Sleeping

I ended up leaving and going shopping for some new Christmas items for work.  When I came back this is what I found.  Rachel had decided she wanted to watch Tangle in her new recliner that the Peterson Family bought for her Christmas present.  Its a really cool recline and Rachel totally loves it.  Anyways everyone was tired so I wasn't surprised to find this when I got home.

 Grandma and Grandpa Hobbs with Rachel.  ALL ASLEEP.  he he he

I think she feels comfortable in her "NEW" rocker.

Opening Presents

So when Scott got home on Monday we woke up Rachel and started to open presents.  She ended up getting a bookcase and a portable stereo for an ipod from Santa.

 M&M Candy Cane from her stocking and her first present she opened.

 Showing her the portable stereo with her bookcase in the background.  I think all her books should fit on a two shelf bookcase.  At least for awhile.

 Pushing buttons on the stereo.

We ended up getting about 1/2 way through Rachel's presents and she decided she didn't want to open any more presents.  She said to us "I'm hungry when is breakfast?"  We started to laugh.  So we stopped and had breakfast and then went back to opening presents.

The new duck bath towel that she got.

 A realfur pet.  This panda bear is really cute and was the favorite toy from Christmas.  Rachel didn't hardly put it down for two days.  She has to have it when she goes to bed and if she wakes up in the middle of the night the first thing that she does is ask where the bottle is because its so small and gets lost easily.  (Note: A week later we have tied the bottle with a string to the panda bear and we haven't lost it since.)

These last pictures are all the Christmas presents that Rachel got.

 Books, Books, and more Books.

 New Clothes

The haul.

Well we didn't get any pictures of what Scott and I got.  Scott ended up with three new pairs of dress pants, two dress shirts and ties, new pajama pants and his new recliner.  I ended up getting a set of open heart diamond earrings(which was a total surprise that I wasn't expecting), a shelf stereo, a bed spread and two hoodies - BSU and Duke.

We did get the following family picture of us though for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas Eve 2012

Scott had to work this Christmas Eve and Christmas so we chose to have Christmas on Monday instead of Sunday.  Since Scott was singing in the Choir at church we wanted to let Rachel wear her new Christmas dress.

 

 Opening her 2nd present before Christmas.

Oh look its a dress.  So pretty.  She really liked it.

Doesn't she look so cute???

 Cheesing for the camera.

 Full picture of the dress.

We went to church and attempted to listen to Scott sing but Rachel really wasn't in the mood to make it through sacrament meeting so we spent time in the hallway.  After church we headed home and Scott slept.  My parents and I made dinner and we had Christmas dinner before Scott left for work.  We hurried to have Rachel open up her PJ's before Scott left for work.    

 Somewhat opening the presents.  This year she was really into ripping the wrapping paper and getting every little piece off the box before actually opening the box.  

 2 new pairs of PJ's.  She picked the one with the penguin on it to sleep in tonight.

 Not quite sure what she is doing here but decided to add it anyways.

Check out my cool new pajamas.  I just love how I happened to get her posing for the pictures.  Most of the time I miss these moments because my camera's not fast enough to get it.  Love love love this picture of her.

No Nap = Sleeping in Chair

So I came home from work yesterday and Rachel hadn't had a nap.  Scott said she wouldn't go down for a nap.  Well she was doing things she wasn't supposed to so I ended up sending her up to her room to time out.  She was so mad and screaming that I just let her do that in her room.  When she got calmed down and had her two minutes I headed upstairs to check on her.  I went back downstairs and told Scott that she was napping now.  This was the first time I had seen her sleep in a chair like this.

We let her sleep like that for about 30 minutes since it was 5:00 and we didn't want her to sleep to long so that she would be able to sleep tonight.

Schaffer Christmas Card 2011

This year has been so busy for our family.  In February we had a house full for Rachel’s 2^nd birthday party.  It was so fun to see all our family here to celebrate.  May brought Scott and my 7^th anniversary so off to McCall we took Rachel to our timeshares.  That was definitely new to Rachel.  We got to go on a scavenger hunt, swim in the pool (which she totally loved), and watch the snow fall from our balcony.  On June 16^th we finalized the adoption of Rachel.   It was definitely an experience that we learned lots from.   She wasn’t afraid of the courtroom and actually took to the judge.  We tried to keep her seated in a chair but she was running all over the place including up on the stand by the judge.  The judge said some really awesome things to us and commended Rachel’s foster parent which was so nice for us to hear.  We love them so much and are truly grateful to be able to call them family.  After that we were off to Scott’s friend reunion at Lake Walcott.  This would be the first overnight camping trip that Rachel would go on in her short little life.  It was so much fun to watch her explore.  She loves the outdoors so camping is right up her alley.  She really loved getting wet and dirty during this trip.  On July 9^th we were able to go to the Boise Idaho temple and be sealed together as a family.  We were so excited and could hardly wait to get it done.  Rachel was an angel the whole time.  She loved to be in her pretty white dress and talks about it to this day that she got to go into the temple and have animal crackers.

