4 Months Old!

Her favorite play toy at the moment-her feet!
Our big girl!

Sophia is 4 months old today! My how the time flies. They tell you life will get faster, and you believe them of course, but you really don't know how FAST time flies until they get here and you're living day-to-day with your munchkin. Even though I still haven't slept through the night once in her 4 months of life, I've enjoyed having her and can't quite imagine what I did with all my time before she was here. Life has definitely become more enjoyable. Here's what she's up to these days:

-Going to bed around 8 for the night and either sleeping till 2:30 or so and going back down till 6 or waking up at 10pm and 2am (not fun)

-Set her down in her crib, pop in the pacifier, lay the blanket by her face and it's sleep time!

-Playing with her feet and sucking on her toes every chance she gets

-Cooing all the time, giggling, and squealing

-Holding her head up by herself unless she's tired

Cloth Diapers!

Cow Baby!
Whatcha lookin' at?

I love tummy time! (for 3 minutes)

Well as I stated yesterday, I've been experimenting with our cloth diapers this weekend. She may still be a little too small for them yet. She keeps leaking out the back but then again, this girl is a HEAVY wetter. She normally leaks out her disposable diapers too if I don't keep a watchful eye on them. I bought some hemp inserts which are 3 times more absorbant than the microfiber inserts I currently have in them. That should solve my problems once they arrive. I love shopping online.

I took some pictures of her this morning during tummy time and a picture of her cow cloth diaper that I LOVE. I'm currently trying Happy Heiny's and Smartipants. So far, the Happy Heiny's are winning! I'll probably try a few different kinds and have a bunch of cloth diapers. If the average family spends $50 per month of disposable diapers so I could have a awesome stash for that much per month (or less!). She'll have all kinds of fun colors on her bum! At least I'm not throwing all that stuff away. I hate generating that much trash (yes we are modern day hippies--blah, blah, blah) and our next child can use them too! That's where the REAL cost savings comes in. Have a great Sunday!

Girls Weekend

That dimple is going to make people melt!
Playing on the floor with mommy

Playing hard--waiting for her limbs to start hanging out the crib too!

Well it's been 2 full weeks that Daniel has been in Australia and we're still surviving! Julie is in Charlotte for her birthday (Happy Birthday Jason & Julie!) so Sophia and I are having a girls weekend. So far we've cleaned and done laundry! Yay! We are two fun-loving gals. I'm also trying out the cloth diapers all weekend. I decided--why not? I'll be home by myself all weekend so I can see what these things are like. They fit her great, just a lot more bulky than I'm used to. I'll post a picture of her in her cow butt soon!

Since it's supposed to be a heat index of 105 today, I think we'll do most of our playing inside. I wanted to post some pictures for Daniel since he doesn't get to see his little girl much. We can usually only skype around 5am and 5:30pm our time. At 5am Sophia is sleeping and around 5:30pm, she's fussy because she's wanting to go to bed; therefore, Daniel hasn't really gotten to see her much this past two weeks. I'm counting down the days till he gets home and I know he is too. I can't wait! Enjoy the pictures!

Adelaide - Australia Study Abroad Trip

Daniel in front of the Indian Ocean at Glenelg, which is the last stop of the city tram from Adelaide (just 100 yards from the beach)

Pier at Glenelg

View from Pedestrian Bridge to Adelaide University

Giant paint spill at the Fowlers Lion Factory

Flowers in the park

View of the flowers from below

Adelaide - Australia Study Abroad Trip

Daniel above the Adelaide Oval (Cricket Stadium) and the city skyline

Colonel Light - First Surveyor General who laid out the city

View of the city from Colonel Light's statue

Cricket Statue in front of Adelaide Oval and St Peter's Cathedral

Daniel in front of the River Torrens and Adelaide University

Australia Highlight Pictures

Click here to view these pictures larger

Adelaide - Australia Study Abroad Trip

Adelaide is a beautiful city, it's been drizzling for most of the time, which has been good for the farmers, but not so great for sightseeing.  It hasn't stopped Daniel from exploring the city though.

The classroom is at the University of Adelaide

The bridge over the River Torrens to get to campus.  Adelaide is surrounded by greenspace; a very nicely planned city.

Adelaide's famous Central Market

Kangaroo meat at the Central Market

Kangaroo lunch - Grilled kangaroo on a bed of mash potato with a caramelised onion, red wine and plum sauce

Sophia Found Her Feet

Sophia has offically found her feet and is loving it! She grabs them all the time. Sometimes, I can't even make her let go of them! And, Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sydney Opera House - Australia Study Abroad Trip

A few more pictures of the Sydney Opera House:

The structural design and manufacturing process was based on cutting pieces out of a sphere 

The surface is tiled

The only piece of blue sky all day

View from the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney - Australia Study Abroad Trip

Daniel made it safely to Australia with 6 hours of flying to get from RDU to DFW to LAX and then 15 hours from LAX to Sydney.  He got a few hours of sleep on the flight and spent most of his time watching movies (about 5 new movies).  The seats on Qantas have TVs in the headrests, so you can watch what you want on TV, movies, listen to music, chat with other passengers, play games, etc.  The plane overall made domestic flights look very outdated.  The back of the plane had a snack bar with drinks, cookies, fruit, and nuts.

