Happy First birthday Rachel!!!

Just a quick post to show everyone how cute Rachel looked eating her cake

52 weeks ago right now....

...I was in labour. Heavy, intense labour. I wanted an epidural but they didn't get it done in time....I needed to push. I only pushed for 15 minutes so I can't complain but I'm telling ya - those were 15 tough minutes!!! In the end, it was totally worth it though!

So, it's 8:40pm and I'm enjoying the peace & quiet. Ron & his brother Mark went out to Delaware tonight to watch a car race. Rachel has been in bed since 7 and I've been running my ass off (if only that would really happen). Tomorrow is the big party and I can't wait! We are expecting just over 20 adults and there will be 7 kids. So far, it looks like the weather is going to hold out for us. The sky right now is a beautiful pinky-orange colour so here's hoping it'll be nice and sunny for us tomorrow!

Linda & I worked on Rachel's birthday cake today. I must say that I'm very impressed with the way it turned out...if only Blogger would cooperate and let me upload a picture! UGH - so frustrating!

Anyway, I think it's time to go grab a cup of tea and RELAX for awhile :)

Rachel walking on video

I do apologize for the poor quality of this video - it was recorded tonight in our living room and I didn't think to turn more lights on. On top of that, I was using our digital camera since it's much easier to upload those videos! ha ha

Rachel in the pool

We had a very busy day today but it was fun! We went to buy more paving stones so we can make a walkway from our man door (garage) to our driveway. It's been one of those things that we've wanted to do for awhile and since the grass is DEAD, it seems to be the right time to do it. After that we went out for lunch and then stopped at the Ford dealership to test drive an Escape. It seems that my two door car is just not practical anymore and I have finally come to grips with that. Yes, it has taken awhile to accept that fact but hey, I'm there now and that's all that matters, right? Anyway, I need to get back to work first before we buy a new vehicle so that's a discussion for another day. After our test drive, we went to my parents place and we went for a swim at Wayne & Lennie's. The pool was awesome - 88 degrees!! Rachel finally got to test out her new little chair float we got her awhile ago and she loved it! It was so cute to see her kicking her legs to make herself move around. Wayne took some pictures so I thought I'd post a couple here. Oh - the only reason why I can post pictures right now is because I'm using my Dad's laptop. Now that I know I can post pictures elsewhere I'm going to have to try to figure out what the heck is wrong with our computer.

Ron, Me, Rachel, Mom & Dad.

We have a "Toddler"

Well, the 'baby' days are over I would say. Rachel is walking! I can't believe how just a week ago she was still only taking a couple of steps and now she's walking everywhere. Last night she was walking up and down the hall and from the kitchen to the family room with no problems. She will even stop while she's walking to regain her balance and then continue on. Way to go, Rachel!!!!

One year appointment

Rachel had her one year check up yesterday and everything seems great! She is 29 inches long/tall and not quite 21 lbs (20lbs 14oz). She's hardly gained any weight since her last check up but she has grown a few inches so that's good. The rest of her checkup was fine and she goes back on the 16th to get her one year needles. The good news with that date is that Grandma will have the pleasure of taking her to that appointment since I'll be back to work!

Speaking of back to work - I have one week left. ONE WEEK! And let me tell you - it's going to be a busy week at that! I have a hair appointment on Tuesday (cut & colour), Rachel gets her pictures taken on the Wednesday, then on Thursday I have a pedicure scheduled and then Friday we take Rachel to see Dr. Jain in Cambridge to see if he knows what these brown marks are on her legs & chest. Then Saturday I'll be busy all day getting ready for her party on Sunday! Sunday will be a BUSY day but I expect it will be a blast, too. A perfect way to end my year off work. *sigh*

Rachel is doing very well with her 'walking'. She takes between 8-10 steps now on her own and she's standing for considerable amounts of time, too. It's just so weird to look over at her and she's standing all by herself. She's definitely not a baby anymore! I'm still hopeful that she'll be walking by her birthday. Everyday she seems to get more and more confident.

I think that's about it for now. We're hoping to go to the Hot Air Balloon Festival this weekend downtown. It seems like we'll have to wake Rachel up early in the morning to see them take off though (they take off at 6:30am). They also take off at 6:30pm but that's cutting it too close to her bedtime and we have learned the hard way that she needs to be in bed by 7:30 or else we pay the price (she's overtired and cries and whines - just not worth it). We'll see what happens though - getting up early is going to be tough..buuuuutttt, I guess I'll need to get used to that. UGH