Some Playtime at the Park

Rachel is feeling a lot better. Praise the Lord! Her cold went no further than that. And aside from a runny nose, she's doing pretty good today!

We met some friends at the park today. We packed lunches and enjoyed the beautiful weather and the few remaining days left of Christmas vacation. Rachel was in seventh heaven when it came to being able to climb all over the place without being told to "sit down". LOL. While she did enjoy the play structure specifically for preschool size kids, she much preferred the BIG play structure instead.

Finding More Friends in the Cleft World

Lately I've received quite a few comments or entries in the guestbook, from people who have run across this blog and have been encouraged or blessed in some way.

Two of the moms have cleft affected babies and we've started corresponding through email. One mom has had almost the exact journey as mine, right on down to not knowing about her baby's cleft until delivery. Her son, Ethan, was born two weeks before Rachel and had his palate repair just days before Rachel, and his other surgeries were also days within Rachels. Knowing that there was another mommy traveling the same journey at the exact time as us, has been amazing. Someone was experiencing the exact same stuff as us around the exact same time!! And to top it all off, it's another family for the Lord! The Lord has helped them through their journey as the Lord has helped us through Rachel's.

Another mom, lives here in Southern California, and another mom who've I've been corresponding with is 9 months pregnant, discovered the baby had a bilateral cleft lip on ultrasound, and she lives in Australia!!

I'm so blessed that Rachel's Journey has touched so many different lives and has allowed me to meet some other really wonderful women!

Not Feeling Well

Poor Rachel, she's had her good moments and her droopy moments today. She really looked miserable this afternoon and early evening.

Despite taking her two normal naps, she was sooooo tired this evening, that she fell asleep on the family room floor about 5:30pm! We wouldn't normally put our kids to bed so early, but there was no keeping her awake, I'd already tried a bath, a movie, and toys...all with no luck in keeping her interested and awake. She's been in bed since just before 6:00pm. Here's hoping she sleeps the night through and wakes up feeling better tomorrow!

Christmas with Gramie

Steven's mom came today and we exchanged gifts and then went for a nice dinner together. Here Rachel is enjoying Steven's new tire gauge as a telephone. Following dinner, we went to The Mission Inn to see their beautiful Christmas decorations and lights one more time this season. Thankfully, Rachel was acting tons better after her morning nap. And even better after her afternoon nap. Hopefully, she's on the mend and won't be sick for a week like Hannah was.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started off here at home with stockings and opening presents. The girls get three gifts from us, because that's how many gifts Jesus got on his birthday. However, when presents arrive from out-of-town family, there's usually a couple more for the girls to unwrap. Here's Rachel unwrapping her present from Hannah, a Jo Jo's Circus doll: Poor Rachel started off doing fine, and kinda went downhill from there. She obviously didn't feel well. She was up for a short time before going back down for a nap. The remainder of the day she was whiney and clingy. I think in addition to having a cold, she might be cutting another tooth. After a nap in her own crib, we headed over to Gramma and Papa's house to join Uncle Robbie, Auntie, McKenzie, Haylee, and Uncle Bart. Rachel was more interested in what everyone else was unwrapping than her own pile. But eventually we got her to stand still and open her gifts! She loves her new doll! The cousins have seen quite a bit of each other the last couple of weeks and they always have so much fun and get so silly! We actually got them to sit still for a few brief moments for a picture in front of Gramma and Papa's tree. Now that we're home, it's a major job to find homes for all the new toys!

Christmas Eve at Great Grandmas

Tonight was the annual Christmas Eve gathering at Great Grandma's house, gathering for a traditional dinner followed by a gift exchange.

This year was no different, the great granddaughters/grand nieces (I can say that, there are no great grandsons/grand nephews!) made a major hauling in the toy department! Some of the things Rachel got were: a crawl through tunnel, lots of new books, Fisher Price Little People Garage, a Tinkerbell doll, a gift card to spend at Disneyland, and a pull toy dog!! Rachel was feeling a little under the weather this evening. She didn't want to eat at dinner, which is very unlike her. And was kinda whiney and clingy. She started to perk up just as we were saying out 'Thank Yous' and 'Goodbyes'. Hopefully she'll be more perkier tomorrow after a good night's sleep!

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours!

Rachel's Turn for a Doctor Visit

Rachel woke up this morning feeling hot, so I took her temperature and sure enough, she had a temp of 101.7. I gave her Tyelnol and put her into the bath to try and get her temp down. She started crying when I went to put the thermometer into her ear, so I suspected perhaps an ear infection. Putting two and tow together, it makes sense seeing how she was kinda clingy and whiney yesterday. Not to mention she was kinda poking at her ear, but really that's nothing out of the ordinary.

Thank goodness for our medical clinic having a pediatric urgent care. I was there when it opened at 9, and was happy to see that our Pediatrician was on duty. She no longer had a temperature, her lungs were clear, as were both of her ears. Which I was happy to hear. However, this means she has the start of what's going round...the cold/flu thing. She's acting fine, the plan of treatment is to just keep her fever down, if it returns and come back if she gets worse.