After arriving at leaving his bags at the hotel in Darling Harbour at 7 AM, Daniel walked to the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.  The whole area is very nice with a huge botanical garden and nice waterfront.  Then, Daniel walked about 2.5 or 3 hours to Bondi Beach for a great surfing lesson.  He used a 9' board and was able to stand up pretty regularly.  The air temperature was 63 degrees and the water was 65 degrees.  It's a great beach.

Daniel leaves for Adelaide today where he will catch up with the students.

Rachel and Sophia at the Sydney Opera House

Daniel in front of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

Bondi Beach

Halloween 2010 Preview

Sophia is sooooooooo excited for Halloween 2010!!!!!! A preview of her costume is below:

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Left: Sophia and Daddy

Right: Zach Galifianakis and Carlos (from "The Hangover")

Mommy & Sophia

Lounging Around

It's going to be an interesting 3 weeks. Daniel leaves for Australia today. Luckily Julie will still be here so that will be a HUGE help. Three weeks by myself and I might not have had any hair left when he got home! Sophia is actually taking an afternoon nap so I had a little time to blog. We've been night sleep training and nap training. We're on day 3 and I can already see some big improvements. For instance, she was awake when I placed her in her crib this morning for her morning nap and she feel asleep by herself. That doesn't happen. I've been letting her "cry it out" at night and the first night I did, she slept from 9:30-5:45. First time she ever slept through the night. Last night she fell asleep at 7:30pm and slept till 2:30am. Played till 3:30am by herself in her crib--cried and went back to sleep at 4:00am. Things are looking up. I still think there is a long road ahead but things are getting better. They can't get much worse!

Sophia LOVES sitting up. If you have her in your lap facing out and let her grab your fingers, she'll pull herself up into a sitting position and sit there forever. She sat in her bumbo seat yesterday for 45 mins--unassisted. We're always there in case of a head bob, but she's been doing extremely well. She'll be ready for solid food before I know it. I'm going to try and hold off until Daniel gets back home so he can see how messy a baby can really be!

In other news, my brother and his wife are due to have a boy in November! He's the one that was just in the bodybuilding competition (his pic is below). We are excited that Sophia will have a cousin soon. I think they'll enjoy playing together.

Hope everyone is doing well. I'll have more time to keep this blog updated if she continues to take naps!

Everday Heroes - Union Observer Article from July 10, 2005

Posted on Sun, Jul. 10, 2005 in the Union Observer

Everyday Heroes

Rachel Chilcot

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Community volunteer

MOTTO: "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten." (Also one of her dad's favorite sayings.)

AGE: 21.

HOMETOWN: Orlando, Fla.; has lived in Weddington for about 16 years, but is currently living in Raleigh as a student.

HER WORK: Volunteers for Meals On Wheels in the Raleigh area every  Wednesday and received the Ellen Brewer Community Service award this year for her work with the non-profit group; previously volunteered at a local center for developmental disabilities; while working toward her Bachelor of Science degree in foods and nutrition at Meredith College (which she earned in May) she participated in the MeredithReads literacy programs and served as president of the Campus Activities Board and the Meredith Recreation Association; recipient of the Sophie Lanneau Silver Leaf and Gold Leaf awards for leadership; also has served in various other capacities in various organizations, including the Meredith Nutrition and Wellness Association; helped start a literacy program in Belize during a spring break trip; currently taking classes to earn a registered dietitian license.

WHY SHE DOES IT: She became involved with Meals On Wheels through one of her instructors and says her clients have become her adopted grandparents. "If you saw the smiles on their faces when you come to bring them their meal, you realize that you are wanted there because they love having visitors. This isn't lunch for most of them. It is contact with someone that they can share their story and life with. They are the most amazing people."

WHAT OTHERS SAY: "She's compassionate, she's caring, insightful, intuitive. She truly is what I would want a student to be who is leaving academics and going into practice."

-- Dr. Susan Fisher of the Didactic Program in Dietetics.

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WHO'S YOUR HERO?

Know of someone who should be spotlighted as a Union Observer Everyday Hero? Please tell us who and why and give us a way to get in touch with you. Call us at (704) 289-6576, fax (704) 289-4669 or e-mail unionobs@charlotteobserver.com. Our mailing address: Everyday Heroes Union Observer 132 S. Main St. Monroe, NC 28112

Sophia & Her Bumbo

Sophia loves hanging out in her bumbo with Daddy, which is really helping to improve her head control.  She also likes to watch the colors changing on the TV.

Sophia at 3 Months