Best Friends

Eliza Faris has a best friend.  His name is Howell Beman.  She often calls him her “boyfriend”.  He is the only best friend or boyfriend that EF has ever claimed.  Ever.  He comes up in all kinds of conversations, even when we lived far away and didn’t see him much.  She just loves him and I’m pretty sure he loves her too.  He’s been around for years and I don’t think he’s going anywhere!!  :)  Lucky for these lovebirds, the mommies and daddies are pretty fond of each other too.  Eliza Faris gets to spend a lot of time with Mr. Howell.  They live in Augusta and we are just a short jaunt away in Aiken.  Here’s a few pictures from the past couple of weeks…a fun night in Aiken and then a mountain weekend in Cashiers, NC.

 

8 Months-”Clarkey”

Happy 8 months to Clarke!  We have definitely taken to calling her, “Clarkey”.  She is a special little baby girl and we love every minute of having her around.  It’s amazing how a mother and father’s hearts can grow to love every single child so very much!

Let me start out by saying that baby Clarke is a completely different baby from what she was just 1 month ago.  I would say that this month has been a big one for her!  She went from relatively immobile baby at 7 months to a full-blown toddler this month!  Well, maybe not toddler, but I’m expecting her to start walking across the room any day now.

-wearing size 2 or 3 diapers during the day and size 3 at night.

-wearing 9-12 month clothes or just 12 months.  I probably need to do a wardrobe change out, as her arms and legs are too long for everything I’ve had her in.

-crawls either on her tummy, army crawl style, or on her hands and knees if it’s a short distance

-this month, found her for the first time sitting up in her crib after a nap.  So precious.

-started pulling up this month to her knees and now to her feet!  It’s amazing to see her do that!  She is quite coordinated.  Her teachers at school say that she is way more coordinated than any of the other kids her age (make a momma proud!) and that she’s full speed ahead the whole morning!

Sissy loves to hold Clarkey

-finger foods–you  name it, she’s tried it.  Even peanut butter when I was out of town (Oops by Caleb).  She rakes handfuls of food into her mouth at scary fast speeds.  A few favorites right now: bananas, canned peas, cheerios, yogurt melts, and fig newtons.  She will still eat baby food, so I’m giving her that too.  Breakfast around 9: fruit/cereal mixed with cheerios or yogurt melts.  Lunch: sometimes this is all finger foods-veggies and meats, or baby food veggy and meat.  Dinner: yogurt and finger food (she usually eats dinner at the gym–nice that I only have to feed her one meal a day! ha!).

-Clarke still spits up a fair amount.  She goes through 3-5 bibs a day!  But it doesn’t seem to bother her one bit.

-Popped a tooth at the end of the month!  Bottom left and it’s precious.  She hasn’t bitten me yet, so that’s good.  :)

-at 7 months, weighed 14 lbs. 13 oz (10th percentile) and 28 inches long (95th percentile).  She seems like she’s grown a lot this month.  We will see how much she’s grown next month at her 9 month check.

-changing her is like changing a rolling pin.  Being changed is not something she is fond of!

-Nursing in the morning, afternoon when she wakes from her nap (this feeding I just added back after having some milk supply issues after I got back from my trip), and before bed.  She gets an 8 oz bottle of pumped milk or formula at school in the morning.  She is a good nurser, but she often gets distracted by her sisters if they come in or by my funny face (gotta love how babies just love to watch their mommas!).  She also falls asleep a lot at her before-bed feeding.

Playtime with sissies

-Goes to school 5 days a week from 8:45 to 12 and loves it!  Missed her first day of school today because of being sick.

Love this silly face of hers. She makes a funny sound with it too!

-Had her first double ear infection.  Took amox. and ears look better!

Lots of hair pulling!

-Takes a 20-40 minute nap in the morning at school (usually 10:45 to 11:15), then takes a longer nap at home in the afternoon (usually 1.5-2.5 hours), goes to bed between 6:30 and 8 (sorry 3rd kid, we’ll put you down when we get around to it and sleeps until between 7 and 8.  Great sleeper, never wakes up at night.  Still sucks her fingers at night and sleeps on her belly in her crib.

