Playing Outside

What? It's 60? TIME TO GRILL OUT!
Claire's fascination with wearing hats...or burp rags on her head continues...

Pretty soon I'll have one in each arm!

Shopping Fail

I saw this mangled cart in the sad, dirty pile of snow a couple weeks ago. Now, if I were really ambitious, I would totally go back and take a picture everyday until the snow was totally gone. However, seeing as that I have better things to do, you are only so lucky as to get a picture because I just happened to have my camera in the car.
Pretty hilarious. Plow = 1. Shopping Cart = 0.

I wonder how much a shopping cart like that costs anyways?

Welcoming the Warm-Up!

I am so glad that winter is over. Time for no coats! Time for sandals! Well, almost...close enough! Claire loves dresses. Have I mentioned that she wants to wear a dress and tights every single day? Well she does. Then she asks for a necklace and/or a bracelet. "CUZ Princesses wear them. I need a necklace so I be a Princess." That's logical!
She loves the Easter Egg tree. As you can see, she's very excited about going outside and getting to touch them. Haha. I have some Easter decorations inside she's not supposed to touch, so apparently touching these is a thrill.

I have to say, it does add some nice color to the bare tree and still brownish grass!

These pictures were actually from about a week ago, and the pictures with snow piled up were from about 2 weeks ago. Ha. I got an early jump on my Easter decorations. Now, I'm planning to take them down like the day after Easter so that they won't remain up until like July (new baby = distractions!). Not "due" until the 16th, but Lordy, with all the Braxton-Hicks I've been having, I would say...anyday now! ;)

Spring is just a few more days away!!! YAY for warmer weather!

Easter Egg Tree Fun

Claire has moved up a coat size. This a 3T. I'm hoping it still fits next fall since it's really cute. It's a really pricey London Fog one I got on clearance for less than 15. It fits my "coat selection rules" meaning, coats I buy have to have hoods and pockets. I hate coats that don't have hoods and pockets.
We had a huge pile of snow that Claire was able to enjoy and play in during 40 and 50 degree weather. This was really nice because she didn't freeze! I did not put her snow pants on her, and she sat down in the snow. She quickly realized that she would get a wet butt. Ha. She was pretty distraught because she goes, "Why I WET? I NO PEE!" Poor potty-trained girlie was all confused as to why her butt was feeling damp.

She had so much fun making castles out of snow ... and then stomping them.

This is the easiest and perhaps cheapest craft ever. I used about 3 bags of Easter eggs from the dollar store...cost $3. All you have to do is tie some string in a circle, like a bracelet and then close the egg on top of the string. I hot-glued them around where they close, so maybe I'll get a 2nd season out of them, but they tend to hold up pretty well considering how cheap they are.

And PS...this coat is the only one that fits me now. I tried on my other light weight jacket today and totally just put it back. It doesn't even close at all. That's ok, in about a month from now, I plan on losing at least 15 lbs overnight. ;) LOL...when I had Claire that's how much I lost from just her being born, fluids, placenta, etc, overnight. ;)

And nope, we don't have a name. And nope, we're probably not going to decide until the birth.

Finding Fun on Rainy Days

We had this giant box that I decided to turn into a fort before we kicked it to the curb. Claire had fun watching me cut out the doors/windows. Totally uneven, but I wasn't about to spend a lot of time on something that will be destroyed. At first she didn't want to go in it, so we called it "Toby's House" and put some of her dolls and toys in it.

I had originally just made a door and one window, but then cut a window in the door and on each side. Then Josh was able to convince her it was fun to go in there! :) She ended up having a lot of fun in there!
The box is already pretty sad looking so after another week or so, this will be going bye-bye. But there will be other boxes. ;)

Piddle Pad

Have you heard of a Piddle Pad? Well I got one for Claire's carseat, and it gives me peace of mind. I wouldn't have to take out the carseat liner in case she has an accident, the piddle pad would catch it. We've been accident free for over a week now, including sleeping. I've gotten her to be ok with sleeping in a pull-up. (Thanks, Pam!) I never really bought pull-ups because they are the same as diapers...even the ones that feel "cold" for a second. So I think I'll keep her in the pull-ups until after the new baby comes because what a pain to change bedding and wash her off during the night. Plus, I'm afraid that if it's like 4 or 5 in the morning, she might have had enough sleep and not want to go back to sleep. That's not enough sleep for me! ;)

A tip I found watching some YouTube videos about potty training was to treat the pull-ups like underwear vs. diapers. Take them out of the plastic bag, and then put them in a drawer next to the underwear or where ever you want to keep them. You can't keep them in the old diaper place next to the wipes, or they'll think of them as diapers.

