recent developments

Dancing

Rachel started a dance class last week.  It's at a church, very laid back, and not at all like I imagine a regular studio class would be, but perfect for her little three year old self, I think.  She was thrilled for the first class and has been asking ever since to go back.  I'm excited that she loved it so much.

Gymnastics

No, not Rachel....this little girl inside of me.  Surely she must be practicing to be a gymnast with the amount of tumbling she's doing in my belly.  This is one active baby!  Rachel moved quite a bit, but this one moves all the time!  I'm not complaining....I love that every time I feel her move my mind is set at ease that she's okay.  I just think it's crazy that she moves constantly!  Yesterday's doctor's appointment revealed her heartrate as "normal," my weight and belly size as "perfect" (wow, wish it was always considered perfect!) and all is a-okay!  I'm so thankful!

DVR

It's the strangest thing.  A week or so ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook that they were finally getting DVR because her husband realized they were the only ones in the world that didn't have it.  I commented that we didn't have it either and would probably eventually cave and get it, but we really didn't have any plans to do so.  And so imagine my surprise when, just two or three days later, without a word about it to my husband, he switched our cable/internet/phone provider, complete with DVR!  Someone came to our door and convinced him to change companies, since we'd be saving a little money. It was just installed this afternoon, so I've been playing with it during naptime today.  It's awesome!  I was watching "You've Got Mail," (a movie I've seen a thousand times), but missed something because I was busy typing this blog entry, so I got to rewind it and see what I missed!  Amazing!  And now I'm skipping the commercials!  Even better!  (Of course, I own this movie on DVD and could just put that in and avoid the commercials, but that's beside the point!)  I've already programmed it to record next week's Lost premier--now we won't have to rewatch (and rewatch and rewatch again, if my husband has his way) online.  He'll be thrilled.

Birthday Parties

Rachel received her first birthday party invitation in the mail yesterday from her closest friend at school.  At first she was so excited, but then she started crying and said, "But I want a birthday party to play with my friends for my birthday!"  Uh oh....what has this started??  I was hoping to keep birthday parties to just family until she gets a little older, but is this going to set her expectations too high?  I'm a little concerned.  I'm happy she got invited and I'm sure she'll have a great time.  I just hope she won't be disappointed if we just stick to family parties for a couple more years.

soft pants

For the last several months (ever since summer was over, really, and she stopped wearing shorts every day), Rachel's decided that she doesn't like jeans or any pants that aren't what she calls "soft pants."  ("Soft pants" are either made of fleece or cotton knit.)  So any morning that I try to get her to wear jeans or corduroys, there is a small battle of wills.  Rachel doesn't usually win (unless it's a day we're staying at home and I don't really care what she's wearing), but it's a battle, nonetheless, and one I'm getting tired of. 

This morning, for instance, I had a pair of jeans out for her to wear to school.  "But I want to wear soft pants, Mom," she told me. 
"You can't wear soft pants every day, Rachel," I told her. 
"But jeans are for boys," she said.  
"No they're not.  Mommy wears jeans, Grandma wears jeans, your friends at school wear jeans," I replied. 
"No, they wear soft pants," she assured me.

I honestly don't really pay attention to what her friends at school wear, and at that point I thought, "Why am I arguing with a three year old?" and told her "You're going to wear jeans today, Rachel.  Some other day you can wear soft pants.  (I honestly don't have enough pairs of "soft pants" for her to wear them every day, or I'd be doing laundry lots more than I already do!  Plus certain shirts don't have soft pants that match them, so they'd never get worn!  I'm all about the matching....and so is she, usually, but soft pants trump the matching, at least in her mind.)

She put them on without anymore complaint.

But today before she went to sleep for her nap she said, "I want to wear soft pants when I get up, okay Mom?"  (She sleeps in just her shirt and a pull up....so when she gets up she has to put pants on again, and the battle could start all over again.)

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

to tell the "twoof"

We've been working with Rachel lately about what it means to tell the truth.  It all started when she started telling us after she went to bed that she needed to go potty, but then after we'd get her up, she wouldn't have to go anymore.  We figured out that she was just trying to get out of bed, so we started talking about telling the truth (or as Rachel says it, "the twoof,") and not telling a lie (or what Rachel calls "a live"). 

