Amy & Caitlyn's Blog

Breakfast at Mummy's office and Spring has sprung

2011-03-23T18:49:00.007-05:00

What a busy couple of weeks we have had. It had been a few months since the girls had visited the office and they wanted to see Collette (a lady I work with) so they came in early one morning to have breakfast tacos with us before going to pre-school. Of course they were all excited and didn't actually eat much but oh well they had fun. In fact the following week we had picked up Collette on the way to work as she had dropped her car off for a service. When we stopped to let Collette out at the office on the way to pre-school poor little Caitlyn was all upset because she thought we'd all be getting out and having breakfast together again.

On Wednesday this week Amy was in a play at pre-school. It was called "the tall tall grass". Each of the kids were a different animal and Amy was a Firefly. She was so excited because she was the only one with props....a flashlight! At the end of the play she thanked everyone for coming to watch. It was so cute. I am still finishing decorating both Amy and Caitlyn's bedrooms and I'm nearly done. Last weekend the shelves I bought them were put up and in Caitlyn's room she has a clock and growth chart up too. Caitlyn also finally is out of her crib and into a toddler bed. Two weeks ago she was climbing out of it when I put her down for a nap so I converted it to the toddler bed. She has done really well too. Knowing her I was expecting that she would get out of it when I pit her to bed at night, but she hasn't. She goes to bed really well and stays there for the night!

This weekend we have had lots of time outside planting flowers in our garden beds. I bought the girls each their own watering can. Caitlyn ended up taking a nap but Amy was a big help in the garden. She had an important job of stacking all the empty plastic pots after I had planted and then she went around with her watering can watering all the flowers. Of course she would only let me pick pink, purple or white flowers. But I think it will look really pretty as they all bloom. Today nothing excited planned, just grocery shopping and laundry. But we may go to the park again this afternoon since it is so nice outside.

Snow in San Antonio and Amy turns 4!

2011-02-19T19:21:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe we have been back in the US for 3 weeks now. Sorry to those of you who read this blog, I have been REALLY slack and haven't updated this for months. So to bring you all up to date since October.......the girls and I moved to our new house in November, then Grandma Liz came to visit us for a month and spent Thanksgiving with us. Then the 4 of us flew back to Australia for 5 weeks to spend Christmas there and celebrate Grandma Liz's 60th birthday. I was so worried about flying that far with the 2 girls but I have to say they both behaved really well. They are little experts at getting through airport security!

So we left extreme heat in Australia and came back to San Antonio where the temperature has been all over the board. One day it was 80 and 2 days later it got down to 9 overnight and we woke up to snow. OK - so it's not like you can ski in it or anything but this is San Antonio and we don't get snow often. So of course as soon as the sun came up the girls and I headed out to play in the driveway and the sidewalk (of course as soon as the sun came up it started to melt too). It may be years before they ever see snow again so I had to make sure they got to see it.

Last weekend Amy turned 4! It was also Devyn's 1st birthday, so we headed over to Devyn's party and Ashley also had a little cake for Amy. It was a fun party and the kids got to play all afternoon. Amy did very well with gifts - Grandpa Jeffrey bought her a scooter & helmet. Of course since Amy got a ride on outdoor toy Caitlyn got one too (a pink radio-flyer trike)! We've also got some new DVD's and Grandma Liz is buying a Disney Princess T/DVD combo. This weekend while the girls are at Jerad's I am decorating Amy's room. I have bought her a new "big girl" bed and bedding from Pottery Barn. So by Monday she'll have a pink and brown room with ballerina/dance accents. I guess it's time to move on from the Winnie the Pooh nursery stuff.

Caitlyn's 2nd Birthday

2010-10-17T13:21:00.004-05:00

We had a busy week last week as we celebrated Caitlyn's 2nd Birthday. She had a great time!! We went to Gymboree and all the kiddies loved playing on all the equipment, dancing and trying to catch bubbles. The birthday girl wore the cutest little outfit and loved being the center of attention. After all the playing was over we went into the party room for cupcakes, ice-cream and juice boxes :-) It was a really great place for the party as the activities accommodated a range of ages. All the boys and girls seemed to really have a good time.

Caitlyn received some lovely gifts (clothes, dolls, books and toys). Now Amy is asking when will it be her birthday.... Last week Caitlyn also had her 2 year well visit at the doctors and she now weighs 25lb 10oz and is 34 3/4" tall. She is a little bigger than Amy was at the same age but seems to be the same as Amy in that she is tall for her age (75th percentile) and fairly lean (only in the 35th percentile for weight).

Amy is a little sick this weekend with an ear infection, so it is antibiotics again for her at the moment. I am going to follow-up with her pediatrician next week as I think she will need a consult with an ENT and possibly tubes to stop these recurrent ear infections. But for now she is having some Mummy/Amy time, getting cuddles and watching some of her favorite movies.

Next week the girls and I are going out with Blake and his family to the pumpkin patch to enjoy all the Fall activities, paint pumpkins, build scarecrows etc. Then the following week is Halloween, so trick or treating for sure. Will post more pics then.

Cheeky little ones growing up so fast

2010-08-28T09:29:00.003-05:00

Once again I seem to have taken forever to update this blog. Sorry to those of you who like to read it often. These days I am just so busy and wiped out by the end of the day I just never seem to get around to doing it. A couple of weeks ago the girls and I went and had some photos taken so I figured it would be nice to post some recent pics. Fortunately this time they both behaved really well and I was able to get some really cute pictures. I know I say it often but it continues to amaze me how quickly they are both growing up. Amy develops more little personality (a.k.a attitude) every day and Caitlyn doesn't seem to be afraid of anything and is always getting into something. Caitlyn still doesn't talk much really but is saying more words now. I guess she will be just like her sister in that Amy didn't talk until she was at least 2 1/2.

Caitlyn's 2nd birthday is next month and I have booked a small party at Gymboree. I'm sure the kids will love the play area and who doesn't love cake and ice-cream afterward? I bought her the cutest little outfit with the number 2 on the front for the birthday girl. Amy is still doing her ballet and tap at daycare and they have a concert coming up in the fall at the Boerne Dance Festival. While I'm sure all the little ones will probably have a hard enough time standing in line I'm sure it will be cute to see all the little ones perform for us.

We're all getting excited about our trip to Australia too at the end of the year. Let's just hope the excitement lasts for the length of the flights!!

Summer is here

2010-06-05T07:13:00.005-05:00

It didn't take long for the hot weather to start in San Antonio. These photos were taken Memorial Day weekend when the girls were with their Dad. They love splashing in the water. Amy gets to swim twice a week at Daycare and she really looks forward to it. She asks every morning "Are we swimming at pre school today?". Caitlyn is a little more apprehensive of the water but once she is in there she has fun too. It will be fun during the summer though being able to take the girls to the pool!

On Monday they are both moving up to new classes with new teachers. Hopefully they will adjust OK. Caitlyn is usually OK and likes just having a new room with new toys. But Amy gets attached to her teachers and likes routine so changing teachers she can get a little upset.

Last Saturday the girls had fun at Olivia Garner's 1st birthday party. They got to decorate party hats with all kinds of stickers and glitter and of course Amy had to find the little fake gems and add some bling to hers! Then they got to enjoy birthday cake (made even better because it was ice-cream cake!) Yesterday we went and had lunch with Ashley, Chris, Blake & Devyn at Sea Island. Despite the 90 degree weather the kids wanted to play on the slide. The poor little things looked so hot and Amy's face was nearly as pink as Mummy's shirt. They had fun though.

We are now getting excited because Uncle Tim will be here to visit soon. Mummy may have to produce the Elmo guitar Tim bought Caitlyn for Christmas and make it go off at some opportune time (like when he is trying to sleep in) then he will realize there is no volume control nor off switch and the slightest little movement sets the bloody thing off.

Easter and Spring 2010

2010-04-24T08:21:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe Easter has now been and gone. This year is just going by too fast. Both of the girls are continuing to grow and develop their own little personalities. They both of course were excited about Easter and Caitlyn got the hang of hunting for Easter eggs really quickly. She loved snacking on the goodies that were inside the eggs. Amy has had a few ongoing problems with her asthma and is off to see an asthma/allergy specialist on May 10. At the moment they think it is more allergy related and the poor little girl is now taking 2 more medications. Hopefully after May 10 we'll get it more controlled.

They are both still having fun at daycare and each day they seem to come home with new stories or activities. In the last couple of weeks Caitlyn has been naughty and bit a few kids in her class when they try to get a toy off her. Of course the situation is not helped when big sissy sits there and tells how good she is and that she doesn't bite! (Thanks Amy for rubbing it in). Amy will sit there and recite all the rules to Caitlyn.................no biting, no pinching, no pushing etc and then on Friday on the drive to daycare we hear No throwing mulch! I'm like where did that come from :-) Amy loves her rules and of course Caitlyn just laughs at her.

With it starting to get warmer we'll be going for a swim each week. I bought the girls the cutest new little swimming outfits (matching of course), so I'll get some pictures when we're at the pool for the next post.

Spring is here!

2010-03-27T06:48:00.004-05:00

The cold weather seems to be finally behind us and we are having some great sunny days (which is nice on the weekends!) It's hard to believe it will soon be Easter. March has been another fun month for us girls and we are certainly reaching some milestones. As many of you know potty training with Amy started over a year ago. Since that time I have tried getting her to use a potty, a step-stool with a Dora toilet ring and tried bribing her with M&M's, Tinkerbell underpants (whatever it would take). But she just refused to even sit on the potty (clothed or not). She would scream and stiffen up so I would let it go and try again in a couple of weeks time. I was starting to think she will be at school still in diapers. Well about 2 weeks ago we were at babies R Us buying diapers and Amy announces she wants a pink potty. I thought great so of course I buy the one she wants. We get home and for 3 days she wouldn't go anywhere near it and even told me I can take it back to the store. One night before bath I had Caitlyn undressed and sat her on the potty. Low and behold she tinkled in the potty - little sissy used the potty before Amy! The other night out of the blue while I was on the phone with Tim, Amy walks into my bedroom naked with the potty and she had pooped in the potty all by herself :-) Now for the last week while she is at home she tinkles and poops in the potty, no prompting necessary! She will undress herself and go and use the potty. Looks like friendly competition from Caitlyn did the trick. We are going out this weekend to buy her some more underpants. Although she did tell Grandpa Jeffrey the other night that he had to buy her Tinkerbell underpants.

Amy is so funny with little things she does - she certainly won't do anything until she is ready. Each day now it seems she comes home from preschool with the funniest little phrases and mannerisms. She is so brutally honest too. In the bath the other week I was washing her hair and told her how her hair is getting darker like Mummy's, she said "Yes, dark like you and silver". Gotta love it when your child points out you have grey hair. Caitlyn too - she isn't talking yet but has her own little personality. She is so loving too, she loves to give kisses now and wave goodbye. When I pick the girls up from preschool I get Caitlyn first and take her to Amy's class room. All of Amy's friends come up to me and want to play with Caitlyn so I put her down on the floor and all the little boys and girls hug each other and say goodbye every afternoon. It is so cute to watch!

The girls were with their Dad last weekend and he took some cute pictures of them sitting in a field of blue bonnets. It was cute seeing them hug each other. Another nice Spring weekend coming up this weekend too. So we will be off to the park today for sure.

Growing up way too fast

2010-02-28T07:12:00.003-06:00

It's been another busy 2 weeks for the girls and they are both growing up so fast. The phrases that now come out of Amy's mouth continue to shock/entertain me everyday! Not to mention the fact that she is only 3 - god help me at 13. The other night (like most nights) I was asking Amy if she wanted to use the potty. She told me "No, just at pre-school." We then had a bath and after bath I asked her again. She refused again and I said "Well you use it at pre-school." Her response, "Actually.....no I don't." I guess you had to be there to hear her attitude. I had to turn away so she didn't see me laugh. And her latest word of the week seems to be "Remember?" For example..........."I told you last week Momma. Remember?" Where does she get this stuff? She also bugged me for the last 2 weeks to get her hair cut. Since she has never really been to the hairdresser and she is so into her hair clips etc I kept asking her if she was sure. Apparently she wanted to get her haircut like Emily's (a little girl in her class). Peer pressure at 3 - my god. So after 2 weeks of nagging I took her to the hairdresser yesterday to get her haircut. It does look adorable, just cut to her shoulders. She says she is a big girl now! Of course the big girl won't let me get a photo of the new hair style.

Caitlyn is an expert walker now and gets upset with me if I try and carry her to the car. When we leave the apartment in the morning she walks from the living room out to the garage and then tries to climb up into the car. She has also learned how to give real kisses and is so cute when she says "Uh-oh". There is a pause in between the sounds and real emphasis on the "oh". Somehow with all the trouble Caitlyn find I am sure she will need to use this phrase a lot!

Mummy did have one victory this week though. Monday night both of the girls decided they didn't want to eat the chicken and pasta they were given for dinner. So they got it again Tuesday night. Caitlyn nibbled a little but not our stubborn Amy. So Amy got it again Wednesday which is where I think she realized that Mummy wasn't letting up. So then on Thursday night they both ate all their carrots and peas!! Too scared that they may have been able to predict Friday's dinner I guess.

Amy turns 3!

2010-02-14T09:06:00.004-06:00

Well another month has flown by for us and the girls are just grwoing up way too fast. Fortunately we have not had any more illnesses to worry about so that is good news. Caitlyn is now walking everywhere and getting into absolutely everything, more often than not things she shouldn't be in of course. I don't normally give her messy food to eat as I usually prefer a peaceful dinner for the 3 of us (i.e. mummy wants to be able to eat her dinner without tidying up mess every 30 seconds). However, the other night I gave her some of my spaghetti and sauce - she went to town. Absolutely loved it!! She of course got her hands and face messy but for the first time didn't actually drop half of her meal on the floor. She had a tantrum when it was time to get down from the table! She was having so much fun eating it I couldn't resist to take photos.

