The Bringard Family Good Time Fun Hour

Another Snapshot

2012-01-27T13:41:00.000-08:00

So, just when I was wishing I could fast forward through this week and be done with it all, I encounter one of life's little moments...

Last night I was sitting in Claire's room getting her ready for bed. We'd brushed her teeth, gotten her pjs on and picked out her night time stories. This was literally all I could muster. If I had to read the books, say the prayers, or sing the lullabies my throat would probably literally have fallen out. So, I was in her room sitting on the floor slumped against her bed waiting for Kevin to finish with Jude and come take over with Claire. (He's sick too, so he was in super-husband mode!) As I sat slumped over, Claire was being Claire. She's leaping over constructed obstacles, clambering across my knees, and spinning in circles-all the while talk-talk-talking. It was like an endless cacophony of movement and noise. Too much for my sick pregnant brain that, at this point, had not slept in two nights. (We're at three nights now, in case you're keeping score.)

Then, she suddenly stopped, came over to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry you're sick, Mamma. Here..." Then she leaned over and gingerly draped her arms around me. "This is all my love." She hugged me tenderly, then stepped back with her hand still on my shoulder and looked earnestly into my eyes. "I love you," she said. Then it was back to jumping and climbing and spinning and talking.

Just like that, a Kairos moment broke through my fog. And then I realized how much I would have given up had I skipped this seemingly grueling part of that night, this week, this time. Those moments are few, but they matter.

On being sick

2012-01-26T12:43:00.001-08:00

So, Jude has passed on the "Cold of Death" to Kevin and I. As I sit here in bed during nap time attempting to make up for my second sleepless night, I'm trying to decide which is worse: A 24 hour flu or the common cold.

I had the flu over Christmas. It was horrible. I basically was useless and in bed the whole time. Kevin was completely on his own and I really didn't see the kids for a whole day. If you're a mother of small children, you literally cannot do your job. But it is short. Sure, that time is spent reeling from fever and nausea, punctuated by periods of ralphing, but you're generally only going to lose one night's sleep.

With a cold, however, you never feel completely incapacitated. Just crumby for a day or two, then pretty miserable for a few days, then kinda crumby again for a few days. Then, there's the first night you can't sleep because your throat is so sore and swollen you can barely breathe. And the second night you can't sleep because your face is so congested it feels like a hippo is sitting on it. And when you do dose off you wake shortly because your tongue has turned into cardboard. So then you attempt to sleep sitting up to drain your sinuses...but who can sleep sitting up? And then there's the third night that you spend hacking and sputtering all night and end up moving to the couch so you don't wake the whole house up. So, a week of feeling sick, three nights with no sleep, but an ability to more or less complete your daily functions. Sure, you walk around in a fog, the TV's on a lot, and you feed the kids candy for lunch, but you're there. They may laugh at you when your croak out their bedtime song, and it's a miracle you're still standing at the end of the day, but it's no flu.

What do you think? Which is worse: Quick and dirty or long and drawn out?- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Jude The Toddler

2012-01-24T08:59:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to publish a post forever about Jude, but I have been distracted by life! In the last few months he has really grown up and changed quite a bit. He now talks a lot (not reaching epic Claire proportions, but still impressive for an almost 15 month old!)

He now does most all of the animal noises (except for some inexplicable reason he pants for a pig.) He will do the hand motions for "Happy and you Know it" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." He can sign or say almost all the foods he likes to eat. He even combines a few words like "up please," "book please," etc. Also, my nerdy SLP side is impressed with how many final consonants he can say like: hot, help, book, please. He says at least 55 words (I stopped counting when I hit 55, but I'm sure he knows a few more that I couldn't think of) and just signs at least another 10-20 on top of that. It seems like he learns at least 2 new words a day, so it's really fun to listen to him talk now! My favorite new addition to his vocabulary is "tsi tsisy" for sissy. I think I had my expectations set a little low because Claire was so advanced with her language. Also because Jude is a boy, and a second child, I never wanted to compare his skills to hers and end up worrying unnecessarily. But as I sit down and catalogue everything he can do, I can see that he's doing great!

His favorite things to play with are books and the singing rocking horse he got for Christmas. He can read forever and ever. He will bring you book after book and plop on the ground so you can read it to him. Sometimes he just wants to turn the pages, but other times he'll get frustrated if you don't actually read the words to him. He loves to dance to music, and will activate his singing horse over and over just so he can bop along to the song (we've only had it since Christmas and he's already shorting out the music buttons and wearing down the batteries!)

His personality is also evolving, some for the cuter, some for the worse. He loves to give kisses, he says "hi" and "bye bye" to every person we pass in the store, and he adores his Sissy (except when she is taking his toys or pushing him off things, of course!) He is very stubborn, and will continue to touch things long after he knows they're off limits. And one disconcerting thing that has been around recently is quite a grouchy disposition. This manifests most unpleasantly in walking up to other children, screaming "No! and hitting them. This happens anytime another child enters the room. It's the first thing Jude does immediately after seeing them. So horrible! He's totally "the mean kid" at playdates! I know it's just a developmental phase...probably has something to do with marking his territory against challengers, or something animal planety like that. I've tried a few things, and have settled on a reminder to "be gentle," which seems to work about 80% of the time. Hopefully this will not last much longer, or friends will start to dread our company!

We love our little monkey boy and it's so exciting to get to know every little new thing about him!

The Christmas Story According to Claire

2011-12-11T11:37:00.001-08:00

This afternoon Claire and I were discussing the Christmas story. We were talking about the chorus of angels announcing Christ's birth to the shepherds, and how they followed the star to find the baby. The rest of the conversation went as follows: Claire added, "The wise men followed the star too."
"That's right!" I responded.
"Yeah, and bears dressed like camels too." Claire added matter-of-factly.
"Wait, what?"...
"Yep."

It took me a while to realize she was referencing a Berenstain Bears book we had read a few days ago. So then followed a conversation wherein I try to explain that the book is about a pretend world where everyone is a bear. So, in that book wise bears followed a star to a bear cub Jesus. And the brother and sister were pretend camels in a christmas play. Yeah... it was epic and confusing.

Parenting win or fail?

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Why Claire is Awesome

2011-11-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

So, Claire's Sunday school teacher had a great story to tell me when I picked her up after church yesterday, and I have to write it down because it's that good. It goes like this:

The teacher has her daughter in the class with her who is also 3. For whatever reason, the little girl was having a hard time and was crying. Claire walked up to her, took her hand, and said, "It's ok friend. Let's come over here and we'll play together, ok?" Then Claire took care of her for the rest of the day!

She really is amazing! We have talked before about how she isn't shy, so if one of her friends at school is sad then she can comfort them and be their special friend. It's great when we can actually see her carrying out the things we talk about! She has such a big heart for others, and loves to be friends with everyone she meets. I think her special gift is going to be making others feel loved. I'm so proud of her!

Jude is One!

2011-11-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe our little boy is already a toddler! What a fun few months it has been. Jude has a very sweet personality. He smiles constantly and is generous with hugs and kisses! After mastering simple walking, he has now moved on to more challenging tasks such as spinning, running, and going backwards- and he has the bumps on his face to prove it!

For Jude's first birthday we went with a Rock n Roll theme. He, of course, wore a Beatles shirt that said "Hey Jude." It was a fun time, and we were blessed to have so many friends- old and new- to share it with!

We also used his party as the perfect time to tell everyone that Squiddy #3 is on his/her way! So now Jude is both a little, and a big brother. Claire is hoping for a sister and is insistent that we name her Quesadilla. (We're taking it under consideration.)

For Halloween we took the kids trick-or-treating at the mall. Claire was elated by the concept! She dressed up as "Alice's Wonderland" as she put it. We dressed Jude as a dragon. He tagged along, but did not do any actual trick-or-treating. Claire had so much fun! When we got home I let her choose a few pieces to keep and the rest went into the bowl of candy we were giving out to the neighborhood kids. She then got to hand out candy to everyone who came to our door. I think she had just as much fun handing out the candy as she did getting it earlier. We used it as a good lesson in generosity- giving most of the good things we've been given to others to make them happy.

In house news: They have started construction! The hole is dug and I think the foundation will be poured today or tomorrow! Kevin and Claire get giddy watching the tractors work! We go over every day to watch the progress. We have already met some of the neighbors, and Claire has spent some time playing in one little boy's backyard. We're so excited!

The next year promises to be filled with many big adventures! Before the end of 2012 we will have a new house and a new baby. Crazy!

Life as We Know it

2011-10-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

Summer is ending and we are gearing up for something called weather. Living in Southern California for the past 7 years, this is a foreign concept to us. So far, the warm temperatures are still holding, but natives assure us that this is unusual and about to come to an end. I have been trying to soak up as much warm sunshine as possible in these last few weeks. Here is Claire playing in her flower sprinkler (Thanks Caty! Claire made you guys a video, but I haven't edited it yet!)

Tomorrow I am going with Claire on her very first field trip! We're going to a pumpkin patch. It should be a really fun time. Because visiting a pumpkin patch is the official signal that fall is here, I'm burning a pumpkin spice candle, drinking chai, and folding long sleeved shirts. This is truly my favorite time of year! I love everything about autumn: the colors, the crisp air, the cozy clothes, the aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon, and earth. This is going to be a good season, I can tell! Bring it on, Colorado!

Kevin's parents were just here visiting for the last week and a half. We had lots of fun! We played, went to a huge consignment sale where I bought warm clothes for the kids, went on walks, and even got a chance to do a date night of frozen yogurt with friends! Toward the end of the week we headed over to visit Garden of the Gods and let the kids scramble all over the rocks.

In addition to the date night, we also utilized the grandparents' presence for some much needed appointments. We were able to finalize all the design options for our house! Here's a picture of most of our choices. The color swatch paper is the exterior paint choices. The only big thing not shown in the photo is the rock we picked for the exterior and the fireplace. It was a really fun experience being able to choose everything that was going into our house!

This week I went to the DMV and got our new CO plates, my driver's license, and registered to vote. I am officially a citizen of Colorado!...Again. (I was born about 45 minutes up the road from here.)

Another big change: Claire got her first haircut! She decided she wanted short hair, like Mommy and Rapunzle at the end of Tangled. She was bummed that cutting her hair would not also result in it turing brown, but she was willing to move past that. I took her to a super cute kids' hair cutting place where she got to sit in a hot rod car while they cut it. (She choose the hot rod over the pink princess station with the feather boa and tiara.) After it was cut, the lady pulled part of it up into a knot, and sprayed glitter in her hair. Claire LOVED the whole experience and keeps showing everyone her "new short hair." It looks super cute- even better than I had expected! People ask to take pictures of it so they can cut their daughter's hair the same way. It fits her saucy personality, to be sure!

Looking excited!

The first cut:

The finished product:

That's all of now. We love you all!

We Have a Preschooler!

2011-09-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

Today Claire starts her second week of preschool! She goes twice a week, for three hours. She LOVES it! IN fact, when I came to pick her up on the first day, she burst into tears when she realized it was time to go home. I have the only kid who cries when they get picked up from their first day of school! Her school is in a church not far from home. It's called Springs Community Church Preschool, and Claire already recognizes the building. Every time we drive past, she screams, "MY SCHOOL!!!" I choose it because when I was doing tours of various programs, the kids here looked like they were having the most fun! She already knows most of the girl's names in her class, and has a best friend- another talkative fireball just like her! I find myself uneasy with the quiet when she's gone and have decided to use some of that time to go take a class at the gym, and also to give Jude some quality one-on-one time.

Here's Claire about to leave for her first day!

All the sweet toys in her classroom. She's in heaven!

Claire also started AWANA this past Sunday...it's sort of like Christian girl/boy scouts. The focus is on having fun and memorizing scripture. (She also cried when we picked her up from that, of course!) She has already memorized the scripture verse from last week, and the one they will be covering this week. She's sort of awesome! Here's a video of her reciting it: (unless it's broken)

We were toying with the idea of also signing her up for a sport. Claire wanted to do dance, Daddy wanted her to do soccer :-) But we decided she's only 3 for heaven's sake, no need to start giving her a crazy life already!

