Janelyn between 13-14 months old!

Our happy girl! :)

Our family, Fall 2009

Our little cheerleader!

Janelyn playing with her baby...she loves babies!!

Walker, Nicholas, & Janelyn--Nana's "grands!" :)

The most beautiful girl in the world!!

Hey everyone! Life is busy around our house and I don't find alot of free time for updates! I am back in school...which makes the free time I had before even less! :) It is going well, though and so far is working out, even with a little one!

Janelyn is almost 14 months old, now! Hard to believe...every day just keeps getting more fun with her! She is such a little girl now, no longer a baby! She talks constantly and spends most of her days playing with her babies! She carries her baby around all the time...and is such a good little Mommy! She's preparing herself for being a big sister! :)

Her favorite times of the day is when Daddy comes home from work! We let her stay up most nights now and wait for him to come home. He loves this time with her and she is soooooo crazy about him! She hears his car pull up and she takes off running to the kitchen door! To hear her yelling "DADDY, DADDY, DADDY"...is one of the most peaceful sounds I have ever heard! I am blessed with a Daddy who is my #1 fan...and I'm so grateful Janelyn's Daddy is just as wonderful!

She has been playing with lots of friends, lately and loves it! She plays so well with others and I'm so thankful! Having a big cousin has helped her learn to share. Nicholas loves to play with her! He is so good with her...and calls her "my sister." It's cute! I asked him the other day if he wanted me to have another baby...and he said..."no, do you not think 3 is enough?" I asked him "which 3" he was talking about...and he told me that him, Walker, and Janelyn are all my children and that he had a brother and a sister already...and he thinks that is plenty! Kids are so funny!! :)

Brad is still mowing and working at UPS. Nights are late sometimes, but we are very grateful for good health and wonderful jobs. My parents are so generous to pick Janelyn up for us every night that I work. Usually, Mom has her fed by the time I get there, so I bring her home for a bath and an early bed time.

We still LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new house and the location. Mom and I walk alot together and I will NEVER regret all these years living close to them and raising our children with Nana & Papaw. It's more than a blessing to us! Our busy life is wonderful and we are so grateful for every healthy day we have! Thanks for sharing our blog! Here's some of J's most recent pictures!! Love to all, Brad & Rachel

Janelyn's 1 year old pictures!

Our friend, Chasity Porter takes Janelyn's pictures. She does a fabulous job! Here's just a few of her 1 year old pictures! There were lots to choose from! Hope you enjoy them!

J enjoying a Happy Birthday cupcake...made for some cute, cute pictures! :)

Birthday girl on the farm!

I love this one because you can see the farm and my parents' house in the background!

Her excited face!

We think she's beautiful :)

Look at that smile!

Happy 1st Birthday, Janelyn!!!

Chase, Brady, and Nicholas waiting patiently (can you believe that!) for their ice cream sundaes to be served! The boys had a great time at a little girl's 1st birthday party! :)

Diving into her Happy Birthday cupcake! :)

Janelyn dove into the chocolate icing while decorating cookies! She loved it...as you can tell! :)

She loved the water! Look at the excitement on her face!

Janelyn enjoying the slip n slide!

Janelyn & her friend Alexis playing with the ice cream sundae bowls!

Mommy & Janelyn at her 1st Happy Birthday party!!

Mommy made J's birthday cupcakes...perfect with polka dots! I think I did pretty good! :)

Sweet Janelyn turned 1 year old last Monday! We had her a fun kids party last weekend...and we're having a family party this Sunday! The kids had a blast...making ice cream sundaes, decorating cookies, and playing on the slip n slide! Janelyn blends very well with most anyone...so it was overall a blast for everyone! :)

Our baby girl is almost 1!!!

J in her Happy Birthday hat! So excited for her to show it off at her parties! :)

Janelyn playing in the muddy garden! She LOVES to get dirty!

Where does the time go? As I look into Janelyn's eyes, I see how fast she is growing...and loving life! I can't believe that in just a few days, our baby will be turning 1!!! I'm quickly realizing that she is no longer a "baby" anymore...but is turning into the sweet lady she is...and truthfully...I love it!! She is becoming even more beautiful every day!

She is taking several steps at a time,now...and seems to love this independence! It's so cute to watch them as they learn to walk! Her favorite word is dog...and she says it all the time! She also says Mommy, Daddy, Nana, hey, bye bye, ball, Bella, Abby...and most recently Papaw! Talk about melting a Papaw's heart...:) Her and my Daddy share a very special bond and to see her little face tilt sideways, as if she is shy when he talks to her...it's just so precious to me!

