Kids say the funniest things...

Kids say the funniest things...

I have realized through my pregnancies that a woman loses her personal privacy when pregnant. Every person I encounter offers opinions, advice, rubs on the belly-- you name it. They are usually very well-intentioned and I am not offended, but it takes some getting used to. Perfect strangers will rub on my belly, comment on my need to gain or lose weight, tell me the gender from the looks of my belly, give me opinions about names, parenting, anything.

Hence, an example of the funniest pregnant moment to date:
Claire, Daren and I went to Yogurt Planet. Claire wanted me to "Hold You" while she filled up her yogurt so I was busy balancing a two-year old on my basketball of a belly while also trying to work the ice cream machine. Needless to say, I was not paying too much attention to the rest of the world around me. All of the sudden, I feel two cold hands on my belly. I look down and see a girl about 3 or 4 years old with her hands on my belly. (Sidenote: Her Dad is across the restaurant with another child paying no attention to this)

Here is our conversation:
Random little girl (very sweetly): "What's wrong with your stomach?"
Me: "I have a baby in my stomach." (I am immediately nervous about my answer because who knows what she knows and what she doesn't know?!)
Random little girl: "Why do you have a baby living in your shirt?"
Me: I laugh hysterically...Claire then proceeds to lift up her shirt and tell the girl "baby in belly." I answer "Well, the baby is going to live there until it is ready to be born."
Random little girl: "That's funny" and walks off...

July 4th Fun Times!

We headed to Steiner for the 4th of July parade with Christi, Corey, Chris, Charlie, Grandma and Pops. We decked out in flags, red, white and blue...the works. Tow (pronounced like cow but with a T?!) even made the parade journey with us.
It wasn't too hot yet and it was a nice walk. We met Pops at the UT Golf Club for breakfast afterwards. We had a good day. Happy Birthday America!

Uh-Oh...fingernails

Background: Claire wanted her fingernails painted. Mommy painted Claire's fingernails. She was ecstatic! She walked around all day with her fingers outstretched. She showed everyone everywhere we went "Claire's fee-gerrrr nails!!!" She was so proud!!

Here's our interaction with Daddy:
Daddy comes home from work.
Mommy: "Claire, show Daddy your fingernails."
Claire: "Daddy, look." She then holds out her nails for Daddy to see, smiling and so proud.
Daddy: "Oh, Claire, they look so pretty." (Thank goodness he didn't say anything in front of the kiddo!)

Later on (without Claire bear present)...
Daren: "Camille, she is too young to have her fingernails painted, don't you think?!"
Camille: "No, I don't think so or I wouldn't have done it. Daren, she is a little girl and we were having fun. She plays with make up and she plays dress up and all sorts of girly things like that. You will just have to get used to them."
Daren: "Okay but I don't know..."
Camille: "Daren, don't be silly."
At this, we both start laughing hysterically and the conversation then turns in to all the things that Daren might possibly keep Claire from doing. Will she be allowed to wear a skirt after age 5? Will she be allowed to date before 30? Will she be allowed to go anywhere by herself? We laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed... This interaction turned in to BIG laughs for Mommy and Daddy. Looks like this might be the first of many times that either Mommy or Daddy struggle with Claire bear growing up a bit.

Summer Daze

Claire, Daren and I are really enjoying summer time. Even though it is hot as Hades and Mommy is "large and in charge," we have had good times.

I have definitely had my share of nesting issues. I have cleaned and re-lined the kitchen shelves, cleaned out the pantry, reorganized Daren and my closet, cleaned out Claire's toys and donated some to Goodwill (she has WAY TOO many!!!), donated 3 bags of books to Goodwill while trying to clean out our study, and my next stop is the guest room AKA baby #2's room. There is MUCH to do there... I will keep you updated as we make progress. :-)

Claire update-
1. Catherine came in town last weekend. That was lots of fun! We ate lots, swam lots and played outside lots!! Claire loves her Catherine. I will post some pics soon. I haven't uploaded them yet.
2. We have gotten to see Claire's cousins, Chris and Charlie, along with Christi and Corey a lot which is always good fun for all of us. Claire loves playing with them and she loves Christi and Corey.
3. We have had playdates with friends and have had lots of fun catching up with people.
4. Claire and I started swim lessons yesterday at Emler. She will learn to hold her breath 10 seconds underwater and she will learn to swim 3 feet. Can you believe that? She loved it yesterday. She learned how to get herself out of the pool (with no step to help). I was pretty impressed with that.
5. Claire and I go to the Austin Children's Museum for Baby Boomers. Her favorite part is the Sing-a-long where she usually decides to join the song leaders in the middle of the circle.
6. Claire is going to school several days a week and loving it. She got to ride a train which she talked about for days. She has Splash Day every Friday which is BIG fun!! And, she gets to be a social butterfly with her friends Olivia, Wyatt, Zahn, Hannah, Eleanor and more...

