We Wish You A Merry Christmas...

I know, it's a day late...

holidays are always such a busy time.

We are definitely thinking of

our family and friends

this holiday season

and hoping it is a time of

peace, laughter, love, and making memories.

 I hope family and friends are...

remembering past holidays and smiling at the beautiful memories,

enjoying every minute of the holidays right now as they are creating new memories,

and thinking about the future...

hopes, dreams and excitement about what is yet to come.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of  day. It always amazes me how you can prepare and prepare for something, and then it is over in instant. So many times...I just wish we could slow it down...freeze time for a while and just really, truly savor and enjoy every second. Rachel's face and gasps and excitement as she walked down the staircase gazing out into the Great Room at the tree...all lit up with new toys and presents underneath was priceless. She may not have wanted Santa to actually come to our house ("He can just send the presents, Mommy. He doesn't need to come to our house.") and she may not have wanted to leave him milk, cookies and some carrots for the reindeer ("No, I don't want to leave that for him. We don't need to feed him.") , but she sure enjoyed the fact that there were presents! Lots of presents! She takes a long time to open her presents. She always has, and she likes to take turns tearing at the paper. It literally takes hours. Well, yesterday I was trying to take lots of pictures like I always do. I kept reminding Frank and my brother to try to capture some of the magic on video, but it is hard to do all that and also enjoy it to the fullest. I think all three of us were trying to do our best. We do not have nearly the amount of video footage my dad would have gotten, but we did okay. At one point Frank was out of the room, and Jamie was helping Rachel open a present. I do not recall what it was, but I do recall how it made me feel. The fire in the fireplace, the coziness of the occasion despite the large Great Room, the beautiful tree and decorations, the Christmas music playing nonstop in the background, and Rachel's Uncle Jamie sitting on the floor helping her open presents with their endless chatter heard softly amidst the music all contributed to my feeling of peace and happiness on this Christmas morning. I picked up the video camera and moved off to the side to capture it all the best I could. While I was standing there watching them the following song came on the radio. As I listened to the words, which always seem to get to me anyway, tears welled up in my eyes and slid down my cheeks. My vision blurred and I was having trouble seeing what I was recording. It was a very powerful moment, the feeling that all was perfect in the world...in the beautful little world we have done our best to create with our amazing daughter, precious puppy, and family member(s) we love and miss very much. The moment was priceless and the memory is forever. This song is amazing in itself...

Let There Be Peace On Earth

by Vince Gill

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our father

Brothers all are we.

Let me walk with my brother

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment

And live each moment

With peace eternally.

Let ther be peace on earth,

And let it begin with me.

(child)

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth

The peace that was meant to be.

With god as our father

Brothers all are we.

Let me walk with my brother

In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me

Let this be the moment now.

With every step I take

Let this be my solemn vow.

To take each moment

And live each moment

In peace eternally.

Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.

Thank you, Vince Gill, for making a beautiful moment even moreso...

The Nutcracker Remixed!

Rachel recently had the opportunity to dance in The Nutcracker Remixed with other little dancers from the Toddlers & Tutus classes! It was so exciting! It was not the traditional Nutcracker that we all know and love, but a fun, modernized version with popular music and a new twist. It followed the same lines with Clara and the other characters, but it had a more relaxed feel and humor.  I worried a bit during the weeks between the day I paid for her to be in the performance and bought the tickets until the day she took the stage for the very first time. Would my daughter actually get up on the stage...without me? No need to worry! I believe her exact words were, "I love dancing on the stage, Mommy!" Oh, boy...she wasn't kidding. We were laughing through our tears of pride the night of the performance because a couple of times she noticed her position on stage...and moved to the center...just staring out at the audience. I cannot wait to see the DVD. I think I missed a lot through my tears. I cannot believe how many emotions one can experience in such a short period of time. Pride, happiness, a little sadness (my baby is growing up way too fast), joy, and a tiny (very tiny) bit of embarrassment as our daughter decided her spot was center stage...at least twice that I can remember.

All ready for the big day!

Cotton Candy costume, leotard, tights,

dance shoes, tickets, program...

 There she is!

Can I just say that when the teacher exclaimed time and again about how adorable our little ones were going to be in the Cotton Candy group because they had the cutest, fluffiest little costumes. "Just wait til you see them!" that I was expecting something quite different. Um...this Momma, for one, was hugely disappointed...where's the tutu and fluff and "cotton candy" look?" Seriously, I could not let it go at first. I wanted "cotton candy" costumes that looked like they were made for two and three year olds! It is their first year, their first performance and they are "cotton candy" for goodness sake! The maribou (feathery fluff on the edges) was a nice touch...we just needed tons MORE of it and a TUTU! I kind of got over it...kind of...but I did find out other moms were disapppointed too:).  Okay, I'm done...just had to say it. Oh, and yes..they were adorable anyway, of course. They are two and three year olds.

Dress Rehearsal!

Waiting for her turn...

There were no pictures permitted the night of the performance, but I managed to snap a few the night of the rehearsal. I am bummed about the quality, but I was far away and the stage was dim. We sat in the audience until the groups were called. I experienced a very strange moment when they called for our little Cotton Candy group. I realized I wasn't part of it. I hugged her, wished her luck, told her to be a good listener for her teacher, and watched my baby walk away from me with a group of other tiny dancers. Yes, there were tears in my eyes as I turned to head back to my seat. I was proud and sad at the same time. It made my chest hurt. Then I sat, holding her little coat close to me, and waited. I remember holding my breath as her group took the stage...

