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.