Clara 16 months - Baby Boy Bun in the Oven 27 weeks - February

Clara Beara is something else! Now at 16 months, she is a little whipper snapper, in almost all positive ways. First, she is an excellent listener. Not a 100% success rate, but after talking to other moms with kids her age, I realize just what a good girl she is. She roams free in the house and doesn't get into "anything". She does get into a few things. For example, she will take the hand towel we dry our hands on that hangs on the oven door and drag it around the house. The cupboard "child locks" are four pull string ties that we don't use since she doesn't get into the cupboards, She likes to take those off and play with them, but she usually puts them back. She leaves all table decor on the table but likes to organize the coasters by piling them on top of one another and then separating them again. We don't usually confine her to the living room, haven't for a while, she loves to roam the house and does for hours harmlessly. For a week she tried to climb behind the bar stools a bit,maybe 7 times, but we asked her to stop enough, and she did. We still have all our wine bottles on display, and behind the bar there's many other bottles/mixers on the floor, she'll open cupboards but close them after viewing what's inside, she does like magnets and pictures so we have to keep those out of her reach, although right now she could get at a lot more and hasn't...knock on wood. We have her sit on her car that Kristin got her to keep her away from the TV since she doesn't stay on the couch always. Andre asked her to go sit on her car and she did. Then when he walked out of sight she dragged her car out of the living room into the dining room where she wouldn't be able to sit on it while watching TV. We were impressed with her thought process, little stinker. She doesn't like to be told "no", she gets mat at herself and sometimes hits herself in the face. :/ So we try to avoid that word and she tries to avoid being told no. She is so very cautious. I realized I've never had to worry about her on the changing table, she's never once come close to rolling off. She sense danger and steers clear of it, however I'm always quite protective anyway. She will hold my hand when I ask her to, sit down in the tub when asked, and slow down when asked...sometimes. She is such a smart, behaved, parent pleasing girl, I could go on and on but you get the point. We're very lucky and we know it. Hopefully little brother follows suit! Time will tell...

Clara has FOUR teeth coming in right now, three of which are the canine ones, two on top, two on bottom. It's been a week of symptoms that are not so fun for this poor little lady. They're almost through! She's been up in the night miserable, we rock and I sing "Baby Beluga" until she is fast asleep. Although it's 4am and I'm so tired I can't help but stare at her sweet face longer. She now has to lay above my belly-ish since I'm getting quite the baby bump and her brother kicks at her, she has to be able to feel it, he kicks HARD! I sit and rock in bliss, knowing life cannot get better, tears well in my eyes as I rock both babies at once, I'm so very thankful we're in this position and will not take it for granted. 

It's those moments that help me fight through the many ailments I've been dealing with this pregnancy. It's been a bit rough in comparison to Clara's pregnancy but I'm now entering the final trimester...WHAT?!?! Today marks three months until my due date. (If I post this today.) My belly is big and my acid reflux/heart burn are BAD! With Clara, at night, I'd burp but if I sat up it would stop. With this little guy, I feel like I have a 200 lb. man on my chest, quite painful all night. It never stops, even after HOURS of no eating. Every time I bend down or move my right leg it feels like someone is stabbing me in my right butt cheek. This little guy is putting lots of pressure on my sciatic nerve. My IBS disappeared with Clara and that's not the case this time, needless to say, new pregnancy, new-ish issues. There are a few more, but that's enough of that. Ailments-shalments, I have too many close friends/family who cannot even conceive, or have had heart break with pregnancy/delivery issues, which keeps me grounded when I start to throw a pity party.

Clara is sleeping through the night regularly now. She'll go to bed at 7ish and she'll wake around 5:30-6 for her bottle and go back to bed until 7-7:30 give or take. She doesn't usually fight bed, unless she is over tired, but then she just whines/cries while we're getting ready for bed and she's fine once she is in her crib and we are out of site. She will still play sometimes before falling asleep. She has her nunu in with her always, it's looking quite rugged. She bites his head and ears a lot now that she is teething and he doesn't look like he is every clean even though I wash him a few times a week. She would sit and play in her crib for at least an hour, I'm sure more but I've never tried. She takes anywhere from a 1 to 2.5 hour nap, averaging at about 1hr 45min. usually. She has a bottle before bed and in the morning and that's been it for quite some time now. We need to rid her of those, Andre and I decided once these teeth are in we'll give it a whirl. She doesn't really need them, I think it's just our routine and comforts us all. I think the biggest worry is to screw up a the good thing we have going. I'm thinking she'll wake up and cry in the morning and hopefully, eventually, go back to sleep as usual then maybe stop waking at that 5ish hour?! That's the hope. Sleep is so precious and we only have a few months before we start the no sleeping ever routine again, we're both just enjoying the bliss we have right now.

