2009 - The Year In Review

What a year it has been. Quite possibly the most eventful year of my entire life! Or maybe not. Certainly it has been the most recent year in my entire life, so the events thereof are more fresh in my mind.

January - Huge snow/ice storm. Caused power outages across Kentucky. Fortunately our home was spared.

February - Hospital bed rest began.

March - I got to go home from the hospital. Briefly.

April - Back in the hospital. Again.

May - Gabi was born. From the day bed rest began (February 17) until I was discharged following Gabi's birth (May 17) was exactly three months. Gabi came home from the hospital May 24.

June - I have no idea It was a blur.

July - Trips to the zoo, caught a baseball game, a lot of nursing and too much pumping.

August - Gabi's baby blessing, a visit from my Dad and Harriet, my sister Ladawn and her family. A lot of poop.

September - Trip to Kirtland, Ohio, Rachel's 2nd birthday, starting to feel like I can handle things again.

October - My barbershop chorus (Pride of Kentucky) competes in the International Competition in Nashville and takes 3rd place in the whole wide world. Pretty awesome. I still wear my medal all of the time. I got to see my sister Faline and my niece Malauna there. They were competing with Mountain Jubilee Chorus.

November - My sister Faline and her daughter Keturah came here for a visit. Super nice time with them. Thanksgiving.

December - Christmas.

I can't believe how much my girls have grown up over the past year. Rachel is talking a ton, and I am even understanding some of it. She is a good helper with chores, and is a great big sister. Gabi is a fat and happy little girl. Where is my scrawny baby from months past? She is starting to blow razzberries a little bit. They are not the best razzberries of all time. They sound more like "buh," but it is still effective for spitting out her food.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past year:















I wish all of you a wonderful and happy 2010.

Rachel's Christmas Present

I have been looking for something like this for over a year and a half. Unfortunately, they're expensive, so I've been keeping my eye on Craig's List. Finally, serendipitously, a friend posted that she was getting rid of some things as she prepared to move this summer, and was selling this for the same price she bought it for at a yard sale - $30. New it costs $350, so I was ecstatic to make this find, and it became Rachel's "Santa" present this year (with the stipulation that she share with Gabi when Gabi is a little bigger).

Yesterday was very wet, and besides we spent the whole day at Jeff's parents' house, so this afternoon Jeff took Rachel outside to play with her new present. Do you think she liked it?

Matching Pajamas (the sequel) - Part II

Yay! More matching pajamas for Rachel and Gabi. These are courtesy of Grandma Gosnell. Aren't they too cute?!


On Christmas Eve we went caroling at a hospital. In front of the hospital was a life-sized nativity scene. It was a little cold/windy, but I couldn't resist the temptation to take a picture of Rachel and Gabi in the nativity scene.


We had a wonderful day. The girls had so much fun! (I can't wait until next Christmas.)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

For Family Home Evening Monday night we read the Christmas story out of Luke 2. To make it even more exciting we decided to dress the part. Here is the cast:

Jeff played the role of Joseph
Noelle played the role of Mary
Gabi played the role of baby Jesus
Rachel played the role of the Shepherd

Rachel was slightly less than enthusiastic about dressing up and cooperating as a whole, but that didn't stop us from at least getting a picture. It isn't the best picture of all time, but at least Rachel and Gabi are cute.


Rachel got rid of her costume as fast as she could, and then was just wearing her pants. She made me laugh when she started doing this.


Soon enough Rachel's pants were off too. So then Gabi and Rachel were wearing matching outfits (diapers only). Rachel wanted to give Gabi a hug, and Jeff captured these sweet pictures.


Yesterday a very dear friend showed up on my doorstep with presents for the girls. She brought them matching "partridge in a pear tree" pajamas. Here are the children nestled all snug in their beds on Christmas Eve.


Today happens to be my birthday. Here I am in my birthday suit. (Yankees T-shirt courtesy of my sister Luella and her husband Tony, and pajama pants courtesy of Rachel and Gabi, with a little assistance from Jeff.)


Now it is late, so I had better get myself off to bed so that Santa Claus can make a visit. I promise that we have all been good (more or less) here in the Gosnell house.

