Rather than chopping off my hair like I usually do when I want a change, I added bangs. And I unpermed my hair. Well, my hairstylist did. The perm is gone! Woo hoo!
Lilypie Angel and Memorial tickers
Friday, August 31, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
3 months of Clay!
Out little guy is three months old today as sweet as ever.
- I have no idea what he weighs or how long he is, but he sure is a fat, healthy baby!
- I switched him to the 3 1/2 hour schedule today, so that means he is awake for an hour and a half, sleeps for two hours, and repeats. He's been "sleeping" through the night for a month now, but he makes so much noise that I'm not sleeping through the night, so I think I'll be moving him to Claire's room soon.
- He just found his voice the other day and loves to yell at his toys now :)
- Like his sister at this age, he loves to stand and is constantly crunching his abs in an effort to sit up. Just call him "crossfit baby!"
- Other than that, he's still sweet, happy, and wonderful! I still feel a little stuck at home, but that will pass.
- I have no idea what he weighs or how long he is, but he sure is a fat, healthy baby!
- I switched him to the 3 1/2 hour schedule today, so that means he is awake for an hour and a half, sleeps for two hours, and repeats. He's been "sleeping" through the night for a month now, but he makes so much noise that I'm not sleeping through the night, so I think I'll be moving him to Claire's room soon.
- He just found his voice the other day and loves to yell at his toys now :)
- Like his sister at this age, he loves to stand and is constantly crunching his abs in an effort to sit up. Just call him "crossfit baby!"
- Other than that, he's still sweet, happy, and wonderful! I still feel a little stuck at home, but that will pass.
(These pics are a little dark, but I grabbed the only camera that was nearby and didn't have much time to fiddle with the settings. Gotta catch the smiles while they last! )
Sunday, August 12, 2012
We're back... finally!
Hello hello! We've been on vacation for the past two weeks and even though I had my iPad, I just didn't feel like blogging. I was too busy sleeping in, taking longs walks on the beach, reading good books...
Oh wait, I didn't do any of those things! I have kids now... which means vacation is no longer the relaxing thing it once was. *sigh*
But I did have a great time seeing family and enjoying all the activity surrounding me, including the Olympics! For the first week we were with my whole family at North Litchfield Beach. And when I say my whole family, I mean my WHOLE, ENTIRE, HUGE family! We had a reunion with my dad's side, which includes him and his four brothers and four step-sisters, twenty-four of us cousins (and our spouses), and six of our own kids. I think there were 48 of us total :) We all hung out on the beach every day and then gathered for dessert at a different house every night. It was great seeing everyone!
The second week were we with Cole's family at Isle of Palms Beach. This week was quieter, with just his immediate family, his aunt and uncle, two cousins, and grandmother. But the big thing about this week was his brother's engagement! Chad decided to follow in Cole's footsteps and pop the question on the beach. Donna was so surprised and said YES!, of course :) We also had fun playing games, going into Charleston, and filming Chad & Donna's engagement video (well, mostly Cole did that part, but we all helped)!
So now we're home again! I'm tuckered out from all the activity and glad to be back. Claire got pretty whiny by the end of the second week, so I'm hoping that she adjusts well to life at home again. Clay was a champ and was great for both weeks, though I'm still not getting much sleep at night. (We're gonna work on that this week!)
I'll leave you with a sampling of the pics we took:
Oh wait, I didn't do any of those things! I have kids now... which means vacation is no longer the relaxing thing it once was. *sigh*
But I did have a great time seeing family and enjoying all the activity surrounding me, including the Olympics! For the first week we were with my whole family at North Litchfield Beach. And when I say my whole family, I mean my WHOLE, ENTIRE, HUGE family! We had a reunion with my dad's side, which includes him and his four brothers and four step-sisters, twenty-four of us cousins (and our spouses), and six of our own kids. I think there were 48 of us total :) We all hung out on the beach every day and then gathered for dessert at a different house every night. It was great seeing everyone!
The second week were we with Cole's family at Isle of Palms Beach. This week was quieter, with just his immediate family, his aunt and uncle, two cousins, and grandmother. But the big thing about this week was his brother's engagement! Chad decided to follow in Cole's footsteps and pop the question on the beach. Donna was so surprised and said YES!, of course :) We also had fun playing games, going into Charleston, and filming Chad & Donna's engagement video (well, mostly Cole did that part, but we all helped)!
So now we're home again! I'm tuckered out from all the activity and glad to be back. Claire got pretty whiny by the end of the second week, so I'm hoping that she adjusts well to life at home again. Clay was a champ and was great for both weeks, though I'm still not getting much sleep at night. (We're gonna work on that this week!)
I'll leave you with a sampling of the pics we took:
My dad reading to Bru and Claire.
My fam - James, mom, Caroline, dad, Clay, me, Claire, Cole, Rochelle, Margaret, Bruton, Cal, & Sam.
Sweet (and sometimes feisty) cousins - Claire, Clay, Caroline, Margaret, and Bruton.
Sam, Cole, and James buried alive!
Even Claire got buried!
Cole's family and the Texas cousins!
