8 Months

I absolutely cannot believe it's been 8 MONTHS since Claire was born! The time has gone by so much faster than I could have ever expected. We've been having lots of fun getting to know Claire's personality, watching her grow, and probably my favorite thing as a mother so far - seeing her interact with her big brother.

This is the standard "Claire face":

she makes this face all the time, especially when she's concentrating on something - trying to pick up a toy, or figure out how she can get to something across the room. Which she is pretty darn good at by the way. She started pulling herself around, kind of an army crawl about a month and a half ago, the same week she started sitting all by herself. Now she's starting to get the hang of actually crawling, but hasn't perfected it yet. That doesn't stop her from scooting, rolling, pulling, and sliding all around until she gets what she's after. She's a very determined little girl.

Claire is such a happy baby - she has her moments, but for the most part, she is so smiley and happy. My favorite part of the day is the morning. Even though I'm exhausted when she wakes me up at 5:30am, she is so happy and "talkative". She jibber-jabbers, giggles and smiles until we are all awake with her. And when her big brother walks in, she squeals and kicks her feet. She loves him so much and he is her world right now. Even when he's tormenting her by trying to check her eyes with a magnifying glass, pick her up by her head ("like the lions do", he said), or pull her around the room by her hands "teaching her to crawl" - she just thinks he's amazing. And he thinks she's pretty amazing too - he is always wanting to help her do something or teach her something. As a mother, this brings me so much joy. I pray each day that they will continue to love each other and take care of each other as they grow up.

Claire is also a great eater. We started feeding her purees a little earlier than we did with Boden because she was always trying to grab our food out of our hands or screaming at us while we were eating. So far, her favorite is avacado by far and the only thing she seems to reject is broccoli. She'll eat it when it's mixed with other veggies, but not alone. She really loves picking up her own food - banana chunks, cheerios, etc. Usually about half of it makes it in her mouth and the other half I find in the highchair. :)

It's been hot here in St Louis so we've been frequenting the neighborhood pool a bit lately too. Claire LOVES the water! She splashes and giggles and then tries to drink the water. oops. Boden is loving the pool too. He's more independent in the water this year - using his floaties and sometimes a raft. Thankfully this year he's developed a more healthy fear of the water- last year he had absolutely no fear of it and would just jump right in regardless of having a life vest on or not or if anyone was in the water to jump to! He started swim lessons last week and is having fun with that - blowing bubbles, and learning to float and kick.

We are just loving being a family of 4 and we are thankful everyday for our beautiful, healthy babies!

Claire will be 5 months old in just a few days! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. She's such a sweet, happy baby, and Boden loves being a big brother. Claire started rolling over in the past couple weeks and her new favorite thing to do is squeal and play with her feet. It's adorable. I'm pretty certain she's working on her top two teeth now - her little gums are quite swollen, so I'm guessing it will be any day now.


At the end of February we went back to Virginia Beach for a week. We rented a condo on the beach - it was beautiful to look out at the beach, but it was COLD! It even snowed one day. We did get one afternoon where it was warm enought to at least take a little walk on the beach. Boden was so confused as to why it was cold at the beach, he remembers being there last summer and it was warm. He kept wanting to swim in the ocean. Daddy took him down by the water to put their toes in, but it was freezing cold! Boden loved it! We visited the aquarium one day - Boden really enjoyed seeing the big sharks and fish....once he figured out that there was a big piece of glass between him and the shark and the shark couldn't get him! :) It might turn out to be our last trip there as a family - Michael will likely finish up his degree at Regent this summer, and since he'll be really busy taking 2 classes in one week - we probably won't go with him then.


I've been busy sewing and making up some new things. Boden's friend Aiden turned 3, so I made him a "Super Aiden" cape for his birthday. Boden tested it out and approved :) I guess I better get busy making one for him too.



And yesterday, I made this little dress for Claire. I used one of her dresses and kind of traced the outline so that it would be about the right size, then just made it up from there. I think it turned out pretty good - and it actually fits her!



I'm planning to try and make Claire's Easter dress this week too - We're visiting my parents for the week while Michael is in Guatemala (therefore I have much more freetime to sew while the kids hang with Nana & Poppa and their aunties). We also got to go to my sister Molly's first bridal shower on Saturday -which was lots of fun. I'm so excited for her. It was actually a joint shower with my cousin Julie who is getting married in July and my cousin Scott's fiance Kelly who are getting married in June. It will be a busy summer for our family!

