Our Weekend Project

approximately 9 hours of work
99 different pieces of board
686 screws, bolts, and accessories
1 slide
3 swings
2 tarps

a handful of other things

hearing Chloe say, "I so excited, Daddy!"............PRICELESS!

Claire's Eye Surgery

Since birth, Claire has had a clogged tear duct in her right eye. It used to be that it only looked bad occasionally. However, of late, it had just looked pitiful all of the time. Any congestion that she had would build up and come out of her eye. The skin was constantly irritated and red and the eye had begun to swell. We have been consulting with our pediatrician about this since Claire was born. Last week, we all agreed that it was time to see the ophthalmologist about getting the tear duct unclogged. We got an appointment for Tuesday morning. When we got there, we found out that the doctor prefers to put children to sleep for the procedure considering the nature of the procedure. I was not prepared for this........I figured we'd just hold her down and he'd poke! Although the "putting to sleep" part made me a little nervous, we knew that we needed to get this taken care of so that it wouldn't bother her any more. In talking to the nurse about the doctor's schedule, we could either do Thursday (2 days away at this point) or wait until sometime in April. We decided to go on with the procedure and get it behind us. So........no eating for Claire after midnight on Wednesday night and we got to the hospital at 5:45am Thursday morning. Here she is just before they took her back. She's wearing her little hospital gown and some pants. They came in and put a mark over her right eye to make sure that they did the correct one!Not long after this, two sweet nurses took her to the operating room. A few minutes later, the nurses called to tell us that she had gone to sleep just fine. Then about 20 minutes after that, the doctor was in our room telling us that the procedure had gone just as planned and that Claire did great! We were so thankful to hear those words! I soon got to go to the recovery room where I found a very mad little girl! I fed her and that helped her feel a little bit better. She then sacked out in my arms and slept that way for about an hour as we waited to be discharged.
When she woke up........she was her normal, happy self! We are so blessed with this sweet little girl and so thankful for God's protection of her this week!

The end of an era.......

Well, this is the last picture you'll see of Chloe with her "pappy" as she called it. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago. On Friday afternoon, she threw her paci into the pond at Reesie and Papa's house for the fish! She has only asked for it one time since then! I am so proud of Chloe. I have been SHOCKED at how the whole scenario has played out. I thought that the few days after would be much more of a struggle than they have been.

On Friday night, I was snuggling with Chloe in the bed and she reached up to take her paci out of her mouth to drink some juice and it wasn't there. She didn't cry or wine......she just kind of froze and then drank her juice. I must admit that tears welled up in my eyes......it was one of those "Mommy moments" that will only occur with more intensity over the years.......I was so proud of her in that moment but also wishing that I could do this for her because I knew that it was hard for her. I'm so thankful for God's timing....even in the little things in life!

Sitting Pretty

This weekend was a big weekend at our house. Claire cut her first two teeth and began sitting up by herself. She's getting better and better at it every day. A whole new world has been opened up to her!

The last week or so........

I just wanted to take a minute to say hello and add a few pictures. Last week, the girls and I went to Athens with my Mom and spent two nights at Jess' (my brother) condo. It was really good to see Jess and MeriBeth and get to meet a couple of Bee's friends. Mom was able to get some wedding stuff done and I was able to get measured for my dress. It was a productive trip and a good change of scenery for the girls and me!

This week, Claire has just rolled everywhere! She is actually starting to cover some ground and try to get places. It's amazing to us since Chloe was pretty stationary for such a long time. I had totally forgotten that we had the exersaucer.......the other day I thought about it and got it out for Claire. She loved it! She is so close to being able to sit up by herself.......it shouldn't be long now. I can also see the corner of her first tooth trying to break through.....stay tuned!

Chloe definately makes us laugh and says funny things all the time. I sometimes feel so convicted about taking time to just sit down with her........yesterday (Tuesday) when Chloe woke up, I took Claire in there and we took a snack and grabbed lots of books and just hung out in Chloe's bed to read. Claire enjoyed playing and Chloe really amazed me with the things that she knows. We were reading an alphabet book and she kept naming colors and things that I never knew that she knew! I wish that I could somehow let you all watch our day and my daily interaction with her......she's such a smart kid!

Here's a few pictures.....I'll add captions below each one.

Claire is sitting in the exersaucer just hanging out......a whole new world has been opened to her!

Our two girls in the tub. They LOVE bath time and really enjoy doing it together. Chloe sits down in the big tub and then Claire sits in her tub and they have a blast. We're in there for forever it seems but everyone ends up bathed, lotioned up, and dresssed in jammies!

Claire, Mommy, and Chloe sitting outside of the golf club where Jess and Bee's reception will be held.

Claire and Chloe hanging out in Chloe's chair.....I'm sure they are watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.......that's all we watch these days!