Little girl

Claire had her two year dr appointment on Friday. She weighs 23 lbs. She is such a little girl! She is 10% for weight, 20% for height and 88% for her head lol. I don't think her head is really that big but I guess so. She's been on those curves for a while now so no concern. I keep saying this but every stage just gets more and more fun! I love it! She can make me want to tear my hair out or makes me just cry because I love her so much and she is so cute :)

She's starting to show interest in potty training. She tinkles once and then wants her diaper off and to sit on the potty. I wish I had the energy and the time before the baby comes to try it but I don't think I'm up for it. :)

We got her 24 month clothes out and put her 12 month clothes up...finally. She is probably going to be 3 before she fits into the pants but her dresses fit and look adorable :)

I had to give a talk in church today and it went pretty well. The youth speaker talked for about 10 minutes so I actually had to cut stuff from my talk. Claire wasn't extremely happy to see me up there. Brian sang with the choir so I had to come down and sit with her anyway.

We got the rest of the baby stuff out yesterday, like the swing. Claire loved playing with all the stuff.

I thought I should put at least one preggo picture up on here. I don't like pictures of me period and pregnancy pictures are hard to handle :) But I'm still not at the point where I fell DONE you know? I just know that this baby is easier to handle inside than outside lol. We are very excited to meet him though. My parents should be here late Tuesday (WHOO HOO) so anytime after that.

I do have one sad update. My great Grandma (mama) Bessie Miller passed away on Thursday. All my pictures of her are packed up so I had to wait till my mom put one up. She was 87 years old. She was such a fun lady. She loved to play cards and dominos. She was serious about her cards too, don't try to cheat around her. I'm so thankful that we were able to go see her for her last birthday last year in Mississippi. I'm glad that we were able to get a 5 generation picture. I know that will be an incredibly special picture. I love you Mama!

Sick

So, diaper rash is gone (yay) but now we are sick with a cold. Yuck. Last night, between heartburn and a super sore throat, I got no sleep. And really, I mean no sleep. My head feels stuffy. Claire has a pretty big cough too. I'm frustrated because she has her two year appointment on Friday and can't get any shots if she isn't feeling good. I was really looking forward to her getting them right before a 3 day weekend so Brian could be there to help if she's fussy. I had a midwife appointment and a chiropractor appointment today that we cancelled. My midwife said she isn't too concerned with seeing me although we did schedule for tomorrow in case I was feeling better, since she'll probably be seeing me next week for a baby. :) (maybe) I'm not concerned either...my feet still look normal! She told me to make a drink of crushed garlic, water, lemon juice, honey, and cayenne pepper for my throat. It really wasn't that bad...but I did put a lot of lemon juice and honey in there :) Pray for us to feel better really soon!

Introducing: The next contestant for America's Got Talent!

Claire is getting to where she has a defininite opinion about what clothes she wears and what shoes she has on. Lately she has wanted her swim suit. I'm like whatever.

And yah, the house is totally trashed again. Well, not totally, my bedroom is pretty clean but otherwise...

It's amazing how fast that happens, even if the house was spotless the night before :(

Also annoying...Claire fell asleep ON THE FLOOR which is weird because she hardly ever falls asleep like that. I picked her up to put in her crib and then the UPS guy rang the doorbell. An hour later and guess who is still awake? Boo.

Brothers

Aren't my brothers* so cute? I just had to put these up...stole them from my mom's blog :) It looks like she has a nice camera now

Logan's going to get all the girls in his freshman ward ;) Too bad Jordan has to wait a few more years...

Can't wait to see Ethan! He is Claire's best friend...

*not pictured--Bryan

Teething

So Claire is getting at least two more molars...I haven't been able to check her top teeth. With that has come a runny nose and a HORRIBLE diaper rash. I feel awful. She cries every time she pees and when she poos and I have to use a diaper wipe she cries and says All done please. It makes me want to cry. What do I do for that? Her wipes are very gentle since I make them myself and just use baby oil and baby soap. e've been using large amounts of diaper rash cream but it's still bad. I've been trying to let her go diaperless but then she just wants to sit in my lap....... Any suggestions? I'm hoping they come in fast because she wants to nurse a lot and needs more help at night and more cuddles in the day. Hoping this is done before D-day.

