Rachel 9 month checkup

We went in for her check up on March 22. As usual they were pleased with her progress. Rachel measured 29 in tall putting her in the 93%. She grew 2.5 inches in 3 months (more than the last time) . She weighed 18 lbs 10 oz putting her in the 59%, gaining 1 lb. Her head circumference is 17 inches putting her in the 32% growing 1/2 in (twice as much as before).
Her sizes haven't really changed much- 6/9 mon clothes. Though bigger with a size 4 diaper and size 3 shoe.

Rachel 6-9 mon

 

I finally finished Rachel's last post and thought that I ought to keep going with the momentum. I have tried to keep taking pictures at the same rate as Miriam, but overall I think I'm taking less pictures and it doesn't help my smaller camera went missing months ago.

Cute picture on Feb 22 her 8 mon mark, I think we were setting up the beds. In January she went south for the first time when we went over to Las Vegas for the weekend (see other post) and while there got really good at crawling and started pulling herself up to stand. She first stood on her own, helping her up when we took her in for her 6 mon pictures at Target, but was pretty wobbly. I like getting them acquainted with the stairs sooner than later because then I don't have to worry about them falling down the stairs. So we started practicing climbing stairs on Feb 2 (37 wks)- I have video but no still pictures. If I lifted her leg she would take it the rest of the way and pull herself up to the next step. She was very steady standing by Feb, but as she always wanted to see what was going on she wasn't satisfied. She would get so upset that she wasn't going anywhere that she would stand up and cry. She stood completely unsupported for 5 sec on Feb 9 (38 wks). Rachel also has a lot to say, babbling all the time and starting to say mama and dada. We thought she would do the talking thing more like her sister, but at 15 mon she still isn't saying much that is recognizable. The funniest thing about her is how much she loves peek-a-boo that at 7 mon she initiated playing it. At church she pulled her dress up over her face then brought it down giggling all the while. After Feb I didn't take as good a notes on her doings because she wasn't nursing that often (still snacking throughout the night).

We moved her to her own crib right at 8 mon though it was a slow transition. Often we would put her to sleep and lay her in the crib then whenever she woke up she would stay the rest of the night in bed with me. She was taking 2 naps pretty good in the day (much easier than Miriam to get to sleep). Top left picture was when we were putting the crib back up for Rachel on Feb 21 (8 mon old). Top right picture is Rachel in the dress Grandma Delta made her for Christmas on Feb 26 after church. Somehow a lot of our pictures are in dress clothes after church. I loved the look on her face in the bottom left picture taken on Feb 23. It reminded me a little bit of her 6 mon Target pictures. Rachel loves being with her brother and sister doing whatever they are doing. The picture center bottom shows them all looking at a book on Feb 2. Rachel was a little slower than the other two to get into books, but has more than made up for it now. Bottom right picture is Miriam and Rachel playing peek-a-boo behind the couch on Feb 2.

She like any kid loves to help with the dishwasher although even now she is more helpful unloading than anything else. I have enough problems getting the dishes in it that it is very frustrating to see it unloaded about as fast as I load, not to much dragged off for parts unknown. Rachel is a master at redistributing things at our house- always carrying something somewhere else. This picture on Feb 27 shows how well she was standing also.

 This girl can eat and by early age was always scavenging. We've had this little card table up for awhile so Miriam and Aaron will make less a mess when eating. We decided on this when Aaron refused to sit in the high chair anymore, but the big table was too big. Anything left on it Rachel manages to get into spilling leftovers all over the place. She also was interested in drinking from a regular cup very early on, just had a hard time judging amount of water thus spilling a lot. This picture was after dinner on Feb 21, so pleased with herself.

Top left picture is some backyard fun on March 10, I couldn't believe the snow was already gone and getting warm enough to play outside. Somehow when my family came down for Miriam's birthday we got some great pictures of Rachel with my mom (Grandma Nicee) and dad (Baca) and not as many with the others. Center is Grandma and Rachel wearing an outfit Grandma bought for her (mom has great fun buying clothes for the grand kids and we appreciate her contributions!) on March 24. Top right with Grandma and Baca trying on Baca's hat on March 23. Bottom left she's checking Baca out on March 24 sporting St Patty pjs. She gets to play with Baca while everyone else is finishing sleeping. Bottom right picture is me and the kids after church on March 11, with all of us going Hawaiian (bringing a little sun to early spring). Rachel got her first tooth, one of the front bottom ones, on March 23.

Rachel's first haircut on February 23. As usual Grandma had the honors. She really didn't seem to know what to make of the whole situation. Now it seems like she's constantly got hair in her eyes and every time we see mom she needs a trim. Her hair grows incredibly fast, I think she has more than Miriam did at this age. Unfortunately it has the same texture that gets really snarly and feels like straw.