Our Monkey Boy

2011-09-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Jude is 10 months old now! He's grown up quite a bit in recent weeks. Highlights of things he has learned in the last month or two since I last did a specific post about him:

He can walk! (Although he rarely chooses to.)
He loves to clap, especially to music
He has a nice collection of signs that he does consistently: all done, more, please, bath. (ok, I guess 4 is hardly a "collection", but I'm proud nonetheless!)
He finally found his voice, and uses it all the time to make nonsense speeches
He gives those great open-mouth baby kisses
He has stopped being a giant and is now comfortably in the 10th %ile for weight and 20th %ile for height, just like his sister was. He's been in the same size clothes now for about 5 months, which is a huge change from when he was first born and would out-grow a size category well before the recommended age.
He's become slightly less independent. He now gets super excited when he sees Kevin or I come into the room. When Kevin comes up from work in the basement Jude crawls to him as fast as he can saying "Dadda, Dadda!"
He still loves to cuddle. All the childcare workers at church and the gym want to take him home. He's quite the favorite!
He smiles at everyone in that cute, shy, flirty way that never ceases to melt their hearts.
He has the most hilarious tantrum technique I have ever seen. When something is taken away from him, or he is set down when he wants to be held, he throws himself prostrate on the ground and then scoots forward on the ground rubbing his face as he goes. Makes us laugh every time! He's given himself some crazy rug burn on his cheek and nose from doing it, and I don't think he appreciates the humor we all find in his distress!

We love him dearly, and can't believe he'll be one so soon!!

California Trip, August 2011

2011-09-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

(The picture is a link to an album of pictures from our trip!)

For Claire's birthday, we decided to head out to CA for one last trip for a while. (We just signed the paperwork to build a house, so we won't be going anywhere for a while!!)

We threw a birthday party for her at a park that had a water lagoon for the kids to swim in. It was so much fun! The kids had fun taking pictures under the water. Claire requested a giraffe party, so I ordered a banner, got some balloons, and our friend Tammi made a cute sign. That was the extent of the decorating, since I was planning everything long distance. In fact, I relied on other people for all of the important things. Mikkele spent hours at the park before the party holding the spot for us. She's a rock star! We had a great spot in the grass with plenty of tables! Our friend Cindy baked the cupcakes, which Claire declared were "Super yummy!" My uncle Chris and Aunt Michele went to Costco to wait in the horrendous lines to get the pizza and water. (Seriously, Costco on a Sunday is quite and ordeal!) And our friends and family came from all over to enjoy the day and hold Jude while we all celebrated Claire.

While we were in town, we decided to hit up Disneyland one last time before our annul passes expire in September, and while Claire is still technically under three and free! We spent two full (hot!) days at dland. It was exhausting, but fun. My parents, my sister Vanessa, and her daughter Lucy came down from Northern CA and joined us at Disneyland. Claire loved having her cousin to play with! She was also super excited that her Aunt Mikkele spent one of the days with us going on rides and watching fireworks. During the fireworks show, Tinkerbell flies above you suspended by a cable. Where we were standing, we were actually pretty close to her, and Claire kept screaming, "Tinkerbell, hi!!" She was emphatic that Tink hear her. It was pretty funny.

It was a great trip! We got to see a lot of our friends, and a bunch of our family traveled down to see us and spend time with us while we were there. We're so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives! Thank you all so much!

Our Trip to Durango!

2011-09-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

Jude's First Steps!

2011-08-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

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For Claire's Birthday

2011-08-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Many of you have been asking what Claire wants for her birthday. I figured I would just put some ideas up here. But, if you're coming to her birthday in CA, please keep in mind that we have to fly home with everything :-) (Something little and disposable like a balloon is just as exciting to her as anything else!) So, here's a bit about our soon-to-be-three-year-old.

She is wild about purple these days
She loves shoes: Size 6 for now or 7 for soon
She likes books, especially the large picture books with paper pages, but we're trying to limit books with TV/movie characters. (So please no Disney princesses or Dora.)
She enjoys playing with Little People (we have the bus and farm.)
She likes to dress up
She likes little figures/animals she can play-act with
She gets excited about new hair bows and headbands
She likes play jewelry
Clothes are always welcomed: SIze 3T shirts and 2T pants/shorts

So, I hope that helps. Thank you all so much for your generosity and lovin on my kiddo!

A Day in the Life

2011-08-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

So, right now both of my kids are in really trying stages of development. From one I've got the "Mommy, watch this!" stage, and from the other it's the cutting up tiny pieces of food all the time and walking hunched over holding hands as we do laps around the couch. Let me illustrate how these play out.

The scene: It's lunch time. Mom is at the counter preparing food while The Boy and The Girl play in the kitchen.

The Girl: Mommy, watch this!

Mom: [pauses from her task of cutting blueberries into 4ths] Oh, yes. You're just standing there.

The Girl: Yes!

Mom: I'm not sure that's news-worthy.

The Boy: [screams, because, I don't know, he's bored?]

Mom: [walks The Boy from the fridge to the tupperware drawer to play, then continues cutting.]

The Girl: Mommy, watch this!

Mom: [has moved on to chopping tiny pieces of chicken breast, from which she pauses and looks over her shoulder.] Wow, you jumped really high!

The Boy: [screams]

Mom: [picks The Boy up and places him in the high chair, which is greeted with an exuberant demand for food.]

The Girl: Mommy watch this!

Mom: Sorry honey, I can't look right now.

The Girl: Why?

Mom: Because I'm taking care of your brother.

The Girl: Why?

Mom: Because he's hungry and I'm trying to get his lunch ready.

The Girl: Why?

Mom: Because it's lunch time.

The Boy: [angry about the high chair restraints, lodges a vigorous complaint.]

The Girl: Why?

Mom: I've already answered that. Please don't ask "Why?" when you know the answer.

(Oh, did I mention she also asks Why as a knee-jerk reaction to every statement I make. Fun.)

This scene is then repeated 20 million times/day until the blissful hour of 7pm when we lock them in their rooms.

Time For an Update!

2011-07-27T13:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I wrote, so I have quite a bit to update on.

Claire had her first session of swimming lessons and she loved them! She was one of three in the class. The other two kids were 5 year old boys, and she was the only one that passed on to the next level! In fact, when I went to sign her up for a new session, I had to have the aquatics director do it because she is technically too young for the next level! She starts August first and it goes for two weeks.

If you ask her how old she is, she replies, "Two and three quarters!" It always makes people laugh, I think because she's still pretty small but when she talks she is so precocious! Strangers don't know what to make of her. They always say, "She's how old?!" We joined this amazing gym that has a great childcare program, and Claire loves it. She is always begging to go, and cries if I pick her up too soon. As she becomes exposed to more kids, however, she is starting to experience some unkindness. Just today at the pool she came up to a group of older girls (maybe 6 year olds) and asked to play. They told her no and then ignored her. Claire came running back to me in tears. Poor girl! She loves people so much, and doesn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to play with her! I also witnessed another girl her age (also at the pool) tell her that Claire couldn't be her friend. It's sad to think that even so young we are faced with such rejection! But she's a trooper and seems to bounce back from these encounters. It hasn't stopped her from approaching new kids and making friends!

Jude is growing up more and more every day. He almost stands on his own now without holding onto anything. He's becoming more talkative (finally!) He also has some new parlor tricks: He can give a high five, wave, dance to music, and sometimes he pretends the little plastic goat is a phone and has a conversation. He will be 9 months next week, and still has no teeth- not even the beginnings of any. He is finally sleeping better, to my great delight! He is still super cuddly and super smiley. The childcare workers at the gym and church all love him and threaten to not give him back when I come to pick the kids up!

Recently we have had a few grand CO adventures. We visited The Cave of the Winds a few weeks ago. We were able to take a neat tour through the cave with flashlights. It was pretty fun. Then, this last Saturday we drove to the top of Pikes Peak. It was gorgeous...it took our breath away (or maybe that was the fact that its up so high there's no oxygen!) It was 90 degrees below at home, but at the summit it was 48 and sleeting! Next weekend we will be traveling to Durango, CO to visit friends. They live in a beautiful aspen grove at 9,000 ft. We're so excited!

Nap time is almost over, so I'll close with a photo we took after our cave tour. We love you all!

An Exercise in Futility

2011-07-26T16:55:00.001-07:00

I filmed one minute of an ongoing endeavor that, so far, is 10 minutes and counting!

YouTube Video

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My favorite recent Claire-isms

2011-07-09T12:21:00.001-07:00

Me: "Does your belly have enough room for that monkey bar?"
Claire: "Yeah, right there. [points to the very top of her stomach] The monkey bar will fit right there. "

Upon seeing an RV on the road: "Cool house. I didn't know they made houses to drive. "

After spinning: "My head was like, 'whoa, what are you doing?!'"

In reference to somebody having to go home. "Oh Mama, that's really totally not neat!"

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New IPad

2011-07-03T12:10:00.001-07:00

Hooray! We got an iPad! And these are the first pictures taken with photo booth:

This one is super creepy!

The Zoo

2011-06-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

We are back to our Saturday adventures after a bit of a break for visitors and illnesses. Yesterday it was off to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. I wasn't sure how substantial of a zoo it was before we went to check it out. Our previous zoo foray as a family was at the Santa Ana Zoo, so we had pretty low expectations after that! (Don't get me wrong, it's a nice little place, but all they have are birds and monkeys. Not much value for $16/person!) But this is a full sized zoo with lots of animals, exhibits, and fun little play areas! We were on a time limit because we had gotten off to a really late start, and were hoping to salvage some semblance of nap time. So here's what we did: feed the giraffes, feed ourselves (food was actually really good, but not cheap), go through the monkey house (to which Claire kept exclaiming "Cool! Awesome!"), and rode the sky tram.

We bought a membership that includes one free guest with every visit. So, when you come see us, you can come to the zoo for free! Because our time was limited, our trip was part recon for next time. We quickly peeked at the lions on the way by, scoped out the train for next time, found a neat kids playground/splash zone to try out, and plan on actually seeing more animals in the future.

Sky Tram (It was windy!)

Hello giraffes!

In other news, aren't these the cutest kids you have ever seen?!!

This is my life these days. Are you jealous?

High Five!

2011-06-25T07:49:00.001-07:00

Jude is a week away from 8 months!

YouTube Video
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Two Children, Two Temperaments

2011-06-23T14:53:00.001-07:00

Raucous:

YouTube Video

Halcyon:

YouTube Video

(Also, I like the thesaurus)

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Picture update

2011-06-22T14:26:00.001-07:00

I got this for $.99 from The Children's Place during their monster sale. Claire calls it her crown and loves it. (It also looks adorable when worn correctly!)

This is Claire playing with Kevin at the splash pool at our gym.

This is Jude hanging out with Auntie Mikkele.

This is our amazing sky.

Love to you all!

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What to get a three year old?

2011-06-20T07:53:00.001-07:00

Claire's third birthday is in a few months! Wow! For the first time she is starting to request things for her birthday. Everything she sees she says, "Maybe I'll get that for my birthday!" I'm compiling a list of things I want to get her. Of course I will only get her one of these, but it's nice to have them all down. It's also a good tool for grandparents!! (I'd love any advice you may have too!)

1. A doll house. Claire has been obsessed with making houses out of legos for her toys. She is also scripting play and pretending like crazy!

2. A PlasmaCar: She rode one if these in a toy store and loved it!

3. A Cars Race Track: She played with this at a friends house and loved it! And Cars is her new favorite movie.

4. This cute sprinkler: She would love this!

5. A crawling tunnel:

Any other suggestions??! I'm debating some sort of leap frog system, but I'm not sure she needs more electronic toys. But, they do make educational ones. What are your thoughts?

Empty

2011-06-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

This blog has always been mainly used as a way to show friends and family pictures of the kids and keep them updated on our lives. But it also was occasionally fueled by some little something I wanted to express. It used to be a creative outlet for me. The only creative outlet I've ever really had. But lately, nothing. It's not just that I haven't been documenting anything profound. It's that I don't think I've even thought about anything profound to document. It's like my mind has gone blah. See, I don't even have good adverbs to express it! [or adjectives. gerunds? whatever, grammar was never really that interesting to me.]

I have always been a thinker. I constantly write manuscripts in my brain. But I've run out of material that goes beyond "look how cute my kids are." Over the last few months I have felt zapped- like I have become this dull person that just makes it through the day and then collapses in front of the TV until bed. Any fleeting whispers about life and love and why drift away before I have a chance to catch hold of them. I have always felt that one of the main ways God speaks to me is through my introspection. But when that goes, so does God's wisdom.

I have recently re-read some of my old posts. The ones that captured my dreams. The ones that pushed me toward truth. Even the funny ones about how I struggle with daily life. I can't even muster the creativity to be funny anymore.