Overall, we are having big fun and we are beating the heat. :-) Summer is flying by! I can't believe it is already July?!

Our Beach Princess

The Nixes took our family to Destin, Florida this past week for a wonderful vacation of clear blue water and white sands. Claire LOVED the water and she loved playing in the sand. The trip was special and fun; easy and relaxing; beautiful and nice. We had a great, great time.
Claire was the bravest in the water with her LaLa. LaLa could take her out to neck deep water, ride waves, ride floats, sing, dance, do anything and Claire had a ball with her. We got a kick out of watching them. She loves her LaLa very much!!Claire spent her shady time in the sand. She loved building castles and then smashing them the minute they were finished. One of my favorite moments on the beach is when Claire talked her Papa, Daddy and Mommy in to Ring Around the Rosy. It was a pretty funny sight and she got the biggest kick out of it.
After all that hard work in the sand and the water, her favorite place to be was snuggling with her Mimi. She loves to snuggle with Mimi. Mommy caught a few snuggles too.

A little girl who loves her Daddy...

Happy Father's Day to Daren! We had a wonderful day filled with breakfast for Daddy, a trip to church, the UT Club for brunch, a good nap, a small shopping excursion that Daddy has been wanting to take, a quick trip to the grocery store, Daddy's "dinner of choice" and good snuggle time to put Claire to bed. ;-) Now, Daddy has his feet up, is watching 24 and drinking a good glass of wine. Life doesn't get much better, huh!?
Claire is a lucky girl to have a Daddy like Daren. He is patient and kind; loving and compassionate; and fun and silly. She is blessed. I love watching the two of them and seeing their bond grow.

I am a lucky girl to have my father who fully participates in my life and Claire's and isn't afraid to be open and honest, but also to "let his hair down" and have fun. I feel blessed that the men in Claire's life play such instrumental roles. She has a Daddy, a Papa, a Pops, a Corey, etc...who all shape her and love her. She is lucky!!

La, la, la, la...Elmo's World

No matter how you slice it, Claire loves Elmo! She has an Elmo doll that laughs. She has an Elmo baby. She has an Elmo book from her LaLa that we read every day and every night. She recently discovered that Elmo is on TV. We drove to Oklahoma for Daren's grandmother's funeral. An 8 hour drive seemed a bit LONG with a 2 year old who refuses to sleep in the car anymore, so we decided to purchase some Elmo DVDs. It worked like a charm for the trip but it increased the obsession ten-fold. Anyways, Elmo is a full-fledged obsession. Grandma found this Elmo outfit and Claire had to have it!! Of course, Grandma got it for her. :-) Claire was the happiest little girl you'll ever see yesterday wearing it. She smiled the entire day and told everyone she saw that she had "Elmo shirt." LOVE THAT ELMO!!

25 weeks and growing...

This one's for the Cat...If you are embarrassed by skin, don't look at the pictures. Catherine wants to see my belly (Remember, she is in San Diego)and a sista's got to give a girl what she wants. We went to the Dr. this morning. I had to drink the nasty orange drink to check for gestational diabetes and other things. I crashed and burned after I drank it. It is a good thing Claire Bear was at school this morning because I sat down to read a book and woke up 2 hours later. :-) The Dr. told me it is the equivalent, in sugar, of 10 Snickers!!?! Can you imagine? No wonder I crashed. Anyways, I gained a pound since the last appointment on May 15 which was shocking considering my big ASS belly, but the Dr. says it is okay because...the baby is measuring big...27 weeks in size!!?? I don't know if that means I should expect another early BIG baby like Miss Claire Bear or if that just means Daren and I make big ass babies. :-) Heart beat sounded strong and solid (156 bpm). All is well in babyland. Keep praying for us...

