rachel's room

If anyone is wondering, her bedding is by Cotton Tale and it's called Early Bird Bedding. It turned out so cute - I just love it! Also, Brandon's grandpa made the cute letters for her shelf pictured below. At times I've thought about painting her room, but then I think about having to paint it white again in June when we move out.

Gotta love being a mom.

p.s.

Coming soon...
I got tickets to Oprah for next Friday's show, Oct. 31 - Halloween! So stay tuned for the details. My mom, grandma, and my mom's best friend, Kyle are all flying in for the show (and to see Rachel, of course). It's going to be a blast! I think it's the Friday Live show like she's been doing this season, so tune in to Oprah on Friday.

**Chicago friends, I got tickets by writing in for the "last minute" availability on her website. I told them that I wanted my mom to fly in and see my daughter in her Halloween costume, but that I needed to get Oprah tickets to justify the plane flight. :) For the last two months, we've tried calling in to the Oprah line, but never got through. And believe me, we tried calling lots.**

Don't miss the post below - it's new too!

Catch Up...

Rachel & I are good buddies (except when she wakes up and wants to play in the middle of the night). And we're still good friends in the middle of the night since Brandon and I are such suckers! Her latest trick is arching her back to get out of the bumbo chair - see pic below.

Rachel got a "big girl" stroller last week - wahoo! It's a heavy duty yet light-weight umbrella stroller. It's a Maclaren, but I didn't have to break the bank. I found this one on Ebay - it is the 2007 edition and was brand new in the box. We got it for a steal of a deal and Rach loves it!

Brock and Nicole came to visit and it was so great to see them! We have missed them lots. They stayed with us one night and then had a hotel downtown. We went and met them for dinner at Cheesecake Factory and had a great time. Did I mention that going out to dinner with children is quite different then without kids? :) We still had a great time and were sad to see them go. Brandon and Brock also went to a Bears game, so you'll have to put in a special request for pics and a post from Brandon about the game. They had a GREAT time! Go bears! The pictures below include our trip downtown, Rachel all bundled up, Rachel and Lily (Rachel was so fascinated with her!), and the whole group. Luv you guys!

Tipping the Scales

"Who me?"

I took Rachel to her 4 month doctor appointment and she is off the charts for height and in the 90-95 percentile for weight. She is about the size of an average 7-8 month old.

Here's the stats:
15 lb 5 oz
26 inches

I wanted to go to a pediatrician that a friend had recommended, but it's quite the hike (well worth it). We got on the 9:45a train to go downtown, then it's a 1.2 mile walk to the doctors office. After the appointment, we "needed" to check out the baby clothes at H&M, so we finally got home just before 2p. We had fun since it was such a nice day outside - Rach loves being outside, so I'm thinking it's going to be a long winter!

We are back...

We made it safe and sound back to Chicago and I am thrilled to be back in our apartment. The picture above is the view from our window. I'm glad we didn't come back straight into winter, but the fall is quite chilly compared to our hot summer.

I had a terrible sore throat and fever last week, so I wasn't able to do much, but we did manage to go into Aon to visit old friends and also went to Molly's Cupcakes in Lincoln Park with some friends while the boys went to the Priesthood Session. Yum! Rachel didn't get a bite of the cupcake - we'll start with rice cereal first (this adventure will happen in two weeks)...

Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to in September (in backwards order) -

Rachel did great on the plane ride to Chicago - plane ride #6! Good girl! We were pretty sad to say goodbye to family, but she was excited to see her new room. It took a few days (still taking a few more days) to put together, but she is pleased with what she's seen. It's so fun to see her reaction to things like her crib set and mobile - she smiles and giggles and is so happy.

When we got to Utah, we froze. After being in 100+ weather for almost all of her life so far, 65 degrees felt freezing, but we were prepared...

The best part of Utah is both sets of grandmas & grandpas and cousins! She loved to watch them play and we even managed to get them all in a picture (Mason, Cannon holding Rachel, and Kennedy). Cute kids.
We stayed at Brandon's parents for half the time and my parents for half the time. We seemed to be always on the go, but she was as trooper.

Here are some classic Rachel faces...

"I didn't do it."

"Huh?"

"This is the best day ever!"

Brandon got to go to two BYU football games while we were there and Rachel and I even went over for the tailgate party. The Camp Family always does a fantastic tailgate party - seriously, you can't even compete with this.

"Go Cougars!"

We had so much fun in Utah! Thanks to everyone for giving us a place to stay and letting us eat all your food! We miss you so much.

Being in Arizona was a great adventure and thanks to Brandon who worked so hard! We went into his office to visit him one day - here's a picture of daddy & daughter.

I loved having my college roommates down in AZ! We got together one last time before I left. The first picture is of Natalie and I (ignore the fact that Rach is really ticked) and the second is of Kasey (new baby, Cole) and Sarah. They are the best! Miss you, girls!