Falling off the Wagon

The blog wagon that is. I miss blogging..I really really do, but it seems that when I have a moment to sit down at the computer ALONE, there are more pressing things to do...like check my email or read other people's blogs. I go through my day thinking, "I could blog about that," but then it never happens. I think I could be pretty interesting, or maybe even funny if I had some spare time. Oh well, I guess that's not really what's important, but I do miss it just in case you wondered.

I have taken like 5 pictures in the last month which is sooo not like me. The casing on my camera has cracked & I am so afraid that it is going to break at any moment that I am limiting my camera use. Totally dumb because if it does break then at least I'll have an excuse to buy a new camera. The only problem is that I want an expensive one!

Anywhoo! Last week, I picked up Claire's 1 year pictures & her panel from the photographer. It is so precious, but it totally cracked me up. I didn't realize how badly her hair had fallen out on the sides. I remember talking about it some, but she seriously had a comb over, and it looked hilarious! She never lost any hair on the top or back of her head, but lost ALOT on the sides. You can't really tell in any of the pictures but the 3 month one. It's amazing how much they change that first year, or even in the first few months. The 3 month pic is so much different from the newborn ones I had done at 2 weeks old.

I hung hers right below Grant's. Since they were done by different photographers, they are a little different, but still similar. The main difference is that Claire's actual images are bigger, so it makes her look like she was a bigger baby...which she was a little, but not by a huge margin. I think they really started looking alike around the 9 mth mark, other than their hair color, of course. I don't know how much you can see of them here, but I added a close up of each one too. For some reason though, I can never click on my actual pictures when I upload them to make them bigger...any pointers here?

It has been a pretty long few days around our house. I took Grant for his follow up ear appt. on Friday and all was good. Tubes are in a great spot, the one ear that was draining had stopped, etc. We went to a birthday party Friday night, and I noticed Grant coughing a few times, but tis the season. Friday night we let Grant sleep with us, and he woke me up barking like a seal. There were a few times that he had a really hard time taking in a breath. Needless to say, we made our way to the dr. 1st thing Saturday morning. They gave him a breathing treatment after some severe fighting from him. The funniest part of this was that he was really throwing a fit. At one point, the nurse & I were both holding him down trying to get the mask on his face, and he starts yelling, "poo poo head, poo poo head." I totally busted out laughing. I've never heard him call anyone that, so I guess he was really mad! We finally subdued him, and he sat in my lap for the treatment. They decided he has croup. His breathing was really bad again on Sat. night, but seems to have improved some now. Hopefully, he will be on the mend for awhile. Claire is picking up the slack with her snotty nose. First thing in the morning 2 days in a row, she has been a sight to see with dried snot all over her face & her hair stuck in it. yuck I know! I'm just hoping she doesn't get croupy again!

Grant's 1st "Procedure"

I only have a few minutes, but wanted to post real quick. After several ear infections over the past few months, one of which took 4 antibiotics to clear up, and another that ruptured his eardrum Grant's dr. decided it was time for tubes. I, honestly, had no idea how many he'd had because I feel like we're at the dr. all of the time anyway between the two kids. Tuesday was the day, and I was fretting about the separation anxiety that might take place at the surgery center. He's been really really attached to me lately, and has had multiple meltdowns at Mother's Day Out and at church, so I was afraid the hospital like setting may be disastrous. However, the wagon and the Buzz Lightyear that the Nurse Anesthetist gave him proved helpful. He also got to blow lots of bubbles in the holding area. I guess they are used to little kids. He woke up screaming saying he was hurting, which really shouldn't have been the case. Then, he threw up in the car on the way home and drifted off to sleep. We got home a little before 11 am and he slept until close to 2:30 and woke up a new kid. He was totally confused and thought it was a different day because he'd been asleep for so long. Hopefully, these will eliminate all of those trips to the doc.

I totally forgot to take my camera to document the experience, but did take a pic with my phone. Notice Buzz spinning in the picture!

Now I'm off to traffic court for the ticket I got for going 46 mph on New Year's Eve

totally random

i love this picture. as i mentioned in my last 'real' post, claire and i went shopping a few weeks ago because she was in desperate need of new shoes. her feet might be the thickest things you've ever seen. they are as tall as they are wide, so she's hard to fit to say the least. grant lived in pedipeds until he was 2 1/2, and i absolutely love them. they are cute, plus i feel like they're pretty comfortable. so of course, claire has her fair share of thsoe. she was starting to outgrow her first ones so we were on the hunt for some transitional shoes. the above is what we came home with. the 4th pair was actually sophie's, but we're borrowing them for those outfits that you must have brown for since we outgrew our brown ones. a girl can never have too many shoes right?! everyone has already done all of the circus posts, but just for memory's sake we did attend the circus this year. grant has never wanted to go until this year because he says he's scared of clowns. this time when i asked, he said he wasn't scared anymore. thankfully, none of the clowns got too terribly close to us. we had a great time. the elephants and the motorcyclists were my favorite. claire was really into the whole thing too. she watched all of the people so intently, danced to the music, etc.