Clara eats like a champ as usual. For breakfast she will have anything from an English Muffin, cereal (rice krispies or cheerios), eggs, yogurt and fruit, etc. She loves dairy, she is just like her mama. She loves cheese and cracker for a snack. She will still eat her pouches, usually during the week more with sitters. Whatever we have for dinner she'll have too. We had Tilapia and Salmon this week, she loved them both and likes all her meats. Rice isn't her favorite, she'll eat some. She eats most veggies but I have to give those to her first or she'll avoid them and eat whatever else there is to offer. She calls lots of things "pizza" since she loves pizza. She loves to go to the fridge and pick out her yogurt. She loves most fruit berries, apples, oranges, and prunes. She's only eaten melon on the rind, and that's not always. If it's on my plate and she grabs it, she'll eat it. If I hand it to her, forget it. Everything has to be her idea! ;) She loves cookies, ice cream, Popsicles, and all the good stuff too! We don't have too many sweets in our house on a regular but with me being pregnant and Andre doing some of the shopping, somehow we've had a few sweet treats that don't usually enter our kitchen. 

Clara's favorite things are Bubble Guppies of course. She calls them "Buppies" and combines the two words, she knows it's not right and then tries to say it separate sometimes. We got her a book with the character toys for Valentine's day, she sure loves to carry them around. She kisses everything still, toys, pages in her books she likes, way more then she kisses mommy and daddy. She's been needing her dada a lot more lately. I taught her how to "call" for "Dada" by accident. When I was changing her I called for "Dada" and when he was outside I called for "Dada" and now it's Clara's favorite thing to do. When he's sleeping the morning if she wakes early and she sees him she'll say, "Dada, shhhhh..." nice and quiet with her finger over her lip. She's been a bit of a daddy's girl the last couple weeks, it's been a nice break since I'm already carrying one child, but it's amazing the disappointment I feel when she doesn't need her mommy like usual. My first heartbreak from her. She loves to go outside and play in the rocks, or walk around. She avoids the pool now, but once she starts to swim in it I have a feeling she'll be tempted to go right in. Her nunu bunny and little mini cat. She loves to play, play, play with all her toys. She has so many she keeps a big bag at her sitters and then I rotate others from our back closet so they're aren't too many in the living room, although there still are. She loves books and being read to however now instead of just listening she wants to be more interactive with the books, do things herself, read to me, etc. She loves her puzzles and knows where all her shapes and animals go. We're working on colors, counting up to five a lot, singing ABC's, shapes, etc. She loves to learn and have conversations. She loves bath time. She'll splash, play with her letters, make her ducks kiss a lot, she entertains herself. She loves a bubble bath we have from time to time. She love to brush her own teeth, wander the house, chase the cat and make a hiss sound

Her least favorite things are still about the same. Washing her hair in the bath, but she's much more content dealing with it and helps me lay her back. Being changed, ugh, such a pain in the morning especially. The moment she wakes she says, "Buppies" because she knows it's the routine so we can get ready for work. I take her diaper with and change her while she watches to avoid a melt-down first thing in the morning. The rest of the day is easier. Coming inside is not her favorite. Getting in her car seat, anything that confines her. She dislikes being wiped up after eating, but tolerates it and if I leave the washcloth with her she usually continues by wiping up her tray. Lately she hasn't liked going to bed for nap or nighttime but she gets over it quite fast. She used to say, "ni-ni" and walk herself, now she says, "play" since she'd rather be out playing more than going to bed. 

She communicates well and most of the time we can avoid frustration by figuring out what it is she wants or needs. She'll say, "Uh-oh" when she loses or drops something she can't get and she'll point if it's out of my sight. She'll say yogurt or pizza when she is hungry, and LOVES to pick out her own yogurt in the fridge. She likes to grab our finger and bring us along wherever she'd like us to go play with her. She still says, "Here ya go" a lot to give or ask for things, she says please sometimes now instead of signing it. She'll sign poop when she squats and poops. She says, "toot/burp" when those fun things happen, then laughs. She signs milk and is adjusting to drinking it in a sippy cup, pretty soon that bottle must be gone. She says many household items when she sees them and wants them, a few I can think of are: brush, book, play, Molly, Gil, Nani, Una (bubble guppy characters), baby, hat, vroom, etc. 

Clara has many hats, she loves to wear them all day, all over...