Rachel is definitely growing up and getting into everything, one might even call her a mini tornado. She sure loves her siblings and wants to do everything with them. Top left was taken March 28, "should we mail you?" Middle was taken also on the 28th and she still will gleefully pull all the Kleenex out of the box. My brother moved back from Texas around this time frame and he had a trampoline, but no where to put it so he is letting us use it. The kids have loved it even Rachel as seen in the top right picture taken on March 31. Now she can climb up by herself, I love when her hair sticks straight up from the static. I never thought much of the nets going around them, but that's the only way I let Rachel on at this point. Bottom left is Rachel on the deck looking out at what everyone else is doing on March 30. She also likes climbing up on the little picnic table and look out over the yard. Finally, bottom right is Daddy putting to sleep his two girls on March 31 though its rare he's still awake. One of his best putting to sleep methods still involve falling asleep himself. Looking back I can't quite believe how much she has grown over the last 7 months!

Brigham City Temple Open House

I was very anxious to take the kids to the temple open house, but didn't act soon enough to get tickets (planning things can get complicated). I was about to resort to just showing up and hoping for the best when our former Bishop in Springville posted on face book he had extra tickets, yes! We were set to go September 11 at 2:00. Eric took the day off and we got off to a later start then we wanted, still don't know why it takes us sooo long to get out of the house!

When we go there we had enough time for lunch. So we hit up an old fashioned drive through where they either served in car or had some picnic benches to eat at, including this little one just the right size for the kids. I think the girls look soo cute in their dresses.

The temple is on a small plot of ground with only underground parking which they were using for the visitor reception area. So they had you park in bigger areas then bussed you down to the temple. The kids have always been enamoured with buses and were thrilled to ride these ones, if only for 10 min topsOnce we got there we watched the welcome video then went through the temple. These days they do silent tours with signs explaining each of the rooms. I tried to explain things quietly to the kids and let them see themselves in the eternity mirrors. I so wanted them to understand a little more about where mommy and daddy go when we're at the temple and what we do. Though with this size who knows how much they caught. Once through the tour maze they created we had a cookie and got a bottle of water. Aaron was thrilled with the pamphlet on the temple they were handing out and clutched it tightly. Finally, we walked around the perimeter of the temple and took some pictures to mark the occasion. Above was by the front doors, and it was exciting to try and get all three in decent position. Rachel kept wanting to walk away and Miriam had the other two in a strangle hold.

This one was to commemorate when built and dedicated. Of course the finally sealing of this cornerstone was during the dedication. They cancelled regular meetings throughout Utah and broadcasted the dedication in three sessions. It was awesome dedication.

Also in front is a fountain that drew every kid around to play in it. The tabernacle is across the street so we detoured to go through it as I never had. The inside is the same basic floor plan as the Logan tabernacle. They also said they tried to reflect some of the architectural details over to the temple. The kids of course had to go walking around in the balcony, not taking regular stairs of course but up through the front podium. They really didn't want to leave.

I'm getting more conscience of taking individual pictures and family pictures. It was crazy trying to get Rachel to stay put long enough for a picture. One of the songs I always sing to my kids at night is "I Love to See the Temple". It is one of my favorite primary songs and contains a message that I hope burns into their hearts. One of my greatest desires for my children is that they know their Savior and love His work, His house.

Missing

This time my long absence is not due to laziness! We have been having severe computer issues. First, we upgraded but didn't know the the power supply was kaput which fried everything else and ate some important files. Then windows went haywire not allowing me to even bring up the blog! Talk about frustration! So many things have happened like Rachel's first birthday and Aaron's third birthday. I suppose the biggest surprise is finding out we're expecting number four!

In April when I went to Idaho I wasn't feeling great. I hoped the lack of menstruation was due to thyroid,  but the signs became too obvious to ignore. Sure enough we have another little one joining our family in December around the 14th. I had hoped to avoid the month of December but no such luck. I keep telling myself that its an early Christmas present. In July we had our ultrasound and found out it was a boy! This ultrasound experience was not near as good as the last one particularly because they gave me no pictures:(. The kids seem to be excited for our new baby. Miriam says Rachel is her baby and this one is Aaron's baby. Aaron seems really excited to get a brother. The picture was taken on July 22 when I was 19 weeks. My goals for this pregnancy are similar to last- no back labor, no tearing and get the kids all sleeping in their own beds at night. This time most goals center around Aaron that he will be potty trained (maybe some day I'll potty train when I'm not pregnant!) and to be more independent- dressing and buckling in the car, etc.

Hopefully we got all the computer bugs worked out and I will be able to get a lot posted.

Miriam- A teenager?

We have assigned Miriam to collect the chicken eggs each day as we're trying (emphasize trying) to start a household economy with responsibilities. We got home today from some errands and I told her to go check the chickens to which she ignored me in favor of watching her movie she's been working on all afternoon. Eric said she couldn't keep watching and paused it saying he would go out with her at which point she started sobbing she just wanted to watch her movie. Then I said if she was going to put up such a fuss maybe she didn't need to watch any more movies. She then yelled several times on her way out "I can't do anything with you. I'm just a little girl, I can do it myself. I don't need little brothers, or daddies. I'm just a little girl I can do it myself!" then when she came in she took her DVD player off to her room to watch it by herself.
Oh boy are we in trouble!

