4 months!

Little Miss Clara is 4 months old!  Well, she has been since November 6th. She weighs 14 lbs 12 oz -ish and is 26 inches long. She is a full 2 pounds smaller than my other two were at this age!!  All the easier to pack her little self around.  Her hair is coming in and looks to be light brown. Her skin is very light, and she has deep blue eyes.

This girl continues to be the happiest baby! She rarely cries. Her smiles come easily and she loves to laugh, especially if you are laughing with her. She's getting pretty ticklish.  She will be very still and quiet when I whisper in her ear, like she's listening intently.  

She sleeps and eats well, and is pretty laid back about it all. She still sleeps in a bassinet in our closet. I think we can get another month or so out of it.  After that? I'm not sure what the sleeping arrangements will be. She's a quiet sleeper and I've really enjoyed having her close.

She always has her hands in her mouth when she's awake. She's holds onto toys pretty well. Until tonight, she'd only rolled over once and no one even saw it. Today she really figured it out and rolled over and over again from her back to her tummy.

This little girl seems to enjoy just about everything about life. She is the sweetest spirit and has been such a joy to our family. I'm not sure what we did to deserve her, but we'll keep her!

Halloween 2013

Halloween was highly anticipated this year. Madeline thought my decorations were insufficient, so she spent a lot of time making and putting up decorations in her room. We read Halloween books all month, went to the pumpkin patch, carved jack'o'lanterns, watched Halloween movies, and waited and waited for the big day.

Halloween costumes were on the 2 oldest kids by 7:30 Halloween morning. The kids had such a fun day. We all dressed up for the evening. Clara went as a monkey, and Scott and I were Clark Kent and Lois Lane.  The kids finally crawled into bed at 9:45 that night in a candy induced stupor.  Success!

The candy is now gone and one of us (can you guess?) is already making plans for next year.

Creepy Crawlies

Madeline reminds me of myself when I was a child in so many ways. One of those is her love of all things creepy and crawly (not that I have that love anymore). She's known to let daddy long legs crawl all over her and she loves to dig up worms.  Grandpa Serr recently caught buckets full of crawfish from the drained canals to use as bait when he goes fishing.  I haven't seen her more exited about something in a while!  She played and played with them at her grandparents' house.  And then excitement of all excitements - they let her take a few home!  She played with them in our backyard all afternoon until they were all either lost or dead. What a fun thought for me that there might be lost crawfish skittering around my yard :/. I avoided the backyard for a few days. But, really, I think it's fun that she loves bugs and little animals so much.

At 2 Months

Well, she's been 2 months for a little while, but here's what we know about our Clara:

She's still my little tiny.  She was 11 1/2 lbs. and 23 inches last week.  Her receding hairline is growing back in and appears to be brown.  She has bright blue eyes, a button nose, and the Serr mouth.

Her smiles come easily and frequently.  She smiles when I get her out of her crib, when I feed her, when anyone holds her or looks at her or talks to her.  She tries to laugh, but can't quite get it out.  She is such a verbal baby!  Whenever she smiles she coos and coos.  It looks like the 12 hours straight of talking at our house might not be ending any time soon.

She goes down for the night around 9 pm and sleeps until about 9am, with two feedings in between - usually at 4ish and 6ish.  She used to be up for the day after her second feeding until I discovered that she'll go back to sleep if I put her in bed with me after she eats.  And she'll keep sleeping after I get up with the other kids.  Some days she takes nice long naps, other days are full of short naps.

She doesn't mind much of anything.  She's content most of the time, unless she's tired, at which time I promptly put her little self to bed.  We are so blessed to have such a happy, sweet baby girl!

On Her Blessing Day

Clara was blessed last Sunday.  We decided to go all traditional this time and bless her in church with all kinds of family present, complete with a luncheon to follow.  I guess we really are Idahoans now.  Our other two were blessed at home, and it was all very simple and sweet.  This was fun, though.  Its a nice way to celebrate the birth of a new child.

Both sets of grandparents were able to come, as well as the families of Scott's sisters, and one brother.  We love living so close to some of our family, especially at times like this.  We really appreciate the support they are able to give.  We can't wait for little Clara to grow up and become close to the people we love.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do...

I think Scott and I generally do ok at this parenting thing.  Our kids are pretty happy, they eat pretty well, and they are usually kind well adjusted people.  There is one area of parenting, however, that we are sadly inept at.  That is transitioning our kids from a crib to a bed.  With Madeline is was a frustrating, tiring, struggle for years.  She started jumping out of her crib at 19 months, and didn't stay for any length of time in a bed until she was 3 1/2.  The first night we tried to put her in a toddler bed, she came out of her room over 600 times in 3 hours (yes, I took a tally).  And that, my friends, is the limit of my willpower.  It was all very horrible.  And we were horrible at it.

