Baby Prints

soooooooooo cute

Foam Sweet Foam

Yes, we finally got Claire and Alex a play house. It's called "FOAM SWEET FOAM" which is made of this super cool hard foamy stuff. Josh put it together. It came in a flat box, of course.
It's super duper cute and really sturdy. Claire LOVES IT! It even has flowers that she can pretend to water and some fake birds she likes to feed her plastic food to. It even has a mailbox. I like to hide stuff in there and then tell her to go check her mailbox if she needs a distraction. It doesn't even need to be anything new. :)

The mailbox is on the left of the door. Claire loves to help me get mail and make birthday cards for people. She is obsessed with my address stamper. I need to get her some more stamp stuff because she loves it! I gave her some cards/envelopes to put in her mailbox, and she has had a blast with those. You can actually see 2 postcards laying on the ground! Notice all the crap she has put in there! Click on it to make it big.

And even more amazing...my brother David managed to crawl into the house with her...and was able to get out without removing the roof.

We actually told Claire the house was from Alexander! :) More photos to come of David's visit.

Arts and Crap...err...CRAFTS.

So when Claire has been getting restless lately, I try to set her up with a craft. They are mostly turning out like huge piles of glue, though. I am just glad she's busy, happy, and quiet....and could care less if she squeezes out the whole entire bottle of glue and smears it all over her hands like it's lotion...because I may or may not have dozed off on the couch while sitting up *amazing* and nursing Alex. Hey, glue is cheap!

This was during a more "supervised" craft...only a minorly huge pile of glue.

May I please?

Claire's favorite request: "May please hold baby Alex?" This one is today. They are both running a mild temp. and quite snot-nosed, but they still look awful cute, here, huh?!
She asks to hold him several times every day. Thank God she hasn't tried to pick him up yet, because I see that coming. She weighed 38.5 today. Her summer clothes are mostly 4Ts. The 5Ts seem a better length on her long legs, but skirts/pants that size fall off of her waist. She wanted to wear a footed 5T sleeper the other night, and it barely fit...I'll have to retire that too :( Too hot for summer anyways...

She really likes to get in his face. We have been talking about personal space/bubbles. It's not sinking in quite yet. ;)

This is a 0-3 month Carter's. It is now in the too small box. Notice how his feet totally fill out the feet and he can't bend his legs straight! I took them to the Dr. today to check out their colds. Claire may have an ear infection. She gave me a script for her and told me to wait a day or 2 to fill it to see if she gets better. I have been putting breast milk in Alex's nose, so I think that's been helping him! Maybe I should put some in Claire's ear/s? Alex was fine...just a normal cold, but I took his temp at home and it said 103. That freaked me out. I think I need a new one. I didn't even think to take Claire's and hers was 100.3. Alex's was 100.3 as well... they don't worry till it's 100.5. Hum. Well, he seems to be ok...

You can tell this was a couple weeks ago because he looks skinnier. My how he has filled out so fast! I bet it's all that nursing! ;)

I feel like this post should be....called AND WE'RE BACK!!!!!! Back from where???...sleep deprivation that is! I do believe that I got a solid 2 hours last night. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Actually, I'm still pretty tired, but what the heck...if I go to bed now or in an hour, I will still be tired...so why not stay up! Seriously...we've been going on walks too, every day. Claire only woke up 2 times last. That's her record. I think her regression has been night wakings. I guess I'll take it though.

It is FREE!!! Meaning if her regression were starting to wear diapers again, that would not be free or without it's hassles! Haha. She did pee the first night home from the hospital in the bed, but now it's been a full five weeks, so I guess I'm going to give the rest of the pack of pull-ups away...or keep them in case we have another girl...lol! How long do these things keep? I just remember finding some really crusty old diapers in the church nursery that were all stiff and nasty.

So while we are on the topic of bathroom comments, tonight she asked, "May I please pee in the bathtub." I started laughing hysterically. She always wants to know "Why you laughing Mommy?!" Or she'll say "What funny?"

Some other cute Claire-isms... At the dinner table, Claire said something funny. She goes, "I'm gonna beat your face." It was totally random. Josh was like, "Where did you hear that!?!" Her reply? "I don't know! I just pick up on it!" Meaning..."She just picked up on it." She's apparently just heard us say that a few times that she just "Picked up on something."

And boy...if we thought we had to watch what we said before, we have to watch it even more now. She will pick up on stuff that I say to someone on the phone and ask me about it later. She also demands to know who I'm talking to. "MOMMY! Who you talking to!?!" Because Josh interrupting me on the phone to ask that apparently wasn't enough. By the time Alex is 2, I may give up on phone calls altogether. ;)

Claire has been working on saying "May I please" instead of just demanding what she wants like a toddler. It was ok last year when she said, "I WANT APPLE!" Now when she says that, I say, "How do you ask nicely?" So then she'll say, "May I please have an apple?" Of course this usage is tricky. Like the other day she asked, "May I please you hold me?" Which of course is clear to any mother of a small child...but "You hold me?" seems a little clearer...well...there is the messed up word order of questions for you.

