Small Observances

We love watching Rachel grow, not so much in size and looks, but her personality and her big heart. We love the fact that daddy saw her sitting in her rocking chair next to her baby doll's crib "reading" from her small white bible. We love the fact that everyday when mommy comes home from work Rachel runs, wraps her arms around my neck with a big hug and always says... "I love you mommy, I missed you." We love the fact she enjoys going to church and seeing her friends and teacher, everytime we drive by the church she says "I wanna go to church." We love the fact she knows all the words to Jesus Loves Me and will gently pat/rub your back as she sings it to you. We love the fact we can not imagine what our life would be without her, but most of all...we just LOVE her. :-)

Mall of America

While in Minneapolis we just had to take Rachel to the Mall of America, which of course meant a trip to the Nickelodeon Theme Park with in the mall. This was Rachel’s first experience with rides and she loved it. We started out slow with a Blues Clues ride that just went round and round. She smiled a lot...we then worked our way up to the Dora and Boots Ferris wheel - She smiled more with the height. She then got her first taste of a roller coaster, as it whipped her and her daddy around some "fast" turns she squealed with glee. But the absolute best was the one in the picture. I cannot remember the name, but she laughed so hard during the ride she could barely catch her breath. We were laughing just as hard. I must say - we were very proud of her for riding it by herself, she showed NO FEAR, just a little nervousness at first. I wish we could have gotten her on video, even the ride worker was laughing at her. It was awesome and told us that she has a real taste for excitement and maybe a little Dare Devil in her. Oh boy!

Ping Pong

Rachel has found a new game - Ping Pong! She truly takes after her daddy. While in Iowa/Minnesota visiting friends and family Rachel was able to test her athletic side and she loved it. She actually did quite well at hitting the ball - great hand-eye coordination. She laughed a lot, got frustrated a lot, but most of all had a ton of fun!

Reading

Every kid has their favorite book and one of Rachel's is Brown Bear, Brown Bear. It is a great beginning book, the repetitive pattern and colorful pictures make it very easy for memorization. We tried for weeks to catch Rachel reading the book. And finally Daddy caught her without her knowing as she read it to herself in her pink castle tent. The best part is that as she reads it, she takes a sneak peak to the next page so she knows what animal and color comes next. Our next mission is to catch her singing. We found that she has started to memorize songs from her favorite movies or from the radio. She can hear a song on the radio and name what movie it is from...sound familiar (just like mom). So Daddy put together a Mix CD of her favorite songs. Her favorite song to sing right now is "Part of Your World" from the movie The Little Mermaid. Stay tuned for a video once we can catch her!

Birthday Fun!

Rachel received a pink tricycle for her birthday from Mom and Dad. Though she was embarresed to ride it front of everyone, she would ride it up and down the alley for Mom and Dad. Once she was comfortable with that she was ready to show everyone her bike and let her cousin Anna ride it too! Notice she is wearing a nightgown - she got that from her cousins in Alabama! She loves her dresses and wanted to put it on immeadiately!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Rachel celebrated her 3rd Birthday on August 16th! She had her cousins, Gran, Grandad, Abigail and Alan over for a party! It was a Mickey Mouse party and it sure was fun! She got lots of nice gifts and a lot of cake!

Princesses

Rachel is all about Cinderella right now...we watch the movie quite frequently and she brings me her Magna Doodle and asks me to draw the pumpkin. All her dress up shoes are now called Cinderella slippers. So to make it perfect Mimi bought her a Cinderella dress and a parasol for her birthday which is 2 weeks away still. But she just could not wait. Rachel wears it all the time, this is a great picture of her brushing her teeth just after her bath...what did she want to wear that day? Her Cinderella dress of course.

Just a few of her favorite things.....

She loves her dresses so much...every weekend she wants to wear her pink polka dot dress to church. Even though it fits her body, her legs have grown so much it is becoming too short to wear outside the house. She loves to put it on and wear all mommy's play jewelry or her crowns. That must by why we have so many pictures of her in that dress! - Funny Story - at daycare they let the kids put together a collage of their favorite foods, then asked them to choose their 3 favorites and put it up on the board. Kids were choosing pizza, cake, corn dogs all the things kids love! But not Rachel - she chose chicken, bisquits, and syrup....we laughed when we saw it becuase it is just so her to pick those things. She reminds me of Buddy the Elf.

