Claire 10 months

Silly girl!  Your personality is the absolute best!!  You are so easy (don't jinx me) and happy all the time.  You  are talking all the time, mostly saying "mama".  You can also say "dada", "yaya", "nana", "baba".  You are such a big girl now!  Now that you can pull yourself up, you constantly walk around the table and even go from the table to sofa (holding on).  The minute I put you down, you stand up and start cruising.  Sometimes you even get brave and clap for yourself!

You are a definite Mama's girl, especially in new environments or around new people.  You always look to me for approval.  You finally cuddle with me.  I love when you lay your head on my shoulder.  In the past you were just a wiggle worm, but now you will let me hold and cuddle you.  I hope this last!

You get excited when we come in your room to get you out of your crib.  You start crawling around and make an excited noise!  It's so cute!
You are a super fast crawler and will follow Mommy and Daddy room to room.  You like to sit in front of the refrigerator and oven because you can see your reflection!

Last week you started putting your arms up when we say, "How big is Claire?"  "So Big!"  Then you clap for your self.  You are so much fun to watch.  You crack us up.  Your latest is making a "mean face".  Unfortunately, I think you picked it up from me.  It's not really a mean face, per se.  When you used to fuss for no reason, I would scrunch my nose up at you.  Now you do that all the time when you pout or something doesn't go your way.  We try hard not to laugh and I have been working on not making that face.

You are a fabulous eater.  You eat everything that goes on your tray.  I think peas are your favorite!  You prefer to eat mostly finger foods and do a great job :)  I would venture to say you eat twice as much as Max.
You have four bottles a day and three meals a day.  You take two naps a day, sometimes three...with the third nap being around 30 min. You sleep great at night.  Go to bed at 7:15 and usually sleep til 6:30.

You have two teeth.
You wear 6-12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper.

Road trip x3

So here we are 7:00pm
Monday night and I've made my second road trip in 24 hours. We went to Atlanta for thanksgiving, came back last night at 10 and I was back on the road this morning at 11:45. Today I left my precious babies for the first time. I left them at home with Justin so I could go to Virginia with my parents. Tomorrow my sister-in-law is having a C-section and I will be an aunt to two precious baby girls..... Yes, you read that right, girls. My brother is having TWINS!!!
I am super sad to be away from my babies but so glad I get to meet my nieces on the day they are born!!

We are also coming home tomorrow so that will make a total of 21 hours In three days!

I'm so behind on blogging! Hopefully Wednesday when Max and Claire go to school, I can catch up on their individual 10 month post and Thanksgiving!

So Thankful!

Today as we sat around the dining room table surrounded by family we love and delicious food, I realize how thankful I am. Last year I was spending thanksgiving in the hospital with my wonderful nurses. I remember the day perfectly. I had showered and actually put on something besides sweats, listened to Christmas music and patiently waited for my family to bring me their Thanksgiving leftovers.
I remember being cooped up in the bed wishing I was out looking at Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music, shopping, going to Christmas parties and just sleeping in my own bed! I vowed not to complain about Christmas music coming on so early, traffic, etc! But to enjoy life's moments and be thankful for all I did have.
Claire and Max had their first thanksgiving dinner. Claire gobbled up the turkey, cranberry, stuffing and a few bites of orange. Max mostly wanted his baby food but did have some stuffing and oranges.
Tomorrow we are going to a Christmas tree farm with grandma and grandpa. I'm so so excite! I've never been to one before.

I have the most wonderful family and so blessed to have one of my own now.

10 Months

I must start by saying this past month, although it has been a lot of fun, it has also been the most challenging!  At the beginning of the month they had an ear infection, horrible diaper rash that lasted over two weeks, still have colds and are teething!  That's a lot for them to go through at one time and a lot for this Mom to handle!

When their noses aren't running or gums aren't bothering them, they are smiling, laughing and in to everything!
They are both crawling and pulling up.  They rarely sit still.

I am down to pumping once a day, sometimes twice.  I can honestly say I am ready.  Probably TMI, but I'm also completely deflated! ha!  I might have one bra that actually fits now.  Oh well!
They are taking four bottles a day and have three meals.
Sleep has not been great.  We had two days that were a little bit of Heaven!  I would say on average they go to bed around 7:15 and wake up at 6/6:15.  Max woke up at 5:15 this morning and would not go back to sleep. UGH.  I can't think of anything except teething?! Thoughts?

On the rare occasion I can get her to keep her bow in, Max tries to take it off!

This past month went by super fast.  I can't believe they will be one in a month.  Today we went to visit our ante nurses and take them some goodies.  This time last year I was still on bed rest at the hospital.