The other thing that is super funny? Claire is very interesting when I change Alex's diaper, although this has faded in the past week or so. She wanted to watch EVERY TIME. Fine, but I'm afraid she might get sprayed. And is that a newborn thing? Golly, I hope so! I try to cover the "sprayer" but I sometimes forget. And sometimes you can't cover it when you are wiping that runny newborn breastfed poop from those parts! So she points to that area and asks, "What that ball under his penis?" LOL! So I said "his scrotum or balls." I figured, I rather have her hear it from me than some other kid playing...oh crap...my kid is going to be the one to to do that...lol. Anyways, actually, my main reason is why make up names or something silly? She's going to need to know and if we act like it's no big deal, then it won't be. Ahhh....America.

Enjoying the Chaos :)

Welcome to chaos! This is the kids' room/my office/playroom. Notice, Alex is napping in the crib where there is a hamper of clean clothes. Otherwise, Claire would take everything out and then I wouldn't know what's clean/dirty.
Ok, so here is the changing table. Notice Claire has put her footstool here so she can change her baby dolls here. She also likes to watch Alex get changed.

Now...check out how organized I was...lol. And I do mean was. The day before Alex was born, I had Claire help me tape these labels on the drawers. She still has some work to do with putting dirty clothes in the hamper and not back in the drawers. When I put laundry away, I have to check the drawers for dirty/unfolded stuff. She changes clothes like 6 times a day. A battle that I do not wish to fight...

This is Alex's dresser. He got a Onesies label and that's it. Haha..it will stay like that for awhile. Just like my desk is going to be sitting in here. I seriously need someone to come over and help me rearrange...we have space...we have 4 bedrooms/3 baths/3,200sq. ft. but I am clueless how to use it and organize stuff. We never use our dining room table. I actually have a makeshift changing table set up on it for downstairs right now. Any professional decorators want to come over and give me some pointers before my desk sits in here another 5 years? I suck at decorating stuff. We don't want to give up our guest room yet, but I think it will be headed that way...eventually...once someone starts sleeping alone anyways... also notice that the Barbie bin, nicely labeled with stickers so she knows what goes in there...is totally empty.

Click on the pix to make them bigger.

I have TWO kids!

So...Claire has figured out she can jack her step stool from the bathroom and climb into Alex's crib. GASP!!! He sleeps...in a crib! Well he actually will let me put him down, and he'll stay asleep, unlike Claire. I'm starting to wonder now if she had reflux or colic? Who knows...but here she is wearing her shirt as a skirt...how creative.
Um yup, she was JUMPING in there and he stayed asleep!

She's a little turkey-butt!

Practicing her ballet poses?

3 weeks old today!

I can't believe that Alex turned 3 weeks old today! And to mark the special day, his umbilical cord FINALLY fell off. Well, last night, about 60% of it fell off and this morning the rest came right off when I wiped it with the cotton-soaked alcohol. Claire was very excited as she's been watching me change him and helping do his cord care.

So tonight I gave him a "real" bath in his infant tub next to Claire. This didn't work so well. In her attempts to "help" she kept getting water in his face. She wanted to wash his hair, but I'm afraid she'll be too "hard" on his soft spots. Then she kept trying to grab my hand that was supporting his head so she could hold him. I mean, he's her baby after all, why do I keep telling her what to do?! So then she got bored of it, well, that and the fact that his tub took up 75% of the regular tub, leaving her no room to play. So she just got out, ran down the hallway completely dripping wet and laughing hysterically, "I'm NAKED! I'm NAKED!"

Overall, it has been an adjustment. I would say the two biggest things people are asking ... so I'll just lay it out for you:

1. Are you having another one?

God no. NEVER AGAIN. ;) Ahaha. Ask me in 2 years...maybe? Maybe once I've had some solid nights sleep and Alex is also fully potty trained...so maybe more like 3 years from now!


2. Is Claire jealous?

Heck if I know. ASK HER! First, you'll have to explain what jealous is. Really...I think people want to know if she's regressing...well she's been waking up more at night but she's never been a great sleeper and seriously has only slept through the night like 10 times in her 33 months of life. Yes. Alex is already sleeping better. Thank you Lord. She also wants to nurse more, but I think this is more of a monkey see, monkey do thing. Like she never asks, but if she sees him, she wants some. I've been trying to get her snacks/drinks first, but seriously...she wants some yummy mummy milk and no stupid cup of apple juice and some pretzels will change that. If anyone asks around Claire about her, I always say positive things because she totally picks up and understands everything...which means I'm not talking about her in depth in front of her or saying anything bad, like she's being a pain in the ass waking up every 45 minutes for the past 3 weeks. :) Oh joy.