Sporting the Mickey Santa Hat

Rachel has been so cute with this hat, she walks around the house with it, loving putting it on and laughing.

Look at What Rachel Mastered...

First she figured out how to climb up onto the chair, next thing we see is her climbing onto the table!!!

A New Hat

Stopped by to drop off a 1st birthday present to a church friend, and his mommy had a present for Rachel! A handmade stocking hat!

Rachel's Journey

Last year, I started this blog to keep family, friends, and others updated. Having been born with a cleft lip and palate, the journey over the last 15 months to having both repaired is a journey now behind us. While Rachel will continue to need and have more in the years to come, the current journey has come to an end.

There won't be much to update as far as cleft related stuff, with the exception of her yearly craniofacial team appointments.

I've enjoyed writing and sharing about Rachel, and I don't want to stop because the sole reason I began this blog is now behind us. With that said, I will continue to post pictures and share funny happenings and adventures of Rachel.

I hope you will continue to come and watch Rachel as she grows into a beautiful and happy girl.

Messy! Messy! Messy!

Forget being fed, forget using the spoon...let's use our hands for eating spaghetti! Once she had the spaghetti properly smeared all over her face and cheeks, she proceeded to rub her eyes! LOL.

Cupboard Fun

A couple of days ago, the junk drawer broke, so the drawer space has been wide open, with the drawer sitting on the counter. Rachel has been having fun with taking the tupperware out from the cupboard below and tossing into the wide open space. Today I was trying to fix the drawer, and thought since Rachel likes small spaces, I'd see how she liked the tupperware cupboard! LOL.

Lil' Helpers

Recently out shopping, I came across the cutest aprons. I grabbed one with Hannah in mind, and then my mom reminded me that I had two girls and how cute it would be for both girls to have matching aprons when helping in the kitchen. I was in luck, there were only two aprons left!!! Today we dawned the aprons and made cookie dough.

Looking at Christmas Lights

A couple of years ago, some friends introduced us to a new place to see Christmas lights. It's a bit of a drive, but well worth it. The neighborhood is located in Rancho Cucuamonga, and the houses are million dollar houses!
Tonight we went with Gramma and Papa, Uncle Robbie, Auntie, and cousins McKenzie and Haylee. Everyone was in awe of the spectular display of lights through the neighborhood. The girls squealed in delight and oooed and awed. Rachel was so fun to watch. For a while she walked, and as she did, she ran and laughed and squealed in excitement at all the pretty lights.

Rachel Meets Squirt

Rachel wasn't afraid of a little old turtle. Infact she touched it, wanted to hold it, and even made sure the protective shell worked. LOL.

Sensory Overload??

Tonight after dinner, we went to Toys R Us. I'm helping my Grandma out by doing her Christmas shopping for my two girls. I've been at a loss as to what to get Rachel, as I literally saved everything from when Hannah was little. So we decided to take a trip to the toy store to see if anything jumped off the shelves and said "buy me".

Rachel did some walking and it was soooo funny to see her. She was in hog heaven with the aisles and aisles of toys. She kept bouncing from side to side, sqeaking, and making cute noises. She went up one aisle and down another testing out some of the toys. She was having fun!

We did find something for Rachel to get from her Great Grandma. It's something we know she's going to love!!!

"Guess Where I'm Going?"

"Give ya a hint...I'm sporting a Minnie Mouse sweat suit".

15 Month Well Check

It's hard to believe that Rachel is 15 months old. Last night we were looking through pictures from the last year, our baby is getting big!

Her appointment went great! Her weight was 23 lbs 12oz, her weight has finally slowed down and she's in the 50th percentile. I know she lost a little weight following surgery, she was 24lbs the week before. And I'm sure with how active she is, she burns a lot of the calories she eats...because she's an eating machine. Her length was 29 1/4 inches, which is below the 20th percentile. But our pediatrician said she's growing just fine!

Dr Berry was pleased to hear her palate repair was a success. And was also happy to hear she was done with surgeries for a few years.

Unfortunately, she didn't escape without getting 2 shots and a TB skin test. So far, so good with not having any reaction to the shots. She's been in a good mood all afternoon!

At this point, we don't have another well baby check until she's two years ago. Hopefully we can avoid sick visits this winter, and not have a visit until August!

Sound Asleep

It doesn't matter how rough the day, how much bickering went on, how much whining you heard, seeing your children sound asleep just melts your heart. The girls, sound asleep, in the car on the way home from Disneyland tonight.

"Aren't I Cute in My Golden Ears?"

Enjoying an evening of waiting for the Candlelight Processional at The Happiest Place on Earth.

Happy to Have Food Again

Enjoying the crust of a piece of pizza at Hannah's soccer pizza party. Rachel is sooo happy to be back to eating 'real' food again!

A Trip to the Christmas Tree Farm

Mommy and Rachel accompanied Hannah's class on their field trip to the Christmas Tree Farm today. It was a lot of fun and a great place to take pictures!