Michael and the team arrived safely in Guatemala on Friday and I haven't gotten to talk to him a lot, but he said they were going to an orphanage on Sat, preaching in a few churches over the weekend, and then working on a home for widows and street children for a lot of the week. He said it was 95 degrees there at 9pm the other night! Yikes! And we came to Nebraska and got snow.

A funny little conversation occured the other day between Boden and my sister Micaela....

Caela : "Hey Boden, where is your daddy?"
Boden: "Daddy's at Guatemala"
Caela: "What's he doing there?"
Boden: "He's telling people where Jesus is"

Don't you just love that? He was so matter of fact about it, it was so sweet.

If you think of it this week - would you pray for Michael and the rest of the team as they minister to the people of Guatemala and "tell them where Jesus is"?

Little Whale Designs

I've enjoyed making baby and kid items every since I found out I was pregnant with Boden. I love to sew, knit, crochet - basically anything crafty. Finally, I've decided to open an etsy shop to share some of my homemade items with you! and to support my addiction for fabric stores. Michael jokingly told me the other day that he was getting concerned that I liked going to the fabric store more than I like going to church. LOL. I reassured him - I do like going to the fabric store - but I LOVE church! :)

Anyway - here is a link to my shop - Little Whale Designs. Check it out and see if there's something you like for your kids! I will be adding things periodically - I like to make a variety of things - bibs, burp cloths, t-shirts/onsies, nursing covers, baby shoes, hats, etc - so you never know what you might find!

teeth!?!?

Is it possible?

Really?

Could my baby girl really be cutting teeth at only 15 weeks old?!?

yes, folks, it's possible. and true.

I suppose that explains why this has been her favorite thing to do for the past several weeks



and why she's been so grouchy and having trouble sleeping too.

I'm still having a hard time believing it. Boden didn't get his 1st tooth until he was 7 months old. It's funny though - I think it was the same time of year. If I remember right it was right around Valentine's day when he got his bottom teeth.

I was a little late on my teeth too - I'm not sure when I started getting them, but I know I was behind all my friends in losing them. I'm still a little upset that I didn't get to write my name on the giant tooth in Mrs. McAndrew's kindgergarten classroom or get to drink chocolate milk through a straw stuck through the gap in my teeth during snacktime with the rest of my kindergarten classmates.

anyway...all that to say, I was not expecting this.

I had to go find a picture of Boden's first teeth coming in. It was Feb 24, 2008 - he was just over 7 months old



I was really hoping to enjoy Claire's toothless grin a little longer. She's only been smiling for about 6 weeks, and I haven't snapped that many photos of her actually smiling. I'm going to have to make it my mission to get a few more before they really start showing.

It won't be long...

It won't be long before those little footsteps I hear after naptime, running across the hall to shout from the top of the stairs "I'm awake!!" are just a distant memory, rather than a daily occurrence. It won't be long before the little boy who wants to be attached to me all day long is telling me not to kiss him in front of his friends. And it won't be long before the little boy who wants me to read books over and over and over again is off at college, studying something important I'm sure.

Tonight I stood outside Boden's bedroom door, trying to comfort him as he called out to me, frustrated because I wanted him to go to bed so I could work on checking things off my to-do list, folding laundry, and putting away dishes from dinner. He kept saying "mama, I want you", "mama, come cuddle me" - and it hit me at that moment...it won't be long before these days are gone. So I put down my laundry basket, left the dishes un-done and the to do list un-checked and cuddled up with my little guy. As I lay there all scrunched up in his toddler bed, listening to him breathe as he fell asleep, silent tears falling down my cheek, I couldn't help but thank my Heavenly Father for this most precious gift. One that I too often take for granted.

Some days it just hits me like a ton of bricks - the days I often wish away, will soon be over. And I will want them back. I look at Boden and I can barely believe he's 2 1/2 yrs old. It's gone by SO FAST! I was trying to remember what it was like before he could talk, but I couldn't. I can't imagine what it will be like to look back when he's 5, 10, 18 yrs old. I don't want to forget a minute of it.

Lord, thank you for the beautiful little lives you have entrusted to us. Being a mother is more challenging than I could have ever imagined, but also more amazing than I could have dreamed. Thank you for moments like tonight that remind me how precious these days are. Help me to find joy in each day and to never overlook the blessings each day brings. I pray that you will give me strength, wisdom, grace, and knowledge as I raise them to know you and love you. Amen.

fourteen, fourteen, fourteen!

