Conversations with Rachel

I think this is a pretty good collection to post now:

January 9, 2011
We were sitting in Sacrament Meeting and Brandon and I were sneaking Starburst candies.
Rachel: "I smell something, mommy. What's in your mouth? I think it's some Starburst treat."
Wow. She can recognize candy just by it's smell. That's definitely our little girl.

January 9, 2011
After a full day of playing and no nap, Rachel said, "I want to be awake. I'm not tired at all!"

January 29, 2011
7:00 am: "Mom, I'm awake! To infinity and beyond!"

February 13, 2011
Great Grandma Thompson asked Rachel how old she thought Nana (my mom) was on her birthday: "I think she's probably 11 and a half." My mom was very flattered.

February 11, 2011
We're working on not saying "Oh my gosh." Of course, I accidentally say it and whenever I do, she quickly corrects me and says, "Mom, we don't say 'oh my gosh', we say, oh my goodness."

February 10, 2011
"Mom, I love you. Don't forget your cell phone." She says this to me everytime I leave - I have no idea why since I usually remember to bring my phone. On this particular week when daddy was out of town for work, she said to him on the phone, "Dad, I love you. Don't forget your cell phone and my present." I had never made an mention to her about any sort of present that dad would bring her home. It must be common knowledge among children that when their parent goes out of town, they get a present.

February 23, 2011
"Mom, that was unacceptable." Enough said, Brandon and I both say that to her on occasion.

Visitors - Take 3

Chris (Brandon's brother) and Kacie and their kids came down to escape the Utah cold and visit for President's Day weekend.  We absolutely loved having them and are so glad they stayed at our house.  We introduced them to the beauty of LOUD noisemakers to help babies sleep more soundly and their kids taught Rachel to eat her boiled eggs with ketchup.  Gross.  :)  We talked and laughed and played with the kids.

The girls went shopping.  I love you, 'Ross: Dress for Less'.  And we went running too.  The boys went golfing.  18 holes in the rain.  Of course they had a great time.  They're weird like that.

We have been craving some cousin-time, so this was perfect.  The kids played so well together - I'm not just saying this, really I was amazed at how well everyone got along and how few sharing problems we had.  I think it was because their kids are so good.  Cannon, Kennedy and Rachel mostly jumped on the trampoline - for at LEAST 3 hours each day, no joke!  Their favorite was to jump with Chris and Brandon for obvious reasons, but they would even jump by themselves for long periods of time.

We visited the zoo and Rachel kept running far away and wasn't being obedient, so I had to follow through on a threat and NOT let her ride the carousel at the end of the day.  Yikes, since we all know that Rachel is OBSESSED with carousels.  Initially she was upset, but then she pulled it together and watched her cousins ride on the ride without her and I think she understood.  She told dad all about how she wasn't obedient, so she couldn't ride on the carousel at the zoo and that she can go on it next time if she's good.  Needless to say, I was shocked it went as well as it did and I think she might actually just stay by me next time at the zoo (let's cross our fingers!).

Lots of time on the trampoline and Chris taught them all sorts of fun games, like "crack the egg"

Chase (8-9 months old) & Andrew (5 months) at the Zoo - oh man, I love Chase's red hair!

Cannon, Kennedy & Rachel with the Giraffes

Being like the flamingos

Pretty good hiding if you ask me

Rachel watching the carousel rather than actually getting to ride it!  Bummer, maybe next time, Rach!

Drew asleep in the baby carrier at the zoo

Rachel let Kacie curl her hair like Kennedy's - so cute!

The girls jumping on the trampoline in the rain

Cannon let me steal a few shots of him in the backyard - such a cute kid!

I think I might have a few more pictures that Kacie took, so I'll post those later.

Visitors - Take 2

Next my mom came to spend a week with us and she was even here on her birthday and Valentine's Day, so we got to celebrate with her!