we really haven't done much else these past few weeks...just hanging out. we're always busy, i'm just not sure with what exactly. claire is my one woman wrecking crew and may put me over the edge very very soon. the kitchen we got her for her birthday may have been a mistake. i don't know how many times per day i can pick up the same fake food. she doesn't play with anything! she just pulls EVERYTHING out and moves on to something else. it's exhausting, but she is in her own little world and has no idea she's putting anyone else out.

i was getting ready to type that grant and claire are really getting along well, playing well, etc. then i heard a myriad of things flying into the hallway just now. when i asked grant what he was doing, he replied throwing things at claire. so maybe it's not as good as i thought. they are getting a little bit easier to manage. i even took them both to home depot & kroger with me today ON PURPOSE and they were good.

claire won't say anything still except for ball, dada, dog, and the occasional mama. she says ball over and over and over again! she also grunts and makes little noises to indicate what she wants all of the time. there's no question that she knows exactly what she wants, and usually it's independence. i am already picturing teenage struggles :-)! it's going to be a wild ride!

Trying out some new stuff. Maybe I'll actually get around to a new post sometime this weekend!

Craigslist - You Rock!

Can I get a shout out for Craigslist?! Seriously! I posted our “red car” as Grant liked to call it, online last night and had to turn my phone off just so we could go to bed. I sold it this morning to the first person that looked at it. The very same thing happed in Nov of 2007 when we posted Pookie’s good ole red truck. I think I will always try that before taking the serious hit you incur by trading in at a dealership…that is if we ever buy from a dealership again. We’ve had such good luck buying from individuals, that I may have found a new route. My fingers are crossed that we are set on the automobile side for at least a few more years though!

On a funny note, I remember the 1st time someone told me about craigslist and I asked, “Who’s Craig?” Yeah, I’m still blonde and still proud!

I have been so scarce around here lately and I hate it. I have pictures to post from the circus & from our shopping excursion last week. Let’s just say baby girl’s got a new pair of shoes (or 2 or 3!). I still read everyone else’s blogs. I’m just always in a hurry when I’m there, thus the lack of comments.

The Balloons That Won't Die!

Seriously…it’s been 10 days since we had these balloons filled with helium for Claire’s birthday party, and as you can see, they’re still going strong. I’ve never seen a latex balloon last this long. Every time I’ve ever had them filled, I always see little signs that say they should last 8-12 hours, NOT 8-12 days. Pook asked why I hadn’t just popped them & thrown them away, but I can’t do that to a perfectly good balloon for some strange reason. So, for now, they still adorn our entire living area.

Speaking of her birthday again…her one year pictures are online. Click HERE, then click Portraits, then Customers. The Password is our last name. They are ok. She would not stay still for the camera, so that was a huge challenge. Every time I sat her somewhere, she’d just walk away. I’m also not a fan of fake backgrounds. I do love the 2 in black & white at the end! Up until now (except for newborn pics) we’ve pretty much done all outdoor pictures, but the high temp. last Thursday was really low so there was no way to do anything outside. They let school out Friday because of the cold temps if that tells you anything...crazy people. They never did stuff like that when I was in school!

And here's a picture of my pretty princess! haha Yep, that's a snake around her neck. She is such a hoot!
I was super ambitious today & went to the gym & worked out before getting Grant ready for MDO and coming to work. I had the alarm sat for 5:20, but sweet Claire moved that up to 4:50 for me. When it’s warm, my mom & I take the kids to the park almost every day and we walk (or run), but since it’s gotten colder we haven’t been in months! I’m tagging along on Andy’s business trip to Vegas in a few months & decided I need to try to get back in shape before I wear a bathing suit. I’ll still as white as a sheet of paper, but maybe everything won’t jiggle so much :-)!! One can hope! My goal is to go on Mon. & Thurs. because I get to leave the house later on those 2 days because of Mother’s Day Out. I’d also like to go on Saturday, but they always seem so full. We’ll see how long I can keep it up. I probably won’t be able to move tomorrow. It’s been quite sometime since I’ve actually worked out on machines. My poor eyes are also already feeling the effects of getting up so early and it’s only noon! Wish me luck!

A Rite of Passage?!

...into old age or at least into 'soccer momness.' We are now the official owners of a minivan. We weren't really looking for one, just kind of keeping our eyes open, and we stumbled onto this one. An older couple from our church was selling it, and it happened to be perfect for us!

Since Claire turned 1, and met the weight requirement a few months ago, I turned her carseat around when I moved it into the van. I think she enjoys it, but it's like she now realizes I'm in the car with her. She yells at me ALOT driving down the road. I took both of these pictures while driving so they're not the best.

Grant loves it too. He just thinks he needs to watch a DVD to go across town. I've told him 45 mins. is the min. trip to break out the movies, but we'll see.

This picture is on the way home tonight. Claire had her 1 year pictures done this afternoon, and after all the running away from the camera she did, I guess she was worn out. Notice she has no bow, 1 sock, and no shoes. She got mad and started shedding accessories..cracks me up!