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.