Rachel is right in the center...staring out into the audience with her little hands near her tummy. I continued to hold my breath but snapped a picture. This earned me a rapid wave from her. Apparently she had been searching for me and the flash gave me away. There was little to no dancing happening...by any of them. They just stared, then would remember why they were there, do a step or two, stop and stare some more...

 I took another photo in between...and got a another rapid wave. I swear I could almost hear her saying "Hi, Mommy!" over the loud music. I was simpy beaming through my watery eyes. All I could think was, "My baby is on stage! She is on stage without me! I am so stinkin' proud of her!" I felt, with or without performing the actual dance she practiced for weeks and weeks, just being up there was a huge accomplishment. Each week, after class, she would ask me if I'd go up with her and help her. I told her Mommies had to sit in the chairs in the audience and watch. I told her she'd have help from her teacher and other dancers. She did great...

At the end of their little dance, they had them get into a line and walk up under a scarf, stop and wave to the audience. During rehearsal, Rachel tried to get in line to do it again until they redirected her off stage. Perhaps she liked the applause!? Here she is coming through to do her little wave...

There were two performances, one Saturday night and one Sunday afternoon. I chose for her to be in only one performance thinking Saturday night's was just too late as it started at 7pm. Anyway, I really struggled with the "should I stay, should I go, should I volunteer to be a helper, should I miss the show to stay by her side..." Oh, what to do, what to do?! On Sunday, I took her through the stage door where all dancers had to enter. We checked in and found the dressing room area. I met one of the moms who would be watching our little ones. I gave Rachel a little tour, helped her into her costume, tried to put a tiny bit of make-up on her as required. She resisted a little and said, "No make-up, Mommy. Make-up is for Mommies!" (Can I get that on tape?) The blue-gray eye shadow I had looked so pretty with her eyes, the blush did nothing for her already rosy cheeks, and she immediately licked off the pink lipstick I applied to her tiny lips. So...a tiny bit of blue-gray eye shadow to highlight her eyes was it. We used the restroom, then went to stand with her group in the hall until the little ones all arrived and had to move into the dressing room...and mommies had to leave. They were permitted to bring something to play with, so I had packed her four little books and she carried her Pooh. The first thing that happened when we went to stand in the hall...another little girl walked over and snatched her Pooh right out of her arms. Fortunately, her mom was one of the moms watching the girls! (I think for good reason!) She gave Pooh back to Rachel and apologized. Her daughter then walked over and smacked it out of Rachel's arms and Pooh hit the floor! I think both mine and Rachel's mouths dropped open. We have not really experienced this before. The mom handled it as I held my daughter's hand even tighter. How was I going to leave her with this little terror? I knelt down to talk to Rachel quietly about expectations, wishing her good luck, telling her how proud I am of her, reminding her I needed to leave in a few minutes...and lo and behold...little terror child launches herself at me and wraps her arms around my neck in a hug almost knocking me onto the floor. I pat her back as Rachel watches in horror..."That's my Mommy..." and I disengage. It happened two more times! Thank goodness the others arrived shortly after. Fifteen minutes before curtain call, I gave my baby one more hug, a kiss on the cheek, good luck wishes and reminded her how proud her Daddy and I are of her. Then I did something that was harder than I thoght it'd be...I turned and walked away to exit and re-enter through the main lobby and left my baby with the other little dancers in the dressing room. Of course there were tears...that's a given. I composed myself as I tried to stay calm knowing I would not be seeing her again for almost an hour and twenty minutes...deep breaths...

Seeing her dressing room for the first time.

Look how little she is!

 We met our friends who came to join us in celebrating Rachel's little dancing debut, found our seats, and the show began. Let me just say...waiting through 21 dance numbers, intermission, then three more before your 3.5 year old gets her turn...all the while wondering what she is doing backstage and if anyone is bullying her and whether or not she'll look bedraggled for her first time on stage...is really hard to do! Then we had to watch 15 more after her until the end of the show. I enjoyed the performances, but it could not go fast enough. When they came out...I snuck a look at her Daddy...we both had huge smiles on our faces while tears glistened in our eyes. They walked out...stopped and dropped hands and...stared out into the audience. They all did more dance steps than at rehearsal. Oh, wait...who am I kidding? I have no idea what the other girls did. I only saw one tiny dancer up there...the precious little one who dropped hands, looked and saw where she was in the line and moved to center stage at least twice. I could not see for a moment due to the tears streaming down my face...Frank and I were laughing so hard! It was funny to see her check her position and move to a more desirable one!

Here we are! They summoned us by group name. I could not wait.  It was incredible watching her come up the stairs to me...looking proud...holding onto her teacher's hand. They did a good job getting her back into her dress and coat, but it was funny as she was still wearing her ballet slippers. I changed her shoes and then scooped her up and carried her off to her adoring fans. We had flowers for her and Timmarie and Timmi brought her a personalized ballerina ornament with her name and 2011 on it. Made Mommy cry. So beautiful. I'll have to get a picture of it.

