For Lindsey

I was going to wait to put this on a collage, but my sister wants it up, so here you go! I'm such a good sister. It is pretty cute though :)

Puke

So, last night was an interesting night... I put Rachael down at about 9:30 and she was SO tired! She was crying for a bit and wouldn't calm down. Finally after a nice little rock on the swing outside and a dose of children's tylenol she calmed down and fell asleep on my chest. I could just feel something was wrong because she was not acting like herself. Long story short, I brought her to bed with me and after about four hours of restlessness I picked her up and the poor little kid started to throw up. All over me and the bed. Gross. But I didn't react the way I always thought I would. I don't even know why I'm blogging about this, sorry if you're grossed out. I think I'm just marveling at being a mom again. Even when Rachael was an infant she only spit up a total of no more than 10 times in her entire life, so I thought actual vomit would send me over the edge. Don't get me wrong, it was still gross, but my only focus was making my baby feel better. Since I was all alone in the room we're staying in I just had to let her keep going. I could tell she immediately felt better. I called my sister's phone 3 times before she answered and I asked her to get my mom. Basically it took all three of us to bathe Rachael and get the sheets and dirty jammies under control. My mom got the mess into the washer and I took a shower at 5 a.m. Thanks for letting me express these weird emotions I'm having about vomit...

The really weird thing is she didn't have a fever and she had been her normal happy self all day yesterday and is happy today so I know its not the flu... oh, being a mom.

Family Pictures

On Saturday we went up to St. Anthony to get our family pictures done. A sweet girl in our ward did them for us, Amber Bagley. She is (obviously) AMAZING! I wanted to go to St. A because that is where Nate and I got our engagements done. It is a really ghetto town, literally, but that makes for cute and interesting backdrops. Such as the huge pile of bricks we plopped Rachael onto. This is just a few, and when I get back to Rexburg I'm really going to see if I can do the whole collage thing. I love these!

Blurb

Dear Blog,
It was one year ago today that I created you, and you have been a fantastic buddy. Keeping all of my peeps up to date with the goings on in the Russell family, it can't be easy work because we move a LOT! You have followed us to our adventures NYC, North Carolina, all over Utah, and of course, Idaho. I just wanted to say thank you for always being willing to upload pictures or simply let me vent. I look forward to the next year with you and all of the new adventures we will have. I need to experience a blurb with you (I think thats what its called, your future destiny of becoming a book). You're a good buddy.

Love, Erin

Top Ten

Nate's older brother has a friend who once said, "Parenthood is a life of inconvenience." (Or something to that affect...) Well I have made up a list of Top Ten Reasons why Parenthood is NOT an inconvenience, even though this list basically focuses on motherhood.



10. You have several board books memorized, very handy if you ever need a poem about the alphabet or forget your animal sounds

9. People understand (or they SHOULD) if you look like garbage on occasion (although I personally try to avoid that, but hey, it happens)

8. Naps, although I hear those go down significantly when you have a second child.

7. If you have a toddler you always have snacks on hand, be it pretzels, crasins, marshmallows, whatever... very handy.

6. You get to practice your singing nightly while keeping up with your favorite primary songs, with no judgment attached (unless your husband is listening at the door, haha, but even thats OK cuz he loves your voice too!)
5. People love to do stuff for you, especially if you are pregnant.

4. You lose weight (well... some do. Most do if they nurse.)

3. It must be said. You don't have to endure "that time of the month" for at LEAST nine months. I personally went about 21 because of nursing and they were amazing!

2. Baby wipes. I'm pretty sure I'll still keep bags lying around even after I'm done having kids...

And finally...

1. No matter how many purses, necklaces, earrings, scarves, etc... you may have, a kid is THE cutest accessory you could ever hope to have. And you get compliments on it all the time.



So all in all, I think being a mom is a pretty sweet gig.

Moo

New favorite animal: Cow. We just pull up to Nate's parents house and she points towards the pasture and goes "moo" (even though it really sounds like "boo"). So cute!!

P.S. We just got our family pictures taken today, and I have a good feeling about them! It will be a little while before she gets them edited so they will probably be ready when I get home from St. George.

Quirks

I'm just loving this 14 month old's little personality! She does something new every day and everything she does is ADORABLE!

She does this ALL of the time. I had a friend babysit her while Nate and I went to the temple and she told me she was constantly doing it. "I don't know"

Here are her kisses. Amazing.

Just lounging in her chair with a niiiiiiice warm sippy cup of milk. Perfect night.

She has also learned to pout, really well. If I take something away or won't give her something, she will pull out "the lip." Its adorable and it gets me every time.

LOVE THIS!! Her left pinkie is always up when she is taking a drink. Just like her daddy :) We're so proper in this family.

She also loves hiding behind and under things.

Sitting in things. Like this pot whose original destiny was the D.I. Now, its just under the couch waiting for another session of play.

Climbing on this. This one is NOT my favorite. Looks like the ottoman needs to be replaced by a gate to keep the kitchen off limits.

(P.S. Happy 2.5 year anniversary, Nate! Love you!)

Little Mommy

My heart has been warming and my eyes have been teary watching Rachael start to play with her dolls. It is SO cute! Dolls were a very big part of my childhood and I hope Rachael loves them just as much as I did (and do). I think it is a good way to get little girls excited about one day becoming a mommy to a REAL baby which is so much better than dolls!

Poke It

So my friend Sam and I were talking the other day about when kids typically start using utensils. She said she has a friend whose kid was eating with utensils by the time she was 15 months. Well Rachael has been an extremely picky eater as of late, especially when it comes to veggies. (I've attributed it to teething, which I'm sure is partly to blame.) But I figured lets try letting her "feed herself!" As you can see, we were victorious! It takes a little more time, but she ate like 10 of these little carrot pieces. Amazing! I should probably invest in some toddler forks and spoons (I'm pretty sure they're out there...) so she doesn't poke her eye out, cuz she probably would.

(The video is a little shakey cuz I was watching the kid... Sorry)

Playtime is the new bedtime

I am (mostly) loving Rachael's ability to walk. She just looks so cute! My new favorite time of day is now right after bathtime and before bedtime. Rachael is LOVING this $1 ball from Wal-Mart and will literally play with it for at least an hour. She loves to run right at us with it, then turn away and go a different direction, squeeling all the while. I've been trying to capture this adorableness, and I kinda did, but truly, it is so much cuter in person. I just love this kid! And I love that she loves to play with her daddy so much! And even though her bedtime is later than I would usually like, it really helps that she isn't fussy. I can't believe how big she is getting!

Sorry about the terrible quality.