Howdy y'all!

Tonight we got home early, made cupcakes, trick-or-treated down the street, and ended the evening with a low key neighborhood block party. Our neighbor Kathy made the best s'mores and hot cocoa you can imagine and I am stuffed. Happy Halloween from our little Texas cowpokes!

Pumpkins

Today was the perfect day for heading down to the pumpkin patch. It was cool, sunny, and not at all crowded. We went with our neighbors and had a nice time taking pictures and picking out pumpkins. Aurora loved running through the hay maze and jumping off hay bales (see photos from her field trip), and I even got to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. I could fill this post with photos, but here are my two favorite pics of my two favorite little pumpkins. Gotta love those sweet smiles!

Super Awesome Car

After spending the last week house hunting with my mom in a rental car, the insurance adjuster called yesterday and said the damage to my car was worse than they'd anticipated. When they opened up the back wheel they found the axel was bent and it sent the repair costs high enough to call my 2004 Scion xA a total loss. Admittedly, it was a bit too small for our growing family, but I did love that car. It was the first new car we'd ever bought and I had it for 8 good years. Today we dropped my mom at the airport and headed straight to the dealership. I didn't really need to give back the rental and replace my car until next weekend, but figured we should probably start looking sooner than later.

The dealership was actually pretty fun. They had popcorn, hot chocolate, coffee, balloons, and a play area for the kiddos. It's a good thing because we ended up staying there just about all day.

And here's the result! It's a 2012 Mazda 5 - the second new car we've ever purchased, with only 2 miles on the odometer. It's so comfortable and doesn't feel a lot bigger than my Scion. In fact, it's about the same shape and color as the Scion was, but it's larger with sliding rear doors and a folding third row.

Chuck asked Aurora if she'd like to name it, and she didn't hesitate for a moment: "Super Awesome Car!" That works for me. This month has been and will continue to be super awesome and completely exhausting. With Chuck starting a new job, my mom's trip and house hunting, the whole car situation, home repairs and painting, preparing to go back to work, starting Clark in daycare, and let's not forget this week is Halloween and early voting is open. Phew!

Drop in

Earlier this week I mentioned to the front desk at daycare that Clark hasn't been taking bottles, and they suggested I drop him in for a few hours today and tomorrow just to see how it goes. So, I gathered and labeled his diapers, wipes, bedding, paci, bottles and milk, and we dropped him off after lunch.

He didn't cry or get upset when we left - in fact, he seemed quite interested in looking at all the other babies and colorful new surroundings, and Miss Kristy assured me that they could handle the feeding. It didn't go perfectly, but they were able to get him to take 2 oz just before his normal feeding time, then calmed him down, let him take a break, and got him to take the other 2 oz a little later while he was halfway asleep. When we picked him up, everybody was happy - including big sister Aurora who was so excited to see her brother at school!

Clark was especially happy when he got back in the car with his Grandma.

He's such a sweet boy and we know he's in good hands at the Children's Center. That doesn't make easier to go back to work on Monday, but having the chance to give him a trial run today and tomorrow certainly does help ease my mind. If only maternity leave could last just a little longer...

Visitors

Lately we've had lots of visitors to our home and to Austin. Last weekend Bailey was in town for a few days and we had the pleasure of spending some time with her and Jill. It wasn't nearly enough time and I don't know when we'll see her again, but she looked beautiful in her cool new scarf.

We've also had a few visits with Amelia, but for some reason I never end up with any pictures. She lives nearby, so I guess it's okay. This weekend our friends the McGinty's were in town from Boston and we were able to meet them for breakfast. Again, no pictures? What am I thinking? Now Grandma Slane is back and yesterday we took Clark on his first walk in the baby carrier.

Mom also helped give Clark a bottle, but he was having none of it and poor Grandma was exhausted from trying. Today we're heading out to look at houses... we'll let you know what happens! Wouldn't it be cool if Grandma and Grandpa could visit (and give Clark bottles) anytime they wanted?

Fall Festival

This evening Aurora dressed up as cheerleader barbie and we all headed out to the Fall Festival. 

Family Photo Op

Keara, Presley and Aurora

Wild-haired Witch

I didn't take a ton of pictures, but there was a bouncy slide, a band, lots of games and candy. It was fun, if not a bit too crowded and perhaps just a little too close to bedtime.

While I was hanging out with other parents, kids, and teachers, my co-workers were putting on a huge gala and preparing for LIVESTRONG Challange weekend. I only have one week left of maternity leave and of course my focus has been my family, but it's evident that a LOT has happened and changed since I've been gone and I'm missing a very busy time at work. It's also clear to me that our support in the community is as strong as ever and for those of you wondering (which is probably most of you), I do feel like my job and the future of the foundation is secure. Good Night!

Field Trip

Clark and I may have spent the past week cooped up at home, but Aurora's been getting out and about in a big way. This week she went on her first field trip! Her class took the bus to our local pumpkin patch and according to her it was "AWESOME!" Here are a few of the pics they sent me:

Getting on the bus. 

Cute little pumpkins!

Running through the hay maze. 

"Cannon ball!"

Aurora could not stop telling me how fun it was to jump off the hay bales. Of course, we'll have to go back and get photos of Aurora and Clark with pumpkins, but I love that her class gets to do so many fun things. Later this week her school is having their fall festival, so more fun is on the horizon.

If only...

If I had a car and a helper, there are a lot of things I'd love to do today. I'd really love to take a shower, go get a mani and pedi, I need to go food shopping and would like to take the time to cook a nice meal from scratch, or perhaps pick up Aurora early and take her out to dinner with friends.