It's time I get to planning their first birthday. sniff sniff

So, I don't have much to say so this is pretty much a picture dump!  We are taking it easy here this weekend and enjoying family time.

Our Max Man

Wearing our UGA football colors!

Claire's new favorite thing to do is stand.  If she can find something to pull up on, she stands, and stands for a long time!  She is now cruising the table.  The other night she circled it twice.  Sometimes she gets brave when she is at her play table and will do one hand or kind of lean on the recliner behind her and do no hands - usually followed by clapping for herself!! 

When she wakes up in the morning and from naps, you will also find her standing!

Max still only pulls up to his knees, but he is not too far behind!

Buds on the  move!

They are quick and into everything :)

It's 11:15

So, it's 11:15 and I have decided not to pump.  Just got in from a girls night and decided to blog and go to bed.  I think I'm finally over pumping for 30+ minutes just to get four ounces total of bm - five if I'm lucky! I'm done..... well, kind of.  I'll pump tomorrow morning.  That's ok, right?!  I feel so guilty, but I'm so tired.  Almost ten months is along time -  I should be ok with this decision, right?

One of the girls tonight said she pumps for 15 minutes and gets 30 oz.... ??? what??  that's what i used to get in one day!!?!  Craziness!

Took some pics today and hopefully I can upload tomorrow.

Happy Friday :)

Kelly Crocker

Today while trying to find something for lunch, I found a can of pumpkin.  I had planned on making a pumpkin recipe with Hannah this past weekend but ran out of time.  Max and Claire were at school and we had play group this afternoon, so I decided to make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!

The only thing I did different was the icing.  I found a cream cheese icing that was so good!  I think I had three of these today!  Thank goodness they are gone.  I need to stop ruining every workout with dessert.

For dinner we had my new favorite, Baked Chicken Parm.  It is so good and easy to make!

And I can't end a post without a picture of my baby girl!  She has been pulling up on everything.  Sometimes she even gets brave and lets go for a second!

Beautiful Day

Today was Papa's funeral. The service was so beautiful -  I know he loved it :)  Since he was a veteran, he received a military honors ceremony which includes the unfolding of the flag and the playing of "Taps".  It was a very moving ceremony.

My Veteran went to see Jesus

Today was a very sad day.  My Grandfather, Papa,  passed. He has lived a wonderful 88 years!  He is finally free and back with my Grandmother.  Although he has not been doing well over a month, it was kind of unexpected.
I was the first grandchild so I had a special bond with him.  I was his sweet heart!  I'm so happy he got a chance to meet Max and Claire!

Today he was being "George" and wanting to do things on his terms.  The poor nurse came in to tell us he was leaving us and all the sudden his heart rate went back up...that happened three times! He said that had never happened to him before!
It was also weird, bc he passed in the same room my other grandfather did four years ago.

I miss him so much already, but know he is in Heaven with my Nana and the rest of his friends and family.

And that makes two!

Max is now crawling the traditional way!  He did a few moves yesterday but today he went across the room.  It is so cute bc he goes really slow - he's much faster at his reach and pull.  I am sure he will be hard to keep up with once he really gets it down pat!

We had another rough night with him.  His cold is so bad.  Poor thing can barely breath and has diarrhea.  I had to change him around 2 am last night.  I am thinking it is from teething.  His 5th tooth is coming in!  Our morning started at 5:45.  WAY TOO EARLY!  I was hoping for a nap, but as soon as I put my head down and got comfortable, Claire woke up!  This momma is tired!

Helluva Day

Today was not my usual, "yay, it's Wednesday" day.  Claire's rash has not gotten any better so last night I made a doctor appointment for her.  It was at 1:00, so I picked them up early from Mother's Morning Out.  Back track to after I drop them off at school.  I was on a mission to find a new pair of Nike running shoes.  I love the pair Nike free shoes I have now, but in desperate need of new ones.  I went to three different stores to check out colors.

liked purple

Then I found these and loved everything about them. BUT. I decided they were too narrow :(  The pair I have now are mens, so naturally they are wider.  If I could swing it, I'd get them just to toot around in - but for running, they have to be a perfect fit.  They have similar ones in Men's but the lining is orange, not yellow.  I really like yellow and gray together.  I couldn't even try on the orange ones bc they were sold out.  I might try to go to Dicks or Sports Authority in hopes they have them.

So.... I spent 1.5 hours shoe hunting and the rest was mowing the grass and vacuuming.  Boring.