Aunt Kristin visited for her February break. It was WONDERFUL. She stayed with Clara and even got to see her baby from time to time. Clara, you're not allowed to grow up and go away to college, I couldn't handle it.

Clara sits almost as tall as jumbo bear these days! 

She is still kissing everything, all day...

New car seat!

Hi baby Elsa. We miss you. Love your baby blue's and that smile!

6 months

Sleep baby. Aunt Tiffy's of course, with cousin Tyler.

Reading books...

Tiffany was taking neat Valentine's day pics...your vday cards will come soon, better late than never? Thank you aunt Tiffy for even thinking of it, this mama needs to start thinking holidays about two months in advance in order to do anything on time, let alone do anything at all! Aunt Tiffy saved the day!!

This nunu rarely gets put down. After her last four teeth came through his ears are now permanently yellow from all the chewing. It's about to fall to shreds from teething abuse, love and being washed a few times a week!

Sweet Julia still looks at the camera and smiles, those days are long gone for Clara. I think that's why I've been so bad about taking pics as of late, I'm trying to get better!

Clara playing ball with Tyler. Pretty braid Aunt Tiffy did.

Getting a braid in Clara's hair is beyond me, Tiffany works so many miracles I'll never understand!

 

Sunday Funday at the park.

Betsy took this...beautiful!

Suffering teething baby...

I love my car from Aunt Kristin

Uncle Jer visited!! 

Visitors for Friday night pizza. It was Kylie's 21st bday so we were celebrating from afar! 

Happy Birthday Kylie!! We love you! Kylie went out for dinner at the beef with the Porcello's. 

Natalie visited for a night!! Miss ya doof! Thanks for coming! 

Sweet baby playing in the store being so patient for mommy! 

Kisses.

Watching bubble guppies aka Buppies! Trying to get her to stay away from the TV and her car helps. Daddy asked her to go sit down on her car, so she did. Then when he walked out of the room she took her car out to the dining room area so she could go back and stand next to the TV and daddy couldn't ask her to sit down on it again. Tricky little lady. 

Both my favorite tootsies. 

Happy 31st Suz! Cute pic she posted on facebook I stole for the blog. 

End of January and the beginning of February

This little girl can't wait to get into the yard to help her dada. She sees him out there and cries to go join. She wants to do everything, swiffer, vacuum, mow. Don't worry sweet pea, soon enough!

Crazy Lou on the changing table. This is what Andre sends me in the morning while I'm at work. I feel for him. Changing her diaper is a talent!

Thursday lunch with Dada

In this school year there are 7 of us pregnant. Kate is the one all the way on the left. She was due on Dad's bday and had her son Kingston a day early I think. Her mom, Doe, is who watches Clara Tuesday and Wednesday and lately a lot more since we've needed her with last minute things coming up. When Kate goes back to work, Clara will go to Doe's house and play with Kingston. They live right around the corner from us. It's amazing how that worked out. I was about 4.5 mo here. My assistant principal is standing in front of me and due two days before me. Yes there are six of us here, see below for #7.

I'm sure you see the growth! Now we have Brittany to add to the list. She is 4 MONTHS there. She won't have a belly until she's 7 months and she'll look as big as my belly full term, Merrissa style! I think next year is my principal's last year, this may have something to do with him leaving. I'm a week shy of 6 months here.

Luiz came for the weekend, super bowl weekend. Lisa and Ed got a boat and offered to take us all out. Captain Ed sharing the wheel. It was a beautiful day, windy.

Ed, Lisa and their daughter Gabby.

Uncle Luiz

Clara is pretty behaved. She wants to get down and walk and of course that's not always possible. Other than that, she's a very good cookie. She has no problem telling ANYONE, "No!" It's pretty embarrassing but I love her strong personality, most of the time. I know we've got a while for "no" to be her favorite word.

Shal debating a bath with her sister.

My crazy beautiful lady. I love this smile! It's hard to capture on camera these days. The moment she can tell she's being photographed she looks in the opposite direction. Stinker.

Such a lover. Tight hugs under her neck for all of her stuffed animals.

Tiffany, Steven and the kids came over to see Uncle Luiz and watch the super bowl for a bit. I forgot to get a picture of Clara in her brothers Colombian jersey while we were in Colombia so I put it on  her and we attempted a pic. Like I said, very very hard task these days.

She loves her cousins so much she hugs and kisses them instantly when she sees them, and while they're over. She knows how lucky she is, they are so good to her. They all look out for her and her happiness, always sharing and entertaining.

More hugs for Isaac.

