Let the Sun Shine!

We've been enjoying the gorgeous weather these last few days. Because it's been either cold, rainy, windy or all of the above pretty much since Robert was born, we haven't spent any time outside. It felt wonderful to bask in the sun for awhile.

Friday was Robert's first trip to the park. Clara played while I sat on a park bench and fed him. We took a few pictures and then it started sprinkling on us and thundering and lightening so we had to leave :( Bella was sniffing around the car when we went to leave. I called the phone number on her tag but didn't get an answer so I couldn't just leave her there with a storm coming in.

I had dropped the dogs off that morning to have a bath. Luckily I still had their crates in the van, so I just slipped her right in. Her owner was in meetings all day, which is why she hadn't gotten my message. She came by to pick her up that afternoon and said she must've slipped through the fence. Clara enjoyed having a substitute dog to play with while Max and Zoe were getting all cleaned up.

By the way, if anyone is in need of a good bath for their dog and you're in my area, let me know. For our size dog, they get a bath, blow dry, ears cleaned, nails clipped and anal glands expressed for $18. They use something that gets the hair out really well and ours didn't shed for about 2 months after their last bath which is impressive for our terrible shedders. I was 9 months pregnant the first time I took them in and I couldn't bathe them myself, which is why I paid for a bath for the first time since we've owned them. Now I'm hooked! They'll be getting baths at the groomer every few months now.

Yesterday evening Chris took the kids and dogs out to play a little frisbee. Zoe is officially not interested in the frisbee any longer; she much preferred to just sniff around. I think the only reason she participated (and by participated I mean barked incessantly) before was some kind of competition thing she had going on with Dingle. Dingle, by the way, is doing well. She hasn't seemed to be getting any worse. I think our stairs were really hard on her and she wasn't smart enough to just stay downstairs, so now that she's not up and down them all day, she's doing better. Plus, she has a doggie door, so I don't think she's having all the accidents she was before. Again, not smart enough to let us know when she needed to go outside.

Here's my little man after church today. I had to get a picture of him all dressed up, standing like a big boy. I could just eat him up!

This Face

I know I'm biased, but by golly this is one of the most handsome faces I've ever laid eyes on!

Meet Bella

Bella is seriously rethinking her decision to escape from her house or yard right about now. There she was, minding her own business, just taking a lesiurely stroll down by the park when we came along and scooped her up. Now we're just waiting for her mama to return our call and come pick her up. I'm sure she'll be glad to get home.

She Can't Wait

This girl is just itching for Robert to be big enough to play with. She loves pulling out all of his baby toys and showing them to him. She rattles the rattly ones, squeaks the squeaky ones, turns on anything that makes music, lays underneath the play mats with him and generally does not leave the poor thing alone. He loves it though. His face just lights up when his big sister starts playing with him. She's going to have so much fun here in a few months.

Until he starts taking her toys.

I put her braids in while her hair was wet. When she pulled them out at the end of the day, she was astonished by the kinks in her hair. She loved it and couldn't pry herself away from the mirror. Sponge rollers have now been added to my shopping list.

Three Months

-- I weighed Robert on the bathroom scale this morning and he's 14 1/2 pounds. He is wearing size 2 diapers and fits in 3-6 month clothes perfectly. I think he'll be moving up a size in a few weeks or so. I'm going to have to exchange all of the 3-6 month summer clothes I bought the big guy. I tried on a couple of the one piece outfits I got him and they barely button at the crotch. Thank goodness for hand me downs! He's wearing all of Brody's 3-6 month winter clothes because I didn't have any for him. Normally we have lovely 70 degree days by this time of year, not the mid 30's we've been having!

-- I think he may have big feet. His friend Cooper is a month older and is wearing size 1 still, but it's hard for me to get a size 3 on Robert. Maybe his feet are just wide.

-- He's sleeping around 8 hours at night. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The longest he's gone is 10 hours in one stretch! Go Robert! He still sleeps swaddled at night and during naps at home (which is why he's sleeping so well I think.) His startle reflex wakes him up every time if he's not swaddled.

-- He still hates the carseat and screams almost every time he's strapped in. It doesn't matter if he's fed, dry and happy as can be; the minute you put him in, he goes nuts. If he does calm down, he starts back up every. single. time. we. stop.