I miss that me. Where has she gone?

dadadadada

2011-05-30T18:11:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

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The kids are alright

2011-05-24T14:17:00.001-07:00

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Recipe Monday

2011-05-23T10:55:00.000-07:00

Mondays are always the day when 5:00 hits and I realize I completely forgot to plan dinner. That's when I used to turn to one of my trusty Trader Joe's frozen concoctions. Alas, those days are no more! But I do have a few stand-by recipes that are super delicious and very easy to throw together for those "forgot to defrost some chicken" days. I thought I'd share one with you guys as a public service to moms everywhere! I call it my Clean Out the Pantry Chicken Enchilada Casserole:

2 big cans chicken breast (like the Kirkland brand from Costco)
1 can black beans
1 big can green enchilada sauce (or two of the smaller standard size cans)
1/2 can of refried black beans (I use the other half can in a delicious chipotle turkey chili recipe from my Trader Joe's cookbook)
about 1 cup sour cream
Tapatio or other chili sauce to your desired level of kick (I just shake a little in for flavor if Claire will be eating it)
about 2 cups frozen corn
shredded cheese
corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all wet ingredients together in a bowl. In a 9 x 13 casserole dish alternate layers of corn tortillas, chicken mixture, and cheese (about 3-4 layers) Bake for 30 minutes.

Easy Peasy! No defrosting. No pre-cooking. Just mix and go. It's great for when that half packet of tortillas has been in the fridge for a while and they're getting stale. And I've found that kids generally love this. And, if you're an over-achiever you can use fresh chicken and shred it yourself (but I never do that because this is always my rescue meal when I'm unprepared for dinner!) I just keep the basic canned ingredients stocked and I'm always good to go.

When did he get so big?

2011-05-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

YouTube Video

Also, he says ma ma ma now! :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I didn't forget my dad's birthday...

2011-05-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

I didn't! Kevin left to go to San Jose for work for three days yesterday morning before the kids were up. So, I was flying solo all day. I had decided I would call Dad after I got the kids down for the night so that I could catch him at home after work.

The day went off pretty well. Jude slept for 15 hours and didn't get up until 10 am! Claire was sweet, albeit very chatty. It was raining so I agreed to haul everyone to the mall in the afternoon. I noticed Jude was super fussy, and felt warm while we were at the mall. Then, when I told Claire it was time to stop playing at the play area and go home, she agreed almost gratefully. Strange. The minute we were home Claire said she was tired and needed to take a nap. At 4:30.

Meanwhile I was handling a very unhappy Jude. I gave him some tylenol for what felt like a low grade fever and strapped him to me while I prepared dinner. Now the 15 hour sleep session made sense! When Claire came down to eat she said she was cold. Sure enough, she also had a fever. I actually took her temperature: 99.9. Nothing major. Tylenol all around!

So, needless to say, the evening was a challenge. The crying from various fronts didn't end until about 10. Then, when Jude woke me up at 3:30 (Ug!) I realized I hadn't called my dad for his birthday!

But it wasn't a total fail, because Claire had made him a birthday video that I emailed earlier in the day.

In other news, I took Claire to the build-a-bear workshop. I steered her to the cheap end of the rack (not paying $20 for a stuffed animal!!) where she chose a very cute brown teddy bear. When it came time to make a birth certificate for her bear and name it, she proved again why she is a very special girl. The name she choose for her new bear: Octopus! When we paid, the lady said she had never seen anyone choose a name like that! Here are Claire and Octopus this morning:

And in Jude news: He is a climbing machine!

So, sorry we didn't call yesterday Dad! You were continuously thought of, and only neglected a little at the end there! Love you!! (I'll call today, I promise!)

I have the BEST husband EVER!!

2011-05-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

I am writing this while languishing in a bubble bath in a completely silent house! We decided to do Mother's Day today instead of tomorrow. It has been the greatest day I've had in a long time...probably since my 30th birthday in February.

The day started with Kevin running point with Claire this morning while I stayed in bed. I could listen to her constant jabbering in the kitchen from the comfort of my bed without the burden of responding. You know, I truly enjoy my daughter's vast and creative vocabulary so much more when I can meet it with a cup of coffee in hand!

Then, after everyone was up, fed, and dressed, we went walking around our neighborhood enjoying the community garage sale and warm sunny spring [finally!] weather. I bought a cute sweater and Claire had one whole dollar to buy whatever she wanted- which turned out to be some lemonade from a little girl's stand and some boy's action figures that she hasn't put down since. Now, I try hard not to push princesses over spiderman, but these toys (Dragonball Z?) are weird!!! Luckily, since she hasn't seen the corresponding show, her action figures ride in her Little People bus and have tea parties instead of trying to kill each other!

Then, while the kids napped, I went to Target. Alone. It was glorious!
(I also got to try out the new Bluetooth headset Kevin gave me. I felt so fancy! Lol!)

Then, after some playtime with Jude, he went down again for another nap and Kevin took Claire to the park for a "Daddy date."

Now that takes us to present. As if that wasn't enough, we are having amazing Thai takeout tonight for dinner, and watching Harry Potter after the kids are down!

I know, right?!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.

Hey Jude!

2011-05-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Our little man is now six whole months old! Recently he has changed a lot! He can army crawl like crazy, and is flirting with the real deal. We had to move his mattress down because he can now pull himself up onto things. And he's also outgrown the infant car seat and graduated to an umbrella stroller! Yikes!

He is also eating solid food now. It's been two weeks since he started and he can already put down an entire 4 oz pouch of food! (My food processor broke, and while I'm awaiting replacement parts, I've been buying this baby food at Target.)

Another development: babbling! He says "ba ba ba ba ba" with such delight! I was wondering when he was going to get around to this milestone. Although, I must admit to being a little relieved that he is a little slower with the speech/language development. Is that bad? (Especially for a speech pathologist!) It's just nice that he's a bit more on the mello, independent side. The way Claire inundates us with her constant stream of talking talking talking can really be tiring!

Here's Jude in his first swim suit! We're going to an indoor pool tomorrow and I'm excited to see how he does.

My very favorite new thing: He sleeps through the night!! It was a long process getting him there, but it's done now! We slowly faded out our coming in when he woke, and toward the end I would go in once when he first woke up and then just let him cry. The longest he ever cried was about 45 minutes. He still does wake up sometimes, but instead of crying he talks/plays for a while and then goes back to sleep on his own. It still does wake me up, but doesn't require me to do anything but listen for him to go back to sleep, so I'm happy!

(On a side-note, Claire sings The Beatles song Hey Jude to her brother and it's pretty adorable!)

Spring is in the air...I think?

2011-05-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

So, supposedly it's spring time. Please tell that to Colorado:

This was taken Sunday May 1st!

I mean, sure, there are buds on the tree in the back that do look lovely. But everything else is still all dead. No green grass. Even the squirrel that usually hangs out in that tree looks cold today!

Here's what's been up with us lately:

These are some truly beautiful children, if I do say so myself! (Note: Short sleeves and green grass means this picture was NOT taken here!)

Picnic in the park in Sunnyvale, CA

We have been busy lately! My family was here 2 weeks ago. It was a fun visit, and we got to celebrate my niece Lucy's 5th birthday! Here is a picture of my sister Vanessa with Lucy and my little munchkins:

We COULD NOT get Claire to take her hands out of her face!

The week following my family's visit we headed out to the San Jose area. Kevin had a conference all week for work. I didn't want to stay home all by myself in a new place with no friends and two kids, so I tagged along! We stayed with our good friends Andrew and Kristin (and their two cats, who were met with delight by Claire and ambivalence by Jude!) Getting there was interesting, however, as we had to fly separately. That's right, folks. I braved a 2 1/2 hour plane ride alone with both kids! (Twice actually, because we had to come back too!)

____________ Pause for applause_________________

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're too kind. But seriously, I hope to never repeat this experience. Nothing major went wrong, it was just exhausting! Between Claire's inability to stop talking and Jude's inability to stop moving I was a pretty frazzled lady by the time we touched down again in Denver! On the flight back the woman in front of me and the (poor) man next to me both got wine and I was pretty envious! If I had a free hand and a safe place to set it, I would have seriously considered ponying up the dough myself! On the plus side, both kids were really excellent. Claire didn't tantrum and Jude didn't cry, so hooray for small miracles!

That's all for now! Next I'll do a post about Jude BECAUSE HE'S 6 MONTHS OLD ALREADY!

SF Zoo April 2011

2011-05-04T10:51:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

A Lesson in Figurative Language

2011-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

The funniest thing just happened. I was singing under my breath while Claire and I were hanging out (a Tangled song, as that was what we were watching.) She asked me what I was doing, and I told her I just had a song in my head. She repeated this question a few times over the course of the next 10 minutes or so as I kept absentmindedly singing and humming. Finally she said, "Let me check." She walked over to me and put her ear to the side of my head. I was perplexed. "Claire, what are you doing?" To which she replies, "I'm listening for the music in your head. I don't hear it!"

Losing my Grip on The Vine

2011-04-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was so excited to discover the new exciting world of daily email deals. I signed up for about 5 sites that each mail you a super-great deal that's at least 50% off (generally for an establishment in your geographical area, but also some for online shopping.) The kicker is, this discount is only available for one day, then it expires. I thought this was going to be the greatest thing ever- I mean, a lot of times things are offered at, like, 85%!!!! All the emails that came were for really cool things, like massages, cloths, shoes, etc. These were all things I really wanted to buy.

So, here's how my thought process would go:

Oh wow! A one-hour hot stone massage for $39! I love massages.

I never get them.

I am all sore from moving, and not sleeping, and toting around two kids all day.

I deserve a massage.

After all, I never get anything for myself (which is a total lie I tell myself.)

I bet Kevin would encourage me to go take advantage of this.

It's such a good deal!

And I have to get it now!

If I don't buy it now, I can't come back to it...

But, I could buy some stuff we need for the house for $40, like a shoe rack for by the door.

And we really need to go to the grocery store.

And we're trying to save money for a house.

So, I shouldn't be spending money on things we don't need.

I won't get a massage. Oh look, 85% off kids shoes!

This cycle would repeat 5 times as I looked through all my emails in the morning. I realized that I was allowing myself to live in this state of constant dissatisfaction. Luckily, I hadn't fallen into the lie of buying tons of extra stuff to "save money." But, what I was doing to myself was just as bad. I started to obsess about all those THINGS. My thoughts were constantly traveling to "I want I want I want." And from there to, "Oh poor me, me me." How ridiculous! I'd given the enemy more than just a foothold. I'd let him talk me into making a fake martyr of myself and my amazing sacrifice. What a hero. I turned down a 60% discount on something I wanted all for the good of my family! I suffer for them. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!

The Spirit reminded me: "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I was laying down in the thorns. What I need to do is abide in the vine of Christ. ⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ^{12" John 15 5-12}

That is where true joy comes from. God's love for us. Not from a massage. DUH! (But wouldn't a massage be nice?) Hahaha! So much farther to go...

To Colorado and Beyond!

2011-03-22T12:27:00.001-07:00

After planning to move out of California for the last 5 or so years, and after choosing Colorado as our final destination over a year ago, we're finally here! It was quite a journey making the move. I flew out with the kids and Kevin's mom Susan. What was supposed to be a 2 hour direct flight turned into a 6 hour debacle involving a turn around to Las Vegas and sitting on the tarmac in the hot plane for almost 2 hours. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we finally made it to the safety of our friends' house in Colorado Springs!

Here are Claire and Grandma at the airport in Long Beach

Our new house is amazing! We are going to rent for a while so we can get a feel for the neighborhoods. We lucked out big time with this place- especially considering we rented it long distance! It has 4 bedrooms plus an office for Kevin. This means we have a guest room and can still put the kids in separate rooms, so now they don't wake each other up! Hooray! The best part about our new place is the view. Off our back deck we have an unobstructed view of the Rocky Mountains and Pikes Peak. It's gorgeous!

Kevin and I decided to make every Saturday an Adventure Day as we become familiar with the area. Last Saturday we went to Garden of the Gods, which is a beautiful collection of rock formations with lots of hiking paths. Claire had fun climbing on the small rocks and getting blown over by the wind. This Saturday we're going to check out downtown Colorado Springs.

We tried out a church on Sunday that my friend who lives here goes to. It was a bit of a culture shock for Kevin and me, but not a wholly unpleasant experience. We realized that we were very lucky to have gone to such an amazing church in Costa Mesa for so long, and that looking for another church like it may be an exercise in futility. We are not sure whether or not we will stay there, but will for sure give it a few more tries before deciding. We have some very great potentials for community there including my friend Anjanette and her family as well as some new friends we met on Sunday who were super nice. We are very encouraged by the renewal of old friendships and the beginnings of new ones.