Summer fun

In June Rachel and Mommy flew to Des Moines to visit Mimi and Boppa. We also got to visit with GiGi (Great Grandma Snow) which Rachel just loved. In the car on the way home from Gigi's house Rachel said "Gigi my friend." Rachel really liked the birds in their cages and the silk butterflies in Gigi's room. Of course the cookies from Gigi just sealed the deal as a great adventure. Rachel went shopping, went to the park a few times, watched movies, played dress up, and all sorts of fun things. The picture of is her taking it easy after sliding down the large tunnel slide at the park. Rachel did great on the airplane and talked about it all week. She really enjoyed "going in the sky and going fast."

The Zoo

Rachel really enjoyed the zoo. She liked the elephants and chimps the most. She made monkey sounds and beat her chest...it was funny, then topped it off by waiving and shouting "bye-bye monkey". She also enjoyed the carosel ride at the zoo. She has shown a real interest in horses lately...oh great!

The Zoo Part 2

Rachel also enjoyed Texas Town. We also visited the Texas exhibit and there was a Wells Fargo Stagecoach....so of course we had to get her picture.

Memorial Weekend

Rachel has a small sinus infection so we are not doing too much. Saturday we went to cousin Andrew's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. Rachel chattered all day about seeing Anna and Andrew, but once we got there she would not say a word and played the shy game the whole time. Then once we got in the car she said "Andrew where are you?" We just laughed. On Sunday we took it easy. Rachel wore her pretty pink polka dot dress to church, swam in her little pool and played with her new "pretend" make-up kit. On Monday we are going to the zoo in Ft. Worth, hopefully it is not too hot, but she loves to see the animals! - Have a great weekend!

Swimming

Well Summer is finally here and almost in full force so we broke down and bought a kiddie pool for Rachel! She loves it! She tried many times to get Sebastian to swim with her, but for some reason he just would not get in?? I could be that he hates water :-) So Daddy got in with her while mommy took pictures and video taped. Speaking of video...Rachel watched her 1year and 2year DVD's last night and just loved them. She wanted to watch them again this morning.

Pretty Dress

Rachel was shy, but she sure did enjoy wearing a new pretty summer dress. Her doll baby has on the exact same one.

At the Lake

Rachel and Daddy enjoyed some "together" time sitting on the porch watching the boats pass by Lake Whitney. We all enjoyed a warm day in the sun that weekend fishing. Mommy even caught a small perch and Rachel was not scared of it one bit. She even petted the fish.

Dress up and Obedience

Rachel loves to play dress up, she pulled out her entire trunk of play clothes and proceeded to put them all on at one time. Then she danced around. She then tried to dress Sebastian, but he would have no part in that. Rachel has started speaking in full sentances, and she likes to use the word "very" in everything. "Thank you very much" "I like bannanas very much." "Daddy's very funny"...and so on. But the best moment we had last week was caused by my own hands. Rachel is in her 2's which of course means she is testing everything we do an say. So we use the word "obedient" with her frequently. She understands the word and knows what it means. For example, if we ask her to pick up her toys, and she does not, we look at her eye to eye and say "Rachel be obedient." She then picks up her toys. She knows that "obedient" is the last time we will ask. So last Sunday daddy was putting her shoes on for church. Daddy said "let's go to church" Rachel loves going to church. But I was not ready, so Daddy then said "Rachel, tell mommy to get her shoes on too." Rachel then looked me with the straightest face and said "mommy, shoes on! Be obedient!" we just broke down in laughter. She is so much fun.

The ABC's

Rachel singing her ABC song!

The Lake and Learning

We spent Sunday out at the Lake by Grandpa Houghton's house. Rachel loved all the wildflowers. She has repeatedly asked to go swimming every weekend. It just is not warm enough yet, but we will have to get her a kiddy pool once it is. Her little mind continues to grow and learn. She can now sing her ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, and she is great at making up her own songs about Mommy and Daddy. She has been moved into the next class at her daycare and she really likes her new teacher Miss Janette. However Rachel calls her Nick, which should be Nette. She still gets to spend time with Miss Carrie and her Miss Mary, but in her new class they have no sippy cups and potty train. It is great to see her develop so quickly. Rachel loves to sit on the potty and say "I did it!" even though nothing happens. We are getting there....

(Always click on picture to see larger version)

Easter Saturday

Since the weather was predicted to be cold on Easter Sunday, we let Rachel have her Easter basket and egg hunt on Saturday. She really enjoyed it and loved the basket. It has become her new purse!

