Claire is here!

Claire Lucille Powell

10/30/13 at 12:05 am

7 lbs, 4 oz

20.5 inches

Here's a quick rundown of her birth story before I forget the details :)

I had been having contractions around the clock for about 10 days. They were gradually becoming more uncomfortable though I could usually sleep through them at night. They would get closer together and then space back out again.  I was checked at my appointment on Monday the 28th around noon and hadn't made any more progress (still 1 cm and 75% effaced).  I felt pretty yucky all day Monday and then by Monday evening, the contractions started to get "painful". I went to sleep around 9 pm and was woken up by contractions and some wincing and "oww-ing" several times.  Unfortunately, Elise had her turn with the cold that we all passed around, and Mike and Mimi were up quite a bit with her that night.  I got up at 5:45 to take a shift with her on the couch and the contractions were still painful but not coming at regular intervals (20 mins, 8 mins, 15 mins, 6 mins, etc).

By later that morning, I was pretty sure that this was the beginning of the actual labor and it was just a matter of time to see how long it took them to get closer together and regular.  The pain was not going away.  I tried cleaning and running errands to get them closer together.  By 2:00, I decided to go on a walk and after an hour and a half, I was having a hard time walking through the contractions so I called Mike to come home.  By 4:00, they were getting much stronger and closer and by 6:00, they started coming 3-4 minutes apart.  We left for the hospital around 7:30 and they were 2.5-3 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each time.  This was the lovely phase I describe as, "I feel like someone is stabbing me with a knife and twisting it in my stomach with every contraction".  I had long labors with Elise and Jack, and I was only at a 1 the day before, so I wanted to make sure I was going to be dilated enough by the time we got there to be admitted.  Meanwhile, Mike put Jack to bed and we said goodnight to a very excited Elise and Mimi with promises of pictures in the middle of the night.

We got to the hospital (the 10 minute drive was much, much nicer than the 45 minute drive to the hospital when Jack was born) and I was admitted at 4 cm around 8:00 pm.  The receptionist was surprised that we had waited that long with close contractions, but it worked out perfectly.  I opted for the epidural and got it around 9:30 at 5 cm.  Shortly after, my water broke on its own during a contraction.  When my doctor arrived, I was at 6 cm and fully effaced.  By 10 pm, we turned on the TV and watched Person of Interest and then started an episode of Blacklist.  This was the most effective epidural ever!  Imagine our surprise when the nurse came in and checked me around 11:30 and said I was at 9 cm.  We just looked at each other and laughed.  By this point in the other labors, I was so tired and exhausted and in pain (epidurals didn't work very well with E and J) and "disheveled" (Mike's words).  This time, I asked Mike to get my hair brush and lip gloss so I could "get ready" to push.  The nurse then asked me to push a little to see if her head would come farther down.  She quickly asked me to stop and went to get the doctor.  He came in and I pushed twice and she was here!

I've got a ton of pictures on my phone and camera and I'll try to get them all posted before I get totally swamped with new ones.  We are all in love with this sweet little girl!

  

38 weeks

Mimi is here, contractions started a few days ago, and now we are just doing a lot of walking, playing, and waiting for Miss Claire!

Jack wanted to participate in the photo op...

36 weeks

As of today the countdown is 26 days... eeeeks!  I've actually been feeling great this month.  No leg cramps or dizziness like I had with E and J.  I'm so thankful.  I do get pretty tired by the end of the day (okay, maybe by the afternoon), but I think if that's my only complaint, I'm doing pretty good :)  I still get up and walk every morning before the kids wake up, and it really helps loosen up my back.  I've gained another pound or two this month and am up to about 15 lbs total.  I go to the doctor again on Tuesday to check my progress.  My belly measured 34 cm last week at 35.5 weeks, and I haven't started dilating yet (no contractions whatsoever, but I never had them with E or J until labor started) but my cervix is mostly thinned out.  There are a lot of things that I would like to do before Claire arrives, so I need to make a to-do list and start crossing things off.  Elise is SO excited for her baby sister to arrive.  She talks about it all the time.

35 weeks

35 weeks with Cass, who came to visit from Dallas!

36 weeks with Sarah, who came yesterday from Virginia and treated me to a pedicure!  Big thanks to Ross and Mike for holding down the fort with 4 kids at home :)

Obviously, I am running low on clothes at the moment.  It's funny, on the same day last weekend I got the "What, you only have 4 weeks left?  No way, you are tiny!" and the "Oh my goodness, you are about to pop!"  Gotta love the random stranger comments.  Cheers to October and the fall weather!      

  

Jack - 27-28 months

Jack - 26 months (July 2013).  Photo by Michelle Boyd.

Stats:  Jack turned 28 months on September 11.  He is starting to outgrow some 2T shirts but can still wear 18-24 or 2T shorts.  We just switched to size 8 sneakers for the fall (though his size 7 summer sandals still work).  He's gotten a few molars and is about 36.5 inches tall and weighs about 27.5 lbs.

