What Have I Done???

The other day I was doing my very routine grocery shopping at the local Kroger (that I already don't like for many reasons...) and stumbled upon the large banner hanging outside of the front of the store. It read: "Holiday Evergreens." I looked below the sign and noticed Christmas trees. Then I got ticked. Holiday evergreens? Really? They are CHRISTMAS TREES!!! Surely, if you are buying a tree then it must be for Christmas, not Thanksgiving, New Years, or any other "holiday." Grrr.

So I came home and wrote a lovely note to Kroger saying that I am officially resigning my grocery shopping at all Kroger stores until they do something about this sign. I even gave them my Kroger Customer # and told them they can consider it inactive. BOLD, I know. This means I can't show my face at Kroger, any Kroger, even the nice Kroger stores until they give Christmas the credit it is due.

I realize that I have completely inconvenienced myself (hence the title "What Have I Done?") and now may have to resort to shopping at Walmart since it is second closest, or driving far to Meijer or Whole Foods, but I think it is for a good purpose. I am sick of retailers taking Christmas out of Christmas! This is a purposeful time of year celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Enough is enough. And though I realize that there are MANY more retailers out there doing the same thing, and that I may not tackle all of them, I thought one was a start...especially a grocery store that gets a lot of our business. So there. :)

I will let the blogger world know if I hear back from Kroger. I hope I do.

In the meantime, enjoy some pics of this Christmas season at our house.

they grow so fast

Claire had her 6 month check up today. Oh how time flies. I remember when Sophie was a baby, I couldn't wait to get to the "next" stage. With Claire, I've been reminding myself to slow down and enjoy each stage. But it seems to be going by so fast! She has 2 teeth, she's eating solids, pretty soon she'll be walking off to school. Maybe I have become sappier...but I just don't want her to grow up too fast. So I am going to relish this sweet baby time! I want all of the coos, oohs, and cuddles I can get because before I know it she will be motoring around - not wanting anything to do with being held. Is anyone else crying? Ok, it might just be me :)

This little lady is a peanut. She only weighs 15lbs - at 6 months Sophie was 17lbs! And she continues to be short, only 24.75". The one thing she has been is consistent. Such a sweetie!

My Sweets

There is always so much happening around here that I would like to capture in a blog, but I usually don't! :( So here is my feeble attempt to do that and play catch up at the same time. If nothing else, it will be written record of how beautiful, hilarious, and enjoyable these little ladies are -for when I need the reminder, or just simply can't remember.

Sophie is a plain riot. She has us laughing all of the time. Let me see if I can do any of it justice here.

The Zoo Train: She came up with the idea to play "zoo train" on the landing of our staircase. It started out as us just sitting on the landing, pretending to look out at animals.

"Look Mommy - look at the bear lions!" (huh?)
"Ooh, look at the lion, he has big tooshie" (this came from us being at the real zoo and seeing a gorilla and his very big tooshie, but I don't think she knows that lions don't really have them)
So it went from checking out animals (and their behinds) to eating elephants and zebras. She would get off the train to eat an elephant. And then she invited all of her stuffed animals from her bed to join her on the zoo train (seen here). Creative I guess.

How Bout Something Else:
Each night, before we begin to pray with Sophie, we ask her what she wants to thank God for. Usually she will say: I fank God fo....going to the potty. I fank God fo watching sesame street. (It's all very spiritual). I will typically ask her "ok, how about something else?" Now, she has started saying 1 thing she is thankful for, and then she'll say "how bout something else?" and look at us and laugh knowing that we get a kick out of her just saying "how bout something else." She thinks she is so funny when she does that.

The cutest things she has been doing lately:
When Bill comes home from work, Sophie greets him with "How was your day, Daddy?" Melts my heart. She has also been very kind and polite lately. Saying thank you & you're welcome & please. She's been loving on her sister and giving her kisses and hugs galore. Before bed she likes to give us "big kisses" by grabbing a hold of our faces and placing a smoochie right smack dab on the lip.

Little Claire has been growing lately. Growing teeth that is. 2 of them. Makes me sad. I'm not ready for her to have teeth. She's probably been the crankiest she's ever been (minus the whole witching hour of newborn stage) during this teething time. She's also not taking a bottle, at all. Ahh, oh well I guess the time will pass fast enough. She is still a sweet little thing. Pure sugar these two.

Name that song

Sophie loves to sing songs. Thankfully I can make out most of them because I already know them. However, she comes home from church on Sundays singing this particular song that I just cannot figure out.

And it sounds like "Jesus or bust" or "Jesus a bus" or what I think makes the most sense "Jesus is best"....but I don't know really what it is and it is driving me nuts! Any thoughts on what this song could be? For those from Grace, she is usually in the first service. If I can't figure it out before the week is over, I'll have to catch the workers in her room next Sunday and ask them what they are singing!