Claire also has this sudden urge for independence in public restrooms. She insists on going into a stall alone. I hold the door shut since she doesn't know how to lock it, and I'm so not showing her yet. She does fine. The only problem is sometimes if the toilet paper roll isn't hanging out she has trouble getting the TP out.

Like, what would trigger potty-regression with a new baby? I have been trying to talk to her about what a big girl she is and point out that only little tiny babies who can't walk or talk use diapers. Sigh...hopefully anticipating this will help?

Claire's Favorite Foods

Gulp. So I have about 30ish days or so to go. I keep saying I'll be early, but with my luck, I'll be late and have to get induced again. Or with my luck, have him tomorrow and be oh so not ready. Like I said, I've had SO SO SO many Braxton-Hicks, it ridiculous. Today I made sausage and pancakes for supper and that little time moving quickly around the kitchen felt like labor. INSANE. So I decided I better make a list of Claire's favorite foods for whomever is taking care of her for however long I'm imprisoned...aka till I can get an early release from the hospital. So here's what I feed my kid. :) Don't judge or I'll call you on that time you took yours to Crapplebees or McDs. ;)

Claire’s Favorite Foods
Apples - ask if she wants it peeled, or sliced. She can just eat them whole, too.
Oranges - peel and section, duh
Clementines - watch to remove any seeds!
Bananas - peel and remove any strings before giving it to her
Grapes- no seeds! If they are giant ones, cut in half
Mozzarella string cheese
Slice of American cheese
YoBaby Mixed Berry Yogurt - STIR REALLY WELL! Not premixed
Honey Graham crackers
Cheddar Bunnies or Goldfish crackers
Pretzels any kind or goldfish pretzels
Peanut butter sandwich, cut in 2 triangles diagonal (NO JELLY!)
Spaghetti - You have to mix the sauce on the noodles/cut noodles before giving it to her or she will not eat it, she will cry and beg for just the plain noodles. I usually use the Ragu traditional and add 1 lb of burger that I fry.
Tater Tot Casserole
Hot Dish with tomato soup, burger, noodles
Tuna Casserole- Has to be hot! I use miracle whip and about 2-3 cups of noodles, 1 can peas, 1 can tuna. She’ll just ask you to microwave it if it’s not hot enough or if it cools off too much while she’s eating it
Chicken soup – any kind with small noodles or curly ones so I don’t have to cut them. There is a red spoon that doubles as a straw in the drawer.
Grilled Cheese – cut in 2 triangles. I use 2 slices of American and grill it with butter
Mac and Cheese – Kraft blue box, but usually any kind will do
Lasagna
Hot dogs- gross I know.
Hamburger - plain patty. I will fry them and sometimes she’ll want ketchup and bun, sometimes not, just ask. Or you can give her ketchup to dip it in
Corn – any kind
Green beans- calls them “Shrek beans” since they are green
Little trees- broccoli, cut into manageable sized pieces
“Chicken suckers” which are drumsticks
Pancakes or French toast cut in bite size pieces with pure maple syrup or agave nectar
bacon
boiled eggs (chopped up) - have to be hot if they've been in the fridge
Gerber Strawberry Yogurt melts - yellow bag in toddler/baby food area
Cheerios
Flax Seed Cereal (green box)
Captain crunch (yuck, but Josh’s fav too) Probably would like some other cereals, but I never buy them. Does not like raisins/dried cranberries/other dried fruit. I think it's a texture thing. She will chew on them and spit them out.
Quaker Oat Granola Bars with choc chips
Banana bread, esp if you let her help u make it, but no toppings, and likes it heated up if it’s been in the fridge
Won’t eat fruit snacks usually, but likes to squish them. ;)
Loves GUM
Loves ICE … her most requested “food” item.
Loves any kind of crap like cookies, candy, pudding, ice cream, Popsicles, fudge bars, potato chips. Limit for obvious reasons. 2 oreos at 4pm= not eating dinner
Has started eating some kinds of fries, but mostly I think for the ketchup ;)
Will eat most any kind of “sloppity globbity stew” from the crock pot. Loves carrots from the crock pot and you don’t have to cut them too small.
Loves honey roasted peanuts, but watch close…choking hazard! Have not tried any other nuts with her yet.
Love applesauce, look for no sugar or just boil up a pot of apples that need to go with some water and maybe a tiny bit of sugar and make some
Will usually be more willing to try something new if you let her help you make it
Will eat almost anything with noodles or pasta of some type. More willing to try foods separate vs. mixed. Aka... if you make chili, leave out some plain burger meat and she'll eat a bowl of that vs. the mixed up batch.
Likes white rice (won’t always eat baked potatoes, can’t get her to try mashed. Sigh)
Likes peanut butter on crackers
Loves cheese pizza and breadsticks (Good American!)
Will do better eating something if you have the plate completely served/cut up and then put it in front of her. If you dish 1 item, then try to dish another, it’s like you’re messing with what she has and she gets mad. She also won’t want you to cut it in front of her. Cut on the counter when you dish it! She’ll want to have a little toddler knife and try to cut it herself. Do not tell her to try it. Just talk about how yummy and good your own food is! Show how "big" of a bite you can take.