We also had a fun week this week - Blake is now officially a big brother, I went to visit his new baby sister Devyn in the hospital on Tuesday. Amy was all disappointed because she wanted to go to and didn't understand why she wasn't allowed in with the newborns. In a few weeks we'll visit at home though and then I'm sure her and Blake will be in their element. Then of course it was Amy's birthday yesterday. I didn't plan any big party this year, we just went across the road to Brindles and had some yummy ice-cream. The girls then went to their Dad's and kept on celebrating I'm sure. She did get some lovely gifts though and of course Tinkerbell featured in there. She also now has an adorable dance bag for her ballet and tap stuff. I also got her a cute little girls charm bracelet. It came with a heart charm and I also bought her a fairy charm (since that certainly reminds me of what she is into at this age). I will be taking Amy for her 3 year check-up tomorrow so we'll see how much she has grown and hopefully find out whether she needs to continue with the twice daily pulmicort.

Things are tough for us right now with everything that is happening but I am so blessed to have those 2 little girls in my life. I love watching them grow and change and develop their own little personalities. No matter how tired and exhausted you are at the end of the day getting a hug and a kiss from them before bedtime each night is my idea of perfect!

A new year

2010-01-17T06:32:00.002-06:00

Here is the first post of 2010. We didn't really do anything to bring in the New Year, in fact didn't even make it to midnight (but what's new there!) Amy has been able to start back at daycare after her month off recuperating. She is in a new class with new teachers but seems to be adjusting well. She is especially excited because now she is old enough to start the ballet classes they have on a Thursday. While Grandpa Jeffrey was here we went and bought her leotard and shoes that she needs. She looks so damn cute. This week they are doing tap which I think will become her favorite because she loves putting the tap shoes on and dancing in the kitchen on the hard floor already.
Caitlyn on the other hand continues to be my "mischievous" child. She is 1 and I already had to the front office! She bit someone at school the other week while fighting over a toy. Thankfully she hasn't repeated it. She is walking more though and is very proud of all the extra things she can do now (usually revolves around getting into some cabinet she shouldn't be in. She had her 15 month check up on the 7th Jan and she is now 30.75" and 21lb 14oz. She's like her sister though in that she is not saying any words yet. So she probably won't talk until she after her 2nd birthday too.
Grandpa Jeffrey went home on the 8th and we miss him. While he was here Amy had an obsession with counting red cars and McDonald's. So now during the week we keep a tally so that she can tell him on Sunday's when he calls how many she has seen. Both girls have also seemed to carry on the game of squirting water on me while in the bath. Thanks for teaching them that one Grandpa Jeff!
It has been really cold here in San Antonio (well for Sth TX anyway). However, I'm about to get a lot colder when I head to Boston tomorrow for the week. I think the high all week is 38. Hopefully there are no snow related travel delays. I am busy today washing and getting the girls stuff ready for them to spend the week with Jerad. So I'll go and finish that and post again later.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T09:40:00.006-06:00

What a busy week we have had. Grandpa Jeffrey arrived last Friday and while Amy isn't allowed back to daycare until the New Year (because of her pneumonia/asthma) she has been spending her days with him (telling him what to do!). Last Sunday we went to Jennifer Garner's house to decorate Christmas cookies. Amy was a little shy at first but was then having a great time with all the other kids. During the week I took Dad and the girls downtown for dinner and a ride on the boat along the Riverwalk so we could see all the Christmas lights. It was a long wait in line for the boat but definitely worth it once we got on - Amy loved it and wanted to stay on the boat. Caitlyn was looking all around too and clapping her hands. Although little Caitlyn fell alseep pretty quickly on the way home in the car!

Christmas morning was exciting for the girls and I think Caitlyn was better at tearing apart the wrapping than Amy. Both girls got plenty of things to play with and mum had trouble finding places to put it all. We spent Christmas lunch at the Eckert's place. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone. Caitlyn spent most of her time trying to get to the stairs and Amy loved playing outside with Stephen's daughter Maddie. Amy even came inside wanting her own scarf and digital camera so she could be like the older girls!! The most exciting Christmas present of all though would be that Caitlyn has started walking :-) She only takes a few steps at a time but it is so cute to watch. She'll be into everything now. The day after Christmas Grandpa Jeff and I took the girls to the park - where we were once again instructed on what to do by Miss Amy - this time we were to push her high on the swing. Caitlyn loves the swings too and seems to like going higher than Amy.

So long between posts

2009-11-08T07:39:00.005-06:00

To those of you that follow this blog i am sorry it has been so long between posts. Life has been very hectic and i just never seemed to find time to get to this. So here i go trying fill in the last 2 months!

September was fun when Grandma Liz came over for a 5 week visit. The girls loved it of course and Amy for some reason calls her Grandmother instead of Grandma - sounds very formal when she says it. Amy is really talking up a storm these days and singing little songs to herself - it is so cute. Caitlyn is saying sounds but not real words yet. She is really cute when she blows kisses and plays peek-a-boo. Caitlyn is a real cheeky little thing. Both of the girls are now in daycare at Country Home. Amy loves it and goes running in to play with Miss Samantha each day. It was embarassing the other day when I went to pick her up and she proceeded to tell me (in front of all the other kids) how some other kiddies had been naughty and were running in the calssroom. Hopefully she will learn in time it is not wise to tell on your classmates! Caitlyn surprised me and actually cries some mornings when I drop her off. She is usually so laid back and doesn't get bothered by much. She of course is fine within minutes of me leaving.

While Grandma was here Caitlyn turned 1. We had a little party for her at home but it was rescheduled to a week later because Amy had been sick with a tummy bug. She had a little cake all of her own but needed some encouragement to get in there and get messy with it :-) Amy loved it because she seems to think all the new toys that Caitlyn got were for her. She might as well enjoy it now because I am sure once Caitlyn is bigger I know who will win those battles out of the two of them!

Fall is here of course, so last month Blake and Amy had fun at Lovecreek Orchards (about an hour away in Medina, TX) at the Harvest Festival. They built scarecrows, painted pumpkins, petted the farm animals, went through the maze and just had a great time. Amy is also looking forward to next weekend when she goes to Blake's 3rd birthday party.

We had a bad week the other week. There was a Saturday night where poor Amy was coughing literally all night long. I took her to the med clinic on Sunday morning and we were sent to the ER at Methodist Children's. After 9 hours, blood tests, chest x-rays etc she was admitted to the intermediate care ward with pneumonia and has been diagnosed with asthma. Our poor little girl looked so tiny in that hospital bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. She was a real trooper though and takes her medicine every day, she even did well with getting her iv put in. So now we have daily albuterol and flovent morning and night. We go back to the doctor on Friday and we'll see what they say for long term treatment of her asthma.

Despite Amy just getting out of hospital we were still able to have a fun Halloween. We headed over to Jennifer's house to go trick or treating with Nicholas and Olivia. The kids all looked so cute. Amy was a pink pirate, Caitlyn a pink leopard, Nicholas was Harry Potter and Olivia was Piglet. The kids had a great time and certainly bought home plenty of candy. Mummy will be rationing it out for weeks to come.

The other exciting news is that Grandpa Jeffrey is coming to visit us for Christmas/New Year for 3 weeks. So plenty of fun to come.

Caitlyn walking (kind of)

2009-08-30T10:37:00.002-05:00

Well it was a week of firsts this week. On Tuesday Amy had her first day at daycare. She seemed to really like it and was talking to me all the way home in the car about pre-school. In fact when she got home she had a little bit of a meltdown and kept saying she wanted to go back to pre-school NOW. On Thursday however, when she had day 2 she was in tears in the morning when I dropped her off. That afternoon when I picked her up she was fine though. She said in the car that she didn't like Miss Betty (the morning teacher) but Miss Samantha in the afternoon is nice. The only downside of daycare was that Amy of course picked up a little bug and all weekend has had a runny nose and cough. She seesm to be doing well though and tells me she "feels much better after having her med-med". But then 10 minutes later she'll say she "feels terrible". I hate seeing her sick but she is so damn cute! We'll see how she does this week at daycare.

Also on Tuesday when Amy and I got home, Caitlyn had started saying her first sounds (Ba-Ba-Ba). Then this morning at breakfast Caitlyn got up herself behind the walker and started walking!! So of course I had to get a video of it. She certainly loves getting all over the place and into everything she shouldn't. It's hard to believe she will be 1 soon. Our little girl is definitely growing up fast. She has the cutest little smile and giggle. Even when she is in trouble she is a cutie.

We were going to go to Seaworld today as the weather finally seems to be out of the triple digits. But with Amy sick it will be another day at home for us.

Amy is starting Daycare

2009-08-22T16:55:00.002-05:00

Today was the last day of the summer semester at Little Gym. We have not registered for the Fall/Winter semester as there has been a change to class times. The class for Caitlyn would start at 9 and Amy not until 10:30. With the 45 minutes wait in between and the fact that your entire Saturday morning is then shot -we have decided to have a break from Little Gym for a semester. But this Tuesday Amy is starting Daycare. She is going to go 2 days a week to Country Home Learning Center (near my work) http://www.countryhomelearningcenter.com/
So on Tuesdays and Thursdays she will drive to work with mummy and then I will pick her up on my way home. I hope she has a fun time there. They provide breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks, she gets a nap after lunch and lots of play time (inside and outside) in between. Most of all I hope she makes some friends there and enjoys interacting with the other kids. I've been trying to explain to her what will be happening and for a while there she somehow had the idea she was going to Seaworld and would see Shamu! Now she tells me she is going to play with other kiddies! With Amy at Daycare it also gives Caitlyn some time just with Dad - no competition for his time from big sister. So I'm sure it will involve some golf games!!

Well I'll post some pictures later in the week on Amy's first day of daycare.

It's been a while between posts!

2009-08-08T15:02:00.003-05:00

Where does the time go? For those of you that follow the blog regularly I'm so sorry I only got around to posting once last month - no excuses I guess. Since my last post I turned 1 year older! It was a fun birthday, friends at work bought me candy, starbucks voucher, took me out for lunch and we had cake. I got another cake when I got home too - lucky I like chocolate cake!

Amy is talking up a storm everyday. She is so cute trying to sing her ABC's and counting to 10. She has even started making up her own songs and just singing away to herself (and to Caitlyn of course). It took her a while to start talking but she is doing just fine now. She of course has also mastered how to tell Caitlyn "No" when she doesn't want Caitlyn touching "her" stuff. Most of the time Caitlyn just laughs and continues doing what she wants to do anyway. Can't wait to see some more sisterly love as they grow older. All in all though they love playing with each other and I'm sure in no time they'll be scheming with one another.

I have also had my first trip away for work since Caitlyn was born with a week long trip to Boston at the end of July. Poor Jerad was counting the days until I returned I think. It was a busy week and it was nice to be in cooler weather for a change, but equally nice to get home. The heat here in San Antonio this summer is incredible. It is officially the hottest year on record with 42 days in triple digits and the summer isn't over yet! I am surprised that we have not gone to stage 3 restrictions yet - I guess I better not speak too soon.

Caitlyn turned 10 months old this week. I really can't believe where the time has gone. It doesn't seem that long ago we were adjusting to having 2 kids and now she is crawling and pulling up on furniture. She also has 7 teeth with others coming in. She has a cute little smile but definitely has a gap in her front teeth - looks like we may be up for braces if her permanent teeth come in the same way! But then again, it looked like Amy had a big gap in her front teeth when they first came in and now they are fine.

One of my favorite times with the girls is still bathtime each night. They love splashing and playing together. I place the small tub inside the big tub and usually Amy sits at the end of the bath but lately she has started getting into the small tub with Caitlyn! It's gets very squishy in there when they decide to both try and start kicking.

Caitlyn's 9 month check-up, Circus & Tinkerbell!

2009-07-12T10:48:00.005-05:00

So much has happened since our last post. Last weekend we enjoyed the 4th July weekend and went downtown to see the Ringling Brothers circus with Blake and his family. It was a great show. We were allowed in 1hour early so we could get up close to the animals and see some of the performers. Then the show itself lasted 2 hours plus an intermission. Amy and Blake loved seeing the tigers, elephants and acrobats. Mummy and Daddy were impressed with the 7 motorcycles that rode around inside a metal cage. It was certainly a full afternoon and everyone was tired that evening.
On Monday Caitlyn turned 9 months old so during the week she had her check-up visit with Dr Gideon. Caitlyn is 28" tall (70th percentile) and 18lb 6oz (40th percentile). Luckily this time she only needed 1 needle instead of 4 - she seemed to handle it OK. Big sissy went along for moral support too. Also during the week I bought a new camera since my old one had started putting this pink line through the top of the photos. When I bought the new camera I was amazed at how much you get for your money these days. I paid nearly half of what I did 5 years ago for the first digital camera I had and yet this new camera has double the features it seems and is tiny.
Jerad and I are continuing to plan for when we move back to Australia. We have my house back home on the market and then we plan to invest the profit so we can build something when we go back. So we have been looking at different house designs online and getting an idea of what we could afford.
Yesterday was time for little gym again and while we were there they have started selling little girls dance costumes (they now have a dance class for 3+ yrs). One of the costumes had Tinkerbell on it so I couldn't resist getting it for Amy. She wore it all day yesterday and it was quite the drama last night when it was time to take it off! Needless to say I have hidden it today. Amy and I also had a fun night last night - the girls "camped out" in the play room. Amy slept in her little indoor tent while mumy slept on a mattress on the floor outside the tent. Amy kept talking and talking and of course not wanting to go to sleep until well after 10pm. It was hard to get Caitlyn off to sleep in her room too as she seemed to sense she was missing out something and was crying from her bedroom. She came to the playroom with us for a little while but after 3 attempts I did get her to sleep in her crib.
This afternoon I am taking the girls downtown with Jackie, a friend of mine from work. It is the annual River City Dog Show and another lady I know, Kathy, is showing 2 of her golden retrievers in the agility course. I'm sure Amy and Caitlyn will love seeing all the dogs down there and it gets us out of the house. Maybe Amy can start training Domino and Buka after she sees how well the other dogs do :-)

Hot summer days

2009-06-28T07:19:00.002-05:00

Once again this week every day is over 100, the low at night is only 78. and we're about to go stage 3 water restrictions. Gotta love south Texas in the summer. Needless to say with this heat we stay in the air conditioning as much as possible. It's been another busy week for us. Jerad and I have been looking at options for when we move back to Australia, so step 1 has been looking into selling the house in New Lambton and then using that money to buy or build something else. At the moment we are leaning towards buying a block of land and then building something closer to the time when we would move back. There are so many things to consider with selling and moving from here, shipping things back and then getting set up back there. I'm sure we can do it though - many have done it before us. It's a bit of sticker shock though when you look at the cost of things in Australia compared to the same item here in the US.

