Alicia, & Rachel

Today we met some of Greg's side of the family at the Blue Mesa Grill for Brunch... then we brought Alicia and Sean with us out to my brother's house for dinner. It was such a fun day and being with our family really helped make my "blues" disappear. Rachel did exceptionally well...considering she did not get a nap today.

When we came home tonight, she was SO tired! I got her in her Christmas PJs and then sat on the bed in her room with her in my lap and began reading one of her books to her. She lay her head on my shoulder and kind of whimpered. I stopped reading and asked her if she'd like to skip the story tonight and just go "night night"... and she immediately jumped out of my lap and happily ran to her crib. I put her in bed and she kissed me on the cheek as I bent over to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight, and when I said "I love you" she responded "Ah-ru" and blew me a kiss.

Yeah... it was a great day!

The Shopping Cart Incident

2006-12-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

We gave Rachel another early Christmas present. Yeah...We figured that she'd just be overwhelmed getting ALL of her gifts on Christmas... so maybe we should spread them out a bit. Oh... okay, the truth is, I just couldn't wait! So after her nap today, she was surprised and thrilled to find this little red shopping cart full of "groceries" waiting for her in the living room. She ran to it and began looking it over and saying "WOW!" repeatedly. She LOVED it! It was so much fun to watch her play with it. She put Red Dog in the child's seat and walked around pretending she was the mommy at the grocery store.

Okay...and this is where I did something really bad. Yes... I decided to let her see what being the mommy at the grocery store is really like sometimes. So I "helped" dog to turn around in his seat and start reaching down into the cart, grabbing at various items. Rachel seemed a little concerned. Then Dog picked up an item and tossed it to the floor. The first few times he did this, Rachel just picked the items up and put them back in the cart. Then she became a bit more frustrated and said "OH NO!" when Dog tossed another item to the floor. She then grabbed dog and said "No!" Greg and I were feeling a little too much glee in watching this, I think....so we stopped torturing Rachel and sat back and just enjoyed watching her play happily with her new toy.

A little while later Greg heard Rachel in the hall saying "Oh NO! No No Dog! No NO! DOG!" He got up to see what the problem was and found that the cart had turned over and she was actually BLAMING DOG! Greg got the cart back upright for her. Rachel picked up a couple of items, then walked over and yelled at Dog again. Then she picked up a few more items and then walked over and yelled at Dog again! Dog was really getting scolded! I walked over to talk to Rachel and helped her pick up her groceries. Once everything was back in the cart, she picked up Dog and hugged and kissed him. We were quite relieved to see that the cart incident didn't do lasting damage to their relationship!

We are considering enrolling Rachel in an "Anger Management" course...

Cousins are FUN!

2006-12-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

Rachel's cousin, Sean, flew in from Kansas yesterday to spend Christmas with his family here in Texas. Rachel was a little shy at first, but quickly warmed up and had a great time playing with Sean. We went out to dinner and it was so cute to see Sean and Rachel holding hands as we walked from the restaurant to our car. I wish I had been able to get a picture of that... but here are a few pictures I did get. Rachel actually posed for the camera in a couple of these, which is a first for her.

Homesick

2006-12-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling a little bit like Scrooge this year. I don't really know what is up with me, but I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit. Which is sad, because anyone who knows me knows that I look forward to Christmas every year. I usually love baking cookies, shopping for gifts, decorating our home, seeing Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music. But this year is different. I think a big part of it is that this is my first Christmas without either of my parents. My mom died when I was 24, and my dad died this past August. And I guess I am just missing them a bit. My dad's death seems to have brought back some of the pain I experienced when I lost my mom, so it is kind of a double whammy to me emotionally. And so I've been kind of dragging around...feeling a bit homesick and sad. And I know this is normal and it will get easier. And I'm also SO very thankful for the family that I do have...for my husband and daughter. Greg is truly my soulmate. He "gets" me when others don't. He is loving, patient, supportive...he is my rock. And Rachel... well, she makes me laugh on a daily basis. She is funny, affectionate, and just adorable and I love her like I never imagined would be possible. So while I do miss my parents this holiday season, I do know that I have so very much to be thankful for. In fact, just looking at this picture of Rachel makes me feel "home" again.

Rachel's New Dog

2006-12-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

My brother and his family gave Rachel a new dog for Christmas this year.

A HUGE new dog!

This dog is bigger than Rachel. To show you just how big this new dog is, I put him in Rachel's bed with her. Like I said... he is HUGE! And Rachel loves him! Thanks David, Linda, John, & Abbey!

Oops!

2006-12-17T13:50:00.000-08:00

Lately Rachel has started to enjoy playing in her room independently. It has been a little strange for me, but good. I think it is a good sign that she is now secure enough to want to play in her room rather than having to be right beside me all day long. Of course, the downside for me is that she literally trashes her room on a daily basis! She pulls out most of her books to look at, she pulls socks and panties out of their baskets on the changing table and tries to put them on. She scatters her blocks, dolls, stuffed animals, etc. all over the floor. And she has a great time! And now I know why parents always tell their kids to go clean their room! I'll be glad when Rachel is able to clean her room by herself. She does okay putting her toys away, but she definitely needs a lot of help.

Anyway, Greg and I were enjoying a quiet morning in the living room today while Rachel was playing in her room. And then all of a sudden we hear one of her more dramatic "OH NO!" exclamations and then she started crying. I went to see what happened... and this is what I found! Of course, we did get her out quickly, but we still HAD to get a picture! I think maybe she realizes now that she is a bit too big for her doll crib....

Pigtails!

2006-12-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

This week's Photo Challenge is "Pigtails"! Rachel is cute in pigtails...though I don't often fix her hair that way. Maybe I should...

To see more cute "Pigtail" pictures, click here to check out Donna's Blog.