Eating pattern: breakfast around 9. Lunch about 11:30. Maybe a small snack around 4 when I start dinner. Eat dinner at 5:30. Bedtime snack around 8-8:30. I usually don’t actually do a morning snack or afternoon one since she nurses all the time, but I always have a sippy cup of water out for her or an open cup that’s plastic. If we’re out and about she will probably eat a snack, but if we’re home, we’re usually lazy.
But if she doesn’t nurse, she’ll probably need some more snacks!!! Bedtime snack is usually about the same as what she’d eat at breakfast, like a bowl of cheerios and milk or an egg.
And after looking at this…maybe she is drinking too much and that’s why she doesn’t eat snacks? Who knows. They say toddlers regulate themselves…I’m not sure that’s true. It’d be gum and ice cream for every meal!

DRINKS-
100 percent apple or dark purple grape juice. I think she’ll drink OJ, but I don’t normally buy it
Milk-white or chocolate
Gatorade- traditional orange or the light blue flavor (watch out for the diet crap!)
· I have been trying to give her a variety. As much water as she wants of course, but I try to limit to 2 cups juice, 2 cups milk, 2 cups Gatorade per day. Fill them all the way up. She will drink it all! She hasn’t been drinking quite that much lately, but if her nursing is cut back, she probably will.

Yup. She's a picky eater. Is that born or made? Nature or nuture? Hmm...but I sure wouldn't want someone to force me to eat something I didn't like.

What a Mess!

So I spent all day today pulling out everything from our front hall closet to get out the infant carseat. Sigh. So now my project for tomorrow is to put it all back. I did get the carseat straps adjusted to the smallest height setting. Claire's baby doll, "Toby" was the model. I also got my Baby Bjorn adjusted to the smallest setting. It was sorta sad. Claire didn't remember it. She remembers my blue OTSBH but not the Bjorn. I think about this time last year was when I stopped using the Bjorn since her legs were so long, they kept hitting my knees. I stopped using the OTSBH so much since she likes to walk, but I put her in it a few weeks ago when she was teething and clingy, and I was trying to make dinner. She did remember that since I'd continued to use it.

Tonight we went to a preschool open house and got Claire enrolled for the fall. She'll do a year of Pre-3 and then a year of Pre-4 and start Kindergarten when she's 5. She'll be a fresh five, but she's so ready. She is sooo sooo social. She loves story time weekly at the library and and Children's church on Sundays. I'm not sure if we'll still be able to do story times in the fall, but we'll have to see how the story time schedules fit with her preschool calendar. We meet all the teachers she'll have tonight and feel very confident with our choice. I've been to 2 other preschools and gotten the best vibes from this place from others and just from being there tonight. Claire was great and ran off to color and play with toys with the other kids while Josh and I talked to the teachers. We are also going to do a "SUMMER CAMP!" I'm excited about this.