Caitlyn now has four teeth - two on the top and bottom - she looks so cute when she smiles! She is still crawling everywhere but it doesn't look like it will be long before pulls up on the furniture and stands on her own. Amy of course still loves being the big sister and gives Caitlyn kisses all the time. It was funny yesterday with Amy when I was grocery shopping. Since she is such a "big" girl now she likes to walk rather than sit in the shopping cart. So we head off down the aisles of HEB getting groceries and Amy wants to help mummy push the cart (of course this makes it easier for mummy to push the cart and walk behind her while having Caitlyn in the sling.....not). Anyway, we're walking along and whenever someone was up ahead Amy would say "scuse me". I don't think the other shoppers knew where it was coming from - very cute though.

Not much planned for us today - just a trip to Babies R Us, off to Target to pick up some photos and then I might take the girls with me when I go to the gym this afternoon so that they can play in the Kids Club there. We might go for a quick swim too late in the afternoon. Looking forward to next week with the long weekend for 4th July. We are all headed downtown to see the circus with Blake and his family. Then we may go on Sunday night to Seaworld to see some fireworks from their "Summer Nights" show. Well until next week here's to wishing the weather cools down and hope we get some rain.

Caitlyn's crawling!

2009-06-14T11:00:00.002-05:00

Well i tried to post last week with a cute video of the girls but the video wouldn't upload. So we got another this week of Caitlyn starting to crawl.

Last week was a busy week this week not made any easier when both Amy and I had a bad stomach bug on Wednesday night. It was a long night - if Amy wasn't being sick, mummy was. Poor little girl ended up having another bath and change of clothes and then she finally got down to sleep again in the wee hours of the morning. Amy bounced right back by the next morning (of course) - but it took Mummy until the weekend. Daddy also had an upset belly for a few days too. Thankfully Caitlyn wasn't affected by it at all. Amy has been saying more words each day - for some reason she likes to make a face like a pirate so she shows that off for the camera too! Caitlyn is almost crawling too, she pulls herself forward with one arm while her legs are out behind her. When she rolls from her back to her belly she almost has her knees in the right position to crawl but then for some reason just flattens her legs and drags herself along instead. It's amazing how much speed she gets though when she is trying to reach something of interest. I know I've said it before but it is amazing how quickly both the girls are growing up and changing. It's fun to see them together and developing their own little personalities but sad too that they aren't little forever.

Amy started her summer semester at the Little Gym last Saturday and thankfully some of the kids from the prior semester are in her class again, so she knows some kiddies. The Little Gym has also started to offer a new class for 3 yr and older to do half dance and half gym. So next year I'd like to get her started in that. Especially since she loves music and dance. Caitlyn will be old enough to start at Little Gym too next semester. Hopefully the girls classes will be back to back.

Today is Father's Day here in the US. The girls bought Daddy the new Tiger Woods golf game for the Wii. I'm sure there'll be plenty of playing this game while mummy is at work. Later today Blake and his parents are coming over for a BBQ. That should be fun and we may go for a swim after lunch since it is so hot. Will post some pics next week.

Show-week at Little Gym & Caitlyn turns 8 months old

2009-06-06T18:04:00.003-05:00

Amy had fun this morning at Little Gym. It was the end of the Winter/Spring semester so she got to show off all the skills she had learned and took great delight in showing everyone how she can reach for the bar and swing (repeatedly!) Caitlyn was of course there to cheer her on too. Amy is starting to say more words each day it seems and finally will say her name. Another "skill" she asquired during the least 2 weeks was waking up in the middle of the night and going downstairs in the dark to sleep on the couch. She never cried or came to wake us up - just woke up and found her down there. Daddy got a bit of a shock when her was downstairs and heard this "Hi Dadda!". Needless to say Mummy will be closing the gate at the top of the stairs each night from now on. Speaking of sleeping habits, this week was the first week that Caitlyn consistently slept for 8+ hours each night - way to go Caitlyn. It won't be long before Caitlyn is crawling, she already drags herself forward on her belly with one arm. She can certainly get to wherever it is she wants to go.

Today the girls went to get some photos taken of Caitlyn and then we went for a walk around Barnes & Noble. Amy picked out a book about Little Girls using the Potty and we sat down in the Starbucks within the store to have a drink and share a blueberry scone. Amy quite liked licking the cream and chocolate from the top of my mint mocha chip frappacino. We don't really have any plans for tomorrow so we'll see what the day brings.

Caitlyn sits up on her own

2009-05-25T15:47:00.003-05:00

Today Caitlyn sat up on her for the first time!! Up until now she has been rolling to wherever she wants to go but whenever you tried to sit her up she would arch her back and lay down. But not today - I was on the computer this morning and when I turned around she was sitting there smiling at me. You could tell she was so proud of herself. She seems to be more mobile than Amy was at that age. Already pulling up on things - so I lowered her crib yesterday. We think she is teething again because she has been waking up more than usual and just a little grumpy some times with bright red cheeks. Poor little thing. She has the cutest little smile right now with her two front bottom teeth shwoing. Amy is loving her "big girl" bed. I converted it when we got back from vacation. She is such a good little sleeper. She will walk upstairs with me around 8:30 each night, climbs into bed herself, lays on her tummy, I pull the covers up and kiss her good night and then we don't see her until 7:30 the next morning. Hopefully Caitlyn will inherit this trait too (although given her track record it is doubtful).
It's hard to believe our vacation was over 2 weeks ago. I can't believe how quickly the weeks are going by. It's Memorial Weekend here so it's nice to have a long weekend. On Saturday we went to work friend's place for a BBQ. Amy loved it because hamburgers were involved :-) Oh and Michael had baked some yummy brownies for dessert - so we all enjoyed that. With the long weekend it has also meant that Jerad got to play golf twice. So while Daddy was playing golf the girls went shopping. There were some really good sales that's for sure! Yesterday when we were at Lowes we picked up some really nice hanging baskets overflowing with petunias. So Amy helped me pot them when we got home and felt very important using her pink watering can to water them when Mummy was done. We had a few showers yesterday afternoon so Amy also enjoyed running around in the rain barefoot on the grass.
Amy is starting to talk more and more and picking up new words each day. The cutest this week is when she asks for grapes (sounds like gipps). But at least she knows to say please (peeezzz). The other cute one is when she says "Oh no" (imagine it with a Scottish accent if you will).
It sounds like Daddy needs some help peeling the shrimp for the grill tonight so I'd better go. Til next week.............

Port Aransas continued

2009-05-09T15:16:00.003-05:00

We are back from vacation now, but we had a great time. Amy and Caitlyn both enjoyed going to the beach each morning and swimming in the pool in the afternoon. Daddy managed to fit in 3 games of golf while we were there (but we won't mention how many balls he lost) - it looks like Tiger's status is safe. Most nights Amy also got to watch her Tinkerbell DVD, so she was happy with that. The dogs loved being able to run on the beach. Although when Buka was catching the ball she did get a few mouthfuls of sand and salt water. On Wednesday we went for a drive to Corpus Christi and went through the Texas State Aquarium. It was really neat - they had all of the displays at a height that Amy could see easily. She loved the otters, sting rays, dolphins and turtles. While we were there we saw the show they had with birds and Daddy got invited up on stage while a hawk flew directly toward him. Unfortunately we didn't get a good photo as the bird was way too quick. After the Aquarium we went next door to Pier 99 restaurant for some more seafood. Thursday was another day of golf for Daddy so the girls went shopping (of course). I stopped in at a local shop called "Popsicle Toes", they do custom fit toe rings. We also went to a souvenir shop and bought 2 t-shirts. It was pretty cool, you could choose from hundereds of decals and they make the shirt up for you while you're there.

The video I included is Amy's second day at the beach. It's hard to hear her over the wind in the background. Jerad also added a slideshow to the blog which appears at the top. Well we're back in San Antonio now and of course it's only May and already reaching 100 F each day (great!)

Port Aransas

2009-05-04T07:33:00.009-05:00

Well our vacation has finally started. We started our Saturday with the usual trip to Little Gym and then went home to finish packing. We then had an uneventful drive to Port Aransas and checked in a little early to the house we rented "Tropical Niche". It is a really nice 3 bed / 2 bath house with plenty of space. The dogs like it too as there is plenty of room for them. We didn't really feel like cooking so we went out for dinner to a seafood restaurant called "Castaways" and came home for an early night. But Sunday was a fun and tiring day. After breakfast we went to the local grocery store to pick up some things and then we came home and got ready to walk to the beach. We packed the beach bag and umbrella and the 4 of us set off for the beach. From the house to get to the beach was about 3/4 mile walk. Beaches here are not like Newcastle - there are very lengthy boardwalks to take to get to the actual sand. But we made it there just to find out that you can actually drive onto the beach! So you can guess what we did in the afternoon - we purchased a pass to be able to drive and park on the beach. It must be a US thing too because in general most cars don't drive on the beach and you're usually not able to because the sand is so soft. Here it is moist and hard and all types of cars and vans are on the beach. Anyway - Amy then got to experience the ocean water. Caitlyn did too, although from the safety of the sling and holding on to Mummy. Amy was a little hesitant at first not wanting the water to touch her feet but when she saw Mummy and Daddy doing it she gave it a shot. She loved it and was wanting to walk out deeper (and by that I mean just up over her knees!). Luckily Daddy was standing next to her for the first 2 times she got knocked over and got a mouthful of salt water. I was sure she would be not wanting to go back in the water after that - but she did, she loved it. I took her a bucket and spade to dig and make a sand castle but she wasn't interested, just wanted to keep playing in the water. After all the activity and walk back to the house it was time for lunch and a nap. Directly across from the house is a pool so we went out in the afternoon to buy some floaties for the girls to use in the pool. I didn't want Caitlyn missing out. So we then came back home and we all went for a swim in the pool. Amy loved laying back and floating around the pool. Caitlyn just hng out with Mummy and was nearly asleep again. Both Jerad and I can't believe how warm the ocean and pool water is at this time of year. Not complaining at all, just pleasantly surprised. Today we'll have more beach and pool time and Daddy is going to play golf in the afternoon. There is an Arnold Palmer course next door to where we are staying. We'll have to see how he does playing with an ocean breeze!

Count down to vacation

2009-04-27T20:40:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe it's nearly May and we will soon be headed to the beach for our vacation. Since my last post we have had another 2 trips to Seaworld. The weekend afternoons have been so nice so we headed out to SeaWorld for the last 2 weekends just for a couple of hours each time. We saw the Viva and Shamu shows - they were both great but I think the favorite is Viva with the diving and acrobats along with the dolphins and beluga whales. Plenty of music for Miss Amy to dance along to as well. On Sunday we went there with Renae, Dave and Luke - it was Luke's 2nd birthday. The kids played in Shamu's Happy Harbor and Amy went on her first ride with me - it was like a toddlers ferris wheel is the best way to describe it. I wasn't sure how she would do, but she seemed to love it. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me but hopefully Renae will email some photos to me.

Amy also had her 6 month visit to the dentist and did very well. She was most pleased when Dr Ochoa gave her a pink toothbrush to take home. She held on to it all day, but then she could have worse habits I guess. The other big news is Caitlyn now has 2 teeth!! She looks so cute when she smiles and you see the bottom 2 teeth. Amy has also finally started to talk somewhat and gladly tells us how old she is, when she wants to get down from the table and of course No when she doesn't want to take her bath right now. Well next post I should have photos to share from our trip to Port Aransas - can't wait :-)

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T17:19:00.004-05:00

What a fun Easter weekend we all had! During the week Cailtyn had her 6 month check-up. She is the same height and weight that Amy was at that age (15lb 13oz and 26 1/4 in). Caitlyn of course was not impressed with the 4 vaccinations it involved but our little girl was brave and by the time we were back in the car she was doing OK. She was sleepy for most of the rest of the day. That afternoon Daddy, Amy and I decorated Easter eggs. We even got fancy using a white crayon to make patterns on the eggs then of course we had to finish the masterpieces with some Sesame Street stickers.