Back to the dr. appt.  So, since it was 1:00 and they have been at school all morning, they were ready for nap.  Actually, they were past due for a nap so on the way, they fell asleep.  I was the smart one who decided I could take them by myself.  It would have been fine, had it not been nap time.  I put Max in our umbrella stroller and carried Claire since she was the one seeing the doctor.  We waited 40 minutes in the waiting room.  Not easy!  We didn't leave until 2:30!

We were all tired.  I was so tired, I was emotional and cried when the doctor was examining Claire.  She was screaming and it made me hurt for her.  Just when I thought she was finished, she decided she was going to take a strep culture. Poor Claire!  Turns out, it is just a really bad yeast infection coupled with a bad diaper rash.  She switched her cream to one with out steriods and said to let her roam around (read: no diaper!) a few times a day for 15 min at a time.  I have to figure out the best way to do this.  I'm thinking wrapping/letting her lay on a towel while she has her bottles?

On a positive note, our usual nurse saw us and brought me 9 cans of formula!!  I sure do love thoughtful people!  She is helping us so much.  She said if we have to come back Monday, she will give us more :)

I'll have to bake her some more cookies.

baby girl being patient (kind of) so I could hold a sleepy and whiny, Max!

Coolest birthday present!

Max and Claire ordered me the most unique birthday present.  It came in the mail yesterday and I am so excited to wear it!

If you look closely, you will see a thumbprint!  One side has their thumbprint and the other has their name.  What a great idea.  This would also be perfect for Mother's Day!

__________________________

Has the time change affected anyone else?  Just when Max finally started sleeping better, the time change messed us up.  Sunday morning he woke up at 4:45 and that seems to be a pattern now.  I don't know what his deal is.  He did so good at the beginning of last week with his new medicine.  It may be his cold?  They both have had extremely runny noses and have been sneezing.   Claire still has a diaper rash.  How long do they normally last??  If it's not better by tomorrow, I think I need to call the doctor again.
We are so ready (and I'm sure they are) for them to feel better.

One Year Ago #2

One year ago today I was put on Hospital bed rest. Little did I know, I'd be there for six weeks. I can't believe it has already been a year.  I remember that day like it was yesterday!  I was supposed to have a baby shower that Saturday and the location had already been moved twice (from the original place, to our house since I was on home bed rest) then, thankfully, our doctor said we could have it in a classroom at the hospital. And that we did!
Besides not being able to do ANYTHING, I didn't mind being there.  The nurses were great and I had so many visitors.  It's amazing how generous people are with their time.  It was also comforting knowing a nurse or a doctor were just steps away at all times.  I still keep in touch with my ante nurses and take Max and Claire to visit.  I'll probably make some desserts to take to them for Thanksgiving.

Have a great weekend.  Not to much planned here.

Play date

Today Max and Claire went and were invited to join in on an extra large play group!  There were at least 12 kids there and probably 8-10 adults!  It was pretty crazy, but a lot of fun. I am looking forward to Max and Claire interacting with other children their age.  It was to hectic to pull out my camera, but I did take a few before we left.  They are into EVERYTHING!!

Max is obsessed with anything that is left on the fireplace and will do all he can do get to it!

Claire has become quite the crawler!  Tonight she crawled from her bedroom to the dining room for dinner!  It's so cute.  However, she did get a little floor burn on the top of her foot :(

Both on the move in their own ways!  I love how Max moves!  He uses his right foot to push off on his left to get momentum with a grunt each time!  Today they had many laughs and chased each other in the hall.  I am so in love with these two :)

Oh, Claire started clapping yesterday!
I'm waiting on a rainy day to go through the blog and update their baby books.

Lightbulb

Ding.ding.ding.ding!
Hello....what have I been thinking?  Every time I got up with Max Sunday night, I would rack my brain as to why this(waking at night and early  morning) was going on.  Finally, at 2am, after he continued to scream when we put him in our bed (bad, I know) and didn't calm down until held him sitting up, did I realize REFLUX!!!  I tracked this behavior back to August! Yes, we have been waking up before or right at 5 since AUGUST.  That is also when I started weaning him off of Zantac for his reflux.  I had told our doctor he seemed to be doing better and I didn't want him taking medicine if he didn't need it so we slowly weaned him off..... which makes sense bc it has progressively gotten worse.

Monday I had to go to the pediatricians office to pick up something and I told the nurse what I had figured out.  She said that could definitely be the problem.  Since she is awesome, she snuck me back to see the Dr. and got a new prescription and new dosage for Max!

I am happy to say last night we ALL slept through the night!  7:15-6:45  :)  We all woke up happy and were in good moods all day long!
I feel awful for just now figuring that out.  Hopefully the medicine is really helping and he will be back to his normal sleeping habits!