Birthdays and Bridal Showers

Last week was Michael's birthday. We celebrated by meeting his parents for dinner at Taco Mac (his favorite place!).

Rachel loves to be tickled by her daddy - it's one of their favorite things to do...

Michael and his new Iowa jersey.

This Saturday was Constance's bridal shower at the Ritz. We all had a really nice time. Below is one picture of the two of us - my future sister-in-law!


I don't have too much longer now...no more than 4 1/2 weeks and could be less than that depending on other circumstances... I can't believe it's so soon!!

4th of July

Hope you had a nice 4th of July! Rachel spent Saturday over at Grandmama and Granddaddy's but ended up napping through the neighborhood parade... So this is her in the decorated wagon after nap. Very cute wagon!

We went to see the fireworks in Woodstock Saturday night when Michael and Rachel got home. This is Rachel's first experience with fireworks - the first time I've ever considered taking her. Overall, she did great. We sat on the grass by the road in front of Home Depot. Here she is ready for the show.


And this is how she started out watching the fireworks - with her hands and mine covering her ears... It was cute. We didn't have to keep them there for too long though, she got used to it. (Not like it was really all that loud or anything...) She would watch for a while and then get distracted and then watch for a while, etc. But when it was over, she didn't want to leave.


I'm glad we went, it was a good first experience for her!

Gymnastics

Thanks to one of our friends, we have discovered this great little gym for Rachel. They have open play a couple of times a week and Michael and Rachel have gone twice now - she loves it. They even offer a four week, one time a week for 45 minutes preschool gymnastics class that we were able to get Rachel into for the month of July. Her first class was this morning and since it was a holiday, I was able to go with them! Yay! There were five kids in her class - she was one of the youngest. They had to help her with a lot of it, but she loved every minute of it. Below are some pictures from the class today and the last open play they went to.

On the balance beam.

On the bar.

Walking (slowly) across the twisty mat.

Hanging on the rings - she loved to just swing on them.

At the beginning of the class, they all sat on their own circle and did a few things...

Open play - stuck in foam block pit. She loves jumping in this.

Foam block pit from further out.

Fire Station Visit

Rachel is staying home with Michael this summer while he's out of school. She really enjoys hanging out with daddy during this time - they get a lot of father-daughter bonding time. And they are doing more this summer than they've done before (swim lessons, the pool, going to the new gym (another post coming on that soon!), and this week he took her to the fire station close- by. She is fascinated with fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, etc... So this was a fun little trip - for both of them.

Crazy picture - Michael is standing on the bumper of the fire truck and she's sitting in the driver's seat.

Practicing her driving!

Sitting on the front of the fire truck.

The pole that the fireman came down - they wouldn't let her do it though.

One of their 4-wheelers...she looks so small on it!

Rachel and the fire hose.

Standing in the truck.

Father's Day

Sorry for taking so long to post more pictures. Our Father's Day was more of a weekend than a day. Saturday morning we had orange danish rolls (Michael's favorite) and then took Rachel over to his parents so she could stay with them until Sunday (a Father's Day gift for Dawson and Michael! Ha!). Michael and I went out and had an evening to ourselves and then went over to their house Sunday afternoon for dinner and to get Rachel. She always loves going over there. We got a few pictures, but not as many as I had hoped.

Rachel about to give daddy and granddaddy her gifts that she helped wrap.

Rachel and Michael.

Baby Shower

We were lucky enough to have been thrown a baby shower this weekend by wonderful family and friends! The food was great, decorations adorable, and company was delightful! Thanks to everyone that came and helped with it.

This was Rachel's first "shower" of any kind and she really enjoyed herself (after we had to clarify that no water was involved in this type of shower...).

Emily & Constance

Emily, Mom & Rachel

Rachel very happy about the gift she got from Nana!

Cute decorations!

P.S. I'm still trying to figure out the background and header and everything on this blog - so bear with me! Thanks...

Swimming Lessons

Rachel is taking her first swimming lesson this week and next. It's 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week for 2 weeks. She is loving it! One of the neighborhood swim team coaches is her teacher and there are only four kids in her class. She's learning to kick her feet, blow bubbles in the water, use torpedo arms and float on her back (so far). Michael is taking her each day and she tells me about it each night. I can't wait to go to the pool with her this weekend so she can show me what she's learned. Here are a few pictures that Michael was able to get yesterday.