Nana played dress up with Rachel and they mostly just pal around - Rachel follows her wherever she goes and Nana teaches her things like the rotation of the earth and how the night turns to day or why popsicles melt (I love getting Rachel's versions later about what Nana taught her about).  We worked hard in the yard and Nana even found Rachel a lizard (of course she caught it with her bare hands - so disgusting).

Brandon had to leave town for a few days and went to Las Vegas for a deposition training for work.  I was glad to have my mom there while he was gone.  Especially the night that Andrew woke up coughing and I instantly knew it was croup - I was able to leave my mom home with Rachel asleep while I took in Andrew.  Poor guy, now he has to have those dumb breathing treatments too - every 4 hours for 5-7 days or so.  I am tired of those darn machines, but I am grateful for them at the same time.

My gift to my mom was a pedicure, so I got a babysitter (since Brandon was still out of town) and off we went to treat ourselves to a nice morning.  It was lovely and my mom's gold sparkly toes made her so happy.  The next day, we invited Grandma & Grandpa Thompson over (they are winterbirds and staying in Casa Grande in their motorhome) and Paula's family over for dinner and dessert.

Playing princess with dress ups

Pathetic, right?!  Both my kids needing breathing treatments.

Rachel got invited to a darling Valentine's Day party at her friend's house (Sami & Janie)

Nana enjoying the Arizona sun!

Happy Birthday, mom!  That's a lot of candles!  :)  

Relaxing after a LONG, HARD day of work in the yard

Grandpa & Grandma Thompson with Rachel & Andrew - it was the first time they have met Drew!  

Oh how I love this happy boy!!

Visitors - Take 1

February was the month of visitors and we loved it!

First, Brandon's parents came down for a weekend.  Nancy was able to stay a little longer than Val, but we were happy to see them both!  Nancy is so good with the kids and I knew she just wanted to spend time with them.  She took Rachel to the Children's Museum while I snuck away to Ikea (yay!).  She played lots of Littlest Pet Shop with Rachel as well and Andrew flashed lots of smiles her way.

Val and Brandon spent a beautiful day on the golf course and then we got take out from Tia Rosa's, which I am starting to appreciate more.  I didn't get the big deal about it at first (everyone rants and raves about it down here), but I'm starting to like it more and more - maybe it's an acquired taste?

I also got to go to Last Chance with Kasey (without kids) and scored on some new tops and earrings for me. (I know!  Splurge, right?!)  It was so fun to catch up and shop!

While they were here, Rachel got sick so we jumped on the breathing treatments/nebulizer (albuterol) to help clear it up and I was worried she'd be a total grouch, but Grandma Nancy helped keep her happy.  It's amazing how much the kid coughs.  It seemed like she coughed (mostly at night) for the whole month of January and then into February too.  I thank my lucky stars for our breathing treatment machine at home, but I wish there was more I could do for her.  And I'm still a little confused because at doctor visits they refer to her having "asthma", but she doesn't have problems breathing, just coughing when she gets sick.  Brandon had something his mom called viral asthma which would always flare up whenever he got sick.  That's the best way I can describe Rachel's too except that Brandon never coughed (he claims that the coughing came from my side of the family - a hot debate in our house!).  :)

We love you, Nancy & Val!  Thanks for coming down to our neck of the woods.

Rachel got a Princess (Belle) for Valentine's from Gma Nancy and of course, the girls carried it around for days!

If he was a Bachelor ...

... this is what his grocery shopping would look like.

I sent my hubby to the store to get tortillas and milk and this is what he came back with.  These are just a few of his favorite things, and I laughed pretty hard while we unloaded the groceries.

the gift that keeps on giving

Technically this is bragging, but I'm super excited ... skip the first paragraph if you just want a free swaddle blanket.

The Ellen Show called saying that the company who promised us high chairs went out of business, so to make up for it, they are giving us 1 ticket to one of Ellen's 12 days of Giveaways shows.  AMAZING ... INCREDIBLE ... oh man, I am so excited and I just absolutely love Ellen - she is so generous and hilarious too!  So I'm planning a trip to LA in December, for sure.  (Thanks again, Danielle, for letting me come with you to the show last year!)  This is one of those gifts that just keeps on giving.

