Rachel Lee, Her Fourth Month

Rachel Lee, Her Third Month

Rachel Lee, Her Second Month

My Babes at One Year

Rachel Lee, Her First Month

This is Christmas, but this is also the beginning of the 12 day count down to Rachel Lee turning one. 12 days to remember and celebrate each month that my baby has been in our family, grown and changed, and to remember how good God is to bless us with such a wonderful baby. It's hard to call her a baby at this point, since she is walking, climbing, throwing (cute) tantrums, signing all done and sometimes more, and getting into everything...she really is approaching toddlerhood, but for 12 more days she is a baby. My baby. And I love her. I love who she has been and who she is becoming. So, let's recap, starting at the day she entered our lives:


Dear Sweet Rachel Lee,
Thank you for the gift that you are to our family. I can hardly believe that we are approaching your one year birthday. Your smiles, your giggles, your coos, cries and every noise in between has warmed my heart. May you always know and feel the love that I, your daddy and your sister have for you. Thank you for blessing our family.
Love you deeply,
Your Mama

Tube Fairy

I took Kate to the Ear, Nose, Throat Specialist yesterday and he recommended getting tubes in her ears again. One tube was out of her ear drum, but still in the ear canal (tubes only work to keep her ears free of fluid if they are in the ear drum) so he removed the tube with these tiny tweezers, and then put the tube in a specimen container (you know, the kind the doctor gives you when you need to provide a urine sample? TMI?) He gave her the container with the tube and she lite up. He said that sometimes if you put it under your pillow the Tube Fairy comes. Well, Kate loved her blue tube. She showed everyone, and last night she put it under her pillow. Jeff and I felt a lot of pressure, what does a Tube Fairy give? We thought of different things that we had around the house...candy, money...that seemed to be all we had so we decided a dollar would do.




Well, this morning Kate explained that she "Has no use for cash" yes, those were her words...cash is what Hannah calls money since it is in her "cash" register. I felt badly, she clearly loved her tube and wanted to show people her treasure. To make it worse, before naptime she had a full melt down out of fear that the Tube Fairy would return to take her doll while she was sleeping. In her words, "The Tube Fairy took it (her tube) without even asking!" Hannah said she would stand guard and make sure that mom did not take any more of her toys(yes, my kids know that Santa, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and now Tube Fairy are really mom and dad, but Kate does not seem to understand completely what that means). Oh, my. This did not go as planned at all. I was sooo excited last night and was so sure that Kate would run around the house with her dollar bill waving in the air. Instead, she ended up hiding her toys so the Tube Fairy would not find them.


To make it better we wrote a note to the Tube Fairy asking for the tube back in exchange for the dollar bill. The Tube Fairy is officially banished from this house. You're fired, Fairy!

Ballet

One of Hannah and Kate's dear friend just did a ballet recital, and now the new favorite role play in or house is ballet performances, especially when Jeff gets home from work. The girls try to coordinate moves, but what usually happens is Hannah leads, Kate copies, and Rachel Lee roams in and out of the dance area. It's a highlight in my day to watch my girls dance and play together and remember how I used to dance with my sisters (while watching MTV) and hope that they always enjoy dancing together.

Sleepy Baby, Water Baby

Why is my Baby Boo so tired that she is sleeping through dinner??

First of all, Rachel Lee is wishing she could take one nap a day, but she just gets too tired in the evening on the days when she only takes one nap.

Secondly, we have enrolled Rachel Lee in what I call water therapy to try to get her over her fear of water. It involves crying, water splashing, soothing words from me trying to convince her that she likes the water and her desperate effort to get out of the tub. Did I mention there is lots of water splashing? Well, it seems to be working and I can actually get her to sit in the tub without crying for a while, and I am hopeful that one day soon she will realize that bath time is actually a fun time!

Here is my baby after a day with only one nap and after water therapy...she was wiped out!

Morning!

Today during breakfast Hannah asked, "Who wants to count to 1000 with me?" Kate and I, both slow waker upers, looked and her and Kate said, "Not me." "Okay mom, I guess it's just you and me!" Hannah responded...one, two, three...oh ,my. I need stronger cup of coffee to keep up with her!

Baby Boo

We have started some nicknames for our dear little baby Rachel Lee. The first that I can think of is Lee-Lee which is just her middle name repeated. We also call her Baby Lee and somewhere along the way we started calling her Lu or Lu-Lu, which I don't really know why but it's cute and it seems to be liked by the girls.