-starting to not like being in jumpers/exersaucers, etc.  She is happiest on the floor…no toys necessary.  :)  She also likes to be in her high chair while she’s in the kitchen so she can watch my every move!

"Hey!"

-still has pretty intense separation anxiety, but I’m pleased to say that she does not cry anymore when I drop her off at  school.  She loves her teachers, her little friends, and her time at St. Johns.

Yummy fig newtons!

 

 

Clarke–7 months!

Happy 7 months to my precious baby girl!  Well, it’s a few days late…but I am big on doing these.  I did monthly blogs for the other girls (EF’s are a little sporatic) and I’ve loved looking back and comparing the girls.  We’ve gotten into the habit of calling her “Clark-ee”.  Or I call her “muffin” or “sweetie pea”.  Here goes!

-weighs 14.8 lbs (10th percentile) and is 28 inches (90th percentile).  Tall and thin!

-wears 9-12 month clothes, size 2 diapers during day, size 3 at night

-nursing in the morning when she wakes and at night before bed

-formula bottle at lunchtime (8 oz) and around 4PM when she wakes from her afternoon nap (6 oz)

-eats meals at regular mealtimes.  Breakfast around 9, lunch around 12:30 or 1, and dinner around 6.  Loves pretty much all babyfood.  I like to give her Earth’s Best combos–the fruit ones sound some yummy (raspberries and pears, etc.) and then for lunch or dinner, the meat/veggy ones.  She is all about some finger food right now.  They need to make bigger cans of puff because that child eats about a half can every meal!!  Loves Baby MumMums.  Moms, any ideas of other finger foods for this age?  Tried the yogurt melts and she keeps choking.

-sitting up, but still topples over after a little bit.  Sits well in her high chair thingy that attaches to the table.

-crawling.  Clarke has been crawling since 6 months–army crawl.  Girlfriend will flat get to what she wants.  She’s actually pretty fast.  It’s scary though because she finds the tiniest little things and wants to crawl to get them and shove them in her mouth.  Ahh!  The past week she has started getting up on all fours and rocking.  I know it’s coming–the full-out crawl.  My life is going to get way more interesting VERY soon.  Watch out hardwood staircase, here she comes to make her mommy freak out!

-loves her mommy.  She is supremely attached.  I turn my back or heaven forbid, leave the room, major dramatic show.  If I hand her to someone else, she freaks out.  It’s easier when I take her to school to just put her on the floor and sneak out while she’s playing.  Or at the gym, I push her in the stroller and she can’t see me leave.  If someone else is holding her, unless it’s her daddy or grandparent, she will cry and reach for me.  I must admit, it makes me feel good.  Love that baby!!

-does not enjoy being changed.  Definitely does not like a shirt/dress going over her head!

-was already saying, “dadadadada”, now started saying, “nananananana”.  Such a precious little talker.

-spits up constantly.  It’s pretty gross.  I have THAT baby that people don’t want to hold because she will slime you.  We knew when she was tiny (she had an upper GI test done) that she has severe reflux.  Luckily it does not bother her anymore and she does not take medicine for it.  We just do lots of laundry and she wears a bib all the time.

-cries if you take a toy/dangerous item away from her.

-still sleeps on her tummy, sucking her fingers.  Still no paci in the bed–only in carseat, etc.  Don’t want her losing that thing in the bed and waking me up!

-morning nap around 10-1 (if we are home). If she is at school, she sleeps 30 mins and then a super long afternoon nap from 1-4ish.  If we are home all day (probably going to be a rarity now that I’m working), she would take a long AM nap 10-1, then another nap from 3-5.  Bedtime around 7, sometimes earlier, sometimes later.  Sleeps 12-13 hours a night without waking.

-is a VERY happy baby.  She does this precious bashful smile and turn away thing with people we see places. Oh it is so stinkin’ adorable!  She needs her sleep and food, though, or she is NOT happy.  I don’t think she’s ever missed a meal.

-We love you, Baby Clarke!!!

