"SO BIG"

Because pictures don't like to load from our home computer to the blog for some unknown reason- a problem I am lobbying hard to fix with perhaps a new computer- it's been awhile since I've updated the blog with Rachel's cuteness. This is a travisty, for sure. So here you go!!

Rachel loves to prove how big she is on a daily basis. One of her favorite games is "so big". It started out with laying her in our lap and pulling her to sitting. (Yes she is a total ham for the camera, especially if it flashes).

When you grab her hands she gets all tense and if you don't pull her up fast enough, she starts to fuss. But now, she doesn't want to just sit, oh no...sitting (and laying down) is for babies. No, she likes to STAND.

She can do this with very little assistance for us, and if you lay her back down she immediately strains to get back up. The view is better from up high, don't you know.

Other recent accomplishments: she can now roll over onto her side and is this close to rolling all the way over. The fact that she gets hung up on her arm is infuriating to her. She's very determined and I don't think it'll be long.

Last night I helped roll her over onto her tummy and once she was there she spied her rattle toy and surprised me by reaching for it. It was just out of her reach so I moved it closer. She grabbed again, this time successful and pulled it over to her mouth.

"So Big" indeed.

Call of the Week- One for the Road

It's been awhile since I've had a blogworthy work call.
I know it's going to be a good one when Kathy says, "You can't leave without one more good one" when she passes the call to my phone.
So here we go:
Me: Hello, this is Adrienne. Can I help you?
Him: Yes, I watched a documentary last night on latex production. (Oh boy...It's never good when it starts with the watching of a documentary). They talked about the rubber plant that grows in South America and Africa, but they also talked about another plant that can be grown to make the hypoallergenic latex. It's grown a desert plant that grows in North America. I'd like to get a few to plant around my house to make a profit.
Me: Do you know the name of the plant?
Him: No, I didn't write it down. It was a desert plant that grows in North America.
*This is where I go into my discussion points about how plants that are acclimated to desert climates don't typically grow well here in Indiana, which is NOT a desert, despite the fireball temps this summer and the recent lack of rains.*
He goes onto say that he has a 3 foot overhang on his house so plants that are under that do not get much water. He then shares a story of how his brother, who lives in El Paso, TX, sent him an agave plant that he planted in his yard. It died. This was my "aha" moment- yes, said, because it's not hardy enough to withstand our winters.
He was still convinced that he could be a millionaire off this hypoallergenic rubber plant. I told him if he could find the name of the plant, we could find out if it would grow here. We hang up.
5 minutes pass. Phone rings. Kathy says "It's him again". Thanks to Wikipedia, he'd found the plant. It is native to northern Mexico, New Mexico and southern Texas. I explain that it would not grow here. (We didn't even get to the part about whether or not there is a market in this area for the plant product). He says he's not willing to give up on it so easily. His brother could probably grow it.

Any bets on if his brother got a phone call?

As we were talking, he said "I have another question." (Oh boy.) He's been collecting seeds from trees that are grown in local landscapes and wants to start a nursery. It's my job to provide information, not to squash dreams, so I didn't even share my concerns about how he is going to start a nursery when he didn't even know that a plant native to a desert in the southwest US wasn't going to grow in southern Indiana. So off I go to look up some nursery production information. He assured me that anything I send to his email account will be immediately received on his cell phone. I told him I'd get it to him as quickly as I could. He also asked about Master Gardener classes, which I encouraged him to consider and gave him my co-workers number for the next class in our area. (Sorry Larry!)

Newest Family Blogger

Look who is joining the blogging world!

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Hope you had a fabulous birthday, Erin!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Papa O! Hope it was a great one!

