The Patel Pages: August 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Sippin' smoothies!

The girls love smoothies and we have them weekly if not daily in our household. I have gotten into making green smoothies (basically a regular smoothie with some greens - I usually use baby spinach) and they are so good for you and taste yummy too! Whatever you do, don't try to take Anna's smoothie cup away - she'll fight you for it and curl her bottom lip out and pitch a fit. As you can see with the girls still in their pjs - they are enjoying this smoothie for breakfast - yum!

Anna's cradle

I think I've mentioned that Anna loves baby dolls before. Well, she also loves this little wooden cradle that the babies sleep in. She loves to climb up in it with the babies and push it around the room and use it to climb onto furniture - the possibilities are endless. Here she is in her cradle now loving on a baby doll.

Our new home - in progress.

Here is a picture of our new home! It is a spec home so it was already started when we found it and even though we didn't get to choose all of the options we are excited that it is new. Our close date is set for September 25th - just a month away! Our house is still on the market, please pray that it will sell soon - it is hard to keep it spotless and clean with two active little girls. I'll post some more pictures later.

Enjoying the Beach

The girls and I went to the beach with my parents at the end of July and I thought I would post a few pictures from the time there. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of me with the girls and the ones I have with my parents and the girls didn't turn out that great.

Milk and Cookies

I love this picture of Rachel and Ryann enjoying some yummy cookies and milk. They both wanted cups with a mouth wide enough to dunk thier cookies in. Too cute!

In a predicament - flashback

For some reason, our dining room table is enticing (and ensnaring)to little ones. Rachel still loves to get under the table even now. I thought it would be fun to show you a recent picture of Anna caught on one of our chairs and then one of Rachel 2 years ago in a very similar position!

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Our big girl!

How could I forget one of the biggest events of the summer? Our Rachel spent 3 nights away from us with Papaw and Grandma! She hasn't done this since she was 6 months old and that doesn't really count because she has no memory of that time. Somehow we started talking about her going to spend some time with my mom and dad and she got really excited - not that I was that surprised...she has always adjusted well in most cirmcumstances and then it finally happend.

I met my mom in Mt. Airy (about 1/2 way between us) after she got off work and the weekend began. As you can see, she was so excited! She went to a cookout, to see fireworks and stayed up late every night! Hopefully, we'll plan another trip soon and send Anna along - although I'm sure my sweet little momma's girl, Anna won't be quite so eager! But, I'm sure Mom and Dad need a little time to recooperate - are you ready for round #2?

Anna and Jes

Here is my Dad with Anna and my nephew, Jes. Jes was born at the end of January so is just over 5 months younger than Anna. We have a picture just like this of Rachel and Faith when they were younger. (June 2008)

The Zoo

We broke down and bought a zoo pass again this summer. We had a memebership a few years ago and made several trips over to Asheboro (1 hour and 15 mintues from our door) to see all of the fun, exotic animals that we don't normally see in our backyard. I decided to take the pluge and get a pass again now that Anna is a little older (she still isn't a great traveler...I'm praying that will change soon!)and can enjoy it a little more. This trip we took with Mullin family - this is Rachel and Annabelle in the picture below. (June 2008)

Working in Papaw's garden

I love fresh veggies in the summer - especially tomatoes! When we visited my parents in June Rachel spent some time helping my dad out in the garden. If only we lived a little closer to enjoy these veggies every day! All I've managed so far are a few tomato plants and some herbs but I have hopes that one day I'll be able to plant my own "real" garden. (June 2008)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Celebrating Anna!

Today we finally got to celebrate Anna's 1st Birthday! Due to all that is going on in our lives right now, it was very simple and just our little family of four but we still wanted to celebrate her life with cake and presents! Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Anna's first taste of cake!

After eating a few bites, she couldn't figure out what to do with the

extra cake her hands - so she started throwing it...logical solution for a one year old!

Presents!

She had just as much fun playing with the wrapping paper!

Excited about her fun pull-along toy from the Erbs!

She was most excited about her new baby doll from Papaw and Grandma!
If you can see in this picture she is trying to pull it out while Vimal is still getting it out of the packaging. Unfortunately, I don't have any other pictures with her baby (I'll post more later) because I was videoing - she kept saying "baby" over and over - it was so cute! We got her a little Radio Flyer ride on - she is still not quite sure to do with it but hopefully soon!