 Proud Daddy!

 A little family shot...

Afterwards, we all went out to dinner to celebrate! I'd say it was a very good first performance. I'm pretty excited...I bought tickets for the three of us to go see a performance of the actual Nutcracker next weekend. It is being performed by The Eugene Ballet Company and I heard it is quite good. Hopefully this will become a little holiday tradition for Rachel and me. We are so happy Daddy is going with us this time though! It will be fun!

Countdown to Christmas!

It's December! I honestly cannot believe how fast the holidays are approaching. I am actually feeling a little ahead of things this year. That's a first! I did mail out my Thanksgiving cards a bit late as Shutterfly took a little longer to ship them to me than expected. But, for the first time ever I took all my Fall decorations down the day after Thanksgiving! I usually do not get them down until the beginning of December. Frank put up our artificial tree the next day and it is just waiting for its decorations. I have my dishes switched over to the holiday ones (I love our clear cabinet doors this time of year ~ looks so pretty:)), my tablescapes/settings are done. There are 15, yes 15, large blue bins up on the shelves in the garage that need to come down in order for me to do the rest of the decorating! Hopefully, I have it all done by the weekend! It would be wonderful just to be able to enjoy the holiday season without constantly feeling like I have "still so much to do". Rachel is so excited and just in awe of everything.  She has been singing "Frosty the Snowman", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and "Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!". The only thing that we'll do closer to Christmas is the Disney tree as it will be our live tree again this year. Looking forward to what is becoming our new family tradition of going to the Tree Farm to select our tree and do some other fun holiday things. I also am looking forward to some cookie baking with her and finding some fun holiday crafts.

I recently read a post by someone about wrapping up holiday books that they already own. They wrap them right around Thanksgiving and number them. Then they unwrap one for each day of Advent or as a countdown to Christmas Day. I was a little late getting them wrapped and did it on November 30th. I wrapped 25 packs of books...some with one and some with two as we have way more holiday books than I even realized. I then numbered them 1 - 25. I decided to do it as a Countdown to Christmas this year.

I thought it would be cute to hide one each day for Rachel to find. I started with book #1 on December 1st. I decorated her little mailbox and each night I am writing a note to her and including a clue for her to find the hidden wrapped book. She caught on fast, and it is so cute to see how excited she is each morning as she runs to her mailbox and pulls out her note. She waits for me to read it, thinks for a moment then runs and finds the present.

 Her exclamation each time sounds something like this, "I LOVE unwrapping these presents, Mommy! This is fun! Will you read my new book to me?" I don't think she has realized yet that we already own all these books!

Hopefully, after 25 days of opening her books, she isn't too tired of opening presents! I am pretty excited about how much she is enjoying everything this year and really look forward to seeing her face Christmas morning. I wrote a little in her notes about our Countdown to Christmas being a countdown to Baby Jesus' birthday. She listens to the holiday music with me in the car and in the house, and the other day she got really excited when she heard them singing about Baby Jesus. "It is almost Baby Jesus' birthday, Mommy! She is talking about him on the radio!" How fun would it be to make a special birthday cake for him. I think she'd like that a lot!

We kicked off the holiday season today with her little performance in The Nutcracker Remixed with her dance class today! Our little "cotton candy cutie" did a great job. She loved the stage! I will post more about it along with pictures soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our house to yours...

we wish our family & friends a

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We are so very thankful for our little family of four.

We are thankful for being able to spend the day together

in the warmth of our home

surrounded by the love of our family.

We are grateful for the

food we will enjoy preparing together

the laughter we will share

and the memories we will create.

We are so very blessed.

Let us not take one moment for granted

but know each and every one is

a beautiful gift.

We are thankful on this Thanksgiving Day

and every day.

As we express our gratitude,

we must never forget that the

highest appreciation

is not to utter words,

but to live by them.

~ by John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Happy Halloween!

Our adorable little yellow crayon!

She got to go trick-or-treating for the first time this year! She said it was lots of fun!  Of course, why wouldn't it be fun to walk up, smile shyly at people, whisper "trick-or-treat, hear repeatedy that you are the cutest crayon ever, get candy...in some cases extra pieces because "you are so adorable"...then whisper "thank you" and move to the next store and repeat!? We took Rachel to trick-or-treat at the mall

which she now calls the "trick-or-treat mall"...it was fun!

She ate one piece of candy at Chili's that night while we were having dinner. To be honest, I think she has forgotten about it as she has not mentioned it again. We went up one side and down the other...just the main corrider of the mall. She got a nice little variety mainly Smarties, Dots, Tootsie Rolls, lollipops and a few other items. I gave her all the stickers from  her pumpkin basket and she was quite happy with them. I think it was a good first run. I'm actually glad she did not get a lot of chocolate as it will keep me out of her Halloween goodies. I did not have to buy any Halloween candy this year as we do not get trick-or-treaters out where we live. I do have some candy corn on hand. Rachel loves that stuff, and it is cute to see how excited and surprised she is when I stick a little candy corrn treat in with her snack as a special treat;)..."Oh, thank you, Mommy! You surprised me!". She did try a Kit Kat for the first time last week. Her swim class teacher gave them little bags of candy on Thursday. I told her kitties like Kit Kats and gave her one little wafer to try. She liked it very much and proceeded to lick her "paws" like a kitty. That prompted me to say, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." which always gets the same response from her...she brings one of her legs up and pretends to scratch herself behind her ear with her foot. Makes me laugh out loud every single time!

