claire is 7 months

I feel kinda bad that she's wearing the same dress in her 6 month photo, eeek

one sock, poor kid

She sure is getting big!  She's becoming very mobile as well.  She has found her knees, but hasn't quite figured out how to use them.  Instead, she rolls and rotates to get where she wants to go, which is often times toward one of Trent's toys.  She's also developing a feisty personality.  When she has something she wants, she holds tight and doesn't let go.  On the off chance she does let go (or you are able to pry her fingers off), she will scream for it.  This can be your hair, her spoon, a toy, etc.  Speaking of spoon, she's really starting to get this whole eating thing down.  She now actually enjoys it rather than gags.  She was lucky enough to have her first fruit last weekend - an apple right off the tree at Milburn (thanks Uncle Mikey).  We have since given her banana, which she seems to really enjoy....who wouldn't?!  So, so far she has had squash, eggplant, yams, carrots, broccoli, green beans, banana, and the lick of an apple (not in that order - and I may be forgetting one or two). 

She takes the bottle like she's been doing it her whole life.  In fact, she will now bring the bottle to her mouth and hold onto it without any assistance.  I have a feeling it's going to be difficult to keep Trent's sippy cups out of her mouth.  She has already expressed a good bit of interest in them. 

As for sleep - she's regressing.  For about a month, from age 3 months to 4 months, she slept through the night consistently.  Since then she went back to waking once a night.  That turned into 2 times a night, then sometimes three.  We are now at the point where it's very difficult to get her to sleep on her own for more than a few hours because she just wants to be in our arms.  You know that newborn phase where the child can be dead asleep in your arms but the second you put them down, their eyes shoot open?.....yeah, that's where we are right now.  I can't blame her....all I can do is ask her politely to please sleep like a good baby and thank my husband for being super dad and coming to my rescue regularly.  An easy fix is to bring her into our bed with us (which we do quite often, and it works) but co-sleeping really isn't for me.  I just don't like it.  I do it when I'm desperate but I definitely don't want to make a habit out of it.  One of these days she's going to end up falling to the floor, and that's a far fall from the top of our mattress. 

If you follow me on facebook then you know I've been on a crafting-streak.  So far I made Claire a few headbands, some babylegs, a stuffed animal, and a pair of shoes.  I'm about to start on a jumper and a pair of pants that I'm very excited about (i already have the supplies, now I just need the time).  Here are a few photos of my crafts, in case you missed them on facebook

 

Of course I made Trent a few things as well, but this post is about Claire!  I'm very sad to say I lost my SD card containing pictures from some recent activities but hopefully it will turn up soon!  Thankfully there was a second person taking pictures during a few of these events, so at least I'll have those pictures. 

Another milestone Claire has almost mastered is sitting up by herself!!  As Kevin puts it:  When she does fall, she falls gracefully (meaning, she uses her arms to catch herself/cusion her fall).  You can see it in the elephant photo above, but also here:

I love the picture, just wish it was a little clearer

And here's a video of Claire sitting up all by herself.  In this scene Daddy/Kevin just came home from work.  Although her expression doesn't change much, she was excited to see him.  You can even hear her grunt with excitement a little.

 

Isn't she just precious!  7 months old already.....where does the time go?

my maternity shoes

Shoes being a relative term here.  I bought these shoes sometime before I got pregnant with Trent.  Flats were in style at the time (still are, right?) and I knew they'd be comfortable work shoes.  I got pregnant with Trent and wore them all throughout my pregnancy.  By the time my feet started stretching and widening from the pregnancy the shoes were showing signs of being worn.  Scuffs on the toes and heels.  Nothing too major, but I knew their life was coming to a end.  I told myself I would toss the shoes once I had the baby - figuring my feet would shrink down to their normal width and the shoes wouldn't fit anyway. 

Well, I had the baby and didn't wear the shoes at all during my maternity leave, but I didn't throw them away.  That was mistake #1.  After 4 months on maternity leave it was time to go back to work - and what did I do?  I slide on my trusty old flats.  Yes, they were too wide, but they were there.  I wore them, and continue to wear them 5 days a week.  I wear them when they don't match my outfit, I wear them when I'm going someplace nice, I wear them on occasion with jeans, and to make matters worse, I wear them with black dress socks (a look I am not a fan of). 

Do they always stay on my feet?  Absolutely not.  Just ask my mother-in-law, who had to help me retrieve one of the shoes as I was walking up the stairs of a fire hall just 3 weekends ago. 