Sleeping:  Jack continues to be a great sleeper.  He goes to bed pretty easily around 7:30 (after at least 2 trips to the potty, more to come on that!) and wakes up around 7-7:15.  He is totally content to sing in his bed while falling asleep or after waking up.  He takes one nap from about 1-3:30 pm.

Eating:  Jack is still eating really well.  He will eat pretty much anything, and we can usually talk him into at least a few bites of green vegetables.  For breakfast, his favorite foods are cereal with milk, yogurt, fruit, eggs and bacon, bagels, etc.  For lunch, he usually has some combination of ham/turkey/cheese or peanut butter as the main entree.  How creative of me :)  For dinner, he likes just about anything that we eat and doesn't mind his foods being "saucy" or "mixed" like his big sister does.  He loves soup, any type of pasta or casserole dish (spaghetti, enchiladas, etc), meat, especially hamburgers, beans, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, etc.  The potty training has also thrown a little loop into meal time because he figured out that if he asked to go to the potty, he got to leave the table.  Sometimes it is hard to get him to come back!  His favorite food by far is macaroni.  If he could eat at Panera every day for every meal, I'm sure he would.

Potty training:  We started potty training while my parents were in town at the end of August.  My mom graciously volunteered to help "get it done", and after a week and a half in, he's doing great.  I think he's been easier than Elise, mostly because he isn't stubborn about when he will go to the potty.  She liked to wait until it was her idea.  He will go whenever I suggest it, which we always do at a transition time (like leaving the house, going to jump on the trampoline, nap time, bed time, etc).  He will also tell me if he wants to go.  We've switched to the big potty at home but I do keep the potty chair in the back of the van for now.  The only wrinkle is that he sometimes uses his pull up during sleep time for #2.  He did that before potty training almost all the time, so I'm thinking it's just a habit that he'll break at some point.  Consequently, we are using a pull up for nap time as well as night time.

Playing:  Jack is completely and totally all boy.  He could play in the house with his wheeled vehicles all day and be completely content.  He loves construction equipment, trains, cars, trucks, Duplos, etc.  The Step2 Train and Track table that we purchased for his 2nd birthday has gotten tons of use every day from both kids.  He really enjoys picking out a vehicle to accompany him to the potty :)  His favorite books are Thomas the Train and he also enjoys watching the Thomas videos on Netflix.  He has to go find his favorite trains before the book or DVD can begin :)  He's always up for going for walks, picking up sticks and rocks, playing at the park, zoo, etc, jumping on the trampoline, and "driving" the Cozy Coupe.  I'm thankful that he is so easy to entertain!  

Personality:  Jack is a really easy-going 2 year old, so far at least!  He is so much fun to be around.  He is very polite and usually reasonable.  He is very social and won't hesitate to strike up a conversation with anyone he meets.  For example, this was his end of the conversation with a cashier at Trader Joe's recently:
"Hi!  How are you?"
"That's my mommy."
"My name is Jack.  J-A-C-K.  What is your name?"
"This is my fire truck.  The flat bed truck is in mommy's purse because I dropped it."

Part of the reason that he isn't going to preschool this year is because he is so happy just playing at home, both by himself and with others, and he doesn't have any clingy separation issues with me.  I'm quite sure that he would LOVE to go, but I enjoy getting to spend time with him one-on-one while Elise is at Pre-K since that is really the only alone time we have.  He'll get his chance to go next year :)

Funny sayings:

(apparently thinking he should be switched to rest time)
"I want to play while Elise takes a nap."

(when we went to visit Aunt Jennifer at the UT football stadium)
"Jennifer, show me something cool."

(when Elise was teasing him in July and he thought she was telling a lie)
"Elise, you just told a July!"

(while on a walk... the boy loves school buses!)
J:  "Mama, I want to tell you a question."
Me:  "What is your question?"
J:  "Are there any school buses coming?"

(grilling with Daddy in the backyard)
"Daddy, you can't make fire trucks, but you can make dinner."

(while running through the playroom and tripping on an object... looked back and saw that it was an airplane)
"Oh no, there was an airplane coming!"

(apparently we've done a lot of bribing with Thomas trains during the last 2 weeks of potty training!)
"I got Emily for pee pee on the potty and I got Flynn for poop on the potty and I got James for poop on the potty.  But I didn't get Percy for anything."  (Percy was a 2nd birthday present from Mimi and Pop, haha)

(while on a walk)
J:  "I don't want to scrape my knee on the curb so I am going to run slow.  I am not going to run fast."
Me:  "Good idea, Jack."
J:  "Thank you!"

"Mama, you can jump in circles with me on the trampoline when you get your baby outta there (points to my belly)."

(Mike was playing fetch with Boss while Jack was still eating dinner)
"Daddy, it's not time to play tennis ball right now.  It's time to finish dinner first."

Elise - 4 1/2!

Elise July 2013 - Photo by Michelle Boyd

 Elise was so excited to turn 4.5 on July 23!  She counted down the days for several weeks before the "big day".

Stats:  She's approximately 44 inches tall and weighs about 40 lbs.  She wears mostly size 6 clothing (girls size S) and a 12.5-13 shoe.

