First Bottle

We have had a very busy week and an even busier weekend. With so much going on i've decided it's time to introduce Rachael to the bottle. Aaron has been busy with work and training for the Ragnar that some nights we barely cross paths. Tuesday night I had YW's came home quickly for Aaron to head out for soccer. As he returned home I then left to clean the bank and by the time I got home he was asleep.

So yesturday Aaron was out playing tennis and I had gotten a bottle ready for him to give Rachael as I then left for an activity at 7:00. Well Rachael was hungry before he had time to feed her and I wanted someone else to feed her as she might not take it from me. Well in came her loving and very helpful brother Josh. He was so excited to get to feed Rachael her bottle.

While Aaron's mum was here in April she had a bottle ready to give Rachael while we were at the temple but we made it home before she needed it.

The bottle feeding went great, I did have to help her figure it out but then Josh took over. He is a very proud brother and has been talking about it all morning. He did a fantastic job - I just had to take some pictures...

Rachael has also become quite vocal so I had to capture a bit of her making silly noises.

This Morning

I had to post this as it melted my heart. This morning after I fed Rachael she shortly went back to sleep and I put her on my bed while I folding clothes. Minutes later Josh came into our room and climbed into the bed next to her. Minutes later this is what I found.
It was so cute I had to quickly grab the camera to snap a few pictures before either of them moved. I love how Rachael's hand in on Josh's head and his is reaching up towards her. I just love it!!!

2 Months

Rachael had her 2 month appointment last week and it was fun for me to compare her and Joshua's growth at 2 months.
Here are the numbers:

Josh

Weight: 11 lb 14 oz (26%)

Length: 24 in (61%)

Rachael

Weight: 13.27 lbs (97%)

Length: 22.75 inches (67%)

What do you think? Do you think they look anything alike?

They look so different to me....

Mothers Day!!!

Sunday was such a beautiful day! Although Aaron woke up feeling horrid (I think he had done a bit too much Ragnar training over the weekend :)) I resumed usual mothering duties and had a fabulous day. After having breakfast together Joshua was so helpful in getting himself and Rachael ready for church. We had a fabulous sabbath day at church and I loved watching Josh get excited to go up to the front and sing. Although he didn't sing while standing up there, I was so excited to see him go up for the first time.

I just LOVE this picture - I was so lucky to catch them both looking at the camera at the same time... and smiling - or at least grinning :) They are SO Cute!

It makes me so happy to see josh get excited to go to his sunbeam class. After his class he came running up to me with a cute card and inside it said "I love it when you play trains". A true Josh statement :)

After church we went up to my parents house for dinner. We had a fabulous afternoon and I was happy to spend it with my mom. It is such a great day to be able to reflect on how wonderful mothers are. I am so grateful for my mom and mum ;) They are both such wonderful women and inspire me in many ways to be the best mom I can be.

So Much...

Rachael will be two months old here in a couple days; I just can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. So much has happened I have to do a quick recap:

Amongst everything going on and having family here Rachael got RSV. We were right at the tail end of the season and luckily she did extremely well. After two days of seeing the doctor I was confident that I knew what to do and what to watch for. On the third day, I was again worried, Rachael was breathing very heavily and it really concerned me. Once Aaron, Mum and Josh got home from a breakfast with Jess Ben and Jack (Jess and Ben were up here for their graduation at BYU) I asked Mum to go with me to the doctors - yet again.

I loved the way my mother-in-law wrote about the experience on her post so I am including the excerpt here (Thanks Mum ;))

"Kimmy rightly so was concerned as Rachael’s breathing was somewhat laboured and doing what the doctor said to look out for – her chest going in under her ribs, so off to the doctors Kimmy and I went with little Rachael for the 3rd day running. Surprisingly her temperature and oxygen levels where better then the day before in spite of her sounding worse, the doctor said this was quite common and suggested we take her over to the hospital next door and have her suctioned, at this point I didn’t know what that meant! We were seen there by a doctor who put on a gown, mask and gloves and at this point I felt my stomach churn! He asked Kimmy to put Rachael on bed and told us what he would be doing, which was to put saline up her nostrils before sucking out the mucus from her nose (with this loud contraption) and then he would then be putting a fine tube up her nose, down her throat to continue to remove mucus. He asked Kimmy to hold her down on the bed by placing her arms over hers and then holding her head still with her hands. I thought oh my goodness this is going to be horrible as Kimmy turned to me and asked me to help! So between us we held her down on the bed while the doctor did what he needed to do and I was right it has horrible as Rachael screamed and choked as the procedure seemed to take forever. I couldn’t watch but did peek a couple times and was horrified when I saw the tube coming out of her mouth, but the doctor soon rectified that. I just wanted to cry as I saw poor little Rachael trying to struggle free from the uncomfortable procedure as the doctor went up both nostrils twice and I found myself turning to wall praying silently – please let this end. The doctor stopped and said to Kimmy you can pick her up and comfort her before we do anymore, thankfully her chest sounded better and he didn’t need to do it again. As horrible as it was the procedure did help Rachael and she didn't need it doing again."

Rachael did really well and is now back to her joyful self. She is so interactive and is such a happy baby smiling and cooing every minute she gets. Joshua is a fantastic brother and is so gentle with Rachael. He constantly asks me if he can hold her and he will sit there holding her for 15 minutes at a time - so cute! It melts my heart to see the concern Josh has for Rachael. He is always the first to hear her crying and will notify me that I need to feed her or change her diaper. He also loves showing her his toys; Josh is such a good boy and I am so proud of him - I can't believe how grown up he seems already.



While Jess and Ben were here for graduation we did get to spend an afternoon with them. Josh and Jack have two completely different personalities and in the past haven't gotten along at all. This time they did fairly well actually and went with Ben to do some Geo Caching. Josh loved it and still talks about the 'treasure'. Thanks Uncle Ben!!! Congrats on graduating - you've both done a fantastic job!

Aaron has been training for the Ragnar Relay which is in June. He has been working so hard to get 'fit' and has been running a lot with the guys at work. Aaron was a bit bummed when his 2nd Ragnar leg changed from 6.2 miles to 9.6 miles - ha ha. He will do great - his last leg is also straight up hill. In 3 miles he will have run the height of the Sears Tower. Currently the Sears Tower is the tallest skyscraper in the US. We are excited to go see him and support him in this Relay - I think he is excited as well.