Birthday Celebration

Claire had such a busy and fun weekend!! Friday was her actual birthday so when she woke up I had balloons, cards from out of town family and our gift to her which was a Little Mermaid book and Princess Hop Scotch Foam Tiles. Talk about excitement! She LOVED all her princess stuff - she's such a girl =) Claire and I made special heart pancakes for her and then it was off to Dr. Gulde's office for her wellness check. Claire weighed in at 30.2 lbs. which is right at 50th percentile and is 36.24 inches tall which is between 30th and 35th percentile! She's growing so fast!

After seeing Dr. Gulde, we dropped Eden off so Grandpa could watch her while we took Claire to a special birthday lunch at her favorite - Chuckie Cheese! She's only been 2 or 3 times and it's almost been a year but every time we pass the sign she asks to go. We usually tell her Chuckie Cheese isn't open right now so when she found out she was going, she said "It's open now?!" It was PURE joy on her face and you can see it in the pictures. Chuckie Cheese Heaven! Thanks to Leyna for letting Claire borrow her "Birthday Girl" shirt.

The rest of the day was nap and getting ready for her party. She spent some time with Eric and Erin so we could get some food shopping at Costco done - Whew! What a busy day!

It's funny - the past 2 birthdays have been about what I wanted and celebrating me giving birth. I really made all the decisions but this year our little girl is so grown up! Now it's about what she likes and such - it's SOOO much fun especially when you see her face light up the way I saw all weekend! Claire's birthday party was Saturday and I'm working on uploading pics to Shutterfly for that post!

Happy 3rd Birthday Claire Bear!

We can't believe how fast you've grown! The past three years have been the best of our lives and we remember such a wonderful day three years ago when God blessed us with you. Your sweet and sensitive nature amazes us. Your love and compassion for others at this age astounds us. Your imagination and energy makes us smile... I don't know where would be without you. We love you more and more each day!

Back to Work

This week was my first official week back to work. I split my long Monday into two half days so I now teach Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings - I love it!! Gets me out two times a week and I still have half my day to be with my girls =) Nothing like some rejuvenating time away doing something you LOVE!

Things went well but there are a lot of logistics with the two girlies. Neil and I have to take turns dropping off and picking up at the various locations. Claire is at MDO Monday while Eden is at Stefany's for a couple hours and then Thursday Eden is at Stefany's for about 3.5 hours and Claire is at Mimi's house (Neil's mom!) A HUGE thank you to Stefany and Jed for keeping Eden and Mimi for helping out with Claire - we couldn't do it without you!

Well, getting ready for Claire's birthday tomorrow - can't believe it's been 3 years already. We're having a party with friends her age from life group, playgroup and a few others on Saturday. Of course, Disney Princess is the theme but we plan on having some fun together on her real birthday too!

Tuesday Tribute: Anthony, Greg, Murray and Jeff

For those who have read my other Tuesday Tribute blogs, this is a much lighter, less serious post! Today I highlight the four men who I never wanted to admit would help me through my day:

Anthony, Greg, Murray and Jeff a.k.a. The Wiggles!


Claire had never even heard of the Wiggles until November when I was on bed rest and she stayed with her Aunt Shannon for a day. She came home with a few DVD's and a Wiggles song book that her cousin Justin had out grown - she still wants to read the book EVERY DAY!! All I have to say is thank you Shannon because the DVDS really come in handy when she is being such a challenge. We don't like to just sit her in front of the TV but sometimes it's just what we ALL need. Staying home with 2 little ones is so hard so the Wiggles have helped me many a day when I just need a break from still-adjusting-big sister, Claire.

Eden's 3 months old

Hard to believe our baby is 3 months old already - time has really flown by! I tried really hard to get a smiley picture for her 3 month post but she wasn't having it. Claire really wanted to take some with her so I got a good one of the both of them.

Here is the link to my favorite pictures of Eden from this month! Some are duplicates from the blog so I decided to upload to shutterfly rather than post them here:

http://neilkathrynclaire.shutterfly.com/

Here are her monthly pics with her bear. I didn't post a 2 month pic to compare but you can go see if you want! I got an identical yawning picture which I thought was funny! I also tried the bumbo and she did well but didn't want to stay in for too long.

Always playing with her tongue

"Mom, get me out of this thing!"