Instead, I'm getting ready to have leftovers for lunch, not sure what frozen meal I might throw together for dinner, wearing a dirty ponytail with a chipped pedicure, and doing this:



Go ahead, watch it again! No, I'm not complaining. Maybe during his nap this afternoon I'll try to take a shower... or, I might just take a nap along with him.

Repairs

When I started maternity leave, we thought it would be a good time to get some work done around the house. It's hard getting quotes and having contractors out when we're both working full-time. We started with the balcony off Chuck's studio. The wood was rotting and leaking water into the garage, which we were afraid may cause real damage. It was built so strangely that the best course of action was to tear it down and rebuild. At the same time, I had a company out to pump our septic tank. They really dug up the yard looking for the tank, so our house looked like this for awhile:

Now the deck is rebuilt and painters should be coming out this week or next to finish the new balcony and repaint the main balcony off our house. You can see the nice new balcony in this picture I took a few weeks ago, though it mainly just shows off my cute little family:

We've had some other little things done around the house as well, but one repair I wasn't planning on was having to fix my car. Last week Clark and I were side/rear-ended on the way to pick Aurora up from school, and while we're making progress with insurance and have filed a sheriff's report, I still don't have a rental or any idea how long it'll take to repair.

We're both fine, and I have 2 weeks left at home to tie up all the loose ends. This isn't exactly how I thought I'd be spending it, but with contractors still on the calendar I suppose it's okay to be home.

Giving it a try...

This week we gave Clark a bottle for the first time. From the photo I took, you'd think he really enjoyed it! But honestly, he just didn't quite know how to suck right and barely got any milk. It was a bit much to introduce just before bed - I tried a few different nipple sizes, but he gave up pretty quickly and fell asleep. We'll try again this weekend when Aurora can help.

We've got it timed so that he eats around the same time we eat, but it's clear that he's jealous of our food and dinner table situation. As soon as we put him down in his little bouncy chair on the floor, he gets pretty upset. So, this week we pulled out Aurora's old BeBePod and decided to give it a try. His neck isn't strong enough to hold that big head up for long, but he sure seems to like it!

In a couple of weeks he'll be using a bottle three time a day, and a few months from now he'll be sitting at the table in his high chair. I can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Routine

Over the past month or so, we've settled into such a good predictable routine that I don't want it to end! I like going back and seeing how Aurora's routine evolved, so I wanted to post this here for Clark as well. Lately our days having been shaping up like this:

7:30am Family wake up time, breakfast, Clark's first feeding

8:30am Chuck & Aurora go to work and school

10:00am Feeding

10:30am Morning activity - library, yoga, perhaps run some errands

1:00pm Feeding, longer nap, maybe an outing

4:00pm Feeding, too much daytime TV

5:30pm Clark and I pick up Aurora

6:30pm Chuck comes home, family dinner, feeding

7:30pm Bathtime for the kiddos

8:00pm Reading and bedtime routine for Aurora

9:30pm Clark's last feeding and bedtime

4:00am Mid-night feeding

Clark's taking 7 feedings each day and getting lots of sleep. As long as I get to bed by 10pm (which I do), I'm getting 6-hours of sleep as well, followed by another 3 hour block! I know we want to cut out that mid-night feeding before too long, and I know that with Aurora I'd already been pumping and having Chuck give her a bottle once a day for nearly a month by this point. I'd built up a great milk supply in the freezer and knew how much she was getting in each feeding, while ensuring she was comfortable taking a bottle before going to daycare. 

I only have 2-1/2 weeks of maternity leave left and have yet to pump or give Clark a bottle. I know I need to and I know Aurora would LOVE to help feed him, but I don't want to!!! He's just such a sweet happy boy and I'm really enjoying our time together. I'm pretty sure he's a bigger eater than she was, so I'm not confident that I can get ahead and keep up once I go back to work, but I'm not stressing about it at all. Maybe we'll give it a try this week, maybe next, and maybe we'll have to supplement with formula this time around. It's all good. Aurora is so excited to have Clark go to school with her, and I know that transition will be easier this time around. 

Before I go feed my baby, I'll leave you with a few cute photos from the week. Enjoy!

Sweet smiles for his sister.

Finding his tongue!

Trying out the jumperoo, perhaps a little early :)

2 Months

Doctor Appointments

This week has been all about seeing doctors. While none of our appointments were due to illness, Aurora did start the week with sniffles, which turned into a stuffy nose for both me and Clark. That doesn't sound bad, but it's hard for a baby to eat or sleep well with a stuffy nose!

Earlier in the week I had my 8-week OB follow-up, which went well. I also took Clark to see a pediatric dermatologist to look at the mole on his face. She said the mole looks great and benign, though we could certainly remove it in the coming years as a precaution. He smiled and flirted with her the entire time - especially as she was undressing him. It was just a little too cute.

Today we took both Aurora and Clark for appointments with our pediatrician. Aurora has a little rash on her leg which it turns out is a patch of eczema. She also got the flu mist vaccine, and little Clarkie had his 2-month well baby check up! Here are some pictures, details below:

Look at that big chunky boy! He's 23" long (50th percentile for height), 13 lbs 13 oz (90th percentile for weight), and his head circumference was 40.2 cm (75th percentile). He also got 3 shots and the rotavirus vaccine, which he handled quite well.

Chuck has not been affected by our sniffles and didn't have any doctor appointments, which is a good thing considering he started a new job this week! That was a little stressful, but it was the right time for him to make the change. Of course, changing insurance companies will make all our follow-up appointments all a little more complicated, but that's okay.