She is a whole milk drinker, now!!! Can't believe it's true...but she is crazy about her whole milk! She takes her sippy cup so well and prefers the straw ones. I still have quite a bit of frozen breastmilk, so I am mixing the 2 milks for her, until my breastmilk is gone. I knew I worked hard pumping, but never knew it'd last this long! She is down to only 2 breastfeedings a day...morning and night. Of course those are now comfort feedings...will be hard to get rid of, but I plan to start trying, soon. Since she has been drinking her whole milk, she has really started eating better. She is also really active, now...and spends lots of time each day in her walker outside on the concrete! She gets to going so fast....it's hilarious! I try to videotape her every chance I get...she'll think it's funny some day!

Janelyn playing in her walker!

She is still a good sleeper...but at times continues to wake up in the night. We have decided she's trying to play games sometimes and we'll let her wine it out at night. She sleeps just like me...it's crazy how much they can be just like us! She's still a great napper, napping twice daily for about 2 hours. Her usual night time is from 8ish-8ish the next morning, but she gets up and eats around 5 or 6. I don't mind, because she goes right back to sleep, but soon I will have to break her from that!

I have been busy planning Janelyn's 1st birthday parties and I'm looking so forward to them! We are having a kids party one day and a family party another day! I have so many fun kid ideas!! I am sure they will all have a great time! Look forward to sharing these pictures with you!!! Each day we learn something new about being parents...and more excitement and happiness comes along the way! I never knew that one precious smile or a whisper of "Mommy" could touch me as much as they have! Together...Brad and I are constantly in amazment of the beauty we have been blessed with! Though she is growing up way too fast...we know she is becoming an incredible, loving young woman! Though life moves too fast, we are loving each changing season in Janelyn's life! :) Love you all! Brad & Rachel

10 months old!

Janelyn's 1st steps into the lake!! She wanted to keep right on walking in!!!

Mommy & Janelyn on July 4th weekend

Janelyn at 10 months old :)

She's getting so big! She loves to walk behind this!

Mommy & my girl

Janelyn at Camden's birthday party! She loved her Mickey Mouse ears!!

Janelyn (10 months) & Nicholas (almost 4)

I'm a little behind on updating...but our summer has been so busy! Janelyn turned 10 months old on June 17th! She weighs 20 lbs and is 30 inches long!!!

Brad and I just had a few days of vacation and Janelyn loved having us both home! I think she got a little spoiled, actually! Having Daddy around is something she LOVES! I am so blessed she enjoys time with him so much...and he gives me so many breaks! He is such an understanding Daddy and knows that Mommy has to have time to myself sometimes!

Janelyn has really developed a personality! She has started being "somewhat sassy!!!" I think my parents think it's hilarious...I must be getting paid back for something I did!!! It just seems like in the last week, she has been told no more often...and she's starting to explore on her own! The independence she is discovering is great...but more work for us! She is standing by herself for about 30 seconds at a time, now! She is still holding on to everything while she walks, but she's quickly trying to do her own thing! It's fun to watch her learn all these new things! One of her favorite things to do lately is go into a room in the house and shut the door!!! She likes to stay in there by herself!!! It makes me anxious, now...but I'm sure in a few months I will be begging her to go be by herself!! haha! She thinks it's so funny and laughs out loud while she's in the room playing! She can't figure out why we can't see her! :)

She is loving the pools and summertime weather! When she fusses, we'll take her outside to see Bella...and enjoy the sunshine! She loves this! She splashes in the pool and doesn't even mind the cold water! She's still my laid back, sweet girl...but she's quickly learning her way around life! She is still just as stubborn as ever when it comes to eating and drinking and prefers to only do that on her own time! *Can anyone tell that in this blog I am describing MYSELF!!!!* I'm afraid my child is becoming her Mother! :) Sweet when we want to be....but prefer to be independent on most occasions! :)

She now has 6 beautiful teeth! We go through nights where she doesn't sleep well...but for the most part, she does pretty good for a nosey child her age! She's like me and is afraid she may miss something :). She does go to bed very easily at night...we never have problems with that! Hopefully, once she starts walking alone, she will wear herself out even more! Exploring seems to tire her like crazy...and at home, she naps for at least 2 hours, twice daily! Naps are her friend...and Mommy's, too! I appreciate her sweet smile and happy face when she wakes up from her naps...and how productive I am while she is sleeping!

Last week, while on his vacation, Brad redid (?) our landscaping! It is starting to look fabulous! He worked soooooooooo hard all week long! I wish he could have a vacation to recover from his vacation! haha! I will post pictures of the new look, soon. He is still waiting to finish the lighting...but when it's completed, we will have 65 new lights surrounding us! I'm so excited about that!! It will be beautiful!