3. Are you getting any sleep?

Fuck you. Sorry if that language offends you...but seriously...who the hell asks that to someone with a newborn...and a toddler. Actually, see above at that last statement. Actually, last night was the best night yet, and I think Claire only woke up at about 1, 4, and 6, then got up at 7:15. I've tried naps and no naps..it doesn't matter. She does sleep about 12 hours overall....7 to 7 and always goes to sleep right away. She just does not fall back asleep on her own, and no I'm not complaining or looking for advice. I'm merely telling you how it is since everyone has been asking. And I'm not looking to let her cry-it-out or wean her. I think thing will go back to normal soon enough.

4. How is it nursing 2?

I've only tried actually nursing them at the same time a couple times...it's too hard since Alex next complete head holding still at this point, and Claire just wants to shove him on the floor in general to get on my lap...but I think it's helped immensely. She knows she will get her turn to nurse, she just might have to wait. It does put her back to sleep instantly which is much easier than trying to rub her back or do something that requires me moving...I've also read that many times kids will wean at about 36 months. I'm thinking that may well happen since she was nursing just before sleep basically before Alex was born. Now it's just fun and new again since there is all this milk once more.

5. What do you need?

How do you answer this? I think this is probably the hardest one for me because I don't know what to tell people.

6. Are you still bleeding?

What the crap? Yeah, apparently this is a need-to-know thing, but everyone that has asked me this has had kids....so not really...just down to a pantyliner. TMI? I would think so, but whatever! You know I hold nothing back.

7. Are things back to normal?

What the crap is NORMAL? Having kids will make your life abnormal forever. And kiss sleeping in goodbye...forever?



So anyways, when I was three weeks post-partum with Claire, my Grandma Irma died. That majorly sucked. Things are going much better this time around. Nobody's died. Hopefully I didn't just screw that up...

Hating the Gowns

Alexander is getting so big! I am taking lots of pictures and videos, but have trouble of course finding time to post them!
He seems so long and stretched out already! I hate these infant gowns on him, although I loved them with Claire. I've determined it's because he kicks his legs and they get all bunched up like this. Claire seemed to pretzel her legs more.

Oh my gosh...so cute!

The Main Attraction

Whenever I put Alex down, Claire is on him!
She wants him to play more, but that will have to wait!

He prefers to do a lot of this:

Thank you Lord for making him a better sleeper than Claire! :)

Big Sister, Big Helper

Here is Claire in one of her big sister shirts! So give me ideas...what are some things I can do for "special" time with Claire? My ideas

playdoh

stickers

coloring

moonsand

painting nails/toes

reading books

playing

sidewalk chalk

bubbles

making something in the kitchen

Ok...really anything can be made special? But I'm sure you have good ideas?

Also, How can she help with baby? I have her gently brush his hair, wipe his cord with a cotton ball with alcohol, get diapers, wipes, throw them away...etc...but what else can you think of? She loves to help and she LOVES to hold him. She wants to nurse him too, but that doesn't work so well. ;)

PS...random side note...I just ran spell check and for "playdoh" it suggested PLAYBOY. Wow. In case you ever wondered...

A 4-Starr Hotel * * * *

We now have a "4 Starr" hotel! And here are the 4 Starrs: Me and my little guy:

Super daddy:

Bruise

Click on this to make it full-sized, then check on the bruise at the bottom of the photo on my arm. NICE! My vein collapsed when they started my IV. Instead of sticking me again, she dug around in my arm. Boo. Well, when I had Claire, I had 4 IV holes and bruises since they couldn't get one started...oh and I had a bruise from an epidural that didn't work. ;) So at least I guess this is an improvement?

A Great Time To Have a Baby!

I can't tell you how many people would comment, "What a great time of year to have a baby!" When I told them I was due in April. I guess it is nice not having to bundle up my little bundle...but we haven't really been anywhere other than back to the hospital for a PKU test and to the peds office for his one week appointment, where he had gained back 8 oz. from when he had his PKU test.
Me on my phone...typical!

Aww...they grow so fast!

Claire loves holding her baby brother!

Snuggle Wrap

Check out this cute snuggle wrap that my sister Holly made. Claire has a matching big blankie as well as a dollie blankie and pillow!

Little Brother, Big Sister!

Make sure to spit-up when Mommy gets out the camera!
Newborn outfits stop at 21.5 inches. He is 22.5. This outfit will be added to the too small pile I have already started!

Claire has become quite the silly girl when I try to take pictures!

She does a goofy fake smile if I ask her to smile:

Now this would be perfect if her tongue was in, but it's kind of cute out! :)