And I just thought of something after doing my "Product Review" post on Aden and Anais ... since I got 4 new blankets, I don't need the other 3 good ones I had, which were used for 4 months with my little guy.  SO, if you're interested in trying one out then I'd be happy to give you one of my old ones.  I just don't want to have to go to the post office (that place and the dmv are my least favorite places), so if you're in Arizona or Utah I'd be happy to get it to you.  :)  Just leave a comment and I'll save one for you.

Andrew's Blessing

We blessed Andrew while we were in Utah on Sunday, December 26 at my parents house.  He was almost 3 months old and we thought that it would be great to do in it Utah while we were there for Christmas so that our immediate family and grandparents could be there for Andrew's special day.  Andrew wore the same outfit that Brandon wore when he was blessed and he looked great!  (Now, had we waited a couple more weeks, I don't know if the outfit would have fit Andrew - it was a little snug.)  :)

Brandon gave a very sweet blessing to Andrew and we were thankful to Bishop Rife for being there and to our family members who were able to attend.

Product Review

The swaddle muslin blankets by Aden & Anais seem to be all the rage right now - I keep seeing them pop up.  I only have some because I won them on the Ellen show; otherwise, I would have been totally oblivious to what they were.

I use them to swaddle Andrew and they been especially great for the Arizona weather since they are airy and light weight.  I don't use the conventional swaddle fold on these - it didn't hold tight enough for my liking.  So we fold it in half and make a long rectangle and then swaddle him (with his feet able to move and kick freely) - kind of strange, but it works and he loves it.  I am a huge fan of swaddling newborns!  And I just think that moms have to find a blanket that works for them.  I don't think I would have liked these if I used them on my first child, but I like them on my second child.  Anyway, I'm not writing this to sell you on the blanket, their CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS AWESOME last week.  After only using one of the blankets for 4 months, when I was pulling it tight around Andrew, it ripped in 3 different places.  I called and they asked for the product number on the tag.  They didn't ask any other questions, just wanted to track which manufacturing group it was in and then they sent me a BRAND NEW 4 PACK in just a few days - no questions asked.  AMAZING!  Thank you, Aden and Anais!  (pronounced Ay-den & An-ay)

January

Keep scrolling down ... you don't want to miss the post on potty training!  :)

The weather this month has been beautiful, so we've spent a lot of time outside - either on the trampoline, on walks or to trips to the park with friends.  During my free time, I've had the January-bug to organize and clean a little bit and I've also been working on my blog book (I have to use a voucher by Feb 18th or something like that) and spent some time putting together everything for our taxes.  

My mom came down for a quick weekend after visiting Gma & Gpa Thompson in Quartzite, AZ and we ventured out just a little since the potty training was still very new.  And like always, she helped me with little projects here and there.  Like, we trimmed our huge tree in the front (probably a 5 hour job), which I've been meaning to do for the longest time.  And she kept me company after a very long few days of potty training.  I sure love moms!  

Here's some pictures of the kiddos:

Still no binkie, so he just uses his bottom lip sometimes

Rachel is totally into "Toy Story" lately and so is Andrew (just kidding!) - just for the 1 minute that I let him watch it so I could get a photo.  That's a problem I'm finding with a big screen tv - I have to work a little harder to get him in a place he can't see it.  Anyway, the last two weekends we've rented "Toy Story 3" from Redbox and had family movie night.  I'm so glad to say that we have reached a point where we can watch a descent movie together as a family and make it fun!

Potty Trained

It's done.  Phew!  And I have to write about it before I forget how miserable it really was.  It was pure torture (but only for a few days, so definitely worth it)!  I have a good idea:  before people become parents, they should have to audition by being stuck in a house for a week potty training a toddler.