I personally enjoyed the weeks leading up to Halloween. The night itself has never been my thing...dressing up, asking for candy etc...do not care for it so much. I do not enjoy being startled or scared, so haunted things, spiders, bats, scary masks etc...not fun to me. I am not big into horror films. I still consider the original Halloween movie, the first scary movie I ever saw back when I was a teen, the scariest movie I have ever seen. I honestly still have nightmares in which that white masked Michael shows up. I think the fact that it was not gory made it even more scary. And then there's the music...way to go John Carpenter...still gives me chills thinking about it!

The weeks leading up to halloween were lots of fun, like I said. I tried, for several hours this evening, to upload a bunch more pictures. For some reason, blogger gives me trouble with this process and I gave up. Will try again tomorrow, but one weekend we enjoyed a horse drawn hayride out to the Pumpkin Patch at a local farm. Rachel rode the Cow Train all by herself, and went through the hay maze a few times. We picked oout some pumpkins for carving, drank apple cider, shared an apple cider donut and a pumpkin spice donut, fed goats and simply had a great time. Last Friday, we took Rachel to her first Fall Carnival. Very cute. It was at a local middle school. I thought I might feel a bit nostalgic in the school setting, but nope:). That weekend we also went apple picking. We picked 13 lbs. of apples, went on another hayride, had fresh apple cobbler and ice cream, and picked out more pumpkins. The next day, I made apple crisp, we carved the pumpkins, and we made caramel apples. The house smelled delicious! I still have enough apples for making applesauce and an apple pie. That's what I call Fall Fun! 

"Happy Birthday To Daddy!"

"Happy Birthday From Your Girls!"

 What a nice day we had!

Daddy got off from work early and joined us

for Open Gym at our new gymnastics place.

Rachel saw him when he came in the door

and was so excited...

she ran around exclaiming,

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

over and over.

It was so cute.

He helped her with a bunch of her skills...

balance beam, trampoline, bars etc...

After that Rachel and I stopped to get his cake then met him at home. We headed out for some pizza then back home for ice-cream cake, singing "Happy Birthday" and opening presents. On the way home Rachel announced to him that he could open his "Scary Birds" t-shirt and have some cake! Um, whatever happened to surprises?! It was so funny. We were both laughing. Then Frank asked her what else he was getting! I shushed them both:). One of us asked Rachel if she could keep a secret. Her response was, "No, I CAN'T keep a secret." Yep, I believe her! Oh, and "Scary Birds" is actually "Angry Birds"...Rachel and Daddy both got stuffed ones...he unloaded them right out of the bag last week before I had a chance to grab his and hide it! Geez! The Mommy really does try!

The above picture(s) is another gift. I took a picture of the girls in our "Powers" hats yesterday, actually more like 20, and then framed a black and white one for his desk. (Yes, Frank has worn his WAY more than I have...see Sheena's faded one:)) I REALLY tried to get Sheena to "smile", but she was having none of it! She did sit for 20+ pics...tolerating the camera flash and Miss Rachel's hugs and such. I could not find a "Daddy's Girls" frame in a 5x7 size, so I decorated one with some scrapbooking supplies. It came out pretty cute! He loved it! Yay! The ice-cream cake was divine! (Must workout twice as long tomorrow). All his siblings and his mom called and wished him a "Happy Birthday". I know that meant a lot to him...that they all remembered and called. He said he had a great day. I am so glad! He deserves it...big time! I can't believe this is the 26th birthday of his that we have celebrated together. Goodness, where have the years gone?!

Frank, Sweetheart,

If you are reading this...

I love you!

The girls LOVE you!

I'm glad you enjoyed the little celebration we planned.

I love that you find the most joy and happiness in celebrating in the simplest way...

simply with your girls.

You are such a wonderful husband and daddy.

We are so lucky to be in your life...

and to have you in ours

every day!

All my love...hugs & kisses,

forever yours...

Lori

Our Tiny Dancer...

Finally!

Since October 8th, my blog list shows I have tried to upload these pics and do an entry 8 times! Those were the autosaves and not even the ones where I just closed it down in frustration! Seriously...but I could not give up. I'm pretty sure I have some family members and friends who would enjoy seeing some pictures from Rachel's Dance Class.

I think I may have mentioned before that Wednesdays are our busiest days. Our day starts with a Music Class (Mommy & Me) in the morning, then Starbuck's, then we head to the gym for an hour or so...Mommy works out and Rachel has fun in Kids Klub...then lunch and Dance Class in the afternoon. Whew! The best mornings are the ones that start with Starbuck's if I can get us out of the house early enough that is. Rachel loves sitting in Starbuck's having breakfast rather than hitting the drive-thru on the way to the gym. To be honest, so do I.