Good Weekend

Saturday was beautiful! It was one of those days that I was sad that we are moving because it was gorgeous. Brian's friend and his wife were supposed to come visit from Seattle but they got in a wreck on the way :( The car behind them got hit which hit them which made them hit the car in front of them. Really big bummer. So, they didn't come but we went to the Olympic game farm anyway. It was fun. Claire didn't like the animals coming up too close.

The wolf was really eyeing those bunnies.
Brian got some snot on him. lol

Claire repeats everything

Funniest bear EVER

Almost getting a bird :) And Brian's crazy laugh

This is my new favorite picture. Not of me because I look horrid but Claire fell asleep and I am really going to miss that when she doesn't cuddle with me anymore. LOVE IT.
I made this cake today. It was so yummy. Brian is taking one of them to work tomorrow and I am freezing the rest because it's rich. We'll save it till my parents get here. If you like Reeces this is a great cake for you.
I was released from my calling today...and then asked to give a talk next week. I told them I guess I would call if I had the baby before then. lol. I hope I don't go before then since my mom wont be here yet but tempting to want to. I REALLY hope I don't go before my mom comes. Ah!

I bought a gift for Claire "from the baby" Saturday. I bought a baby doll that has magnetic parts so she can hold a bear or a bottle or her paci. I also bought the Graco doll travel systemish thing. It has a car seat and a stroller and swing and a changing pad. I'm hoping Claire will want to take care of her baby while I take care of our baby. **crossing my fingers**

I've done really well keeping the house clean. Friday I scrubbed the bathrooms, mopped, washed and cleaned Claire's car seat and the baby car seat and cleaned and vacuumed out the car AND had a 45 minute discussion with the Jehovah's Witness ladies. They love me. They've been coming over like every other day. I don't really know why because I won't be able to convince them and they can't convince me...but it's probably because I'm nice and let them in and talk about things. They are really sweet. They are so excited to meet my baby :) But I have to go sweep and clean off the couch because Claire smeared a bunch of powder makeup on it. Sigh. I keep telling myself I have a two year old so the house wont stay clean and IT IS OKAY!!

I'm super excited for next weekend though! Yay for 3 day weekends!

Funny

Update

Well, it seems to be time for an update. Time seems to be moving a little on the slow side lately. I'm kinda at a time where I'm a little ready to not be pregnant but also I'm nervous to have 2 kids. I keep telling myself that millions of people have done it and I can too. I'm almost 38 weeks and it still doesn't feel very REAL.

Yesterday I had my free pregnancy massage. It felt so good. I'm sore today though. I think I need another one. :) I also had a chiro appointment yesterday too. I feel so much better this pregnancy than with Claire. I will always go to a chiropractor at the end from now on.

Today I had a midwife appointment. The baby is still head down and looking good. She gave me a little gift bag of a herbal mix for a sitz bath for after labor, some oil that is good to take meconium off the baby, and a little baby hat. I also found out I'm GBS NEGATIVE which I am SO excited about. I may still use the hibicleanse during labor anyway though. I'm thinking about starting EPO but I'm not quite sure where to get it. Walmart? lol Maybe.

I'm also rethinking where I want to put my birth tub. I was going to do put it in the living room but that is a long walk to the bed or bathroom. I think Brian and I are going to rearrange our room so we can put it in there. That way it's a short walk.

Claire is driving me so crazy today. I NEED a nap today and she is not cooperating. She almost fell asleep on the way home from my appointment and is now refusing to. I'm about to tear my hair out. Anyway, thats my update for the day :)

Tearing my flowers
After bath book with daddy

Full Term!

