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!!

More Slide, Grandma!

For those of you who don't know Grandma well, you need to know that Grandma is afraid of anything tall, fast, slanted, twisty, etc... She won't get near a kiddie roller coaster and you would never see her on a diving board. She hates to fly in airplanes and she would never speed. But when her granddaughter says "Grandma, hold you. More SLIDE!," off she goes... You can tell that Claire loved it but the jury is still out on Grandma. You are the best, Grandma. I have never laughed so hard in all my life. Daren and I were still laughing about it today. LOVE IT!

PS- Grandma went on the slide 3 times!! Go Grandma!

Pump It Up

There are no words to do justice to how much fun Claire had at Pump It Up celebrating the boys' 3rd birthday. The boys had a great time too. We were all worn out after our time at Pump It Up. :-) Overall, the party was a blast. Charlie and D took their share of trips down the slide and had a great time.
Claire was fearless and she had a blast!! Every time she made it down the slide, she would giggle and scream "More slide." We couldn't get her up the slide for more quick enough. It was a bit surprising to Mommy and Daddy, too, how fast the slide went. The first time, Mommy almost had a heart attack. We all went with some combo of a child and adult at least 1000 times, but the coolest part was that Claire got brave enough that she wanted to go alone. She has Mommy and Daddy's adventurous spirit in her which is pretty cool.For most of the party (and the weekend), Claire wanted "Catherine, Hold you" so Catherine and Claire were attached at the hip. Here is one of the many times they hung out together.

Fun times on Claire's 2nd Birthday

On Claire's actual birthday, we woke her up to play in the house that Daddy built her. (see picture of Claire in an earlier blog to see her in the doorway of her house) Later that afternoon, we took Pops, Daddy and Mommy took cupcakes to Claire's class (Grandma went to the boys' school for bday cupcakes). We had big fun and the kids loved their special treat. We then headed to Grandma and Pops for dinner, homemade cupcakes and some presents!! She loved telling everyone "Happy Birthday Claire" and that she is "TWO!!" Grandma and Pops gave Claire this tunnel and it is a big hit. The only problem is that she likes it so much that it is hard to get her out of it sometimes. :-)

Look how far they've grown- The blessings of April 22

Claire's day of birth- April 22, 2007

Claire's 1st week home...
Claire's 1st birthday- April 22, 2008
Claire's 2nd birthday- April 22, 2009 We still can't believe that Claire is two years old. It is crazy how time flies by. We are loving every minute of her and we finally understand what it means when adults say "enjoy it because they grow up so quickly." We blinked and she is two.


The boys together in their crib a few weeks after their birth- April 22, 2006
Their 1st birthday- April 22, 2007

Their 2nd birthday- April 22, 2008
Their 3rd birthday- April 22, 2009 Charlie is laughing and Chris is a fireman.


It is crazy that they all share the same birthday but it makes it that much more special. April 22 will always bring our family much joy and happiness. First came Chris, then came Charlie, then came Claire...all on the same day. Three beautiful blessings that share the same day of birth.

Triple Birthday Party Weekend

Claire had a big weekend! We had 3 birthday parties to attend, which for Claire means "cake, blow out candles and presents." She had so much fun at each party.

We headed first to Brooke's 3rd party where Claire rumbled and tumbled at Little Gym. Claire loved the bubbles, the donut where she rolled down doing somersaults and the bouncy house. She had so much fun. She kept running around and every so often, she would run by me and say "Hi Mommy" and keep on playing. Brooke was an old pro at all the Little Gym equipment and it was fun to see her. She is such a sweet, sweet girl. Happy Birthday to Brooke!
The next morning, we went to Eleanor's 2nd birthday which was a painting party. Claire had a big time painting the boxes and painting herself. Eleanor and Claire have been friends at school since they were around 10 or 11 months old. Claire loves her very much. I love that the birthday girl wore her tutu...it is something that she wears every single day. :-) It wouldn't have felt like Eleanor if she hadn't been wearing her special tutu.

That afternoon after Claire's nap, we headed to Wyatt's 2nd birthday. Now Wyatt and Claire have something special. I don't mean that in a gross way, but if you ever wondered if 2 year olds can truly be close friends and really love each other, watch them. She adores him and he adores her. We say good night to Wyatt every night. Claire and Wyatt have gone to school together since they were 7 months old and their bond is deep. My favorite moment at the party was Wyatt and Claire dancing while Wyatt played his guitar. I tried to take pictures of it but they didn't do justice to the moments. I included one but you can't see Claire's face. You can tell, though, that they were really into it.