Our Bugs

We had a fun filled Halloween day! This morning began with a haircut for mommy, carving pumpkins (while listening to Christmas music -who can resist?), pizza for dinner, and of course passing out candy and trick or treating. Sophie was a ladybug again. The costume from last year still fit, so why not right? Claire was a bumble bee. They were our cute little bugs.

Sophie really enjoyed Halloween this year. We had prepped her for what to say when she went up to the doors, and what to say once she received her candy. Bill walked around with her while Claire and I stayed back and passed out the candy. Bill said she did well. She sometimes said thank you first, got her candy and then said trick or treat. But at least she said something! I was amazed at how many kids just came up to receive their candy without saying a word, like it was owed to them. What is our world coming to when kids can't even say thank you!?!?! One little girl actually told me (in a very rude tone) "I don't like peanut butter" after I gave her a reese's candy bar. Hmm, I told her that maybe her mommy or daddy would like it, and Happy Halloween. Stunned. Anyways, it was fun to see Sophie enjoy the day, and a lot of candy. Now lets just hope she sleeps well.

Our "pumpkin family"

5 Months Old

Little Claire Bear is 5 months old today! Her latest activities include rolling over, blowing raspberries, playing in the exersaucer, wearing cloth diapers, paci talk (seen below in the video), and continuing to sleep well. I finally understand when people use the phrase "sleeping like a baby." Now it makes sense! It didn't so much with Sophie, still doesn't! :) One thing Claire isn't doing well is eating baby cereal. Since she is down to 4 feedings most days, I thought she might need that extra fill me up food. However, I don't think she is quite there yet. The faces she makes when I try to feed her, you'd think I was giving her anchovies or something! The last time I tried to give her cereal, she gagged so hard she actually threw up a little. Yuck.

Her big sister has also gotten a kick out of the exersaucer. To think, all this time it was just sitting in the basement it could have been entertaining a 2 year old!

Fall is here

It never ceases to be amazing, the changing colors of the season. Here are a few pics from our backyard. I can't believe we get to look out and see the beauty of God's creation like this every day! Well, at least for a few weeks....





This last one is on the road to our neighborhood, not quite our backyard :)

2 year olds are funny!

Today was a great day to spend inside, but I needed to get out just for a little bit. I told Sophie that we could get some french fries on our way to drop something off at someone's house. On the way there we were talking about Texas. I told Sophie that daddy was in Texas. I asked her if she wanted to go to Texas. Her reply: "I'd rather get french fries."

Our Girls

Can you believe this little peanut is already 4 months old? Where has the time gone? By God's grace she continues to do really well: sleeping and eating like a champ, smiling, cooing and giggling happily along. What a blessing & what delight she brings to our family. At her 4 month check up she was still in at 50th % for weight at 13 lbs, 9 oz. And, 25th% for height at a whopping 24 inches.

Her big sister has been quite the joy too. And quite the challenge. I've come face to face with the terrible two's. But amidst those challenges, how many laughs and fun moments we've had.

Butter

How do you keep a two year old happy at a nice dinner out?
Just give her the butter dish. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Oh, Happy Day!

Sophie learned a new song at church yesterday. She woke up from her nap singing this:

Oh, happy day, happy day!
I washed my sins away.
I'll never be the safe.

The song really, goes: You washed my sins away, I'll never be the same.
So her version has some doctrinal issues, but it was still really cute to hear her singing this!

Dairy Free

Oh, the difference a dairy free diet makes. I decided (with the help of some lactation consultants) to take pretty much all dairy out of my diet a few weeks ago since Claire had been having some nursing/fussing issues and had bad eczema on her face.
here is a before pic (though it is a little hard to tell in this small pic):
and ta-da, the silky smooth after:


I must say the dairy has made a huge difference. The eczema has pretty much disappeared and she almost immediately started sleeping 9-11 hours at night. So, even though my diet now consists of a dairy free coffee creamer, no ice cream, no cheese, no yogurt, no milk, no whipped cream, and did I mention no ice cream :) - I am at least happily sleeping at night and have a good nursing baby again!

birthday girl

I was so busy blogging about my baby's bowel movements the other day that I forgot to share about Sophie's birthday! She turned 2 on July 31st. Our big girl. We laugh because we call her our big girl and think that she is so old, and our neighbors across the street who have 3 kids refer to their 2 and a half year old son (their youngest) as "the baby". It's a matter of perspective I guess!

Even though the terrible two's are in full swing, we were graciously reminded at church yesterday through Psalm 127 what a blessing and gift children really are. And Sophie is - she makes our hearts melt & makes us laugh til we cry on a daily basis. It is so amazing to watch her grow, talk more, learn more, to see her imagination and creativity flourish. We praise God for the blessing that she is to us! We love you sweet Soph!