Dance Class started on September 14th. It is the one class, since way back when she was 14 months old attending her little classes at Gymboree, that she really took to the minute it began. I honestly tear up every week watching her. She hardly ever takes her eyes off of her teacher and participates in EVERY activity! In other classes she does a lot of observing and then participates in what she wants to...adding more and more each time.  She always does everything from class (music, gymnastics, play&learn etc...) either in the car or at home and makes references back to the class and teacher. She knows what she is doing just seems reluctant or shy to do it all in front of everyone. Because of all this I was a little nervous about Dance Class. Guess there was no need to be. She tells me she LOVES it! Yay!

Ready to go!

The "Hello Kitty" bag is acting as her dance bag for now.

Goodness how she loves that cat!

 Waiting for her turn...

 "Arabesque"

(She does these everywhere there is a "barre" now...public restrooms included.

She also uses the backs of chairs, door knobs etc...

"Look, Mommy, arabesque! Am I pointing my toes?")

 Skipping and twirling

while holding a beautiful bouquet.

 Tippy Toes!

Arms in "5th Position" like teacher.

 "Baby Ballerinas"

We point our toes and raise our arms,

And let the music lead us;

With our tutus and our new shoes

We are Baby Ballerinas.

We love to sing, we love to dance.

Now aren't you glad to see us?

With our tutus and our new shoes

We are Baby Ballerinas.

We will dance gracefully,

Ballerinas we will be;

With a smile just for you,

See what we can do!

It's time to say our dance is through,

We hope that we could please you;

With our tutus and our new shoes

We are Baby Ballerinas!

(adorable little song lyrics I came upon)

 Starting to learn the choreography for

"The Nutcracker"!

It is the Dance Studio's "Modern Remix"

which they will perform at a local concert hall.

(Where we saw the Imagination Movers in March:))

 The "little ones" from the "Toddlers & Tutus" class can be in it if they'd like to be.

They get to be "cotton candy" and perform on stage with older dancers (helpers).

Rachel says she will dance on the

"Magination Movers" stage,

then she asks if I will come up and dance with her!

Um, I don't think so...

I have actually been hanging back by the barre

when they practice so she does not expect me to be in the line for this one. 

 Last week she was so cute...

she got in line and held hands with the others.

As they walked out to the mirror she turned and kept her eyes on me...

smiling a huge smile the whole time...
eyes never leaving my face.

I blew her a kiss and gestured for her to listen.

She nodded, turned her head back and did all the steps.

When she was done, she broke free,

came running over to me, hugged my legs,

 and buried her head in my tummy.

 She was so excited and was just grinning up at me

like she was going to burst.

It was so stinkin' cute!

I gave her a quick hug and
sent her back to practice again...

while trying to hide my tears. 

This "Mommy Gig" is just a constant roll of emotions!

pride, happiness, excitement, encouragement etc...

all mixed in with just a touch of sadness

regarding how very fast it is all going

and how quickly our babies are growing up...

 "Free dancing" with a tambourine.

I love her

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

look.

 Sweet rhythm...

"Little girls dance their way into your heart,

Whirling on the tips of angel wings,

Scattering gold dust and kisses in our paths"

Author: Unknown

So true...

We love you...

Our tiny dancer,

Our baby ballerina,

Our beautiful girl.

Every smile, every giggle,

every hug, every kiss,

every song, every dance,

every jump, every skip,

every plie, every arabesque.

You make us proud, you make us happy,

you make us cry tears of joy.

You take our breath away with your beauty and grace,

your sweetness and thoughfulness.

Nothing can compare to the love we feel for you.

It is unlike anything I have ever felt before.

I love you, my precious baby girl.

My darling Rachel, who spells her name...

"R-A-C-H-E-L...heart".

(yes, your Kindy teacher will love me:)) 

Love,

Mommy

(It's funny...the entire time I have been writing this I have had Lee Ann Womack's song "I Hope You Dance" mixed with Lionel Richie's "Ballerina Girl" playing over and over in my head! Now I'm just hoping my blog post makes sense!)

Where do the days go?

I just can't keep up!

Tomorrow is October 1st...October!!!? Never in my life has time flown by so quickly. Frank has been travelling a lot more for work lately, I have been taking care of the girls and the house and taking Sheena to her doc (not as often now though:)), taking Rachel to her little activities, going to the gym as much as possible, and cooking almost all meals at home as we try to eat healthier and just get healthier in general. I feel as though I am going to the grocery store every other day now! I owe my mom a callback, I owe my sister a callback, I need to get a wedding present sent, I am behind in sending packets of pictures to some friends and family members, I have organizing to do, I have paperwork to do, I have cleaning to do and I cannot seem to get ahead of my to do list. I have had a bummer of a cough almost since getting back from Disneyland. It just won't go away. I keep blaming the air conditioning or allergies and pushing off going to the walk-in clinic. It make me feel weak, it keeps me up at night, it wakes me up in the morning, and it causes people to stare at me in public as though I have some contagious disease. Oh, and it interrupts my work-outs with coughing spells! Frank finally had enough and took me to the walk-in clinic. I am now on two prescriptions. The doctor says I should be "quieter" within a week. I hope so. My work-outs have been going well, even lost some weight, and I want to be stronger and feel the health benefits I am finally putting good effort into achieving. Enough whine here...I would say so. Hopefully putting it into writing will help me get a grip on some of the things that feel like they are slipping through on me...