A Bedtime Story

Jeff put Rachel to bed at around 8:30. An hour and a half later she was still not asleep, but started calling for me. So I went in and sat and cuddled with her for a while. We read another book and sang a couple of songs, then I put her back in bed. Then she started really crying, and trying to tell me that she wanted something. I thought she said water, so I got her a drink of water. That wasn't what she wanted. So I took her downstairs, hoping that she could point to what she wanted. She looked over the counter for something appealing, but didn't see anything, so instead she said that she wanted to watch "The Legend of Little Joe" (Veggie Tales). I wouldn't let her, so she got really ticked off as I put her back in bed. She really really really wanted something, though, so I gave her one more chance to show me downstairs. This time she first took hold of the refrigerator door, then changed her mind and instead opened the freezer door and took out the teething ring we keep in there. Not a big surprise, she likes holding the teething ring on her arm like a bracelet. Then she pointed to her nose and said "sorry." Rachel says "sorry" when something hurts. So I asked her if she wanted a sticker. She usually really likes stickers, but not this time. She pointed to some lotion. I asked her if she wanted some lotion on her hands. Nope, on her nose. So I put some lotion on her nose and stroked it in, and then she went quietly and peacefully to bed.

Nothing like a little lotion on my nose to make me sleepy!

Chores

Rachel's favorite chores to help out around the house are doing the dishes (meaning loading and unloading the dishwasher), and doing laundry. I would just as soon she not help with the dishes because she thinks that no matter what we do, we always have to put soap in the dishwasher when we're done. She throws a complete tizzy if I don't put in the soap. Well, there's not much point in putting soap in an empty dishwasher, but she doesn't care.

Laundry on the other hand, she really is quite helpful in that regard. She picks up clothes and puts them in the laundry bag. She puts the laundry soap in the machine (with my help), she puts the dirty clothes in the machine, when the clothes are washed she puts the clothes in the dryer, and when they're dry she unloads the dryer and puts the clothes in the laundry basket. Yay for Rachel helping with the chores!


Today we went to Target to do some Christmas shopping. When it was time to check out, Rachel saw some M&Ms and really wanted some, but I really didn't want her to have them, so Jeff took her away to distract her while I paid for our stuff. When he came back Jeff said "Guess what."

I said "What?"

"Rachel is asking to use the potty."

"Do you want to take her, or do you want me to?"

Jeff wanted me to, so I did, and sure enough, Rachel pee peed in the potty at Target! She is still far from consistent, but I'm proud of the progress she is making regarding potty training.

After her nap, Rachel did a little reading.

Meanwhile, Gabi is sitting better and better every day

and is pretty pleased with herself about it!

Today Gabi is 7 months old

Amazing. Gabi is such a little sweetheart. Every morning she greets me with this beautiful smile:


She is doing great. I think she is getting close to crawling. She certainly moves around a lot when she is on the floor. She just doesn't cover much distance. She loves eating solid food. There has been no food that I have offered her that she hasn't devoured with extreme enthusiasm. And I haven't even started on fruits yet. We're talking green beans here, and peas. Gabi is a happy little baby, and very generous with her smiles.


Gabi loves her big sister Rachel.

Rachel has had a pretty rough week. Last Thursday she woke up from her nap with a fever, and we have been dealing with that for quite a while. Yesterday Rachel woke up much earlier than normal, and was obviously not really ready to get up, so we put her in bed with us. She slept quite a while in the morning. She didn't wake up until after 10:00, and my visiting teachers were here. She didn't seem to have a fever, but she had a rash. I called the doctor's office, and they said to give her some benedryl. I didn't have any, but my visiting teacher had some at her house, so she brought it to me. It did make the rash fade quite a bit, but it didn't go away completely. A while later I changed Rachel's diaper, and saw that the rash was also in her diaper area. I was getting nervous, so I called the doctor again, and they said I could bring Rachel in. The doctor said it was an allergic reaction, but she hasn't had anything different. She also said that sometimes after a long fever, the rash can happen, so that's what I think it is. The rash gets pretty bad, but it fades when I give her an antihistamine. She doesn't seem to uncomfortable with it, so I'm grateful for that.

Today Rachel's fever seems to be mostly gone. She has had a very slight fever, but not enough for me to be concerned about, but her rash is still there. I hope it goes away soon! Jeff and I are thinking about keeping her out of nursery this Sunday to increase the chances of having her be healthy for Christmas.

Rachel sleeping in our bed Monday morning

Rachel with the most patient piano student ever!
She likes having Rachel on her lap so she can blame her if she makes a mistake. Rachel is a big helper during lessons.

O Christmas Tree

We have had our Christmas tree up for a week, but we didn't decorate it until today. During the stretch of time when Rachel was feeling good we finally got that done.

