Wife, Then Mama

Today's post is extra special!  It is a guest post, from someone very important in my life: My mom!  Since my birthday is on Monday I thought it would be nice to tell the story of my first birthday for Throwback Thursday, but since I don't remember it, I thought why not have my mom write it.  That and I am lazy, and any post that gets written by someone else is one less post I should be writing :)  My mom is a great writer, so enjoy! The awareness that a one year old does not necessarily grasp nor even enjoy a birthday party did nothing to dampen my excitement over celebrating my beautiful little girl's special day.  Money was tight, so it wouldn't be some grand event, but an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese's with family and friends was on the schedule; it was to be a special and memorable day.   Special and memorable it was...   The day before her first birthday began with a trip to the doctor for a re-check.  Rachel had an infection re...

I don't know when this picture was taken, I am guessing I was either 2 or 3, so sometime in either 1988, 1989, or 1990.  Probably sometime in October-March based on the clothes we are wearing. Anyways, I don't really have a story to go along with this picture, I was pretty tiny so I don't remember it, and I was never told a story about it. I picked this picture because not only is it adorable, but it is of me and my grandpa.  Last week my grandpa was working outside, got off balance and hit his head on his Gator (like a really expensive combination tractor/power wheels for adults, for those of you non-hicks that don't know John Deere very well LOL).  He then spent a few days in the hospital because of brain bleeding. Thankfully he was able to go home, and as far as I know is doing okay.  He fell again once he got home, but didn't need to be hospitalized.  So when I was scrolling through my pictures and saw this one, I thought it would be a nice thing to...

Don't forget to enter to win a $25 Comfy Joey Baby Carrier Voucher!   In honor of the first day of school (September 3rd in our area) starting next week, I give you these pictures from September 1994.  The first day of Second grade.  This picture was taken at my grandparents house, which my grandma recently sold, so I am happy to have pictures of it.  I am not really sure the look I am sporting is a good one, what with the voluminous hair, the to big shirt (that I insisted on wearing because my 7 year old brain thought it was beautiful), and what appear to be ankle socks.  But hey, I was 7 and we were barely out of the '80s right?  Oh and I totally have that maroon afghan on the back of my couch now, which is pretty awesome. For another Throwback to the 1st day of school, check out My First Day of School

Don't forget to enter the current giveaway for a Cloth Diaper Prize Pack from Betsy's Baby Boutique.    When I was a kid I LOVED to get muddy.  As evidenced by the pictures, my friend and I would literally SIT in mud puddles, and intentionally cover our whole bodies in mud.  I don't know why it was so fun to me, but it was.  Now I wear gloves to keep my hands clean when I garden... Anyways, my mom was a great sport about it, on a regular basis we would come in, absolutely filthy, and she would just laugh, take a picture, and have us go clean up.  Sometimes in the summer she would "make" us hose off before coming in, but in the summer that is fun, not torture.  I am not sure I will ever be as relaxed about it as my mom.   See I love kids, and I am not a neat freak, but I do try to avoid difficult to clean messes.  For instance, no child in my care will ever have a "messy spaghetti face" picture.  Because if I give th...

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a cheerleader.  So one year (I think maybe 4th or 5th grade?) I went to cheerleading camp.  It was just a week long day camp, and I am pretty sure I sucked at it (coordination is not really my thing) but I had fun trying.  Plus I felt super cool.  At the end of the week we got to be in the Crazy Days (now known as Summerfest) Parade.  I am pretty sure that is the only time I have ever been in a parade. By the time I got to high school and there was real cheerleading I was pretty much over it.  Mainly I had had the cheerleading coach as an art teacher in 4th grade and we sort of hated each other.  Add that to the fact that I was a loner, uncoordinated, and self-conscious and I just wouldn't have been a good cheerleader.  Plus none of my friends were cheerleaders, and obviously I wasn't going to be the only one trying out. Sorry this post is so boring.  I was working on it last night and then I got ...

In case I have never mentioned it, I am a fatty.  I mean not on the outside, I keep my fatness on the inside where it counts (and leads to cardiac disease).  Since I was a tiny little child, I have LOVED junk food, as evidenced by me chowing down on the French fry.  I mean I look a little miserable, but I am fairly certain that is because someone is taking my picture as I stuff my face with fattening food.  Plus no one gave me any ketchup. According my my mom and grandma, "French fry" or my baby variation on it (fre-fry), was one of my first words.  Apparently when we would be driving along, and I would see the golden arches, I would start say "Donald's! Fre-fry! Donald's! Fre-fry!" like a crazy person.  I don't remember any of this, but given my penchant for deep fried potatoes, I don't think they were exaggerating. My mom actually fed me fairly well as a child (as well as anyone could in the late 1980's before the internet had taken its...

