Christmas Pictures

Rachel had her picture taken again this past Monday and we're very pleased with the results :)

Compass Children's Christmas Party

Rachel got her first gift from Santa today!!! She was a good girl and didn't cry. I think it's so cute how she's checking out Santa's helper (my friend Ann Marie). She's probably thinking 'Hey, I know her' : )

Ann Marie (Santa's Helper), Santa & Rachel

Rachel checking out my friend Annette's work chair. She thought it was pretty cozy!

We changed Rachel into her snowman sleeper before the parade started. I thought it would be a little more comfortable compared to the dress. Rachel even stayed awake for the whole parade. I think it helps that the parade is at night - much easier to see all the lights. We're trying to talk Daddy into asking his boss if he can decorate the bucket truck and go in next year's parade! : )

Jolly Jumper pics

Rachel was hanging out in her Jolly Jumper today while Ron & I decorated the Christmas tree...or started to at least :)


What a cutie, eh?

Looking back...at the weekly pig shots

We have been taking weekly pictures of Rachel with her stuffed pig since she was a week old. Today I was looking through them and I thought I would post them all here.

Week 1
Week 2 Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13 Week 14. She obviously did not want to cooperate on this day :)

Jolly Jumper is a hit!!!

We decided to try Rachel in her "Jolly Jumper" last night for the first time. They say you can put them in these things when they are 4 months old but Rachel is doing very well with holding her own head up so we thought we'd try it out. After all, you're supposed to wait until they are 4 months old to use the Bumbo and Rachel was only 2 months old (I think) when she first went in there. :)

She did very well in her Jolly Jumper last night. She LOVED it! At first she wasn't sure what to do so I was helping her bounce around but later on she caught on and was smiling like crazy! It's definitely a hit :)

Cabbage Patch Kid

Years ago, when I was a little girl, my Mom went on a wild ride to get me a Cabbage Patch Kid for Christmas. This year, parents are going crazy for this new Tickle Me Elmo doll. Now don't get me wrong - the doll is adorable but Rachel will get over the fact she won't get one for Christmas...from us. If someone else gets her one - that's great. If not - that's ok, too because I'm sure the shelves will be stocked with tons of them after Christmas.

Back to my Cabbage Patch Kid story....Grandma went out last week to get one for Rachel. I mean, it only seems right to keep with the tradition : ) She found a really cute one - they are called Baby Beans or something like that. They are smaller than the original ones but still as cute (or ugly)!

Rachel likes her doll...Gwendolyn. She talks to her and holds her and quite frankly, it's one of the cutest things I've seen her do so far :)

Quite the resemblance, don't you think?

Rachel talking

I posted a movie of Rachel talking on You Tube this afternoon. I'm not sure if it's working yet or not and I do apologize that you have to turn your head to the left to see it. I haven't quite mastered our digital camera yet. I'm used to making videos with the video camera, not the digital one. I'll have to find the manual for it before next time though : ) I also apologize for the crappy quality. It was fine before I uploaded it so I'm not sure what happened??