But I've learned in the last few days that there are some times that you just don't want your child to tell you the truth....

::Yesterday afternoon she was on my lap right after we ate lunch.  I was reading her a book and she kept sniffing.  I finally asked her, "What do you smell?"  "It doesn't smell very good in your mouth, Mom," she told me.  Well, then.  I guess I'd better start brushing my teeth before I read her a story!

::A few days ago she told me, "Mommy, your tummy is SOOOOOO BIG!" (at least I have an excuse right now, but if she starts telling me this a year from now, I'm in trouble!)

::Last night she looked at me and said, "Your hair looks funny, Mom." 

So she's got the truth down....I guess we'd better start working on TACT!

January....bah humbug

I really don't like January.  And maybe it's the almost constant daily snow we've had this month....maybe it's the post holiday slump after such an exciting Christmas this year....maybe it's my pregnancy aches and pains, but this year it's an especially hard January for me.  Ugh.  Spring cannot come soon enough, this year in particular.

But, we've been trying to make the best of it.  Rachel continues to delight and cheer us, of course.  The baby's ever increasing kicks help, too, as it's constant feedback and reassurance that I need that everything is okay in there (except in the middle of the night when I can't get back to sleep because she's kicking!).  And yesterday I finally installed the webcam I got for Christmas and figured out how to "Skype" with my mom.  Rachel was on my lap and we had fun "seeing Grandma" on the computer.  Later last night we talked again, this time with Grandpa and Great Grandpa looking on as well!  She thought it was great.  Hopefully this will add some new fun into our winter days.

I also finally loaded the software for the new camera I got for Christmas, so I was able to download pictures from the new camera.  

This one I took yesterday, at her request, while she was eating a snack.

This one is from a week or so ago when Rachel and Daddy were coloring.  She said, "Mommy, will you take a picture of Daddy and Rachel coloring?"  She never asks that, so I had to comply, though she's been asking that more and more lately, for some reason.  That's her new 150 crayon carousel and her giant Mater coloring poster she got for Christmas.

And this one is from a couple of weeks ago.  She has a furry white scarf which is hollow in the middle, for lack of a better phrase.  I can't really describe it, but you can open it up and she likes to put it on like a dress.  Once she decided that she was white and furry like a polar bear, so every once in awhile she'll say, "I want to be a polar bear," and go get her scarf from her dress up box and put it on.  This time she went to get her polar bear toy as well and posed.  So here are our two polar bears.

(I can't figure out why that's not centered.  It's bugging me.)

Is it February yet?  (February isn't usually a whole lot better, but I am looking forward to the Olympics!)

the ultrasound technician

This morning I walked into Rachel's room, where she was playing by herself while I was getting dressed.  She was laying down, had her shirt pulled up, a cloth over her lap, and was slowly rubbing a toy over her stomach. 

"I think there's a baby in your tummy.  See it on the computer?" she said to herself.

I then realized that she was giving herself an ultrasound, just like she saw the doctor do to Mommy a couple of weeks ago.

What an imagination!

passing the time

So here's how Rachel's been passing the time on these long winter days when we can't go outside....

10) watching princess videos (some things never change....even with a room full of new toys)

9) eating her stocking candy (when she actually eats all of her lunch or dinner...which isn't real often!)

8) talking about her coming baby sister (she thinks we should name her "Rachel")

7) dressing up in her new Snow White or Tiana dresses (asking me if she looks beautiful and dancing around the house)

6) playing with her dollhouse (which actually usually consists of taking all of the furniture out of the dollhouse and playing with it on the floor or table...not in the dollhouse)

5) playing with her cars (she got about 10 or 12 different Cars character matchbox cars for Christmas, which she LOVES--Lightning McQueen and Mater are definitely her favorite, though)

4) coloring with her new 150 color crayon tower (didn't know they made 150 different colors, but they do!)

3) playing Candyland with Mommy

2) playing Candyland with Daddy

1) playing Candyland by herself (when she can't convince either of us to play)

She is OBSESSED with Candyland! Even if she's not playing the game, she gets it out just to look at the cards! She loves the special cards with the pictures on them of the peanut, the lollipop, the gingerbread tree, and so forth. She doesn't even get sad when she gets sent back to one of those spots during the game because she's just so excited to have pulled one of those "special" cards!