To take a look at my other Throwback Thursday posts click here . This weeks picture is from my first day of Kindergarten.  That would have been September 1992.  I was SO excited to start school, and quite disappointed that Kindergarten was mostly playing and coloring.  I could already read, and wanted to do classwork. Anyway, on my first day of Kindergarten I rode the bus.  Actually that really surprises me.  Knowing my mom, I would have thought she would take me for the first day.  The bus picked me up directly across the street from my house.  After school I got on my bus and the bus driver told everyone to sit quietly.  I was pretty much the only kid that listened.  As it turned out, my after school bus stop was a couple houses down from where I lived.  I didn't realize that, so I stayed on the bus.  My mom was waiting for me with my little sister, who was about 18 months old at the time.  When I didn't get off she ma...

For other Throwback Thursday pictures  click here . Today's picture might just be the most embarrassing picture I have. This picture is from 4th grade, so it was either 1995 or 1996.  There was a talent show at my school.  And somehow my friends and I thought that the Macarena was a talent.  My mom took us shopping for matching shirts, I don't remember why we all picked different colors...  I remember being a little distraught over who should stand in the middle, Charlene because she had a turtleneck under her shirt, or Heidi because her pants were lighter.  Yeah, even then I was weird and bossy.  I have no idea who decided, or why the decision was made.  Looking at it now, I realize that since my shoes were white, I probably could have stood in the middle too.  Yup.  Still crazy. Don't forget to check out our Organic Skin Care by Sincerely Pure giveaway! (closes June 29th 2013) This post may be linked up at one of these won...

For other Throwback Thursday posts click here ! Today's pictures are of me with Chicken Pox.  I was two when I had them, so these were taken in either 1988 or 1989. I had a TERRIBLE case, from what my mom tells me they were EVERYWHERE.  In my nose, in my mouth, in my ears, on my eyelids, on my scalp and in the "unmentionable" area.  I still have scars on my face, because at two you don't really know not to scratch them.  Who am I kidding, if I got them now I would probably get more scars because my mom wouldn't be around telling me not to scratch them.  Luckily since I got them so young, I have no memory of them.  Hopefully when I have kids I can get them Chicken Pox while they are old enough its not dangerous, but young enough they can't remember it.  I sense a trip to Idaho (where at least a few years about hardly anyone got the Varicella vaccine) around my (hypothetical) children's second birthdays.  Since we go over there about twice a y...

To see my other Throwback Thursdays click here . Baby Sister is adorable, my outfit on the other hand is incredibly embarrassing...  To say nothing of the baby vomit all over my face. This picture is of my little sister Noelle and me.  This was from sometime in 1996. I loved playing with my baby sister.  I am 9 years older than her, so I was able to be more interactive with her as a baby than I had been with my other younger siblings.  So I was holding her up in the air over my head, playing "airplane".  The following conversation (or something quite like it) occurred between my mom and I. Mom: Rachel, she just ate, you probably shouldn't do that. Rachel: No, she burped she will be fine. Mom: It really isn't a good idea. Rachel: But she is having so much fun. *Noelle proceeds to spit up all over Rachel's face* Rachel: AHHHHHHH!  MOM I NEED A TOWEL! *Mom runs and grabs a camera* *click* Mom: I told you not to do that after she ate. One o...

So I guess Throwback Thursday (or #throwbackthursday) is some big thing on Twitter and Instagram.  Now I am not particularly active on Twitter, and I'm not even sure I have an Instagram account, but I am a sucker for Nostalgia!  This is completely different from the "Flashback Fridays" I was doing earlier, where I would re-post my old blog entries.  No, Throwback Thursdays are a wonderful idea, where you post a nostalgic picture (preferably AT LEAST 10 years old!  I mean 2011 isn't really that far back yet).  So every week I will be posting something from the past.  Most of the time it will probably be an old family picture and a short story to go along with it, but sometimes it might be a post about some toy, movie, or television show I loved. To kick it off are some picture of me at the Oregon Zoo (actually back in 1989 when I am pretty sure these pictures were taken, it was called The Washington Park Zoo).  Right now the zoo is running a picture c...