Mistake #2 came when we were in California.  We were walking Hollywood Blvd and I spotted a DSW store.  I have a gift card there so decided to browse.  I was immediately overwhelmed and ready to leave (if you've ever seen the size of this store, you can understand why I was overwhelmed).  Kevin said to me, "if you need shoes keep looking.  Take your time and don't worry about the price, just get something that will last".  I didn't listen.  Mistake.

Now here I am - still wearing the black flats more than 2 years after purchasing them even though the toes are falling apart, there are tears on the sides, they are too wide, the toe and heel are heavily worn, and I'm sure they stink.

Why don't I care more?  I should care more.

but on a more positive note....

On Friday night we took Trent to the mall to get him his first real pair of sneakers! Trent has worn shoes in the past, but mostly just for looks. He's probably only had shoes on his feet a dozen or two times his whole life - it's just never been "our thing". Now that it's getting so cold outside we decided it was definitely time for him to have an "everyday" pair of shoes. We went with a super cute pair of white Nikes.

Before we left the house for the mall we had discussed that since we were going to be right there, if the line for Santa wasn't too bad we'd get some pictures taken. Well, the line wasn't terrible so we filed in. Unfortunately, Trent was just too tired at this point. After a minute or two waiting in line we decided it was best for Trent to just go home and get him in his PJ's.

We also knew we'd be going to Pine Valley Christmas Tree Farm the very next day. They had a Mr. & Mrs. Claus available for photos when we went last year! A GOOD Mr. & Mrs. Claus, I might add! We figured if nothing else we'd at least get Trents photo with those Clauses. Well, as it turned out there was no Santa this year. No biggie. We went ahead and found a tree that fit us, took some photos, drank some hot chocolate, and were on our way. We really had a great time - the farm wasn't too crowded, Trent stood for a long time for us (breaking his previous standing records - thanks, partially, to the new kicks), he was very happy the entire time, and the tree was cheaper than I expected. All pluses in my book!

yard sales

Today is our neighborhoods community yard sale. We decided not to partake in the yard sale on the selling end, but as shoppers. I hit the ATM early this morning then the 4 of us walked the neighborhood stopping at several houses. So many households were selling baby things...i was pleasantly surprised. The main item I was looking for was a beach cabana. I've been looking for a beach cabana lately but haven't had any luck (surprisingly) finding one in stores. I've only been able to find them online, but since our vacation is quickly approaching I didn't want to risk ordering one and it not arriving in time. You can imagine how pleased I was when I found this at the first sale we stopped at. It's smaller than I wanted, and it doesn't offer as much privacy as I'd like (since I planned to nurse Trent in it) but it was only $10 so what the heck. I'm not much of a haggler but I kind of wish I talked her down in price. She was only charging $10 for it (which is great compared to the $40 target charges and the $80 at some websites) but I think I could have gotten it cheaper. Oh well. The woman selling it struck me as a richy rich snob....obviously not rich, as she lives in MY neighborhood, but she was very snooty and actually said, "that tent is clutch for the beach". It was hard for me to not laugh at her. Who's uses the word "clutch"? It reminded me of that blond chick in Mean Girls who kept trying to make the word "fetch" catch on.


The next house didn't have many things, but everything they did have was only $1. I couldn't resist the Timberland's. They are a size 4m so they don't fit him right now, but I'm sure he will be in them before we know it. Hopefully during the colder months.

Also, for $1 each (a $30 value)

I purchased a few picture frames for $0.50 each. I plan to spray paint them black and use them for a little project I'm working on. nothing special.

The best purchase I made was on this Leap Frog Musical Table. It sells for $45 in stores but I got it for $5. At first I wasn't sure if I should buy it or not, so I called Chrissy to get her input. She said her boys love it so I went back and got it. As I said, I'm not much of a haggler but I went ahead and asked her if she'd be willing to sell it to me for only $5 instead of the $10 it was priced at. I was psyched when she said sure!

I got this sports center from the same lady for only $5 (a $30-ish value)

The most unnecessary purchase I made was this float for $4. We already have a brand new float that we plan to use at OBX this summer but I figured it might be nice to have a spare. I mean, what if one of them gets a hole, right?

I really was astonished at how much good stuff was out there. Toys, high chairs, travel systems, stroller, etc. I even saw 2 jogging strollers that looked to be in really good condition, but I looked right past them since I have a freebie coming my way....I just hope my coworkers pulls through.