Rachel is 23 months old now and this is officially her last month-to-month update from me. I don't know why I stop doing that at 2 years. Maybe because when they turn two they have less new things they're doing each month and life becomes more consistent and gradual. Who knows.

Anyway, not very much has changed over the past month, other than some new words she can say and her understanding more of what we say. Her new word these days is "favorite". Everything is her favorite and she loves being dramatic when she says the word. She wants to be potty trained very badly, but I'm a bad mom and I'm putting it off until after VBS and after Ethan's surgery. We need a good week to stay home and focus on just that and right now, I can't do that. She tells us every time she goes in her diaper and then tries to take her diaper off saying, "I need to go on the potty!!"

She still has a massive love affair with shoes, purses and all things pink. We have to gasp and catch our breath every time we pass pink, princess looking things in the store. SO not what I imagined MY daughter being like... but I am enjoying it.

She has this new thing of saying "Thank you, Mommy!" anytime I do anything for her; put her shoes on, fold her clothes, do the dishes, serve her dinner, etc... she's very good about thanking Jason and I for everything we do. I love that she notices.

She loves running errands with Daddy... the other day when she and Jason went out together, they got home and Jason came to me and told me that he can tell life is speeding by, because he can't remember Rachel getting so big. He said she was talking his ear off in the car and acting like such a big girl and it was then that he realized, he's going to blink and she'll be 16. Too true.

Anyway, she's our little princess. I know that term greatly annoys some people, but its true. We love how girly and sweet she is (though not perfect, of course) and are thoroughly enjoying her in our family.

Another month has gone by! Amazing... Rachel is only 2 months away from her 2nd birthday. That's even more amazing. Jason and I can't get over how big she seems. When Ethan was 2, he did seem rather advanced in some things, but we figured it was because he was our first... and first time parents always think that of their kids. :) But with Rachel, we're shocked at how "ahead" she is, just from copying stuff Ethan does and wanting to be BIG like him.

She speaks very clearly now. Its rare that we don't know what she's asking or saying.

She loves babies and anything having to do with them.

She is addicted to brushing her teeth. Over and over and over again.

She adores Daddy. Can't get enough of him and gets jealous when Mommy has his attention.

She loves to sing.

She knows her birthday and when she says it, it comes out-- "Joowy 14!!"

She isn't very friendly with strangers, but if we show friendliness she warms up rather quickly.

She loves princess things and anything pink.

She's named the baby "baby mine" and says it IS a girl. :) Since finding out that we are having a girl, she says the baby's name is "Cinerwella"

She does not like watching TV

She doesn't like going on the potty -- she'll sit on it but won't go on it.

She doesn't like wearing tennis shoes. Only sandals and they must be pink.

She hates knowing you're upset with her.

She doesn't like dogs or cats (that's my girl!)

She does not like having her hair done... but she adores the outcome and Daddy's compliments.

She doesn't like being pushed by her brother (go figure) and lets him know by yelling "No, Efan! I said DON'T DO DAT!"

She brings much joy to our household and hears that she's cute way too much. :)

I took some pictures of Rachel tonight in her pretty nightgown. I found it at a consignment store and she absolutely loves it! She comments often that she's a "pincess" in it.

I posted one of my favorite faces she makes. My parents have pictures of me making the exact same face at her age. So... proof that she gets her nerdy-ness from Mommy. 

"Betause Jesus say so!"

(her reply to everything)

Last night we were praying before bed and Rachel's prayers usually consist of praying for every single person she knows by name. So we made it through the whole family, then prayed for her friends in the nursery; Caedmon, Austin, Emma, Caden... and the list goes on... after she finished praying for her friends she and Ethan began praying for Mr. Pippee (a.k.a Mr. Rippee) Ethan's went something like this,

"Please have Mr. Rippee play his guitar louder so I could hear it in Sunday School. Please tell him to play the Saddle up Your Horses song from VBS and tell him its my favorite. Amen."

 So there you go, Ryan. Just when you thought you weren't making an impression on them.

Rachel and I had (another) Mommy and Me date on Saturday. We went to the Dinsey's Princess' on Ice show with my Mom, my sister Trish and her girls Kate and Emma. We had a blast! I was worried that Rachel would last 15-20 minutes and then want to leave, but she proved me wrong. She sat their, the whole time, glued to the show and, she's been talking about it (in lots of detail) ever since. Our camera has officially bit the dust, so I didn't take any pictures. You can go to my sister's website and check them out there, if you're curious.

In other news, the kids are still sick. Jason and I are avoiding getting as sick as they are, but we're both feeling under the weather. For me its partly pregnancy related. This is probably the worst the kids have been in a while, if ever. I hate hearing them cough so much and poor Rachel chokes every time she coughs. They've both been resting great and today they enjoyed the nice, sunny weather. I remembered the time change Friday and Saturday, but then completely forgot about it last night. We stayed home from church, so didn't remember the change until around noon. Thankfully its never been an issue with the kids, so we just set the clocks ahead and moved on... enjoying the late sunset of course.

Hope you all have a great week!

Rachel is 19 months old today! She is losing her baby'ness and turning into such a big girl every day.

Newest developments: putting 3-4 words (that make sense) together

climbing on anything and everything, no matter how high or how small the space.

feeding herself with a fork or spoon

becoming very brave around dogs and cats

recognizing people by their names (outside of family)

understands the difference between darkness and light -- she says "Daaaark" when she walks into dark places and then screams "Wite!" when the light goes on.

As most kids, Rachel can be such a joy and delight and then also be very much of a challenge. I would say she is more stubborn than Ethan and has a harder time sharing things. I think that's mostly because for so long she had everything taken away from her by him, but we're really dealing with her learning how to share these days. Just like her brother, she enjoys being outside very much. The kids are going to go crazy having a backyard to play in this summer.

Other than that, not much has changed since the last month. Jason and I are so thankful that the kids play really well together and genuinely love each other very much. Its really a precious thing to sit and watch them interact with each other on a day-to-day basis.

Ethan wanted to add his own update: "I love Rachel because she's cute and fun and she's my sister. I want Rachel to be 2 years old so we can do more things together. I like Rachel's clothes because they're pink and they don't look like all the boy's clothes and she looks pretty when she gets dressed for church day."

Rachel has learned how to sing her 1st song! She goes around the house singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" all day long. Its very cute. She learned it from a couple places, but mostly from her Leap Frog toy. :-) Every night before bed she sings it very sweetly and makes her voice very soft and high pitched. She's almost memorized all of "Jesus Loves Me" and Steve Green's "You Knit Me Together..." song. 

Anyway, its cute... wanted to gush.

We can't believe our baby is a year and a half old already!! Where has the time gone?! She's doing very well; getting bigger by the day. Her vocabulary has grown enormously in the past month. She has been very clingy lately and extremely aware of strangers. Wants to use the potty. Loves her big girl bed, looking at books, playing with dolls, carrying her blanket all over the house and singing. Little Einsteins is (so far) her favorite movie to watch.

Happy 18 months, Rachel-Kate!  

That was my Grandpa Betti's name... Armando. When Rachel makes this face, we all call her the Little Armando Girl (and some people think she looks just like my Mom as well). This face in general tends to make us all think of Grandpa. Its the lip.

Anyway, we thought it was cute. She was totally trying to balance in the field and not fall down and I think the lip helps. :)