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