Donna and Chad - she said YES!
Nickell gang - Claire, Cole, me, Clay, Chad, Donna, Dana, Granny, Nick, Ryan, & Julia.
Our little family :)
My man!
Monday, July 23, 2012
2 months
Clay hit the 2 month mark last Friday, so I thought I'd list his stats:
Weight: 13 lbs. 2 oz. and he is CHUNKY! 90th percentile for weight. Love it :)
Height: 23 1/2 inches long.
Eats: Confession time - I just quit nursing and put him on 'the bottle'! I know, I know... I'm a terrible, selfish mother. I had a full supply, he was nursing ok - I am just tired! Three babies in three years is too much. Nursing was stressing me out and I am simply tired of my body not being my own for the last three years. I waited until he got to the 2 month mark and had filled out and then I threw in the towel. Feel free to start judging though. (But does it help that it's organic formula???) :)
Sleeps: He is scheduled! Woo hoo! He eats, plays for an hour, and then sleeps for 2 hours, all day long. Every once in a while he throws me a curve ball and does something funky with nap time, but for the most part, he's like clockwork. Twice he's made it through the night (with lots of help from the paci) but it's too early to tell that will become a habit or not. For the most part, he goes to bed around 8, wakes up once around 3 am to eat, then sleeps till 7 or 7:30. Not too bad.
Personality: So sweet! I didn't think it was possible to have another easy-going child like Claire, (I've heard about 2nd and 3rd children being stubborn little devils) but so far he seems to go with the flow and not be much of a crier. Yay Clay!
Weight: 13 lbs. 2 oz. and he is CHUNKY! 90th percentile for weight. Love it :)
Height: 23 1/2 inches long.
Eats: Confession time - I just quit nursing and put him on 'the bottle'! I know, I know... I'm a terrible, selfish mother. I had a full supply, he was nursing ok - I am just tired! Three babies in three years is too much. Nursing was stressing me out and I am simply tired of my body not being my own for the last three years. I waited until he got to the 2 month mark and had filled out and then I threw in the towel. Feel free to start judging though. (But does it help that it's organic formula???) :)
Sleeps: He is scheduled! Woo hoo! He eats, plays for an hour, and then sleeps for 2 hours, all day long. Every once in a while he throws me a curve ball and does something funky with nap time, but for the most part, he's like clockwork. Twice he's made it through the night (with lots of help from the paci) but it's too early to tell that will become a habit or not. For the most part, he goes to bed around 8, wakes up once around 3 am to eat, then sleeps till 7 or 7:30. Not too bad.
Personality: So sweet! I didn't think it was possible to have another easy-going child like Claire, (I've heard about 2nd and 3rd children being stubborn little devils) but so far he seems to go with the flow and not be much of a crier. Yay Clay!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Getting things done!
Cole has been gone all this week and will be gone most of the next week and then the entire week after that. Which means it's kind of lonely around here and I'm starting to go crazy with the two kids!
So instead of going crazy and having my husband come home to a basket-case of a wife, I decided to make a nice long to-do list to keep myself busy and sane (I'm a neat-freak, so checking things off a to-do list gives me more satisfaction than should be normal).
Here's my list for this week:
- Buy a new vacuum and then clean, dust, mop the entire house
- Organize all the paper floating around our house into neat files
- Wash and put up all maternity clothes (woo hoo!)
- Clean bathrooms and organize the stuff hanging out on the counter tops (I bought some wall shelves at Target to help with this.)
- Paint an old shelf white and then use it to organize all of Cole's stuff in our room
- Get together items for Goodwill and drop them off
- Put away all the videography gear that's all over the living room and bedroom
Check, check, and check! I've pretty much gotten it all done except for actually dropping the stuff off at Goodwill.
So here's the list to keep me busy the next two weeks:
- Upload 2011 pics to Shutterfly, order them, put them in photos albums
- Clean out and organize our storage space then...
- THROW JUNK AWAY!
- Plan my beach menus
- Work on my base tan
- And lastly... clean the house again before we leave for the beach
Ahhhhhhh... being organized and getting things done. It's good for the soul :)
So instead of going crazy and having my husband come home to a basket-case of a wife, I decided to make a nice long to-do list to keep myself busy and sane (I'm a neat-freak, so checking things off a to-do list gives me more satisfaction than should be normal).
Here's my list for this week:
- Buy a new vacuum and then clean, dust, mop the entire house
- Organize all the paper floating around our house into neat files
- Wash and put up all maternity clothes (woo hoo!)
- Clean bathrooms and organize the stuff hanging out on the counter tops (I bought some wall shelves at Target to help with this.)
- Paint an old shelf white and then use it to organize all of Cole's stuff in our room
- Get together items for Goodwill and drop them off
- Put away all the videography gear that's all over the living room and bedroom
Check, check, and check! I've pretty much gotten it all done except for actually dropping the stuff off at Goodwill.
So here's the list to keep me busy the next two weeks:
- Upload 2011 pics to Shutterfly, order them, put them in photos albums
- Clean out and organize our storage space then...
- THROW JUNK AWAY!