-- When he's being held, he doesn't smile much. He loves to observe other people, but usually won't smile for them no matter how hard you try to coax one out of him. His expressions remind me so much of Clara at that age. She was the same exact way. The minute I lay him on my lap facing me and start talking to him, the smiles emerge.

-- He's nursing on demand, so I have no idea how often he eats. I just feed him when he's hungry. He'll go a few hours sometimes and sometimes just an hour. We're not too concerned about being on a strict schedule around here at this point.

-- I nurse him in public all the time. I was a little self-conscious when I nursed Clara but not this time around. I feed him whenever he's hungry and don't worry so much about what others think. It's so much easier this way.

-- His favorite place is still his changing table. He smiles and kicks anytime he's on it. He kicks a lot! I noticed the heels of his sleepers are worn more because of the constant friction from his kicking anytime he's laying down. He kicks hard too.

-- He doesn't like the pacifier and I don't push it anymore. If you hold it in his mouth, he'll sometimes chew on it contentedly, but he never sucks on it. He has been chewing on his hands a lot and may be trying to suck his thumb but so far he can't seem to get it in there.

-- He started drooling around 2 months and goes through several bibs a day. I noticed just a couple of days ago that he has two little white slivers under his bottom gum. You can't feel them yet, but Chris saw them too so I'm not crazy. I think he'll be getting teeth much sooner than his sister who got her first at 10 months.

-- He started rolling from front to back a few weeks ago.

-- His hair is strawberry blonde like mine and his eyes look like they may be turning hazel or brown. It's hard to tell right now. They're brown in the center and blue on the outside so the jury's still out.

I've Been Slacking

I've not taken many pictures lately. I know; it's hard to believe when I have such a beautiful new subject to photograph. I'm sure the grandparents are itching to see their grandbaby, so here are just a few.


This is my attempt at a self-portrait. Robert is sporting his sweet double chin and a prolific amount of drool. That's his newest achievement. Lots and lots of drool.


And here are my laundry helpers. Clara is such a big help and loves to entertain him while I fold laundry.

Clara hadn't seen much of Chris this week so yesterday I surprised her with a lunch date with Daddy.

Another First

Today was a first for the whole family. Our first Chuck E Cheese birthday party. Wow. That place is insane. We had been once before, but not for a birthday party. It was Samantha's birthday, but I didn't get any pics of the birthday girl. Clara seemed to spend a good deal of time with Natalie though. Here they are thoroughly enjoying their cupcakes and ice cream.

Robert did great. He somehow slept for about the first half of the party and when he woke there were plenty of sights and sounds to take in. He was content for quite a while.

And then he was done and let us know what he thought of the insanity.

Unsweet Dreams

Clara's been having lots of nightmares lately. I think I mentioned she dreamed she was drowning recently. Well, last week she awoke from an even more disturbing dream.

I ran into her room because she sounded absolutely terrified. She was sitting up and her hands were straight up in the air. I pulled her close and told her it was ok, but she kept on. It wasn't until after it was over that I thought maybe it was a night terror.

I asked her what was wrong and through tears she said "big hands." I asked her what she meant by big hands and then she grabbed her face and screamed. She did that a couple more times and then said "it hurts!" I asked her what hurt and she said "the hands" and pointed to her neck. Anytime I said the word hands she freaked out and let out these horrible guttural screams I've never heard from her before.

I think she may have dreamed someone was choking her. I kept telling her there were no hands, it was just a dream and she laid back down, stopped crying and let me leave the room. That's why I think it was a night terror. Unlike nightmares, they don't remember night terrors. She probably would have been more scared after the fact had it been a nightmare. I went back to bed and although she fell asleep peacefully, I lay awake disturbed by the fact that my sweet little girl had just dreamed about something so terrible. I asked her the next morning if she remembered her dream and thankfully she didn't remember a thing. Too bad it's not something I'll soon forget.

Robert's First Road Trip

Robert did wonderful on his first drive to Pecos. We pulled in to Pecos at about 7:00 p.m. Cody and Tanya got there a little while later. Grayson loved holding Robert. He looks almost as big as his big cousin in the picture. Tim and Linsey came on Saturday.




Bia's lap is getting a bit too small. This was on Friday night before Brody got there or else he would've been scrambling for a spot too.

