July

We had a pretty busy month in July - lots of exciting things going on. One of the most exciting things was this....real baby smiles!

 



One of the fun things about having a young reader is that now we have someone else to read books to Jude. Clara loves to read anything she can get her hands on. Sometimes she stays up till 10:00 at night reading books in her bed. When Jude is in an especially patient mood, he might even sit still long enough to let her read to him. It's pretty cute on those rare occasions when it happens.



I love to see those two curly blond heads together...



Brotherly love...This kid really loves his baby brother. He's more interested in the baby than Clara is. He loves to give Micah "sweet hugs" and kisses. He also loves to hold Baby Micah, bring him toys, and talk baby talk to him. He's such a sweet boy. And as you can see, he's also a very, very silly boy. This is what he does when I tell him to smile.





Micah's really starting to fill out that car seat these days. He's getting nice and chubby and round from all that milk he guzzles down EVERY. TWO. HOURS.



Here's a more accurate picture of what he looks like in his car seat. This is what he does every-single-time he's in his car seat. The WHOLE time he's in it. It's enough to make me teeter very precariously on the very tippy edge of sanity.



This was him getting ready for his first car ride home from the hospital. He didn't like it even from the very beginning. He tried to tell us even back then that he was not going to be a fan of this car seat idea. But see how much bigger he is now??



With two sensory-challenged kids at home, we spend a lot of time doing therapy at home. This was a typical Saturday morning working on some occupational therapy (supposedly for Jude, but Clara needs it just as much as he does): First we played with Play-Doh, then we got out the water beads (wet, squishy, balls of gel), then we buried things and stuck our hands in the box of sand, then we did the really fun part - bath foam! Nice and messy, and the messier they get, the better. We're going to break these kids of their sensory issues one of these days!



Clara had a birthday this month (more to come on that later...), and Chris wanted to get her a Lego kit so they could build things together. They had a lot of fun working on this car, and I'm told that she did most of it herself. ALMOST as much fun as playing with princesses.



Speaking of princesses, Clara Beth did a week of dance camp in July, and on the last day they had a little "recital" for the parents. She got to wear her recital costume from last year, and as always, she loved dressing up like a ballerina princess. Their little dance was pretty darn cute.



And speaking of pretty darn cute, this little guy is trying to roll over. We found him like this in his bed the other day, and that's not how I put him down. He can't quite get that arm out of his way yet, but he'll be rolling around pretty soon!



Micah turned 2 months old in July!



Look of that ball of chub! He's getting so big!





Sweet little baby face.

First Day of School!

Wednesday was Clara Beth's first day of school. Hurray for school! The public schools here adopted the new balanced calendar this year, which has a shorter summer break, with more breaks throughout the year. So it meant that school started August 1st. She was more than ready to go! Here she is dressed in her standard school attire, ready to head out to her first day of first grade!

 



We all walked her in that first morning to meet her new teacher, who is super nice (I mean really, don't you have to be nice to teach first grade??). As you can see, Micah could hardly control his excitement.

 



Jude wanted to give her a sweet hug before we left. He's really going to miss having her home with him all day. They had so much fun playing together this summer. He absolutely adores his big sister!

 

It may seem strange, but Wednesday was a half day, then there was no school Thursday. Today (Friday) is her first full day. So yesterday, on our last morning together before she starts school full time, I asked her what she wanted to do. She said she wanted to go eat chocolate chip waffles at the Waffle House. Since Jude was in school, Clara Beth, Micah and I had a fun Waffle House date! Mmmmmmm...Waffle House.

 

 She's so excited to be back in school. Such a big girl. I know every parent says this, but I can't believe she's in first grade already!

Snapshots from June

Well, now that we're heading in to the last day of July, I guess it's time to add some photos from June. Wow...I'm really behind! The truth is that Micah is not the easiest baby. He wants to be sure that he doesn't end up being the neglected third child, so he constantly reminds us of his presence. If he is not either nursing (which he does A LOT), sleeping (which he doesn't do much at all), or being held, then he is crying (screaming would be a more accurate description). Those are pretty much the only options. So I don't get a whole lot done these days, including eating, showering, using the restroom, etc. It's 9:30 pm right now, and Micah is contently sleeping away in Chris's arms (once again, being held...), so here are some quick snapshots from June...

 My mom stayed with us for a few weeks after Micah was born, and thank God for my mom! Chris went back to work pretty quickly, Clara Beth was home all day expecting lots of attention, Jude had school and therapy through the whole summer, and Micah cried all the time. I don't know how I would have made it through those first few weeks without my mama. The kids loved having her here!

 





Micah's first bath - he was not a big fan.

 

Clara spent a week at VBS at one of the churches nearby. She had a great time. Each day she got to dress up in some crazy way, which is totally her idea of a good time. She made her own hat for Crazy Hat Day, wore a wig for Crazy Hair Day, and designed her own outfit for Tacky Day. Crazy girl.


 





 She also lost her first tooth (finally!) and was so excited to get that long-awaited dollar from the Tooth Fairy. She wrote the Tooth Fairy a note informing her that she would like to keep the tooth and still get the dollar. Apparently the Tooth Fairy is very generous because her tooth is sitting in a special box on her dresser and she ended up with a shiny new silver dollar!

 

Since it's been about 100 degrees (literally!), we spent a lot of time at our neighborhood pool or playing in the sprinklers in the back yard. Micah spent a lot of time hanging out in his portable swing watching his big brother and sister play.

 











And finally, Micah turned one month old and got some sweet hugs from his big brother. Jude sure does love that baby boy. I can't leave them alone in the same room for fear that Jude will squish the baby with his hugs!

 

Parting shot....this is what Clara's room looked like one typical afternoon. And the crazy part is that I make her clean her room every night before she goes to bed, so she made this whole mess in one afternoon. She is seriously like a little hurricane everywhere she goes. We're ALL looking forward to the first day of school so that brilliantly creative little brain will have something to keep it occupied again!

 

July pictures coming soon...maybe...

My Babies

I really do intend to sit down and write a real post soon. I especially want to write an update on Jude's progress and post some more pictures of Micah. But it's so rare that I have 2 hands free to type these days. Micah prefers to be held. ALL THE TIME. So that doesn't give me much blogging time (or time to clean or do laundry or eat or sleep or use the bathroom...). Right now he's asleep, so I'm going to bed. But here's a quick look at my babies. I think I see a family resemblance...

 

Newborn Days

Micah is now almost 3 weeks old. It's been a whirlwind of sleep deprivation and crazy schedules. I have a nursing baby in my lap right now and am typing with one hand, so I'll just post some of my favorite pictures real quick...