Weekend Fun

This past weekend was just wonderful!  We didn't have anything major on the schedule, the weather was beautiful and I had my entire family together.  I was soooo excited!  

So I feel like we were probably 5 of the last people on the earth to have not seen the movie Frozen.  We decided that instead of a family movie night we would have a family movie morning.  Couple of reasons...Claire takes her best nap in the morning and by the time we finish dinner, give baths, etc., it's usually getting close to their bed time.  We made a pallet on the floor and snuggled up to watch the movie together.  The girls were soooo excited!  We all enjoyed the movie so much!  Claire woke up half way through the movie and wanted to come out and join us.  I don't have a picture of that sweet girl, but she liked it too!  

One afternoon we decided to take the girls to Herdklotz Park to ride the bikes and run.  Hannah's not too into her bike right now.  If you ask her if she wants to ride she says...."NO, no bike...I run!"  Ha...whatever floats your boat, baby girl!  (Side note:  One of the first times Hannah rode her bike Bert accidentally pinched her skin while he was taking off her helmet.  She cried and cried and we think that probably has something to do with her absolute refusal to get near a bike.  Hopefully we haven't warped her too bad.)  Emily on the other hand is LOVING riding.  She's getting so good at peddling.  Claire enjoyed a nap in her carrier as we strolled around the walking track.  Sweet baby.  

The girls wanted to run across the field and meet me and Claire on the other side.  

They made it to us!  Cuties!  

They did that run several more times and were exhausted by the time we were ready to leave.  I would have been too!  

Snack time!  

I love this man more than I could tell you. He makes me smile!

So thankful for quality family time together!  

Wordless Wednesday: Claire and Charlotte

My View

This is our view from the front seat.  

I love it!  There is just something about being able to look in the rear view mirror and seeing all three of our girls sitting in their car seats that makes me thankful.  We took one of the middle seats out so that it's easier to buckle in E and H.  Plus, I'm really enjoying having that extra room to change a diaper, etc.  Emily and Hannah love sitting in the back together.  They pass things back and forth to each other, hold hands, and talk.  They also keep close tabs on their little sister, telling me when she's awake or sleeping.  It's a fun set-up!  

Play Day In Toccoa

The Friday before last I had a dentist appointment in Toccoa so we loaded up the car and headed to Mimi and Papa's house for the day!  The girls were excited about seeing Tiger (their dog), and this was Claire's first time outside of Greenville, so she was pretty excited about that.  

The girls also had lots of fun with their cousin Jacob.  

Claire looks like a big girl in the picture below...sitting up on the couch with all her cousins.  

They had fun playing in the playroom!  

Playing in the shower!  

And they had fun playing outside too!  

Bert got to enjoy spending most of the afternoon at a coffee shop reading and studying and I enjoyed spending the afternoon talking to my Mama!:)  

Mom and Dad of course spoiled us with snacks and a great dinner of our choosing.  

Emily and Claire slept all the way home (hour and twenty minutes) but Hannah waited to fall asleep until we were about 3 miles from home.  Ha!  It was a fun day!  

Grandmama's Visit

Grandmama came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago!  She was sick when she came up to the hospital on the day of Claire's birth, so she didn't get to hold her that day.  So this was Grandmama's first time holding Claire.  She was sooo excited about holding her, and it looks like Claire was pretty excited too!  

She spent several days with us and I SO appreciated her help!  She's such a great Grandmama!  She played and played with Emily and Hannah.  She kept them entertained with books, games, cooking, playing outside, etc.  The girls had the best time!  

In the picture below Linda was making Rice Krispie treats with the girls.  She had done this with Emily one time last year and Emily hasn't stopped bringing it up to her each time she's seen or talked to her Grandmama.  She wanted to do it again!  

Grandmama, it was a fun visit and we appreciate all the help and love and encouragement!  We love you!  

Claire - 2 months

Claire had her two month visit yesterday.  She had a good check-up!  She weighed 13 lbs 9 oz and was in the 101st percentile for her weight.  She was 23.3 inches long and was in the 81st percentile for her length.  Here are a few things that I just love about my 2 month old...

-She's smiling a lot these days.  She often smiles in response to our voices and it melts our hearts.  Emily is really good at making her smile. 

-She's also started cooing some.

-She and her Daddy have already started playing games together.  He will stick out his tongue and she will copy him and stick her's out too.  They just go back and forth.  It's impressive (for Claire, not Bert:) )!

-She is paying a lot of attention to her two sisters.  She will follow them (and us) with her eyes all the way across the room. 

-She loves her (by "her" I mean Jacob's) play mat.

-She has a fussy period from about 8-11pm.  

-She's started sucking her hand, and I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before she finds her thumb.  I tried and tried to give her a paci, but she didn't want anything to do it.  

-She's slept 7 1/2 hours straight in her pack-n-play for the last two nights (that's with me waking her up, so she would have slept a little longer).  Go Claire!  

One day last week I was holding her in my arms after the big girls had gone to bed and I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness for her I just had to take a picture.  I wanted to remember the sweet moments of holding her tiny little, soft, cuddly body...listening to her breathe...looking down and seeing her sweet cheeks and lips.  Very thankful!  

She's a big fan of her bath these days!  C-U-T-I-E!

I'd noticed a few weeks ago that she strongly preferred to turn her head to the right.  If she was on her back and I tried to turn her head to her left she would whip it right back over to the right.  I had been working with her for a few weeks trying to get her to turn her head the other way, but obviously not enough.  The doctor said that she's beginning to get a flat spot on one side of the back of her head, which is causing her ears to be slightly out of alignment (it's so slight that I actually haven't been able to see it). The doctor said we need to get this corrected over the next couple months.  To do that she said that if she is awake Claire is not to be on her back at all.  That means no bouncy, no play mat, no swing.  She is only allowed to be on her back when she's sleeping, in the car seat (obviously) or when we're changing her diaper.  Yikes!   When she's awake, Claire either has to be held, in the Ergo, on her tummy or in her Bumbo.  She isn't old enough/neck muscles aren't strong enough for the Bumbo yet (our other kids started using the bumbo some at about 3 months), I can't leave her alone yet during tummy time (wanting to wait until she's better at turning her head before I leave her).  

I've used Baby Wise for all three of our kids and they've all been great sleepers.  Claire took the longest to start sleeping 7-8 hours at night and she started doing it at about 8 1/2 weeks old.  I keep them on an eat, wake, sleep schedule during the day.  This new plan of holding her all the time throws a small kink in my plans because she usually falls right to sleep when I'm holding  her or when she's on her tummy.  All this schedule talk is not to mention the fact that I have two other small children that I need to make meals for, changes diapers, put them down for naps, etc...so I need to be able to set her down in the bouncy for a minute and turn my back to her.  

I admit daily life is sometimes a smidge overwhelming to me at the moment, but I realize that before I know it she'll have stronger neck muscles, then she'll be sitting up on her own, then crawling, then walking,  then running, then talking and I'll wish I had these days back where I was under doctors orders to not put her down.:)  I'm deciding to soak up these sweet cuddles with my precious 2 month old.  So so so so thankful for our Claire!  

Happy 2 months, sweet girl!!

Wordless Wednesday