The weather has been mostly sunny and warm (in the 50s and 60s) but with an icy wind. But one night shortly after we got here there was a light dusting of snow. It was all melted by noon, but it was fun for Claire to go frolic a bit in the morning.

All in all we are adjusting well and can't wait to see what is in store for us in this new chapter in our lives!

All About Jude

2011-03-01T20:49:00.001-08:00

Jude is 4 months old now!!! So here's the low-down on our very favorite boy:

The numbers: He just had his check up today. He's in the 70th percentile for weight at 15 lbs 11 oz and the 50th for height (25 inches.)

Newest things he does:

He has started grabbing at things for the purposes of gnawing on them. His feet are his favorite chewing items.

He laughs and laughs and laughs! He is truly a happy baby.

He goes wild in the bath and I end up drenched from all his splashing.

He is a jumping bean. He loves his jumperoo and will LITERALLY go for over an hour without stopping. (Which is amazing cause I get so much done, but the noise is a little maddening.)

He simply will not sleep through the night. I think I have unrealistic expectations because Claire was amazing in this regard. But, we're working on it. I've got him down to waking only twice (on good nights) but the first time- around 1 am- I don't feed him, and if possible don't even pick him up out of his crib. If I don't get to him in time, however, he is too awake and squalls until he wakes Claire up. Then, I am forced to give in and rock him back to sleep. So, even though he only eats once between the hours of 8 pm and 7:30 am, I still wake up about every 3 hours. *sigh*

All in all, our son is AMAZING! He is so easy to love to pieces!

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Final Days in California

2011-02-17T14:44:00.000-08:00

We've been taking full advantage of the last few weeks we have here. Recently we took Claire to Disneyland to see her first fireworks. She was in awe! She especially loved watching Tinker Bell fly through the sky amid the bursting lights.

Claire and Jude hanging out together in his crib:

This is Jude enjoying his new jumper. He goes crazy in this thing!

Cloth Diapering: My Picks

2011-02-17T14:28:00.001-08:00

I just wrote this email for a friend of mine interested in using cloth diapers with her new baby. I thought since I had it all written up, I would post it here in case anyone else might be interested in using cloth. This is not a comprehensive review of all the different options out there. It's just what I have tried and liked.

Yes! I love evangelizing about cloth diapering!!

First of all, I recommend using disposables at least for the first week. You'll be shell-shocked from the birth experience and overwhelmed with the basic care requirements of a newborn. Plus, until the cord falls off, no cloth diaper fits that well.

Once you're ready, I have a few different options to recommend. First thing to decide: Do you want to wash them yourself, or use a service. The service is super nice cause you don't have to mess with cleaning them at all. They give you a diaper pail. They give you the diapers. Every week they pick up dirty ones and drop off clean ones. There's no rinsing or soaking or anything. You pay ~$80/month. There's one or two serving the Orange County area. I'm familiar with Dy- Dee Diaper Service but I just heard about another one in the area. The downside to using a service can be that you are restricted to the old-fashioned kind of diaper. We did this for the first 6 months of Claire's life. Then I bought my own old-fashioned diapers and washed them myself. I upgraded to a swankier version when she was about 1. (I'll get to the swanky ones in a second.)

If you choose to wash them yourself, I recommend getting a Potty Pail. It's great, and makes rinsing the liquidy baby poop no problem at all. I didn't use a service with Jude because we bought this.

The diaper options:

Diapering on a budget recommendation: Diaper service quality Chinese Prefolds

You will want at least 40 or 50 of these per week for a newborn. They require a diaper cover that you purchase separately. I like the Prorap. You need 5-8 covers.

Pros: 1. The cheapest way to cloth diaper. (If you buy them yourself they are about $14/dozen). 2.You can use a service.
Cons: 1. They require some practice because you have to fold and fasten them with a snappy clip. 2. They are not one-size-fits-all, so you need to buy a new set everytime the kid outgrows them (but they're cheap so it's not so bad.) 3. They're not good for overnight because there's no way to wick to moisture away from the baby. So, the baby basically sleeps in a wet diaper all night, unless you want to change it every 2/3 hours. (you don't!) I used paper at night when we were using these diapers.

My personal Choice: BumGenius Flip System:

Consists of a diaper cover and a stay-dry insert you lay inside it. You need about 5-8 covers and I own 30 inserts (But would like to have, maybe 10 more.) I do a load of diapers about once every 4-7 days.

Pros: 1. Easy. No folding or fastening. Just place it in the cover and go. Even the nursery people at church can do it. 2. Top layer wicks moisture away from baby's butt. 3. Not too bad in the cost department. 4. Cute colors. 5. One-size fits most (tiny new babies may be too small for the covers for the first 4 weeks.)
Cons: 1. They can leak if he/she is a heavy wetter and you don't change the baby at least every 2 hours. 2. After the newborn period they're not absorbent enough for all night unless you use multiple inserts, and that can get bulky.

The spare no expense recommendation: BumGenius One-Size Diaper. This looks just like a disposable and has a pocket in the back to stuff the absorbent inserts. I use these as my cloth night-time option, but would use them all the time if I had the money.

Pros: 1 Super easy to use. 2. You can make it as absorbent as you want by just adding more stuffing, or different materials, so they almost never leak. 3. Really nice soft fit on the baby. 4. Good for overnight when stuffed with the right amount and materials. 5. Cute colors. 6. One-Size fits most, so you don't have to keep buying different sizes. 7. Wicks moisture away from baby.
Cons: 1. Expensive. Each diaper costs about $18. If you want 30 of these it's going to cost you! Plus you will want to buy some extra insert options for night-time. I use an extra hemp prefold behind the microfiber insert that comes with it.

So, I hope that helps! The links have all been to the same Cottonbabies.com site, which are the makers of the BumGenius products. Their website is super-helpful for all things cloth-diapering. Also, the amounts I suggest assume full-time cloth diaper use. If you only want to use them sometimes, you won't need as many. I'm a full time cloth-user, but I still use disposable diapers if I'm going out somewhere without convenient changing facilities, or for traveling.

Transposition

2011-02-05T09:49:00.001-08:00

Some of Claire's more amusing speech errors:

Alligator for elevator
Bookshelf for bookstore
Toocan't for toucan
Peanuts for penis (she watched me give Jude a bath the other day)
Boobies for Ruby's [Diner]

Plus a plethora of very inappropriate words for very commonplace words like "bench", "crunch", etc.

Good times with a toddler!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Another Month!

2011-02-04T13:07:00.001-08:00

Wow! Another month has passed already! Things are busy here. As many of you know, we are moving to Colorado Springs in March. Arranging everything for the move has taken all my "free" time. Last thing to secure is a place to live when we get there (you'd think that might be the first priority, but when you rent, it's hard to plan more than a month in advance!) Once I line something up. I'll have forwarding addresses for you all. Right now I'm in "Will someone please return my phone calls so I don't go crazy!" mode.

Jude is three months and doing amazing! He's still a very easy baby. The only area he is more tough than Claire was is in sleeping duration. He still wakes up every 3-6 hours at night, whereas she was going a solid 10+ by now. But I seriously can't complain because he really is a rock star! He will laugh big, long belly laughs, but it's really hard to get him to do it. Most of the time he is just very smiley. He is very inquisitive, and is constantly looking around intently. He can roll over from tummy to back. He is very chatty, and loves to have extended "talk" sessions that are very funny to watch.

Claire LOVES him! She always wants to help take care of him and comfort him. She encourages him to learn new things and installs herself in the roll of teacher. "Here Jude, like this, watch me!" "There you go, Little Buddy, good job!"

A new development this week has been having them sleep in the same room. Jude has pretty much outgrown his cosleeper. He's almost as long as it is, and when he creeps forward while sleeping, he ends up with his face smashed against the top. I also don't sleep very well with him so close. I wake every time he turns his head. So, now he is in his crib, Claire is in her toddler bed, and all are happy. I have a sound machine in the room turned up almost all the way, so when he wakes up talking at 2 am, it doesn't wake Claire up. And having him in there has been a great way to encourage Claire to be better about going to bed. She likes taking naps with her brother in the room. When she comes out for the millionth time at night, it discourages a tantrum because I warn her (very sternly) of the consequences of waking up Jude with her angry screaming.

In other interesting news, I'll be 30 in about a week! Hooray for a new decade! And on March 1st, Kevin and I will celebrate our 8 year anniversary. Best eight years EVER!

I posted the most recent pictures of everyone yesterday as a Picasa album link. Enjoy! I may not post again until we are all squared away in Colorado! (GULP! Reality is crashing in on us fast!)

Winter 2011

2011-02-03T20:54:00.000-08:00

Two Firsts in the Same Night

2011-01-17T20:32:00.000-08:00

First, he rolled over.

Then later, he laughed. The laugh was half giggle, half raptor squawk. Very funny!

Catching up on December

2010-12-30T08:52:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Jude will be two months old! Kevin took this picture on Christmas Day.

He holds his head up really well, and can push himself up while on his tummy and sort of scoot/wiggle forward.

(This photo was actually taken weeks ago. He already looks different, doesn't he?!) He can already makes it most of the way over while on his stomach and I think he'll be an early roller, like Claire was. He loves to coo and will have talking sessions with us where he looks intently at us and makes those cute sing-song noises. Those are my favorite! He also gives us super big smiles.

Claire gets more grown-up every day.

This is her on Christmas morning modeling a skirt from my mom. She is constantly saying the funniest things (most of which I forget to write down!) One of her favorite questions is, "How does this work?" She loves to sing along to her favorite music, and can do the ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, and a few other kids songs all by herself. She calls Jude "little buddy" and loves to help take care of him. If he fusses she runs to get his pacifier, but if I try and give it to him when he isn't crying she tries to stops me and says, "No Mommy, he's happy, he don't need it!" While riding in the car or playing, Claire always wants to hold Jude's hand.

We recently enjoyed a big rainstorm, and Claire loved going out and stomping in puddles:

My good friend Jamie made these fabulous hats for the kiddos. They look so adorable in them!

For Christmas, we got Claire a toddler bed.

Up till now she has been sleeping in her crib which has been converted to a toddler bed. But Jude is starting to sleep better, and will hopefully be ready to move into a crib soon. With coupons and gift cards, we only paid $16 for the new bed! It is a blue Toy Story bed, which she LOVES! She sleeps great in it, and it is much better than the crib conversion. She needed a supplementary step stool and bed rail to get in and stay safely in the crib. This one is so low to the ground and comes with its own side rails.

We were walking in the mall a few weeks before Christmas and came across a craft area where you buy a little wooden item and they have a place to color it with little kids sized chairs and washable markers. I asked Claire if she wanted to make one as a present for someone. She chose the item (a little wooden train) and decided all on her own that she wanted to give it to Daddy. She decorated it, took it home, wrapped it, and proudly presented it to her father on Christmas.

The last month has been a whirlwind. Life with two has been busy busy busy!

This is the way I did dishes and cleaned the kitchen in preparation for going up to my parents' house for Christmas. I had Jude in a Moby Wrap and Claire in an Ergo carrier. Worked quite well, although I was sweating by the time I was done.

My house may or may not currently look like this:

So, that's us for now. Sorry for taking so long to update. Happy New Year!

One Month Old!

2010-11-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

Jude is one month old... kind of. There is no 31st this month, so it's an approximation! Here is a photo I took recently of my two kids:

We're all doing well. Jude has started to give big smiles and make little cooing noises. He's really growing out of his newborn-ness. Claire is getting over a cold, so things are getting easier around here. We're starting to enjoy our days instead of just attempting to get through them intact! The past two weeks were challenging with a 2 week old and a sick two year old! I'm starting to look forward to the days again! Hope to have more fun things to report soon!

More pictures

2010-11-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

Playing outside in the sun with her sweet shades.

Our house is cold and the heater is ineffective. Blankets and hats are always warm, though!

Free face-painting at Ikea. Claire was unsure about having her cheeks painted, so the lady did her arm instead. She was super excited!

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3 AM

2010-11-22T07:20:00.000-08:00

Last night. 3 am. Both kids awake. Both parents awake.
4 am. Everyone finally asleep but me. What am I doing? Composing this post in my head because I'm a crazy person and also a bit of an insomniac. It started out as a facebook status update, and then I realized it was too long a story for that medium. So I'm just laying there, writing, revising, grammar checking. All in my head. Seriously.
4:45. Jude awake, but no big deal because I hadn't fallen asleep yet.
6 am. Jude's up for good, so after feeding him, cleaning up all the spit up he doused me with, and pouring a much needed cup of coffee, it's on to the internet.

