11 Months Today!

Wow. Our little Ray of Sunshine is 11 months old today! Where has the past year gone? In just 1 one month, I will have to reflect on the past year, and the fun that we have had when we boarded the RayTrain November 22, 2006. While I'm sure it'll be tough at times for her w/ having her birthday right around Thanksgiving, I'm glad that she's our Thanksgiving baby. It has helped put some things in perspective, cause us to reflect on the year and truly be thankful for God's blessings. Well, enough mushiness.

Rachel is getting funner by the day (I know that is not a word, but for today, it is!). She finds my nose and mouth when asked; gives hugs and kisses when asked; makes the bunny rabbit face when asked (nose scrunched and mouth moving up and down); laughs or makes sounds in response to what we do; is standing and crawling; eats table foods selectively - I think it's a texture thing; weighs like 23 pounds and is very long (I haven't measured her in a while)....I just know that she's sporting 18-24 month clothes. The 6-12 month clothes that she still wears are very brand dependent (since the sizes vary) and they are getting a little short on her. So, either I am shrinking things in the laundry or she is growing.

Here's some cute pics from Friday and yesterday. I had some fun being creative w/ our limited groceries (I was in desperate need of a shopping trip after being out of town for the week and Ben being on travel for 2 days). I made a pancake for her in the shape of a flower (I got her a flower and heart shape maker - not sure what to call it - from Williams Sonoma a couple of months ago and I have been so excited to start using it!) w/ rice cereal and pear pieces in it. She thought it was pretty yummy, and I'd have to agree. The rice cereal gave it more of a crepe like taste, which was ok, but not the fluffy pancake taste I prefer. However, I wanted to add a little more nutritional value for her, so all in all, it tasted pretty good and seemed quasi-healthy:) Plus, it helped me wait until the next day to go grocery shopping!

She loves to check out what's going on outside....kinda like her friend Kathryn!
Posing for the camera w/ her flower power pancake (ok, ok, I know the flower looks a little wilted, but I had to cut it in half to get it on the plate, but you get the idea!).
Here's her bunny rabbit face....it's so cute when she starts to move her mouth up and down to! We're trying to teach her other animal sounds too, but she currently does this face for all animals. Oh well.
This is one of those times when she's laughing in response to me or going "ahhh" after taking a bite or a drink. She notices that I sometimes do the exaggerated "ahhh" after taking a drink, so Rachel has started doing it back to me. Check out the pear pancake hair....she pulled it out of her ponytail and gave herself a mohawk. Very stylin' and definitely in need of a bath!
Here she is before we went to church yesterday....all clean after her bath (don't worry - I didn't wait from Friday to Sunday to bathe her - this one was in addition to the one she had on Friday!). While I love this little button down shirt w/ the long sleeve underneath, it kinda made her look like a boy - despite the little flowers and pink in it. But, it doesn't seem to matter what I put her in....earlier last week, we were at the doctors w/ my mom, and Rachel was wearing an "I heart Daddy" shirt that was purple stripes....and people still asked if she was a boy. And then the lady said, you just can't seem to tell nowadays. What? I smiled and nodded and tried not to make eye contact w/ my mom - I knew one of us would bust out laughing if I did. So, until I can get the ponytail to stay in her hair, we will have to deal w/ the boy questions. Oh well.