I'm really trying to be better about updating this blog, really I am. :) I need to update the header photo (to include claire) and the background, and finish my re-cap about christmas. but those will have to wait for another day. Today I have some photos and a cute video from the past few days. (video is in a seperate post before this one)

Boden still LOVES to play the guitar. He is always amazed by the musicians at church and wants to go up on stage and see their guitars. On Christmas Eve, right before service was starting I was looking around the sanctuary for Boden .He was with Michael when I walked out, but when I came back Michael was talking to someone and Boden was not next to him. I looked all around and found him on the stage talking to the worship leader and admiring his guitar. I should have known.

I promise we are good parents and don't typically lose our children. Although, this reminds me of another story recently at church. I was talking to a few of the other pastors wives by the nursery after service one Saturday night and Boden and some other kids were running around. When we finished talking I began looking for Boden and couldn't find him anyhere. I wasn't that concerned, because he's often with a few of the teenagers who watch him in the nursery. I looked in the bathrooms, the hallways, I even went back into the auditorium. I'll admit I did begin to panick at this point. Then, I remembered he loves to push the buttons that open the elevator. I ran to the elevator and pushed the button. When it opened, there was Boden....looking a little panicked. He had walked in the when the doors opened, but didn't know how to get back out! poor little guy. He's now been taught that he can push the alarm bell button if he's ever in the elevator without a grown up. But, we've also talked about how he should never, ever get in the elevator without a grown up too. :)

Claire is nearly 3 months old already! She is a very happy baby. Although she spits up ALOT (seriously, I sometimes go through 3 burp cloths per feeding), she loves to lay on her back and kick her feet. She loves the mobile in her crib, the playgym, anywhere she can kick and squeal freely.
Boden got a train set for christmas. I'm amazed at how well he puts the pieces together to make a track.

When not changing diapers, cleaning up spit up, feeding a toddler, reading books,and playing all sorts of games with Boden, I've been doing a lot of crocheting and knitting. This is a little hat and booties set I made for our friends' Nicki and Ryan's new baby, Allison. She's just about 6 weeks younger than Claire so I'm sure they'll be good friends.
Boden got lots of games for christmas. He always wants to play them, but he hasn't quite gotten the concept of how to play a game. Especially the taking turns part and only moving the correct number of spaces. lol. he does love to make up his own games with the pieces though. The other day he was talking to all the gingerbread boys and girls from candyland and putting them down for naps on their colored cards.

Crazy Hair Claire (as aunt Molly has named her), still has some crazy hair and it's getting longer. This was taken just after her bath - you can see how it's quite curly when it's wet. When it dries it's not so much curly as it is just wild. I'm hoping as it grows longer it will be curly. I think little girls with curls are so darn adorable.

and here's one of her "talking" to her mobile. She is content to lay there and kick and "talk" for 30 minutes if I keep the mobile going.

and some good news for our neighbors. Our christmas tree (that we took down 3 weeks ago) has been removed from front yard finally. We rarely enter the house through the front door, and aren't out playing in the yard since it's so cold, so we completely forgot it was out there. oops!

2 months

Here's my attempt to update you on what we've been up to for the past 2 months...





Our church in delivered thanksgiving meals to over 400 families in need in the St Louis area - the crew in O'Fallon delivered to about 100 of those families!


One of Boden's chores is to help me put away laundry. some does he's more helpful than others :)

Claire's hair is still wild and un-tameable

Michael has been busy preparing and preaching messages. we changed our stage set recently too - I love the new look

We went to Nebraska for Thanksgiving this year - my sister Micaela hosted her first Thanksgiving dinner and it was fabulous. The most memorable part for me was the nap I took by their fireplace that evening. naps are a great thing in themselves, but one by the woodburning fireplace is even better! Michael and I have been thinking about how to put a fireplace into our house ever since :)

Claire smiling at Poppa

Nana & Boden made a turkey hat. I believe there is a photo of me and micaela wearing these floating around somewhere, but apparently not on my camera - sorry folks :)
We also made it back to Missouri in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Oldham family on Saturday
and spend some time with Michael's step-sister Lauren & her family (including our adorable nephew, Austin)

Photo of Bubbe, Zeyde and the grandkids..Michael was trying to make Boden smile by making funny faces - but Boden just made funny faces back at him :)

We finished off Thanksgiving weekend with a trip to the tree farm to pick out the Brueseke family tree. Boden even had his first "man-experience" of peeing in the woods. (the bathrooms were way far away for a 2 yr old to make it without wetting his pants, so you do what you gotta do)


Claire hanging out in her cradle


She also LOVES her playgym. She coos and giggles at the little birds & bugs and at herself in the mirror

well, I tried to get it all in one post, but the baby is hungry and boden is tearing apart the house...so I'm gonna have to finish this later. to be continued...

3 weeks

meeting for the first time