New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  Ha - ya I know a little late!  Oops!  I have kept thinking, "Boy - I really need to do a new blog post."  Then...well...then life happens.

Rather than go into a ton of details and such I think I will briefly share what's going on right now in the Shoebox household.

Brian is getting ready to go on a snowboarding trip.  He's super excited and can't wait for the upcoming trip.  I hope he has a tremendous time because things aren't looking good for him going out any other time for the rest of the winter season.

On that note - Claire has started physical therapy.  She has been diagnosed with toticollis.  It sounds more daunting than what it is.  If you want to learn more click here. I've done some google-image searches and have found that Claire's case is extremely mild compared to some other babies out there! WOW!  Therapy is on Mondays and will likely be mid-afternoon and thereby ruining any opportunity for Brian to get out to the "slopes."  (one of many sacrifices he's made for our little monster)

Her 1st appointment was yesterday and she did SO well!  The therapist moved her around, stretched her, rolled her etc...and she really didn't even fuss.  She was soooo good! (no surprise here haha)  I hope the subsequent appointments are the same.

I'm starting a new job!  YAY!  I will be working at TransTech in Itasca.  This will end my days of commuting to the city.  I really did want to make it work.  There's just something so cool about working in the city.  The only NOT cool thing is when the people who live in the city look down at you and think you're lame because you're from "the burbs."  In their minds you have no interesting stories, your weekends suck, and you lead an underwhelming life.  Oh well - they will see the light someday.

We have decided to stay in our townhome for a couple more years.  This decision results in a couple things. 1) we will need to be more budget focused so we can save $$ for a big down payment for a single family home later on 2) more updating our home.  I have a couple close friends who blog about home renovation...I might be joining the cause! 3) we don't have to move/put up the house for sale soon YAY! WIN!

Ok - I believe that's all for now.  I will leave you with a few fun pics of my favorite baby ever.

My big girl is standing!

She loves her vanity set!

Look how tall she sits!

Lol - sleeping + holding foot

I'm 7 months!

Merry Christmas 2012!

What a great first Christmas for Claire (and us). We made it through Brian's crazy holiday schedule all in one piece and were off to Michigan for Christmas Eve mass and lots of family time! We left our home bright and early Monday morning and stopped at Cranial-tech and made sure her docBand was fitting as best it can, then stopped at Chic-Fil-A for breakfast then made our journey to Michigan.

We arrived in the afternoon and no sooner did we get settled...it started snowing! Big fluffy flakes! It was so beautiful! How wonderful that the snow held off until we made it safe and sound.

Christmas Eve gift exchange was fun, as always, and we all stuffed our faces with all the yummy food brought by everyone in the family. Fondue, meatballs, little wieners, homemade bread, veggies, dips...just and endless supply of foods to keep your plate full!

Christmas morning was full of much the same...only add about 100 gifts in the mix! Hour after hour of taking turns opening big and little treasures. The most rewarding thing is watching someone open your gift to them and seeing a genuine look of approval. It's also very exciting to see Christmas through the kids eyes! Every gift is a new and exciting adventure to dive into.

Now we have this weekend to look forward to because grandma Linda and grandpa Don are visiting. Even more wrapping paper for Claire to attempt to eat! Hopefully soon I can post some highlights of this weekend and our trip!

 

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6 months!

Quick update!

I just had to post and talk about how my baby is a whole SIX months old!  She's just about 16lbs and is getting more and more fun!  She has 2 bottom teeth and she has slept through the night quite a bit lately!

It's a typical December and it's hectic as usual.  Having a baby definitely adds a twist!  We made it through the 1st week of "holiday" and now we have 2 more weeks ahead of us.  Crazy!

Hmmm - 6 months...well Claire now eats just about any vegetable (except peas), any fruit (we haven't tried prunes) and we are now introducing MEAT!  Gross!  Meat in a jar just isn't right. Ever.  We are starting with Chicken & Apples (yes - both in the same container, that is a real-life mixture) and Turkey and Sweet Potatoes.  I figured we should ease her into the "meat" idea with a couple things she already likes. It's worked well so far!

Ok - I believe a couple of months have lapsed since I posted her "monthly milestone" pics!

Let's get ready to rumbaaaaaaal....

So when I was a child my dad always watched boxing. I never really understood what was so exciting about it. As a child it was sooooo boring. (Ok I admit, I still think it's boring)

One thing I always looked forward to was when Michael Buffer would get into the ring and say the phrase he's so well known for, "Lets get ready to RUMBLE." He made it sound SO exciting!