Here I am in all my pregnant glory:

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

Happy Birthday!! I love you, Daddy. I love when we swing, but "no spin, okay?!" I love to dance in the living room with you. I love when you take me to the store. I love to go swimming with you. I love to feel your whiskers and I love when you make silly faces at me. I love when you play copycat with me at the dinner table. I love when you read me books and when we let balloons go to the sky. Thanks Daddy for being so good to me. I hope you had a special birthday. You deserve it so much. I hope you like your new driver. I am sorry it rained on our tee time. Let's plan another day to play, okay Daddy?! Mommy tells me all the time how lucky I am to have a Daddy like you and I agree. I am the luckiest girl in the world. Happy Birthday, Daddy. Mommy and I love you very much!!!

Love,
Claire Bear

PS- This is late, but if you have read the blog then you know why it is late. It took a while for the Nix family to have a computer.

Princess Claire and fingerpaint!

Claire loves to dress up like a princess! My favorite thing, though, is that she always makes me "get camera," as she puts it. She likes to look at herself dressed up. What a princess!
Claire's latest favorite outdoor activity besides swimming and the swing is to fingerpaint. Mommy found the best washable paint around and she goes to town! Sometimes she forgets the paint is on her hands, though. :-)

Sweet, sweet Claire bear with a twist

Daren has been out of town since Saturday. I have missed him very much, but I have LOVED the time with Claire. I am tired but it reinforced how much fun my life is going to be at home full time with her very soon. We fingerpainted, played outside, went to church, ran errands, planted flowers, sang a lot, dressed up like princesses, had picnics outside, took walks and loved on each other. It was really special time. I do have many cute pictures but until Daren gets home to hook the fixed computer back up, I won't have them online. Trust me, though, I will back them up. :-)

Last night, Claire and I were up all night long. It was back to 'newborn baby style,' up all night, sleeping in the chair while Claire sleeps against my chest, snuggling, nuzzling and crying off and on. Claire has a terrible cough that finally took its toll and she couldn't sleep. The only way she could sleep is if she was against my chest and upright. In a strange way, I will treasure last night forever. She was miserably sick and I was miserably tired, but moments like last night are pretty rare these days. Claire is too busy to snuggle for hours. :-) There was a time at 3 in the morning where about every few minutes, she would lean back, look at me and say "I love you, Mommy." Every single time, I cried. It rocked me to the core and melted my heart. We were playing today and she looked at me when I got close to the stairs and said "Be careful, Mommy." It cracked me up because I say that to her every time we go near the stairs. I guess she listens a little closer than I realized. I, too, have a cough that won't quit and every time I cough, she says "Bless you." Sweetest little girl in the world... I am so thankful.

(Dr Diagnosis: I took her to the Dr. and she has double ear infections. I was really surprised because she was up and upset last night with a cough, so the ear thing threw me off. Poor baby! Anyways, we had a sweet, low-key day today with more dress-up and lots of cuddling. She is sound asleep for now... Hopefully, she gets some rest. She is definitely worn out and tired. (and so is Mommy)

Just so I sound too obnoxious about how sweet she is, I will also write a different kind of story. We have a little potty and we are practicing. She is doing very well. She pee pees on the potty from time to time but is no where near being in underwear. I am not in a rush but I do want her to start learning. Right now, I just want her to learn the process of the potty and the little princess potty is working quite well. Potty training is one thing that I truly knew nothing about, but I have read A LOT so we shall see... It will be a long process, I am sure, but I am ready for her to exit the diapers if she will!! So, today for a while, she wanted to be naked so I let her. We were playing outside and Claire was in her "birthday suit." I didn't notice but I looked up and Claire was holding her poop. She didn't mind one bit and probably would have played with it for a while. :-) She is fascinated with taking her diaper off right now so I now have to put the diapers on backwards. So far it is working and she hasn't figured out yet how to undo the backwards diaper, so keep your fingers crossed.

No luck

No data recovery. Everything was lost. Horrible lesson learned to always back up my computer stuff. I am sick...so sad but life will go on. I am the most sad about all the videos I had of Claire because I never backed those up and there were 2 years worth. :-(

Baby #2 update

Good news...seems that Computer Nerdz may be able to fully recover our data AND fix our computer. Keep your fingers crossed...