Sleeping:  Elise is still a fabulous sleeper.  During the last few months, we've transitioned more and more from naps to rest time.  For some reason, she spent about 3 weeks after our Texas trip where she took a nap every other day (I keep her up on the day after a nap so that her night time sleep doesn't get messed up).  Maybe she was in the middle of a growth spurt.  Prior to that, she was down to a nap (i.e. falling asleep during rest time) 1-2 times a week.  The transition has been very smooth. On days that she doesn't take a nap, she has 30 minutes of rest time while Jack is sleeping and then goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up around 8.  Her clock turns green at 7:30 every morning.  On days that she does take a nap, she goes to bed around 8:30.  A few weeks ago, we converted her toddler bed to the full size bed.  She loves having new bedding and a lot of space to sleep in!  In August, we moved her bedroom to another room in the house, so in this picture the bed is positioned against the bookshelves/desk in her old (small) room, but at least you can see the new bedding.  It looks great and she loves it.  Her request was for an "aqua" bed and I love how the different blues, pinks, and greens look together in her room.  This is the Pottery Barn Kids Brooke bedding.  I've added more pink accents after the switch to her new room.  As of now (early September), she also has pretty much completely dropped her nap and just has 30 minutes of rest time each afternoon.  Funny story... I laid down to have rest time with her when we were in Texas one day and put my arm around her.  After about a minute, she whispered, "Mama, we need to keep our hands to ourselves during rest time, okay?"   

Eating:  Elise continues to be a great eater.  Sometimes she has to work pretty hard to eat more than her little brother at meal time, but she manages.  Favorite breakfast foods include fruit, eggs, bacon, pancakes/waffles/bagels/etc, cereal with or without milk, and yogurt.  For lunch, we usually have sandwiches with a few sides.  She likes peanut butter, almond butter, turkey or ham with cheese and mustard, etc.  For dinner, we usually have meat (she likes pretty much everything except ground meat), a vegetable or two (she likes sweet potatoes, corn, cucumbers, bell peppers, asparagus, etc), and something like noodles, rice, beans, etc.

Favorite Activities:  Elise is very active and very girly.  She loves to run, jump, climb, ride her bike, and do anything outside.  Her absolutely favorite toys right now are her Lego Friends.  They have made the cutest little girly Legos and she loves to play with them in her new room on her new pink rug.  She also enjoys dolls right now and isn't picky about which ones she plays with.  She likes her mini American Girl dolls, baby dolls, Disney Barbie-type dolls, mini LaLaLoopsy dolls, Duplo figures, etc.

Lego girl with an Elise original bed 

She's always up for a trip to the zoo, park, aquarium, or friend's house.  She is my little sidekick and often accompanies me on errands while the boys are doing something else.  She also very attentive to Jack and enjoys playing "boy toys"  with him.  She is just as excited as he is when a construction vehicle is spotted along the road and her favorite DVD to watch is Thomas the Train.  Clothes, shoes, and accessories are very important in our house.  Elise always wants to pick her outfit for the day and packs a small purse to take with her when we go somewhere.        

Now for some pictures taken in May-June...

Organizing purses and backpacks

Last day of preschool - May 23.  She is so excited to start Pre-K in September!

Elise and her friend Anna at the preschool Mother's Tea in May 

Playing sand and construction with Jack

Someone can't wait to have a little sister :)

Backhoe loader outside our house!

With friends Maddie and Henry

Writing sample... she still doesn't like to write/draw/color, but every now and then she initiates it :)

32 weeks

Time keeps flying by... I can't believe Miss Claire will be here in about 8 weeks!  I'm still feel good most of the time unless I have been sitting too long.  The main change since my last update is that I get full really fast.  As a result, I haven't gained much in the last month.  I'm about 14 lbs up from my starting weight and at my appointment earlier this week my belly measured 30 weeks.  The doctor says everything looks great.  I try to walk every morning before the kids wake up because it really helps loosen up my back.  Thankfully, I haven't had a problem with the dreaded middle-of-the-night leg cramps like I did with E and J.  Maybe this has something to do with all the stairs in our current house?  At any rate, I'm thankful that I can still keep up with the kids during the day AND I'm thankful that they are both usually in bed by 7:30 so that I can be lazy the rest of the night :)

30 weeks at the "beach" (Sandy Point State Park, near Annapolis) 

  

31 weeks at West Point

32 weeks at the beach

The Beach!

We found out recently that we live less than an hour from Sandy Point State Park near Annapolis.  There is a free (to military) "beach" with a view of the Bay Bridge and we've made 2 trips in the last month to meet our friends, the Schuchards, for a Saturday play date.  The kids love playing together in any location, but here they especially had a blast in the sand and water.  We collected many, many rocks and shells.  These trips were a great alternative to a beach vacation because we could leave and go home whenever we were tired :)  Here are some pictures from our two "beach trips".

Proud of her shell "collection"

John and Jack taking a quick rest in the sand

Me, Claire (32 weeks), and Sarah

Elise and John love playing together

Jack running away from the waves

John swimming

Jack and Lila (we are hoping that at least one set of our kids get married!)

Me, Claire (30 weeks), and Mike

Hunting for shells with Daddy