Adjusting

We have been in our new city, new house and new life now for six weeks.  It feels like a lot longer, but here we are at six weeks and I miss Greensboro so much.  Don't get me wrong,  I LOVE our house and neighborhood and LOVE having Justin home more, but I miss our "easy" life back home.  I miss my mom.  I miss all my besties. I miss Max and Claire's old school and their besties.  I miss the convenience of life there, knowing where everything is and how to get to where I was going.  I just miss it all.... well except for that stupid rental we were in!
I have good and bad days here.  The cold, rainy weather isn't helping.  I still haven't made any friends.  We did have a family over for super bowl and that was nice.  The wife was very nice, but we haven't met up since.  I suppose I could make the call.  I really want to play tennis - think I'll meet some other moms that way, but I have no childcare for Kate.  In Greensboro,  the church prek programs and MMO start at 3 months.  Here, most are one year - two years before they can start.  We have night time babysitters (that we love) but have not been able to find a daytime babysitter.  IDK where I'm going with all this, but I guess we will figure it out!

Having a park within walking distance is nice and the kids love it! Hurry up, Spring!

Kate ~ 9 months

Two weeks late posting, but I actually took her pics on the 4th!  Little punkers is nine months.  She is so much fun and we are loving every minute with her.  She is on the move all the time.  I actually had to start baby proofing - something I never had to do with Max and Claire.  She goes straight for outlets and vent covers!  We finally got a rug for our family room so she spends more time on the floor with a lot more freedom.

She did not want her picture taken this month! All pics I have are either blurry or of her with a bunch of things to hold or to "occupy" her.

She is starting to follow some commands.  If you tell her "no" or say her name when she is getting into something, she just looks at you and smiles.  She can wave, but only does it when she wants too and it's the cute backwards wave.

She is a good eater.  She eats all the baby food I give her and has eaten all the big people food as well.  Last night she gobbled up green beans at dinner and had quite a bit of a quesadilla I made with cheese and hummus!

She's still a little peanut.  I look forward to her 9 month appointment to see how much she has grown. I got on the scale with her the other day and I think she is only 15 lbs! 15 lbs of pure sweetness!
Still working on sleeping through the night. Some nights she goes to bed at 7pm and will go until 2ish, but other nights, she is up at 11, 2, 5/6.  I am still breastfeeding and so happy it has gone so well with us.  I love nursing her to sleep every night and will be sad when that day comes to an end.
She has her two bottom teeth, but I have a feeling those top two aren't far behind.

She babbles a lot, mostly adadadada, still waiting for mama!  Max can get her laughing like no other, especially when we are in the car.  Claire adores her and wants to be with her 24/7. She will be a great mom one day.

Clothes: can still wear 3-6 month pants! I did go shopping yesterday for some 9 month pjs
Diaper: size 3

Our favorite thing she does right now is raise one or both hands when we say, "who in the number one punkers?!" She smiles big and raises her hands! (I started calling her punky/punkers around halloween when I was calling her pumpkin and it switched to punkers)

"who is the number one punkers?"

Max and Claire ~ 5 year old edition!

I blinked and my babies turned FIVE! It's hard to believe how fast these years go by and I'm sure I'll say that each year, but it's true! Four was the hardest year for me so far.  Not only did we have a lot of family changes (pregnant, house on market, sell house, have baby, move to rental, Justin traveling, move again....), but they have really mastered how to work as a team and against me.  Claire is a teenager in a five year old's body (read: attitude, thinks she knows everything) and Max has bit of a temper. BUT they have also been so much fun to watch grow and turn into the coolest little people.

We were supposed to have a Chuck E Cheese birthday party on their actual birthday (Jan. 22), but thanks to the snow storm.... that was postponed.  They were equally excited to have a snow day with Daddy home from work! Buds was a machine out in the snow and loved every minute of it!
We started the morning with cinnamon roll waffles! Had hot chocolate after the snow and cupcakes after dinner! Sugar high all day!

The Buds!

 My main man, Max!  Buds can still be the sweetest, cutest, most snuggable little boy. When he is sweet, he is the best.  He is a big helper, always takes his dishes to the sink, will help when asked and loves his sisters! He also has a bad temper. If he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, or if he is in a mood and doesn't get what he wants... watch out. We are working on how to handle our feelings and the appropriate way to act when we are upset.  Taking TV away has helped a lot.  During the move and since Kate has been born, there has been way too much tv and shows that we shouldn't have let him start watching (Ninja turtles, power rangers, spider man..) Now that we are getting settled in our new house, I have really started giving him more one on one time.  Last week we played cards for hours.  He had so much fun and was such a good boy! I have high hopes for FIVE!

Buds loves to be outside and to be doing anything active.  He is very competitive and determined when it comes to sports. He can do a lot of tricks on his bike (he has already outgrown and needs a bigger one in the last year) and is now learning tricks on his new scooter ~ which scare me! He loves, and is really good at, basketball!  Justin got him a basketball hoop for his birthday which we will set up once this ice melts.  He makes friends easily.  His new teacher said he jumped right in with a group of boys at school.  It's funny, I thought he would be shy!
Some rough stats:
Weight: 53 lbs
Height: 48 in!
Shoe size: 1.5/2
Clothes: 6/7
Has lost two teeth and permanent teeth are already in!

Trying out his new scooter Christmas morning

5 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color?  Blue, like Trevor!

