Rachel and the Hedricks: Part 2

On Tuesday Rachel and I just hung out with the Hedricks all day. I walked Willem to school in the morning because Tim and Janice had to meet with someone. Rachel had woken up while I was gone but she was quite content hanging out wit Tim and Janice. (And I don't have any pictures of Tim or Janice with Rachel but they do so I will get them eventually.)

Have I mentioned already how much Rachel LOVED Willem and Tessa?!?!? She just watched them and cried when they left her line of sight. It was very cute. Actually, since we've been home she's been quite fussy and I wonder if it's because she's been missing Waterloo. It could also be teething, which is probably more likely but still...

Tessa was so good about watching Rachel on her bed while I showered or tried to get things done quickly. And Willem was so intriguing that she just wanted to look at him. (That's why she's arching her back in the one picture above!)

Anyways, it was too short a trip and I can't wait until Sam and Dave can hang out with all of us as well. If they had been along on this Ontario trip it would have been closer to perfect. As it was I had an awesome time, Rachel seemed to have an awesome time and it was so so so good to visit with everyone. And a special shout out to the Hedricks, who once again, provided me with a home away from home. Soon, soon, soon we'll be moving back to KW and I. Can't. WAIT!!!

Rachel, Jeremiah and Will (and Nathan too!)

Our Monday in KW was spent meeting new babies, some who were newer than others! First of all we got the chance to visit with Karen, Andrew, Caleb and their new addition, Nathan! Nathan was born on Saturday so he was very little when we saw him. Caleb reminded me a lot of Sam and I can't wait for the two of them to be able to play together.

Karen and Andrew are in the middle of renovations, plus with having a new baby, so I didn't stay for very long. As with most people I saw this visit, I am looking forward to good conversations when we move back. I'm also excited because Karen and Andrew are some of our only friends who have kids who are our kids' ages. Yay!

Then it was off to Jon and Kristen's new house to meet up with Kristen and Jeremiah and Jen and Will, who had driven down from Newmarket for the day. Thanks again for doing that Jen. And Kristen made an awesome squash soup for lunch -- it rocked!

I was so excited to meet Will and Jeremiah and I think Rachel had a good time with them! I missed taking the picture where Rachel and Will were holding hands and Rachel tried to suck Will's thumb! It was super-cute :)

It was fun to dream about a few months from now when our family will be closer and can get together with these two families a little more often. And Kristen and Jen -- we will have to make that playgroup happen! See you again in a few months. Yay!

Visit to New Hamburg

Sunday afternoon Rachel and I went out to New Hamburg to visit with Dave's family. We went for a walk since it was such a lovely afternoon. It was a nice day and Rachel enjoyed hanging out.

Rachel, Grandma and cousin Lily in a New Hamburg park.

I love how Rachel looks like she's about to fly away here! I wanted to get a picture of just Rachel and Dave's parents because we didn't get any in the summer.

Rachel fell asleep over Dave's dad's arm while we were walking. In the evening we went to Lily's hockey game -- Rachel's first live hockey experience. Lily is #9, with her back to the camera. We will be going to more of Lily's hockey games when we move back to Waterloo, I'm sure.

Rachel at Waterloo North

On Saturday night we went to Waterloo North for the International potluck and the beginning of the 25th Anniversary celebrations. This was the main impetus for Rachel and I going to Waterloo for this particular time. It was sooooo good to be at Waterloo North again and be able to introduce Rachel to people.

Rachel meeting Vanessa. I taught Vanessa Sunday School when Vanessa was four. She was my first class of four-year-olds and she just graduated Grade 12. I also got to be Vanessa's youth mentor and she is such an awesome person. I am so excited to see what her future holds.

The one thing that struck me was that all the kids who were holding Rachel were kids I babysat or taught Sunday School to or had other roles in their lives and now they are excited to have a role in Rachel's life. It's so neat how things come full circle.

I nanny-ed Elizabeth the year that she was 18 months until she was 2 1/2. Then I joined Christian Peacemaker Teams and would get to spend a couple of days with her when I was home on leave. Elizabeth is in Grade 9 this year and she is so beautiful. I can't believe how grown up she is. And when we get back to Waterloo she can babysit for Sam and Rachel. (And then they can babysit for her kids and so on and so forth!)

Kara was one of my Kids of LOGOS kids in the first Waterloo North test of LOGOS. I was with a bunch of kids whose parents were involved in LOGOS but they were too young for the test run. So I taught them LOGOS. We did worship skills, where I would teach them a hymn we were singing in the service on Sunday. I didn't have them for dinner but after dinner we'd have Bible Time where I would try to teach the scripture we were reading on Sunday to the kids and then we'd do a craft based on the scripture. Then we'd have Rec and Play where we'd play games. Their favourite game was one I made up called "Slow Slugs." The purpose was to get the kids' energy down and they had soooo much fun with it. Anyway, Kara holds all babies at Waterloo North so I now feel like Rachel is a true Waterloo North baby because Kara has held her!

Shirley is a part of our care group at Waterloo North and I ate supper with her and her family. It was so good to connect with them again. If we ever have a surprise third baby Shirley is so totally going to be our midwife!

I was sad not to be able to have a really long visit with everyone this time around but I was glad that people could at least meet Rachel and I could somewhat connect with them! I really can't wait until we move back to Waterloo and can attend Waterloo North on a more regular basis.

I didn't take a lot of pictures on Saturday night so I asked Zoe to hold Rachel on Sunday morning so I could get a picture of the two of them together. It's so crazy to me that I remember when Zoe was born and played with her as a little girl and now she is so grown up. And I love that she is so much her own person.