Sickness has been going around. She was up with a fever Tuesday night and didn't sleep well. I left her sitting on the bed watching Bubble Guppies while daddy got ready for work and Andre sent this to me a while later. She slept the morning away cozy in our bed. Sweet pea. She had a "well" visit that day. It turned into a sick visit since her temp was 103. Yikes. We'll go back this coming week and hopefully have a well visit. The fever only lasted a day. She is cutting some teeth, that's for sure, but I don't think that fever was from that, that's higher than usual for teeth. The good news is, it came and went and the doctor didn't find any infection.

We miss this pretty cousin SO much. Poor Brandace went back to work last week. Yuck. The worst experience a mommy can have. I know they'll both adjust just fine, it's so hard on mommy. Elsa will have many mini friends her age. Her sitter watches 3 more under 1...crazy!

"Mommy, what are these things doing stuck to my hand?" Brandi was testing out the self feeding, not quite. I looked back at the blog and Clara wasn't yet either. Once in a great while something would go to her mouth. Kate introduced us to puffs at this age and Clara loved them, but didn't feed herself.

Dylan and Issac's bday's are at the beginning/mid February so they had a soccer party this past weekend right between the two birthdays. It was a great idea, everyone had fun! Clara wanted to be out playing with the big kids, not worried or bothered at all by the big kids running past her and kicking hard balls near her. Again, annoyed being followed around by mommy and dada. She is miss independent for sure.

She really  understands the concept of kicking a ball and had so much fun!

Cousin Selene and her sweet boy. He is 0 months and 27 lbs, Clara is 15.5 months and 22.7 lbs. I guess he is at the rate to be well over 6 ft. tall. WOW!

Cousins and friends. We knew Clara wouldn't stand still so Malia held her for us. She got heavy as you can imagine.

Isaac trying to keep her in the pic.

I DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THE PICTURE, WHAT DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. This is exactly what I mean...this little girl knows what she wants and even more, what she doesn't want. She feels no pressure to do anything but what she wants and lets it be known when she is not getting exactly what she wants.

Happy birthday sweet cousins. Thank you for being so very sweet!

Finally letting Muneca hold her. She swatted at her and said "no" when she first tried to hold her. Clara Maria, what am I going to do with you? She soon reached for Uncle Darren, even with daddy right there. She was kind of glued to Uncle Darren at the ladder end of the party, that pics on Andre's phone. Maybe it was because they matched, we'll have to get that pic on here.

Cousins-ish. Thanks for the fun!

We practiced saying "Ana" before we called her.

This next video is Clara's new saying for EVERYTHING, "Hee Go" which means a lot of things. It took over for "please", can I have that, this is for you. etc. The main command all day, everyday. 

5.5 months-ish - baby boy Feger

My beautiful photographer and her adorable Julia who lets her hold a big camera still and take pictures, even when it bumps her in the head by accident sometimes. 

Some pics from home and Tiffy kindly took some one morning in Colombia. I've been feeling well. I have acid reflux but that's old news. The doctor I see now doesn't want me fighting it so she has me on Zantac 150 twice a day which helps, if I don't bend over or lay down. I sleep at a four pillow incline until about 3-4 and then I end up being able to lay down until morning, usually. Sometimes I wake up with "food" coming up my throat, and then my throat burns bad from however long it was sitting there and I can't get back to sleep. Thankfully that only happens few and far between. My IBS left for Clara's pregnancy and decided to stick around for this one, for the second half anyway. 

More importantly, this little guy is a mover and a shaker, just like his sister. It's rare he's still. I love it. He kicks so hard and strong, I can't remember if Clara was that strong at this point. I love knowing he's with me and active. Andre has no problem feeling all his kicks. I went for another ultrasound since he wasn't in a good position the first time the tech couldn't get all the pictures. Andre, Clara and I were all there but I had to wait an hour and a half to be seen that day so Andre and I decided after an hour it would be best if he and Clara just went home. She is all over and into everything and has 0 interest in the toys we bring to entertain her. She wants to get out of her stroller and wants to roam and touch everything. She has no issue with strangers so she'll walk into sections of the office she's not supposed to and will not even look back to see if we're there following her, she actually prefers if we don't follow her. At times she'll look back when she's on a mission, and she's annoyed we're tracking her. Needless to say, I could have gotten all my grading done but was highly unprepared. I had a nice quiet appointment and enjoyed feeling all the little man's kicks and punches while I watched him on the screen. The tech got all the pictures quite quickly but still had trouble getting one of the heart without the shadows. She said everything looked great and the doctor concurred so I left with good news. I do get nervous! I got a short clip of his heartbeat and I still need to take pictures of the pictures of his cute face I have and add them to this. 

I can't wait to meet you sweet little man...