What is your favorite toy?  Transformer

What is your favorite food? Granola bars

Who is your best friend? I have two, Trevor and Ellis

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Play

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Go to a special treat place

What is your favorite cartoon?  Transformers

Claire Bear

Oh, Claire Bear! My mini me!  Claire is such a little mommy.  She literally follows me around all day.  If I'm watching the news, so is she.  If I'm doing a workout video, so is she. If I'm cleaning, so is she (well only if I'm wiping down counters!) If I'm with Kate, so is she. She loves to go to the grocery store or shopping with me! My sidekick.  She is obsessed with Kate.  I often don't give her enough credit for how good she is with her.  She is in her face way too much and does everything for her which is why I get frustrated.  I tell her Kate needs to learn to do things for herself just like you did! She loves to hold her, especially standing up (supervised).  She loves books, coloring and anything art, swinging and playing with her babies. She is very smart! Grandma bought the book, "How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" and she is doing great!  Such a good little student!
Claire is also working on her attitude and how she talks to us. She has gotten very sassy and talks back a lot... again, acting like a teenager! (which scares the crap out of me for the future years!)
Some rough stats:
Weight: 43 lbs
Height:  44 in
Shoe size: 10.5
Clothes: 5/6
Just lost 1st tooth!

5 year old questionnaire

What is your favorite color: rainbow

What is your favorite toy: she said remote control car that comes in the mail today!

Favorite food: apples with peanut butter

Best Friend: Lily James

Favorite thing to do with Mommy: Color and play games

Favorite thing to do with Daddy: Go to his office

Favorite cartoon: Peppa Pig 

Claire lost a tooth!

Last night Claire lost her first tooth. On the eve of her birthday eve! haha! January 20th, 2016
She is so excited to catch up with her brother, who has lost two teeth!  What's funny is that she is terrified of the tooth fairy! Sometime last year we were reading a book and it had a tooth fairy in it.  She started crying saying she didn't want to lose her teeth and didn't want the tooth fairy to come!  It didn't phase her when the tooth fairy came to visit Max, but last night she was crying and didn't want to go to bed!

We ended up writing a note to the tooth fairy saying her tooth was under my pillow! My mom suggested still leaving the $ under her pillow so she would see that it isn't scary or a big deal. So, that's what we did. Her tooth under my pillow (which actually made it easier!) and when i went to check on her before bed, I slipped a dollar under her pillow!

She woke up around 5, coming into our room waiving her dollar! She was so excited.... and thankfully went back to bed!

Kate ~ 8 months!

Here we are again... another month has flown by for Miss Kate.  She is still the happiest baby, only crying when she is tired or hungry.  She is definitely mobile.  She doesn't do the traditional crawl, but does a reach and pull that gets her where she wants to go....especially on hardwoods!

8 Months!!

She is still exclusively breastfed and I am starting to introduce more foods.  She will eat baby food, but really likes when I give her big people food.  She likes - toast, eggs (yolk), sweet potato, broccoli, banana and carrots.  I bought a steamer bag of mixed veggies that we will try this week.

She has tried sippy cup and hasn't really caught on. Sometime if I help her, she just keeps it in her mouth, but doesn't swallow.

Still on the petite side.  She can still wear the majority of her 3-6 month outfits from Gap. Footed PJs are 9 months and most everything else is 6-9 months.  I haven't set the kids up with new pediatrician since we have moved - need to get on that! Melisa (our good friend and ped. back home) said we could come back for her 9 month and M and C's 5 year.

She loves bath time.  She likes to splash more than anything and gets mad when bath time is over!

Kate loves when we go to the park.  Swinging always brings a smile!

Still working on sleeping through the night :/.  We were starting to make progress before we moved, now she is back waking every 3-4 hours.  I said I was going to make her start CIO, but that hasn't happened yet. She is a good napper.  She usually takes 2-3 naps a day lasting around two hours each time!

She is very loved by her brother and sister.  Claire can't keep her hands off of her... wants to hold her, pick her up, hold her standing up.... 24/7.  I try to tell Claire that Kate needs to learn to do things herself, just the way she did.

Absolutely love my little punky punk more than anything.  She is such a blessing to our family.

The big move!

Hello there! It's been a while! We made the big move to Cary on the 6th.  The movers came on the 4th, packed the house, loaded on the 5th and delivered on the 6th.  I will never move us on our own again.  It was so nice having someone else do it! Unpacking was/is a different story!

We have met a few neighbors and they are all awesome and so nice!  The neighborhood has a few greenways, perfect for running/walking and has two parks and pools for kids! Summertime should be fun!

We are still unpacking.  We have unpacked most of the important things, just need to do some organizing and straightening up.

We have been eating on the floor bc our kitchen table and chairs have not arrived.  I ordered from Wayfair and so excited to see it! Hopefully it will be here by the end of the week!!

Cheers to new beginnings!!

.... and this little cutie turned 8 months on the 4th... just need to find her monthly stickers so we can do her eight month post!

Christmas 2015

I love Christmas! It's crazy how you spend so much time and excitement leading up to the day, then it's over in a blink of the eye!  Christmas eve is my favorite tradition.  As a kid, we would go to my Nana and Papa's house for a huge dinner, usually lamb!  All of my mom's sisters and their families would be there. I loved it.  Now that our families have all grown, it's usually just my brother, parents and my family ~ sometimes my aunts and cousins that live here in Greensboro.

Also, Claire and I have gone to get our nail painted for the past three years! Love this tradition!

Christmas Eve dinner at my parent's house ~

Kate's first Christmas!

Payne twins (Landyn and Brooke ~ 4), Kate, Fredrick twins (Max and Claire ~ 4 ~ five in Jan.)

In matching pjs, we read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas

I was just as excited as they were about Christmas morning! After wrapping all the Santa presents, Claire woke up around 11 asking if Santa had come... then went to lay down with her until around 12, Kate was up at 3, and then again at 5:45 when Claire woke up again.... so we went to see what Santa had brought at 6am! It was a long day, but I loved every minute!

....and just realized the rest of my pics haven't been uploaded to my icloud yet ~ so post 2 coming soon!