What a fun week

Another week has gone by, and oh what a week that was! Last Sunday, Dec. 23, was the Christmas Program at church. The Ward Choir sang (under the direction of Noelle), and did very well. I love Christmas music. It's my favorite. That afternoon we had dinner at Jeff's grandparents, and we celebrated my birthday (a day early).

On Monday, my real birthday, we did a bunch of Christmas Eve things. The Gálvez's brought me birthday breakfast. It was yummy. For lunch we went to the Jumbo Buffet. Nothing like Chinese food to get me into the Christmas Spirit! Then we went to the hospital in LaGrange and did some Christmas Caroling. Lastly we went to Jeff's grandparents house and read the Nativity Story from Luke chapter 2. Rachel had the leading role as baby Jesus. She played the part with a sensitivity and understanding that you don't always get from a 3 month old. She is very talented!


Next we had a gift exchange game for all the family. We got a chocolate milk maker and a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. (We had kind of a chocolate theme.)

Tuesday was Christmas (of course). We got up late and opened our presents from Santa Claus. He sure is a jolly good fellow! Then we went over to Jeff's parents' house where we had a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit smoothie, and I can't remember everything else. But it was great and I was very full afterwards. Then we opened presents (again). Finally we just hung out and relaxed for the rest of the day. We had a lot of fun with Jeff's family.

The rest of the week was spent trying to recover from the previous month. It has all been very nice. Now there's just one more year before Christmas!

3 Months Old

Rachel here. Today was my 3 month old birthday. I learned from my Mom that you can never focus too much on your birthday. "Celebrate while you can," that's what she always says. BTW, don't forget that Monday is her birthday. Happy birthday Mom, Mommy, Mama, take your pick. Back to me again. So like I was saying, today I celebrated 3 months of glorious life. It just so happened that we also had a gift exchange with my aunts, uncles and cousins who won't be in Louisville for Christmas itself, so I even got to open two presents. Awesome! I got this really cool toy that has little animals pop up when I push buttons and stuff. I haven't really figured it out yet. It looks kind of complicated, don't you think? But don't you worry, I'll get it.


I also got these two really cool books from my Grandma. They are about this Siamese cat name Skippyjon Jones that likes to imagine that it is a chihuahua. I love it because when my Mom reads to me, she gets to use this really fun Spanish accent. My mom is so totally awesome! Sorry, back to me again. Anyway great books!


So we spent a good part of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was a lot of fun. When we got home, Daddy went out to do a little more Christmas shopping, and Mommy took me and Scout for a walk. Now it's pretty late, and frankly I'm exhausted. I thought I'd catch 40 winks in my bouncy seat.

So that's about it for me tonight. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas Party

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we went to our church Christmas Party. It was very nice. Rachel got to sit on Santa's lap. She was a very good girl. She is so unselfish, she didn't ask for anything! She just sat there sweetly so that Santa would know she was a good girl, then he could give her anything he felt was appropriate.

I know she looks like she's asleep, but she's really not. She is just very relaxed.

Jeff got to ask Santa for some presents too, but Santa was mostly focused on Rachel. I mean, how could he help it!

I sang a number in a barbershop quartet. Here it is. If you don't like it, please don't tell me. My ego is very fragile. On the other hand, if you do like it, by all means don't keep that kind of information to yourself. If you don't like it, feel free to lie and say it was great!




So a big thanks to everybody who made the party happen. Let's do it again next year! Maybe around Christmas.

Important Information

I really feel that when I learn something important, it behooves me to share it with everyone else. In my blog surfing, I came across a recipe for peppermint cool whip. Being the aficionado of hot chocolate that I am, I had to try it, and it was great. I mean really great. And easy (otherwise I would never have attempted it). All you do is crush a bunch of candy canes into as fine a powder as you have the patience for, then mix it with cool whip. The directions I saw were 1/2 cup crushed candy canes to 16 oz. of cool whip. I approximated it. I don't think accuracy really matters in this situation. You may want to try this. It is pretty fantastic.

Christmas Concert

For anyone living in Louisville, or who will be here this Tuesday (December 11), I am singing in a Christmas Concert. You are all welcome to attend. Here is the important information:

When: December 11, 2007
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Clifton Center for the Arts -- 2117 Payne St. -- Louisville, KY
Cost: Free (that's a pretty good price!)
Food afterwards: absolutely
Kids are welcome.

Here is a map to the Clifton Center.

Rachel's Big Announcement

Hi. This is Rachel speaking. (Actually typing.) I have some pretty exciting news. Last night I slept through the night all by myself. It was pretty nice. Very restful. I encourage you all to try it. This is a picture of me all rested up after my nice long night of sleep. See how rested I look?