Saturday was our usual morning at Little Gym. Daddy had a game of golf so it was just the girls Saturday morning, so after Little Gym we went to the shops of course and we stopped for a drink and cookie at Starbucks! Easter Sunday it looked like it was going to be a miserable day with wind and rain, but it cleared up in the morning and the afternoon was perfect weather in the 80's. When Amy got up in the morning we all headed downstairs to see what the Easter Bunny had left us. Despite my better judgement Amy did get to have chocolate for breakfast :-) We all headed out to Blake's house for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt. Ashely and Chris have a beautiful home out toward Lake Medina and had prepared a really nice lunch. There were two other kids there and some of their neighbours. After lunch the kids grabbed their Easter baskets and started the hunt for the 50 odd eggs hidden throughout the front yard. The kids loved it - especially when they realized there were toys and chocolates hidden inside the eggs. The kids had some more play time and then it was time to head home for a nap. But once we got home Daddy "watched" the Masters while the girls and I kept playing upstairs. Our neighbours Mandy and Dave visited after dinner with more Easter presents for the girls. Amy got a cute little teddy bear with Jelly Beans and Caitlyn got a cute little snow globe with a bunny inside. All in all it was a fun weekend but I think it wore everyone out :-)

Playing in the Park

2009-04-08T07:43:00.003-05:00

Another fun week for the Clay Family. Friday night we went to the zoo for "Feast with the Beasts". From 6:30-9:30 there were food vendors at the zoo and once you paid admission you could have as much as you wanted to eat and drink from the various booths. We had BBQ, mexican, ice-cream and all sorts of goodies. There were also games and prizes for the kids, face painting and people dressed up in costume. The one thing we came to find out was that Amy does not like the costumes at all!!! She would start crying when we approached them so rather than try and get her photo with some of the characters we just kept walking :-)
Sunday was a nice day and in the afternoon we went to the park. There were a lot of kids there but Amy still had fun and enjoyed swinging and climbing on the equipment. Obviously all her practice at Little Gym is paying off. Caitlyn was content just sitting in the sling with mummy while Daddy supervised Amy. This week Caitlyn turns 6 months old and we have doctor appointment today for her regular check-up. Unfortunately it also means more vaccinations for our baby girl. Can't believe Easter is nearly here - we will be decorating eggs and on the weekend we are heading to Amy's friend Blake's house for an Easter Egg hunt - so that will be fun. Will post more and some pics on the weekend :-)

Amy loved the Big Bird show at Seaworld

2009-03-29T07:07:00.003-05:00

It's been a fun 2 weeks for us. We ended up going to Seaworld last Sunday as the weekend before it was too cold (yes believe it or not it got really cold here in San Antonio in March!). Jerad and I can't believe that we had not been to Seaworld before now, considering it is only 6 miles from our house. It was such a great afternoon. When we first arrived we went to line up and see the Big Bird Beach Party show. We were sitting right down the front and at first i wasn't sure how Amy would react to the crowds and the noise etc, but she loved it. Her little eyes lit up when she saw Big Bird and Elmo and all the characters she knows from the TV show. Being a kids show they had a lot of music and songs and encouraged the kids to get up and dance as well. So she loved standing of the seat and clapping her hands along with everyone else. Cailtyn even seemed to enjoy it. After that we headed over to the Dolphin Cove where she was able to lean against the angled wall and look down into the pool of dolphins (Jerad standing behind her to support her of course!). She was fascinated watching the dolphins as they were being fed. Then it was time to go to the Sea Lion show. This was one packed with people so I stayed with Caitlyn asleep in her stroller up the back while Jerad took Amy down closer. It was a fun one to watch with them doing their tricks and getting the front section of the audience all wet. By this time it was starting to get late so we stopped by to see the Clydesdale horses and then headed home. It is so nice having the season passes because we can just have 2-3 hours at a time at the park without wearing the girls out and essentially we will see something new each time we go there. We barely saw 1/4 of the park during this trip - there are still all the rides to go on, more animals to see and a lot more shows that are on and different ones throughout the year. Definitely a lot more family friendly park than Fiesta Texas - feels like there is a lot more space, plenty of shade and seating and landscaped beautifully.

As you can see from the photo Caitlyn is holding her own bottle now for Daddy during the day - such a big girl!! She is rolling over a lot more too and trying to push up when she is on her tummy. I am sure she will be crawling sooner than Amy did (granted that won't be hard :-) Jerad has got back into playing golf on Sunday mornings now that the weather is starting to get nicer. Although he missed out on his game this morning as he has a delivery to Laredo. He bought one of the 20 game players cards though so he has plenty of weeks ahead of him to play. When we go on vacation in May there is a golf course 1 mile away so he'll be able to play a couple of rounds then too. Yesterday we went out in the afternoon and bought a Wii game system. Jerad set it up last night and it looks like so much fun. Jerad just played the golf and the bowling and has tried the boxing - it looks like her got a real workout with the boxing game. There are a few games that Amy can play too so we'll see how she does tonight on it :-) Mummy bought the Wii Fit game, I can see Amy wanting to do that with me because when I was pregnant with Caitlyn and did my stretches each night Amy loved to "help" me.

Nothing much else happened during the week. I had a follow-up appointment with Dr Washington and everything is well - I am back down to the weight I was pre-Amy, blood pressure fine and checked out OK. I also went during the week to visit a friend I work with, Edda, who has metastatic breast cancer. This is her third time fighting it and she is having a rough time. She looked well though and is in good spirits and was being discharged yesterday. My thoughts are with her and her family.

Caitlyn turns 5 months old

2009-03-15T07:32:00.003-05:00

Once again I have been slack and didn't update the blog last weekend....sorry about that. Well as you can see in the photo Caitlyn is getting ready for Easter early and has had some photos taken of her reaching her 5 month milestone. She of course rolls over now, seems to really like music (just like her sister) as she kicks her legs and "dances" whenever we play particular tunes. She is also a lot more vocal than Amy was and really gets some loud high pitched laughs going at times. It is really cute watching Amy play with Caitlyn and Caitlyn will reach out to grab Amy and just giggle and giggle.

It was an exciting week this week as a friend of ours from Charlottesville was in town for the week attending a conference. We picked Joanne up last Sunday night and took her to the hotel and then she stayed with us on Friday night and got to spend time with the girls. Hopefully she traveled home safely yesterday. It was great catching up with her and learning about her new job and how people are doing back East. After I dropped Joanne back at the airport yesterday I finally went and used some of my gift card at Spa d' Sante and had a dead sea salt body scrub. It was pretty good - I'd never had that treatment before. They mixed the salt scrub with tea tree oil and man I must have had a lot of dead skin to remove because I felt so smooth afterward. Oh and I have to get one of the Vichy showers they had - 5 shower heads at once over your whole body......pretty nice. Next time I go back I think I'll get a massage maybe with the hot rocks.

Today we are all off to Seaworld to meet Big Bird!! Luke (Amy's friend from Little Gym) and his parents asked us if we wanted to go and we thought why not. We have wanted to go to Seaworld for a long time and with the Sesame Street characters there at the moment doing their show we figured Amy would like that. I have purchased season passes for us so we can go anytime we want until the end of the year. It will be another option for Jerad and the girls during the week too.

I am also looking forward to next week, thanks to our tax refund and a bonus from work we are able to pay off the car next week. It will be sweet not having a car payment again!

A quiet couple of weeks

2009-03-01T14:30:00.003-06:00

Sorry I didn't get around to posting last week. I think after the long birthday weekend we were all worn out. So the last two weeks have been pretty quiet for us. You know fun stuff, like getting taxes done, grocery shopping, playing at home. The most exciting news is that we have booked a small getaway for the first week in May. We are going to pack up the whole family (Buka and Domino included) and head to the Texas coast (Port Aransas) for a week. We have rented a 3 bedroom house at the beach. It seems like a great deal for us since it is pet friendly, a house rather than a condo, we can buy groceries rather than eating out every meal and if needed we can be back home in 2 hours. It will be nice to take the girls to the beach as neither of them have ever been to the coast. It won't be too hot or too busy that time of year either. There is also a golf course 1 mile away so Jerad can have a few games of golf.

Caitlyn is just getting cuter and cuter. As you can see from the video she really enjoys her jumperoo and I think she has the cutest little smile and giggle. It's hard to believe she will be 5 months old next week. It didn't seem that long ago that I was pregnant. Still, it sure is fun watching her grow each day and interact more. She rolls over more now, smiles and laughs a lot (more than Amy did at that age) and reaches out for objects (which unfortunately sometimes includes my hair or necklace!) Both of the girls are taking a nap right now..............correction were napping. Well it looks like I'll need to cut this one short - so until next week then.

Our little girl turned 2

2009-02-15T14:04:00.005-06:00

What a busy week in our household this week. Friday was Amy's 2nd birthday which unfortunately for her started with a trip to the doctors for her and her sister. I took the day off work so I could take them. Amy is now 23.5lbs and 35.5 inches tall. She is in the 10th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. She had to have 1 vaccination but is now all set until she is 4. Caitlyn had her 4 month check-up and now weighs 13lb 11oz and is 24.5 inches long. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and 70th percentile for height. Funnily enough she is tracking nearly identically to Amy when Amy was that age. Caitlyn was a brave little girl and also had 4 vaccinations and an oral vaccine. Of course as soon as she started crying Amy started too. So for about 10 mintues I had them in stereo!! Luckily by the time we left the doctors both had calmed down and all was well as we headed to shops for some retail therapy. In the afternoon Amy had fun opening her gifts she had received from the family. She received a Tinker Bell pop-up book, Tinker Bell blankets, Tinker Bell DVD, Tinker Bell wand (are you picking up a theme here :-), a growth chart, new pair of swimmers, cover-up, Peter Rabbit books, crayola crayons, crayola magic coloring books and a dirt devil toy vacuum. By the end of it she was an expert at unwrapping.

Friday night we went to Madison's house for her 2nd birthday party. She lives in The Dominion in a very nice home. We arrived there in the afternoon with 3 other little kiddos and played in her playroom before heading downstairs for pizza, cake and ice-cream. Before leaving Amy was given 2 pink balloons to take home and she has been playing with them ever since. On Saturday we went to Little Gym in the morning and then came home for an early nap. While Amy and Caitlyn were sleeping I headed out to pick up the Tinker Bell birthday cake. Then it was nearly time to get the party girl dressed and head downtown for her party. Amy looked so cute and when we arrived there and her little friends showed up she was so excited - literally squealing with excitement. We had plenty of food and drinks for everyone and the kids loved looking around the Children's Museum. It is so great because everything is their scale and they can touch everything. Amy had the party room upstairs and they had signs made up for her and the room of course was decorated nicely. The host we had for our party was great - she helped with everything. After the kids had played for a while we called everyone back into the party room and each child decorated a fabric square with handprints and pictures. At the end of it our party host tied all the squares together with bright colored ribbon and made a quilt out of it. It is such a neat momento and we love it. We have it hanging in the girls play room near where Amy does her coloring in. I took a photo to add to this post. Once the quilt making was done it was time for more play out in the museum. Then it was back to the room for cake and gifts. As you can see from Amy's choclatey grin she loved her cake. She was a very lucky girl and received some fantastic gifts from her friends (clothes, a Tinker Bell doll, Tinker Bell book, Build-A-Bear gift card, Little People play castle, puzzles, coloring books, clipo hippo). And the Children's Museum gave her a t-shirt, pencil and beanie toy. Needless to say when we left she was worn out and fell asleep in the car on the way home. But once we were home it was time to watch..........you guessed it Tinker Bell. Mummy and Daddy are tinkered out to say the least. It was a fantastic day though and while it saddens us to think she is growing up so quickly it is great to see the little girl she has become and how happy and friendly she is. It also reminds us how quickly Caitlyn is growing up too and we can't wait to celebrate her milestones too.

Where does the time go?

2009-02-08T07:36:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it is February already with Caitlyn turning 4 months old last Friday and Amy turning 2 next week. The weeks and months just go by so quickly. Both of the girsl have their well visits at the doctors next week so we will see how much they have both grown then. Nothing too much to report this week. Amy and Caitlyn had fun during the week playing in their playroom - and big sissy did a very nice job of reading to little sissy (as you can see in the picture). Of course I don't think poor Caitlyn has a choice as Amy is always sitting next to her or on her and giving kisses etc. Poor little Caitlyn probably wants some time to herself some days :-) Jerad also took the girls to the park during the week and Amy went down both of the big slides on her own. Jerad said she absolutely loved it and went down about 10 times. Needless to say she was very disappointed when it was time to come home.
We have been talking to Amy about her birthday and seeing if she will hold up 2 fingers to show old she will be. She doesn't quite do that but gives a great two thumbs up action instead! It was also funny this week she has started to mimic Jerad and I when we hold a finger to our mouth and say "Sshhh". At night after Caitlyn goes to bed whenever Amy is heading upstairs she now with a quite little voice says "Sshhh" but holds her finger sideways across her mouth. It is very cute to see. I am taking the girls later today to have some photos taken. Fingers crossed they both behave and smile for the camera. Sometimes Amy is really good and will pose for the camera and sometimes she just screws up her face and looks everywhere except at the camera. Caitlyn thankfully doesn't really misbehave for the camera just yet - I'm sure that time will come.

Next week we'll have a lot more to report as we have Madison's birthday party on Friday and Amy's on Saturday. I'm sure we'll be on Tinker Bell overload by then!

Jerad's in business

2009-02-01T15:04:00.003-06:00

Another busy week for the Clay family. Amy is really enjoying listening to music with Daddy during the day. As you can see in the video she loves dancing and is trying to show her little sister how to dance too. It was the start of a new semester at Little Gym and they have now split the class so some of Amy's friends are now in the older kiddies class. But she still has Blake, Abigail and Lillie in her class and is now able to meet some new little kids too. She had fun with her new teacher Miss Beth and was also able to hand out her birthday party invitations to her friends. This week has involved a lot more birthday party planning - we have ordered her cake and went to Party City to buy party supplies (all Tinkerbell of course!). Mummy and Daddy had fun picking all the little gifts to go in the favor bags too. We also went shopping on Saturday and bought Caitlyn some new clothes and socks. I love shopping for little girl clothes - they are so cute and so much to choose from.

This morning we all went out and got the car washed, did the grocery shopping and bought Amy some birthday presents with money sent by Grandma Liz. Thankfully Amy had a nap after getting home so we can hide the gifts without her having a meltdown as she sees us unpack them and not allow her to play with them! Caitlyn had fun playing with Mummy while we were waiting for the car to get washed but then while we were shopping it was all too tiring and she had to have a nap. She has been such a good girl lately - sleeping through the night, not fussing when we are out (e.g. we ate out twice during the last week and she just lays there while we eat our meal smiling at everyone), laughing and giggling at nearly everything. Of course she is also getting cuter each week. Hard to believe she will be 4 months old this week - she is growing up way too fast. But it is so much fun seeing her with Amy as they interact more.

