2 Months

Our sweet baby is growing so quickly.  She is such a happy little girl most of the time.  It is so easy to get her to smile most of the time...and it makes us smile every time!  You can't help but smile when you look at this gorgeous face!

Pouty Lip  (Apparently she was tired of smiling for all of the pictures we had taken!) 

8 Weeks Old

My baby girl turned 8 weeks old yesterday.  It has gone so fast.  I feel like the birth was a really long time ago, but it doesn't feel like she is 8 weeks old yet (if that makes any sense).  She changes so much all of the time.  She is getting so long.  She has a doctors appointment on Friday.  It will be interesting so see her new stats.

Rachel is learning to talk

Rachel is learning to talk to things. She really likes to talk to the fan in her bedroom upstairs. Another of her favorite things to talk to is the ducks on her swing. Every time I go and get the video camera and put it on her, she stops talking. Tim was able to capture a pretty good one the other day (with hiccups as well) and here is a bit of it. You will see and hear that the cats want some attention too. I hope you don't get motion sickness ;)

Playing Soccer Again

I started playing soccer again last weekend on my old coed team.  It was a preseason tournament.  We played three 30 minute games.  Every time we won, we had to play again.  We almost won the 3rd game as well, but we lost in a shootout.  It was one game too many for me.  It was only 6 weeks after having Rachel.  I could really tell that I haven't worked out for almost a year.  Also, my hips were killing me.  I don't think they are quite back to where they started from.  My brain worked so much faster than my feet and I almost fell on my face multiple times.  I also missed a shot where I was about 5 feet in front of the goal.  It was the worst shot of my life.  I think my legs are going to take awhile to get back to where they used to be.

I debated on putting this first picture in my blog.  It was taken during the game.  It will be a reminder to me that I need to work out more to get my stomach to where it needs to be.  I think as soon as I finish this post I will go do some sit-ups.

Here is a picture of Marie and I at half-time.  She had Emma about 3 months before I had Rachel.  Both Emma and Rachel were at the game cheering their moms on.

Here is Rachel cheering me on.  Tim's mom brought her down and kept her busy while I played.  (Thanks so much Heather!)  She slept through the first 2 games.  Actually, she was sleeping when the second game was over, but I knew she was going to wake up soon, so I took her up to Tim's parents house and fed her in between games.  I had 30 minutes between games and 2 minutes to drive up the hill, 2 minutes to drive back, 5 minutes to take off my gear, and so I had 21 minutes to feed her (good thing she was okay with that).  When I got back to the game, I got there right as it was starting...but I still had to put my gear back on.  I almost made it!

I am having a hard time saving up milk.  I produce enough for her on a daily basis, but when I pump to save up, then I have nothing for Rachel.  I hope I can save up enough so that when I go back to work, I have some for her.  It is a good thing we don't have anymore tournament games, because I don't think I can do the whole running up and feeding her in between games thing anymore.

Daddy's Little Skater

Rachel wore one of her Hurley (a skate company) outfits to bed last night.  Daddy is so proud of his little skater girl.

7 Weeks

Rachel turned 7 weeks yesterday.  She is getting so big and changing so much!  Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday.

Future In-Laws

Becky came over to visit yesterday and her husband, Eric (or Bo as many call him) came in to see Rachel before he went to work.  Their baby, "Spike", is due in 2 weeks and is Rachel's future husband (although she doesn't know it yet).

"Oven Mitts"

Tim got Rachel dressed for bed the other night.  She always has to sleep with her hands and feet covered or they get too cold.  When Tim brought her to bed, I sent him back to put gloves on her.  After a few minutes, he comes back in and she looks like this.

He put socks on her hands.  He knew they didn't look quite right and kept calling them oven mitts because they fit funny and were too big.  He said that he couldn't find gloves.  I was laughing so hard.  I am worried what she will look like when I go back to work and he has to dress her everyday.  I will probably have to pick out her entire outfit everyday so that she doesn't go out looking too crazy.  If you look carefully at her face, she is not quite sure she likes having socks on her hands.

Mother's Day #2

We celebrated Mother's Day in Aguanga with my mom this past Sunday.

My mom, me, and Rachel

My moms dog, Hank, hocked a loogie on Brianne's pants.  It was sooo gross!

She doesn't get her thumb in correctly very often, but it looks so cute when she does.

Uncle Chris (Brianne's husband) finally held Rachel.  The only time he saw her before was the day she was born.

My sister and I were dressed very similarly.  (She's a bit taller though.)

Grandma, Grandpa, and Rachel

Smiles

It has gotten so much easier to get Rachel to smile these days.  Every time that she does, it makes me laugh.

6 Weeks Old

We are trying to work on tummy time with Rachel.  I start by propping her up so that she is happy.  As soon as I lay her flat on her belly...

this is what we get.  She is not a very big fan of tummy time.

When she is in the swing, she loves when we turn the mobile on.  She watches the ducks go around.  As soon as it turns off, she starts to fuss until we turn it back on for her.  She is getting so good at watching and following things.

Mother's Day

We spent Mother's Day at the Hodgson's house.  It was a very relaxing day.  Actually, I spent half of the day finishing my thank you card for the baby shower.  It felt so good to get them finished.  They have been such a weight on me, so it was really good to get them finished.

Tim made lunch for us...

and Matt made dinner.  It was great for the boys to do this for us!

First Visit to the Beach

Heather and I went for a walk on the beach on Saturday.  Considering I am starting soccer next weekend, I really need to start exercising again.  I have been trying to walk, but probably not often enough.  I think that when I play soccer, the running is really going to kick my butt.

Rachel is waving hello!

Happy Baby

The past few days, Rachel has been so happy.  She will be looking at me, and I start talking to her and she will smile so big.  When she wakes up in the morning, she wakes up in such a good mood.  Not that she didn't wake up in a good mood before, but it wasn't as obvious.  She smiles so much in the morning.

She is a tongue baby.  Her tongue is always on the move.

As you can see, her face is clearing up.

Rachel's New Toy

Rachel got a swing yesterday.  I was talking to Becky's sister-in-law, Rachael, at Becky's shower on Sunday and she told me that she had a swing that I could have.  Her daughters only use it for their baby dolls to play in.  Becky brought it over yesterday, and Rachel absolutely loves it.  I have been debating on buying one for weeks now.  She pretty much has to be rocked to sleep every time and I figured that this could make our lives easier.  I wasn't sure if I should buy one that goes side to side or back and forth.  This one does both.  She prefers the back and forth motion at this point.  I am glad I didn't buy one because I would have thought that she would have preferred the side to side motion since that is how she prefers we rock her when we are holding her.  If I had bought one, it would have been the wrong one.  Rachael saved me a lot of money.  We are quickly running out of space in our condo.

Baby Acne/Rash and Thumb Sucking

Rachel broke out in what I think is a combination of baby acne and a heat rash this week.  Her face, head, and neck are covered in bumps.  When she gets hot, it turns her whole face red.  She looks so pathetic.  I feel so bad for her, although it does not seem to bother her.  While Becky was holding her, she was sucking her thumb and not gagging on it this time.