- Plan my beach menus
- Work on my base tan
- And lastly... clean the house again before we leave for the beach
Ahhhhhhh... being organized and getting things done. It's good for the soul :)
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
7 weeks and 2 days
Today Clay is 7 weeks and 2 days old, the same age Matthew was when he died.
Very weird.
Very hard.
I really don't know how I lived through that. When I look at my little Clay and try to imagine saying goodbye, I start to cry. I cry for myself, I cry for Matthew, I cry knowing that my boys will never meet in this life.
Seven weeks is so short. Way too short. But it's also long enough to really get attached, to love someone with your whole heart and then to feel your heart almost physically break when you have to say goodbye.
Oh gosh. I miss Matthew a lot today.
Very weird.
Very hard.
I really don't know how I lived through that. When I look at my little Clay and try to imagine saying goodbye, I start to cry. I cry for myself, I cry for Matthew, I cry knowing that my boys will never meet in this life.
Seven weeks is so short. Way too short. But it's also long enough to really get attached, to love someone with your whole heart and then to feel your heart almost physically break when you have to say goodbye.
Oh gosh. I miss Matthew a lot today.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Me at one month :)
I figured "Hey! I did all the work bringing Clay into this world, why does he get a status update and not me?!" So here are my stats at a little over one month post-pregnancy :)
- Lost all my baby weight (but then again, I only gained 16 lbs)
- Have not, however, lost all the puffiness and jiggliness. I'm still sporting the rounded belly (and it being bathing suit season does not help!)
- Therefore I am working out at least 4x a week... running, swimming, biking, cross fitting.... etc.
- Which makes me really wish I was sleeping thru the night
- Because I have no extra energy
- Which means the Claire spends a lot of time watching "Monkey George" (Curious George)
- But that's ok, right?!
- I am learning that having two is a lot trickier than one. I feel like I am constantly changing diapers and feeding one or the other of them. I'm hoping that everything gets a little more streamline in a few months.
- I feel like I can't really go anywhere yet because Clay sleeps so much. Also, it being 100 degrees everyday doesn't help. There's no way I'm dragging two kids around in this heat!
- But most important, in the midst of all this craziness and transition, I am LOVING my new little boy! He is so sweet and he is doing wonders to heal my broken heart. I am so thankful for him and wouldn't trade him for all the sleep in world! :)
- Lost all my baby weight (but then again, I only gained 16 lbs)
- Have not, however, lost all the puffiness and jiggliness. I'm still sporting the rounded belly (and it being bathing suit season does not help!)
- Therefore I am working out at least 4x a week... running, swimming, biking, cross fitting.... etc.
- Which makes me really wish I was sleeping thru the night
- Because I have no extra energy
- Which means the Claire spends a lot of time watching "Monkey George" (Curious George)
- But that's ok, right?!
- I am learning that having two is a lot trickier than one. I feel like I am constantly changing diapers and feeding one or the other of them. I'm hoping that everything gets a little more streamline in a few months.
- I feel like I can't really go anywhere yet because Clay sleeps so much. Also, it being 100 degrees everyday doesn't help. There's no way I'm dragging two kids around in this heat!
- But most important, in the midst of all this craziness and transition, I am LOVING my new little boy! He is so sweet and he is doing wonders to heal my broken heart. I am so thankful for him and wouldn't trade him for all the sleep in world! :)
Monday, July 2, 2012
Claire & Clay's first photo shoot!
Claire and Clay had their first photo shoot on Saturday. One of the perks of Cole's cinematography business is that he has all the nice gear for things like this, so we'll never have to pay anyone for "professional" photos! Claire was in a really good mood when we took these, but Clay is a little serious. Once he starts smiling more, we'll do a re-take :) Enjoy!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Clay at 1 month!
I was trying to remember what Claire was doing back when she was an infant and fortunately I blogged about it (I never journaled with her... too lazy/tired). It was good to remember her schedule. It gives me much-needed perspective and helps me not expect too much of myself or Clay in these early sleep-deprived days.
So here are Clay's stats at one month:
- Weighs around 9.5 lbs
- Nurses ok. He gets really distracted if there's anything else going on around him.
- Sleeps on his stomach now, but can roll onto his back and then gets stuck.
- Is on the 3-hour schedule during the day.
- After a day of letting him cry it out, he goes down for his naps with only 5-10 minutes of fussing.
- Goes to sleep around 10 pm and wakes up once during the night to nurse, then sleeps till 7 am. Hopefully he starts sleeping though the night soon. I AM TIRED!
- Is a pretty content baby. During his wake time he just sits in his baby seat and looks around. He has started to coo and smile some :)
- Still has all his dark hair!
- Like his sister, he is not a spitter-upper! YAY! But he's one noisy little pooper :)
Love this little man!!!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
My boys
Anyone else think my boys came out looking a lot alike???
I feel like they are starting to look different as Clay matures and changes, but when he was first born, I kept feeling like I was seeing and holding Matthew again. And when I closed my eyes while holding Clay and tried to picture Matthew's face, sometimes I couldn't.
It was hard.
I cried about it.
But it's getting better.
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