The other exciting news this week is that Jerad now has a business of his own. He signed up this week to become an Arbonne Consultant. His friend Amy in Oklahama is a stay at home mum and has been doing it for 2 years. They specialize in skin care but also have a baby care line, mens products and health supplements. So Jerad thought this might be a way to make a little extra money while being a stay at home dad. Check out the products at www.arbonne.com
If you want to order something just use his Consultant Number 18105090

Well until next week...................bye

Presentation Day at Little Gym

2009-01-25T08:20:00.004-06:00

We all had a fun day yesterday. It was Amy's Presentation Day at Little Gym where all the kids get to show off what they have learned throughout the semester and do it on their own. At the end the kids all get presented with a ribbon. At least this time (unlike last year) Amy didn't throw her ribbon on the floor. She was quite happy to show off for us and the camera. Unfortunately when I went to upload the video of it this website was having issues so the video didn't upload. I'll try again next week.

Jerad did get some good photos of Caitlyn this week though. One of her smiling and enjoying her BIG beanbag and another where she is worn out from playing in the Jumperoo and has to catch a few zzz's. It's amazing how much she is changing week by week. Jerad was also very pleased during the week with Amy and the fact that she appears to really like Tom Petty. She was dancing up a storm when his music came on the TV. Jerad is a huge Tom Petty fan for those that don't know. We also had fun yesterday upgrading Jerad's cell phone and adding me to the plan. Of course when we got home we had to work out how to use the new toys! Nothing is simple any more it would seem.

Mummy had a busy week at work and it will be that way for the foreseeable future as things are very hectic. Then when weekends get here they seem to go by so quickly - too quickly. Nothing much else planned for the weekend other than grocery shopping. So it should be a quiet Sunday, and if the weather improves we'll be planting some seedlings out in the garden.

A chilly week.............well by TX standards

2009-01-18T07:02:00.003-06:00

It was a shock to the system this week with the cold weather each day. It was in the 30's each day on the way to work and some days only getting into the 40s. Now I realize for others in the US this is pretty warm for winter - but for South Texas, it is almost frigid :-)

Thankfully Amy is doing much better this week and back to her normal self. Caitlyn is fine too, in fact she actually slept for 10 straight hours on Thursday night. I was in a panic at first when I woke up and realized that I hadn't got up in the early hours of the morning. But when I went to check on her she was just snoozin'. Had me worried for a minute there. Of course she hasn't bothered to sleep like that again for mummy and daddy!

I've made more progress on the planning of Amy's 2nd birthday party. I've ordered the invitations and a cute little outfit for her. Next week I'll start thinking about the cake, goody bags and the food. We also had a fun afternoon together in the kitchen making a pumpkin cake. Amy was such a big help measuring the dry ingredients for mummy. We tasted our masterpiece while it was still warm out of the oven and now she has gone down for an afternoon nap. Depending on when she wakes up we may go for a walk to the park. During the week in Daddy Daycare Amy and Caitlyn were busy teaching daddy some songs (and the actions that go along with them of course) as seen in the video :-)

Learning to drive and full of smiles

2009-01-11T07:40:00.006-06:00

I think we could best describe this week as tiring - due to busy days and lack of sleep. We once again (or I should say still) have a sick household. Amy went to the doctors on Wednesday but wasn't improving and by Friday still had a nasty cough, runny nose, fever etc. So she is now on antibiotics and doing much better today. Of course she has been very generous and shared her illness with little sissy. So now Caitlyn has a bad cough and runny nose. There isn't much we can give Caitlyn and just need to watch her to see she doesn't start wheezing etc. Daddy still isn't 100% either and it is peak allergy season here in San Antonio with all the cedar in the air so let's hope this coming week is healthier!

Due to being stuck indoors though we did get to take some video this week - 2 in fact. Caitlyn was full of smiles on Thursday and Amy is already learning to drive a car (well a Tinkerbell car). She just needs to learn to keep her finger on the red button (accelerator) and then of course how to steer - minor details! During the week I also booked Amy's 2nd birthday party at the Children's Museum, so now I just need to get invitations and all that jazz. It should be a fun day with all the activities the kids can do there.

As we moved the TV and cabinet from the playroom to the downstairs guest bedroom Jerad found my old Nintendo Gameboys (including Gameboy Color) - they seem like relics now but I'll manage to have some fun with them playing Zelda and Metroid :-) I had forgotten I had them - see the fun you can have when tidying up. Clearly it doesn't take much to amuse me. Well we don't really have much else planned for the rest of the weekend while the kiddos are sick so I'll end the post here. Have a great week everyone!

Happy New Year

2009-01-04T13:35:00.002-06:00

It was a pretty low key week for us as most of the household is again (still) battling the cold/flu. On top of that it has been particularly cold outside (well by San Antonio standards at least). I had my first day back at work and thankfully the office is pretty quiet this time of year so I was able to start catching up on stuff without too many interruptions. We didn't do anything special for New Year's Eve this year - I didn't even make it to midnight. But when I woke up the next morning it was 2009! Hard to believe the year went by so quickly.

Caitlyn is growing more and more each week and is now sleeping about 8 hours at a time at night, so it is good to get a night's sleep again. I'm sure she'll start giggling soon, she has huge smiles when you play with her during the day and is starting to make little laughing sounds. We pulled out Amy's old Jumperoo for Caitlyn this week and she seems to enjoy it. Of course she doesn't stay in it long as her little neck muscles get sore being in the upright position. Amy wanted to get back in it when she saw it but seems content playing with her little sister in it.

I'm in the process of planning for Amy's 2nd birthday. I went and checked out one place yesterday but it wasn't that great. So this week I am going to look into booking the San Antonio Children's Museum. They have 3 party rooms and special activities for the kids to do during the party. They really seem to cater to all different age groups and it looks like the adults might enjoy it too. So we'll see what I decide during the week. I have printed out some pictures of dresses for Amy so that she can pick a birthday dress - at the moment her favourites seem to be a hot pink one or a blue/brown one. She changes her mind everyday of course, but we'll try and get her to narrow it down.

No other real news this week, I'll try and post more next week and include some pictures.

Back to work tomorrow for me.....

2008-12-28T13:58:00.012-06:00

What a busy week we've had with Santa and all. We picked up Tim and Deb from the airport during the week after their trip to New York. Deb was pretty hapy because it snowed while they were there and that was what she really wanted to see while there. Also during the week Grandpa Traynor was in town until Christmas with a load going through to North Carolina. Christmas Eve we ventured over to La Cantera to get the girls photo with Santa. Unfortunately after lining up Amy was not having any part of a Santa photo. It was so strange because as we lined up she seemed all excited and even tried to walk up to Santa with the group of girls in front of us. But when it got to her turn she was clinging to me for dear life. Since I used to be that way myself when I was younger I wasn't going to force her to have a photo taken so she got some jingle bells from Santa and happily waved bye-bye to him from the safety of Aunty Deb's arms. Meanwhile Uncle Tim and Mummy had their photo taken with Santa. Last time we did that together I was 17 and heading off to Uni. So after our long morning at the shops and picking up last minute groceries we came home and decorated Christmas cookies that Grandma Mary-Ann had sent Amy. You can see from the photo that Amy did a great job decorating these. She must have because we left the cookies out and some milk for Santa and to Amy's surprise in the morning Santa had been!

Amy wasn't too sure what to make of it at first but Caitlyn seemed to enjoy herslef all morning. Although she did take a nap about half way through the present unwrapping. Everyone did really well with presents from Santa and family. The girls now have a complete playroom with furniture, storage and toys. Daddy Daycare will be in full swing starting tomorrow. The rest of the day Deb and I cooked the ham, turkey, sides and dessert for Christmas dinner. Needless to say with a 3lb turkey and 6lb ham you can imagine what we have been eating ever since Christmas day. The day after Christmas Deb and I went and had manicure/pedicures done and then went out for a coffee. In the afternoon we all went down town for a walk along the Riverwalk to see the Christmas lights. Uncle Tim also wanted to stop at Coyote Ugly and then Aunty Deb had some last minute shopping at Macy's before they had to leave. Tim went to visit the Alamo but it closed at 5:30. Good to know for the future - luckily he had been there before. So we all headed home for some Christmas left overs while Tim and Deb packed their bags for Fiji. We dropped them at the airport on Saturday and we all then came home for a nap. Tim rang from Dallas airport and told us they had a 2 hour delay in San Antonio but should still make it to LAX and onto Fiji in time. I'm assuming they did or we have heard from them again by now. Today has been a lazy day too as I have my last day before going back to work :-( Jerad and I have installed the car seat in Jerad's car so now both vehicles are equipped to take both girls wherever they need to go. This afternoon we may head out to the Christmas sales so that Jerad can spend his Christmas gift certificate.

5 sleeps 'til Santa comes

2008-12-20T12:16:00.005-06:00

Where has the year gone? I can't believe it is only 5 more sleeps until Santa is here. It doesn't seem like it has been a year already. I also have only 1 week left of maternity leave! Monday was a busy day - a lady I used to work with in Australia was in San Antonio at a breast cancer conference so we picked up Dianne and started the morning with a late breakfast at Mimi's cafe. Of course we had to have the pumpkin spice pancakes :-) Then we went to La Cantera and did some Christmas shopping. It was a very cold day (especially for San Antonio) so the mall was pretty much empty. Made it much more pleasant to walk around. Tim and Deb then got back home late Monday night after their trip to Dallas. Unfortunately for Tim the Giants didn't win. Tuesday was pretty quiet for us around home but we did manage to go to Bobby J's for dinner. Amy was occupied there with her burger and for some reason a little plastic cup that she kept putting on her head and then letting it fall off kept her amused for days. Wednesday we had a make-up class at Little Gym, so Aunty Deb, Jane, Caitlyn and Amy went to that. While we were doing that Tim and Jerad went shopping for baseball gear. Wednesday and Thursday were more shopping days for us. You can see from the picture that Amy was all dressed up (sunglasses) and all ready to hit the shops and have her morning Starbucks to get her through the day! Friday we took Tim and Deb to the airport as they are headed to New York for the weekend. It seems from the weather reports that it is going to be very cold up there with snow/ice as well. I know Deb is looking forward to the snow but let's hope there isn't too much ice - not very nice to walk around in that. This weekend is going to quiet again for us and we are just avoiding the shops as their are LOTS of people doing last minute Christmas shopping. I figure we can go on Monday or Tuesday when they aren't as many people. Some of the furntiure has arrived that we ordered for the girls playroom so we'll concentrate on buying some pictures for the walls and other little accessories. We also found out that Grandpa Traynor has a load coming through San Antonio, so it will be fun to have him for Christmas with us all too.

Watch me on my Sit'N'Spin!

2008-12-14T13:00:00.005-06:00

What a busy week we have had - so much so I am writing in the blog twice this week. For those observant readers, you will notice that I have updated the blog and added some features to the left hand side of the blog:

For some of us working out the time difference between San Antonio and elsewhere is sometimes a little tricky. So I have added a feature "Is it OK to call now". It shows the time and date in San Antonio and also the time and date of our friends and family in Australia and the UK. My brother Tim also told me that he and Deb also have a blog so I have added a link to their blog. Lastly I added a gadget whereby you can list yourself as a "Fan" of this blog (or follower). Just thought it may be interesting to see who keeps up to date with the Clay Clan.

Amy is still getting over her cold so we are all having a day at home today while Tim and Deb have gone up to Dallas. We were in the girls playroom this morning and Amy went and grabbed her Sit n Spin. She has had it for a few months and typically we need to sit her on there, hold her there and spin it for her. But not today......you'll see in the video that she has mastered spinning herself around and pressing the button so that the music plays.

Yesterday we all went to Little Gym and Amy had to show off her Aunt and Uncle to all the kids at the gym. She was having a great time showing them her forward rolls, hanging from the bars and using the balance beam. The funniest part was at the end with the good-bye song she was off playing with Uncle Tim when we all started singing the song and she started doing all of the actions for it then walks up to the middle of the red mat (in front of everyone), sits down with the instructor and shows everyone how to do the actions for the song. It was hilarious to sit and watch.

Anyway, just wanted to share more video and alert you all to some new features of the blog!

Uncle Tim and Aunty Deb arrive!!

2008-12-12T18:39:00.006-06:00

On Sunday night we went to the airport to pick up Uncle Tim & Aunty Deb. They had had a LONG flight from Sydney, LA and Dallas. Monday they had a lazy day at home basically. I took Caitlyn for her 2 month check-up and also dropped by work to deliver some Christmas presents. Amy and I had made some gingerbread men and rumballs for my co-workers. Caitlyn is doing well, she now weighs 10lb 13oz and is 22in. She does have some dry skin and the doctor is concerned she may be a little allergic. So we have changed bath soap and lotion and we'll see how she does. Tuesday we took Tim and Deb around to the stores to pick up some Christmas bargains out at Alamo Ranch. Deb also had fun buying candy that she can't get back home in Australia. Luckily for Deb most of it contains peanuts so it sucks to be Tim!! (He is allergic)

Unfortunately this week we had a sick little Amy :-( Mummy has had the Vicks Vapor rub, suction bulb and tissues working overtime and went out and bought a humidifier for her room. It seems to have helped, but needless to say she skipped swimming this week. On Thursday night we all went out for dinner to Joe's Crab Shack and had so much food and leftovers - it was a fun night. Today was more shopping of course. Tomorrow is Little Gym and then we'll take Tim and Deb to pick up their rental car so they can head up to Dallas for the Giants game.

Little Miss Amy has had a real blast showing Tim and Deb around the place. You can see in the picture she has her Uncle Tim wrapped around her finger. She has also been helping Deb look through the different catalogues and plan our shopping days! I think she will miss them when they go to Dallas and then for their trip to NYC.