A Little Spanish Flamenco Dancer

Aunt LaLa went to Spain over Spring Break and came home ready to turn Claire in to a flamenco dancer!!

Easter escapades

We kicked off our whirlwind of Easter events with Claire's school's Spring Fling. Grandma and Pops joined us and it was great fun! There were all kinds of activities, but we couldn't get Claire off of the slide so we spent our time there.

We then headed to Riverbend with Grandma and Pops for the Easter Eggstravaganza for an incredible morning. It truly was one of the most spectacular children's events I have ever seen- face painting, petting zoo, egg hunts for every age group, moon walks, chicken dances, etc... We did it all! It was a blast and Claire was POOPED!

Sunday rolls around and Claire woke up to her 1st real visit from the Easter bunny. He came last year but all of her goodies were in a basket. This time, she hunted eggs (in the house since it was raining). She definitely caught on pretty quickly to the idea of "eggs" and "chocolate," as she puts it. She had a blast and we had even more fun watching her.
We headed to church after her hunt and it was wonderful. It was packed and all of the children were dressed in their Easter suits and dresses which I love! Let's not forget, though, the real meaning of Easter. He is risen! The sermon talked about the Good News attached to Jesus's resurrection and the hope it brings people each year when we are reminded of His blessing. I love going to church because it reinforces for me all the blessings of my life and all the good news we constantly receive, even in the midst of the bad. It puts things in perspective for me. I am blessed. I hope that I can pass on the same feelings to my daughter of appreciation and satisfaction. Too many waste time on what they don't have or what they wish they had. I hope that she will learn the true meaning of Easter and that it is not just about bunnies, candy, chocolate and eggs. I hope she learns that Easter is about the resurrection of God's greatest gift.

We had brunch with my nephews (which is always a treat), my sister, my brother in law and my parents. We ate at the UT club which was fun because the kids love to run around outside there. We had naps and then we met back up at Grandma and Pops for another Easter egg hunt and a special treat from Grandma. She baked a bunny cake and let the kids decorate. Check it out!! It is pretty funny!

Lillie Mabel Carter

December 16, 1915 - April 3, 2009

We were all blessed to know and love her. All of us will love deeper and give more generously because of her. I personally am so thankful for the 10 years I was blessed to be loved by her. She was the grandmother I never had and she always treated me with love and care. I am thankful she got to meet Claire and will treasure this picture of the 4 of them always. I really love the picture Becky took of her by herself. She looks so pretty. I wish Baby #2 got to know her but I know that Mrs. Carter will protect the little peanut and smile down from heaven on him/her.

What to name Baby Nix? Ask my boys!!

I called Christi this afternoon and she asked the boys what we should name baby Nix.

Here is the conversation:
Christi: "Charlie, what should we name baby Nix?"
Charlie: "Melissa."
Christi: "That's a good name. What do we name the baby if it is a boy?"
Charlie: "Chocolate Milk!!"
Christi: "Oh, Chocolate Milk Nix. That's a silly name."
Charlie: "I like it."

Now on to Chris...
Christi: "Chris, what should we name baby Nix?"
Chris: "Marmel!"
Christi: "Marmel? Is that for a boy or a girl?
Chris: "I want the baby to be a big boy like Chris."
Christi: "The baby will be little for a while, Chris. And, it could be a girl like Claire."
Chris: "Okay. Then, Ducky!" (Chris just got a ducky stuffed animal)

So, what do you vote for? Melissa? Chocolate Milk? Marmel? or Ducky??

We celebrated Grandma's birthday today. We had brunch at Westwood and then went to Grandma and Pops's house for ice cream and cake. We took some nice family pictures. We were missing Catherine, but maybe we can Photoshop her in there. :-)

The Ferina Family

The Nix Family

Pops, Grandma and Claire bearGrandma, Pops and all the kiddos!
My favorite one, though, is the one I took at the end of all the festivities as we were leaving Grandma and Pops to go home for a nap. Look at my sweet girl! She is posing...she knows she is cute! She is such a ham!