Fun stuff around Durham

We've done some really fun stuff around Durham over the past couple of months! Despite the reasons that we don't love Durham, I will say that it is a hopping place and very family-friendly. There are always things to do, and Brad is especially good at finding them!

Right before the school year started, we went to the free Duke Symphony Orchestra concert on the lawn. The weather was perfect, the music was great, and we all had a fabulous time! It's an annual thing and obviously a popular event, as there were gobs of folks there. We took a picnic and some bubbles and let Claire romp and run and have the best of times. And as a bonus, the lady sitting next to us on the grass had brought her pet: a little hedgehog named Henrietta! She let Claire pet and play with Henrietta, which was thrilling.

This is a terrible picture, but I was trying to get a good shot of the lawn as it was filling up. I did not succeed.

I snapped a couple pictures of Lily that have become some of my favorites.

Claire had the most wonderful time.

A couple of weeks ago was "Talk Like a Pirate" Day at Krispy Kreme, and we capitalized on it. I had put it in the calendar weeks before but completely forgot about it until my phone reminded me the day before. I looked up the details and remembered that you got one donut if you talked like a pirate, but you got a whole dozen if you dressed like one. So, obviously, we dressed Claire up and taught her to say, "Arrrrrgh, matey!" It was hilarious! I rigged up an eye patch (she wasn't crazy about it but was a good sport), tied a scarf around her head, and had her carry Fawkes as her parrot (although he's technically a phoenix. Shhh...). And because she has nothing pirate-y in her closet, she wore her striped Elsa dress, and we called it a day. We got our donuts and thoroughly enjoyed them for days.

Arrrgh!

Just kidding. I'm not really a pirate.

I just like donuts.

Brad is awesome about keeping up with the announcements from Duke about free activities that are family-friendly, and a favorite one recently was a showing of Finding Dory in one of the theaters on campus. We'd never taken Claire to a movie before, and we thought this was a perfect opportunity (kid-friendly movie, relaxed setting). Claire had never seen Finding Nemo, so we rented and watched it the day before. We told her we were going to go and see a movie on a GIANT tv, and boy, was she excited. It ended up being just the perfect first big screen movie for her. She was absolutely gleeful throughout the whole thing, enjoyed the popcorn that we took with us, and said that she "missed" the movie when it was over.

At the Duke chapel on our way to the theater. If you look carefully, you can spot Claire- the tiny dot on the ground to the left of the doors.

Another angle of the chapel.

There was this fun mural of Durham on the wall of the student center that I tried to get a good picture of, but Claire was either dancing around like in this picture...

...or scratching her bug bites. Bless.

"It's a GIANT tv!!"

We've recently made some new friends (actually mutual friends of some friends that moved away this summer) who live in a complex that has a pool. They invited us over to swim a few weeks ago, and while the water was a little too chilly to do too much actual swimming, we had a great time getting to know them a little better and sitting in the sun.

My happy baby.

And our good big girl.

We are still getting the hang of our limitations with two small children, but we've been able to do quite a few really fun things along the way! And most of them have been free, so YAY. We're excited about what fun activities may present themselves throughout the fall.

Letter to my Little Lily: 6 Months

My sweet, sweet Lily,

Six months. It has FLOWN. I simultaneously cannot believe that it has been so long and yet cannot think of life without you in it. I know I write this to you every month, but you bring us so much joy. Your sweet spirit, your happy HAPPY disposition, and your laid-back and peaceful nature is the biggest blessing to us. 

This month, you discovered your hand (on Poppy's birthday!). It's absolutely hilarious to watch you going about your day and then, all of a sudden, you see it. A hand! You must stop everything and just watch it move, as if by magic, in front of your face. I'd really like a video of it, but it's hard to catch you doing "Lily" things without you being distracted by my phone.

Your old man face.

You've also been rolling. As in, if you see something you want, you roll to it. You're pretty sneaky about it, too; I can look away for just a minute and you've rolled 4 feet away from where I left you. I'm going to have to keep my eye on you, it seems.

A couple of helpful things that you've started doing: putting your own paci in your mouth and alerting us to a dirty diaper. I'm a bit slow catching on, but if you are consistently loud and cannot be calmed by your paci, it is almost always because you need a new diaper. You'd think it would be the first thing I'd check, but alas. Maybe I'll learn one day.