Well we'll just keep on counting those sleeps until Santa comes :-)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2008-12-07T07:29:00.006-06:00

This week certainly had its' ups and downs. We all had a nice day at the zoo again during the week and Amy seems to be enjoying herself more and more each time we go there. We also went and had our holiday photos taken and as always Amy looks the best in all the pictures. I really liked the girls having matching little red dresses!! After the photos is when the day went south. Mummy had stopped at Walgreens and not only did she lock the keys in the car.........but also the girls. I ran like a frantic woman into Walgreen's to call Jerad to come with the spare key (he is of course on the other side of town). He made it there in record time though. This is the first time I have ever locked keys in a car - so of course I top it off by locking the kids in there too! Amy was distressed over the incident, but a trip to Applebees with some chocolate milk and burger made her all better. Mummy of course had a beer.

Also during the week we had swimming and Little Gym. Amy did really well at swimming this week, especially with her kicking. Caitlyn attends for moral support too. Caitlyn is off to the doctors on Monday for her 2 month appointment. She must have gained another 3-4lbs at the rate she is growing (we'll find out soon). Yesterday Amy and I made gingerbread and today we are making rum balls. Today we are also just doing some housework as Tim and Deb arrive tonight. Not sure what we will do while they are here - we'll see what they feel like I guess. Jerad is off to play golf on this chilly morning and I need to go and the girls ready for the day. I'll post again soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T15:53:00.003-06:00

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

2008-11-21T07:56:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-11T13:02:00.003-06:00

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

2008-11-10T05:36:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-02T17:25:00.005-06:00

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.

2 week check-up

2008-10-27T14:55:00.003-05:00

Another busy week for our household. The picture I attached this time is Caitlyn in her crib with the doll that we bought for Amy when Caitlyn came home from hospital. The doll is bigger and heavier than Caitlyn!!

Monday was Caitlyn's 2 week check-up - she is doing just fine and had gained 1 lb (now 6lb 13oz), although this was with her diaper on and I had just fed her. So maybe she is a few ounces less. She needs to go back on the 7th November for her 1 month appointment and will get some vaccinations then. Tuesday was Amy's swimming lesson and she is doing so well. She certainly seems to be enjoying it more each week. On Wednesday the girls, Grandma Liz and Mummy went up to San Marcos to the outlet malls to buy Amy her winter wardrobe as she is outgrowing all the clothes she has. We certainly found a lot of bargains and in the process I was able to get both girls really cute matching red holiday dresses for our Christmas photos. Thursday I had a dental check-up in the morning and Friday I had a follow-up with Dr Washington. All is fine, he is happy with the healing of the incision, blood pressure is fine and I only have 3 lbs to lose to be back to pre-pregnancy weight (was already back in my jeans after 1 week!) Thank heavens for having little girls :-) I have to go back and see Dr Washington in about 4 weeks for another check-up and then that should be my doctor visits done. Saturday was of course Little Gym and then we all went down to the local park for Harvest Fest. Amy got to try on her Halloween costume for the first time and she looked so adorable. The festival itself was a bit of a disappointment but I think Amy enjoyed seeing the baby animals in the petting zoo they had set-up.

Settling in at home

2008-10-18T07:14:00.003-05:00

On Monday Caitlyn will be 2 weeks old, time just flies by. Each day we are getting more settled at home and have somewhat of a routine. Amy is adjusting really well and is always wanting to give Caitlyn kisses and help mummy with diaper changes etc. She seems to really like being the big sister. Caitlyn is doing well and is feeding / sleeping well. Although she of course prefers to sleep in mummy's arms rather than her crib. But each night she is getting better at sleeping for longer periods in her crib.

On Thursday Jerad had a job to do in Fredericksburg so we all went for the drive up there, looked through some stores and had lunch before driving home. Today Amy is off to Little Gym (as we do every Saturday morning) and today we will take Caitlyn along too. Monday will be a busy day as I need to see Dr Washington for my 2 week foll0w-up appointment, then I need to take Caitlyn to the TNI building for her follow-pu newborn screening tests, then in the afternoon take Caitlyn to her pediatrician for her 2 week follow-up. Very much a Dr day on Monday. Not much else to report this week...........

Amy's officially a big sister!!

2008-10-09T09:17:00.004-05:00

The last 2 weeks have gone by so quickly. I spent most of my time just doing last minute things for the baby's room and trying to get things finished up at work before I go on maternity leave. Jerad and I have also been trying to explain to Amy that her little brother or sister would be arriving soon. Grandma Liz arrived from Australia on the 4th October and is going to stay for 1 month to help us with Amy and the new baby. Amy certainly likes have Grandma Liz giving her full attention and doing whatever Amy wants to do each day! Somehow I don't think Grandma minds though :-)

Well the wait is over................on Monday night at 6:34 Amy's little sister arrived!! Caitlyn Taylor Clay was delivered by c-section and both mum and baby are doing fine. Caitlyn weighed 5lb 13oz and is 19" in length. We will be getting discharged today. I have attached 2 photos - one is of Amy kissing mummy's belly before we drove to the hospital. We'll see how excited Amy is to have Caitlyn at home vs just visiting her at the hospital. The other of course is Caitlyn. Will write more later :-)

Only 2 weeks to go.............

2008-09-20T07:15:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I updated this blog and September has been a busy month for us it seems. I guess the most "shocking" news is that Jerad had all of his hair cut-off!! He went out one afternoon after telling me he was getting a hair-cut (i.e. trim) and he comes home with his long hair all gone (13" pony tail). He's donating his hair to locks of love. I'll have to get a photo of him to post for everyone as I'm sure most people are only used to seeing his long pony tail.

In the last few weeks Amy has also started going to swimming lessons. There is a local gym near us that has the infant classes, so Jerad takes her on Tuesday afternoons. We thought it was a good idea to get her used to the water since a recent trick of hers in the bath tub is to try and put her nose/face in the water. The first lesson she was a bit unsure which makes sense with it all being new and it is noisy in those indoor pools. Her lessons last through the end of the year so I'm sure each week she'll get more comfortable with it.

I of course have continued to have follow-up doctor appointments. They did an ultrasound the other week and everything is going fine. I still measure small but not that small that they are concerned etc. I now go every week for an appointment until I deliver. I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away. It will be interesting to see how Amy reacts to having a new brother or sister. She cuddles and kisses my belly each night but i don't think realizes the belly will be gone soon and she'll have a little person to cuddle and kiss.

For the last couple of months I have had trouble uploading video - so I have included a test one here to see if it is working. It's not the clearest video but it is one of Amy taken this week "dancing" to one of kiddy shows on TV.

Enjoying the long weekend

2008-08-31T16:46:00.002-05:00

You have to love long weekends - so yay for Labor Day weekend. I had another trip to Boston this week for a meeting on Wednesday. Once again we were delayed on the trip up there but fortunately while stuck on the plane I sat next to a nice gentleman (Jeff) who is a VP of Mergers & Acquisitions with Johnson & Johnson. He has a grand daughter who just turned 1 so we spoke a lot about Amy and his grand daughter Mackenzie! It was good to get home though and know that it would be my last trip before I go out on maternity leave.

School went back this week in San Antonio and Amy was supposed to start at Mother's Day Out. Unfortunately on Thursday we found out that there had been an error made and the class she was enrolled in was overbooked. So she didn't get to start there. Jerad and I will keep looking to see if there is a similar program at another church nearby. Amy did however start in the Beast class at The Little Gym. It's the next class up which includes children 19 months to 3 years. The class is much bigger than her Birdies class but she still seemed to have fun and does know some of the other kiddies already.

I spent yesterday putting together the crib, change table and chest of drawers for baby #2 - so the room is coming together. I also am in the process of sorting through Amy's old clothes she wore as a newborn and getting some of those ready too. Amy and I had a big shopping day yesterday too. After Little Gym we went to Best Buy to pick up Daddy's birthday present (TomTom - GPS navigation for his car). We thought he would appreciate it when he has all those deliveries to do out to the middle of nowhere. After that we stopped in at La Cantera and using some of Mummy's birthday money from Grandpa Jeffrey we bought some Clinique cosmetics. Then on Sunday morning Jerad went to play golf so Amy and Mummy went out for breakfast before we did the grocery shopping. Amy enjoyed her raisin toast and cup of milk while Mummy essentially had the works! The funniest thing happened after grocery shopping as we were loading up the car though. There were 4 teenage boys collecting all of the grocery carts - Amy thought she would be cute and wave to them. They were all smiling at her and waving back until a group of teenage girls came by - I guess it wasn't too cool then to be waving and cooing at a baby.

Well not much else happening - just catching up on jobs around the house and will be enjoying the day off tomorrow. On Tuesday I have my next follow-up with Dr Washington and have another ultrasound then.

18 months old

2008-08-17T14:05:00.005-05:00

Our little girl turned 18 months old this week!! She therefore had another visit with her doctor and another vaccination. She wasn't too happy about that part of the visit! She has now broken the 20lb mark and is 21lb 8oz / 31.5 in tall. So she is average height for her age and in the 10th percentile for weight.

Mummy also had another doctor check-up this week and things are going well. I did pass the 3 hour glucose test (in fact all 4 samples were within normal range). Dr Washington is still wanting me to gain more weight (well the baby really - I am measuring a little bit small). At the next visit they will do another ultrasound so I guess we'll have some more measurements from that.

This week I ordered the new crib, change table and chest of drawers. I was going to get cherry colored but decided to get white (mainly because we have the plantation shutters in the room and they are white - so this will be a better match). The furniture should arrive in 7-10 days. We also all went this morning to have some photos taken since Miss Amy is now 18 months old and also had some updated family pictures taken. We didn't get as many shots as we would like since Amy was not too impressed today with posing for the camera (very unusual for her :-)) But we'll get more photos taken later in the year when the new baby arrives and hopefully she'll be more into it then. Other than that it has been a quiet week - Jerad had a few long distance deliveries to do so Mummy stayed up and watched the Olympics during the week. It was fun last night seeing some of the swimming finals and see Australia win the women's relay. Also very impressive seeing Michael Phelps win 8 gold at 1 Olympics. Of course I say all this while I eat my bowl of chocolate frozen yogurt on the couch!!

Bikini Babe

2008-08-10T07:28:00.003-05:00

The weeks seem to be flying by. I had an uneventful trip to Boston (well actually Framingham) in the middle of the week. There were some delays on the trip up so I had an extra 5 hours to kill. I ended up buying a book and so far am really enjoying it - The memory keeper's daughter. I probably won't get to finish it until my next trip to Boston in 3 weeks time.

While I was away the new stroller arrived so we put it together on Thursday night. Amy seemed to really enjoy riding around the kitchen and living room in it. Hopefully she'll enjoy it just as much when there is a second little person in there with her.

Well the weather is still very hot here in San Antonio and not expected to change any time soon. So yesterday I went and bought myself a maternity bikini so I could go for a swim with Amy. Don't you love the picture of her in her little swim suit scrunching her face up for the camera! My mum had sent me a birthday card with a picture of me at about the same age in my pink bikini and I guess she is right - we look similar. Amy and I also went shopping yesterday and found her the perfect little pair of red shoes to go with her dress I bought for next week when she has her 18 month photos done. I'm sure we'll see a big difference between her 12 and 18 month pictures. She also has her 18 month doctor appointment this week too. So we'll have to see how much she has grown. Nothing much else happening the rest of the week - Jerad and I are just enjoying watching the Olympics on the big screen TV. I have to say it is pretty awesome and there are so many channels to choose from here to watch the games that it is hard to decide sometimes what to be watching.

Another busy week

2008-08-02T21:11:00.002-05:00

It's been another busy week for us. This week we enrolled Amy in the Mother's Day Out program at Helotes Hills Methodist Church. Starting in September she will go there on Friday's from 9-2. It will give Jerad a little break and when baby #2 arrives it will give him some time just with the new baby. It will also be good for Amy to interact with other kids and adults (who are not her parents). We didn't want to put her in full time day care so but wanted to have 1 day a week in a more structured environment. So this should be the perfect solution.

I also got the results of my 1 hour glucose test back and failed it by a few points so had to go for the 3 hour test on Friday. Hopefully I will pass that - the same thing happened with Amy, so I guess I just don't do well on the 1 hour test. It has also been a week for healthcare issues......I had an eye exam during the week and need glasses. So Amy and I went out today and bought a nice new pair of glasses. We'll see how I do with them and whether I decide to get contacts later. I then spent part of the afternoon (while Amy was napping) downloading songs to my iPod. Jerad had quite a few deliveries to do this afternoon so it was pretty quiet this afternoon around the house. When Amy woke up we went and checked the mail and her little Halloween costume had arrived - it looks so adorable, I can't wait to see her in it :-)

Next week I am heading up to Boston Tues-Thurs, at least it won't be as hot up there as it has been in San Antonio. Hopefully there'll be no travel delays and I'll be back on time Thursday afternoon.

11 weeks to go

2008-07-25T19:17:00.004-05:00

Another busy week for us. Thankfully we got some rain this week in San Antonio (which was very much needed - but I'm sure those on the TX coast didn't need Hurricane Dolly). The rain really brought our lawn back to life. On Tuesday we had the front and back aerated and compost/top soil put down. So the rain on Thursday and then fine weather since that has really made a difference.

We have also cleaned out the upstairs guest bedroom and sold my old computer desk and the queen bed we had in the room. So within the next month we will go and buy a new crib and change table etc. During the week I also bought the Cadillac of all double strollers - a Phil & Ted's Dash with the double seat. It is way more than I thought I would ever spend on a stroller but I was dead against buying a side by side one and I hate the idea of having a double length. So the fact that this converts back to a single stroller once Amy is walking everywhere was very appealing to me. This one is also very light weight. I was going to hold off until the baby was born to see if we have 2 girls (in which case I was thinking of getting a pink camo one!!). However, this is a newer model with various extra features and for the introductory week it was $100 off - it only comes in red or black so we chose the red.