I jumped the gun when Rachel finally went poop on the toilet - I didn't want to miss my opportunity and since we have a lot of visitors in February, I just wanted to get the job done.  So I quickly read some things on the topic and got lots of juice, treats, prizes, panties and stickers.

In a nutshell, this was my method:
- Tons of praise and excitement and encouragement
- No timeouts or getting upset - I tried my hardest to be patient
- Repetition, repetition, repetition
- In an effort to teach her how to recognize when she need to go to the bathroom, I used the same language all day, every day.  I wanted her to be able to tell me when she needed to go rather than wait for me to take her to the toilet at certain times of the day.
- "Rachel, remember to keep your panties dry" or "Great job keeping your panties dry!" and "Rachel, be sure to tell mommy when you need to go pee or poop and then we'll run to the toilet"  Brandon said by the second night, I was saying these phrases OUT LOUD in my sleep - so sad that my dreams were also consumed with potty training!
- I couldn't let her leave my sight for a few days because I wanted to catch her if she did have an accident, so I was exhausted since I was constantly chasing her while she was dancing around or running from room to room.  The only time she had accidents, I had to blame myself - mostly it was if I got on the phone, and I think she just wanted to experience what would happen.  I should have just turned off my phone, but I might have gone crazy!  If she did have an accident, we would run to the toilet, then I'd shower her off, clean up and then she'd have to practice running to the toilet a few times, and then I'd just tell her that she needed to be sure to keep her panties dry and clean and that next time we needed to run to the toilet before it came out.
- I had treats for pee and prizes for poop and lots of stickers and she'll do anything for gum, so that is always a good reward.  I dropped the treats by day 3 and moved to a sticker-reward chart, but we kept the poo poo prizes going for awhile since she is sometimes a little hesitant to go.
- We used a potty seat on the big toilet, but we got rid of the potty seat after a week or so, no problem.  I had heard that some kids won't go on "big toilets" if they are used to their potty seat at home, but we just made it really fun by getting excited about trying out the toilets at church and Target, etc. and so she decided she didn't need the potty seat.
- At first, I was all gung-ho about doing night training at the same time even though she NEVER wakes up with a dry diaper.  That first night, she wet herself 3 times and I thought that it would be too hard to expect her to get up 3 times in the middle of the night, so we went with pull ups and I am SO glad we did.  I'll tackle that one later after she wakes up dry a few times.

Andrew was an ANGEL - he took great naps that week and put up with being set down on the floor lots while we ran to the toilet.  It seems that she would always need to go while I was rocking him to sleep, nursing or on the phone.  However, I felt bad having to "neglect" him so much for those few days, and it made me think that I maybe should have done it before Andrew was born, but I really wouldn't have wanted her to digress when the baby was born and I wanted to wait until I thought she was ready.  Rachel is two and a half (3 in June) and I felt like it was a good time for her.

The first few days she had about 2 accidents a day (like I said, I felt like they were my fault and a few of them happened when I was on the  phone or we were outside in the backyard playing) and then in the next week she only had a couple accidents.  One was when Nana came for the weekend and she was so excited to see her that she peed her pants - that one was funny!!!  So she's doing great!  I don't have a lot of patience for accidents at this point, so I'm a little more stern if it happens, but they don't happen all that often, so I'm hopeful that it worked and that I can say she is officially potty trained.  I know everyone potty trains their children, but I feel like it was a big accomplishment for both me and Rachel!  :)

My only sadness is that I think we are basically done with her afternoon nap now!  NOOOOOO!!  During the first week of potty training, she would always hold her #2 until around naptime, so she was always running to the toilet and hesitating - disaster - and was in and out of her room so much that she never could fall asleep.  I can get her to fall asleep maybe once or twice a week now and let's be honest, I'm sad about it, but if it means an earlier bedtime, then I'll take that as my consolation prize.

Oh how I miss the daily naps!!

Big girl panties!!  Her favorites are Minnie, Littlest Pet Shop, Ariel and Belle