We are looking forward to the rest of our summer, busy with birthday parties, a beach trip...and hopefully lots more fun in the sun! We hope you enjoy J's new pictures! She's growing so fast...and is such a joy to all of us! Thanks for loving us...and more importantly loving our sweet baby girl! Always, Brad & Rachel

J is 9 months old!

Hello everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the beautiful sunshine! We are loving it! Time is flying and Janelyn is now 9 months old! She's so happy and having so much fun! She laughs, plays, and smiles all day, every day!

Janelyn crawls any and everywhere and pulls up, holds one and walks around everything! She loves our fireplace because it's just her size and has helped her to learn to be strong! She loves to play with her toys, which occupy most of her days! It's amazing how well she plays by herself...I am truly blessed!

My frustration with her not wanting to eat solids foods has finally stopped! She's such a big girl, now and eats like a champ! There's not much she won't eat, actually! It took me a while to figure it out, but she just didn't want baby foods...she wants what we're eating! So, like a big girl, she sits up and eats whatever we have for supper. Her pediatrician says it's perfectly fine, I incorporate veggies, meats, and fruits into every meal. I love how big she's getting and how independent she is. I wonder where she gets that from!?!?

My heart could break, but about 10 days ago, we stopped the bottle! Of course, she's still breastfeeding, but I've cut her feedings down to 4 per day. Within the next few weeks, I plan to start cutting out another feeding and so on...until she's completly weaned at around 12 months. Boo hoo!!! :( She is doing great with her sippy cup, though and loves water! I have only tried apple juice with her once and she wasn't a big fan, so as long as she loves the water, I will limit her liquids to milk and water.

Work is going great for me! I have been working an extra day a week at PMG because we have an employee out with sickness. It's nice to have extra moo-la, plus I get to work with the best group of people I have ever met! I am sooooooooo blessed to have my job and thank God everyday for placing me there. It's definately been Heaven sent for me!

Thank you so much for loving my "proud Mommy" stories! Janelyn is such a blessing to Brad & me...and we are so grateful for her loves, smiles, and happiness! Each day she brings more and more sunshine into our lives...and for that we are forever grateful! Enjoy her most recent pictures! I think they are all beautiful!!

PS--we are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary on Tuesday! WOW! 3 years of fun, love, and friendship--I couldn't ask for a better husband & best friend! :) I hope I make Brad as happy as he does me!

Spring time is here!!

J, playing in her pool at Nana & Papaws. She loves the water!!

She's such a happy girl!

Me with my sweet Beauty...she makes every day I have brighter than the one before!!

Janelyn laughing and clapping her hands out in the sunshine! She loves to play!

Daddy with his girl! :) He's more than crazy about her!!

Our sweetheart on Easter 2009

We hope this blog finds everyone having a wonderful, Spring time season! The last few days of warm temperatures sure have made the Dearing house smile! Janelyn & I have spent alot of time outside. I purchased her a pool to play in this summer. It's big enough for like 4 adults! Great for me! She is such a good baby and plays well by herself, so while I lay in the sun on one end, she plays with her toys on the other! :)

In the last few weeks, she has become such a busy bee!! She is crawling all over the place! I do find myself calling her name quite often and saying no, but she seems to be respecting that pretty well so far! It seems within the past month, her sweet personality is coming out more everyday! She is so loving and nurturing...she loves to just "pat, pat, pat" as we call it. She will be my "little Momma". Her smile is contagious and we all find ourselves acting like idiots when she's around! She has been teething quite a bit, which is no fun for any of us, but she's been doing well with it. I can't imagine how bad it must hurt! :( She's so much fun to love and I'm so grateful to be her Mommy!

I do have a huge PRAISE! Last night was night #5 of Janelyn sleeping through the night! YAY for Mommy!! All these months, she has been in such a habit of waking up anywhere between 3-5am...and silly Mommy, has always just gone on in to feed her. I decided last week we were going to make some changes, so after talking in detail with Dr. Ward, he gave me some ideas. I tried letting her cry, only going in there for short interventions, etc. The 1st night wasn't hard or easy...then the second night, we had to wake her up the next morning to go to the babysitter's!!! She has done great ever since. I think she just needed a little intervention to break her habit! She wakes up smiling and refreshed and Brad & I are LOVING it! Not getting my hopes up too high...but praying it will be a habit that will last for a LONG, LONG time!!

This morning, Daddy & I planted most of our garden! Janelyn sat on a blanket and played with her toys while we worked (well, Daddy ended up doing most of it!). Brad & I are so excited about having a big garden this year! We are really cherishing being out in the country and having our own land and space to roam. I can't begin to tell you how much we are both enjoying our new home!!!

Enjoy all of her new pictures!...and this beautiful weather! We are soooo excited about the upcoming summer and all the fun that's in store! We love you all!!! Brad, Rachel, & Janelyn