Happy Thanksgiving...and other things

Another interesting week. After dealing with snotty noses, coughing, and diaper blowouts all week, I was thankful when Brett came home from work. Best yet, we got to spend Thanksgiving with family, which we haven't done since before we got married. We went over to my brother's house, where my sister-in-law roasted her traditional 25+ lb turkey. It honestly weighed more than Sophia. We had a great day and then spent our evening at Brett's parents' house. It was a wonderful day.

So I'm thankful that Brett got to enjoy Thanksgiving because the poor guy is now quarantined in our bedroom with a stomach bug. Bleck. And it really stinks because he got sick while I was out and about with my mom, which means he had to wait until I got back home to finally relax. I love living on the far north side of Noblesville because it's really quiet, but when you need to get home quickly, it's just not possible. So I buzzed home with Sprite in tow, bummed around with the girls the rest of the afternoon, kept the dinner really plain in case anyone else gets the bug, and put the girls to bed at a decent hour. Now I'm off to bed, after I put sick sacks in everyone's rooms...again, just in case. It's a good thing that Brett doesn't have to go back to work until Sunday!

And here's the week in pictures...


Claire's getting really good at holding herself up while laying on her belly. She's not quite to the rolling stage. She's just a round baby, which makes moving kind of hard. I did see her playing with her feet today, so at least she can touch her toes!





Sophia, "reading" to her bears. This is the typical activity after she wakes up from her nap.


Check out those hams!


Seriously! Those knee rolls don't get any better!




Apple spice cake for Thanksgiving. It's amazing what you can do with store-bought frosting and a little food coloring.


You got to love Nemo on a slow afternoon.

Seriously, what's up with her?

I hit "publish" for the last post, leaned over Claire while she was in her bouncy seat, smelled that all too familiar smell, and prayed that another load of laundry wasn't in my future. What is up with this girl?!?! Another blowout. That makes three in less than 24 hours. Do I need to get bigger diapers for her? She's already in 3s and everything comes leaking out the back! Ugh. Can I call in sick from my full time job today? Mommy needs a day off from diapers and laundry.

Just one of those weeks

Yes, it was just one of those weeks. You know...the kind that you just want to go to bed and start over every day, hoping things will get a little better. At least I remember to take some pictures this week though!

Brett went back to work after having a week off. I always get really spoiled after he's home for a week. We actually get to live like a normal family for a while, and I don't feel like I'm doing everything by myself. It's SO nice. Anyway, the following week way a busy one, so feeling like I was by myself didn't last all that long.

We all went to Lafayette last Sunday. I'm not too keen on going to church by myself with both the girls. I know I could do it, but I like to avoid it if I can! My plan was to drive up to Lafayette at about 8 am and meet my parents at church. Both girls woke up at 4 am as chipper as can be, so I got ready and packed everyone in the car just before 7 am and drove up to Lafayette. Other than the freakishly early wake-up call, the day was fun. We bummed around my parents all day, and, since my sister's furnace was out and her family was living with my parents, we got to visit with her all day. Sophia played and played and played, without a nap. Come 7 pm, she was about to fall over from lack of sleep.

Monday we headed over to the Sansone house. Sarah was kind enough to host a party for Carla's rosary business. We had a good time. Brett was at work, so I had to take both the girls with me. They were so good. Carla sold several pieces from her collection, and we all enjoyed some good food and good company.

Come Tuesday, and all of us girls came down with a bit of a cold. I did take them to the grocery store, which is an all day event in itself. Sophia rode in one of those little cars in front of the grocery cart. She loved it and didn't even try to get out. Claire slept almost the entire time. It was a good little trip. I was on the hunt for some ingredients for new recipes. I borrowed the book Deceptively Delicious from Sarah, and I REALLY wanted to try some things. All of recipes include some sort of pureed veggies, so I had a lot of steaming and food-processing to do.

Wednesday...ah the furnace. This is a good one. When we moved in to the house, our inspector looked at the furnace and said we had mold. Gross. He had to write down on the inspection that the furnace worked, but it needed a serious cleaning. We requested that the furnace be cleaned before we moved in, along with several other things. When the furnace guy showed me the furnace on Wednesday, I found out that the previous owner DID NOT get the furnace cleaned. Lovely. Nice guy, the furnace man. He was wonderfully honest with me. Apparently the previous owner and the owners before him failed to change the filter in a timely manner - like, the house is 18 years old, and the filter may have been replace, oh, three or four times. Oh, just what I want to hear. Our heat pump was replaced in 2005. Great. But our interior furnace should have been replaced at the same time. So, we need either a seriously thorough furnace cleaning or an entirely new furnace. I have to get a hold of the home warranty people today and see if they will cover any of it. In the meantime, I'm now knowingly poisoning the family with serious mold in the air. I cringe each time the furnace turns on.

Brett came home Wednesday afternoon, so things started looking up. I had lived through several sleepless nights with Sophia and Claire up coughing and snotty, and the lack of sleep had taken a toll on me. I was sick for the next two days and didn't go anywhere. We're all still dealing with snotty noses and coughing, but nothing like it was before. And you all know what sinus drainage does to diapers... Brett took care of a lot of things while I was under the weather. He cooked several meals and even took Claire to her 4-month doctor's appointment on Friday. She's officially off of her acid reflux medication. YEAH! She weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs and 1 oz and is 25 inches tall. She's a beast. Sophia wasn't that big until she was about 10 months old. That explains why Claire is wearing 9-12 month clothes.

