Rachel's Dedication

Rachel was dedicated at Church on Sunday, June 6, 2010. It was such a special time for our family and we were excited that both sets of our parents were able to make it to support us and Rachel. The video is quite long, but I wanted to be able to share all of the parts of the dedication with family and friends that live far away and were unable to be there in person. The first part was a scripture reading that the whole church participated in. Then Ms. Robin, the preschool director, called each family up individually and Pastor prayed for each child. The final part was when all the families came to the front of the church and we were given a "charge" of what our role as parents and families are to our kids. The church was given a charge to support the families too. Thanks to Lindsey for taking video for us, and Amanda for taking pictures. (I will put the pictures up tomorrow)

"Mama"

Rachel has been making lots of sounds for a while now. She finally said "Mama" on Sunday at dinner. I know she doesn't have the meaning behind it, but I'll still take it!

(She gave a little something extra at 59 seconds... listen closely!)

The Cutest!

A local radio station has a cutest baby contest each week. Of course we submitted photos of Rachel! Needless to say, she won this week! I don't know why she didn't win the first week... oh well, they are forgiven since they finally came to their senses.

Here is the link if you'd like to see!

http://q99fm.com/Article.asp?id=1737732&spid

The winning photo:

Birthday weekend

My parents were able to come for a visit the weekend of my birthday. We had a great time just spending time together!

Rachel wasn't overly excited about sitting in the grass. She was ok with it, just not overjoyed!

My dad-my hero! While sitting on the porch, we saw a caterpillar inching its way across the step. What a perfect opportunity to get free caterpillars for my kids at school. (A lot better than having to pay for them and wait for them to come in the mail!) So I got a container and dad collected 7 for me. So far 6 of them have turned themselves into cocoons and we are waiting for butterflies. We won't talk about the 7th...

Rachel loves swinging in the hammock!

She loves her swing in the front yard too!

Mother's Day!

A little late, but here are some pictures from my first official Mother's Day. I had a great day celebrating with my precious little girl! We went to church here in Roanoke, then headed to North Carolina to visit Dustin's side of the family for the day. Rachel did very well with being on the go the whole day!

Rachel giving Mommy her cards.

Rachel was a little more excited about the tissue paper than the Topsy Turvy she and Daddy gave me.

She liked helping me open my cards... she even ate the corner of one!

Hanging out with Uncle Tommy after dinner

Dustin's cousin, Christy, and her 3 boys came over to visit. She loved their Nintendo's! Flashing lights and noises... what could be better?

The BEST!

I always knew that Dustin was the best, now I have proof! Our part of town (southwest Roanoke) has a local paper called the Swo-co. Every year, they have a "Best of" portion. The people of Southwest County vote on what they think is the best part of Roanoke. Some of the categories include best place to go for a hike, best place to eat out, best church outreach program, and best teacher. You'll never guess who got first place for that one! Yep, MY husband! So proud of him! It especially means a lot that he won this because it was voted on by the community.



Another bit of exciting news is that Dustin will be changing jobs for the upcoming school year. The current head band director has decided to make a career change so Dustin will be stepping up and taking over. They will not be hiring anyone to take his spot, so now he will be by himself. A little more work, but I know he will do a great job!

A can of laughs...

Dustin and I were doing some chores around the kitchen today and Rachel got a little excited about the new bag in the trash can...