It's just a day camp, 2 days/week for 2 hours. I think it will be great for her to get used to in June and July. Then August will be off and school starts after labor day in September. She'll go 3 days a week for 2 hours. It's also faith based which I like. It's kind of a joke for 2 hours since they'll do a snack and potty break too. It'll be good for her though. She's always asking, "What are we gonna do today? We got story time today? Who's gonna come over? Can we go play somewhere? We going shopping? I wanna play outside!" So this will be nice for her to have something to look forward to 3 days a week.

The other preschool I really liked was 2.5 hours for 2 days/week but they don't welcome siblings on field trips...and that was really a major deciding factor for me! I don't want Claire riding in a car with someone else that I don't know so I'd want to go on field trips. And I don't know if baby boy will take a bottle. Claire never would. So anyways, this way she'll get to go on field trips (bowling, pumpkin patch, apple orchard, tour local pizza place, etc). They've got it all planned out for the year!!!

I actually looked into a 2s class last year about this time, but decided to wait awhile. I know some kids never do preschool or Kindergarten and do totally fine, but Claire is a very social creature and seems to make friends easily. I think she'll also love the crafts they do.

We've been playing outside a lot. It's great! Today it got up to 67!!! We did chalk on the driveway, then brought moonsand outside. That made for a nice and easy clean up! No sand on the kitchen floor!

So Claire did great at her open house and asked me to go potty in front of her to-be teacher. Luckily, she did not lift up her dress to show off her big girl panties, like she was doing at church on Sunday...and all around town the past week or so. We even broke out the sandals today as part of cleaning out the front hall closet.

Well wish me luck as I organize and put it all back. I've got to paper grocery sacks ready for the Goodwill. I'm a little sad to be putting away her snow pants/hats/mittens. I don't know if they'll fit at all next year and don't know if I'll have another girl. :) I don't know if baby boy would like to wear purple snow pants...but it seems silly to not let him wear a perfectly good pair of size 2T snow pants in the winter just because they are purple. Who made up these silly cultural color rules. Why can't boys wear pink, purple, and florals nowadays?

They used to put babies all in white since it's easy to bleach. Dang marketing.

Tinkerbell Fan

I've been having fun taking pictures of Claire now that it's warmed up a tad!
These are fake, but I already saw some little things sprouting around my house today, despite the lingering blobs of snow here and there!

Loves to talk. Even in her sleep.

Yes, drawing in a new white dress with markers. I am brave. Haha...these are the "color wonder markers" that won't mark on anything but the special paper.

Loves to draw and color. Today on the way to the grocery store she was writing a recipe and saying what it was aloud: "2 cup a oatmeal, 2 cup a salt, 1 cup a sugar, 1 cup a milk." Should be tasty. ;)

Loves to climb. Wish we had tumbling more than once/week!

I love her bangs. I love bangs on little girls in general though, don't you? No hair in the eyes here! (I can't stand that!)

My Baby Brother!

Claire loves to love on her baby brother.

If someone asks her if she's going to be a big sister soon, she'll get very excited and say, "I gonna have a baby brother! It'll be at Easter time when all the snow piles all gone and flowers come up!" And now she's added more information onto that to anyone who listens: "And I a big girl and use the potty and sleep in underpants!" (She has been napping in panties but I'm not brave enough for night time yet...she's gonna have to wake up dry at least a week straight before I'm thinking of letting her sleep in panties! Too much of a mess!) Then she'll say what princess is on her underwear. And then she'll say what color underwear I'm wearing. Geesh. She pays too much attention to these things. Yup. I'm not kidding.

"My momma's got on purple underwear. I got on my Belle underwear!" Since we're talking about these things...today she grabbed the crotch of my pants when we went into the bathroom at church and said, "Good job, Momma! You're keeping your panties dry!" Thank goodness we were in the bathroom at that point. But I guess I've been feeling her there to check to make sure she's dry because I just can't believe how well things are going. Now I do believe that they will train when ready.

She had been going in the bathroom, pulling her pants down, throwing her own diaper away, peeing on her little potty, then coming to get me to see. NOW she will wipe herself and dump her little potty into the big one. Sigh. Then she wants to rinse it like she sees me do. So she'll push her step stool to the sink, fill it up with water, and then set it on the sink counter, get down, then dump the water in the pot. I can handle this. She can't get onto our potties. They are really tall. They are the handicapped, elongated toilets in all our bathrooms. Great for adults who are taller since the are also higher up off the ground. Not so great for a toddler!

