Spring Break

Well, we've had a very busy but relaxing (is that possible!?) spring break. It started out with a fun trip to Tulsa. Actually, the trip itself was horrifying being as how Regan threw up on the Kilpatrick turnpike and I ended up holding her in my lap the rest of the way to Grammy's, but the time in Tulsa was fun!

Eric watched Regan this week while I was at work and even though she again was a teething bear (tooth #4 sliced its way through Friday - PTL!) they had great father/daughter bonding time.

Yesterday to celebrate the Irish, we had an all-green dinner and invited our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Lutyens over. They're like 110 years old and have been married about that long. And I feel safe saying that because they told us they're too old to have a computer, so I'm pretty sure they won't be checking our blog! :) It was a fun evening and Regan, of course, was a hit with her St. Patty's day shirt (Thanks, Cousin Kaitlin!) and hair bow!
Here are a few pictures from our time in Tulsa:

Two monkeys at the zoo: Lindsey is on bottom, Leah on top.
The lions were about to be fed and they were so awesome to watch because they kept pacing back and forth and the male lion was even roaring. It was pretty fun!
The polar bear was so curious and amazing to watch. He kept swimming right up to our window and looking at us, then swimming to the other side of the pool and then back. It was so neat to watch.
Miss Regan, ready for her day at the zoo!

Busy Bee

Here's Regan and her best buddy, Hudson playing the piano. Regan was so funny when I took this picture because she kept mimicking the noises I was making, so if I would squeal really high, she'd try to do it. That's what she's doing in this picture and if I had taken a picture right after this one, it would've been of Hudson crying because Regan scared him! It was so funny!This is Regan's new favorite toy. It's a horse that Regan's Great-Aunt Sherry gave her that I think both Sherry's kids and grandkids played on. Regan loves to sit on it and have us push her around and if we stop, she leans forward and tries to make herself go. Thanks for the horse, Aunt Sherry!
Saturday we had a busy day shopping around town looking for a new bathtub. (Speaking of which, does anyone know of a good plumber in town!?) Regan did so good while we were out and when we came home, she conked out on Eric's shoulder. I love how she's holding his face in her little hand.
Sunday the weather was great, so we took Regan to the park. She's so much fun because everything we did she would grin and laugh at. She really liked when we would swing with her.
And she loved going down the slide with us.
Last week my sister and her two kiddos stayed with us while my Dad went out to California to speak. Here's a cute picture of Regan and Dad before they left on Friday.

New Adventures

Well, the promise to be a better blogger has fallen through, but here are a few quick pictures of the past few weeks....

Regan giving her Daddy one last hug before he left for TMEA two weeks ago. We missed him a lot, but kept ourselves busy shopping and eating chocolate!
We went to Elkhart this past weekend to visit with my sisters, nieces, nephew and parents. It was a nice, relaxing weekend. Here is Regan with her cousin, Kyle, who is 3 1/2 months younger than her, but still weighs just as much!

As we've mentioned before, we have the best babysitter in the world!! Since the weather has been perfect outside the past few days, Miss Jacqui has been taking Regan across the street to the park. Here are a few pictures of their adventures....

Is Regan's face not adorable!?!Loving the swing....

Sitting like a big girl on the slide.
All tuckered out....

Regan's weekend

Here are a few pictures of the past few days with Regan (aka: the Teething Bear!)

Naked baby chewing on her toys because she chews on everything. Isn't her pot belly so cute!?

Here was a rare moment of happiness this weekend! :)
A big joke between my dad and I is me always telling him he needs a haircut (mostly because he always needs a haircut!). It looks like I've passed that tradition on to Regan -- here she is examining the haircut Eric gave himself this morning!

Superbowl party!!

Here are a few pictures of Regan at her first superbowl party! Notice she's wearing a Dallas Cowboys shirt. This is because true fans never give in, BETH ANN. We had a great time with all the other band directors. Regan did great and really enjoyed watching the game.... especially the halftime show. Eric was holding her and he thought she had fallen asleep because she was so still the whole time!

Here she is doing her "touchdown" move. At least we pretend she's doing her touchdown move. Mostly she's just flailing her arms back and forth and screaming really loud.

Intently watching the game.....
And because it was the Superbowl, I let Regan have a taste of chocolate pudding. I know, I know... I'm a horrible mother, but seriously. Does it get any cuter than this!?!

Lots of new things

Regan is learning so many new things every day, it's so hard to keep up with her! She's such a happy baby and brings so much joy to our lives. Thanks for all your prayers regarding the job situation -- Regan and I are both adjusting; her better than me, I think! She loves her babysitter, Miss Jacqui and I think she sticks to her schedule better for Jacqui than she does for me!

I'm still trying to cope with being away from her. After spending every waking moment with her since May 13th, it's been hard to have to be away from her. But God is good, and I know he's been more than faithful in providing a good job with a good boss and a good babysitter. I may be away from Regan, but I take comfort in knowing that she's always in the loving hands of her Father.