The service on Sunday was so great! I miss the singing and it was so nice to see more people. I even took Rachel up for children's time and Tessa held her for a bit. After the service we went out and buried congregational covenant commitments. Tim and Janice were singing in the choir so Willem came out with me and I needed to tie my shoe so Lisa held Rachel while I tied my shoe and then just kept her. And to me that is what Waterloo North is all about. I had someone's kid, but not my own, and someone had Rachel and it was beautiful.

Rachel With Cousins

Saturday afternoon I went to Auntie Lorna's house and also got to see Lisa, Neal, Olivia, Theo and Tanya. A shout out to the cousins who came to KW -- thanks guys!

Sadly, Suki was very sick so I felt bad coming into the stress with Rachel and wanting to have a visit but it worked out okay and, thankfully, Suki seems to be doing much better now. One thing that hit me again is how stressful it is to have a pet and reaffirms that I really don't want to add that to my life. I'm just not there.

Also adding busy-ness to life is having kids and it was so much fun to have Rachel meet Olivia and Theo. Olivia, with her head of curls and expansive vocabulary is a sweetheart and Theo (mini-Lisa) is super cute and energetic. Olivia wanted to hold Rachel and was so sweet to her.

And Theo and Rachel got to hang out a little bit too!

I cannot wait to add Sam and Dave to the mix and enjoy many many many more times of hanging out, watching our kids play and drinking Guiness. (That's for you Neal!)

Rachel and the Hedricks: Part 1

Thursday night for supper Janice and I went to a new Middle Eastern place, Arabesque. The food was AWESOME and the atmosphere and smells (!) completely reminded me of Hebron and surrounding areas. I cannot wait to go back with Dave (and the kids too!) when we move back. Yum yum yum!!!

Friday was a bit of a slower day in Waterloo. I walked to school with Janice and the kids. I carried Rachel in the wrap frontwards and I think she was a little confused. Then Dave found out he didn't get the job he interviewed for last week which was really disappointing for both of us. And it was hard to be supportive from far away.

Janice and I spent the morning getting ready for Janice to host mom's group and just catching up a bit. It was nice to catch up with people at Janice's mom's group. Since I know some of them through church and others through Janice, I've been able to attend a couple of the gatherings and I feel like I know the majority of the group so it's always nice to see them again. And quite a few people got to hold Rachel which was great.

I really enjoyed watching Willem and Tessa with Rachel. They really liked talking to her and playing with her and Rachel LOVED watching them. She would fuss whenever they had to go do something else -- you know, eat, do homework, the unimportant stuff :)

On Saturday I got to have a bit of a lazy morning with the Hedricks which was nice since the rest of the day was quite busy. Rachel got to hang out in the highchair and I got to meet Crab, Crabby, Crabbier and Crabbiest -- Willem's hermit crabs. The highlight (lowlight?) of the crab experience was when one of them got ambitious and attempted to escape the Tupperware container, and almost succeeded too. Yerghks :()

Rachel's First Flight

Last Thursday Miss Rachel and I flew to Ontario, Kitchener-Waterloo to be exact. We went to spend almost five days with friends and to celebrate Waterloo North's 25th anniversary. And I am SOOOOOO glad that we were able to go.

To get to KW we had to fly so Rachel got to experience her first flight. She even got a sticker proclaiming it was so.

Thankfully we also got a separate seat so she was able to experience her first airplane ride in her car seat instead of on my lap. It was much easier for me and Rachel surprised me by being very calm about it.

She actually fell asleep as we were taking off! So it was a very peaceful flight and she didn't seem to even notice things were different.

I was slow to get off the plane what with the car seat, diaper bag and my own carry on so the pilot was already helping to clean up the plane. I asked if I could get a picture of him and Rachel together since he was her first pilot EVER and he said, "I even have a great place to take the picture."

He was right! And I love love love WestJet even more because the pilot himself picked up Rachel's car seat and carried her right in here.

We were right on time getting to Calgary so I had a great lunch of Sbarro. Rachel just hung out in her car seat and watched me eat. I think she was a little confused at this point :)

Then I found seats at the gate where I could put her on the floor and give her some kicking time. There was a huge artificial plant above her head so she was quite happy to look at the leaves and just roll around.

The second flight was just as beautiful as the first. Rachel and I had a whole row to ourselves and Rachel was quite entertained between her toys in her car seat and just hanging out.

I think the white noise of the plane put her to sleep because she seemed perfectly able to fall asleep quite a number of times. This meant that I got to read and just enjoy some peace and quiet.

But as lovely, and surprisingly relaxing, as the flight was it was even better to land in Kitchener (okay, okay, Breslau!) and see Janice waiting for us!

And here are Rachel and Sam in cockpits. Sam's picture was taken on one of his first flights at around 4 months old.

The Reason I'm Not Posting Today Is...

...because I am spending lots of time...

...with this munchkin...

...who I really really...

...REALLY missed while I was...

...visiting friends in KW with Rachel.

Starting tomorrow: Lots and lots (and still more) pictures of Rachel's first visit to Ontario. You don't want to miss it :)

Self-Portraits

I'm packing today and getting ready to go to KW tomorrow with Miss Rachel. Enjoy these pics I took of me and Sam the other day when Rachel was napping. Sadly I have to leave this guy (and Dave) behind for the six days and five nights I'm gone. I'm gonna miss them :( And of course, there won't be any pictures like this happening. I'm such an awesome self-photographer! Ha!