We went back to Lafayette on Saturday to visit everyone. Can I just say, I LOVE living so close to our families? It's wonderful. We played at Brett's parents for lunch and the afternoon, went to church at St. Lawrence (where the girls were complete angels during mass), and went to my parents' for dinner and the evening. My parents ended up going to my sister's for the late afternoon. After having to get their furnace replaced, living with my parents for a week, and finally going home, they were rewarded with a graffiti artist that chose their house as a canvas. Lovely. Dad was helping Carla clean off the house, Louis was off to the doctor for his cold, and Mom was watching the kids. What a day for everyone.

Brett headed back to work yesterday. My week really isn't that busy this time around. I have lots of work to do for Christmas gifts. After paying bills this month and seeing our $20 left in the checking account, I'm scrounging around the house to see what I can make from my fabric stash for Christmas gifts. Time to get creative. So in between sewing and changing super diaper blowouts, it was a low key day yesterday. I don't know what was up with Claire. She was in that no-poo stage for a while, and now she must be out of it. Three gross diapers yesterday, two of which resulted in a new outfit and loads of laundry.

I'm hoping to get to a story time at the library this week. We'll see. The girls actually slept well last night, which means we all woke up later than normal. I'm not in the mood to get everyone ready and head out the door in an hour. I have my fingers crossed that I will receive checks in the mail this week from my clients. Sort of need them right now. Can't wait for Thanksgiving on Thursday. Another day full of family time. I have to do some baking before then, which will require another trip to the grocery. Sprinkle in some computer work and some sewing, and that's my week!


Sophia helped me make some lemon scones for Carla's party last Monday. She LOVES to cook.



Claire looks less than thrilled.


This is about how close we get to Claire rolling over right now. She's SO close. Sophia was almost crawling by this age. I think Claire will be a little slower since she's so big.

Sophia's quilt design

After searching and searching, I've finally found a pattern that I like for Sophia's "big girl bed" quilt. What do you think?

Which is which?

Which is which? This is both girls at about the same age (4 months).

Our latest

Our girls are getting so big! Claire is growing like a weed. We have a doctor's appointment next Friday, and I can't wait to see how much she weighs. Last month, she clocked in at a whopping 15 lbs 10 oz. She's already starting to wear the clothes that Sophia was wearing last winter - 9-12 month clothes. Her body is just so long! And she has these stubby little legs. It's too cute. I love all of her little rolls and dimples. Claire's smiling and cooing so much. She belly laughs if you hold her up in the air. She giggles at Sophia. She's been sleeping through the night, which is AMAZING. I lay her down at 9 pm, and she'll wake up some time between 6 and 8 am. And she never wakes up crying. She giggles. It makes waking up early totally worth it. And the other day, Claire rolled over while I wasn't watching. Darn it! I have to watch her closer now!

Sophia has entered her "2" stage. She talks SO much now that most of the time, I'm trying to figure out what she's saying. She soaks up everything. The other day, we were trying to get ready to get in the car, and Sophia's walking around the house, saying, "Where's my coat? Where's my shoes?" She's started climbing things now, which I know is pretty delayed. I'm lucky that I don't have a climber! At least she can pull herself up on the couch now. Again, we have a daughter with stubby little legs. We've discovered that she loves walking around in public with us, but she WILL NOT hold our hands. "No, mommy. I walk. I try." Sheesh. And so it begins. We've been trying to go to the library once a week since she loves to "read" books. I'm trying to think of some things that she can do that don't involve going outside, since the weather is going to get really cold soon. Ugh...trapped in the house with a bored 2-year-old...I'm SO looking forward to it.

Brett is wrapping up a week off of work. He's taken responsibility for his company's union website, so he gets a week off every month in order to maintain it. It's REALLY nice to have him home for an extended period of time. He gets all of his work done in the evenings mostly, so that leaves the days free. Lately, we've been working on this dresser that we bought off of Craigslist for Sophia. It's this beautiful French Provincial dresser and nightstand - so girly. Unfortunately, it's covered in layers upon layers of paint, which we are currently trying to strip and sand off. It's a tedious job, but it will be worth it.

I'm up to my ears in Christmas projects. It's going to be a homemade Christmas this year. The budget isn't very big, so we have to be creative this year. I'm really enjoying everything, but I don't know if I'll get it all done by Christmas. Add to the other dozen birthdays that my family has between November and January, and it's a pretty busy gift-giving time of year.

Here's our latest pictures from the past few weeks. Enjoy!










Sophia's latest run in with stickers.


"I hold, Mommy? I try? Rock baby!"



Brett needed a new Facebook profile picture. The last one he had up was when Sophia was 9 months old.


We found this playmat at Once Upon a Child for $12. SOLD! Our last playmat was eaten through by mice when we moved. Claire loves it and has started grabbing the toys on it. Plus, it folds and zips up, so we can pack it in the car really easily.






We definitely have a thumb sucker. I'm almost ready to pack away all the pacifiers. She won't even take them much any more.

Falling leaves and toddlers

Sophia helped Brett rake the leaves in the front yard the other day. We didn't have a rake for Sophia, so I ended up giving her a pasta strainer. Amazingly, she was actually able to rake some leaves with it. What a smart little girl! Of course, the raking was soon abandoned after Brett showed Sophia how to just in a pile of leaves. Good memories!

(You'll note the nice PAID sticker that she has on her jacket from the nice checkout man at Marsh.)