Here are some random pictures from this past couple of weeks. Like I said, Regan is learning so many new things! She crawls like a champ and can walk along the couch (holding on, of course). She's putting together all sorts of syllables and makes the funniest noises and faces. Today she was even "catching" the ball when I rolled it to her. She's so proud of herself!
Here she is just before she crawled through her tunnel. She likes to sit inside it and play with her toys and thinks it's so much fun to play peek-a-boo with us from the other side!
I love this picture...
As I said earlier, Regan is such a happy baby. She laughs at the littlest thing and her little laugh is so contagious!
Another of my favorites from this month...

Long time, no post

Well, the Rath family has definately started 2007 off with a whirlwind of activities. Last weekend, Regan and I made a quick overnight trip up to Elkhart to see my sister, Brandi and her two kiddos. We also had to pick up our Christmas presents from Papa and Nana. Eric was in Abilene for a band contest thing, so he didn't get to go. Here are a few pics from that trip.
Regan, Papa and Nana
Regan and Aunt Brandi. We found out on Friday that the Bennetts will be relocating to Farmington, New Mexico sometime in the next month. Rick got a much better job working at a hospital, and career-wise it's a huge step up for him. Of course, we all hate to see them move so far away, but we also know that there isn't anywhere they can move that God won't have them in His hands.
Aubrey holding Regan.
And Regan basically beating Kyle up. I love the look on his face! Regan is pulling herself up on everything.
The next biggest news in our life right now is that I have started working part-time at Amarillo National Bank. I work 7:30-12:00 in the electronic banking department. It was a hard decision to go back to work, but one that is necessary at this point. We were very blessed to have my three cousins from Dallas come up and babysit Regan last week for our first few days and then my mom came down so she could watch Regan on Friday.

While she was here we got quite a bit of ice and a little bit of snow, so she was "stranded" here an extra night and went home this morning. We had so much fun and it was a lot easier to be at work knowing that Regan was in good hands. Starting tomorrow, our regular baby sitter will come to our house. She's a band director without a band, basically, and is teaching part time with Eric and the other guys at the junior high. She needed something to do in the mornings so we've put her to work! I told Eric that she's more qualified to watch Regan than we are because she's certified in CPR and First Aid!

God has been more than faithful in pulling together all the right elements for me to take this job, and I take comfort knowing that even though it's not what I had planned for this time in our lives, it's what God wants me to do. But if you think about us any time between 7:30-12 Monday through Friday, you might say a little prayer! :)

Here's our little snow bunny on her 8 month birthday!
Regan laughs all the time. She is so funny and happy. Mom took this picture last night. I forget what she was doing, but whatever it was, Regan thought it was hilarious!
I promise I'll try to do better at updating, but I'm not promising anything!!! :)

Lots of Christmas pictures!

We had a wonderful Christmas with our family in Oklahoma. We spent Friday through Monday at my aunt and uncle's house in Ponca City and then on Christmas evening we went to Tulsa to be with Eric's family for a few days. Here are a few pictures from our time with my family:

Regan was very good at opening her presents, although she was more interested in eating the wrapping paper than playing with her new toys!

The Miss Priss look Last year after Christmas, I bought this onesie at Wal-Mart for $1.00 thinking our baby boy would look so cute in it. I think it still looked pretty cute, even if it was on a girl! What's funny is that Kyle got the exact same onesie as a hand-me-down, so the kids had matching outfits for Christmas Eve.
Here are the grandkids after church on Christmas Eve. Aubrey is next to Kyle and Kylie is next to Regan. How cute are they!?!
While we were there, Regan had her first taste of sweet potatos and applesauce. Seperately, not together. This is her adorable reaction to the applesauce. I think it was a little too tart for her taste. She loved the potatos, though!
The big girls thought it was so fun to watch her eat, and she sure hammed it up for them!
Here is a picture of how many gifts were there. It was crazy!!
And a group picture of everyone on Christmas Eve after our family candlelight service. There were 19 total and even though it was a full house and a late night, I can't think of anywhere else I would've wanted to be!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

Tuesday evening we had a winter snow/ice storm. It rained all day Tuesday and got everything really wet and soaked, and then it froze and the rain turned to snow, so we ended up with snow on top of ice. Eric was just sure that he wouldn't have to go in for the 1/2 day of school yesterday, but of course they wouldn't call off the day that everyone has a party during class, right!?!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the park across the street. It's really scary looking with all the trees falling down and hanging so low. It looks like the Nightmare Before Christmas! This is a tree right in front of our house.
This is down the street. They've actually come by with caution tape and practically blocked off the whole park until the city can come through and clean it up, but who knows when that'll be!
And to the left of the house.
Since it was so cold, Regan and I stayed in all day and wrapped presents. I am unofficially the worst present wrapper ever known to man, and I loathe wrapping our presents, but it had to be done. Here's my little helper showing me how to do things right.
I've had this stinking wrapping paper since our first Christmas in Joplin and I'm tired of it, so I finally just gave a bunch of it to Regan hoping to use it all up. I didn't.
As we pause to reflect on a tiny baby, our Lord and Savior clothed in human skin, it is our prayer that each of us take the time to thank him for the sacrifice which brought him here in the first place. Jesus is certainly the reason for the season, but it is the power of the resurrection that gives us cause to celebrate! Merry Christmas!