The time has come around again for child #2, who thankfully does not have the willpower of child #1.  But it still hasn't been a very fun week.  Would someone else like to take over this aspect of parenting my child until he stays in his bed?

This is how I found our dear, little Benson when I went to bed the other night.  Under his bed, with his head against the rocking horse.  Comfy.

A few pics...

After not having been to visit my parents since April, the kids and I took two trips to Logan last month.  Clara traveled like a champ!  During one of our trips, my dad and sister borrowed Clara for a little impromptu photo-op.  She was 4 1/2 weeks (with a little receding hairline).  What a little dolly we have!

A Couple of Weeks In

We've had this little girl at home with us for two weeks now, and boy, do we all love her!  She gets plenty of hugs and kisses from her big brother and sister, and I try to hold her all I can.  Madeline chooses out Clara's clothes every morning, and Benson loves to fetch her binky any time its needed. I keep waiting for it to get hard, but it really hasn't been yet.  Granted, we haven't left the house much all together.  Clara sleeps a lot and isn't fussy at all.  \

One silly thing that has happened with the birth of each of my children is that I miss being pregnant.  What?  Really.  It's like I can't appreciate the magnificence of growing a person inside of me until I actually meet them.  Then I really get it.  I don't know why the whole thing is so surreal to me until the child is born.  Then I wish I could go back and really enjoy it and appreciate it.

I've bonded easily to this little one.  For some reason the late night feedings and tasks of caring for a newborn baby don't seem as difficult this time around.  I just love her to pieces!

Miss Clara Grace

Clara Grace

8 lbs 1 oz, 20 inches long

Born July 6, 2013 at 10:34am

She is my smallest baby, but she did decide to make her grand entrance 9 days early.  I had a short labor with her, for which I am grateful.  I was only in active labor for about an hour before we got to the hospital, and she was born just two hours later.  

Remember how I had Madeline in the hospital and it was an awful experience, and how I had Benson in a birthing center and it was a wonderful experience?  And then, remember how I had a feeling that I needed to have this baby in the hospital?  Why, why why? - I wondered off and on throughout this pregnancy.  Aside from the usual horrible morning sickness, my pregnancy with her went without a hitch.  I felt great all the way to the end.  Well, that Saturday morning we found out why.

Baby was doing very well when we first got to the hospital, but as my labor progressed her heart rate began to drop lower and lower.  And not just with contractions.  By the time I was nearly fully dilated, she wasn't doing well at all.  We didn't know what the problem was, but we knew she needed to be out right away.  She was successfully and quickly vacuum assisted out.  I found out later that the OR staff had been notified that I would need a c-section, and one of my work friends had been called in from home to recover me.  I'm so, so grateful that I was able to avoid the c-section.  When she was delivered, we discovered that she had a true knot in her cord, as well as a loop around her neck.  As she descended down the birth canal, the knot was tightened and compressed so that she wasn't receiving enough blood and oxygen.  True knots only occur in 1:2000 pregnancies, and even then it rarely causes complications.  I am confident we made the right choice to give birth in the hospital, and that we chose the right practitioner who skillfully aided in her delivery, and who allowed me a chance to deliver her vaginally instead of just rushing me down the hall to the operating room.  

My poor baby girls and their umbilical cords - Madeline had a short cord.  While their deliveries were nearly identical in method, the experience was completely different this time.  The delivery room was peaceful and calm.  My nurse was attentive, respectful, and kind.  My postpartum stay was really nice.  My recovery was the smoothest and least painful of the three.  I've bonded quickly to this little baby.

Miss Clara looks nearly identical to her older sister, with the exception of having lots of dark hair and sadly, her mother's long, long toes.  She's been a good, good baby.  I'm enjoying every moment with her.  

TWO

Oh, this boy is about as cute as they come.  And now he's TWO!  We had a sweet little party for him a couple of weeks ago with just the grandparents.  We had a hot dog bar, opened presents, and ate homemade blue-beary (I put gummy bears in it) ice cream sans cake because it was entirely too hot to bake.  He loved every second of it.