Now as I sit to write about our night, I realize it really isn't all that interesting. I suppose it's just easy to be a bit narcissistic at 3am and presume your experience is worth documenting for the masses (and by masses I mean you 5 or so friends and family who read this.)

So, lately life here has been a bit, shall we say, exhausting. The cold virus has invaded. Claire has a horrible chest cough and looks like she must feel terrible. Of course, if it weren't for the cough, you'd assume she had just been possessed by the most vehement case of the terrible twos know to man. When she's sick she doesn't slow down, she speeds up and gets nasty. We've been dodging tantrums all week. Of course, Claire shared the cold with me and I have no opportunity to rest it off. I've gone a little OCD with hand washing in an attempt to keep Jude from catching the cold. (So far, so good!)

Claire's 3 am wake up was due in part to her cold, and in part to a technology fail. We have been using a nightlight on a timer to train her to stay in bed in the morning until a reasonable hour. She knows that she has to stay in bed until the light goes off. That means it's morning and it's ok to come in our room. Because of the crazy tantruming of late, I experimented with using the light for naps as well. It did not help. Nap time continues to be a battlefield. Well, apparently when I set the timer for her nap I mistakenly set it for 3am instead of 3 pm. I never realized it before because we never made it through an entire nap time. Because Claire's sick, she's not sleeping well. When she came wandering in our room last night, Kevin tried to take her back to bed. She got so sad and kept saying, "The sunshine's awake!" When we discovered her light was on, we realized what had happened. We felt so bad for her! It was the middle of the night, she was so sick and obviously exhausted, but she thought it was time to wake up. It took an hour of cuddling before she was ready to go back to her room.

So, between that and Jude's normal newborn waking up, sleep was hard to come by last night. I'm compensating this morning with Lion King and blogging! (I just skipped past the part where Mufasa is trampled to death.) I can't wait till everyone is healthy again and life can get back to "normal." Until then, I foresee a lot of TV in our future. Oh well!

Pictures

2010-11-16T10:54:00.001-08:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Surviving

2010-11-16T10:08:00.000-08:00

We've made it through two weeks! So far, so good. Jude is pretty mello so far. He often sleeps well in between feedings, and his fussy periods are nothing compared to Claire's when she was this age. Actually, Claire continues to be the most work! But she loves her little brother and is so sweet with him. Currently Claire is playing "soccer ball" outside by herself, which is a huge improvement over the high needs playing she usually requires. She growing up so fast!

Kevin went back to work yesterday, so I've been on my own now for the first time since Jude was born. Yesterday was challenging because Jude was awake for 4 hours in the morning, and wanting to be held and fed a lot, while Claire was cranky and misbehaving a lot. I was exhausted by 10:30! But today is going more smoothly (even though I have not and probably will not get to take a shower!) Jude has started to make eye contact consistently. I think real smiles will be coming soon. I went to the pediatrician yesterday. He is 9 pounds 6 ounces now. I don't remember his length, but it was not much more than when he was born. His jaundice is completely gone. Overall, he's in great shape, just a clogged tear duct that is more annoying than anything else. The Dr said it could clear up tomorrow, or take as long as 4 months! I hope for sooner rather than later. I have some cute pictures on my phone, so I'll try and do a picture only post from there to share them.

Joys and Trials

2010-11-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! We finally have a chance to announce that Jude Daniyel Schaub Bringard is here! He was born October 31st at 5:04 am. He weighed in at a hearty 9 lbs 1 oz (wow!) He was born at home in the water. It was exactly the birth we had hoped for! Only 3 hours of active labor. The water made all the difference! Our midwife was wonderful! He was born alert and healthy and is thriving. Claire is so excited to be a special big sister. She is always giving him kisses and showing him her toys. She even likes to share her silky (security blanket) with him-but only for short periods of time!

Unfortunately, our joy with his birth was quickly overshadowed by fear and anxiety. After he was born I was unable to deliver the placenta. The condition is called a retained placenta, and is a rare complication (approximately 1% of deliveries.) My midwife worked more and more aggressively as it became clear that I was loosing a lot of blood. She determined that the best course of action was to call an ambulance and have me taken to the hospital before my condition became too critical. This was followed by a series of escalating miscommunications and confusion on the part of the paramedics and ER. I was taken to the wrong hospital who did not have an OB on premises. The ER Dr. was unprepared for my condition and proceeded to exacerbate my blood loss significantly. They had difficulty contacting an OB to come. Finally, someone was contacted and on his way. I was wheeled into the OR where I had surgery, was given a blood transfusion, and the Dr. was able to save me without removing my uterus. Unfortunately I was not out of the woods yet. Due to the amount of blood loss I had experienced, my kidneys were not working properly, and my recovery was stalled. It took some more medication and many hours before I was finally stable. I received wonderful care from the OR until I was released the following day. I am home with strict orders not to do anything! haha!

We have been showered with love and support from everyone and are receiving so much help! My parents are staying with us now, cooking, cleaning, taking care of all of us. Then Kevin's mom will be here when they are gone. We have not been alone for one second, which has been essential! Others are cooking us meals, leaving cookies and amazing notes of encouragement on our doorstep, and generally being God's hands and feet to us. We are so blessed!

The experience was very scary. But I had one amazing moment of hearing from God, just when I was about to give in to fear and panic. I was laying in the OR all alone. They had refused to let my Midwife accompany me inside (she had been right beside me every second up to that point, advocating for me, protecting me, battling the doctors to keep me alive, and speaking constant words of encouragement.) The OB came in and I heard him tell someone "Get her to sign the consent for a hysterectomy." Those words hit me full force along with all the experiences I had just come through. All I could think was, I'm going to die, or all my hopes and dreams for more family were going to be taken before I was 30. I had asked if anyone in the OR was a Christian and would pray over me. As she was praying, I was calling out asking for God to send me his peace. I clearly heard the Spirit speak to me, telling me the Lord is with me, and that I would be OK. He was silent when I asked if I would avoid the hysterectomy, but told me to trust. God's promises are true and were a great source of comfort to me. I knew absolutely that I would be waking up soon! When I awoke, it was to discover I was not only alive but also intact.

Although this was a very traumatic experience for all of us, I am grateful for the good. God works all things for the good of those who love Him. This promise does not mean we get nothing but good, but that in all things God will bring about good. In that OR the Lord was glorified and my faith was made strong. For that I am thankful.

Thank you all for your prayers and congratulations! Please enjoy some pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rbringard/JudeSBirth?feat=directlink

Questions

2010-10-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

As we come close to the birth of our son, Kevin and I have started to ask ourselves a few questions. Most notably, "What were we thinking?!"

We wait with excitement as well as trepidation. This is about to make life different. Different is often good, but not without struggle. Again we revisit the old questions from two years ago when Claire was born: Are we up for this? How will we handle the unexpected? What if he's not healthy? But there are also new questions: How will Claire handle the transition? Can we negotiate our daily routine with an added child? Will we be able to split our attention without causing major birth-order complexes? How will we survive when we can't sleep every time Jude sleeps?!

Of course, all of these things will work themselves out. Most of the time we are ready, confident, expectant.

While we wait, we have been busy. The house is all ready for Jude's birth, and we have moved on to enjoying the little fall rituals available. We have been going to Disneyland regularly while we still can. This weekend we also took Claire to a pumpkin patch. I had a coupon for a free pony ride (they're close to $10 if you have to pay, like a sucker!) I was a little interested to see how she would handle it. They don't let a parent walk with the rider. We had to hand her over to some teenage worker who put her on the pony and then took her around the pen while we waited on the other side of a fence. Of course, the giant animal, the stranger, the separation from Mom and Dad, the new experience; it didn't phase Claire at all! She waved as she passed us each time and grinned through the entire ride!

I'll leave you with the pictures of our recent exploits. The next post will most likely be more newsworthy!

A little Advice

2010-10-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not dispensing, I'm requesting. Here's my question:

How do I get Claire to play by herself for any time at all without just putting her in front of the TV? She has an inability to entertain herself. She has way too many toys and will only touch them if someone is sitting next to her, engaging with her while she plays. It's ridiculous, and in a few weeks, completely impossible! I have been attempting to make her more independent in preparation for Jude's arrival. But I can't, for the life of me, get her to leave me alone to get anything done. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT give her my undivided attention all day. But when I'm busy and I ask her to play by herself for a little while, she follows me around whining or deliberately provokes negative attention by getting in trouble. (She's in time out right now for climbing the DVD rack-something I tell her not to do at least twice/day!) I use language like "Claire's special play time" or "Mommy needs a break." I set timers, lock myself in rooms, all to no avail.

I need some mom wisdom. Tricks of the trade. Something. Anything!

The Weather and Midwives

2010-09-28T11:47:00.001-07:00

IT WAS 107 DEGREES YESTERDAY!

I call that super unfair when you're 36 weeks pregnant. Today it's only 90, but super humid, so I got in the kiddie pool with Claire this morning at 10 am. I was a little self-conscious because our only yard is the front yard, but I got over it quickly because it felt so nice!

Only 4 more weeks to go till D-day! I'm excited, but a little overwhelmed, because I still feel like I have a lot to do to get the house ready for Jude.

For those of you who don't know, we're having him at home with a midwife. Claire was also a planned homebirth, but I was transfered to the hospital at the very end because my water had been broken for too long (36 hours!) We're confident that this time we won't need a transfer. Our midwife has never had to send a 2nd time mom to the hospital, and she says she won't let me ruin her record! haha! I have been receiving regular chiropractic care this time around to try and make sure everything is ideal for this little man to come nice and efficiently. Having experienced both the midwifery model of care as well as common obstetrical practice with Claire's birth, I can say that the difference was like night and day! At home, I spent the first 9 cm of labor in relative comfort, surrounded by calm, quiet support. My comfort plummeted and my stress sky-rocketed as I was ushered into the hospital, hooked up to all the monitoring equipment (and then bothered continuously because the monitor had slipped and wasn't recording), shot full of pitocin, and yelled at by the OB!

To anyone who is pregnant, or will be pregnant, I warmly encourage you to check out midwifery care as one of your options! Our insurance is covering the birth at in-network rates (90% paid for!) and in many areas midwives also practice in hospitals, for those of you who want/need the reassurance of that setting.

Some more stats on Midwifery for those that are interested:

Midwife means "with woman". It comes from an English translation of the German word "mit wife" and for many centuries has been used to describe the individual who was "with women" in childbirth. Midwives have been the primary caretakers of birthing women and their newborn babies throughout history. The oldest known reference to midwives can be found in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis.

Midwives consider birth a natural event in women's lives. Midwifery is based on the belief that childbirth is a natural, healthy process and that most women are fully capable of giving birth. Midwives see pregnancy as part of the full spectrum of life's experiences, and they believe women have the right to a fulfilling, as well as a safe, childbirth experience.

Midwifery care involves judicious use of technology. Women avoid the risks, discomfort, and disruption that unnecessary procedures impose, yet have the opportunity to use available technology if needed.

Midwives practice in hospitals, free-standing birth centers, and homes.

The safety of midwifery care has been established by a large body of research. In 1998, the National Center for Health Statistics released its findings that the risk of infant mortality occurring in the first 28 days of life was 33% lower for births attended by certified nurse midwives. It also found that the risk of a low birthweight infant was 31% lower.

Out of hospital births for low-risk pregnancies attended by midwives result in caesarean section rates of only 3-4% versus a national average of 19% in 2000. (According to a 2009 CDC study, the current national c-section rate is actually 31.8% and has risen every year for the last 11 years)

Resources:

http://www.expectantmothersguide.com/library/philadelphia/EPHmidwives.htm

http://www.cfmidwifery.org/pdf/cesarean2x.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_12.pdf

http://www.washingtonmidwives.org/midwife_reasons.shtml#top

Claire's 2nd Birthday

2010-09-28T11:45:00.000-07:00

The more you know...