So I'm 37 weeks today. Baby can come anytime now although I would rather he wait until my mom gets here. We are cleaning today and I'm making a cleaning to do list. I don't feel as prepared as I was with Claire. Poor kid is going to be wearing a lot of white onesies. I'm really excited but sad at the same time. Claire has no idea what is about to come. I'm having my free pregnancy massage on Thursday...I'm really excited about that one. I watched Claire's birth video today and I was so sad that it took so long for me to be able to hold her :( Really hoping for something different this time. Oh she was the most beautiful baby...she had such good coloring right after birth.

Anyway, life is good, the weather has been BEAUTIFUL the past couple of days. I'm in trouble though, it felt hot at 66 so I will die in Utah :)

Butter face

Smoothie face
Washing dishes

Part 2

Presents! This year Claire knew what presents were and she was so excited.

Brian trying them out
"oooh"
She loved the felt play food
These lasted a whole two days before being broken
Putting it together


Another disappointing cake experience. She is just not a messy eater.
"No camera!" She looked adorable though

Her aquadoodle. Really nice since it just uses water

Thank you everyone!

Food Storage blog

I found a pretty cool blog of a woman who is feeding her family with food storage for the year. It is a family of 8. She wants to know if they can last, what she is storing that she doesn't need, what she isn't storing that she needs, and so on. I find it pretty awesome. I mean, how will you be able to use food storage in an emergency (an emergency seems pretty stressful and try learning something during a stressful time) if you don't take the time to learn how to use it now? How do you know your family will even eat the food if you don't serve it to them now? It's good to have the basics but do you really want to eat them for a year? How will you make bread with your wheat if you don't have a wheat grinder? How will you cook if the power is out if you don't figure out ways now? I'm not confident in my families ability to survive a long length of time on the food and supplies I have stocked up at the moment. Yes, I think we would be alright for a while, maybe even longer but we would be eating a lot of rice and beans...over and over. I feel the urgency to get back to being organized and budgeting 50-100$ a month for food storage and emergency preparedness. I know we wouldn't be well off in an emergency like a natural disaster. I have a good system in place but I feel like it is weak in some parts, especially the snack area and the emergency area. It's hard now since we are moving, we are trying to use the food storage, not store it. I feel like it is MY responsibility to get our family prepared. (of course Brian should learn it too, what happens if something happens to me and Brian has no idea where anything is or how to use it) I would feel like I let my family down. It really is weighing on me. Maybe it is part of my nesting instinct coming into play (3 1/2 more weeks!) I'm really excited to get to Utah, to get into a house where I can really get down and organize my supplies. Utah has a lot more resources available and stores to go to. It will be nice to go down to the Emergency Essentials store or to the cannery. Anyway, that's what I'm thinking of lately...or always. It's pretty much always in a part of my thoughts. Is that bad? lol

Here is the site My Year Living On Food Storage. Check it out, get motivated, and get prepared and have fun doing it!

Claire's Birthday part 1

I have to do this in two parts or it will be picture overload! Well...it will still be picture overload. Just too many cute ones.

Friday we had a Cafe Rio party with some friends. It was so good and Claire had a lot of fun looking at the neighbors horses. It was the Irrigation festival and after her bath they started doing fireworks. Claire thought they were pretty awesome. She would say "cute!" or "woah" everytime they went off. We live right by the park so all we had to do was walk out on the porch to watch.

Saturday we got up early and headed off to Seattle. We took the ferry which is so nice. I would much rather take Claire on the ferry than drive around. We decided to go to the Children's Museum. It is right by the Space needle. Claire had such a blast!

My favorite part. She looked so big pushing a shopping cart. I almost started tearing up. lol












After almost 3 hours we were starving and had to go find something to eat.

There was a West Africa celebration going on on the level of the food court.

Yes, her pants did fall down a few times that day, if you've noticed how low they are. She is just getting to where 18 mo pants are starting to fit. Those are 18 mo.

After lunch I decided to take Claire to the candy store to pick something out. Wanna know what she went straight for?? The 25 cent dumdums. Awesome. There was a beignet place too so I just had to get one. I haven't had one since we lived in Louisiana. And it was good. We headed home after that, back to the ferry. Brian took Claire outside and she loved standing behind a partition and then jumping into the wind.

It was a good time. Tomorrow I'll put up the pictures of her opening her presents.