Baby's First...

It is a well known fact that many parents record a variety of "Baby's Firsts," and Brian and I are no different. We enjoy sharing them with all of you, so without further ado...Rachel got her first black eye. We are marking the occasion with a blog post and a warning to all babies and toddlers out there that running with a sippy cup may be hazardous to your health.

From Life with the Bjorks

God Made Families

This week and last week we learned that God made our family, God wants us to serve our family, and who is in our family. We used the story of David serving his family by caring for the family sheep and bringing his brother's food on the battle field from 1 Samuel 17:12-19. We did some fun activities from our Toddlerific curriculum and pinterest. Rachel liked turning the paper plate story wheel from our curriculum and was really gentle with it. I am surprised it is still in one piece. We colored a "Daddy, Daddy Who Do You See" mini book from playingwithwords365.com with our little friend who spent the day with us last Friday. It was fun to have her join in Tot school for the day. We also read some board books with family pictures I made Rachel for Christmas. They are a fun way to teach her about family members she does not see very often as well as a baby safe way to look through family memories. In addition to all our family books, we played find the family members with large face cut outs I colored that were hidden in the living room and pulled puzzle pieces out of beans with family pictures glued on the back. I have to talk more about the puzzle because it turned out so cute and was fun to make. I saw an idea on pinterest to glue family pictures inside each puzzle cut out. I couldn't wait to do this for Rachel, but I did not want her to have to just rely on matching the shape of a puzzle piece by covering up the picture or color. She is little and still learning about matching. I wanted the puzzles to be doable for her so I glued the picture on the back of the piece. On a side note, after meeting Grandma and Grandpa's dog over Easter Rachel calls the picture of Grandma and Grandpa "Howie" (the dogs name). I think it is cute, but I'm not sure Grandma agrees with me. Rachel is also working on how to label herself. She has learned she is not "Ila" or "baby" (well she is, but she is more than that). She can't say "Rachel" and doesn't seem to really understand pronouns yet, so we have been practicing pointing to herself when she sees a picture of herself and is asked "Who's that?" I also provide the pronoun label when she points to herself or if I point to her so she is hearing the correct label. There is the speech therapist in me sneaking out during play time. I still have a couple more activities for this week including a family tree to glue family pictures on and a my neighborhood mini book to color. We will see what we get to in the next couple days.

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel is enjoying her story wheel. Check out the fabulous puzzle in the background. In case you couldn't tell I am pretty proud of it.

From Life with the Bjorks

Just a cute picture of Rachel and Brian I had to include for your enjoyment.

Easter Events

We made our nearly annual Easter weekend trip up to my parents house this past weekend. Brian took two days off work making it a nice long weekend. Prior to the trip Rachel and I headed to Target to pick out a couple special car toys to help keep her occupied and pleasant during our 5 1/2 hour drive. Rachel has a history of crying and screaming during car trips. We picked out a magna doodle and a Crayola my first marker and paper set. I wrapped these and a couple of other items up in some left over wrapping paper to give us a couple more minutes of fun per gift. The magna doodle was by far her favorite car activity. It will be packed away until our next trip so its fabulousness (is that even a word, if not it should be) doesn't wear off. She did great during this trip. No screaming and only minimal crying and fussing.

Hear is a brief rundown of what we did this weekend. On Friday we loaded up the car and headed north. Rachel requires a lot of gear. Okay, maybe she doesn't require it, but having some items makes our weekend go a little better. On Saturday we went to the Eureka Zoo to check out the animals, see the Easter Bunny, and hunt for eggs. It was a lot of fun and unlike Santa the Easter Bunny is not terrifying. On Sunday we headed to church for yummy breakfast and Easter service. Rachel had a great time in the nursery while we sat in service (which was also good). On Monday we packed up the car and headed home. Over the weekend Rachel once again enjoyed playing with my parent's dog and by the time we left he was starting to get more comfortable with her. She is very gentle when she pets animals, but she has a tendency to run towards them and squeal with delight. This sends their dog running. Here are some pictures of our weekend.

From Life with the Bjorks

All packed and ready for bed.

From Life with the Bjorks

Playing in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

From Life with the Bjorks

Checking out the bunnies left by the Easter Bunnny

From Life with the Bjorks

It is important to say hi to every goat in the petting zoo multiple times so none of them feel left out.

From Life with the Bjorks

Sitting with the "ha ha" (Rachel speak for hop hop which the rest of us would call a bunny)

From Life with the Bjorks

Proudly carrying two of her Easter eggs. The best part of the hunt was crawling through the pop up structure.

Live Action Angry Birds

Using an idea from makeandtakes.com, I made this game to use at work during my upcoming angry birds social skills unit. Given our love for angry birds we had to test it out first. A fun time was had by all, even our little spectator in the peanut gallery. 


I love Rachel's infectious laugh.  How can you not laugh along with her?

Chef in Training

From Life with the Bjorks

Rachel is my little helper. Tonight she asked me to pull her chair over to the counter so she could help me cook. She loves to help pour, dump, and stir ingredients. After she helps with the toddler safe tasks she likes to play with kitchen equipment and "cook" up her own concoctions. Using the leftover ingredients from out dinner tonight she made lemon, onion, parsley, garlic, and dried noodle water with a little poultry seasoning thrown in for added flavor. Mmmm.