Happy Easter

Rachel in her blue dress.

Spring Is Here

We bought Rachel sidwalk chalk today and she loves it. She has spent a lot of time on the backyard patio just coloring and then running to tell Mommy and Daddy to come look. She has also tried to get Sebastian to look to no avail.

WOW!

Let me start out by saying that as Matthew and I had the flu we encouraged Rachel to take on some independant roles to try and take care of herself as much as a 2 year old can since Mommy and Daddy could not get out of bed. This has led to a whole new independance that we have caused. Rachel had carried her trainer potty to the bathroom sink, climbed on top, put toothpaste on her toothbrush and was trying to turn on the water when I caught her. Thank goodness she is still too small to reach the faucet. Fascinated by her desire for hygiene I turned on the water for her and stepped out the room to let the dog go outside...and I return to this. She had cupped her hands to bathe herself. Her face, hair, and shirt were completely soaked. She just smiled and said "I did it!" I just love her! She makes me smile.

Eye Luv Ewe

Here is a short video clip of Rachel telling Mommy "I love you" with handmotions....

Growing Up

She is growing so fast. She is now 2 1/2 years old. We have discovered that she can count to 6 in Spanish. It amazes us how much she knows to have only been on earth 2 1/2 years and only talking for 1 year. Her mind just continues to abosrb and her mouth continues to repeat. She and Sebastian have become good friends. He lets her pet him and hug him a little bit. He will even rub his cold wet nose on her cheek which she finds hillarious. Easter is around the corner...watch fore new pics.

Family Fun

The four of us spent 5 days in Mena Arkansas at a cabin way up in the Ouichita Mountains. No phone, no internet, no people, just us...and there is nothing around! It was much needed, it was on a beautiful 450 acres of woods, ponds, and wild life. Rachel kept calling it a forrest, and when she saw deer she asked if Santa Claus was here as well. Sebastian enjoyed running around with no leash and an endless amount of new smells to inspect.

I would highly recommend these cabins. There are 3 on this 450 acres, all very nice and large with full furnishings of everything you can think of including a hot tub! Here is the link, check it out. http://www.meadowpinecabins.com/ We stayed in Doc's Place, very cozy for just us but there are larger cabins for bigger groups.

Our cabin had a "bear" motif as you can see. Rachel loved this statue, most likely because they could see eye to eye!

Happy New Year 2008!

We begin a new year and await new adventures! One of which will be potty training for Rachel. She will be 2 1/2 in February so it is time to get cracken. She will tell me she needs to go potty, and we rush to the bathroom but nothing happens. This takes place several times, and then she potties in her diaper. Gotta love it!

Merry Christmas....I think

Rachel was so excited to go see Santa, she did a great job waiting in the long line, not messing up her hair, not getting her clothes dirty. Even as she watched other kids laugh, play and cry she just kept saying ....Santa..lap..Santa...lap. So we thought for sure she would enjoy it. Wow we were wrong! She freaked out and froze solid. She would not look at anyone, her eyes were held tightly shut and she just cried. For several days after this event she would not sleep in her own room because....as she stated...."Me scared...Claus" She was just sure he would come to get her. We felt so bad. The nights are getting better, we read and sing before bed and rub her back as she falls asleep. Odd thing is....everytime we see a Santa on t.v or out in public she gets excited and says ... Santa..Lap...Santa...Lap! And we say "absolutely NOT!"

She fully supports Daddy's Hobbies and Passions

Go Titans!

More Pics

love the hair and serious face!

It has been a while...

Almost 3 months have passed since we have said hello! We are all doing good. Rachel is growing by leaps and bounds, her sense of humor has deepened she makes us smile and laugh constantly. She got to dress up as Minne Mouse for Halloween, she loves the costume, she would just twirl in it. She loves watching the Mickey Mouse Club House cartoon. We have to TiVo it for her daily. She knows all their names and an sing the song. Speaking of songs...she can sing Jesus Loves Me and it is absolutely adorable. We are looking forward to the Holidays. More posts to come :-)

Her hair is finally growing

I (Andrea) am volunteering in my church's sunday school rooms. I help out with the older 2 year olds and early 3 year olds. I have found that most little girls this age have a ton of hair. And than I see Rachel with her short wispy light brown hair that has so much curl in the back it does not yet hit her shoulders. However finally she has enough hair on top that I can successfully put 2 small pig tails on top of her head, she is just too cute!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

She is finally 2 years old and she knows it! We had a great birthday party with a Winnie the Pooh cake and decorations, she got lots of great gifts, and really enjoyed eating that red icing! She learned to sing the 1st line of the Birthday song....Happy Day to you, is how she says it.

