Rachel at 18 Months

Last week Rachel turned one and a half! I can barely believe that she'll be two so soon. Rachel is sweet, silly, stubborn and smart. She has many nicknames, but of late the most common are Roo (especially from her Daddy), Lou, and Rachey Lou. All of us are still pretty smitten with our littlest love, but Philip and I are trying not to spoil her too much! The boys will do most anything for her and she loves to follow them around and hold their attention. Every day she adds a new word to her vocabulary. She babbles to anyone listening, or even herself all day long and "sings" the sweetest little songs. I look forward to watching her continue to grow, learn and change.

New Stats:

weight - 23 pounds 11 ounces

height - 32.5 inches

Favorite Things:

eating (especially yogurt, fruit, cheese and meat)

playing outside

swinging and going down a slide

"reading" or being read to

her lovie

her family

dancing and music

penny and other dogs

rocking chairs

her baby doll (especially pushing her in her cart or stroller)

Playing kitchen or "helping" me cook

climbing

New Skills:
speaking better every day
climbs with ease and without fear
can jump
eats well with a fork and spoon
colors with crayons (and usually holds her crayon correctly)
tells us when she needs a new diaper
pretends (brushes her hair, talks on the phone, feeds her babies etc)

Hunting Season

Hunting season is finally over!

Well, there are some animals that can be hunted year round, but let's not think about that.

Philip and the boys had a lot of fun this year, even though we didn't end up with any venison. With the amount of ducks they shot we will have a freezer full of yummy duck sausage, and Philip also made some delicious Italian hog sausage. I have to admit, hunting season was a bit exhausting for me. Having Philip gone several weekends is hard with four kids, makes me appreciate how helpful he is and gives me some empathy for single parents! This was Levi's first year to have a hunting license, so Philip really tried hard to get him a shot at a pig or deer. It didn't happen this year, but they have high hopes for next season. Even though this season was tough on me, I look forward to years in the future when Philip can take all 3 boys with him and Rachel and I can have a girls weekend.