The hard life of a 2 month old

Our poor Claire-bear has had some rough days lately. Well, at first it was rough for Mommy, because for 3 nights in a row she slept around 4 hours and was waking up to eat. I assumed that it was a growth spurt. If all else fails, just assume it's a growth spurt, right? She was then getting up 3 hours later which is so not like her. I am happy to say that part has ended. Unfortunately, her latest issue is pooping. She was doing great - having plenty of poos all day long. Then all of a sudden, she had one. That was Friday. And now it is Tuesday and she's barely pooed. Just a tiny squirt on Sunday and a tiny squirt earlier today. The nurse at the pediatrician's office said not to worry until around 5 days which will be tomorrow. She also said to try some prune juice. I thought that wouldn't be so hard but so far no luck, not a fan of prune juice. I even tried giving it to her before a feeding thinking that if she was really hungry she'd suck it down. Nope. So, as funny as this sounds - please pray for this girl to poop soon! And of course if you have any good suggestions on how to get her bowels moving - please send them my way! Oh, the topics of interest in a mother's life!

That's not where the rough stuff ends though. Now the mean stuff. I felt like such a horrible mommy because the other night as we were putting Sophie to bed I was holding Claire, and as I was about to shut the door one of her little fingers got caught. Thankfully, it was just a little pinch and I didn't completely close it on her. Ouch, I bet you're just squirming reading this! I still feel awful. She screamed like she's never screamed before. I iced it and tried to give her as much comfort as possible. And again, thankfully by the grace of God it was just a little red and nothing else happened to it.

Now Sophie's turn to be the mean one. This morning I had Claire in the pack n' play with a little sea horse toy who's tummy glows and plays music. The sea horse is mostly soft but a little heavy b/c of the music compartment. I saw Sophie take it out, and I told her to please give it back to Claire since she was "playing" with it. Well, to Sophie's credit she obeyed and put it back in the pack n' play, just not so gracefully. She basically threw it back into the pack n' play and hit Claire in the face with it. Claire started screaming, and of course I panicked a little. Sophie saw this and got a huge pouty look on her face and started whaling too. It was actually kind of sweet, because the expression on her face clearly showed that she was so sorry and sad for what had happened to her baby sister. I told her to say I'm sorry to Claire and she did right away. Claire was fine, and I found myself consoling Sophie more than Claire because Sophie was so distraught by this whole event. As I was holding Claire and walking around with her for the next few minutes, everywhere I went Sophie made sure to bring me the sea horse so Claire could have it. Even though Claire getting hit with the toy wasn't something I would have wanted to happen, It was so neat to see such care and compassion in a 2 year old through the whole event.

With all of that being said, Claire is still really happy and sweet. Praise God for his mercy.

Playing Catchup

It's been a while, so this will be the super bring you up to speed blog.

First, our finished patio: It's lovely, we are really enjoying spending evenings sitting out on the patio.


Next, the little one:
Claire is doing well. She has been sleeping about 5-6 hours on average at night, and then she does another stretch of 4-5 hours. I am hoping that this will translate into a child who likes to sleep, and sleep in for that matter! She had her 2 month check - up last week, and although a little shy of 2 months she weighed 11 lbs putting her at about the 60th percentile. But she is a little shorty - only 21" putting her in the 25th percentile. (I find this kind of funny, giving stats on my baby). She is sweet and content most of the time, and it seems like her fussy evenings are dwindling down...woo-hoo!


And what would this blog be without a Sophie video? Lately she has been a little mommy imitator. When I clean, she wants to clean. When I am feeding and changing Claire, she does the same thing to her baby dolls -- though apparently she has chosen to bottle feed :) at least for now. And my favorite: shopping. She's picked up a thing or two. One day she found a baby gap bag and decided to put it on her arm and take her stroller for a walk. When I asked her what she was doing she told me she was shopping. And it's not on this video, but a little later in the day, she also added talking on a cell phone while shopping. Where could she have gotten all of that from???

Week of Fun

Nana (Bill's mom) came to visit for the week. We had a great time with her! We miss her already. Here are some highlights from our week together:
Sophie in her new bathing suit from Nana:

Swimming with Nana!

I'm a little partial, but isn't she a doll?

Interrupting a delicious dinner on Father's day to play doctor :)

Best attempt at a family photo

Sophie enjoying an early birthday present: Table and chairs! (Thanks Nana, Papa & Aunt Joyce!)

Miss Claire - the little peanut is turning into a little chubs! She already weighs over 10lbs

Chocolate goodness! Nana treated us by making an amazing chocolate cake and tiramisu, neither of which we took any pictures :(

More fun at the pool

Last but not least, our new patio in the making! This was day 1, I will post some pics once it is complete and looking pretty :)

Crazy Girl

As I mentioned in the previous post, Sophie has been watching more TV lately...sigh. A new show that she has come to love is Wonder Pets. More than the show though -- I think she likes to sing the Wonder Pets song. And dance to it while she sings. She learned everything she knows about dancing and singing from her daddy :)
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Here also is a picture of Sophie "sharing" her toys with Claire. Really, this entailed Sophie just toppling her toys on top of Claire, but she was very happy to give her toys to her little sister.

And last but not least, Sophie and her beloved friend Josiah after they finished puddle jumping in our backyard.