Rachel and Erich - video

Rachel and Erich

Our friends Lynn and Kyle from church have a little boy Erich who is about 4 months younger than Rachel. I babysat Erich one day last week while Lynn was working at her part-time job. It went well, with no crying episodes or fights, and I even got an hour break when they were both napping in the afternoon! Here are some pictures of them playing together:

Engrossed in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while having their morning snack

After their naps, having fun in the spinning chair! :)

Erich is all about giving kisses, and this time, Rachel actually let him give her one!

It's amazing how a little springy doorstop can entertain them for minutes!

Climbing, climbing everywhere!

Our Trip to St. Louis in February

Rachel getting prepared for the cold St. Louis weather

Happy with Papa (aka "Pa!") and Grandma ("Ma!") Helgesen

Rachel says, "Just one second, let me finish this call." Cousin Libby is looking cute as ever, too!

Giving a piano recital to Grandma and neighbor Kathleen.

Getting a horsey ride from Grandpa

Cuddling the teddy bear with Cousin Libby

All the girls, celebrating Kristin's 34th birthday. Libby said, "I have to put ALL these candles on the cake? That's too many!" :-)

Cousin John reading Rachel's new favorite book Go, Dog, Go! to her, sitting on the stairs, of course. She loved going up and down the stairs.

Grandma with her granddaughters

Rachel trying on the shoes Grandma used to wear when she was little!

Rachel and Kristin with the flowers and stuffed animal Jeremy sent me for my birthday

Libby and Rachel at Penn Station. Rachel wasn't sure what to think about her first lollipop.

Dealing with Bell's Palsy

I haven't updated this page since January, so some of you may not know that Rachel woke up with Bell's Palsy on Feb 8th. The right side of her face was swollen and seemed paralyzed. It was quite an ordeal since I had never heard of it before and didn't know what was going on, and also because her doctor told me that Bell's Palsy occurring in toddlers was very rare. She sent us to Loma Linda University Hospital to see a pediatric neurologist in order to rule out any other diagnosis, like meningitis. She said that Rachel would most likely need to have an MRI and stay overnight. However, once we got there and saw the doctor, we were told that it was definitely Bell's Palsy, Rachel would not have to have an MRI, or stay overnight. She was given prescriptions for Prednisone and Acyclovir, and I had to give her eyedrops during the day and put ointment in her affected eye at night. That lasted for a week and Rachel was totally wacked out and off schedule from the medication. But it seemed to work. She is slowly improving, and per her doctor, should completely recover within the next 3 weeks or so.

I'm so thankful that it wasn't anything worse, and that Rachel is so young and strong that she is making a quick recovery. She doesn't seem to be aware that anything was wrong, although she hated going to through all of the poking and prodding at the doctors' offices. We have one more follow-up appointment in about 2 weeks, and hopefully, we'll be done with all of this! It's been hard for me, especially in the beginning, giving Rachel the medication, but Jeremy's mom Judy drove from Arizona to help me out, which was wonderful. The week after that, Rachel and I made the trip to St. Louis to visit my family, which was also great! Now that we are back home and settling back into our regular routine, we are just anxiously awaiting Jeremy's return from deployment, as I'm sure he is, too!

Thank you all for your help and prayers during this time. We are so blessed to have family and friends that love us so much. :)