We started letting you sit in the Bumbo in the middle of the dining room table while we eat. You used to sit in your little swing on the floor while we ate, but you decided that you weren't able to be as much a part of the action as you'd like. So, we started to let you literally sit in the middle of the table, and it did the trick. You've also been trying some solids! So far, you've had banana on October 8 (the first food you successfully ate) and carrot. You've been pretty happy with real food so far, and I've got plans to keep trucking with food introductions.

Speaking of eating, you'll put absolutely anything in your mouth these days. Your hands, our hands, your toes, any toys you can reach...while we were at Universal this month, Claire was holding her roll at lunch, and you reached over, grabbed it, and tried to shove it in your mouth. We barely got it pried out of your fingers. Claire was so flabbergasted, she couldn't even talk for 3 seconds! 

Oh, we've also had to start double swaddling you. That's right: double. swaddle. You can't seem to stay asleep if you're not swaddled (you keep fidgeting in your sleep and knocking out your paci), but you're also getting too big for your swaddle, you stinker. So, I got creative and made a baby straight jacket. It works, too! And is a way better idea than Daddy's; he wanted to use ratchet straps. I just have no idea how long we'll be swaddling you...maybe we'll stop before college. Maybe. 

You don't necessarily love the double swaddle, but you resign yourself to it.

You've started going to nursery at church and are doing well with it so far. We haven't taken you in during service yet (partially because I still need to feed you partway through and partially because Daddy likes having you in there), but you go during Sunday school. We're easing into it-- more for us than you, I think.

"I'm serious, Mom."

"Just kidding. I'm too jolly to be serious."

A very endearing little thing you've started this past month has been stroking faces. It's the sweetest thing. I've been extra careful to keep your fingernails trimmed (my LEAST favorite job) so that you don't accidentally claw someone while you're being so sweet. (you also like to touch and pull hair, which is a little less adorable) You've also started sticking YOUR hand in MY mouth while I'm feeding you. It's weird and funny all at the same time.

Your new noise this month is a purring-type sound. It's SO CUTE. I cannot handle it. I also cannot catch it on video. WHY, Lily? I want to remember it forever, and you are not helping. You make that sound often, and at one of the restaurants in Universal, you made that noise just as a waiter passed by. He doubled back to verify that it was actually you who had made the noise and then laughed out loud. His laughing made you laugh, and then we all did. 

Matching Daddy in Boston College gear.

Baths. You love them. We've started putting you on your bath flower in the back of the tub while Claire is getting a bath, and you have the best time.

One of my favorite things that has developed this past month is that you've found a favorite song: James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James." Your face lights up when you hear it, and it has actual calming powers. The very best part is that Claire will sing it to you when you're upset, and you calm down. I love watching her sing it to you. I hope you always love it. 

Lily, you are such a darling, and we could not be more in love with you. We thank the Lord daily for such a fantastic gift.

So many kisses,

Mommy and Daddy

23 Weeks

24 Weeks

25 Weeks

6 Months

Brad's birthday!

Brad had a birthday! We celebrated him heartily! 

The night before his birthday, we went out to eat at The Q Shack, which is a local favorite. Following that, we had our annual birthday picaken. (Picaken = a pie baked into a cake. Yes, that is a thing.) This year's combination was a blueberry pie inside of yellow cake, topped with vanilla buttercream. I have to say, it was my best one so far. And, it was my first made completely 100% from scratch (and I won't admit to how many sticks of butter that were involved). As weird of a dessert that it is, we all enjoyed it. And, surprisingly, did not end up in sugar comas.

I'd never done a lattice top before.

I made this...and then dumped it into cake batter. It hurt a little bit to do that, y'all.

Kat was here for Brad's birthday, so she took some pictures for us. Also, Lily was present, but she was sleeping.

Please note Claire's face.

Birthday Boy!

Cross-section of the picaken. It's not pretty, but it does taste good.

Our plan of meeting up with friends for a picnic supper in the Duke Gardens on Brad's actual birthday was thwarted by lots and lots of rain. It was so sad to have to cancel it. So, we blew up balloons (to Claire's intense excitement) and made pizza for him instead. We ate our pizza and picaken, watched Frasier, and played the game Splendor. All in all, a good birthday weekend. 

We love you, Brad! Happy happy birthday.