Day at the Park

Rachel has become quite the outdoor type. She really loves to go to the park and becomes quite independant when she does. She loves to climb, and slide, but most of all loves to swing. She tends to show some nervousness at first but really gets to giggling with the speed. She shows no fear at anything. With all the rain the Dallas area has had our park days have been few and far between. The picture above was on our summer trip to Iowa in June. As we approach August we are getting excited to celebrate Rachel's 2nd birthday. The 1st birthday was so much fun I can not believe another year has gone by so quickly.

Update

Rachel is officially a toddler. She is not just walking and talking but successfully climbing our of her crib. I caught her red handed. She had pulled herself up the side of the crib, balanced on her waist while she swung her legs over the edge and began to shimmy down. So she is now in a toddler bed which has given us a whole new set of challenges. This new freedom she has enlisted us into a whole new set of concerns. Like....she wont' go to bed or stay in bed. YIKES what a nightmare (no pun intended). One day at a time!

17 Months

Rachel is truly turning into a little girl, so much of her "babyness" is slowly going away. She now knows how to put her hands on her hips and cock her head to the side when she disagrees with one of us. She loves to talk on the phone. She is constantly grabbing a cell phone or the house phone, turning it on and jabbering. She knows the say "hi" when she puts it up to her ear, and has even once said "hi-Mimi" Mimi is her maternal grandmother. We can tell she is going to be a very funny silly girl who enjoys making people laugh. As she gets closer to 2 years old she tests us and pushes the boundaries of discipline more, we are learning together!

Christmas Time

We had a great Christmas...we enjoyed getting to see both sides of our immeadiate familys. It was the 1st time we had to put in the 2nd leaf to our dinning table so we could sit 8 people. The family just continues to grow. Rachel had a great time, she napped through Christmas lunch, but did not miss opening presents. We could not tell which she enjoyed more...opening her gifts or playing with other family members gifts. Her cousins were very gracious. She is growing so much, she gives big hug and sweet kisses. She loves to run and hide and chase her daddy around, pin him to the ground and climb on his back. She just giggles with delight.

Winter

Rachel is growing so fast...as winter approaches it was time to pull out the new pajamas with feet. She looks mighty cute in them and she just squeals with delight to wear them. She is very chatty. She says all sorts of words, but we love to hear her say "thank you." It just comes accross so sweet and innocent. We are looking forward to Christmas, we will get the opportunity to see all of our parents, and Rachel will enjoy it and understand it a little bit.

Another month past!

I can't believe I let a month pass before posting again. Rachel has grown so much in the past month. She is in her repetative stage...she tries to repeat everything we do and say. It is not always clear, but she tries very hard. She makes us smile so much. We are entering the discipline stage as she is coming close to 15 months. In the past if she was touching something she was not supposed to we would say "no-no" and slap her hand. Last night Rachel was touching the T.V and she knows she is not allowed too. Her daddy said, "Rachel, that is a no-no" and Rachel stepped away from the T.V and slapped her own hand. We could not help but laugh which is the worst thing you can do when trying to discipline. For the most part she is very obediant, except when it comes to the dog food. Rachel just can not seem to leave it alone. She grabs it by the handfulls and quickly stuffs it in her mouth and then runs off to her room so she won't be caught. Now she goes in her room and shuts the door as if that will keep me out. She also enjoys to play with water outside of her bathtime. She has repeatedly thrown not only her stuffed animals but Sebastians as well in the toilet. So we now shut every door but her bedroom door. And she likes to put her feet in the Sebastians water bowl. I think she will grow to like pedicures. We are looking forward to the holdiays, taking some time off and seeing family. I kind of hope it snows a little bit this winter so she can play. She loves to be outside, maybe next summer she will get a small playground in the back yard....we'll see how much adventure her dad is up for.

50's Flashback

Even though it is fall we just can not help but dress Rachel in pretty pastels...and who could blame us in the pretty pink poodle dress from Mimi. Rachel has added a new word to her vocabulary, it is PUPPY. It is not as clear as BABY, but she tries very hard.

School Days and 1st words!