2010-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

"Where's the Pregnancy Weight Going? It’s pretty much a given that you won’t be giving birth to a 25-to-35-pound baby. And that’s a very good thing. Want to know where the rest of those pounds settle? For a 30-pound weight gain, they’ll be distributed approximately like this:

Baby: 7.5 pounds

Placenta: 1.5 pounds

Amniotic fluid: 2 pounds

Uterine enlargement: 2 pounds

Maternal breast tissue: 2 pounds

Maternal blood volume: 4 pounds

Fluids in maternal tissue: 4 pounds

Maternal fat stores: 7 pounds"

(from what to expect when you're expecting)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Letter of Resignation

2010-08-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Claire,

This letter serves as notification of my intent to vacate the position of your mother, effective immediately. I find that I am no longer able to suffer through your inappropriate, unprovoked treatment. The incident today at Old Navy was the last straw. I realize you wanted to take the ball home, but it was explained to you prior to ever receiving said item that it was to be left in the store upon completion of our business there. Crying would have been a response I could have easily understood and accommodated. But to scream and scream, and then throw yourself prone in the middle of the street is an unreasonable retaliation. The fact that I had to spank you-twice-in front of the construction workers just to get you safely out of the road is unacceptable. And all this while I am way too pregnant and it is way too hot, and my hands were full trying to push baby Chloe in the stroller while she waited patiently. But then, you made a bad situation worse. I get to the car to discover that someone had parked so close on the left side that I cannot open your door or mine. Do you help me by climbing nicely over the seat from the right and getting in the car seat? Of course not! You force me to drag you into your seat kicking, snotting, and screaming like I'm murdering you! Trying to wrestle you into your seat and strap you in safely was almost more than I was capable of physically and emotionally. I was literally dripping with sweat and boiling with anger by the time I was satisfied that you would be safe for the drive home. And then to just decide to stop acting like a wild animal, smile at me, and ask me for a snack was just cruel. Oh and then, of course, there was the moment when I was putting the stroller in the trunk and discovered that we had inadvertently stolen the notorious ball that began the whole mess. Too much to bear!

So, far all these reasons I feel it necessary to take a break. I have enjoyed our time together, and would be willing to consider reapplying for my old position should circumstances change and the grievances I listed be addressed. Thank you for you time.

Respectfully,

Your Mommy

Two years already!

2010-08-24T15:07:00.001-07:00

Claire's 2nd birthday is Friday. Wow. As I'm scrambling with last minute planning she is starting to get excited. She sings happy birthday to herself and loves to tell people she's "TWO!!!"

She had her two year Dr. visit yesterday. The Dr. was asking me the standard milestone questions: does she count to 5? Yes, she counts to 10, except she really has something against including 4. Does she know her colors? Yes, but she likes to give the wrong color first when you ask just to make sure you're paying attention. It went on like this for a while with all yeses, then she asked, "does she peddle a tricycle?" uhm, well I think she could, but she can't reach the peddles. "does she cut paper with scissors?" uhm, I have never given her scissors. It never seemed like a safe idea to me. She is barely done being 1! I think she had moved up an age on her question list cause I had said yes to all the two year old questions. She did that to me at her one year check up also, but it always surprises me.

Below is a picture of what Claire is doing right now while I write this. She says "hi everybody!"

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

August and Everything After

2010-08-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

(Warning: there may be a mini pregnant lady rant to follow)

I have to say, being 30 weeks pregnant and spending the day with a very active two year old in the height of summer is a challenge. I remember when I was preggo with Claire, it was also the summer (she was born Aug 27th) but I was on summer break from grad school and until a month before she was born we lived in a nice apartment complex with air conditioner and a resort-like pool. I used to spend hours sipping decaf lattes by the pool and reading books, then I'd retire to the air conditioned apartment for a nap. HAH! Now, no pool, no air conditioner, no ice maker for iced coffee beverages, no naps (well, not entirely no naps, but far fewer and at the expense of cleaning the toilet or folding the mountains of laundry) and no time for books unless they are of the Hop on Pop variety.

Claire is in a crazy-fun, sometimes beat-your-head-against-the-wall-and-then-go lock-yourself-in-your-room phase. She loves to tell stories about her day. She constantly astounds us with her capacity to understand and explain her world. She also has an uncanny memory for events from months and months ago. She speaks in complete, mostly intelligible sentences (more intelligible to me because I hear them ALL DAY LONG!) I've had to institute a "mommy's taking a break" time occasionally just to stay sane.

Kevin's favorite thing Claire does: She calls him "my daddy." He converted her crib into a toddler bed, and she was so proud to show it off. She told everyone "My daddy made it [for] me!" And speaking of toddler beds, Claire transitioned to hers without so much as one single issue. I was all prepared for a few nights of up and down, but it was all unnecessary. She is such a sleeper! She goes down between 7 & 8 and sleeps until 8 or 8:30. When she wakes up, she calls for me, "Mommy, I'm awake!" from the edge of her bed and waits for me to come in before climbing down. It's unreal!

I am not ready to lose this sleep!!! So, I'm trying to capitalize on the time I have left before Jude arrives.

Here's a few pictures from our latest visit to the beach:

So far this summer

2010-07-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful summer for our family so far. We went camping for the first time with Claire at the end of June. That went much better than expected! (Kevin already posted the pictures from that weekend!) Then we spent a week in Northern California with my parents. There we had our first scary late-night rush to the ER... turns out Claire had croup. She had to be on an oxygen mist for 3 hours and was pumped full of antibiotics and steroids. It was not a good time! But she (and we) recovered eventually.

A big milestone for us: Claire is potty trained! It was a long few days of constant vigilance, but she has caught on super quickly! We're about 4 weeks "dry" now... of course there are accidents, but they result mainly from not making it to the toilet fast enough. We're to the point where she is even dry during nap time (but not at night, of course!)

Jude is growing fast and strong! My belly is huge already (compared to where I was with Claire) and I still have three more months to go! We've started rearranging the furniture to prepare for his arrival- decisions like whether to convert the guest room into his nursery or put his crib in Claire's room. For now we've decided to try and retain our guest room and have the kids share a room once Jude is sleeping more regularly. We'll see if that plan becomes permanent or not. I've picked out fabric for Jude's crib bedding and Claire's new toddler bedding and Kevin's super-talented mom is going to make it!

July has flown by, and August is already all booked up so I know it will disappear before we know it. Right before Claire's 2nd birthday, Kevin and I will be taking our FIRST-EVER night away! Our fabulous friend Tammi is going to stay at our place and Kevin's sister Mikkele may also be here (she's moving back from Amsterdam next week and staying with us until she has secured an apartment/roommates/job, etc.) So Claire will be very well taken care of and we'll be able to enjoy a full 24 hours in San Diego with no worries! Kevin planned the whole trip complete with a fancy room at the top of the Hyatt (the kind where they give you robes!) and a nice breakfast/late check-out package in the morning. Needless to say, I'm excited.

There's more to say about our cheeky little daughter and all her adventures- and misadventures- because I waited so long to post this, so I'll save it for another time.

Photos from the Beach

2010-07-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We are in Northern California at the grandparent's house (we have many stories about our time here as well, but they will have to wait for another post), but Meghan sent us these photos she took of Claire last weekend while we were camping and we wanted to share them. They're quite fantastic as Meghan is a great photographer. If you're looking for someone to shoot something for you (with a camera...) I highly recommend her and would love to put you in touch with her.

But for now, enjoy!

It's a...

2010-06-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

BOY!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, we are adding a son to the mix! We are super excited to experience this new and crazy world of boydome (that's not a word, but it should be.)

Introducing Jude Daniel Bringard (or possibly spelled Daniyel, we have to wait and see who wins that battle)

picture #1: face and tummy shot

picture #2: foot

picture #3: little boy bits :-)

Here comes another one...

2010-05-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I have been horrible about writing. I was working (student teaching) and going to school at night and mommy-ing and wife-ing. It was all just a bit too much! But I turn in my last paper tonight, and I graduate on Saturday!! NO MORE SCHOOL!!

It's good that I will be able to focus on staying home because we are expecting Squiddy #2 in October! Baby is healthy and kicking around quite well. No news yet on boy or girl... but soon! So hopefully after I get through the week, I will have more opportunities to blog--and more importantly--to catch up on all my blog reading!

Claire is wonderful when she's not coming to pieces during a tantrum (which is happening more and more these days!) She's learning to spend some quality time in "time-out." She talks CONSTANTLY! Even random people in the store remark on the non-stop stream of semi-intelligible chatter she keeps up. It's great, but tiring after the 385th "Mommy, Mommy Mommy" that she resorts to when she's run out of anything else to say. Her new favorite thing is the Tikki Room at Disneyland, and she always makes us sing the song. In fact she often demands "Mommy sing _____" Our other favorite demands: "Boy come! (talking to any random boy passing by) "Mommy watch me eat!" (really, kid? Do you need an audience for everything?!) "Walking all by myself!" and the always present "Eat food, I want snack!" Little Miss Bossy is in for quite a change when she's got a little brother or sister at home in the mix! I hope she can survive sharing the spotlight!

Disney Fun!

2010-04-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

It has been quite some time since we posted, and I felt it was time to remedy that.

Yesterday we spent the day at Disneyland with Ryan from Sleeping at Last (one of my all time favorite bands) and Jeremy Larson of, well, himself. They are both great musicians, and I highly recommend you buy their stuff post haste. Shameless promotion aside, Jeremy took some great photos of Claire and we would be derelict in our duty as parents to not share them.

I dare you to find photos of a cuter child. In fact, dare etiquette be darned... I triple dog dare you.

She emerges from the cold hard fall (semester) and looks to the horizon (vacation) with hope for a New Year

2010-01-04T14:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, ok, ok. So, that title was a bit dramatic! But, I didn't want to just put, "Happy New Year." I was feeling both long winded and silly. So, that was the result!

Well, school is out, and that means I actually have time to devote to my long-neglected blog! This post is going to be photo-heavy in an attempt to compensate for the neglect. In no particular order we have:

Claire in San Diego on a recent trip. She loved looking at the ocean and chasing the sea gulls. We loved eating one pound carne asada burritos from Adalberto's.

This next one was taken at Claim Jumper at our friend Tammi's birthday party. Claire WILL NOT SIT STILL in a restaurant! She was driving me crazy until I remembered some sage advice from I don't know who about letting kids gnaw on bones to keep them busy. Worked like a charm! Here she is trying to get two baby back ribs in her mouth at once.

Mikkele took this on her iPhone with a Polaroid app.

We were in Merced in November for my Great Grandfather's funeral. It was wonderful to celebrate his life with my family. This is Claire and Daddy in the hotel. I also have an amazing video from that trip of Claire and my niece Lucy dancing outside the door to a restaurant bar. I'll post it later.

Don't remember when I took this, but honestly, she's stinking cute!

Today we went to the park to play. It was so nice outside, that I let Claire run in the grass without her shoes. She had a blast! You may also notice her rocking the pigtails. It was the first time I've been able to get her hair up like that. It's hilarious though, because from the front you can't see them at all, they're so small!

She LOVES the slide! It was hard to get her to pause on the stairs for a photo. What a sweet face!

We spent New Years in Colorado Springs looking at property and celebrating my best friend Gwen's birthday (she actually lives here, but was in Colorado visiting her folks.) This is Claire on the plane to Denver. It was not a full flight, so the seat next to us was vacant. Claire loved sitting in her own chair. She eventually fell asleep and Kevin took a hilarious picture of her all sprawled out, but I don't have it.

We have a few resolutions for 2010:

1. Start aggressively saving money for a house

2. Decide where we want to live

3. Make Claire a big sister

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hello and Merry Christmas! We had a very eventful Christmas. We went up to Kevin's parents house in Lemoore. Claire had a great time with her Grandparents and Aunts and Uncle. But then the flu struck! It started on the 24th with Claire vomiting all over herself in our new car. (It's officially a mommy-mobile now!) By the way, we bought a new car! A 2006 Honda Pilot. We love it! Anyhow, the flu didn't stop at Claire. I was the next victim and it had me requesting we pull over on the side of the 99 and then trying to sanitarily vomit in a MacDonalds bathroom. Last night it hit Kevin and his sister Mikkele (who is staying with us until she moves to Amsterdam on the 29th) And I just heard via Facebook that Kevin's dad and brother are also sick! So, that was fun.

The day we left for Lemoore we also had to deal with the sad realization that I was miscarrying. All in all Christmas 2009 was a little rough for the Bringards. But we're healing, and looking ahead to where the Lord is taking us next year. The hope of Christ is powerful. "The Lord stands with me and gives me strength."

The Life and Times of Us... well, mostly Claire

2009-12-18T21:04:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh! I can't believe I haven't posted since Halloween! Terrible! I have been working part time, going to school at night, and trying to be wife and mommy all at the same time, so it has left little room for blogging. But now that Christmas break is here, I can reacquaint myself with the computer!

In Claire news: She is talking nonstop! She has right around 45-50 words at last count (wow!), and she is putting 2 words together like Nightnight Dada, Blessyou Mamma, Milk please. She's hilarious: she will look at you very earnestly and bust out with paragraph level commentary that only she can understand. She nods her head, raises her eyebrows, and gestures just like she's telling a really great story. The she'll wait expectantly for your response when she's finished. Cracks us up! I've got some new pictures, and when I'm not feeling so sleepy, I'll get them from my phone and uploaded.