Around here lately: September 2016 edition

I'm really glad that I started jotting down Claire's comments. I thoroughly enjoy reading back over them, and I know I'll enjoy it even more as she gets older and so much of her little girl comments give way to big girl thoughts. (*sniff*) I hope you enjoy them, too!

(Lily in crib, Claire standing next to her) Wiwwy is wicking my hand. She's holding my hand! I think she wants to take me somewhere. When she gets bigger, I'm going to teach her how to sleep in my bedroom. And how to make pie and cake and how to hold her breath.

(kissing Lily's bandaids, post shot day) I think she wants me to kiss it to make it feel better.

(relentless rain for several days) We've got to stop the rain somehow...

Hey! Fixer Upper! Mommy, they aren't looking at me... (attempting to talk to Chip and JoJo on the tv)

War Eagle! She knows how to strike a pose.

(as I finish up some laundry) You're a good cleaner, Mommy. You clean a lot of things. (she is SO right about this)

Good night, good night, dear Mrs. Mommy. (we are very into Madeline these days. The girls say "Good night, good night, dear Miss Clavel." Claire modified it to suit her needs.)

Did I just spot the gendarmes? (again, we're very into Madeline. I introduced her to a Madeline movie, and when Madeline is talking to the police, Claire recognized them from the page in her book and even used the French word! Ooh la la!)

Are you going to be a bad guy or a happy guy? (her terms for bad guy and good guy. I like it.)

We're not actually confused about which SEC team we are loyal to; we're Auburn fans. However, Brad's aunt and uncle gave Claire this dress, and we are nothing if not sartorial around here.

I am walking on the road from Jerusalem down to Jericho...to get pizza! (She was acting out the story of The Good Samaritan. Or, at least, her own interpretation of it...)

Mommy, I be-ed good!

(to Brad) Would you dance me?

Erin: Can I call you 'Claire Bear' forever?
Claire: That would be fine with me.

(in response to our friends leaving after a play date) I will be sad FOREVER!

(while praying before bed) "...and thank you for me as I have a better attitude tomorrow."

(at the Boswells' party, after playing for quite a while with a little friend who was very enthusiastic about Claire and perhaps a little clingy) Um, I need a little space.

(to Bill and Barbara, as we left Johnson City for home, post-party) You can keep your hat; we're not going to take that. We're going to take the cake. And you can't keep Lily. We need to take her home with us.

That's a lot of toes! (there was a large poster of die-cut feet on the children's hall at the Boswells' church, and you know how she feels about toes.)

(clips hair bow onto her toe) Toe is the beautiful with this bow!

(Lily trying to wriggle out of her swing before I get her seat harness clipped) We gotta strap that girl up!

Look! Daddy fixed my necklace! He's a good helper.

This is a fun bunch, guys. Even though Lily looks miserable. She wasn't.

That's so sweet of you to give me bites! (after I shared my bagel with her)

I don't see a giant mess...just a little bunch of messes. (referring to our living room buried under her toys)

Storms are very loud. Storms wake up babies.

Erin: Your voice is kinda gone.
Claire: I gotta get it back! You have to feel me better!

I think Wiwwy is saying, "Mommy, would you roll me over for some back time?" (as Lily was "talking" very loudly during tummy time)

(Erin picks up Lily) I'll take her!

Erin: You were born in Boston, Bear.
Claire: I was born in Possum, Wiwwy!

Watching a YouTube video of James Taylor and "playing" along. But look at her form, holding that ukulele!

Erin: I'm trying to figure out what that big ol' truck is doing. (watching an 18-wheeler that couldn't pick a lane)
Claire: (watched truck for a moment) Mommy, that big ol' truck is just driving.

(watching Finding Nemo) Nemo's daddy isn't wearing a puddle jumper (child's life jacket).

(after her first viewing of a movie on a big screen) I miss the movie! Maybe sometime I can go back to the movie.

Today is waffle punkin day!

Claire: What's this?
Brad: It's a hushpuppy.
Claire, looking around: Where??

(Lily is crying; we are letting her cry it out a little. Claire, through the monitor in her own room while trying to fall asleep) Does she need someone?

Claire: I'm getting bigger and bigger. Like Jesus.
Erin: I know. Could you stop?
Claire: But...would you let me grow up, please? Like Jesus?

This girls slays me, y'all.