I had another regular check-up with Dr Washington this week and everything is going well. I didn't enjoy having to swallow the glucose stuff for the 1hr glucose screening test so hopefully I pass that and don't need to go back for the 3 hour test. I only gained 1lb in the last month and Dr Washington would "like to see if I can grow a bigger baby this time." I guess he's concerned because Amy was less than 6lb at full term and based on my weight gain with this pregnancy and the fact that the c-section will be done at 38 weeks. I'll have to see what I can do - but given the fact that I was only 6lb 4oz and Jerad was under 7lb it's not likely I'm going to have a big baby.

Today while Amy was taking a nap I also went online and bought her a costume for Halloween (I really have had a shopping week haven't I?). I bought her a cute Little Red Riding Hood costume. Now I just have to get her a little basket and I was going to try and dress Buka up as the wolf to go trick or treating with her :-)

Back home and back to reality

2008-07-20T17:15:00.002-05:00

The Clay family reunion on 4th July was a success and I think everyone had a good time catching up with each other. Jerad, Amy and I stayed another few days with Traynor and Donna-Ra before heading back to TX. The picture I have included is Amy sitting out Donna-Ra's garden near the fountain. On the way back we decided to take a different route home and do it over 3 days rather than 2. The first day we just drove to Albuquerque (so only about 3 1/2 hour drive). We checked into the hotel and then headed to the Old Town Plaza for lunch and look around the shops. I of course found something to buy! While in Durango I had bought some sterling silver and amethyst jewelry (ear-rings, ring, pendant and necklace) and in Albuquerque found a sterling silver bangle to go with it all. The second night we stayed in San Angelo - it was a long drive that day and we came to the conclusion that the rest of New Mexico was not that exciting and we especially would not recommend Clovis!! We had trouble even finding something to have for lunch. We made it back to San Antonio by lunch time on Thursday so it was nice to have time at home before going back to work. It was also a pleasant surprise to find that there had been some rain in San Antonio while we were gone so our lawn had not completely died as we had expected but rather there were a lot of patches of new green grass.

Summer vacation '08

2008-06-18T18:24:00.005-05:00

Once again I have not done well with my plan to update this blog each week. Initially I was having problems uploading video to this website so I haven't been able to add the video of Amy when she first started walking - I'll keep trying though. Then I just seemed to get too busy. We left last Saturday to head to Durango, CO - Jerad, Amy, I and the 2 dogs. We took 2 days to drive there and stopped overnight in El Paso. We arrived at Grandpa Traynor and Granny Ra's on Sunday afternoon. It's certainly nice to have a break from the constant 100 degree weather in San Antonio.

On the 4th of July is a Clay family reunion and there will be about 60 people here to celebrate. Yesterday Amy helped Jerad mow the lawn using the ride-on lawn mower and she loves playing with all the puppies here. Poor Buka didn't have such a good time on Tuesday when she thought "playing" with the horses would be fun only to find out when they kick you in the mouth it hurts! Yesterday I went shopping with Donna-Ra and she bought Amy a pair of pink cowgirl boots. They are a little big right now but she will grow into them.

Our little cowgirl

2008-06-10T09:36:00.003-05:00

Don't you love our little cowgirl!! She loves her rocking horse that she was given for her 1st birthday. She rides it each day and is even getting used to the hat (although I think this was just for the camera).

Amy is just growing up so fast - each day she is more and more like a little girl rather than a baby. She is now confidently walking all over the place (much to the dog's delight!). It is so funny when she walks though because she has her arms out for balance and while doing that has her little pointer fingers sticking out like antenna. We do have some cute video of her walking at home however, I am currently having some problems downloading the footage onto the PC. Hopefully I'll get that sorted out this weekend and I can post it next time.

On the weekend we did the usual in taking Amy to Little Gym. Next week will be her last week of the Spring semester and they have "Showtime" and she will be getting a ribbon etc. I'll definitely take photos of her showing off her Gym skills for you all. She will still go the Gym in the Summer so I'm sure she'll keep learning new things. This weekend I also bought her some swimming diapers to go underneath her bikini and I took her down to the community pool. They have a really nice covered baby pool so I thought she might to have a little paddle in the pool. She was a little unsure of it but hopefully she'll get used to it and start to enjoy it - especially in this Texas heat. She did look absolutely adorable in her bikini too!!

Last week I had a follow-up with my doctor and they have scheduled the c-section date - so the little pumpkin #2 will be here on October 6. Everything is going fine right now with no more illnesses etc so fingers crossed I stay well for the next 17 weeks. We are all looking forward to our vacation that is coming up. We will be driving to Durango, CO to visit with Grandpa Traynor and Granny-Ra. It will take us a few days to drive there and back but at least we'll get to see some places we haven't seen before.

15 month milestone

2008-05-18T11:08:00.002-05:00

As usual the time flies by and I forget to post every week as I originally intended. Since the last post we've had a busy couple of weekends. One Sunday we took Amy to the Helotes festival (Cornyval) and she got to see some baby ponies which she seemed to like. While there she also got her first taste of cotton candy and somehow got some pieces of peanut from either mummy or daddy's ice cream. Of course we freak out because you're always warned not to give kids peanuts due to allergies. Well needless to say - she was fine and had no reaction. She of course liked the cotton candy because she could shovel that into her mouth and it just kept dissolving!!

I had a follow-up doctors appointment with a hematologist to look at my arm and it appears there is a superficial blood clot. They will not be treating it and my body will apparently dissolve the clot on it's own - it just might take 3 months I'm told!! Amy also had her first boo-boo while trying to take some unaided steps she ran into the coffee table and has a nasty little cut above her eye. Hopefully it won't leave a scar - but we'll see.

During the week Amy also had her 15 month check-up. She is now 19lb 12oz, 30in. So she only gained 11 oz since her 12 month visit but the doctor said this is not unusual given she is more active these days. Amy did not enjoy the vaccination she had to have but I am told her 18 month appointment will be the last shots she receives until she is 4.

I went out this weekend and bought paint to paint the new babies room. I of course had to choose a gender neutral colour since we won't be finding out the sex of the baby - so I have gone with a yellow colour. Now that Amy is napping I am going to tape the room and then once Jerad is home I can paint the room while he looks after Amy. It occurred to me the other day that I only have 10 more pay checks coming before the baby is born so I am starting to look at cribs, change tables and double strollers. I guess here on out I'll purchase something each pay. Luckily we won't don't need to buy everything again as we can re-use a lot of stuff Amy had like the high chair, swing, pack'n'play etc. But still there always seems to be so much you have to get.

Lots of news to catch up on........

2008-05-03T11:00:00.003-05:00

Well so much has happened since I last posted....... I guess the exciting news is that Amy will have a little brother or sister arriving in October!! I'm due on October 20 but as it will be a scheduled c-section because of the complications last time I will probably deliver a couple of weeks early. We're going to have this one be a surprise too and not find out the gender. Many people think this one will be a boy but if you believe the old wives tale about a high heart rate in the baby means it will be a girl - well it may be a girl, the heart rate has consistently been between 150 and 170. Of course things haven't gone as smoothly with this pregnancy as last time. Two weeks ago I was admitted to hospital for 4 days with a kidney infection. I needed a lot of fluids and i.v antibiotics etc. So that wasn't too nice - and it seems I now have some irritation/infection of the vein where the i.v was inserted. So back to the doctor's on Monday for another follow-up visit.

Amy also had her first haircut last week. We really had to get it trimmed as it was in her face and uneven at the back. She did fine to start with but then started to get a little fussy. Very exciting day for a little girl!! The next day it was Luke's 1st birthday party. Luke goes to the Little Gym with Amy and that is where the party was held. I've included video of Amy at the party using the bars.

Climbing stairs

2008-04-13T11:26:00.002-05:00

Once again I have been slack and didn't update the blog last week - sorry about that. It's been another 2 busy weeks for us and today Amy turns 14 months old!! As you can see from the video she has mastered climbing up the stairs. Jerad is trying to teach her how to get back down but she hasn't quite mastered that yet (hence the gates we have put up). Of course the dogs don't particularly like the gates but they'll have to get used to them. She is also really good at pulling herself up and cruising along holding onto the furniture. I'm sure it won't be long before she is walking on her own.

I was supposed to travel again this week but fortunately I don't have to now. It's tough being away from my little girl all week. As with any Sunday, Jerad played golf this morning while Amy and I decided to go out for breakfast to IHOP and share some yummy pancakes before going to HEB Plus to do the grocery shopping. Then we came home and baked some brownies together. This afternoon I'm sure we'll be watching The Masters.

Well not much to add this week - just wanted to share the video of Amy climbing the stairs.

Hole in One, Cruising, More teeth..........

2008-03-30T10:54:00.002-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted - time just flies by. Since my last post a lot has happened. Jerad was very proud of himself one Sunday morning playing golf when he called me to tell me he had got a hole in one. I guess that means he needs to keep going back to play each weekend to see if he can get another one! I had another week away for work this time in Atlanta and I'm heading back there again tonight. So Amy and Daddy will have another week together.

Amy is certainly growing up more and more each week. She is crawling all over the house and pulling up on furniture cruising around the living room. Buka of course likes having a playmate who is more active :-) Amy has also started to get more teeth - she has 10 now and is of course enjoying biting into her food and mummy's finger sometimes. She is still going to the Little Gym each Saturday and enjoys seeing her friends. She seems to really like exploring all the different gym equipment and following the other kids around. She particularly likes to music and songs they play - she does like to "dance".

I have also gotten with the times and actually bought myself an iPod nano (of course I got the pink one). Since then I have had fun downloading songs from our huge box of CDs. Now I just need to workout how to make playlists etc - I'm sure it's not that hard. I can't believe how much fits onto such a small device. I'm also looking forward to downloading some of the audiobooks (particularly Harry Potter). I remember when I was little and had a Walkman (i.e. with cassette tapes!!) I'll be taking it with me tonight to Atlanta so that should make the trip go by.

Bubbles are fun

2008-03-02T10:27:00.003-06:00

Sorry I missed posting last week - I meant to do it Sunday night but then time got away from me. It's been another fun 2 weeks in the household. Amy is certainly getting better and faster at crawling. We need to put up the safety gates now so that she doesn't "explore" up and down the staircase. We of course have kept taking her to the Little Gym where she seems to have come out of her shell more and more each week. You can see her getting comfortable with the other kids and their parents. She is also starting to use some of the sign language she has been learning. Now when she has her meals in her high chair she will use the sign for "more" if you stop feeding her. It is so cute to watch - especially with her little hands.

Nothing new for Jerad and I. Just the usual working and Jerad playing golf on the weekends. We did all go out on Friday night for a nice dinner at a local Thai restaurant though. Amy and I went out this weekend to Babies'R'Us to get a gift for a girl I work with. There is a group of us from work who all pitched in and since it is her first baby she had a lot of stuff to choose from on her registry. I have some work to finish up tonight so nothing exciting planned for the rest of the weekend.

I have added a new video as it was just so cute last night we had to tape it. Amy was getting ready for her bath and before I took her up we were playing with her bubbles. For some reason she thought it was hilarious to see Buka chasing and eating the bubbles. She gets a real little belly laugh going.

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-18T09:52:00.002-06:00

Another fun week in our household. Amy continued to receive birthday gifts this week - a package arrived from Uncle Tim and Aunty Deb with more clothes and toys, a package from Grandma Mary-Ann with more clothes and her first doll, some money from Grandpa Traynor and Granny-Ra and a gift from Jackie with a toy pony and Babies'R'us gift voucher. So more shopping to be had next weekend!

Wednesday was Amy's actual birthday and she played a round of golf with Jerad then played at night with mummy. On Thursday Jerad had a delivery to Fredericksburg so we all drove up in the afternoon and had dinner at the Brewery. It was a nice drive and Amy got to have some of Daddy's dinner. On the weekend we had the gym on Saturday where Amy learned to do more front rolls and play on the air-track. She really enjoys going there and playing with the other kids - I am so glad we enrolled her in the class. On Sunday Amy and I went to have a late brunch with Jackie at Mimi's then we went and did some shopping. In the afternoon I went to the gym and Amy played in the Kid's Club. She seemed to enjoy that too. After her nap in the afternoon while we were playing downstairs Amy has finally started to crawl. She seems very pleased with herself and was clapping when she was done. She is also getting better with 'walking". When we hold her hands she can now take bigger steps, seems steadier on her feet and walks a little faster than before. In no time we'll have to put up the safety gates.

I have today off work because of President's Day so this afternoon I am taking her to get her 12 month photos done. Then on Thursday I will be taking her to the doctor to have her 12 month check-up and vaccinations.

Amy's 1st Birthday Party

2008-02-10T17:00:00.000-06:00

Another pretty quiet week in our household. Although Amy does have 2 more teeth (one on the top and one on the bottom, both on the left side). The three of us did go to Little Gym yesterday where Amy learned how to do a wheelbarrow handstand and how to do front rolls. She did really well - some of the little boys there were kind of scared about putting their hands out in front of them and tucking their head under - but Amy did great! She of course got to explore while she was there and played on the mats and with the balls. Then we all went grocery shopping (mainly to buy party supplies).

We just finished celebrating Amy's first birthday party. She was such a good girl and had so much fun with her birthday cake. Jane Martin did a great job ordering the cake and the little polka dots matched her birthday invitations. It was just a small gathering (Mr & Mrs Young, Jennifer, Roy and Nicholas Garner, Stephen Eckert and Jane Martin - Irma and Jackie couldn't make it). She had her own miniature cake to eat and at first wasn't sure what to do but then she got the hang of it and ended up with cake in her hair and everywhere. She got some really nice gifts too - another collectible Barbie Christmas ornament, Gymboree clothes, Laugh N Learn Piggy bank, book and ride on pony with a cowgirl hat!!

After everyone left I was talking with Jerad and commented how I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. It doesn't seem that long ago I was pregnant and now she's 1. She of course gets cuter every day and I can't imgaine life without her. We are truly blessed to have such a little angel for a daughter. She may not remember much of her first year but we sure do and I have taken plenty of pictures to show her and also kept up with her baby journal. Hopefully one day she'll appreciate it.