Prince Buckley Bea Connor

Meet our new dog, Buck!!  We went on an amazing trip down to Blakely, GA over New Year’s weekend.  Totally unexpectedly, we fell in love with a 6 month old puppy that was for sale.  Our friend Elizabeth’s family has 7000 acres on their farm and they took us out quail hunting.  Buck was one of the dogs that the men that take care of the farm were training to flush out and retrieve birds.  Buck impressed the heck out of us with his skills.  And he is precious!!!  After some negotiating, we made a deal and came home with this precious dog.  He is a certified (is that the word?) English Cocker Spaniel.  He was born on June 13, 2011, which is two weeks after Clarke was born!!  His mother was bred by some famous breeder down there (?) and her name is Princess Molly Bea.  His father is Prince Bob Buster.  I have no idea even what any of that means, but I’m so excited!!!

Buck with Earl, his breeder and former-owner

On our way back to Aiken, Buck sleeping between Ryals and Clarke

Buck in Sherlock's borrowed crate! Welcome home, puppy dog!

6 month pics

6 months

 

Happy 6 months, baby Clarke!!  As I always say with EVERY post on my children, I cannot believe she is half a year old.  She was JUST BORN!  Oh, well, life is flying by and my children are growing like weeks.  Clarke, especially.  Clarke is a wonderful, beautiful baby girl.  She is a very happy baby.  She lights up any room or place that she is in.  People are constantly commenting on her precious smile.  Here’s what’s going on with Clarke…

-will update her specs after we go to the doctor, but wears size 2 diapers during day, size 3 at night, wears 9-12 month clothes (some smaller and some bigger)

-rolls both ways; although when I put her down for naps sometimes, she screams and screams, yet never rolls back to her back from her belly?  Oh well, when she’s playing she rolls all around.  She can get around pretty well.  I’m afraid (Lord, help me!) that mobility is coming soon.

-no teeth yet

-suffering from some major separation anxiety; I turn my back or heaven forbid, walk away from her= waterworks!  If someone else is holding her, she usually fusses and wants me back if I’m standing in her line of vision

-blows lots of raspberries

-a HUGE cuddler.  She is so snuggly, especially around nursing times. 

-stopped taking reflux medicines about a month ago; doing fine!

-LOVES babyfood.  Eats anything you give her.  Breakfast: rice or oatmeal mixed with fruit; Lunch: veggie and fruit or an Earth’s Best combo jar (she LOVES those); Dinner: meat and veggie.  I will start yogurt soon!

-Nurses when she wakes up (between 6 and 8); nurses again around 11; bottle of formula when she wakes up from her nap (around 3 or 4); nurses before bed (around 6:45 or 7).  Sometimes, an extra feeding is thrown in during the morning.  She gets her baby food after nursing in the morning, after nursing around 11, and then I feed her dinner around 5:30 or 6.  This is a time that she usually gets fussy, so I do dinner then.

-Loves playing in her exersaucer, only when we are in view or the TV is on.  Fusses in the bouncy seat and jumper.  Plays pretty well on a  blanket on the floor with toys (plays for about 5-10 minutes).  Loves to play peek-a-boo and to “talk” to me!  Her talking sounds more like shrieking, but it’s super cute.

-Loves her big sissies!  Eliza Faris shows the most interest in Clarke.  She loves to talk to her and play with her.  It is very sweet!

-Sleeps from around 7 at night until around 7 in the morning.  We have had weeks of 6:15 wake-ups and now she is doing better and sleeping a little bit later.  It’s hit or miss, but she does not wake up at all in between.  Nice to get some sleep!

-Does great in her carseat for short trips (to gym, to Mimi’s, etc).  She plays with toys (putting EVERYTHING in her mouth!), so it seems to keep her better entertained.

-When she is tired, I lay her in her crib on her belly.  She sometimes fusses for a few minutes, but then sucks her fingers and goes to sleep.  She likes her pacifier in the carseat and other times, but I don’t put her to bed with it.  I just don’t want to have to go in and put it back in her mouth a million times a night.  The only other time that she sucks her fingers is when I’m feeding her babyfood.  I have to pull her fingers out of her mouth to get her to eat!  Ha!

Clarke, we love you to pieces!  We are so thankful that God blessed us with you 6 short months ago.  We look forward to many, many more months and years with you.

Happy 1/2 a year birthday, Clarke!

Riding Lessons

One of the MAJOR perks of moving to Aiken is that we live a mile from Amy and Ken (Caleb’s parents). Since Caleb and I married, we have never lived in the same town with family. Having three children three and under makes not having family very hard. Being in Aiken means that we have Amy and Ken as well as my parents about 2 hours away. When we were in LaGrange, it was about a 3 hour trip to see my parents (and 3.5 to 4 hours to Caleb’s after they moved to Aiken). Add to that the stress of driving through Atlanta each time. We couldn’t leave after Caleb got off work on a Friday to drive up there because of ATL traffic. Anyway, I digress.

One of the perks of having Ken and Amy a mile away is that we get to ride horses whenever we want!! Caleb has been riding on Monday and Friday mornings in Hitchcock Woods with his mom and his mom’s trainer, Annie. He absolutely loves doing this! Hitchcock Woods is apparently the largest urban forest in the US. It is a beautiful forest of trails for riding, walking, and running. I have not ridden (is that a word?) a horse since I was a young camper at Camp Illahee. So, Amy has been teaching me riding lessons. It is so fun! We started soon after our move to Aiken and I am slowly learning the basics. Amy is a wonderful teacher. She is extremely encouraging and patient. She has a great way of explaining how to do certain things so that I can understand. It’s hard for me to explain, but I have found her to be a great teacher. My goal in doing lessons is to be able to ride in the “Woods” with Caleb. I think that would be so much fun and relaxing.

So far, I have learned to tack up the horse (kind of–not sure I could do it unassisted!), get on/off the horse, properly sit on the horse/hold the reins, walk, steer, make the horse stop, trot and post, and make transitions between walking and trotting. I have accidentally cantered (faster than trotting) several times and it was terrifying. Today I thought for sure that I was going to fall off the horse. Somehow I got him back under control. There’s a lot to think about when you’re riding!!

So far, I have ridden Baby and Bama. Baby is a very big horse and I find him a little scarier to ride. Bama is smaller, but he can be stubborn when I’m practicing trotting. Baby is smoother when I’m trotting and transitioning. Amy thinks it’s important that I ride Baby so that I get lots of experience. Riding Baby also makes riding Bama seem easier.

I’m enjoying being a “rider-in-training” and look forward to riding in the woods with Caleb sometime soon (but not too soon!! !

Clarke–5 months

My future's looking bright!

Happy 5 months, sweet baby Clarke!  

I can’t believe how much Clarke has grown up.  She has all of the sudden grown out of her “newborn” state.  She is long, thin, and bursting with personality.  Physically, she reminds me a lot of what Eliza Faris was like at this age.   Personality-wise, she reminds me of Ryals.  Here’s what Clarke is up to!

 

-nursing 4-6 times a day, breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner time/bedtime, dreamfeed, and sometimes the middle of the night.  Most days I add a bottle of formula sometime during the day (when I feel the least full).  She usually drinks about 6 oz.

 

-started cereal a little after 4 months, she has mastered rice and oatmeal, I have started adding fruit to her cereal, she has tried some meat babyfood, and today we started vegetables! (squash and peas and she loved them!).  She was just ok with bananas, but likes pears.  Loves oatmeal and is ok with rice cereal.  I am feeding her food after nursing at breakfast, sometimes lunch, and her late afternoon feeding.

 

-loves her bouncy seat, but is starting to want to sit-up more.  I pulled out the Bumbo seat and exersaucer today and she does great in both!  She will sit in the swing for a brief period of time, but she won’t go to sleep in it.  She also likes to lay on a blanket and play with toys around her.  Her FAVORITE playtime is when Eliza Faris comes and gets in her face and talks to her and plays with her.  She LOVES THAT!!

 

-This month, Clarke seemed to settle into time in her carseat.  She has traveled better and doesn’t scream as much in it.  She even goes to sleep in it now!  She likes to put blankets and lovies in her mouth when she’s hanging out in her carseat.

 

-goes to the YMCA here in a Aiken 3-4 times a week and loves Miss Kaylee who takes care of Clarke and her sisters!

 

-wears 6-12 month clothes.  Crazy how Ryals was wearing all of these clothes last year (at 12 months old through the winter) and Clarke is wearing them at 5!  Every child is different!!  She wears size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night(figured this out when someone accidentally put one of Ryals’ size 3 diapers on Clarke) .

 

-Clarke’s best nap is in the morning.  The past few weeks, I’ve been going to the gym from about 9:30 until 10:30, then I rush home or to Mimi’s house so that Clarke can take a long nap in a crib.  She usually falls asleep in the car, especially since Kaylee has rocked her or held her and she’s all ready for naptime!  She usually sleeps 2 hours.  She sometimes takes a long afternoon nap; although most days she takes 2 shorter naps.  Afternoons are less predictable.  She has been going to bed between 6 and 8.  If we are home, she goes to bed much earlier.  If we go walking, she’ll catnap in the Baby Bjorn and then go to bed around 8 when the big girls go to bed.  In the past month, she has sleep through the night probably 7-10 times.  It’s frustrating considering she was sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks.  I know that she’ll go back to it, but it’s hard being patient!!   If she doesn’t sleep all the way through the night, she just wakes up one time, nurses and goes right back down.  It’s not too terrible!

 

-Sleeps on her belly.  Sucks her fingers.  Occasionally takes a paci in the carseat.

 

-Can roll from tummy to back; although she doesn’t do this very often (?).  She sleeps on her tummy, so she usually just stays that way until she’s ready to get up.

 

-Clarke is such a friendly and smiley baby!  She coos and squeals and giggles.  She loves when she has a human face to look at.  She is very happy, so long as she is fed and rested (aren’t we all?!?!).  Sometimes she fights sleep if she gets too tired and that turns into a screaming baby!

 

Clarke, you are such an important piece of our family!  We adore you!  Happy 5 months!

 

Singing Ryals

Clarke–4 months

Howdy readers, I’m sorry for the post-overload!  I want to get these done before we move because I don’t expect to have time to blog for awhile!  So, Clarke is not quite 4 months, but close enough.  :)

Happy 4 months, Baby Clarke!  I feel like you have been with us for so much longer than that.  I can’t believe I was pregnant 4 months ago.

Here is what Clarke is up to at 4 months:

-will update her height/weight after her appointment on Friday

-wears 3-6 month clothes and size 1 diapers during the day, size 2 at night

-wakes once per night to nurse, anytime between 3 and 6.  This is new, but I’m just trying to roll with it!!  She goes back down immediately and has been sleeping until about 8:30.

-smiles all the time!  She wants to be looking at someone at all times.  She follows me around the room with her eyes when she’s laying on the floor or in her bouncy chair.

-is extremely ticklish.  I love to hear her giggle!

Sleeping at Mamamiriam's house

-sleeps on her belly.  Learned to roll at 3.5 weeks from belly to back.  This has thrown a slight curve ball into her sleep training.  We were putting her on her belly and letting her fuss until she fell asleep (which was going really well).  Now, if she is super upset when I put her down, she will immediately roll over on her back and scream.  I’ve found that it helps if I pat her bottom when I put her down until she finds her fingers and settles down.

Happy girl at the beach

-hates being in the carseat.  Screams until she goes to sleep.  We usually have to rock it up and down…yes, this means that the driver has to do this while driving because the motion she likes is impossible to achieve by the passenger seat.  Luckily once she goes to sleep, she’ll sleep for hours and we can enjoy the ride.

-Likes the bouncy seat.  No longer a fan of the swing.  We still keep her “upright” after she eats and it cuts down on how much she spits up for sure.

Loves her Dada!

-Still taking Zantac and prevacid.  I can tell that it works because of how she is when we forget to give it to her.

-Loves her sisters and actually doesn’t mind when they crowd all over her face and goo and gaa at her.  She smiles and doesn’t cry unless they are too rough with her.

-Nurses middle of night, around 8:30AM, between 10:30 and 12, bottle of formula between 1 and 2, nurses between 4 and 5, nurses before bed between 7 and 8.  Naps are still inconsistent.  Usually has a longer morning and afternoon nap, with the occasional catnap during the early evening.

-LOVES being in the Baby Bjorn, as long as the person is walking.  She fusses if you stand still.

Carolina Girl! Coming to Aiken October 7th!