Okay, now that that is out...onto the good stuff! Sharing more pictures from Rachel's latest photo shoot. I know I shared some of the Cinderella ones already, but these are some of my absolute favorites. She looks pretty in so many colors...pink (of course:)), yellow, purple, brown...but this blue just looks amazing to me. It is so hard to choose what to send to people. She looked like such a little "princess" at Disneyland for the Lunch at Ariel's Grotto where she met five of the princesses. I'll have to share those soon. It was a lot of fun. I was a little concerned about her running around in that glittery, tutu type dress that seemed kind of scratchy to me at times and the little silver glitter shoes...in almost 90 degree weather...but she never complained.

 So, back to some current things while I share the photos. I will have to say that (finally!) getting my butt to the gym was one of the best decisions I have made in quite some time. I started July 1st and went as much as I could. They say you need to do something for "x" number of days to create a habit. I cannot remember the number, but I went something like 20 or 21 days in July. I did almost as well in August considering we left on the 25th for Disney. September has gone very well too even with the coughing issues. I do believe a habit has been created! It is the second thing I think of when I wake up in the morning. (the first is the girls) I feel so good when I go that I get bummed when I miss. Never thought I'd say that. And one of the BEST things about it...Kids Klub for Rachel! With not starting her in Pre-School this Fall, I love that she gets this social piece with other adults and kiddos. I am still a pretty shy person, I do not know how to be different, and I am not good at meeting people and making playdates etc...

As it turns out going to the gym has had so many benefits just since July. I enjoy working out, I have lost weight, I have no desire to stop going, Rachel loves her swim class (I know, right? After that little bit of a rough start:)), Rachel has made a couple of friends in her class, and ...wait for it...Mommy has even made a new friend! Yep, me, the still pretty shy girl who is not good at making new friends. It is great! Her little boy is almost a year older than Rachel. Except for the fact that she is very slim and unbelievably physically fit (she teaches 10 fitness classes per week at four local gyms! Awesome, huh?!), we have a lot in common. (She inspires me, and I hope to join her class at our gym soon!) Our parenting styles are so similar. She invited us to join her, her son and some friends at a different gymnastics place than I was taking Rachel to and we now go for Open Gym on Fridays. I am considering switching Rachel to the new one as I have had enough of "mean mom" at the other one. I know, I know...I should stand up to her instead of "running away", but I am non-confrontational and feel it is okay to explore other options for now. Rachel LOVES Open Gym. I LOVE to see her just run and climb and play and bounce on the trampoline and just have a blast. With everything she has going on I am thinking about just doing the Open Gym and not enrolling her in a more formal class setting until after the holidays now. Okay, so we joined our new friends at the new place and they are now coming to the same Music Class I take Rachel to! It is so cute how the kids look forward to seeing each other. She just told me about a really nice park not too far from us, so we are looking forward to some playdates at the park too!

Back to the benefits of going to the gym...besides getting to listen to my "Bon Jovi" radio on Pandora for 30 - 60 minutes a day...Kids Klub! I struggled a bit with my Pre-School decision in August. I decided that we have Rachel involved in plenty of things right now from swim to music to a new dance class, open gym (soon to be a gymnastics class), and Kids Klub at the gym. I am not concerned at all about the "academics". What is very important to me is the "social piece". I am doing my best to expose her to all sorts of fun things to see what she likes. Plus, in addition to all this I want to have time to take her to the park, library, enjoy our once a week lunches out together, and also have lots of time for free play at home! She also still takes a nap almost every other day. She is only 3 1/2 after all! Well, a few days after school started while I was working through my guilt about not sending her, we got a new "teacher" at Kids Klub. It turns out she really IS a teacher...a former Pre-School teacher with an Early Childhood degree! Yay! She has made amazing changes at Kids Klub which used to operate more like a chaotic, free for all, baby-sitting service. It had gotten where poor Rachel was asking me not to take her in case there were certain kids there who always steal her toys...right out of her hands. Now...it is awesome! Rachel really likes Teacher Danielle who not only has a great rapport with the kids and provides fun, actual learning activities daily but she is runnng the place more like a "Pre-School Prep"! I love it!

Imagine this former teacher's delight when I walked in one day and not only got a sweet little piece of artwork placed into my hands by one excited little girl, but also received a nice report on what Rachel had done, who she played with, and a nice, little, positive personal story about an interaction she had with another kid. This was a nice change from the "teacher" (not her real title) who would be sitting in the rocker holding someone's baby when I dropped Rachel off...and that is where she'd still be when I went to pick Rachel up at the end of my workout. She would sit and just yell to/at the kids. I was coaching Rachel daily on how to make friends, how not to get backed into a corner and how to help others learn to share as they would corner her and take whatever toy she had. Yay. They were younger, more aggressive and she needed to help them learn and to be patient...blah, blah, blah...I was trying my best. This "rocker sitter" then had the nerve to tell me one day how she had to sit Rachel down and have a talk with her about not using the word, "Mine!" Really???!!!  Because my daughter NEVER even knew or used that word UNTIL she was repeatedly backed into a corner by a two year old whose ONLY words are screeching "MINE! MINE! MINE!". Rachel started sharing back in Gymboree at just over one year of age...before we really even taught her how. It was just what she did. So please do not act like my daughter is doing something wrong when this other child has basically beat her into this need to somehow figure out how to defend herself and hold onto a toy she had first. Yes, I got some "Mama Bear" in me...indeed I do!