Anyway, I bring all this up because my little girl is now wearing what looks like a boxing helmet. It's not the same material, but the shape definitely reminds me of those helmets the boxers wear! Haha. I'm actually considering painting it like one and putting "everlast" on it.

I picked her up from daycare today and she had one of their "loner" shirts on, only it happened to be a boy onesie that's red and blue with a football on it! Lol, she totally looked like a boy! I definitely need to girl her up a bit with this new addition.

She will wear it anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. We are hoping it's closer to 4! It's been kind of a pain to deal with...she just looks so incredibly uncomfortable! I can't even imagine what it's like sleeping in the thing! She has adjusted pretty well. I think she has a hard time staying asleep right now because she also has a bit of a cold right now. Poor baby. She's still in good spirits though and is taking it like a champ.

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4 Months Old!

Well, this will be a short and sweet post.  I have recently updated Claire's Sharesite with her 4 month "photoshoot." A lot of me wants to take her to a professional photographer, but we will wait until at least the 6 month mile-marker for that! 

Before I share some of my favorite pictures with you, I must say how blessed I am.  Seriously.  The past month has really been more challenging than I can really express.  I have been physically, emotionally, and mentally at the end of my rope.  I am not sure I have experienced that type of exhaustion on all levels before.  So much so that I felt incompetent to be anything, including a parent, employee, or even a wife. Everything in me wanted to shutdown and essentially not exist any more.

But...

Praise God for friends and family.  Words cannot express how incredibly blessed I am.  There's nothing quite like going through the thick of the storm and having your friends literally run to your rescue.  I must admit, I was very leery about having kids in Chicago.  We are at minimum 4 hours away from any grandparent and both sets of grandparents are very busy!  Our friends' lives are hectic as well, but it's really amazing to see how God used each of them in a special way to help us through the difficult time.

Now I will leave you with Claire's 4 month progression!!!  I chose a few different pics from the bunch...

Newborn

 

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Daily life

Let me just start by saying that we are blessed with the best friends anyone could request! The past month has been filled with challenge, sickness, and everyday difficulties. Claire has spent quality time with anyone who will take her this month! After the stomach flu, colds, coughs, and emotional breakdowns...I think we are slowly on our way to recovery.

My little peanut is just getting over a bad cold and the hubbs is currently walking through it. We've tried to make sure to wash our hands as much as possible, but nothing seems to keep us from kissing her cute face.

Today is my brother's, Matt, birthday! It's the last year of his 20s!! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday Brian and I were meeting some friends for tapas to celebrate my 30th. Ha! How time flies, right?

Well, I will leave you with some daily recent pictures of the cutest baby ever.

Trying on hats at Baby Gap!

She's always soooo happy when she stinks!

Ahhaaahhhaaaaaaaa.... Aaaaaaaeeeeeaaaah.... These words are really I love you so much in 'baby-code'

Pretty sure she's already embarrassed by us.

Shy about eating nowadays....

 

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It's been a while! Trip to MI!

HELLO!!!  It's been so long since I've had a chance to update everyone!  So much has happened, but before I go into all of it I must post about our (long past) trip to Michigan over Labor Day. 

Claire got to see her new cousin, Ayden, and she met the Tuckeys for the first time.  While we were out visiting the whole family got together and we had a couple professional photographers come and take pictures.  It was so much fun.  Barb and Les have such a great property that we didn't even have to leave the comfort of their own home.  

 Liz is getting so grown up!  I just can't believe it - stop looking so much older!

 The barn made a great backdrop for the pictures...here's grandma and grandpa and the kiddos.

 Here's "the peanut gallery" ha - always have something to say...and we were working hard to make Nate smile.

 Here's the kids getting set up for the next picture.

 HA - Brian is always a character.

Brian juggling for Kate and Viv.

 YESSSSS!!!!  More grill stuff!!!

 Happy Birthday Barb and Brian!

Claire and Ayden side by side - I can't believe how tiny he is!!  Was Claire ever really that small?!

Mandy made a wonderful cake with lemon curd in it...it rivaled her dreamsickle cake for sure!  We had a wonderful time celebrating and spending time with the family.  The weekend was over all too quickly.  Can't wait until the next time! (CHRISTMAS!!!!)