Time Flies By

Today Rachel is officially two and a half months old. Wow! Time flies by. We are doing very well. Rachel is doing great. She is smiling, talking, and generally more interactive. She likes her bouncy seat a lot. It plays music and has lights. It has been good for me too, because I can do things like, oh, I don't know, take a shower, wash the dishes, do laundry. Good times for one and all.


Last week Scout turned 1 year old. He has been a great big "brother" for Rachel. He treats her so nicely. He gets really upset when she cries. Two or three times when Rachel was crying, he started howling. It was pretty funny, even while a little trying on my nerves.

Merry Christmas to you all.

Tagged

So a couple of weeks ago I was tagged (Thanks Jen!). I am supposed to list six facts or hobbies or interests of mine. Let's see what kind of stuff I can make up . . .

1. I played the role of the munchkin farmer in my high school's production of the Wizard of Oz.
2. I have played the bagpipe in a bagpipe band here in Louisville which gave me the opportunity to play in a group of 10,000 pipers and drummers down the streets of Edinborough.
3. I achieved a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
4. I was in the Hill Cumorah Pageant 13 times between age 0 and age 18.
5. I skipped Kindergarten.
6. I play or have played the following instruments (but none of them very well).

• piano
• 'cello
• violin
• guitar
• accordion
• bagpipe

Now I get to tag some more people. I'm sorry if this is the 17th time you've been tagged, but that is the price you pay for me knowing your blog location. I tag Andrea Gosnell, Malauna Gibby, Meredyth Harrison, Holly Casos and Summer Perrero.

Traumatic Day

Today Rachel had her 2 month old doctor's appointment. Can you say "Traumatic?" Poor thing, she had 4 shots. Count them, 4 -- 1, 2, 3, 4. I'm okay now, though.

It has been quite a while since I have last posted. I have since then been "tagged." I'm not going to do that today, but don't you fret, all too soon you will know all of my secrets. I'll get to it soon.

So anyway, back to Rachel's appointment, she was weighed and measured and found quite satisfactory. She weighs 14 lbs and 11 oz. (That is > 97th percentile). She is 24 1/2 inches long. (Also > 97th percentile). She's never met a bottle of enfamil lipil she didn't like. I mean, she loves it. She eats (or rather drinks) it all the time. She is robust and healthy, and growing like a weed.

A Full Day

Today I went to a yoga class for the first time. I took Rachel, so I really only got in about 30 minutes of uninterrupted exercise. For the last 30 minutes I tried to feed Rachel and juggle her while I did the warrior pose (or whatever it was). The instructor warned me that my wrists would hurt afterwards. You know, she was right. Still, I think I'll keep it up. Rachel will grow into it, and in the meantime I can ease into it myself.

This afternoon I gave Scout a bath. I can't say he loves bath-time, but he is fairly cooperative. What was really entertaining was watching him dry himself off afterwards. He definitely understands the purpose of a towel. All I had to do was toss it on the floor and he rolled and rolled and rolled and twisted and turned on that towel.


Then I tried to brush him. He is less cooperative about brushing. I had to cut a few clumps of knotted up hair on his ears. That is the only place the groomer leaves his hair long. I suppose it is because he doesn't hold his head still very well, even when I am holding a sharp object next to his head (namely scissors).

Jeff has been fighting a cold for the past week and a half. Nothing life-threatening, just keeping him feeling bad. Today he finally went to the doctor. He decided to stay home for the rest of the day. He laid down on our (extremely comfortable) sofa in the basement with Rachel and took a nap. Is that not the sweetest thing you ever saw?


On Sunday I took a couple of pictures of Rachel in a beautiful dress that she got from Heather Toombs and Holly Casos. I don't like to brag about my kid, but she was the cutest thing at church! In one of the pictures I managed to get a smile, but of course the picture was blurry. Too bad! I'm going to post it anyway.

Okay, one last picture of my little sweetie. I couldn't resist.

All You Can Eat Pancakes

So this morning I went to a pancake breakfast (All-you-can-eat pancakes for $5) to benefit the quartet club of the Pride of Kentucky Chorus (a barbershop chorus). Jeff was ready to chow down.

It was a nice family outing, but Rachel didn't get to eat any pancakes but she did do a little singing.


We even had some entertainment.


We took this picture fake singing so that Rachel and I could be in the picture. (They had already finished the song, so this is just a pose, but it's pretty believable, huh?)

Thanksgiving Poll

So, I have a poll on my blog (I thought it would be fun) that is in the spirit of Thanksgiving. Make sure you respond. You can put as many answers as you want. I answered family (among other things). This is why . . .