In other news: We're expecting Squiddy II! Our next little one will be born sometime around August 20th, right before Claire's 2nd birthday. Fun times! More to come later on that!

Halloween

2009-10-31T23:38:00.001-07:00

For Halloween Claire was r2d2. Very cute, very dorky costume! I was princess Leah, and Kevin was supposed to be Han Solo but we were too last minute on that one, so he ended up wearing an old pirate costume. We had a party at our place. It was a good time. I only took phone pictures, so they're not too good. Hopefully I'll get someone elses and post them here soon. For now, here's our little robot:

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Misadventures of Claire Bringard

2009-10-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

Driving:

Sliding:

Studying:

Breakdancing:

It's been a busy week :-)

More evidence of hair

2009-10-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

Also, Claire is crazy!!

Happy Autumn!

2009-10-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I did a proper post... so here we go! Claire talks all the time now! Most of the time it's intelligible only to her, but she does love to talk. New words she now has:

bye bye (finally! after 6 months of constant "hi!" she now has a different conversation closer!)
no (sad times!)
book
belly button
elbow
apart (although it sounds exactly like open, so who knows)
nose (I may have already reported this one because she's been doing it for quite a while, but she LOVES to point out where your nose is. She's kind of obsessed.)
pretty
she goes "shhh" with her finger to her lips when she sees a baby, in addition to signing and saying baby.

I don't think that's all...I just can't remember any more new ones right now. She still stops traffic anytime we're in public. She really knows how to work a crowd...just like her father! Being expressive does have it's downsides, though. As in, she is very determined to exert her will. She can be very intense. Mellow is one thing she has never been! We're just lucky that most of the time she channels all her energy and expression into enthusiastic "hi!"s and not "no!"s. She has really been growing a lot lately! I'm hoping she'll hit the 20 pound mark (finally!) when I take her to the Dr. next so I can turn her car seat around. She gets bored staring backward all the time.

Yesterday we went out to apple orchard country and had a picnic with some friends. We went on a hay ride, which Claire enjoyed. Especially the part where she kept throwing the hay/dust into the wind and choking the other people in the wagon! Yikes! Too bad it was almost 90 degrees! Not exactly fall weather here in Southern California! I had planned to get some great shots of her in the pumpkin patch, but they were charging way too much to get in, so I tossed that idea! Here's a picture of her relaxing in a beach chair:

Saturday we took her to a shopping mall for her crowd fix, and we also took her into the pet shop. She went wild for the dogs!

Now this is what fall is supposed to look like! This was the first rain of the season a few weeks ago. I was so excited!

She DOES have hair!

Here she is enjoying the tricycle we got her. All smiles, as always!

Such a sweetie!

2009-10-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, is she not the prettiest thing you have ever seen!!

Claire's the Main Attraction

2009-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Claire is just getting more and more awesome! haha! She is so social. Any time we go out in public it's "hi hi hi" to EVERYONE! If she's set free to walk around, she walks up to complete strangers and askes them to pick her up, and then she tries to give them all kisses! Seriously, my errands take 3X as long these days because literally everyone who walks past her stops and goes wild over her for, like, five minutes. And I am honestly not exaggerating. She is also starting to talk a lot more. Here's what she says now in addition to all the signs I have already catalogued:

hi (of course)
hola (no kidding, it's so cute!)
mama
dada
up
down
open
close
ball
bath
whazat (what's that)
all done
uh oh
help
animal noises: monkey, elephant, chicken, bird, dog, cow, pig
plus and endless string of nonsense that makes sense only to her

I have some video of her jabbering away, but I'm having trouble importing it right now... I'll consult IT (A.K.A Kevin) and try later. For now, here's some of the latest pictures:

These are a pair of size 2 shoes that STILL FIT, but I don't think they were designed for walking, let alone running! Because Claire is so small, it's hard to find shoes that can handle what she puts them through.

She loves to eat by herself... she probably gets about 70% of it in her stomach.

Doing some hard time

She was charming a family who was sitting behind us.

She is so happy most of the time! Such a fun kiddo.

I've been slacking!

2009-09-17T15:51:00.001-07:00

So sorry for the lack of posts! The academic year has started and I've been working in the morning, baby-wrangling in the afternoon, and going to class at night. Also, my camera is still on the fritz. I have gotten tired of the routine I have to go through to get it to take a picture, so I've given up on it! Now I just use my phone, but unless it's full sunlight, the pictures aren't very great. But here's a few videos to make up for it! This is a hilarious face Claire made out of nowhere:

And this is her playing in the pool/sprinkler a few weeks ago. She was trying to drink the water as it shot up at her!

Update

2009-08-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

I took Claire in for her 1 year check-up this afternoon. The Dr. said she was a delight, and she qualified that by saying she does not tell everyone that, she really means it! Claire is doing very well. I was right when I guessed she was about 18 lbs., she weighed in at 18 exactly. The Dr. wants me to increase her calories with things like more cheese, avocado, and peanut butter to try to compensate for her higher activity level now that she's walking since she's on the lighter side (10%ile.) After talking with the Dr. we decided to hold off on the MMR, Hep A, and Chickenpox vaccines for this check-up and just give Claire the flu shot. (Can you believe they were prepared to give them all to her today!!)

The nurse didn't want to give Claire her shot because she was so happy and smiley and she didn't want to be the one to make her cry! But Claire only shed one tear, and then blew the nurse a kiss, which she said made her day! So, we had quite a pleasant appointment. The worst part was leaving work in Orange (which is down the street from the Dr.'s office) and driving to Newport to pick Claire up from the baby sitter, and then driving back to Orange for her apt. Unfortunately there was no way to avoid the extra back and forth.

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-29T21:52:00.001-07:00

I am so amazed that this time last year I was sitting in a hospital room meeting Claire for the first time. Throughout these last 12 months our lives have been filled with friends and family. Claire's life has been rich with love from so many wonderful people caring for our family. During Claire's party we had an opportunity to allow others to pray for her. The prayers offered up for her future life, her friends, her decisions, and the ways she would change the world for the Lord touched me deeply. The world is spread out before you my love, and you will never walk through it alone.

One Year Portraits

2009-08-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the good ones!

Claire's First Birthday Party

2009-08-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Claire's first birthday. We had such a great time! We decided to have the party at home, which lead to some creative maneuvering to hold all 50 people (give or take) that were in attendance! Claire wore a special shirt made for her by her (fake) Auntie Tammi. All the amazing decorations were also handmade by Tammi. When I told her I was not going to do a theme or any real decorating due to a total and absolute lack of talent and motivation, she was appalled! So, she saved the day with her mad skillz! The cake and cupcakes were made by Claire's (fake) Auntie Whitney and they were wonderful, of course! We had food from El Toro Bravo, a little hole in the wall tortilliaria in Costa Mesa. The food was sooo good! Carnitas, carne asada, fresh tortillas, etc.! Claire's wonderful (fake) Uncle Andrew and Auntie Kristin made my favorite sangria recipe ever. Delicious! My parents and Claire's (real) Auntie Vanessa and cousin Lucy came all the way down from Northern California, and Kevin's parents and Claire's (real) Uncle Kristian and Auntie Taylor made the drive from the central valley. And of course, (real) Auntie Mikkele made the slog in from 16th st. (a few miles away) to help get the party off its feet and keep Claire entertained. All in all it was a huge family effort (both real and fake, haha!)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

We all had a great time visiting, eating, praying for Claire, watching her demolish her cake, and opening presents. Of course, she was most fixated on a little box that one of her gifts came in, but she attended long enough to open every gift, say "ohhhh!' and sign "thank you." Overall it was a total success! Here's some pictures:

The happy birthday girl sporting her special shirt. The theme was birds because "bird" was one of Claire's first words and first loves.

Drum Roll Please....

2009-07-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

That's right, ladies and gentleman, Claire is officially walking as of this afternoon! These are her actual first steps. We saw the look in her eyes and knew she was finally going to go for it! (thank you iphone!) And she's already an expert. She has been walking laps around the house for over an hour now!

Privileged

2009-07-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

The other night I heard a distressed scream coming from Claire's room. I went in to find that she had gotten her leg stuck between the slats in her crib in her sleep and she was screaming while trying to free herself. I pulled out her leg and picked her up and hugged her tight. She nestled into my shoulder, took two deep calming breaths, and fell fast asleep. Right then I was overcome with so much joy. Here I was holding this fragile little creature. She had been scared until I came. Then she felt so secure she was able to dismiss all her fear and go right back to sleep.

I sat down and rocked my sleeping daughter. I looked down at her face and had such a powerful image. I saw, not a little baby, but the wise, strong woman she would become. In that instant it was like I knew that woman and I was so proud of her. She no longer seemed like the fragile little creature I had rescued. I saw the depth of her inmost being, already fully formed, fearfully and wonderfully knitted together in my womb, her days already written out and known by God. I was honored to be the one to be there when she was small, to protect her and guide her. I am privileged to be Claire's mother.

Claire's Birthday Wish List

2009-07-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Alternate title: Everything I Would Get Her if I Could

#1: This adorable play mat to put inside or out! I could put it under wish list item #2:

#2: An inflatable pool

#3: One of these diaper covers size large.

#4: A dozen of these cloth diapers.

#5: A baby doll

#6: Some wooden or plastic blocks

#7: Books books books!

#8: A wagon

#9: A bike trailer

#10: A spa day for Mommy... oh wait...! haha!

Exciting New Things!

2009-07-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Claire has opened up a whole new world of exploration. She loves to walk everywhere! (Well, she's not doing it completely on her own yet, but we're soooo close!)

Here's a run down of all the things she does, there are sooo many every day!

Signs she now does consistently: please (all the time for everything), thank you, more, flower, all done, eat, doggie, bird, airplane, mom/dad (they look the same still)
She says hi all the time to everyone and everything
She says mama and dada for the correct person
If you ask her what sound a monkey makes, she says "oh oh oh"
When she sees something interesting (which is everything) she points and says "ooooohh"
She talks on the phone, or anything shaped remotely like a phone
She requests items and actions by pointing and signing please
She dances to anything musical, whether it's Kevin whistling or a car alarm
She imitates any noise you make. She loves to roar like a lion and mimic people laughing
She blows kisses
She gives kisses to anyone without facial hair, most of the time closed mouth puckers now
She likes to kiss her baby and stuffed animals
She jargons like crazy

There is so much more I'm sure, but I need to feed her breakfast while Kevin cleans up a poopy diaper. Love you all!

2009-06-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

Much better picture of her standing! She is such a big girl!

2009-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

I just love my little girl! I was looking through pictures while I wait for Kevin to finish up, and this one was too sweet to not post!

Spinning!

2009-06-29T17:05:00.000-07:00

10 Months and Standing!

2009-06-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Tonight Claire mastered standing up completely on her own without anything to pull herself up. She will crawl a little, then stop and stand up. We cheer for her every time, and it makes her laugh and do it again! She can stand for quite a length of time, and even hold things or clap for herself while she stands! I think she'll be taking steps within the next few days... if not tonight! She must have just needed to officially pass the 10 month mark to find her confidence! haha!

Also, here is the picasa album with all of our Hawaii pictures.

So close to walking

2009-06-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

Claire is almost there. She can stand unsupported now for brief periods of time, and I'm sure she could manage a few accidental steps if she would try. But she still insists on holding on to at least one of our fingers before attempting anything walking-related. I'd give her a few more weeks before she's toddling around precariously!

Also: My hope is to get more Hawaii pictures up during her nap this morning. That could be soon, as she is starting to put on her grumpy pants!

Hello from Hawaii!

2009-06-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

We are on day 8 of our Hawaii excursion and loving life! Claire has been an angel. The plane ride was much smoother than I anticipated. We only had to break out the baby crack--I mean baby einstein for the last 45 minutes. She didn't sleep, but she also didn't cry, so it was ok!

Everyone we're staying with here has said repeatedly that Claire is the best baby they have ever met. The first night it was a bit rough for Claire to adjust to the time difference and the unfamiliar sleeping arrangements, and she cried a lot. But since then she has been back to her amazing self, smiling and laughing all day, taking 2 2-hour naps and sleeping 10-12 hours at night! I love this kid! Here are a few pictures:

Claire loved going hiking. She didn't fuss for the entire 3 hours spent strapped to Kevin's back!

She is going to be adventurous when she grows up if this sort of stuff continues!

Jungle hiking with the Bringards!

The view from the patio where we are staying. AMAZING!

Now this is the life!