Her latest name though is because she keeps falling and getting hurt, or boo-boos. We have taken to calling her baby Boo or just Boo for short. I got her up from her afternoon nap yesterday and she was bleeding on her eyelid...I still can't figure that one out since she doesn't sleep with anything in the crib and can't really reach anything from the crib. All I can say is my Baby Boo sure if resilient!!

Christmas Program

Hannah's preschool did a little play. I had no expectations of what the play would be like, but walking away I couldn't help but feel that it was perfect in every way. Kids were waving, flashes from the camera were flashing, people were laughing, kids were singing off key...it was clearly a play where kids were kids.

Hannah said that she was nervous since it was her first play, but that it was fun being in front of all the people. Here is some video and some pics of the time...I just have to add that I love the preschool she attends that celebrates kids being kids.



I will try to get one more really cute video later, but for now I have loads of laundry waiting and I need to figure something out for dinner...hmmm....

Advice for Bikers

As Jeff leaves in the morning we walk outside, give him a kiss and then wave as he bikes around the corner. He always turns and waves good-bye as well, and as he is biking down our street the girls usually yell out words of advice. Usually it relates to biking such as, "Don't get a flat tire!" or "Don't let your chain fall off!" or my favorite, "Look where you're going! Don't hit any cars!"

Today's advice was priceless though. Kate yelled, "Watch out for Santa! Don't crush Santa!" I love her the way she thinks. She makes me laugh and smile all day long!!

11 Months

My baby is eleven months old (and a few days). I remember last year the anicipation and wondering if Rachel Lee would arrive before Christmas,or  before New Years, or before out of state family returned to their homes, and finally wondering if she would EVER arrive! And then she did. And it's been a wonderful journey this past 11 months. She really is perfect baby; a delightful, go-with-the-flow, easy going baby...as long as you are paying attention to her and making sure that she is well fed and entertained and the center of attention at all times. Not really. But sort of. Here are 11 things about my 11 month old:

1. She loves being apart of the action, and she always knows where the action is. Lately, after dinner we have let the girls pick out a piece of Halloween candy for dessert. Rachel Lee sees them and makes a bee line for the bucket. If we put the bucket away before she reaches in and pulls out a piece of candy (wrapped) she gets very upset. So, we let her take a candy and she walks away happily chewing on it. Younger siblings always want to do everything the older ones do!

2. She loves being outside, and she loves riding on her blue car. When the back door is left open she immediately tries to get out and climb on her blue car.

3. She has opinions and knows how to express herself...said more plainly, she throws tantrums, screeches, grabs, and signs (all done, more) and waves hi and bye. She also nods when we ask questions, but she had never said no, it's just yes, yes, yes. Her tantrums are kinda cute, and I usually smile. Then I remember that it won't be so cute in a few weeks or months so I better do something about her little tantrum.

4. She is focused, not easily distracted and not easily redirected. When she wants something she goes after it with all her might! The other night at Bible study she wanted to be in the other room with the kids watching a movie (see #1), but since the house was kid friendly and not baby proof we had to keep her with us. Jeff was blocking her route to the other room and she was determined to get out...when climbing over the chair didn't work she tried to squeeze behind Jeff, and then when her head got stuck she backed out and then threw herself on top of Jeff fussing and crying to get out. I was clearly entertained by her strong will and great problem solving...one way didn't work so let's try a different way. She's so smart.

5. She seems to always have a rash around her mouth. I took her to the doctor a few months ago and they said it was dermatitis due to spit getting caught under her pacifier. Well, we are paci free now and she still has this rash. I may be heading back to the doctor, but at this point, I may just wait until her one year and ask then. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it, and it gives her a cute rosy cheek look.

6. Her diet is fairly unrestricted. Hannah did not have sugary foods until she was a year old. Since Rachel Lee sees the girls having dessert, or treats she wants them too, and sometimes I let her have things, such as chicken nuggets or marshmallows and chocolate chips or those puffs that are similar to cheerios but have three times the amount of sugar. All that said, a nugget here, a marshmallow there, her diet is still fairly healthy and diverse. She's a good eater and for that I am thankful! Here is her morning food:
6am nurse
7am dry corn flakes and raisins (light snack while Jeff was eating)
8am yogurt and bread with me (her actual breakfast)
8:15am two marshmallows (given while her sisters drank hot chocolates)
9am nurse

7. She falls a lot, and especially when she is tired. She isn't fussy when she's tired she just walks around falling. It's really cute, and a very peaceful way of letting me know that she is ready for a nap. She also falls taking risks, liking walking off the step in front of our house or climbing on the small chair or the kid's table. She's resilient though, and after a few snuggles she is up and roaming around again. Love that girl!

