Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a Happy Turkey Day! Since the last post we have been busy with Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas. As you can see Amy has got into the Christmas spirit with her Santa PJ's. In case you can't read her shirt it says "Whatever Santa doesn't bring me Grandma will". Thanksgiving was pretty quiet with just the four of us but we still indulged in all the good food :-) The girls and I have done more Christmas shopping and today Amy was a HUGE help to mummy with putting up all of the Christmas decorations. Of course when it came to decorating the tree she would put all the decorations on one branch (at her height) and kind of throw them at the branch thinking they would somehow magically stick to the tree. It took some convincing from mummy to explain that we needed to spread out the decorations.

We've also made progress this week with converting the upstairs game room into the girls playroom. We sold the pool table so now we just need to sell the gamepod chairs and the girls will have about 1/3 of the top floor to use as their play area. I've started looking for furniture and activities for them up there. It will truly be a Daddy Daycare!

On Tuesday this week we are all going to get some professional photos taken. So you guessed it - they'll be included on our Christmas cards! Well not much else to report this week, will post again next week.

Dad and his girls

I finally have been able to post a picture of Jerad with his hair cut-off!! The bonus is that his two girls are in the shot too. It's a pity Amy had her eyes shut though. Another quiet week for us - we pretty much just stayed home. I worked on some odd jobs around the house and both Jerad and I cleaned out our closets and donated 3 trash bags full of clothes to Goodwill. I have my 6 week post-partum follow-up this morning, so hopefully all is well there.

Caitlyn keeps growing and changing each day. We can really see a difference in her face as it fills out more. She has also started to smile a lot which is very cute. She is starting to outgrow some of her newborn clothing because her legs and arms are too long. It's also great to see Amy interacting with her all the time. She is always wanting to give Caitlyn kisses. She also helps with diaper changes, dressing her and holding her (with help from mummy or daddy of course). While I don't want them to grow up too quick I am looking forward to a time when they can play together. I think they will be really close with each other. I was worried that Amy might be a little jealous of Caitlyn but she has adjusted really well.

Next week I will be planning on finishing most of the Christmas shopping, now if only I knew exactly what I was going to buy.......Then before we know it Tim and Deb will be here for their vacation. They arrive on the 7th and then they have a trip to Dallas planned to see the Giants beat the Cowboys (I'm not a Giants fan but no-one in this household is a Dallas fan, that's for sure!); they also will be flying to Washington DC to see some friends and while there have a side trip to New York planned, then it is back to San Antonio for Christmas before heading home again. They certainly have a busy schedule while they are here. I also have to start planning what to do for Christmas dinner for all of us. So it looks like a lot of planning for me next week.

Too cute not to share

Just recorded this today as Amy showed us her big sister skills. I was warming up some milk so we could see for the first time how Caitlyn would take a bottle. While I was doing that Amy helped look after her little sister. What was even cuter but we didn't get on camera was Amy sitting on the couch feeding Caitlyn the bottle!

Can't believe it's November already

No photos this week I am afraid - we've busy and I've been slack and haven't really taken any. I promise I'll do better next week. Our week started on Monday with taking Grandma Liz to the airport so she could go home. Amy was pretty bummed that she left but she handled it well (for a toddler). Tuesday we all just stayed at home until it was time for swimming lessons. She is getting better but still apprehensive about putting her little face in the water to blow bubbles. Since it was such a nice day on Wednesday we all went to the zoo with a packed lunch. We had fun walking around the zoo and showing Amy all the animals. It was a busy day there with a number of bus loads of school kids, but it was still fine getting around and seeing the animals. Jerad then went for a ride on the train with Amy while Caitlyn and I went and found a table in the park for us to eat lunch. Thursday was just another day at home.

Friday was Caitlyn's 1 month check up - she now weighs 8lb 12 oz (so nearly 3 lbs in a month!) and is 21 inches long. She is certainly growing like a weed. The doctor was very pleased with how she is doing and commented how strong she seems to be with holding her head up and her firm grip she has. She warned us that Caitlyn may roll over etc sooner than average - so we need to be careful. I took Amy to the appointment as well so that she could see that not every time you go to the doctors you get needles. That is all poor Amy associates with the doctors at the moment as she has only ever been for her regularly scheduled check-ups which at her age involve vaccinations (i.e. never been sick to go to the doctor for any other reason). Saturday was of course Little Gym. Some sad news there - Miss Vickie is leaving after next week to go into the air force. She has been Amy's instructor since we started going there, so that is a bummer. On the plus side though Amy was invited to Blake's 2nd birthday party next week out at Medina Lake. Looking forward to that, although mummy will need some help in selecting a gift for a 2 year old boy - I have no idea what to get! Lastly, Sunday started with the girls walking to the park then coming home and helping daddy plant some flowers in the window boxes. It's hard to believe it's November already and before we know it Christmas will be here.

Halloween 2008

Another busy week for the Clay Family. During the week Mum and I took the girls to the San Antonio Zoo. It was a fun day for all (Caitlyn slept the whole time basically). Amy was a little unsure of most of the animals and mainly observed them from a distance. I have paid for a family membership there so we can go as many times as we want until the end of October next year. I think it will be a fun thing to do throughout the year and they have different activities on over the year too. After we had looked around the zoo Amy and I went for a ride on the train around Brackenridge Park. It was well worth the wait and Amy enjoyed it too.

But the highlight of the week would be Halloween of course. Amy dressed up in her Little Red Riding Hood costume in the afternoon and then hit Welsh Valley to go trick or treating for the first time. She was so adorable and even though she couldn't say "Trick or Treat" she smiled, waved and blew kisses to everyone. She certainly was able to fill her little basket with candy. We then came home so we could hand out candy to the other trick or treaters. Amy helped me hand out candy to the first three or so but then was sick and tired of getting up and down to open the door so just sat on the stairs and watched from there (still waving to people though :-) Caitlyn also enjoyed the festivities by sleeping on Grandma's lap. You can see her stash of candy too!! Amy also got to have her first taste of chocolate and loved it!! Our neighbors also stopped by earlier in the evening with a basket FULL of candy for Amy. We were shocked, we thought they were going to let Amy just take a piece or two but the whole basket was for her. Needless to say I am sure her father will help her finish off some of it.

This is Mum's last night with us and she heads home tomorrow. I'm not sure who'll be more upset - her or Amy. I think they have both enjoyed the visit. It will be a shock for poor Amy to not have her Grandma here to wait on her hand and foot.