July was a whirlwind for us.  Scott and I went to Girls Camp, my father had kidney surgery in SLC and then we had Scott’s brother’s wedding.  August didn’t slow us down either because we went to the Schaffer family reunion, Bear Lake to our timeshares, and my grandma Hobbs’ 90^th birthday party.  Finally in September we slowed down and got back into a routine of school and work.

Scott had decided he was ready to go back to school and applied to ISU’s Nurse Practitioner program.  When his letter came back it said he was 13^th on the waiting list.  We were pretty bummed out about that.  Scott’s still working in the ER at St. Al’s Nampa and took a Supervisor position this year.  His Manager talked to him about going to MBA School to become a manager.  So thinking he would never get into ISU he started to look elsewhere to get his MBA.  On July 26^th Scott got a call from ISU telling him that they had a full time seat available in the nurse practitioner program if he wanted it.  After much deliberation (because he was now headed towards MBA school) Scott made the decision to take the seat at ISU and become a Nurse Practitioner.  So Scott is back in school, working full time for St. Al’s Nampa, and doing clinical.  Needless to say he is very busy and we don’t see him very much.  Scott is also the Ward Music Chairman which works out great for him with his busy schedule.

I have been extremely busy this year also.  I was called as the Stake Volleyball Specialist, which I loved, and our ward Girls Camp Director.  Girls Camp was a challenge but it turned out awesome.  I was really happy when I finished up this calling though.  It was a lot of work all by myself.  I worked full time for ISU – Meridian College of Pharmacy as an Administrative Assistant.  It’s been a really busy year having all four levels in Meridian for the first time. I have finally taken the plunge and put in my notice to become a stay at home mom.  I’m extremely excited but nervous at the same time.  I figured it up and I have worked for ISU for 15 years so being a stay at home mom is sure going to be a change.

Rachel is excelling at everything she does.  She has changed our lives forever.  She has such a sweet spirit and is a blessed addition to our family.  She is loved by everyone who meets her.  She will have you wrapped around her little finger in no time.  She has graduated from all therapies she was in during the year.  She has exceled beyond ours or the therapist’s imaginations.  She has a memory like no one else I know at age 2 1/2.  She has memorized words to lots of songs and she knows all the words to 3 Book of Mormon stories.  She can pick out the alphabet, can count to 15 when she wants to and loves singing and dancing.  She loves water and will play in it all day if we would let her.  She loves to be outside and can’t get enough of it.  She loves to watch Elmo and Finding Nemo.  It has truly been amazing to watch her flourish and grow.  We love being her parents.

As you can see lots of things are happening in Boise but we wanted to take a few minutes to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Make this next year, 2012, one to remember.

Rachel Graduated

Well Dec 14th was a joyous day for us.  Rachel has graduated from all of the services she has been receiving.  My friend Kristin is really sad that she isn't going to be able to still come and see Rachel as her speech therapist but she definitely will still get to see her since I'm going to still do billing for Kristin when I'm finished with ISU.  Rachel did so awesome today with her speech assessment.  She has actually gone from being behind by a few months to being a whole year ahead of her age.  We are very pleased with the success we have had with Rachel and all her therapists.  Thanks to all Rachel's therapists who helped us during this transition.

Bed Conversion

Okay so on Sunday December 11th I took Rachel to her bedroom to get ready for bed.  After we rocked she got off my lap and said I climb into bed.  I was interested to see how she would do this.  We had dropped the side of the crib down a couple of weeks earlier because we knew she was climbing out of bed and we didn't want it to be such a big drop.  I had no idea that she was actually climbing into bed because I had never seen it.  So as I watched how she climbed into bed I thought she is going to sprain an ankle because she would wrap it around the bar and then get it out before she flopped her body over the railing.  (I really wished I had gotten a video of this because it was so cute.)  Well on Monday I went to work and it was her nap time and Scott put her down.  He heard a commotion in her room and went to investigate when she started crying like she was hurt.  When he got in her room she was holding her ankle and crying that it hurt.  So he said that's it and he converted her bed into a big girl bed. 

This is her Big Girl Bed.

 She was so excited to tell everyone she has a big girl bed.

As I looked to see how the bed was converted I told Scott, "She's going to roll right off that bed."  She's a wild sleeper.  I thought it would be a good idea to put a little bean bag next to her bed to catch her.  Well it would have been a better idea to actually tuck it under the bed instead of just setting it next to the bed.  At 12:30 Monday(12th) night we heard her cry and then it turned into the screaming hysterically.  Scott beat me into the room and she had rolled right off the bed onto the edge of the bean bag that moved and then she rolled right under the bed.  She was pretty freaked out being under the bed.  Scott was trying to help her out from under the bed when she went to sit up and of course bonked her head on the bottom of the bed.  We got her comforted and back into bed.  Two more times during the night we actually went back in and put her back into the center of the bed.  So we decided to try something different. :-)

That's right.  We had a rail given to us by a friend and we are using it.  She can still climb in and out of bed so she's happy and we are happy that it's a little bit harder for her to fall out of bed.  No more falling off the bed and then being rolled under her bed. 