8. She takes two nice naps, usually an hour or two long. She's flexible enough that if we are out and about she can manage with a cat nap here or there, which is handy since I often have to wake her up for Bible study or for picking up Hannah from preschool. She's been sleeping through the night for a while, and I am so, so, SO thankful for my uninterrupted night sleep!

9. Rachel Lee has left the attachment phase. She still prefers to stay close to Jeff and me, but generally she will go to other people and even plays quite well in the nursery area on Sunday mornings. When people say "Hi" to her she gets shy and buries her head on her shoulder or turns away and buries her head on me. It's cute, and precious, and I absolutely love it!

10. Something I don't love though is her feelings towards baths. She hates bah time. She seems to really have a fear of the water and screams the entire time she's in the bath. It's terrible. Absolutely terrible. I'm open to suggestions if you know of any ways to get your kiddos to like water.

11. I love her completely. From her smiles to her cries, her silliness and snuggles, her energy and her tantrums...I love her!! I am so blessed to have these 11 months loving her and watching her grow. I am such a blessed mama!!

11 Words from the Eldest About the Youngest

Eleven Words About Rachel Lee according to Hannah:
hrt (hurt...she falls and gets hurt a lot, a frequent thing in our house)
blo kr (blue car)
i lv hr (i love her)
she liks rxn (she likes raisins)
she wks (she walks)

My Neck

I received a notice from the preschool saying that strep throat is going around. Today Hannah complained that her neck hurt...trying not to make a big deal about it I asked how her neck got hurt and her answer was priceless:

I think my stomach came up to my throat while I was doing poops and now it's in my neck.

WHAT?? I did not expect that answer at all...crazy kid! But, don't be surprised if we are all on antibiotics again...

Tree Time!

Let me start off by saying that our three little elves were super excited to get the tree and wanted to help every step of the way. Now the help of three kids ages 4 and under is not always that "helpful" but, three days later, it sure is funny.






How many times did Jeff say, "Pass it to your sister..." He, he, he... and there's more!

But my all time favorite was when the lights came out...the energy level went sky high and even Rachel Lee got in on the action:

I probably should have untangled the lights from her legs, but she was so cute walking around with lights on her feet. That girl is too cute!!

It was a great day, and I am blessed to have my girls so excited about celebrating Christmas together as a family.

Fun at the Park with Three

Have you wondered why I don't take as many pictures of he girls at parks or while we are out somewhere? Well, the answer is simple: I'm busy. Busy chasing a wibble wobbly little girl, encouraging a timid little girl to try new things, and making sure that my brave girl does not talk to strangers or wander too far. A simple trip to the park is busy. Fun, completely fun, but busy. Here is a little video from taking the girls to the park for a picnic and then biking. (Hannah is learning to ride a two wheeler, so to learn balance I took off her training wheels and her pedals to create the same effect that those expensive Strider bikes which claim to teach your kid to ride a bike in a day...let's just say that after two days, the training wheels, and pedals, are back on her little bike.)


Kate was fine in the last video, she got back up, got a few hugs and some encouraging words, and then was back on her bike. Rachel Lee and I tried to play it safe by hanging out on the grass.
Here the girls are in three different places at one time...thank goodness for a good zoom or I would seem really far from the older two.

Bye Bye Paci...You'll Be Missed

Rachel Lee seems to have these rashes develop around her pacifier, so although I am not ready to say good-bye to the peace keeping paci, it's time. The hardest times are going to be at naptime, when she would go down with two pacifiers, and happily switch one paci with the other until she quietly drifted off to sleep. Ahhh...that was nice. I will also miss the paci during car rides, which still seem to be her least favorite activity, followed closely by the diaper change. And dinner time when she walks around wanting to be held and just feeling a little fussy. Yes, the paci will be missed, but Rachel's face is just too pretty to have rashes, so farwell paci...you will be missed! Thanks for the peace you have kept in this housee for the past 11 months!

Family Photo Shoot

Turkey Time!

I am so happy to celebrate this year as a family five. We started the Thanksgiving tour at my Mom and Dad's house with a lunchtime feast. We played, we ate, Jenna cleaned, and we played some more (just checking to see if the sis is still reading my blog!).






We then headed to Jeff's Aunt Margy and Uncle John's house for feast number 2...yup, back to back feasts. The turkey was not the only thing stuffed that day!! When we arrived Roger (Jeff's dad) was surprised to see us since he did not think we would make an appearance...but, as the only California Murry "kids" we have to represent.

The final feast was on Friday in Irvine with my dad's extended family: 38 family members!! It took 3 turkeys to feed this crew!







After that we came home with three very tired and very full little turkeys. It was a great year, and already the
girls are gearing up for Christmas!!