Change

A simple title like change could make you think I’m going to blog about something profound or a major life change, etc. You would be totally wrong if you thought that though! The main change I’m referring to is the weather. The last few days have been flat out cold! I welcome the change in the seasons, and I’m so glad that we actually have 4 seasons here, but it has been such a drastic change this week! No fear, warmer weather is on the horizon with highs in the 60’s tomorrow and approaching 70 for the weekend. That’s what I’m talking about!

Gas prices are another thing that has changed. Thankfully! I actually paid under $50 to fill up our Mountaineer the other day. I don’t remember paying that little in a very long time. Given the fact that Pookie and I both drive over 30 miles one way to work every day that is a very welcome change. I even considered taking a picture of the little “counter” at the pump when I was done. I was afraid someone might think I was crazy though!

Claire’s little look has changed ever so slightly as well. I got her hair trimmed just a bit last Thursday. Her hair in the back that she was born with never fell out and it had gotten so long. The rest of her hair is really starting to fill in and it looked pretty funny that she had several really long pieces. She only lost her hair on the sides, so the front is the same way. I’m not cutting that yet though. I’m afraid if I did that her sweet little bows wouldn’t stay in. Even though I feel like I’m in constant battle with the hairbows, I think they’re adorable! She is a total mess right now! She really keeps all of us on our toes. I cannot even explain the difference between my boy and my girl. Her sleeping patterns have also changed...for the better. We had to let her cry it out for a few nights and since then, she has dramatically improved. She goes to sleep between 7:30 and 8:30 and sleeps until about 5:30. She gets up and eats then, and then goes back to sleep for an hour (or two or three one day). It's the best thing I've ever done. I so wish I'd tried it several months ago, but it was too hard when she was smaller. I actually had to let her cry for a bit last night too (about an hour) but that's only because Grant woke EVERYONE up yelling for me at 3 AM. He got sick last week and has not been able to shake the cough that came with it. He has been coughing all night long! I am going to get medicine today that hopefully will let him (and us) sleep soundly tonight!

Grant is, of course, changing every day! He amazes me with the things that he remembers and the conversations that he starts. He never shuts up! I’m convinced he could carry on a conversation with a brick wall. He’s super excited about Halloween and his costume. Pictures to come! I know you’re on the edge of your seat...hehe!

Claire at 9 months

I'm a little behind on posting this, but Claire turned 9 months old on the 10th. We went to the dr. on Thursday the 16th for her 9 month checkup. She weighed 20 lbs, and was 29 inches tall. For those of you into percentages, she's in the 76th for weight and 90th for height. Her weight percentage has steadily declined at each visit, but her height as been at 90 pretty much from the get go....I don't really think those percentages are all that accurate, but who knows?!

She had 9 month pics taken last week. If you'd like to see them, click here, go to portfolio, then to customers. Our password is Summar. **edited** I forgot to add that the green outfit at the end was mine. My mom had my 6 month pics made in it, so I had to have her wear it at least once. She had her 3 mth & 6 mth pics taken in my dresses, but her dress this time is actually hers, so I threw the green outfit in for 9 months.

Claire is into EVERYTHING! She has figured out how to turn her canvas toy bin over and dump everything out. It is an endless cycle. I should've taken a picture of all three rooms yesterday (both kids' bedrooms & the den) because you couldn't even walk in them. My mom picked them up last night. I'm so over it! It does absolutely no good. *edit* I forgot to mention what a battle changing Claire's diaper and/or clothes has become. She HATES it and so do I these days. She will not stay still, she turns over, she screams..it's awful. Grant was always so laid back about it all..not this one!

She is still just cruising around everything. She will let go for several seconds and you can see the little wheels in her head turning thinking about how she can get some where quickly when she's standing up. No first steps yet though; she's still pretty wobbly. She just never stops moving. I have a feeling that even when she can walk, she'll crawl because it will be quicker and she always seems to be in a hurry. She is crawling all over the house. She tries to squeeze in between chairs and tables, and she gets soooo mad when she can't get through.

