The Pumpkin Show

On Saturday October 19th, we went to the Circleville pumpkin show and it was a great fall outing yet again.  The weather was great and all of the pretty changing trees were a perfect fall accent to the quaint buildings in this old-fashioned town.  Lucy was pretty happy to have both dad and grandma along on the trip as well.

 Check out all the crazy pumpkins behind my mom.

 Apparently they have contests for the best groups of pumpkins and this was the winner.  They look pretty good to me!  I wish I could transfer all of these just like this to my front porch for decorations!

 This nice guy gave Claire one of his small pumpkins so she could have her first-ever pumpkin. 

 Of course Lucy got one as well and she has loved that thing!  She plays with it all the time and even requests to have it by her at breakfast.

They have every kind of pumpkin food you could imagine here, but my favorite are the donuts.

There was a parade shortly after we got there and we accidentally ended up in the best spot for it.  Right in front of the pumpkin pyramid and right by where they were doing the announcing and judging.

Reflux and change

I feel like little babies change so much so fast, and I want to document it all!  I stayed pretty on top of it when Lucy was little but I can already tell this is going to be different.  Life with two kids is way more chaotic than I imagined... yet still more relaxed in certain ways because I am not stressing over every crazy little thing, such as if my baby is still breathing constantly.  Anyway, I'm feeling very behind already yet I want to keep documenting everything for our own family records.

Our little Claire went from being super content and pretty easy to the opposite of that in a matter of nights.  Just like Lucy, it's not really her fault.  Reflux has arrived (I was SOOO hoping we would miss this train) and we haven't slept in nights and haven't been able to put her down without screaming for a few days.  We have a doctor's appointment first thing Monday morning (somehow I'll have to be dressed and out the door before noon. ha!) to get some meds (hopefully).  I guess this reflux stuff is genetic, which just means that this might be our last child.  People have tried to reassure me that if we have to go through reflux stuff again, at least I know what to expect.  But that is part of the problem... I know what is coming and I don't like it at all.  Oh well.  But tender mercy of the weekend is that Claire has been sleeping for about an hour and a half straight now without being held, which is the longest she's done in days because of reflux.  Not only that, but it's been at the same time as Lucy's nap!  Hallelujiah!  The kitchen is cleaned and the living room picked up!

Also, now that my mom has left and it's just me and the girls all day everyday, Lucy has lost it.  Like, gone completely bonkers!  She screams and cries for me to hold her pretty much all day everyday.  When I do hold her, she's still screaming and crying uncontrollably for no reason, and when I can't hold her, well, let's just say I'd be surprised if the whole neighborhood didn't wonder what was going on in our house.  A few nights ago, she even screamed for me ALL night until 5am when she finally fell asleep for a few hours.  She just cried for "mama" all night.  When I would go hold her and rock her, she was calm and sleepy, but as soon as I put her back in her crib, it was all screaming and tears again.  Even Ryan couldn't get her to calm down, she only wanted me.  I took her to a nieghbor's house the other day, one that she loves to go to and is very familiar with, and our neighbor commented about how stressed Lucy seemed.  She wouldn't even eat the oreos they gave her like she always does! :)  She's just not my happy little girl like she has been the last few months- won't cuddle or give me hugs and kisses freely, and won't laugh at things that used to make her laugh... she just cries or stares blankly at me or hits and bites (which is unlike her). Please tell me this is normal and doesn't last very long?!  I feel so bad for her because I can tell her whole world is just turned upside down and she is confused and sad about it all.

So maybe once we have this reflux under control again and Lucy has adjusted a little better I will be able to catch up.  But that's what's going on right now.

And some more...

We have been taking some walks here and there around the neighborhood to get out and enjoy the fresh fall air.  Now it's getting way cold and I can feel our outside time is going to be cut much shorter soon. Sad.  But the good news in that our double stroller works well.  Lucy likes to sit underneath.

 Resting with the baby.  Even though she's not the world's worst sleeper like another child I am thinking of, newborns still make you exhausted.  We're all very tired!

 Now that the umbilical cord fell off, she can have real baths!  This was the first one and Lucy loved helping wash her hair.  And sticking her whole arm in the water with her sweater sleeve down. Oh well.

5 days old

Newborns change so fast that it's hard to keep up with documenting everything I want to!  Anyway, here are a few pictures from when Claire was 5 days old.

 She literally slept her life away the first few days.  She had her days and nights quite mixed up and would just zonk out no matter what antics we tried.  At least she was pretty cute just hanging out on the couch.

 She loves this floor mat!  She will lay on it for a while and stare at the toys above her head.

My new normal

Last week Claire woke up screaming for food at the same time Lucy was begging for lunch, and then Lucy wanted to be held by me and me only because I was holding Claire.  Thankfully my mom has been here to help because I have constantly been handing over one child or the other for changing a diaper, feeding, entertaining, holding, etc.  It always seems like the two girls need something desperately at the same time.  This transition to two kids has been way easier than it was the first time, but there's definitely still a new normal that we are trying to get used to and that I will have to figure out the hard way when my mom is gone!  But, I love being a mom to these two girlies! (Also, I did not intentionally dress me and Lucy to match.  It just happened).

My girls

Since we've been home...

Claire loves her swing.  She will sit in it for a while and be content.  She loves when we turn on the mobile and will watch the little animals go around.  She also does not like being swaddled and sleeps much better unswaddled (Yay! Won't have that battle again).

 Our new babysitter.

Big Bear and Claire Bear.

 Trying to avoid the paparazzi.

 Ryan and Lucy had craft time during conference and made paper bag puppets out of our random craft and party supplies.

 Matching soft blankets so everyone can be happy!

 Ryan is always in charge of bath time, especially when they are this little.  He does it best and I dislike giving baths.

 We ride bikes a LOT everyday.  Lucy would be outside all day riding her bikes if we let her.  Also, she needs new pants. :)  They finally fit her around the waist and legs without falling off, but they are too short now.  We better get used to this.