Cody and Tanya brought their new puppy Holly. Clara was in love with her. She and all the kids carried that dog around all weekend.

Here's all the grandkids bathed and ready for bed on Saturday night. There'll be one more to add to the couch come summer! If you'll notice, Clara's hand is firmly planted on the dog.

On Thursday, we got up early to drive to Carlsbad so Nanny could meet her new great-grandson. I knew a winter storm was coming, but I was hoping to get there ahead of it. When we left Pecos it was 55 degrees and as we pulled into Carlsbad, the temperature had dropped and the rain had turned into snow and was blowing hard.

About an hour after we showed up, Chris' mom and dad pulled into town to love on the grandkids for a day. Once the snow stopped, Clara and Grandma had a snowball fight. Clara didn't have any gloves, so it was real short. That was her first time to play in snow so I wish I had brought some appropriate clothes for her to really enjoy it.

While in Pecos, Clara found me and Linsey's collection of Berenstein Bear books from when we were little. She carried them around all week and roped anyone who could read into reading one or ten. I had to get on to her and tell her to give people a break from reading. She would have been happy to be read to all day long.

Grandpa and Robert snoozing on the couch. I have a picture just like this of he and Clara at that age. Grandpa was very pleased to find that Robert has grown and matured in the month since Christmas and will allow someone other than Mommy to hold him.

I love this next picture of Margaret with her great-grandkids. It's pretty special since one has her name, and the other has her husband's.

We spent Thursday night in Carlsbad and headed back to Pecos the next morning. The snow had started to melt, the sun was shining and the roads were ice-free. And Robert slept the whole way! Linsey came back to Pecos Saturday afternoon and stayed for a few hours. We went out to eat, hung out at the house and then had hamburgers with the Coody bunch to celebrate Dashielle's birthday.

We got one last picture before heading to bed on Saturday night. I decided to leave a day earlier than planned and drove all day Sunday. We left the house at 6:45 a.m. and pulled into town exactly 11 hours later. It was a great trip, but traveling alone with two was definitely more stressful than with one. It was such a relief to be home.

Oh, and I need to brag on Robert once more before I forget. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night, he slept 8 hours! He hasn't done 8 since, but I have gotten 7 and he's up to 5 or 6 most nights. I now know that 8 is possible though. I'm just hoping it's not only possible in west Texas.

Since We've Been Home

I braved the open road and drove to Pecos by myself with Clara and Robert in tow. We left on the 22nd and got back on Sunday. I made it to Pecos in 12 hours, which is about 2 hours more than when it was just Clara. Not too shabby. I shaved an hour off my time on the trip home. They did great, but I will admit I was a little nervous. Every time Robert moved or fussed I found myself chewing my nails.

I got up yesterday, got showered and dressed, bathed Robert and Clara and was just about to eat breakfast and leave for the grocery store when Clara informs me that her tummy hurts. Seconds later she burps one of those tell tale burps and I scan the immediate vicinity for something to collect puke in. Bumbos are great for more than just sitting a baby in. I was able to catch all of her dinner from the night before.

So that put a halt to my plans. She had no appetite, ate just a little at lunch and carried her puke bucket around pretending to throw up in it all day long. Naptime came and she slept four hours and only when she woke crying did I realize I forgot to put a pull up on her. So she got a quick bath.

All the while I'm starting to feel sick too with a head and stomach ache. I think mine may have been from not eating lunch. She thought she was feeling better, but then decided she was still sick and threw up inches from Chris when he got home from work. She managed to puke on 3 couch cushions in one spew and had a low fever..

Daddy's probably wishing we would've just stayed in Pecos. Because I wasn't feeling well and Robert was fussy, Chris got to steam clean the cushions and change and wash Clara's sheets. I was really afraid that last night was going to be horrific and I prayed Robert would stay well. Thankfully, everyone slept great and Clara woke up feeling better.

I asked Chris this morning if he fed Whisper while I was gone, because I fed him right before I left and it looked like his pile of food was untouched. I had tapped on his cage and there was no movement, but I didn't want to go digging around. He had fed him, but it was last Wednesday or Thursday, so the food should have been gone. He checked before work and Whisper is no longer amongst the living. We haven't told Clara yet.

I'm hoping for a more uneventful rest of the week.