Ward Christmas Party

So we had our ward party on Saturday and they had a Santa there so we went long enough to see Santa.  We ended up actually being one of the first ones to get in line so that was awesome.  I didn't have to try and entertain Rachel through waiting.  Here's the two pictures we got.  When you ask her about Santa she will tell you, "Santa gave me candy." 

Foster Kids Christmas Party

We were invited to this Christmas party and wasn't going to go since we aren't officially with Health & Welfare any longer but our Foster Care License Specialist called and told us yes it was for all foster families even if we don't have foster kids with us, so we thought this would be a great time for Rachel to get to see Santa Clause.  So on December 6th after Scott finished up his assessment final, we headed to the courtyard Marriott Hotel to hang out, eat dinner, see Santa and make crafts.  We started with seeing Santa first because the line always gets so long and Rachel's not the most patient person when it comes to standing in line.  So the next two pictures are Scott teaching Rachel how to play games on his new Droid phone to pass the time of standing in line. 

 Yeah he taught her how to play Angry Birds.

 I can't believe it but yes she actually can play this game and really likes it.

Sitting on Santa's lap and yes she's not at all afraid of him.

 She's not telling him anything that she wants for Christmas.  She's just enjoying sitting on his lap.

 Say Cheese for the camera.  I think this is a really cute picture.

 We found ourselves somewhere to sit and waited for the food.  This little rattle is from a group of four musical instruments that Rachel picked out for her present from Santa.  

Still waiting.  Once they got to our table she was pretty excited for the food.  They had french fries, chicken nuggets, fettuccine pasta, veggies, fruit, ice cream, milk, and several kinds of pie.  All kid friendly items.

They had crafts we could have done but it was close to her bed time so you know what that meant, yep she was getting grumpy and so we left before doing the crafts.  It is always really fun to go to along with we get to see all the great people we have meet from Health and Welfare who have been great through our whole adoption journey.

Family Gingerbread House

So every year I like to go to my friend Bonnie's house to do our gingerbread house.  Well we decided that for family home evening we would do a gingerbread house.  It wasn't that expensive to buy it from Wal-mart so I thought cool.  I knew I wanted to make sure that the frosting was the recipe that Bonnie always uses.  So for the first time I made the frosting and of course it didn't turn out.  I was really actually bummed.  I called Bonnie to find out what I did wrong.  We couldn't figure it out.  So needless to say we actually hot glued our gingerbread house together ad then just used the frosting for the decorating.  It turned out okay.  It was definitely interesting with a 2 year old and 2 OCD parents.  We finally had to move her way so we could get it glued together and then we let her do the candy decorating.

 One M&M on the roof and one for me in my mouth.

 Adding candy to the roof.

 We had a little bit of a mess going.

 Finished product.  This is the front.

One side of the house.

 Backside of the gingerbread house.

Other side of the house.

Rachel kind of got bored doing this so she only helped wit the roof and then went to play.  So Scott and I finished it up.  Didn't turn out to bad but was definitely not my favorite on that we have made.

Reading Scriptures

Rachel truly amazes us all the time.  She only has to listen to something a few times and then she can say it herself.  One of her favorite stories in the scriptures is about Lehi's dream.  Scott's mom got this video of her actually saying two of her stories and a little bit of the third.  By the third story she was distracted.  She is truly amazing with the memory that she has.  Enjoy.

Part 2 - Felt Good On my Lips

So here is the 2nd video that Scott's mom got of Rachel singing this song.  She does a little bit better just singing because she isn't running around all over the place.

Favorite Song "Felt Good on My Lips"

So Rachel is becoming quite the singer.  She loves to sing all the time.  I heard her singing Tim McGraw's song Felt God on My Lips in the car.  Well I had it on my iPod and of course she was so excited to hear it.  Now she listens to it first thing every time we rock a bye (naps & night time).  We have been trying to get a video of her singing it because it's so cute.  She doesn't like to sit still while singing though.  Here is the best video we have so far.  Scott's mom has one also and if I can get it I will up load it also.  ***Warning you might get dizzy watching her on the last minute of this video.***

Chocolate Frosting Graham Crackers

So the other day I found frosting in the fridge and we decided we needed to get rid of it.  So I asked Rachel if she wanted a cookie.  Of course who doesn't like dessert.  So I gave her a chocolate frosting graham cracker.  She eat the middle first and this is what she looked like after she did.

Chocolate Face.

 Yes I have it all over my face and hands.

You can see the graham cracker on the table and can tell she licked the frosting but also played with it in order to get it all over.  I was shocked because I've only seen her look like this except for when she eats spaghetti.

No More Work For Me

So on December 1st I put in my notice at ISU.  We have figured it out so that I could be a stay at home mom.  I'm very excited but I'm also nervous for many reasons:
1.  The numbers don't add up that I can stay home
2.  I have worked for the last 20 years and have liked it for the most part.  I'm a creature of habit.
3.  What am I going to do everyday with a 2 year old?

Even though I have these little bits of nervousness we know that this is what's best for our family.  We are actually going to start working on our home study again so that we can start looking for our next child.  Rachel is telling everyone it's going to be a baby brother.  Hopefully she's right.  :-)