This morning, Daren, Grandma, Pops and I headed to the BIG sonogram for baby #2- the one that you have at 20 weeks. I had it late, at 22 weeks, because my Dr's office moved to a much better place. :-) Anyways, baby #2 looks great. There are 4 chambers of the heart, a working stomach, kidney function occurring, blood flow coming in and out of the umbilical cord as it should, brain development normal and all bones growing as they should. The baby is measuring on the "big side of normal" which is exactly how Claire still measures. So, we are measuring about 10 days ahead of our due date in size. That would be exactly the same as Miss Claire bear who graced us on April 22 with a May 3 due date. This appointment, for me, is scary as hell but also so amazing. The amount of information that science can see in unborn babies now is incredible and also terrifying. All prayers are answered so far and the baby is really healthy. We even stood our ground with NOT finding out the gender of the baby. It was really hard for Grandma to look away but she did it. Way to go, Grandma! The surprise will be fun, I promise.

I am feeling good. I am really tired by late afternoon and feeling really big, but I have only gained 5 pounds so far. I am proud of that. I am trying to take good care of myself for Claire, for me, for Daren, but especially for the growing life inside of me. ;-) I can't wait to meet him/her. I can't wait to see Claire and the boys hold baby #2. I can't wait to smell the newborn baby smell. And even in a weird way, I can't wait to go through the exhaustion again- the long nights, the gassy days, etc... It is a rite of passage that leads to the most amazing journey. I look at Claire and I look at my belly and life is good. Life is really good. Thanks be to God!

Mother's Day 2009

Well, we may be on a blog break for a while. I will still write but no pictures for a while. Our home computer crashed and we lost everything. Yes, we are the dummies that didn't back anything up. I am sad about losing work documents, addresses, emails, etc...BUT I am devastated about losing pictures of Claire that I had never backed up. Luckily, I am fairly OCD about uploading to Kodak, but I hadn't done it since January. So, the last 6 months are no longer... :-(

Mother's Day was nice. We spent a lot of the weekend in Houston celebrating Mother's Day with Becky. We went swimming and played outside a lot. Becky wanted to ride the merry-go-round with Claire in The Woodlands so we went. Claire rode the zebra, the pony, the rabbit and the tiger. It was a huge hit! We all took a turn with Claire on it because she was loving it so much. Daren and Lashelle cooked breakfast on Sunday morning, we gave Becky her gifts and then we drove back to Austin to have some family time of our own.

Claire crashed and burned when we got home and took a LONG nap. Consequently, so did Mommy and Daddy. It was a nice treat. We then enjoyed our time together. We went to the store, we played outside, we went to my Mom's to hug her neck, and Claire, Daren and I ate dinner together :-) Claire and Daren cooked me dinner and it was delicious. They gave me the sweetest card and a beautiful necklace. It has a charm on it with her picture in it. I love it!! And, when baby #2 is born, we can add another charm. My family treated me to a nice bag that I will haul around all summer and I will fill it with towels, sun screen, a bathing suit, flip flops, etc...to survive during the summer heat. I guess they knew I would need it pretty bad with this big ol' belly and a 2 year old. :-)

I love being a Mom. I feel blessed to have such a sweet little girl and a husband who honors who I am as the mother of his daughter. They made me feel special and they made me feel loved. This year, Mother's Day was very emotional for me because I have a growing life inside of me and a little girl who counts on me every day to love her and nurture her needs. Daren laughed at me because I got very overwhelmed with the emotion of that a number of times, but it is both a miracle and a gift. I will never take it for granted. I am so thankful.

Claire's birthday party

Claire's 2nd birthday party was a blast! We headed to JW Tumbles for an afternoon of bubbles, balloons, slides, swings, magic carpet rides, train rides, roller coaster rides, snake jumps and much more! Claire had such a good time and she loved having all her little friends (as well as her older friends) to celebrate. This was the perfect party- lots of fun, lots of space, no clean-up and no fuss- perfect for a pregnant Mommy who works full time and is trying to juggle it all to give her daughter the best. :-) Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We can't believe you are two. Claire LOVED the slide and spent lots of time playing on the slide. She rode the magic carpet with her friends.

They all lined up to "jump over the snake."And Claire even drove a train!!