A few Pictures

2009-06-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

In no particular order, here are some of the most recent pictures of Claire from the last few weeks:

Her balance is getting very good. She stood completely unsupported yesterday for about 10 seconds before falling back on her rear. Here, she is leaning on the edge of the box while making a phone call.

Claire's Great Uncle Ray came by for a visit on Tuesday. She was quite taken with him. The fact that he's got to be around 6'5'' with a beard the likes of which she has never seen before didn't daunt her for a second!

Here you can see her teeth (well, 1/2 of 1 and 1/4 of the other... so does that make 3/4 of her two bottom teeth? haha)

What a face!

This is Claire and her daddy the day of her dedication ceremony. I love this picture!

Very proud grandparents

That's a very nice hat, Claire.

Sorry for the delay... Claire is 9 1/2 months old!

2009-06-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

So, it has been forever since my last post. Sorry about that. Things have been a little busy, and lots has happened!

1. We dedicated Claire at church. Dedication is essentially a public declaration of our intention to raise her to know the Lord and to ask the church body to pray for her journey and ours. We chose a life verse for her and during the ceremony were able to pray it over her along with the church elders as a blessing. This is our prayer of blessing for Claire taken from the Living Translation of Philippians 1:9-11:

"Our prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, growing in spiritual knowledge and insight. We want you to always see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be pure of heart until our Lord returns. May you always do those good, kind things which show that you are a child of God to his praise and glory. Amen."

It was a powerful experience to release control of Claire's life into the care of the Lord. I think that the journey as a parent will require us to remember this experience many times. I have some very sweet pictures from the day, but my computer is broken right now (dropped one too many times), so I'll have to wait until I can retrieve the data.

Claire has grown up quite a bit in the last few weeks.

She has her two bottom teeth, and from the state of her attitude lately, may be working on the tops ones!
She loves to walk while you hold her hands now, and cruises around the furniture.
She says "haaai! (hi) to everyone we meet during our walks.
She loves to spontaneously give kisses, especially to Daddy. They are always open-mouth!
She dances any time she hears music
She signs all done, more, milk, doggie, and bird (although a lot of these look the same!)
She loves to swim, and struggles to get out of my hold and do it herself. She can propel herself under water with a very strong frog kick if I let go, but can't hold her breath for any length of time, and has no idea how to come up for air (so I almost never let her go because the result is lungs full of water. But even that doesn't slow her down!)
If you let her go while she is standing up, she can balance enough to squat down to the ground before falling back to her butt.
She can now climb down the living room step without falling on her head.
She knows there are places she is not suppose to play--like the fireplace-- and sometimes climbs on it and says "ah ah ah" mimicking my warning. It's nice to have a baby that tells on herself, makes it much easier to keep tabs on her!
She likes to eat the dirt out of the house plant. Terrible!
She has quite the little attitude these days! She has this angry scream that she does when she is irritated... drives me crazy!

We leave for Hawaii on Saturday. It will be our first plane ride since Claire has become so active. I'm very afraid of what she has in store for us! I am already making lists of what I will need, and asking for advice on how to keep her happy for the very long 6 hours! She screams if her movement is restricted for 6 seconds... Pray for us! Despite the plane ride, I am looking forward to Hawaii (of course!). I know Claire will have a great time. She is such a happy little one most of the time, she has fun wherever she goes. And I am ready to soak in the tropical sun!

I'll post next time with photos of our trip!

One Zany Morning

2009-05-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

We had Claire's 9 month checkup this morning. It was quite a fiasco just getting there. She slept later than I was anticipating, so we were running behind right from the start. Then, I couldn't find my keys, so I had to grab the valet key for the car. But I wasn't thinking and I locked the front door to the house on my way out, by habit. So, I had to go by Kevin's office after the appointment to get his house key. It proved to be a long outing between the dr. in Orange and the extra trip to Irvine to get the key, then back home to Costa Mesa/Santa Ana. Oh, and I also got all the way to the second floor of the parking garage from the Dr.'s office before I realized I forgot to validate the parking and had to turn around, trek back across the street and back up the the 5th floor to get my ticket stamped!

The actual appointment went well. The Dr. said Claire is doing great. She is still a shrimp: she weighs in at 16.4 lbs and is 26.5 inches long. In three months she only gained 1 pound and one inch. She is in the 10-13th ish percentile. (I had guessed that she was about 18 pounds... obviously she's not as heavy as she seems.) She got one shot and screamed like the world was ending until snot was EVERYWHERE! She is quite the drama queen these days. Then I had to take her to the lab to get her blood drawn. Poor baby! I was really nervous because I have horrible veins and it is always such a painful process when they try and draw my blood. I just held her tight and sang to her the whole time, trying not to cry (now who's the drama queen!) She did very well. They had no problem drawing the blood, and it went very quickly. She didn't try to pull away or anything, but did let out the most pitiful cry ever! Very traumatic for both of us! Now she's sleeping the experience away, thank goodness!

Update

2009-05-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Claire is learning things so fast these days! Every day I watcher he do something new. It's so much fun! Some of the highlights:

She has 2 signs! She says "all done" when she is finished eating and yesterday she heard a bird outside and signed "bird!" The "all done" I'm pretty sure is intentional. I have only seen her do "bird" a few times but I was so excited, I decided to count it anyhow!
She points now. It's not super consistent, but she does do it. She mostly points to photos, and to dogs she sees in the street. By the way, she LOVES dogs! She gets so excited any time she sees one, and will start shouting and pointing and scrambling to get to it. She's so intense, she actually scares off many of her doggie play partners.
She plays games. She will crawl over to the step and look back at Kevin, smile and wait. When he runs over the chase her, she starts to scramble up the step as fast as she can, then when he catches her, she squeals and laughs.
When she crawls over to a place she knows she's not supposed to play, like the fireplace, she looks back at us and says "ah ah ah" and waits for us to come get her.
She can make clicking noises with her tongue.
She will imitate your vocal noises. She matches pitch and intonation too. If I say dah DAH dah, she will say it back exactly the same. She will also mimic gestures.

These are pretty much all language gains, which is why I think she has not really progressed much further with her motor skills. It's like all she wanted to do was learn to crawl and stand up, and she was good to go. While she can now crawl very well, she has no interest in walking. If we try and walk with her by holding her hands, she will only take a step or two and then sit down. She also doesn't cruise yet. She loves to stand up, but if she wants to move to a different location, she will sit down, crawl over, and then stand back up. Although, one new move she has learned is a very amusing booty dance!

Escape Artist

2009-05-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Claire can now wriggle out of her swing even when she's strapped into it! I'm sad to say it may have to be retired now. The only thing we use it for these days is to wrangle her when we need to do something in the other room. We're quickly running out of ways to strap her down! Kevin suggested getting an exersaucer. While I know she would love it, I'm not sure how long we would be able to use it. She's already about 9 months old and going to be walking soon. I know some babies love those things forever after they start to walk, but somehow I see Claire as resenting anything that ties her down when she could be up, getting into things she shouldn't!

Claire had her first swimming lesson yesterday. I t was fun, but I feel slightly ripped off. The "instructor" basically said, "get her comfortable with the water." and then I was on my own. I had to go to her to ask for advice on how to best dunk Claire without her swallowing tons of water. Her advice, "well, some kids just will always swallow water at first." So, I guess this instructor was just a sub, and there will be someone different for the rest of the class. And supposedly we learn a new skill each day. So, perhaps after this first introductory session, we will actually get to some real swimming-type stuff. With all that said, Claire did tons better than on her first pool experience. I dunked her 4-5 times and she didn't drown once! Haha! I will leave you with a few fun pictures taken over the last week. 9 months is approaching fast!

Whip it! Whip it good!

Her new favorite place to play:

Walk

2009-05-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went to Angel's Stadium to do the annual AIDS walk with Rockharbor Church. It was a beautiful sunny day and Claire enjoyed the festivities.

Here she and Wylan are discussing their game plan for the morning.

Sporting an Angels cap (borrowed from Wylan) to keep the sun at bay

Trying out the wagon. She loved it!

Maybe

2009-05-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like something big is just on the horizon? That is the feeling I have had for a little while now. I am excited, but a bit nervous. It seems like our family is going to have some decisions ahead of us that could shape the foreseeable future. Not sure exactly when it all started. Many of you may know that even though we live in Orange County, we have never wanted to stay. This lifestyle has always been a bit overwhelming, and tempting for us. We have always dreamed of a house somewhere where there are more trees than concrete. Someplace where you see stars at night. Our plan to get there has always been dependent of Kevin making lots of money (actually making the same amount he makes here, which would be lots somewhere else) so we could purchase this dream. But lately I think the Lord is revealing to us that maybe we were just redirecting that same Orange County attitude of acquisition and aiming it somewhere where we could get more for our money. We can't afford to get get get while we live here, so lets go somewhere else so we can have more stuff. And we'll cloak it in this great vision of happy family lives in a house where our kids can run and play; where we spend nights gazing up at the stars and weekends hiking through nature. But really, will anything change? We'll have a bigger house, yes. It will be ours and not rented, yes. But will we really grow at all? I don't know. Maybe our dream should involve less getting. Staying down here and living on a tight budget requires more reliance on God's provision. It cultivates more discipline. It encourages growth. Maybe. I don't know. It's the conversation we're having now. Actually it's one of the conversations we're having now. Big things on the horizon. Maybe.

Praise the Lord!

2009-05-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Claire LOVES to clap, dance, and sing along to music. Her favorite person to listen to: her Daddy (as in the video below). I taught her the arms raised trick in the form of cheering "hooray" when Kevin would get home from work. The first time she raised her hands to music was when we had her in church for the final worship time. The people in front of us were raising their hands while they sang. She loved watching them, and soon began to imitate. That drew so much attention from the people around us, and soon everyone was doing it, just to get Claire to keep it up. So cute! Now, if you look at her and raise your hand and say "Praise the Lord!" (we like to use our best charismatic preacher voice) she smiles and does it too. Hours of entertainment! Enjoy!

Another favorite trick of hers has become waving to anyone. She waves to people in the store, she waves to people walking their dogs past our house, she waves to birds in the yard. However, if you ask her to wave, odds are about 50/50 that she'll pretend to be bashful and bury her face in my shoulder.

Her new way to play with her toys is to bang them together to make noise. Most of her toys are soft, so she has adapted things like bottle lids and tupperware to suit her needs. Maybe it's time to get some more advanced toys. Thus far, we have only bought her two toys: a ball and a stuffed hippopontomus. Everything else has been a gift!

Claire and the Butterfly

2009-05-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

My mom got Claire this motorized butterfly a while back. Until now it has remained motionless due to a lack of batteries. But that was resolved the other day. She's still in the "checking this thing out" phase. Pretty cute! Plus, at the end of the video, she says "hi" which is adorable, of course!

From Pigs to Zombies

2009-05-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks for everyone's concern. Claire's fever is gone and she's sleeping better. And Kristian, not to worry, her oinking was minimal, so I think we're in the clear for the swine flu. But I am concerned about this slight case of zombieism she has been exhibiting of late.

What do you think?

Ug!

2009-05-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Claire's on day three of 102 degree fevers. She's been a trooper, but today has been more grummpy and sleeping not-at-all. I am rarely showered and haven't had a night's sleep in who knows how long (she was in a funk all last week too and not sleeping.) And of course, because I'm so tired, I let my supervisor make me cry at school last night. (oh, and I am forced to go in to school on Saturday, so that's just peachy--and part of the reason for the crying! She wanted to force me to come today, but I flat out refused to take Claire out.) Just a few more days and hopefully life will settle down!

Hey Everybody, I'm Eight Months Old!

2009-04-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Message From the Front Lines

2009-04-24T13:48:00.000-07:00

RE: Nap Strike

From: Organizer and sole member of BRAT (babies rallying against tiredness): Claire Bringard

Day Five: It's getting grim out here. I don't know how much longer I can hold out. The opposition is relentless. I have had to alter my tactics several times. The hour and a half of playing in the crib instead of sleeping was getting me nowhere. Yesterday I was forced to institute constant screaming all evening. I threw in a nursing strike for good measure, but gained no ground. Today, in addition to the nursing strike, I made the decision to escalate my efforts to the morning as well as afternoon nap. It's beginning to have an effect. I can see it in her eyes. The sparkle has gone out and been replaced with a wild look. She hasn't showered in 48 hours. And yet, somehow she remains steadfast. Soon, I fear I will have to declare my intentions or abandon my cause. I have been so caught up in the struggle that I have forgotten why I established BRAT in the first place. Why, oh why is life so hard!