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. 
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.
We waited till we got to church to put it on but as we were putting it on she spit up, 
Who is who? Miriam at almost 11 mon wearing Mickey and Minnie dress with Valentine roses Eric gave me and Rachel at almost 8 mon in the same clothes with Valentine flowers.
Here Rachel and I are bundled up to help plant the seeds that could be planted the fall before on November 5. We planted garlic, lemon balm, mint, larkspur, bearded iris, german chamomile, lilies, lavender, columbine, snap dragons, forget-me-nots, and roman chamomile.
All seeds germinated within 2 weeks and here they are almost precisely 3 weeks later. Wish us luck in keeping them alive and being able to get them outside safely!
Thursday morning Jan 26 we took a ridiculous amount of time to get out of the house not leaving till after we hoped to be in Delta (anybody else have hard time leaving the house?) and met his parents in Delta. Deb had lunch already for us, ate and were on the road. The kids did fabulous as we only stopped for gas in St George getting into Vegas after dark. Now my kids list of states they have been in has doubled from just Utah and Idaho to include Arizona and Nevada, hooray! We stayed at the Silverton casino/hotel which was waay bigger than I had ever been in before. In fact the kids and I never left the whole time we were there.
Here are Miriam and Aaron in their first hotel room/bed. Deb got us a room with 2 queen beds and Miriam always slept in other one and did great. You can also just barely see their new stuffed animals Grandma got them; Miriam a bobcat (appropriate as Eric calls her that) and Aaron a fish (even though we tried to talk him into cuter ones). On the right is Rachel crawling amongst our belongings. 
Aaron and Grandma watching a movie on the computer. They watched lots together. Saturday the guys went to training and we took a leisurely breakfast and packed up to check out at noon. Deb couldn't get the rooms for Saturday night so we ended up doing over to Mesquite for that night. It was perfect time for the kids to take a nap driving over. We found a nice diner for lunch when we got there and then let the kids play at a park before we checked in to the Virgin River casino (luckily all rooms were outside and we didn't have to go through the casino this time).
Had a lot of fun Jan 13 with pizza/movie night. We let the kids make their own pizzas. I had to take a picture of the masterpiece because Aaron carefully put the pepperonis on with one olive slice in the middle. He really may end up a chef, still quited interested in all things in the kitchen. They then watched Bambi while Eric and I watched Lord of the Rings (extended version we just got from his brother) in our room. Eric mixed the pizza dough up in our new bread maker and it was tasty. We also tried out my new pastry roller which made the best looking crusts I've ever seen.
Aaron modeling, or so it looked when I had to get this picture on Jan 16. Grandma Delta got the kids cowboy boots on a clearance awhile back though much too big, the kids still insist on wearing them periodically. This morning they had been playing something with all the cowboy stuff (love that they are more into imaginative play these days). The cap guns was from Santa and are working out well as Aaron goes around pointing it and saying,"shoot, shoot" or hoot depending on how it sounds. 
I couldn't resist taking this sweet picture of Rachel sleeping on January 10. She does pretty good taking apx 2 naps during the day. I get her sleepy then put her down and she will cry for a few minutes and then be asleep. She wakes in the morning quite happy, but always crying from naps perhaps she's just saying come and get me! 
This has been a crazy winter with hardly any snow or if it does its gone in 2 days. Here are the kids playing outside without shoes or coats on Jan 3!! Good bye January!