Sweet Sisters

Things to remember this month:

- Eden has been kicking and moving her arms SO much more the past 2 weeks and she's started "talking" a lot more too! I just love to hear her voice

- Eden is sleeping a little bit longer but not too much more at night - the longest she has gone is 5-6 hours between eating so sleeping up to 5 hours. Too bad she starts around 8:30-9 when I'm still up trying to get stuff done! It seems impossible to go to bed before 10:30 p.m. She is such a good sleeper during the day and very predictable.

- Eden started grabbing toys this month and has a really strong grip!

- 2 days before this post, she weighed 11 lbs. and is eating close to 4 oz. at a time

- Eden is continuing to work on her focus on us when we talk to her and she is smiling more everyday. Can't wait to see it even more!

- Eden seems to be more tolerant of her loving sister's hugs, kisses and comforting!

- Eden LOVES movement even more than I noticed last month. If the car stops and she's awake, she cries and if she is crying then we need to get going on the highway to calm her down. She prefers giggling rather than rocking and likes to be patted on her bottom. Still loves her swaddle - the tighter the better!

- Eden is sleeping better by herself in the evenings hours - not having to be held as much. She is more awake during the day but no more than 1 1/2 - 2 hours at a time or else it's meltdown.

Chicken Pox - again!

Well, Claire has the pox again which shocked me but they did look just the same as last time! For those of you new to the blog or new to our family, Claire had them back in September. Here is the link to that entry if you're interested:

http://nkclewis.blogspot.com/2008/09/chickenpox.html

I noticed a bump on her chin over the weekend but didn't think anything of it. It looked just like a pimple. This morning I saw some on her shoulder and got concerned. Just like last time, they don't bother her and she hasn't had a fever or isn't feeling bad at all. Right now she has 4 on her shoulder, one on her arm, one on her chin and one on her scalp. All have already opened up and started to scab over which is good because she isn't contagious once all are scabbed over. Dr. Gulde said he has seen this happen even with the vaccine but he said "Who do they come see? The pediatrician!" Anyway, he said he thought there were some more coming on her bottom but I haven't gotten a good look yet. He said not to worry about Eden because it's rare for newborns to get it and she should be safe since she is strictly breastfeeding. Plus, what would we do? Claire just has to be extra careful with hand washing and being all over her - that is going to be an impossible task! At lunch Eden was fussing a bit and said "I'm sorry Eden. I can't come kiss you - I'm a little sick" - how cute is that? We'll see how compliant she continues to be!

I didn't take a picture last time so I did this time for many of you who asked what they looked like so to keep an eye on your little ones. They're at the bottom. She wasn't at church Sunday because Neil was pretty sick all weekend so we all stayed home - thank GOD! I'd hate to have put her with all the kiddos with the bump already on her face. Unfortuantely, she did go to her MDO yesterday so I'm about to call over there and give them the heads up!

Tuesday's Tribute: SAIDC

"The San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition (SAIDC) is an organization formed to address the crisis of genocide in the Darfur region in western Sudan, a central African nation."

SAIDC Mission
We believe that, as People of Faith, we are called to do more than look at the epidemic of great suffering that genocide generates one-by-one-by-one, family upon family upon family.

Not shifting our eyes from real people in real suffering is a first step.

We invite you, One-by-One-by-One, from area synagogues, churches, mosques or wherever and however you follow your own spiritual and religious path, to join with us to do much more.

We work in coordination with others nationally through the Save Darfur Coalition in its moral imperative to inform public opinion and thus to mobilize pressure for more practical and effective responses to the human communities calling for help in western Sudan, a central African nation.

All are welcome from all over South Texas. All are needed to help the people of Darfur.



This week I wanted to highlight this A-MAZING organization that I came across about a year and a half ago. Neil and I went to a play that spoke about genocide and the mantra of "Never Again" really convicted me. The play referred to the genocides that we have let happen and although we say "never again", they continue. Our actions don't support or words. The SAIDC was at the play with pamphlets so we picked one up and got busy! Darfur is undergoing a horrific genocide and this organization helps encourage people to get involved and be a voice for these people. I haven't been as active as I should in the past 9 months so in writing this, I pledge to really get in there again and try to make a difference. One person at a time can do incredible things - especially when it's in line with God's love for His people no matter what they look like, how far they are from us or what they believe. They are humans that should not be treated so terribly and as another human, we have a responsibility.

I encourage you to visit their blog and the national website to learn more. Hopefully you will join them in their efforts to save these victims of genocide and prevent other genocide outbreaks in the future.

http://saidc.blogspot.com/ (the first entry now is in Spanish but it's the right website!)

http://www.savedarfur.org/ - you can find your local organization through this website and get a ton of info about what is going on over there!