Baby girl is a drama queen. She can turn that cry on and off in an instant when it comes to wanting something...her mama, a toy, some food, etc. The list could go on and on. It's so funny how they learn that manipulative skill so early on! She is still really attached to me, but she is getting more and more fond of daddy. She has said "dada" several mornings over the monitor when she wakes up calling for him.

crying for her lamb that I was trying to use to make her smile!

She says dada, mama, ball, bubba, and uh oh. She is also playing lots of pee pie (sp??). She covers her face with her lamb and then pulls it off and grins. Speaking of the lamb, she has become mildly obsessed with it. She gets so excited when she sees it and buries her face in it.

her sweet lamb

We are on night 3 of letting her cry it out in the middle of the night. It's hard, but getting easier b/c I'm so stinkin' exhausted! She actually didn't wake up on Friday night except for a second. Thursday night and last night were miserable though. She cried for 2 hours or more each night when she woke up. Hopefully, I can stick with it when I've got to go to work in the morning.

Claire is a really sweet little girl. She loves to cuddle, but sometimes needs her space. She and Grant are getting along better for the most part now, and they actually play really well together. She knows what she wants, and always tries to take the quickest route to get it. She is still a little shy around people she doesn't know very well, but once she warms up is a smiley little thing. All in all I'd say she's alot like me!!

Cookies & Pumpkins

This past weekend was packed full of fun stuff. Friday night, we baked some more treats! We did iced cookies this time with Jackson, Erin, and Mammy. Grant thought dumping all of the toppings out was the best part. I love cutting out cookies and decorating them, but Jackson was, by far, the best cookie decorator. After everyone went to bed, I stayed up Friday night making the infamous pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I gave most of them away just because I cannot resist them when they're in my house. Claire also turned 9 MONTHS OLD! on Friday!! I, however, am holding off on her "9 month" post until Thursday. We go to the dr. Thursday, so I'll have all of her official "stats" to post then. Let me just say that she is into EVERYTHING like you wouldn't believe!!

Saturday afternoon we headed to Springfield to Honeysuckle Hill. That place is in the middle of no where, at least as far as I'm concerned. They had pumpkins, farm animals, a corn pit, playgrounds, hayrides, a cow train. Grant had a great time. I was exhausted. Pics of all the fun are below.

The Cow Train

The Corn Pit...there was corn all in my dryer when I washed these clothes!

Are these not the cutest pajamas?! They were a Halloween surprise from carrie for my little ones. I really wanted a good pic of both kids wearing them, but Claire was having none of it!

Just so you know, Grant doesn't normally stand like this. I told him I wanted a picture of the front of his pj's, so he was sticking out his chest.

Treats!

I love treats..eating them and making them! I've kidded that if I didn't work, I'd weigh 900 lbs because I'd be trying out new recipes all of the time. I'm not all that great of a cook or baker, but I think it's fun and when you find something good, it's worth all of the failed recipes in between! Halloween is a fun treat centered day and I love trying all of the cute sweet ideas in my parenting magazines. I was really ambitious when I went to Kroger last week and I have the makings to fix up all kinds of things, but so far we've only made it through one. Meet our newest little green friend.. Frank. These are rice krispy treats covered with white (green) chocolate with chocolate sprinkle hair, gummy mouth, and M&M eyes and nose. He is extremely sweet, but pretty cute!

And here's the master decorator himself!

Grant also decorated another treat last weekend with Carrie. It's a haunted gingerbread house. I'd never seen one of these, but it turned out really cute. Getting him not to eat all of the candy as he decorates, is the really difficult part...that and keeping his little hands out of it now.

Last weekend one of Pook's cousins got married. Ella was one of the flower girls. She was precious. Grant yelled (literally), "Hi, Ella!" right as the ceremony began. At least he's good for a laugh. It was pretty embarrassing! Here is a picture of them after the wedding. Grant is being very solemn, but at least it's not a super silly face! Grant and Ella love each other so much! They're 4 months apart, and I'm so glad that they're so close.

And this is a picture of our munchkins doing the chicken dance at the reception. They were really getting down!