Ok, so I said I wasn't going to blog about this but too late. Haha. Nothing gross though. Now the battle is sleeping in a diaper. She doesn't want to. She gets mad. I don't like to confuse her with this message either, but I also don't want to deal with a wet bed during the night. I also won't want to deal with that in a few weeks with a newborn. I'm not sure what to do. I don't really trust her in the bathroom alone, especially at night. Our light switches are also really high, which is bad. She can barely reach them when she's on the step stool. I've notice that at other houses, like my parents, that she has no problem reaching the lights from standing on the floor. It's strange how high they are here. Last night she slept 12 hours and woke up dry, but I'm wondering how many days/nights of this success will it take to be 100% potty trained. Will she regress? Will she regress when the new baby comes? It's hard to say. Sigh. Like is it safe to say that she's potty-trained now? How many accident free days are needed to say this?

Ok, so this post was going to be about how in love Claire is with the idea of her baby brother, but we digressed, per usual.

Fairies are Attracted to Light

See! "I can turn the light on and off!" Oh, and she has figured out how to flush the potties. Our potties are *really* hard to flush. She's been flushing public potties for well over a year, but ours at home take her 2 hands! Ha! AND...she's turning on the bathtub. I just hope it's awhile before she masters the art of opening doors with door knob covers.
She asks to wear her Tinkerbell outfit. May as well let her while it fits!

"Oooh! Pretty!"

What a cute pregnant person!

Today someone said to me, "What a cute pregnant person!" I didn't know if I should slap them or say thank you?

I have been having a ton of Braxton Hicks. A TON TON! That means the end is indeed near. I had an OB appt. this week. Went normal! You know, try not to pee on your hand as you pee in a tiny cup...get your BP taken, etc. My BP has been measuring at 110/70 which they always say is low, but if you look on the charts, it's still normal. I think it's the fish oil I take...that and chasing around Claire.

Anyways, I have a "feeling" that he'll be early. I was always thinking with Claire that she would be late, and she was. I have a ticker at the top of my blog page if you want to see my due date and how close I am as the event approaches. If I fall off the face of the earth and the face of Facebook, you'll know what's up! I am hoping he stays in until Easter though! :) That is my goal...

Feeling Risky!

So I refuse to blog in-depth about potty-training or related issues generally because, um, nobody really wants to read that...but I don't want to say things are going great for fear of jinxing myself or whatever. Let's just say that this is day 2 of somebody napping with big girl panties on. Why does that feel risky? LOL! And I am like totally ready for a giant set-back in a few weeks with new baby-related regression...but here's to hoping!

Oh, and I thought we were done with naps for awhile, and maybe we were. Maybe she is having a growth spurt? I measured her. She is 42 inches. Good lord! She is so tall! I know she is also cutting all 4 of her 2 year old molars. She is the slowest teether ever. Does teething make them more tired or is that my imagination? She has been taking great long naps and still sleeping solidly at night. This is not bragging. This is just stating the facts because I am confused. Who knows. Nobody will ever figure out this sleep thing.

New Baby to-do List

To Do list:
Move dresser from master closet into kids’ playroom/clothing storage room
Wash, fold, put away baby boy clothes
Move Claire’s play kitchen from Living room into breakfast nook
Move dollhouse bookcase into Game room to make room for dresser
Order picture prints
Scrapbook!
Set up pack n play with bassinet feature
Get out swing, bouncer, check batteries
Pack hospital bag, new baby bag, snacks/gum/Gatorade!
Pack day-away bag for Claire, fav. Dry Snacks/juice/clothes/jammies/emergency phone list/guardian info
Update will with new baby info
Make a list of Claire’s favorite foods!
BIRTHPLAN!
Get out infant carseat, adjust straps, install
Move Claire’s carseat to side
Pick a freaking name

BUY:
Another hamper
Rubbing alcohol, peroxide
Size 1 & 2 diapers
Postpartum supplies

Stock up on household supplies:
TP, papertowels, laundry soap, baby wipes, etc

DO NOW:
Oil change

WHAT AM I MISSING?

Tumbling Tots Gymnastics

Jumping on the spongy mats with friends:
Waiting for directions...my belly at 33 weeks:

Jumping off the wedge that looks like a stick of butter:

Walking the balance beam with teacher:

Jumping downhill: