Claire's first pictures

6 weeks left...

Poor 2nd child is already getting the short end of the stick and she isn't even here yet. So much has happened since my last blog and its time to get caught up.

We were 34 weeks as of Sunday. Only 6 (or so) weeks left! I seriously can't believe we are this close and it has already gone by this fast. I remember this point with Avery and it felt like we would never reach the end. This time around, I kind of wish it would slow down. Yes, I'm so excited to meet her. I can't wait to see if she looks like Avery or has a look all her own. I can't wait to see Avery with her. I can't wait to see Randy hold her for the first time. And yet, there is something about having her inside me that I wish I could hold onto forever.  I love that she gets really active after I eat fruit or sweets. I love that I can tell when she has the hiccups. That is one trait that she shares with her big sister.  :)

No new symptoms. My belly is growing and growing and growing. I didn't think it could stretch more than it did with Avery, but it has! By the end of the day I can tell if I have been up walking around too much by how sore my belly is. Its a weird feeling, kind of like a bruise. I think its probably from the fact that she is dropping and the pull gravity has on my belly. Its a weird thing to blog about, but I want to remember it for the next time (if there is one).  Sleeping has been ok. For about 2 weeks I was waking up every morning around 4 to 4:30 and not able to go back to sleep until around 6:30 - right as my alarm for work would go off. Thankfully, that passed. Weight gain has been about a pound a week, until last week. I kind of stopped getting on the scale since we were celebrating Thanksgiving and all the yummy food we had. I'm waiting until later in the week to take that plunge. :) I have a midwife appointment next week so I'll know the official numbers then.

In other related news, I'm officially a stay-at-home mommy/wife. I haven't mentioned this in our blog until now - just because it was such a uncertain situation. Randy and I had been praying and working toward me being able to stay home once Claire arrived for a while now. Not many knew about it, just our family and close friends. We have been so blessed financially in the past few years and now with Randy working for Grand Homes, we decided we could make it work. Yes we would lose my income, but we would also lose my expenses related to my working - gas, wear/tear on my car, babysitting, food, etc. Plus if we had babysitting expenses for 2 kids, one a very small infant, we just couldn't justify it. So we waited, until I was toward the end of the pregancy for me to put my notice in.  Then October 26th came. The Rangers were supposed to play that night so I dressed in jeans and my Rangers t-shirt for work. I got in and someone stopped by my office to say my boss (from Boston) was there. We weren't expecting him so I wondered what was up. He came by shortly after and that's when I heard the news. Corporate had decided to move all the finance functions from the Dallas office to Boston. Meaning my job, unless I moved, was gone. Moving wasn't an option, and honestly, it was a confirmation for me. This was what Randy and I had been praying about and God was just shutting a door confirming we were moving in the right direction.  So my last full day was November 15th and I'm working part-time until mid-December from home. Big changes for the Harrelson family, but we are excited and ready. We know it won't be easy, but are up for the challenge. We do ask for your prayers. Prayers that we can learn to budget with Randy's income. Prayers that I can adjust to being a stay-at-home mommy to Avery and Claire and a housewife to Randy.

I do have pictures. I just keep forgetting to download them. Hopefully I'll get them loaded soon. Thanks for reading!

18th Month Milestones - 11/4/11

18th Month Milestones - 11/4/11

Height - 30.25"
Weight - 20 lbs

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You still take 2 naps a day but that may be coming to an end. For some reason you'll take 2 good naps while at the sitters, but not at home. I'm not sure if it is because mommy and daddy are there and you don't want to miss the action, or if its time to give up the morning nap. Guess we'll see this month!

Eating - You've been more picky this month. Mommy is hoping this is a short phase, but if not, we'll work through it. You still love your fruit and yogurt. Meat is iffy. We had to take you off milk temporarily due to really bad allergies. You have 12 teeth now, 6 on top and 6 on bottom. You LOVE your Goldfish/Cheez-its.

New discoveries - You discovered the fun of coloring this month. :) So much so that you colored on the walls in your room and at the sitter's. Normally we let you sit at the coffee table in the living room and color while we are there with you. Mommy forgot to put the crayons up one day and you decided to add some decoration to your room. Your words and communication has started expanding this month too. I'm going to have to sit down one night and just list out every word you can say.

New accomplishments - You "jump" which is more like a hop or a skip. You twirl and dance to music. You love to run and chase Daddy. You love to help Mommy load and unload the dishwasher. You know where the trash is and where to put your shoes when you take them off.

Places you went - To Oklahoma for Mommy's 10 year high school reunion. To Tyler for Aunt Kristi and cousin Layla's baby shower.

Special Memories - Getting to see Nonna & Poppa and painting a pumpkin on their backporch. Playing with Creed, Sam, and the other kiddos at Mommy's reunion. Seeing Mim, Papa, Bella, & Kristi in Tyler. Watching the Rangers play in the world series, again. :) Dressing up as an adorable lady bug for Halloween and trick or treating with Nathan, Ashtyn, Kierstyn, and Alexis.


~Mommy & Daddy

Already in the 3rd trimester

So I looked at the calendar today and as of this coming Sunday we will be 30 weeks into this pregnancy. I seriously don't know where the time went!! I have been really bad at keeping up to date on baby #2 so here is my chance to catch up and get you all up to date.

The last few weeks have been really good. Baby girl is growing and that means the belly is growing. She loves to move alot when I'm sitting still, usually at night, or when I get in bed. I love feeling her move.  No other real symptoms other than a few days of a stiff back. It takes me a bit longer to get up and down, and I can't quite chase Avery as fast.  Sleeping has been as good as it can be.  Appetite has been better since the heat left. I've gained about 23 lbs as of week 28. 

And the news everyone is probably waiting for, we finally decided on a name. We were only one week later than with Avery. Her name will be Claire Elizabeth Harrelson.  Claire is a name we both liked, but thought we would use as a middle name.  We had 4 first names we liked - Aisley, Aislin, Bethany, and Claire, and I'd been waiting for Randy to pick his favorite.  I really wanted her name to have some sort of family significance to it since Avery is the 4th generation with the middle name of Marie. Randy's grandmother's middle name is Elizabeth.  Randy wasn't crazy about it though. Somewhere along the way, he started liking Elizabeth Claire, but wanted her to be called Claire. He didn't like her being called Lizzie or Beth.  I prefer to use the name we would call her as her first name.  So we swapped it. Claire Elizabeth. I think it sounds sweet.  Claire means clear and Elizabeth means "My God is Bountiful."  A forever reminder of how blessed we have been and how good God has been to us. Plus now both Avery and Claire have thier great-grandmother's middle names. :)

I am starting to wonder if she'll come early like Avery or make us wait it out. If she'll have a headful of hair like Avery or be bald.  I wonder if she'll be small and petite or chubby and lovable. No matter how she looks or when she arrives, I know she'll be perfect. Avery still doesn't have a clue, but we did get her a baby doll to play with and she loves to carry it around and rock her to sleep. She also loves to poke at my belly button, which is almost gone. 

Stay tuned for the picture post in the next few days. 

17th Month Milestones

17th Month Milestones - 10/4/11


Height - 29.75 inches+ a little

Weight - 18 or 19 lbs??

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You still take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Still about 2 hours each, give or take. Your pediatrician said as long as you continue to sleep all night to let you keep napping twice during the day. You need your sleep! :) It is harder to get you to nap on the weekends, but if we stick to your regular schedule you do pretty good.

Eating - You've been more picky this month.  Mommy is hoping this is a short phase, but if not, we'll work through it.  You still love your fruit and yogurt. Meat is iffy.  We had to take you off milk temporarily due to really bad allergies.  You have 12 teeth now, 6 on top and 6 on bottom.

New discoveries - I'm sure there are several, but honestly I can't remember them. Sorry baby girl!

New accomplishments - Mommy's going to try to list all the words you can say.  Daddy (your fav), Mama, peeese (please), duck, water, again, bye, hi, doggie, puppy, woo-hoo, wheee, no-no, light, veggie (Veggie Tales), right here, and several others that Mommy can't remember. :)

Places you went - To Tyler for Labor Day to visit Mim, Pawpaw, Aunt Kristi, Uncle Andrew, and Bella. On a road trip with Mim and Mommy to Clovis, NM for cousin Janna's wedding.
Special Memories - Playing with Bella in Mim and Pawpaw's new house. Roadtripping with Mim and Mommy to NM and seeing Janna and Chad get married.  Watching Tiffany in Timberview's homecoming court with Nonna and Poppa.  Your second hair cut by your wonderful babysitter, Wendi.

This was a busy month. We kept the road hot. Thankfully you do well riding in the car, as long as you have Veggies to watch. :)  You are getting so big and changing daily. It is fun to watch you learn new things. You are becoming a big girl so quickly.  We finally cut your hair again. As much as I loved putting it in piggy tales, it was getting kind of scraggly.  So Miss Wendi graciously cut it for us. It looks so grown up now.  Your baby sister is growing in Mommy's tummy and she loves to kick at you when Mommy rocks you at night. So far you haven't seemed to mind. I hope you two become great friends.  I know there will be times when you will drive each other crazy, but I'm praying you'll have a bond that no one can break. Daddy and I love you so much. Thank you for blessing our lives daily.

~Mommy & Daddy

100

We are 100 days from baby girl's due date today. 100 days! Seriously?! I really was shocked when I saw that on my pregnancy app. Things are going really well. So well that sometimes I sort of forget I'm pregnant. For a brief second. :). Avery still has no clue what's about to happen. She thinks it's funny to poke my belly button (which popped out a lot sooner this time). She tries to "climb" up my belly. We're discouraging that. Still no name. Hopefully soon. Waiting on Randy to decide. Will update soon!

16th Month Milestons - 9/4/11

16th Month Milestones - 9/4/11

Height - 29.75 inches+ a little

Weight - 17 lbs. 14.5 oz. + a little

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You usually take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Still about 2 hours each, give or take. Your pediatrician said as long as you continue to sleep all night to let you keep napping twice during the day. You need your sleep! :)  It is harder to get you to nap on the weekends, but if we stick to your regular schedule you do pretty good.

Eating - You still eat anything! Literally. You have almost 10 teeth now, 6 on top and 4 on bottom. You have been a little more picky lately, we think due to teething. The hardest thing this month was communicating with you. Our trusty signs "more" and "all done" hardly get used by you any more. We aren't sure why. So this makes for some frustrating meal and snack times. We're working on that though. You have been on an apple kick lately. You LOVE apple slices. You will go to the fridge, point and make noise until we open the door. Then you point to the bottom drawer where the apples are until we open it and get you one out. You take your milk out of a sippy cup at night now. Just took a few tries. :)
New discoveries - You started throwing fits/tantrums this month. Well we've had them before, but this month it was a full-out throw yourself on the floor, cry and whine tantrum. So far you just lay there and cry and whine. The longest has been for about 15-20 mins. Wow, I know. Most of these happen when we say "no," don't give you what you want, or you can't communicate what you want to us. We're working on this though. Hopefully we'll make progress next month. Oh and just for Mommy's reference, more tantrums happen when you don't take a good afternoon nap. :) Don't forget that, Mommy!!
New accomplishments - Still jabbering up a storm. We do understand some of it, but most is gibberish. You love to explore though. Since its been a little cooler, your favorite thing to do is to walk to the sidewalk and "explore" the cracks, the grass, the bugs, etc. 

Places you went - To OK to visit Nonna and Poppa and to TX for Grandmama's 75th birthday.

Special Memories - Celebrating Grandmama's 75th birthday.  Finding out you were getting a little sister. 

The last 16 months have more challenging, enjoyable, and wonderful than I could have ever imagined. Parenting does change you. In so many good ways. Daddy and I are learning more and more about us, who we are and who we want to be. We're learning who you need us to be and hope that we are working to be better each day. You are changing as well. You want so badly to be able to talk to us, but the words don't come most of the time. It will though. In the meantime, please be patient with us as we try to figure out what you are "saying." We love you so much and you make our lives so much fun. Making you laugh is one of the best moments of my day. Oh and our cuddle time before bed. You let me rock you again. I LOVE it! We love you more than you know baby girl!  Keep on growing!

~Mommy & Daddy

Testing another Blogger app

Some pics from the last month.

The first half - with words :)

So baby girl #2 is getting a bit shortchanged on the blogs, mostly due to lack of time, not due to lack of things to blog about. Here's is my attempt to get caught up on her and this pregnancy. Things have gone really well this time around. Not much morning sickness and thanks to my wonderful midwife, I was able to change the way I was eating/snacking and I think that has helped tons with the nausea. I was of course exhausted in the beginning, but we made it through the first trimester and the second has been so much better. My biggest complaint now is just not being able to get comfortable to sleep. I had this with Avery too. Any other time I would prefer to sleep on my side, but when I'm pregnant  (when I can't sleep on my back) I want to be a back sleeper so bad. Lots of pillows have been my friends lately. I haven't had much of an appetite in the evenings, which is weird since I ate everything (it felt like) with Avery. I think the heat has something to do with it. I'm making myself snack throughout the day, eat a good breakfast and lunch, and as much as I can for dinner. It has helped with the weight gain though. :) I'm on track - having gained 14lbs at my 18 week appointment. While at my 18 week appointment, we were going to schedule our sonogram to find out the sex. Well, we had 2 options, try to do one the Thursday after my appointment or wait a month until I was 22 weeks. I said lets just go ahead! Hopefully he/she will let us see something. So on August 11th, we found out we were having another precious baby girl. Poor Randy! He's really outnumbered now. But I know he will love having 2 little girls adore him. We don't have a name yet. I know, I know. We take forever to pick names. But the good news is we have it narrowed way down, so we are ahead of our record with Avery. Avery doesn't have a clue what's about to happen. And that's ok. She's still little herself and I think she'll do fine with the transition. Its hard to believe we are already half-way through this 9/10 month journey. In a lot of ways, I'm able to relax more this time around. I think because I've already done this before. Feeling her move for the first time (around 16 weeks) has been cool because I actually knew what it was this time. Knowing how my body will change over time has been good, I've been able to not stress about clothes not fitting or looking just right. Plus since we know its a girl, we already have most of everything we need. I'm getting excited about deciding on her name and getting to meet her. Lots of changes ahead, but we're ready! We think! :)

The first half - in pictures

15th Month Milestones - 8/4/11

15th Month Milestones - 8/4/11


Height - 29.75 inches

Weight - 17 lbs. 14.5 oz.

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You usually take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Still about 2 hours each, give or take. Your pediatrician said as long as you continue to sleep all night to let you keep napping twice during the day. You need your sleep! :)

Eating - Still a healthy appetite. You eat anything! Literally. You have 8 teeth now, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Your favorites are blueberries, strawberries, bananas, scrambled eggs with cheese, green peas, carrots, corn, avacado, any beans, shredded cheese, veggie chips/sticks, crackers, yogurt, and cheerios. You'll pretty much eat anything, but we have noticed a few things you don't prefer - sliced cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, and mac&cheese. Weird, I know. What kid doesn't like cheese? But we aren't forcing them. We finished nursing this month. :( Surprisingly you and Mommy both took it better than expected. We were down to once a day, at night, but getting you to take a bottle/sippy of milk was near impossible so I had feared it would be a rough transition. But once I went back to the bottle instead of sippy and warmed the milk, you were fine with it. Yes, we let you take a bottle and you are over a year. But really, I think it helped make the transition for you easier. It gave us cuddle time before bed with you - both me and Daddy and I think that's what you loved most about nursing anyways. I know I did. We're working on drinking the milk out of a sippy now. Little steps!

New discoveries - You know where your belly button is and say, "Right here!" when asked where it is. Too cute. You know your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and toes. You can practically run now and are constantly falling. I think we've entered the "always-have-a-bruise" phase of toddlerhood. You love being outside, with Daddy. :) He lets you play in the water sprinkler, which you love!

New accomplishments - You can "brush" your teeth. We're not sure how much cleaning is actually going on right now, but you love doing it and that's what matters. You now go grab your paci and blanket and come to us to take you to bed when you are tired. What can I say? You love your sleep! You are saying a few words regularly, but know more and use them all occasionally. The ones I can remember are: Daddy (your fav), Mama (rarely), Who's that?, what's that?, where's that?, ruf-ruf (what you say when you hear a dog), peease (please, complete with sign), up, down, kiss-kiss, Veggie Tales (more on this later), Love you, Zoe, Sam, milk, wa-wer (water), du-du (duck-duck), more (most of the time this is just the sign), all done.

Places you went - To OK to visit Nonna and Poppa.

Special Memories - Celebrating Daddy's birthday. Getting to play with Peyton at Nonna and Poppa's. Spencer's birthday party. You getting addicted to Veggie Tales. :)

Its hard to believe you have 15 months under your belt. You are so much fun to be around, unless you miss your nap. :) Then you need a little extra love and patience. You are trying to communicate more and more with us each day. I love it when I get home from work and you run to me. You are so happy to see me. Almost as happy as when Daddy gets home. I think that's your favorite part of your day. You love to chase him, to play the piano with him, and getting thrown up in the air by Daddy. Hopefully the weather will cool off soon so we can get back to playing outside.

Baby girl - we love you so much. It really is a joy to be your parents. Yes there are days when we aren't sure we are doing this parenting thing right, but we know we both are learning so much from you. Keep being patient with us, we love you more than you know. Thank you for letting us figure parenting out on you. :) Your baby brother/sister will thank you!

~Mommy & Daddy

Avery has some exciting news to share

Blogging from my iPhone

So I'm testing this blogging app to see if it would help me blog more frequently. Pics from my phone:

14 Month Milestones

14th Month Milestones - 7/4/11

Height - 28+ inches

Weight - 17.5 lbs?

Sleeping - You usually go to bed around 8:00. You rarely wake up once a night to eat. You usually take 2 naps a day and lately these have been long! Must be a growth spurt. Not sure how we'll transition you to 2, because you get sleepy about an hour or so after you get up each morning. Oh well. We'll cross that bridge later!
Eating - Still a healthy appetite. You eat anything! Literally. Chewing has gotten much better this month. Maybe that's because you have 6 teeth now! 4 on top and 2 on bottom. You still nurse in the morning and at night and take bottle or cup of milk during the day.

New discoveries - Let's see, pretty much everyday you figure out how to get into something new. You love emptying Mommy's tupperware cabinet. You love pulling stuff out of baskets after clean up time. You figured out how to pull your blanket out of your crib and do it whenever you are ready to go to bed. You learned how to give kisses, we call them "kiss-kiss" and Daddy and I just eat them up. So sweet!

New accomplishments - Giving kisses when asked. Truly precious! Started throwing fits, which isn't really an accomplishment, we just thought we had more time before these came along. You learned how to "jump" in the water with Mommy/Daddy's help. You can climb up and down steps and do pretty good at getting off the couch without help.

Places you went - To Azle for Tiffany and Brent's Wedding. You got sick after that and we were home for almost a week with you. Didn't go much this month.

Special Memories - Getting to be the flower girl in Aunt Tiffany's wedding. Riding in the wagon with Sam. Taking a bath in the sink with Sam. Getting your toes painted for the first time. Swimming in your kiddie pool and getting to slide. Eating your first popsicle. Having Nonna with us for 4 days while you were sick. First ER visit.

So since this is Mommy's version of your baby book we do need to document your first stomach virus. :( You came down with a fever the morning of Tiff's wedding. We gave you Tylenol and Motrin and your fever broke in time for you to be in the wedding with Sam. We made it through the ceremony and most of the pictures before you had a melt down. Poor thing! If we only knew you felt so bad. We took Poppa out to eat for his birthday and then headed home. Mommy was giving you a bath and you got sick. We thought it was something you ate so weren't too worried. Later that night you woke up with a fever and it was on. For the next 6/7 days you ran a fever off and on and had diarrhea. Mommy stayed home with you for 3 days and on the third day you basically refused to eat or drink anything. We took you to your pediatrician on Monday and he said it was some viral diarrhea and would last up to 10 days! By Wednesday you were miserable, so Mrs. Marilyn and I took you to the ER for them to check you out. You were dehydrated and so they gave you 2 bags of fluids. You were a different baby after that! I think you finally felt a little better. You stayed with Mrs. Marilyn Thursday and Nonna came down Thursday night to keep you on Friday. By Saturday your fever and diarrhea were both finally gone. That is the worst sickness you've had so far! Mommy and Daddy lost more sleep that week than since you were born. Thankfully you recovered 100% and by the next week were back to your normal, energizer-bunny self. It was hard watching you not even want to crawl or walk. You just wanted to be held. Which we loved, but hated you were so miserable. By the end of the week you were so sick of being sick that you started throwing fits. But really, who could blame you? You couldn't tell us what hurt and had been sick for so long. So now we are working on no hitting or fit throwing. :)
When I was looking back on June, it looked like we didn't do much, but we had a full month. Weddings and yucky viruses take it out of ya! We are so glad you are back to normal and so thankful you have been so healthy. We are blessed to have great friends like Mrs. Marilyn and family like Nonna who were willing to help out when we were exhausted. You are one LOVED little girl. I hope you always know that. Can't wait to see what next month holds! Love you sweet baby girl!

~Mommy & Daddy