Rachel is helping Daddy decorate

Rachel is sharing an ornament with Gabi
Posing in front of the final product
Unofficial family portrait

Poor Rachel

Rachel has been sick. On Thursday after her nap I thought she felt warm, so I took her temperature, and sure enough she had a fever of 101.9º. So I took care of that, and we took it easy the rest of the day. On Friday she seemed fine, but Friday night, after we put her to bed, she started crying and fussing a lot, which is not really like her. So I checked on her, and again I thought she felt hot. I took her temperature, and this time it was 102.5º. She had kind of a rough night, and in the morning I took her temperature again, and this time it was 103.5º. I called the pediatrician, and got some advise, and we took it easy all day. At about 4:00 in afternoon, suddenly she seemed energetic, happy, and ready to roll, and I started thinking that maybe she was over whatever bug she was fighting. Nope. Tonight I took her temp again, and it was back up to 101.2º. No other real symptoms, so I hope she is soon her energetic self again.

I don't like it when Rachel is sick, but I must say that she is so cuddly and sweet when she's sick. It is the silver lining.

Poop (The Sequel)

You may want to just skip this post and not read it at all. It's pretty disgusting!

I thought after Monday's adventure Gabi's constipation was resolved, and we were back to normal. I have continued to give her prune juice, and I have been giving her more veggies as the doctor suggested, and since Monday's adventure she hasn't pooped. I wasn't concerned, because that is pretty normal.

Today as I was feeding Gabi I could feel her tightening up her tummy muscles, and then I detected the faint odor of you-know-what. So I went to change her diaper, and there was a tiny hard poop. Okay, so maybe Monday's adventure didn't resolve everything after all. So I got out the laxative suppository (I am now a pro at administering it to Gabi) and after everything was in it's place I left Gabi on a blanket on her tummy, and took Rachel to the potty (where she successfully pee peed). I put a new diaper on Rachel, and while I was there I saw Jeff coming home from work.

When we came back downstairs, I checked on Gabi right away. I figured, based on my past experience, that Gabi would have taken care of business right away. Sure enough, she had. And it was a diaper full. Not to be graphic or anything, but I am now fairly certain that the blockage is really gone. The diaper greeted me with quite a sight. I could see the two different colors (dark brown constipated poop, and kind of orange "new" poop), as well as the different consistencies. (Why is Jeff so lucky as to always come home in the middle of such an adventure?) I was glad that Jeff was there because he brought a plastic bag, and removed all of the evidence right away.

So now I'm really (pretty) sure that the current constipation situation is resolved. If you have the intestinal fortitude to read this, perhaps there will be a Poop III. But you know that sequels are never as good as the original.

Poop

The title of this post should be warning enough, but if it is not . . . WARNING: THIS POST IS ABOUT POOP!

Gabi is constipated. Normally she poops every 4 or 5 days or so, and it is pretty soft, so last week when she pooped a tiny, but very hard poop, that didn't seem right. Also she was throwing up a lot, or maybe it was a lot of spit up. I couldn't really tell. After a few days I decided to call the doctor, just to make sure I was handling things the right way (1st step: dark karo syrup with water, 2nd step: prune juice). After the nurse practitioner asked me a ton of questions, she recommended that I bring Gabi to the doctor. So Friday afternoon I took Gabi to the doctor. She was totally fine, but definitely constipated. The throwing up/spitting up was a result of when Gabi bore down, there was less resistance going north than south, so I would get a tiny hard poop, and a ton of spit up. The doctor said to increase the veggies, give prune juice, and if the blockage didn't release in a few days, I should try a laxative suppository. Now that sounds like some serious fun, don't you think?

So this morning I went to the pharmacy and bought a baby laxative suppository. I came home, and built up the courage to give Gabi the laxative. Finally I did it, and Gabi seemed completely unphased. I started feeding her, when I recognized her red face, her spitting up on me, and decided to check her diaper. There was a tiny little hard poop, and the suppository right next to it. What to do? I didn't know, so I put it back in again. I started feeding her again, and she pooped again. This time it was more, and the hard poop was followed by a softer poop. Jeff came home just then as I was in the middle of cleaning it up, and before I even got the dirty diaper off her, she started pooping some more. I decided that the suppository had done its job, and I threw it away along with her poopie diaper. Then Gabi really got started. The poop flowed! So I guess the blockage is gone.

P.S. If you read this post, please don't tell Gabi that I posted such sensitive information about her. Even though she is sitting on my lap right now as I type this, I don't think she is reading it.


This afternoon Rachel pooped in the potty. It's not the first time ever, but it is the first time in a very long time. So today has just been a happy poop day all around!

