Friday, September 23, 2011

A Reason to Wean

So do you remember a couple of blogs ago when I said that Hannah had her first tooth? I tried so hard to get a picture. It just wasn't happening though. Hannah's the boss around here and what she says goes. She refused to cooperate (not that she knew what I was trying to do). I ended out with a ton of pictures like this.and this. By the end of our bazillion photoshoots to get a shot at the pearly whites,
mother and baby looked something like this. These little teethy have been in for a month and still no good shots of the bottom teeth.

But like I said, Hannah's the boss around these parts. She'll show 'em when she is good and ready. She's so obliging.

F.Y.I to anyone who is wondering. Those chompers can do some damage.

Monday, September 12, 2011

How does your garden grow?

So while the little girls slumber, I want to share my little garden with you.

My mom has always had a garden. I have fond (and some not so fond) memories of it growing up. Grandpa Dollar also used to have the most amazing garden too. I remember many times my Grandma Dollar giving me a gallon bucket so I could pick my tommy toes (cherry tomatos). I absolutely love tomatos and can eat them like an apple. As a little girl I loved this and I have always wanted to replicate some of the wonderful memories of that. Unfortuately, the green thumb was not passed down.

My first garden in Tuscaloosa, I don't even think I got a seedling out of it. The next year in that garden, I planted my cherry tomato bush that I bought from Lowes that already had tomatos on it. I guess I had some tomatos. (That's a generous description) I even killed my tree that I was supposed to plant and let it do it's own thing. I drowned it. How do you do that?!?! How do you drown a tree??? And let's not forget about my ivy, ugh, like I said black thumb!

But, anyways, I'm no quitter! I convinced Stephen that we needed to plant a garden here in Montgomery too. We had these huge bushy bushes that we decided to take out. We had 3 box hedges and 1 holly bush. Box hedges were easy breezy to get out. The holly bush made me almost lose my religion. What a little booger. (It probably didn't help that that was the bush that I cut our extension chord in half) Here is a picture of the 3 easy stumps. My muscle man getting the hard one out
Hooray! We got it out!
Our little visitor

We planted the tomato bushes really late in May. They really took off. I had no clue that they would grow so quickly. They quickly out grew Hannah. I was so excited to see them get blooms. They were everywhere. Tomatos had to be just around the corner. I waited and waited and waited. Patience isn't easy.

They finally started to arrive. Every morning I would go out and check them and count how many there were. (There really wasn't that many but I loved counting them) The tomatos are like magic. It was probably the absurdity that counting tomatos could make you happier. But it totally worked. I was always happier.

It even made her happy.
Finally, the first one was ready to be picked.


Nothing like a good ole tomato sandwich!

R.I.P. squash and cucumber that never had a chance against that blaring Alabama sun. You gave a noble effort those first few weeks. You shall forever be missed from my dinner plate.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Little Lady at 9 months!

A few weeks ago when I visited my mom for her birthday, I got to visit my best friend from high school. It just so happens that Ashley had a baby about 3 weeks after Hannah was born.


I remember the day that I told her I was pregnant. My sister in-law had her bridal shower at my house and Ashley came. After the shower, I told Ashley I wanted to show her something. I took her to my bathroom and showed her the positive sign. Then she said, "Rachel, I have something to tell you too. I'm pregnant." We laughed. I cried. I jumped and squealed. (Ashley, is way to calm to do that.) That little baby of Ashley's had been prayed for a long time and I was so glad that sweet baby was on her way. Madeline is a precious little girl.


I look forward to more visits with her and Ashley as our sweet little babies grow up. Ashley, is also a budding photographer. She took a couple of impromptu pictures with Hannah. This is the link www.ashleyannphotos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rachel-and-hannah.html . The pictures are so cute and a big thanks to Ashley. I just wish she had been in something cuter, not a crusty onesie. At least I had a bow in her hair. But, Ashley inspired me to dress my baby up and take a million pictures of her for her 9 month birthday and hope a couple turn out well. So obviously they are not as good as Ashley's but these aren't so bad.
It's amazing to me how she grew in to that from this so quickly.

These past 9 months have been wonderful! Stephen and I just laugh because it is so much fun to watch her. She'll crawl to the window, pull herself up and look out start banging on the window and bounce a little bit. Then she'll crawl under the chair onto the fireplace to her books and proceed to pull every book out of her basket without even looking at the cover. Then she'll crawl over to the toy chest pull herself up and see what she can see then plops down and heads for the couch. She pulls herself up and walks herself along side it. She has a great time and talks to herself the entire time.


This past month has been my favorite month. She is

starting to crawl

pulling herself up

got her first tooth

SUPER cuddly

talking to herself

a self entertainer
putting everything in her mouth

enjoys things that light up, make a sound or flashes

(that means cameras, phones, TVs and computers)

she loves to eat green beans, and leaves

and her favorite places to be are outside or in mommy's arms.

I saw a sign recently (adapted for Hannah) She is the beat of my heart. The pulse in my veins and the energy of my soul. She is my child.