Claire's Big Girl Bedding

I have always planned on transitioning Claire into a big girl bed sooner rather than later. I think these days most parents wait to long to transition simply because they don't want to deal with the initial frustration of the transition i.e. possibly having to put them back in bed. With the new baby coming its given me added motivation to transition Claire. I am not buying a second crib when I already have one and I already have a bed for Claire. So in April or May we will transition Claire into her new queen sized big girl bed. I think naps will be harder than actually going to bed. For all sleep times she goes to sleep usually within 5 minutes but I think she will be more tempted to get out of bed and play at nap times. But i'm up for the challenge. I think it will be the perfect time, this way she is settled into her new  bed well before her baby sister arrives.

So I have been on the hunt for the perfect big girl bedding. I want to stick with my grey, yellow and white color scheme. I actually love Claire's crib bedding so I wanted something similar. Also just like when I was looking for her crib bedding I don't want anything to baby-ish. I want something she can grow with. I looked at Pottery Barn Kids, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target....ect. Found nothing that I loved. Finally I found the perfect bedding at Land of Nod! I has the color scheme I was looking for, would allow her to grow with it but wasn't to adult. What do you think?

Land of Nod Bedding

The quilt is on back order until mid march but thats perfect timing for when I plan to start Claire's transition. I can't wait to get it and get her room put together. Plus I get her room rearranged with her big girl bed, I can start on the new nursery for the baby. 

This, That & Some Change

The plague of sickness seems to have finally passed. I ended up getting two different colds. It was a rough couple of weeks. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who really helped out with Claire so I could rest up and get better. Its hard being pregnant and sick and not being able to take anything really. Poor Claire also cut three new teeth while she had her cold. She is back to her super happy self now that they are all through. All is well in our household again!

I have been feeling I needed to change it up with my hair for awhile. Its grows so quickly normally and when i'm pregnant it grows like a weed. I decided to chop it off and go with something fun for a bit. I spent the afternoon at the salon yesterday and it turned out great! Slightly shorter than I wanted but in a few weeks it will be perfect.

This week is going to be a good one. Claire has a play date with some friends from our MOPS group, I have a baby appointment on Friday and of course its Valentines Day. Claire has a couple Valentines outfits so i'm looking forward to dressing her up in those. We don't go crazy with Valentines Day but I will do a little something for Christian and will definitely make something special for dinner. Oh and I will be 16 weeks tomorrow. We should find out very soon if Baby #2 is a boy or girl. I can't wait!

Christmas Town

Every year at Christmastime Busch Gardens transforms their park into Christmas Town. We wanted to go last year but ended up going into labor prematurely. So this year we were able to go and take Claire with us. It was so much fun. The whole park was covered in real Christmas trees covered in lights. The walkways smelled of fresh pine. Hot chocolate was sold at every snack cart. There were Christmas shows in every food hall. If you are ever in the Williamsburg VA area at Christmas time I highly recommend it.

There were two things I wanted to make sure we got to do with Claire. Go see the Clydesdales and the Sesame Street Christmas show. We started the night eating dinner in Octoberfest while watching the Deck the Halls Christmas show. After that we walked through the park looking at all the lights while sipping our hot chocolate. Next we went to the Clydesdales barn where Claire was able to pet one up close. She absolutely loved it. We ended our night at the Sesame Street show. Claire loves Sesame Street especially Elmo so I knew she would just light up with excitement once the show started. Which she did along with dancing and clapping to all the music. It made the whole night for us. Here are a few pictures from the night. Enjoy!

Outside of Octoberfest there is a childrens choir singing Christmas carols on the balcony.

Santa's Workshop

The North Pole

This was part of France. (The park is set up as different countries)

One of the many walkways covered in real Christmas trees and lights. Claire loved these sections.

The polar pathway

Waiting for the Sesame Street Show to start.

Sesame Street Christmas Show

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year! I have to admit, last year I was having some baby blues. Claire was born the week before quiet early and she was in the NICU. There is nothing harder than having to be discharged from the hospital and leaving without your baby. But having to spend her first holiday with her in the hospital was an extra sting to the heart. So this year Thanksgiving was a much happier day for me. I feel like it was her "first" Thanksgiving since she was actually home, even if it wasn't.

 We had a nice small Thanksgiving at home this year. Which was nice, no pressure just family and we all enjoyed it. In the morning we watched the parade and after that was over my sister and I went to work in the kitchen and my husband and brother in law went to work on the turkey in the back yard. On our menu was fried turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, rum cake and pumpkin pie. Everything turned out perfect!Only one snafu with a broken thermometer but nothing major. We all enjoy our delicious feast (including Claire). Then spent the evening watching movies.

Our little turkey!

Watching the parade.