Chips, popcorn, and other stories

I had a hankering for potato chips, so Saturday I bought some. That night I wanted to give Rachel a bath. I said "Rachel, do you want to take a bath?" She said "no." Okay, that was a dumb question, but I had another plan. I told Jeff to casually bring Rachel upstairs, and when she saw the bubbles I was pretty sure she would happily get in the tub. Sure enough, I was right. She got in the tub, and for a while everything was fine, then she started crying for no good reason. She pointed to her mouth and said "cheep" (which, being interpreted, means chip). I said that after she finished her bath I would give her a chip. The next day, Sunday, she wanted to take another bath after church. Fine with me, and she got in the tub. A few minutes later she started crying. When I asked her what was wrong she stopped, pointed to her mouth and said "cheep." Well, okay, after your bath I'll give you a chip. The next morning, Monday, she wanted another bath. Whatever, okay. She started crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she stopped, pointed to her mouth and said "cheep." I finally caught on. This kid is playing me like a grand piano. "Ah, no. No chips this morning." She wailed for a few seconds, then forgot about it and enjoyed her bath for like another 45 minutes.

Sunday evening I was washing the dishes and Rachel was in the kitchen with me. My back was to her, but all of the sudden I heard the microwave turn on. Rachel had pulled out a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave and started it. Unfortunately she had neglected to remove the plastic covering. I took off the plastic and made the popcorn. While I was making the popcorn she pulled out a plastic bowl for her portion. I gave her some of the popcorn in her bowl, then gave the rest to Jeff, and told him it was a gift from Rachel.

This morning I took Rachel to the pediatrician for the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu vaccine. Rachel likes the pediatrician, and was very happy to be there. There was a big fish tank in the waiting room, and she enjoyed looking at the fish and pointing out each fish, each plant, and each pebble to me. We were called back and Rachel happily followed the nurse. I commented that she had no idea what was coming, and that it was just as well. We went into the exam room, and Rachel pointed to her thigh and said "ouch," then she said "ban-din" (which, being interpreted, means band-aid). I think she knew what was going on after all. She was a super trooper about the shots. She cried a little, but when she saw the band-aids, she was just fine.

I used to think that it would be at least until Rachel hit the double digit ages before she was smarter than me, but I'm starting to think I'll be in her wake intellectually speaking by the time she's five or six.


Saturday morning Rachel got another haircut. Holy cow! That girl's hair really grows fast! Anyway, Jeff's sister Trish did it. She took off about 2 inches.

Yesterday I had a piano student here. She is an adult, and Rachel just adores her, and Gabi is starting to become a fan too. Anyway, Gabi was sitting on her lap and started playing the piano. Amazingly she was playing Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata. Okay, it wasn't really, but it was cute.

McDonald's

Several months ago, when Gabi was only about 2 months old, I had taken the girls to the library for Story Time. It was raining that day, so afterward I thought we could go to McDonald's for lunch, and Rachel could play on the playground there. It was a bad idea. I spent the whole time worrying about Rachel inside that playground. I couldn't see her because the playground is made up of plastic tubes that you can't see through. There were the occasional windows, but that wasn't nearly enough for me. Rachel climbed in and disappeared, and I worried, and worried. Finally I asked a mother to watch Gabi for me and I ventured into the tubes and found Rachel, got her out, and we went home. Two things, 1st of all, Rachel was fine, but I was worried, 2nd of all, those playgrounds are not built for adults to fit in comfortably. I left thinking I would never go back.

Turns out never only lasted about 4 months. Yesterday morning we dropped the girls off at Jeff's mom's house and Jeff and I went to the temple. We went to pick up the girls, and ended up staying the rest of the day at their house. Trish and her 3 kids were there too. That evening Jeff's mom was going to take Trish's kids to McDonald's and to a movie (Planet 51). We decided not to go to the movie because I'm not sure Rachel will sit through a 2 hour movie, and make the purchase of a ticket worthwhile. We did go with them to McDonald's, though. This time Jeff was with me, so I was much more at ease to have Rachel play on the playground. She had a GREAT time. After everyone else left to go to the movie we stayed and Rachel played. She ran around, climbed, and was extremely happy. So were Jeff and I, because she wore her little self right out, and went to bed like a dream last night.

So maybe it was because Rachel is a few months older, and she can handle herself better now, or maybe she was fine all along the first time, but I didn't really give her a chance, but anyway, I think we might find ourselves back at McDonald's again after all.

Rachel with Ronald McDonald

Gabi with Ronald McDonald

I tried to get a picture of them both, but it didn't work out as well.