Rachel has graduated to the toddler class at Daycare. She is quite smaller than the other toddlers, but from what we hear: she can "hold" her own. She has brand new teachers and they just love her as we all do. She said her 1st her word the day of her 13th month "birthday". It was BABY. She saw a picture of her self on the fireplace mantel of when she was 6 weeks old. The picture made her smile, so I pulled it down and let her look at it closely. She pointed to the sweet face and said "baby" just as clear as could be. Does that mean she is vain? :-) Of course not, she just knows how cute she is.

NFL Season is Here!!!

It is football time and Rachel is ready. She is all geared up and ready to root for the Tennessee Titans. She even got to help her daddy draft for his Fantasy Football team.

She is WALKING!!!

Rachel began walking on the day of her birthday! What a suprise and treat that was. She is very slow and very wobbley, but on the go. Sometimes she gets tired of going slow and drops to her knees to crawl, but she is walking more and more. She just has the best and brightest smile when she walks because she is so proud of herself.

Because 1 Picture is never enough

It was at this point, we knew she was out of control!

Rachel's Birthday

Can you believe a year has gone by? Rachel will be 1 years old on August 16th. We had a small party with her cousins on the 12th. She loved her chocolate cake as you can tell. She went straight from the table to the kitchen sink where she was successfully hosed down. However, we are still finding reminants of chocolate in the oddest of places....like her nostrils. We are so proud of our chocolate covered cupcake. She is almost walking all by herself. She will walk holding your hand and stand alone and maybe take a small step. Any day now she will just take off.

Iowa

Rachel and the family spent a week in Iowa visiting Mimi and Boppa. We took her to the zoo, she liked the seals, the lions, the giraffes, and the regular birds you can see anywhere. She also spent an afternoon at the park having a picnic. She still does not like the grass, so she was great at not leaving the blanket.

Happy 4th of July

Rachel is sporting this years hottest summer look in her brilliantly colorful Ms Independant freedom dress. She was all the rave at church this Sunday, and in her acceptance speach of the cutest 4th of July baby ever...she just wants World Peace! All joking aside, I just can not help but to buy these frilly things that I swore I never would, and I hate it that she will most likely only have 1 oppertunity to wear it.

10 Months and counting

The countdown to her 1st birthday has begun. She is growing so fast. She is so close to just breaking out in a new vocabulary that extends beyond dada and mama. She mimicks many sounds as Matthew and I speak, and she watches our lips very closely. I am so curious to know what her 1st word will be (other tham mama/dada of course)! The nursery at chuch just loves her. We went to pick her up after service and they did not want to let her go. They say she is the sweetest and cuddliest baby they have ever been around. One teacher said she wants one just like her. I said I would take 5 more like her.

Florida Anyone?

Rachel decided she wanted to go to Florida with mom, so she climbed into her suitcase and found she fit perfectly. Unfortunatly she did not get to go, security at DFW really frowns upon that :-). Florida was nice except for the high winds and rains from Tropical Storm Alberto. I missed Rachel terribly, and I know she missed me.

Sebastian

Sebastian is our 9 year old dog. He is a miniture schnauzer and for 8 years was #1 in the Johnson household. He is curious about Rachel and most likely a little jealous, but over all USUALLY leaves her alone. We will see how that changes when she is walking. He is fun, cute, and has a great personality. You heard me "personality" Yes...we believe dogs have those.

Meal Time!

Rachel is a messy eater. She has 3 teeth on the bottom and two coming in on the top. With theses 5 new friends she can successfully grab the spoon with her teeth and hold on to it. Is it just us....or is she cute no matter what? :-)

Summer Fun

Only because this picture is so cute...Rachel loves her bathing suit and matching flip flops from Aunt Lisa. Getting her in the two piece was one challenge, getting her to be in cold water is another!

Hard to believe I let so much time go by without an update on our precious little girl Rachel.
She is 9 months now and an absolute treasure. She is crawling all over the place, smiling, giggling, and now pulling herself up. It is obvious she is ready to take off walking. Due to her excessive ear infections she had to have tubes placed in her ears. Not a fun experience for Mom and Dad, but she was great and such a trooper. She had a nice Easter in Memphis and got to see her Gran and Grandad Johnson. As you can see from her picture she looked so cute in her lavender Easter dress, but did not enjoy the feeling of grass underneath her.
Matthew and I are doing great, staying busy, and having fun.