Here are some things about our little man at two:

• He loves to sing and be sung to.  Often tantrums can be averted by just a simple song.  Silly ones are best.  His most requested song at bedtime is "Pokey", meaning the Hokey Pokey.  
• He likes to play with cars, and trains, and balls
• He also likes to play with baby dolls and he wears headbands around the house.  Usually 5 or 6 at a time.  One morning I went to get him from his crib and found that he'd taken a baby to bed with him.  He had swaddled her in his blanket and put her to sleep carefully at the end of his crib.  
• He is completely enamored with real babies, too.
• He's getting to be a much better talker, and we can usually understand what he's saying.  Usually.
• His very favorite thing to do is play in the car.  Every time the door to the garage is opened he makes a beeline to it and asks, "Blue car?".  He likes to climb over the seats, turn the lights on, and pretend like he's driving.  He can spend a whole hour entertaining himself out there.
• He eats half my bowl of oatmeal every morning, usually after eating Madeline's leftovers too.  His bowl is left mostly untouched.  As my cereal comes out of the microwave, he yells, "Mommy's cereal couch!" to let me know he wants to sit next to me on the couch and share bites.  
• He has a crazy sweet tooth, and shares my love of chocolate.  
• He likes to watch me cook, and he sets the table for dinner every night while talking to himself - "Plate Benson, and plate Madeline".
• He's quick to say he's sorry and says "thank you" several times a day without prompting.  I didn't teach this, he just does it.  This is a sharp contrast to his sister whom I couldn't for the life of me get to say she was sorry until she was at least 3.  They are so different.  
• He like to call out "One, two, three...blastoff" and run from one side of the house to the other.  When he gets to the other side, he yells, "I won!"  Then he'll do it again and again.
• He's really just the sweetest thing

Preschool

Pregnancy brain does crazy things to me.  Usually the problem is social in nature.  During my first pregnancy I found it really hard to be nice.  During my second I couldn't maintain eye contact.  Apparently one of the things it's doing to me this time around is giving my no desire whatsoever to document the life of my family.  Not only have I not wanted to blog, but I haven't taken more than a small handful of pictures in the last few months.  Finally this week the guilt is catching up with me.  My kids change every month, especially little Benson.  Someday I will be really sad that I didn't record anything for so long.  So on that note, I'm going to try to make this a regular thing again.

Yesterday was Miss Madeline's preschool graduation.  Silly, but cute.  I'm afraid I might miss preschool more than she will.  I loved dropping her off with a big smile on her face after several hugs and kisses.  Watching her run to the door of preschool because she was so exited was the best.  I loved knowing that she was well taken care of and taught and enriched.  I'll also miss her being ready to see me when it was over and telling me all about her afternoon as she bounced around the house in her crazy preschool snack sugar high (candy bars and suckers for a bunch of 4-5 year olds at lunch time?  Yup.)

Preschool was good to her.

Back

I've finally made it back from the dark hole of constant nausea.  Being sick for months on end is one thing, but being sick for months on end with two small children is something different entirely.  We survived, but it is a time we'd all like to forget.  Scott was truly the glue that held everything together.  He cooked lunch and dinner, did the dishes, went grocery shopping with me (so as not to have a repeat of the Walmart incident of 2007), changed Benson's dirty diapers, picked up the house, and entertained children.  Every ounce of my strength and patience was used up trying to make it through another hour of nausea.  It was all especially hard on Madeline.   Now we're slowly making the transition back to normal life.

One of the saddest side effects of morning sickness for me is the loss of joy in regards to food.  I love to plan, cook, and feed my family delicious, healthy food.  It is truly one of my greatest joys in life.  Not being able to do so leaves me empty in a way.  This time around, I had great plans for how we would get our meals.  Although this pregnancy was not planned (but very, very welcomed), I knew immediately that I was. I took an early test to confirm it, and then we went to work.  My parents came up one Saturday, and we made 34 freezer meals.  However, I didn't plan on having a severe aversion to garlic and onions.  Every meal we made had one or the other or both, sometimes in large quantities.  The first meal we tried was a lasagna, and I promptly told Scott that we were never to have that in our house again.  In fact, I couldn't even stand the smell of any of the freezer meals being brought into the house from the garage while still frozen solid.  Backfire.

We find out tomorrow morning the sex of our new child.  We'll be happy with either one, and really don't feel a tendency one way or the other.  I find it interesting how our parenting develops, evolves, and is different in many ways for each of our children.  This time around, I felt like we needed to have this baby in the hospital.  This has already been a more difficulty pregnancy than my other two were, and we're hoping everything goes well.  Mostly, we are so, so exited to add another child to this crazy crew.