A Nice Day

We had an awesome day today. Nothing particularly interesting happened, but there was just a general sense of happiness and pleasantness that we enjoyed. No tantrums, no fussing, just sweetness and happiness. Gabi took a nice long nap in the morning, Rachel took a nice long nap in the afternoon, Gabi took a short nap in the afternoon. I even caught a few Zs myself. All too often I think about the difficult times, but in fairness to all, I have to say that I have two wonderful little girls. And a wonderful husband.

Yesterday both girls looked so cute in their corderoy jumpers, and pink shirts, I just had to get a picture. Unfortunately Rachel was not happy about wearing socks, so she has kind of teary eyes, but I thought I would post a few of the pictures I took. My favorite is the one where they are looking at each other.

New (Old) Toy

We pulled Rachel's old exersaucer out of storage, and it became Gabi's new exersaucer. Rachel still thought it was a lot of fun. Gabi enjoyed it for quite a while. We also put some of the bulkier toys that we had around the house in storage to make room for it.

Gabi's 6 month check-up

Today was Gabi's 6 month check-up. The doctor was very impressed with her progress. She is completely caught up, her developmental milestones are right on target for a 6 month old, which she is. She can pass objects from one hand to the other, she turns her head when she hears my voice, and yesterday she started creeping backwards. I think crawling can't be too far in the future.

Here are Gabi's vital statistics:
height: 26" (55th%)
weight: 15 lbs. 15.5 oz. (50th%)


She has really shot up in height - almost 3" in the past 2 months. I have noticed that Gabi's toes are starting to push against her footie pajamas. You know what that means - either I need to start cutting off the toes of the pajamas, or switch to 6-9 month sized clothes. I decided to go ahead and switch to 6-9 month clothes. When I was in the hospital my mother-in-law went through Rachel's clothes, and put away the things that were too small. So after lunch I started packing up Gabi's old 3-6 month clothes, and going through Rachel's old stuff to pass down to Gabi. I hate going through the clothes, because Rachel loves it so much. She jumped right in and started helping - pulling out the clothes from the bags, trying things on. It was a good thing, though, because it turns out that we had gotten a bag of hand-me-down clothes from somebody while I was in the hospital, I don't know who, and it turns out there were several things in it that were perfect for Rachel. She found a pair of Dora and Boots pajamas, which she put on right away (it was not a problem because she didn't have any clothes on except for her diaper). She really liked them.

Here is Rachel training Scout. She is wearing her newly found pajamas with a sticker that Gabi got for her at the pediatrician's office.

Today Gabi is 6 months old

Wow! It has been six months already. Am I the only one for whom time is flying so rapidly? Anyway, Gabi is six months old. She is so cute and is doing extremely well. She has been able to roll over for quite some time, but doesn't do it too often. Last night, however, we were able to catch her in the act on film, so for your viewing pleasure, I present to you Gabi rolling over.



Yesterday evening I noticed that Rachel was feeling a bit warm, so I checked her temperature, and sure enough, she had a low grade fever (about 101.8º). I gave her some medicine to bring down the fever, gave her a bath, gave her plenty of fluids. Other than a while when she was kind of droopy, her behavior has been completely normal, including her appetite, so I am not too worried, yet. I'm hoping that it is nothing and she gets better very soon. Meanwhile, I can't for the life of me figure out how she could possibly have gotten sick. It's not like she goes outside and plays in the leaves in nothing but her diaper or anything. Oh, wait, maybe she does.

The Latest

Gabi is getting pretty skilled at holding the bottle by herself. As of yesterday (or maybe it was the day before) she can now even get it to her mouth on her own. Once it comes out she can't get it back, but she is definitely making progress!

Not wanting to be left out, Rachel wanted to share a few of the words she knows. She can say a lot more than just what is demonstrated here, but it was early in the morning (for her anyway), so I just got a few favorites.

I think Gabi will be getting mobile in the not too far distant future. She can roll over, but she doesn't do it much. What she is doing is rotating. When I put her down for tummy time, it doesn't take her long to rotate 180º.

Gabi has her six-month check-up coming up next week on Tuesday, so I'm putting up a poll so you can guess her weight. I'll try to not have a flaw in the poll this time.

One of Gabi's favorite things to do is to sit up. Unfortunately she can't quite do it by herself for too long, so I need to have plenty of padding to protect her from when she inevitably falls. Even when she is in her bouncy seat, she pulls herself into a sitting position. She completely pulls her head and shoulders off the seat, and will often rest somewhat on one arm.


When I was in Nashville my sister Faline put together matching outfits for all of us to wear as we sang together in the Family Chorus. Here is Rachel modeling the earrings that went with the outfit.