Anyway, now Kids Klub is pretty terrific! Thank You, Thank You, Teacher Danielle! I love the daily mini reports, I love walking in there to find beautiful books spread out all over a table short enough for the kids to stand and read at (I never even knew they had books in there before she came!), I love the table that always has the materials for a fun Art Project on it, I love the pride on Rachel's face when she runs to give her newly completed project to me as she exclaims, "I made this just for you, Mommy! See?!", I love how the room is set up in what looks more like little learning stations rather than just a daycare, I love the tons of beans that now fill up the water table and make for hours of sensory fun. I love the little silver trays at each seat at the table...they are filled with various items which seem to change almost daily...buttons, gems, foam shapes, sand, stones, dinosaurs and little cars and lots of fun things to explore. Rachel loves to sink her little hands into it all. I love the organized "Parents Info" center on top of the cubbies, I love that they are now doing "Circle Time"! I love that she gets to play with Play-Doh and paint and glue and all sorts of fun things! I especially loved hearing her say, "Hi, Nicholas!" today to the one little two year old boy she used to hope was not going to be there to take her toys away. I loved how when I came to get her today she and Nicholas were standing across from each other at the sensory table playing with the beans. It did this Momma's heart good to see that somehow, some way they have become "friends" and can play side by side. Somehow, some way perhaps Nicholas has learned to share and just maybe Rachel is learning to gently stand up for herself...just a little bit. She talks about hoping to see him there as well as several others:). Yes, going to the gym definitely has a multitude of benefits for us.

But, seriously...

Do the days really have to fly by so darn fast?!!!  

Guess Who's 3 1/2 Years Old Today!

Our sweet baby girl

is growing up right in front of our eyes.

 I cannot believe she is already 3 1/2!

She continues to amaze us very day. She makes us so incredibly proud to be her Mommy and Daddy. She sometimes catches me looking at her...with tears in my eyes. She gets a little concerned and will ask me, "Mommy, what's wrong? Are you okay?" My response is usually something to the effect of, "I'm fine, Sweetheart. I just love you so much. So very much. You make me very proud. I just want you to know that." She smiles at me and gives me a hug. Yes, my heart melts just a little bit more...

She gives us so many reasons to be proud. Such a beautiful, smart, funny little one. I love her sweetness, compassion, thoughtfulness, and love for her doggy and babies. I love her discovery of new words..."Mommy, what is that word you said? What does it mean?" I love her problem-solving skills. I love how she just wants to learn, learn, learn..."Mommy, I have a question for you..." (Oh, boy!)

 I love that she loves her ABCs, words, numbers, books, games, puzzles,  music, dancing, singing, swimming, basketball, soccer,  hula hoops, jump ropes, babies, animals, baking, helping Mommy (most of the time), Mickey Mouse and Special Agent Oso! She really liked shoe shopping last week! Oh, yeah! I love how much she talks about and loves her "flamily"! She can't wait for her daddy to come home from work. She loves when she gets to go to daddy's work  near the end of the day so mommy can run errands. When we go out to lunch or dinner, she saves a few bites for Sheena. She wraps them in a napkin, brings them home, hugs Sheena and tells her how much she missed her! My heart melts when I come home after a  few hours of "Mommy-time" and she runs to me exclaiming, "Mommy, you're home! I missed you!" Last night was one of those nights. The best part was that she needed a little one on one time with Mommy at bedtime. Holding her, rocking her, singing to her, chatting with her, and just gazing down into her big brown eyes...priceless. And I love the greeting I get after working out. I go in to the Kids Klub to get her and usually hear, "Hi! My Mommy's here! Mommy, did you work out?" I love the "leg hug" that accompanies her words... 

I love that she strives every day to be such a "big girl" who does so much "all by Rachel's self" or "all by myself" as she has started saying. She is quite the little "self-corrector". It is interesting to hear her expand upon her sentences and correct her own pronouns etc...We did have quite the little "word debate" last Friday on the way home from open gym. She kept telling me she "runned and runned all over the place". I know that is normal language development and she was, in fact, doing a good job of using past tense since she had already done it. After hearing it over and over, I could not stop myself. I told her the past tense of run is ran...or she could say "I was running all over the place". Nope! She disagreed. She "runned and runned"! I gave a few more examples and she did agree that she "was running all over the place at the gymnastics gym".

I also love that even though she is a "big girl" she still says to me..."Will you be there, Mommy?" "Will you help me?" "Will you do it with me, Mommy?" Absolutely! There's no place I'd rather be...I'll be happy to help you...there is nothing I'd rather be doing...

I have so much to share about from our Disneyland trip, but I could not resist a little "what we love about our sweet girl" post on this day of turning 3 1/2. These pictures are a few from her photo session at Sears today. We finally got in for a few more Cinderella pics (I found a gorgeous matching hairbow prior to our Disney trip as I did not think that the tiara would be comfortable for the lunch with the princesses in 90 degree weather), new Minnie Mouse outfit pics and some fun bathing suit pics. She was great! Afterwards we had a nice family dinner at The Outback. Tomorrow starts another busy week...gym, Kids Klub, music class, swim class, dance class, and open gym at the gymnastics place. She starts back with her gymnastics class in October again. I wanted her to have several weeks of just playing, running, jumping etc...during open gym time before we start back up with more structured classes.

