Happy Birthday Rachael!

Rachael turned one year old on September 20...so we celebrated with a big 'ol party last weekend. Rachael handled the full house pretty well, and even took two long naps. My brother and sister-in-law came into town for the party, which was awesome--Rachael loves them and we were so happy to have them home!

Thanks to everyone who came over on Saturday to celebrate with us! Special thanks to our friend Kim, who made the cool banner shown above. :-) Here are a few pics from the party:

Mom, dad, and the birthday girl

Aunt Jen and Rach

The cupcake tower

Birthday girl on the move!

Opening presents with mom

Wearing her birthday cupcake! This was a sight to be seen--just glad we did it outside!

Shameless Photo Post

It's gotten chilly this week, so we had to start pulling out the fall attire. It doesn't seem right to already be wearing coats in the morning, but we definitely need them! What's neat, actually, is that the coat Kim and Mike bought Rachael for Christmas last year fits her perfectly right now, and it's a fall/early winter coat! Couldn't ask for better timing!

Anyway, while my brother was in town last week, he picked up a few Halloween things for Rachael to wear--including a SUPER cool monkey Halloween costume! He made me promise to post photos of her wearing her new duds; afater all, few things are cuter than babies in boot cut pants. Ha ha... Rachael says thanks for the festive outfit, Uncle Jim, and I promise to tolerate my monkey suit! ;-)

"OK, now you can get me out of this."

"Am I supposed to be able to see in this thing??"

Getting Ready for the Big Day

Rachael is almost a whole year old! Her Uncle Jim and Aunt Jen sent her this nifty crown to wear on the big day, so we've been practicing with it...she actually will keep it on for minutes at a time now before ripping it off her head. I thought it best to try and capture a few shots of her wearing it, since she might decide on the day of her party that birthday crown is NOT going to happen. ;-)