Rachel 3- 6 mon

I was doing great at keeping up the blog and then we updated/got new computer and I didn't have a computer for over 2 wks! That took all my ambition away and here I'm behind again! This is a post I've been going to do for awhile, when I did her last checkups I was going to post pictures during this time frame, but then the post went on so I decided to separate them, but haven't got back to it obviously. Enjoy catching up on Rachel's life in fast motion!

In September she started to do the moving thing where she never was where I left her. She officially rolled over on September 27 back to front. Then in the first of October she rolled from front to back. It was also interesting to see her awareness bloom- to be able to tell that she really was seeing things like the toy on her car seat. She has always been on the go even from this time, has to be doing things all the time. In October Rachel started the grabbing phase and boy did she have a tight grip!

Even as early as Sept 7 she was leaning forward in her bouncy seat to see what was going on. She certainly doesn't want to just lie around as she keeps almost falling out of her swing.

On October 15 she attended her first movie in the theater (at the popcorn store as Miriam calls it). We saw Cars 2; which Miriam did great, Aaron tried to wander and Rachel was a little fussy (top middle picture). Top left picture was taken on October 16 and she is wearing my blessing dress, I'm sure having a hard time keeping up on her wardrobe. Top right was the first time in the swing outside on October 12. I'm not sure what she thought but Miriam loved having her out there and being able to push her (all wearing their pumpkin shirts)! Bottom left is her first time in the bumbo chair on October 19. Bottom right was her first general conference. Through October she was still pretty fussy and spitty which we figured were connected to each other. She was pretty indifferent to nursing times though I wondered if she just made up with snacking all night. She took a pacifier more than Miriam but still around this time I began to wonder if she was using me as a pacifier. We also discovered she has extremely sensitive skin with a never ending case of eczema.

By the beginning of November she was almost sitting up by herself, though still toppling over easily. By Nov 14 she sat up all the way with no help for around a minute (20 wks). Soon after she started army crawling. Around Thanksgiving she started the teething process though the first tooth didn't come in till March.

While decorating the Christmas tree we tried out the jumper so Rachel would be occupied and not getting into all the ornaments. She might have enjoyed the jumper more than the other two kids.
 

Top left picture shows off her sitting ability on December 2 and she loved smiling at people as we shopped. The picture on the right, also on Dec 2 was at Babies R Us (looking for a new car seat) they have these toddler chairs in the rest room. I wish more restrooms had them. Her first time in the high chair, center bottom picture was Dec 4 a little early but we forgot the bumbo chair in Idaho when we went up for Thanksgiving. She was cracking us up playing all around the bumbo getting in and out. By Dec 20 she was definitely up on all fours though not quite crawling. Top center with Grandma Nicee on Dec 30 when they came down to see us and spend New Years Eve with us. She is wearing my mom's favorite onesie.

Gave her first solid food (apparently all I got were videos of the event)- rice cereal on Christmas Eve, I figured it was a Christmas present. We all got a nasty stomach virus the week after Christmas including Rachel, but she was pretty good through it (probably first major illness besides colds and such). By January she was starting to stand up leaning onto something. She seemed to prefer standing to crawling which didn't get more fluid till middle of January until then she had only crawled a couple of feet.

Snow Day

Feb 20, 2012 happened to be one of the best snow days we had all winter. I felt bad for the kids because I'm not one who plays in the snow, I send them off with dad to do that. Yes, I enjoy the annual Jones sledding party at Soldier Hollow in January with a tow rope and inter tubes. Miriam went down a lot this year and Aaron went down like twice but wasn't sure about partially because he got sprayed in the face with ice all the way down. I always want to get pictures of the event, but never really do (it also happens at night which is also hard for pictures). So here we are with good snow all the cousins were getting together to go sledding but Eric was working and I couldn't get everything together to go on my own and I felt really bad for them. So when I got Rachel down for her nap I bundled them up and sent them out with their "boat" as Miriam calls the sled. I tried to find someone to come sit with Rachel so we could sled down the gentle slope at the nearby school but no such luck.

They seem to enjoy being pulled around in the sled and for the first time in her life Miriam made a snow angel (how did she get to be 3 almost 4 without doing that!?!). We have a neighbor down the street that whenever it snows even a little there is a cute snowman in there front yard, but until today my kids never tried that either. Tried is a good word for our attempt as we ended up pushing the snow instead of rolling it so it looks more like a snow volcano. The kids had a ball and didn't want to come in so I guess we had a successful day. The next decent snowfall of which there was only one more if I remember right Miriam wanted to do it again but I didn't go out.