Clean Sweep 2007

Well, it has been a pretty exciting and busy weekend. Two of my sisters, Faline and Ladawn, and Ladawn's daughter Chelsea came to visit me (mostly to visit Rachel), and they did a TON to help me a. organize my house and b. baby-proof my house. I would show before and after pictures, but before pictures are too embarrassing. I will show some after pictures, though.

It was really nice to visit with my family. Since we live kind of far apart it is a little rare that we can spend much time together. So it was great to see them. I will also say again how much I appreciate all of their help. (I appreciate it A LOT!) They also had the honor of being the first on my side of the family to meet Rachel.



It was fun to have Chelsea here. She appreciates Scout more than either Faline or Ladawn do. Just because he is constantly under foot and is always getting into everybody's stuff doesn't mean he is not extremely cute.



Faline also acted as the courier for her daughters Milaka, Shanda, Keturah and Malauna who sent Rachel some presents. They did have a stipulation in that they required a fashion show, so here it is . . .

From her lounging collection we have a delightful white number with little flowers. If you look closely you will see little ruffles on her bottom. (It's not really her bottom, the ruffles are actually on the clothes that cover her little bottom.)


Next, from her casual collection we have a cute pair of yellow overalls. The lesson learned in putting this piece on her was that overalls are VERY hard to put on a squirmy baby, but as Chelsea said, the result was more than worth it. I mean, seriously, have you every seen anything as cute as that!


Finally, from her formal wear collection, we have a beautiful red velvet dress, perfect for celebrating Christmas as well as any other time I feel like dressing her up as a beautiful baby doll.


So as not to skip any important credit, Faline also gave me a beautiful hooded towel, complete with applique. Ladawn and Faline also went in together for a beautiful baby carrier.

Anyway, great weekend. Thanks so much to Ladawn and Faline for all their hard work. I shouldn't skip Chelsea, she is responsible for a lot of paper shredding as well as Rachel holding and Scout occupying. So thanks to all of them. It was great.

A brief overview of the life and times of Rachel Lee Gosnell

Rachel was born at a very young age - namely 0 (zero).
This is what she looked like:


She grew and grew.
At age 1 week you can see a definite maturity and wisdom in her countenance:


It's never too early to start musical training. Here she is at age 2 weeks learning how to sing:


She wanted to show off her new singing skills to her Daddy. She is really putting some emotion into it, don't you think?

The days became weeks, and weeks became 1 month, and before we knew it, Rachel was 1 month old (is that a coincidence, or what!?)


She enjoyed the constant (and I mean CONSTANT) companionship of her doggy, Scout. He just couldn't and wouldn't leave her alone!

The festivities of Halloween came -


and went.


Rachel is now a mature and grown-up six and a half weeks old. Oh, they grow up so fast.


She actually held her head up long enough for me to get a picture!

A New Crib

And I mean crib as in a baby's bed, not a house. Yesterday I got a crib from a friend of mine. I spent the afternoon putting it together. First I had to call the company and request assembly instructions. They e-mailed me a PDF file that was so tiny and hard to read, but luckily I happened to have my decoder ring and I was able to assemble it (with a little trial and error thrown in). It didn't have a mattress, so last night after Jeff got home from works (that is his regular job and his other job), we went to Target and bought a new mattress. This morning I put it all together, and as I am typing this, Rachel is taking her first nap in her very own crib.


This whole situation is sad for Scout, because last night he used the bassinet as a bunk bed again. I think he is going to miss sharing Rachel's bassinet with her. On the other hand, maybe Scout is capable of creating a bunk bed atmosphere with any sleeping accommodation for Rachel.

Rachel's Baby Shower

On Tuesday October 23, Rachel had her first shower. She usually takes baths, but she seems to get more presents at showers (ha ha ha ha ha ha). Janice Alvey, my real estate agent, insisted on giving me a baby shower. Since she doesn't really know many of my friends, and it was likely to be a pretty big group, I got some people to help her out. (It turned out that she was sick that day and couldn't make it anyway, but she still was pretty helpful.) We had a very nice turnout, and even though several people were unable to come, they still gave gifts. (What very nice people!)

So here are some pictures from that event:


Jeff has needed a little consolation after U of L's less than stellar football season so he turned to Rachel's Cardinals pacifier. He is feeling better now.

We had a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who was there, who helped out with it, who sent gifts, and generally for everyone's love and support. We are very grateful.

Bunk Bed

It is tough for Jeff and I to try to be the cutest when our competition includes Rachel and Scout. This morning, Scout decided to make the bassinet into a bunk bed. Rachel gets the top bunk, and Scout climbed into the bottom bunk. Scout loves climbing into things. He likes to get into open suitcases, into
laundry baskets (especially when there is clean laundry in them), and now I guess I can include bassinets on the list of Scout's favorite hangouts.