An Evening Stroll in the Pasture

Nick and I had to leave bright and early to go up north for the IEEA meeting. It was early enough that we dropped Rachel off in her jammies and Nancy was still in her jammies too! Then we sat in the car for 3.5 hours followed by several more hours of sitting with even more sitting for 3.5 hours home. Needless to say, I was ready to stretch my legs when we got home. So was Pepper, who also spent most of her day sitting. So, I strapped on the infant carrier and grabbed Pepper's leash and all three of us headed out for an evening stroll in the pasture. The cattle were in the far pasture, so I didn't have to worry about curious cows coming to check us out. We had a lovely time weaving to and fro among the dried cowpies. Pepper thought it was wonderful. She had zero interest in the cows on the other side of the fence. She's not exactly a poster dog for the cattle herding instinct her breed is supposed to possess. Rachel had a grand time watching Pepper. She did notice the cows too, but found Pepper to be far more interesting.
The fresh evening air seems to be a magic sleeping potion for Rachel. Every time we've gone for an evening walk, she's slept really well. She slept from 9pm to 5:30am on Friday night. I've never felt so rested in my whole life! If a little fresh air is what it takes for Nick and I to get a few more winks of sleep, it can become part of the nightly routine...until winter anyway.

Look who's on TV!

Nick is not going to like this...but how can I not share it?!

Early Harvest In the Tristate

Tortuous Trip to Target

Ok...so it wasn't the trip to Target itself that was torture... it was the drive home.
Since I had a doctor's appointment in Newburgh, I decided to take advantage of the baby sale at Target. I'm always looking for a good bargin on diapers, formula, etc, and with my coupons and the sale prices, I thought I'd do ok. Nancy and Rachel perused the store while I loaded my cart with the necessary baby items. When I was done with that, we all three hit the toy aisle. Tommy, a family friend, had generously given Rachel a gift card and I wanted to get her something fun. We looked at all our options, weighing the pros and cons. I was a bit indecisive, so it took a little while. Finally selecting a Fisher Price Ocean Wonders play mat, we headed up to the check-out. FINALLY, Rachel seemed to be thinking.
We loaded up the car and off we went to venture home. We didn't even make it to the stoplight before Rachel started fussing, thanks to the hiccups. Nancy was sitting in the back doing her best to entertain Rachel, but it wasn't really working. Nancy gave her some water from the extra bottle I'd packed and the hiccups subsided. But Rachel was tired of her carseat and the fussing quickly resumed. Buy the time we got to Boonville, fussing had turned into all out wailing. We decided that she was hungry, but since she'd had some water to ease her hiccups, the formula I'd measured was too much for the water in the bottle. So, we headed to McDonald's for some water (and sodas). Nancy mixed the bottle, but by this time, mad didn't even really describe the meltdown in the backseat. She was so mad she wouldn't take the bottle. Now, Rachel is like me in that she loves her food, so you know she was mad if she wouldn't eat. We went a few more miles, my nerves becoming more frayed with every second and stopped at the Methodist church outside of Boonville. I parked the car, got Rachel out of her seat (her face and eyes red and teary from crying), and she finally calmed down enough to eat. She snoozed the rest of the way home.
I've never been so glad to get home in my whole life. By that time, her belly was full, she was out of her carseat and was content to play on the floor, all smiles and coos.
What did I learn from this experience? When making a long trip to Target, Rachel would be happier hanging out at home. It was also enough to rattle my confidence to make the 8 hour drive to my mom's house by myself with Rachel.
But, today, once her new toys were set up, Rachel decided the trip to Target wasn't all bad. It might have even been worth the torture of her car seat.

NOTE: This is where the really cute picture of Rachel enjoying her new play mat would be if it would upload. I won't type the words that are bouncing around in my head after 4 upload attempts and the computer locking up. They are not ladylike.

Up With The Birds

Well in our case, it was up BEFORE the birds. Rachel was up on time for her 4am feeding. I knew we were in for some early morning playtime when as I put her bib on she was smiling and cooing at the clock... Sure enough, after her bottle was done, it was obvious she wasn't going to sleep. Since she slept pretty much the entire day Sunday, she was well rested. Too bad for me I didn't sleep all day Sunday. In fact, she slept through our picnic at the park and a trip to the Candy Castle. She missed all the family day fun! I tried to explain that it wasn't time to get up yet, that our Rooster wasn't even up yet. She just cooed at me.
I read online that the sleep pattern your baby has now is one that will continue into childhood (ex: night owl, early riser, etc). Nick and I had better take out stock in Folger's if Rachel is going to get up at 4am!
Good thing she's cute!! :)
She finally went down at 5am. I was impressed because I put her in her crib while she was still half awake and she fell asleep on her own- with the help of her pacifier. Unfortunately, 45 minutes later, she was awake again...but this time it was Daddy's turn to play.
Yay for coffee!!