So much to say, So little time...

I cannot believe the last date I posted on was July 15th! Wow! There really has been a lot going on. I have so much to say and think about my blog posting all the time. It is just a matter of having a chance to sit down and do it! Now that Fall is almost upon us maybe I can get caught up. I certainly have no shortage of photos to share...especially now!

We just returned from a fun 5-6 days at Disneyland! We had a great time despite the horrid heat we encountered each day. Thank goodness for air-conditioning, pools, and a patient little 3 year old who never complains! I am pretty sure I was the whiney one on the hottest days. She just takes it all in and accepts it. So easy-going! We did try to get her a nap each day whether in the hotel room or in the stroller. I think that helped. Despite the naps and returning to the hotet at a decent time each evening, Rachel has slept in until almost 11am yesterday and today! Our little one needed some serious recuperative sleep! I guess it is fair to say that Disneyland is fun, exciting and exhausting!!!

So...we are home and getting back to our normal routine. We have a photo session at Sears on Sunday and then all Rachel's activities start up again next week. More about that soon. She just woke up and is calling me, "Mommy, what are you doing? Please come get me and bring me downstairs. I have a boo-boo to show you. I love you. Wait a second! I just found my lost puppy book in my bed. I will pick up 5 things to show you. I will show you this book, my blankie, the Minnie Mouse pillow, my doggy...Doggy, you must tell Mommy the truth! ... (pause) Mommy, this little boy in my book is giving his doggy an ice-cream cone to make him feel better. Just wait a second! I have to tell you the truth!" Yes, the chatter is endless...almost like one continuous sentence at times...I am starting to feel like I need more recuperative sleep...

Fun Stuff...

First of all, thank you so much for the comments on the "Swim Lessons" post. That was a hard one to write! I was concerned about sharing too much and perhaps either Rachel being judged, Momma being judged or both of us being judged. I needn't have worried for a single moment! Other Mommies really "get it"...no matter how old their children are. Oh, and so does one very special Da-Da. He sent me a sweet email note the next morning:). Yes, I mean Rachel's Da-Da, of course. I hope he doesn't mind as I did not ask permission, but I'm sharing his note...

"Hi Sweetie,

Greeeeeeat post.

You are doing a wonderful job

 and

she is getting to be a big girl.

 I will definitely take her to the pool

the weekend I get back.

Lv dada"

Isn't that sweet? Love him!

He's such a terrific daddy AND husband:).

So...for some new stuff...some Fun Stuff! The "Swim' post was VERY wordy with a few pictures. I'm keeping this one to minimal words and LOTS of pictures! Yay! It's some Artwork, Bubbles!, and a peek at the Playroom! We have been spending more time in there despite the nice weather. It is a nice place for "unwinding" at the end of the day before jammies, teeth brushing, stories, taking about our day and making plans for the next day. We have been spending A LOT of time in the rocker before bedtime each night. Rachel's been making the request of, "Please hold Rachel in the rocker, Momma. We talk about our day." Then she starts the lullaby CD, grabs a blankie, curls up in my lap and we talk...and talk...and talk. Heavenly! She likes to hear stories about when she was a tiny baby. She also likes me to sing the songs I used to make up. I asked her if we could do that forever and she said, "Yes, we can!" Hmmm...maybe I should get that on tape! (I noticed that some of the pictues look too small. Remember you can click on them to make the bigger:))

"Fruit Loop Art"

So much fun!

She did two rainbows, I did a rainbow and a flower,

and we created the sunshine together.

(Da-Da did some flowers too!

Will share in another post.

 He is quite creative:))

La - La - La - La...

Rachel

REALLY

wants to 

HULA!

 "Blowing Bubbles Time!"

(a semi-original "poem" by Mommy)

"The moon is up,

it's getting late.

Let's get ready

to celebrate!"

(This part is from "Pajama Time" by Sandra Boynton.

The rest is from Mommy:))

 "Put on your jammies.

Put on your hat.

Grab the Bubble Bucket.

It's as easy as that!"

 "Let's blow some bubbles!

Let's have some fun!

Let's laugh and giggle...

before our day is done!"

 "Choose your bubble wand,

blue, green or yel-low.

Dip it in the bubble juice...

close your eyes and blow!"

 "Blow them to the left.

    Blow them to the right.

 Blow lots of little ones.

Blow a great big one!

 Watch them all sail away.

Catch them on the bubble wand!"

 "It's time to clean up

and put it all away.

It'll all be waiting

for the next time we play!"

New additions to the Playroom!

I finally hung the lines to display

Rachel's Artwork!

It's looks so pretty.

(I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator sometimes.)

 I hung two lines across from each other

in the smaller middle section.

It was so cute watching Rachel browse as if

in an Art Museum or at an Art Show!

 This was a little hard to photograph

since they are vinyl clings and reflect my flash.

There are so many big, blank, tan walls in the playroom.

I thought this might be a nice way, along with the artwork

to personalize and warm it up.

I love how it turned out!

It looks even better in person:).

Thanks for reading and thanks again for the comments!