Watching daddy and uncle cook the turkey (don't mind the milk face)

Enjoying her feast!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash

Claire's birthday party was on Saturday and it was a hit. Almost everyone we invited showed up and she had the most amazing time. It was wonderful to see how many people she is blessed to have in her life. The day was a happy and emotional one for me just thinking about what she was doing last year.

This time last year I was spending my days in the NICU day in and day out and this year I was watching my baby girl crawl around chasing her friends and laughing away. Not to mention last year she was getting liquid fat by IV in the NICU and this year eating her birthday cake. I hope you enjoy the pictures of her special day. The smile on her face made it all worth it. I love her so much!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash

Claire's Corner

Some of the details

Backyard

From birth to 12 months

Highlights from opening gifts.

Cake Time

Candid of our 1 year old!

Happy 1st Birthday Claire Lucille

Hard to believe that one year ago she surprised us all when she came into this world early! She has been through a lot in one year and continues to amaze us everyday. She has brought us pure love and joy! She is our world and we love her more than she will ever know! Happy 1st Birthday Claire Lucille!

At birth she was 4lbs 4oz and 17in long and now at 1 year she is 16lbs 10oz and 28in long. She has quadrupled her weight which is amazing even though she isn't on the growth chart yet. She loves to eat, lately her favorites are cottage cheese and pineapples, quesadillas, mixed veggies and toast. She is now on whole milk (fortified for extra calories though) and loves it. Some of her favorite things is going to the park to swing and go down the slides, her sit to stand walker, Minnie Mouse and Elmo.

Her Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash is tomorrow and I am so excited. I made all her decorations, there will be lots of yummy food, friends, family, presents (of course) and I can't wait to see her smash into her cake. A lot of pictures to come from today and her party so stay tuned!

Typical Day

Oh how my days have changed since I was a working mom. Before my days were non stop and exhausting, I didn't usually sit down until around 9:30/10:00 at night. I really don't miss those days. My job yes but not the scrambling to get everything done and ready for the next day. By the time the weekend arrived my husband and I were so exhausted from the week we didn't want to do anything. 

Now that I stay home with Claire and run everything in our home my days are filled with order, flexibility and Claire's doctors appointments (no kidding she has one almost once at week). It was a hard transition at first but after a month or so I settled into my new role. Myself and our family is so much more stress free now and we can actually enjoy our evenings and weekends together. I've also actually been able to go on extra trips home to California for family events, which before I always missed out on because of work. 

Thought i'd share a typical day for Claire. It's always interesting to see other babies schedules especially if your trying to work out a schedule for your own. Of course it's subject to change depending on her appointments and other events we have going on like MOPS. But this will give you a basic idea of how  we spend our days now. 

Claire's Typical Schedule

8:45/9:00: Wake up

9:00: Morning sippy cup (6oz) and breakfast 

9:20-10:30: Play time (toys, books, sit n' stand walker and her jumper)

10:30-12:00: Morning Nap

12:00-1:00: Snack time and table top toys or activity center

1:00: Midday sippy cup (6oz) and lunch

1:30-3:00: Errands or walk to the park and playtime

3:00-4:30/5:00: Afternoon Nap

5:00: Evening sippy cup (6oz) and a snack

5:30-6:30: Play time

6:30: Bath time

7:15-8:30: Play time

8:30: Night bottle (6oz)

8:45/9:00: Bedtime

*She drinks water and snacks at will throughout the day*

Claire's First Halloween

Yesterday was Claire's first Halloween. Its actually also her last "first" holiday though I don't know if I count Thanksgiving since she spent that in the NICU. Anyway as usual I like to go all out! I can't help it, I love any and all holidays! Unfortunately my poor Claire Bear was sick. She has been fighting a horrible cold all week so we didn't take her out trick or treating especially since at this age it would really just be for us anyway. We spent the evening watching Halloween movies and we dressed her up in her costume to help us pass out candy to all the kids trick or treating, she loved that! All in all it was a great Halloween. I cant wait till next year since she will be walking and talking and can truly enjoy this fun holiday.

Happy Halloween from Minnie Mouse

Pack N' Play Ball Pit

Since the day Claire came home from the hospital she has slept in her own room and in her crib. We set the tone from the beginning that her room and her crib was for sleeping. However since we have a big 2 story house we thought it would be good to have a pack n' play for downstairs for her to take naps. We tried putting her down for naps in it but when she did nap there it wasn't for long since she associates her room and her crib with sleep not her pack n' play. So we decided to just have her nap in her room instead no big deal really since we have a video monitor. Which was exactly what she needed, she immediately began taking nice long naps. However this left us with a really nice unused pack n' play (except for when we travel). One Sunday an idea came to me. Why not repurpose it into a ball pit. I put Claire in the car and one trip to Target and a $14.99 bag of plastic balls later we had ourselves a ball pit. It was cheap, she enjoys it, and as she gets older I can add more balls to it for more fun.