Amy starts at The Little Gym

2008-02-02T10:26:00.000-06:00

Today was Amy's first morning at The Little Gym! She had a great time. There were 5 other little kids there ranging from 9 - 18 months and she was fascinated watching them all. Hopefully by watching some of the others crawl and walk she will pick up what to do. During the morning they sang songs, played on the gym equipment (hang from the cross bars, partner log rolls, played with balls and bells and blew bubbles). The semester lasts 20 weeks and we'll do something different each week. Apparently next week they teach the kids some basic sign language. I've attached a picture of her before we left this morning. She was all ready to go in her track suit and sneakers! Unfortunately Jerad had to work this morning so he couldn't make it but we'll see if can get there next week.

I am continuing to plan for her first birthday party. One of the ladies I work with (Jane Martin) has offered to buy Amy's cake. So we will have a large cake for all the guests and she will get her own miniature version to eat (smash, play with ....whatever).

Our little girl was sick during the week with a cold - she of course shared it later in the week with Daddy. Even though I'm sure she felt crappy with her runny nose etc, she was a real little trooper and didn't get that fussy. The main difference in her behaviour was that she wasn't eating as much. She seems back to her normal little self now so that's good.

The rest of our weekend will be pretty quiet as I have some work to do this weekend and I'm assuming tomorrow Jerad will go somewhere to watch the Superbowl. He's cheering for the Giants (my brother will be too). I don't really care either way but it would be amazing to see the Patriots go undefeated.

Mummy's first week away from her little girl

2008-01-27T16:40:00.000-06:00

I am back from Boston after being there all week and it was so good to see Amy and Jerad waiting at the airport. I have traveled a lot with work in the past and it is always great to get home but it seemed like I was away so much longer with not seeing Amy each night. It was fun though because Jerad would call each night as he was giving her a bath and he would have me on speaker so I could still talk to her and hear her playing in the bath tub. From what I hear she was a good girl for Daddy and slept through the night for him too. When I arrived back in San Antonio both of them were there to greet me at the airport and she was full of smiles and cuddles!!

While I was away her dresses arrived (pink/white birthday dress and a red/blue dress for 4th July). I didn't realize the bottom of her birthday dress was white but it is very pretty. So on Saturday Amy and I went out shopping (of course) and bought birthday shoes to match. After that Jerad met us once he finished his golf game and we just did the grocery shopping. Not much else exciting this weekend - Amy and I went to the Washtub to get the van washed and then all three of us went to Babe's for lunch. Amy and I also delivered her first birthday invitation to Mr and Mrs Young (neighbors across the road).

Yesterday was Australia Day - so I guess I should have done something Australian to celebrate but I was slack. So I'll have to make up for it and have a vegemite snadwich for lunch tomorrow :-) In the week that I was away Amy has also learned how to "feed herself" with her spoon. When I say feed herself I mean help you hold the spoon, take a bite and then hand the spoon back to you.

On the trip to Boston I read Iris Johansen's "Stalemate" and then I have started Jodi Picoult's "Plain Truth". They are both OK I guess but I definitely prefer Plain Truth so far.

We can't believe she is nearly 1

2008-01-20T08:30:00.000-06:00

I didn't get a chance to update the blog last weekend so I'll try to remember what we have done for the last 2 weeks. Work has been pretty busy for me but not too much for Jerad. He hasn't had too many long distance deliveries lately but has had a few local ones all over San Antonio. He has also been able to fit in a few games of golf (from his Christmas gift - we bought him 21 games at Alamo Golf Course). He took Amy a couple of times in her stroller and pushed her around the course. Grandma Liz thinks his game was improved because other players were distracted by how pretty his caddy was ;-)

I am getting ready to go to Boston for the week next week for work. From what I hear it is bitterly cold up there at the moment but I am hoping there is not any snow as my plans are to walk from the hotel to the office each day. I'll certainly miss my little girl and this will be the longest I have been away from her since she was born. I'll be calling home every night to say Hi of course. It will also be the first time Jerad has had her all day and night on his own too. I'm sure Buka and Domino will enjoy Mummy being away as they can share my side of the bed.

We've also spent a lot of time over the last week starting to plan for her first birthday. I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some cardstock and ribbon etc and have hand made her invitations. I have also bought her a pretty pink organza party dress. (see picture). I still have to get her some little shoes to go with it. Next we will be choosing which cake to make. I'm thinking of buying a "1" pan but we'll see what other ideas I come up with over the next week. Today Amy and I are off to have her 11 month photos done and then next month I'll get photos done in her party dress. She's growing up so fast - I can't believe how quickly the months have gone by.

Happy New Year

2008-01-07T20:04:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it is 2008 already! We had a pretty quiet New Year's Eve - went to Brian's house late afternoon and had a couple of drinks and appetizers. Then I dropped Jerad at Steve's house while I came home to give Amy her bath, went back to get Jerad. Amy was down in bed by 9 and then I crashed at 10:30. Jerad at least made it until midnight and then came in to wake me up and wish me Happy New Year. There were plenty of fireworks in our neighborhood (as usual). In fact, due to the dry weather we have been having and the strong winds that night there was a small fire on some vacant land 2 blocks away from us. No damage was done to property and no-one was hurt, but I must have been out of it because I didn't hear the fire trucks at all. What party animals we are :-)

I'm starting to plan for Amy's 1st birthday since it will be here in a few weeks. Nothing too big, just invite a few friends over on a Sunday afternoon. I am thinking about handmaking the invitations so went to Hobby Lobby on the weekend to look for some nice paper and decorations. I'm also deciding what cake to make. Since I am not an expert cake decorator I thought I'd keep it simple and bake a number 1, then ice it and decorate it with pink, white and red M&M's (an advantage of a birthday near Valentine's Day means I can get a packet of them all in those colors). I found a neat gift I think I will get - it's a stack of 5 pink tins and the idea is you use plaster to make a handprint each year until she turns 5. I was also thinking of getting her a little sterling silver baby bracelet with her name engraved on it. I realize she won't remember her 1st birthday but I still want to have a special little celebration for our baby girl.

Everything else is pretty much the same here with us and the dogs (although they do miss Barry taking them for walks each day). Jerad has a load to Laredo tonight so it will be a late night for him and then he has to get up early in the morning to take me to work since the van is at the dealership getting an oil change and tire rotation. I'm sure he'll be tired tomorrow night. We did rent a movie on the weekend (Evan Almighty) - something we rarely do - neither of us liked it at all. I think because we enjoyed Bruce Almighty so much we were really looking forward to this one and unfortunately we were disappointed. I'll have to see if we can find something better next time.

Anyway, if anyone has some ideas for Amy's birthday just post a comment.

Post Christmas Update

2007-12-30T13:43:00.000-06:00

On Monday Grandma Liz, Barry and Jane took Amy to have her photo taken with Santa at La Cantera Mall. Santa was a really genuine Santa with his own beard and Amy was very good sitting with him for the photo.

Well, Amy's first Christmas has come and gone. Santa visited and left her lots of presents. Much to Grandma Liz's disappointment Amy slept in until 6:45am (G'Ma had been waiting since 4:30am). Once she was up though we got straight into opening presents. Opening all of her toys and presents wore her out as she was asleep for Christmas lunch. The adults had Honey Baked Ham and Turkey, green bean parcels (with bacon), potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli/cheese casserole, stuffed peppers and fresh dinner rolls. This was all topped off with an ice-cream cake (Caramel Nut Nirvana).

Jane had to work on Wednesday (Boxing Day) because it is not a holiday here the US. Thursday Jane got off work early and we all went to Fredericksburg and had dinner at The Brewery. It was good - the beer too. Then on Saturday, Grandma Liz, Barry, Amy and Jane went to San Marcos to the Prime Outlet Mall and shopped. Amy got her first pair shoes - sneakers that light up as she walks. We also bought her clothes of course and Jane bought some homeware things at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.

Sunday is Grandma Liz and Barry's last full day here in San Antonio and instead of going to the usual HEB we all went to HEB Plus! It was awesome, so much variety and Jane can buy Indian food items there (as well as some groceries from the UK). Amy of course got something.................a new pink Jeep umbrella stroller. We're all going for dinner tonight to the Macaroni Grill and then tomorrow it's off to the airport :-( Not sure that everything will fit in their bags (especially Amy). Will post again next Sunday - love to hear from you all.

Amy's first words

2007-12-23T20:04:00.000-06:00

Another busy week for us as we get ready for Christmas. Jerad was quite busy during the week with various loads to Laredo. Jane was busy at work (especially trying to take care of things ready for a few days off). Mum and Barry had another fun week looking after Amy and the dogs. Saturday morning we all went to "The Little Gym" where Amy had her first class. It was a lot of fun with Jerad and I being involved in the class too. Amy did some somersaults, stood holding onto the parallel bars, bounced and played "wheelbarrow". It was a fun class and she enjoyed interacting with the other babies. We have enrolled her in the Winter/Spring Semester that starts at the end of January.

Mum, Barry and I went out this morning to grab a few last minute groceries and we bought an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery to have for dessert on Christmas Day (Caramel Nut Nirvana). Traynor stopped in today as he has another load going to SC. Traynor and I went to the movies to see "I am Legend" while Jerad went to the bar for a drink - Mum and Barry stayed home and went for a walk with Amy. Today was very exciting............Amy actually said "ba ba ba"! It was very unexpected as we were sitting at the dinner table. I was starting to get worried that she wasn't going to talk, but our little girl is finally making her first word sounds.

Well I have the video camera all ready for Christmas morning so I just then need to work out how to download the video onto here. I'm sure I'll work it out :-)

Getting ready for Amy's 1st Christmas

2007-12-19T20:15:00.000-06:00

Well I have been slack over the past few weeks and haven't updated the blog. I guess it's because we are busy getting ready for Christmas. Our little girl is now 10 months old and is growing and changing every day. Since Grandma Liz and Barry have been here she gets spoilt (rotten). She goes for walks each day and plays, eats what she wants (whenever she wants).........you get the idea. Last week Grandpa Traynor came to visit and stayed the night. We all went to El Chapparal for dinner and Amy even had a dance with Grandpa Traynor! Amy has enjoyed looking at all the Christmas lights on all the house around Wildhorse (Although I think Grandma Liz enjoys it more).

Since her last Dr visit, Amy has had her blood test done and all is well - no need for iron supplements. She still isn't talking (making consonant sounds) but is certainly babbling more each day. She is also standing up holding on to things well, she also claps her hands and laughs a lot more now. She is starting at "The Little Gym" this Saturday so that should be fun! We are going to enroll her in the Winter/Spring semester in the "Bird" group where she will go to gym each Saturday morning. A good way to interact with other little babies and hopefully learn a few things.

I probably won't post again until Christmas when I will hopefully have some video footage to share on here and definitely photos.

Thanksgiving '07

2007-11-27T12:03:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy time over the past week or so. Last Tuesday I went to the airport to pick up Mum and Barry. They arrived safely after a long flight and lay-over in LAX.

Wednesday was Amy's 9 month Dr appointment and she now weighs 17lb and is 28" tall. She was not at all impressed with the 3 vaccinations she had! Dr Gibbons was a little concerned that she is not yet saying "Da da da" or "Ba ba ba" but said we should wait until the New Year and hopefully she'll be making her first sounds by then. Amy also needs to have a blood test just to check her iron levels - again nothing serious just needs to be checked at her age.

Then of course on Thursday it was Thanksgiving, so we were cooking all day and had our fill of turkey, sweet potato, green beans, corn bread etc. Amy was asleep during the meal but was able to enjoy some Thanksgiving leftovers later that evening. The next day Amy, Mum, Barry and I were all up bright and early for a full day of shopping on Black Friday. We got a great deal on a videa camera at Best Buy and then picked up most of Amy's Christmas presents at Toy'R'Us. We also shopped at Yankee Candle, JC Penney, Babies'R'Us, Gap and more. Mum and Barry bought Amy a new car seat and she seems to really like it .

Saturday and Sunday saw more shopping and showing Mum and Barry around San Antonio. Barry especially liked Costco!! Jerad put up all the Christmas decorations for us and the house now looks so pretty inside with the tree and lights and all. We are getting excited about Christmas and have started the countdown.

Preparing for the Holidays

2007-11-17T08:32:00.000-06:00

It was another busy week for us working and also preparing for Grandma Liz and Barry's arrival. Jerad helped me finish decorating the guest bathroom and I am so pleased with how it turned out. The next room on the list to paint and pretty up is the master bedroom - still deciding on a color scheme though, so probably a few weeks away yet.

Our little girl finally got back to "normal" and we didn't have to take her to the doctors. Although she is due for her 9 month well visit on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how much she weighs now and how much she has grown. I can't believe she is 9 months old already!

Not much planned for this weekend other than grocery shopping and buying all the food we need for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to next week as it will be a short week at work with Wed-Fri off. And yes...............we are planning on being part of the crazy crowd on Friday to start our Christmas shopping and get all the bargains. I'll be looking to buy a video camera first and foremost. I can't wait to start videotaping our little girl for her first Christmas.

What we did and did not do this week........

2007-11-11T07:47:00.000-06:00

Jerad was busy at work this week with quite a few loads to deliver out of town. He seemed to really like the drive out to Bandera and recommended we go out there for a day some time. He said how pretty the drive was and it is a real neat little town too. Well I finally went and bought new paint to re-paint the downstairs bathroom. Earlier in the year I had painted it a light shade of blue to match the shower curtain we had - but after looking at it for a while decided I didn't like it. So in preparation for Mum (Grandma Liz) and Barry arriving in 2 weeks Amy and I went to Sherwin Williams on Sunday so we can re-paint and we bought a new shower curtain and other bathroom accessories. Jerad was a big help doing the prep work and taping (which was great because that's the only bit I hate doing).

As for what we didn't do this week - which is a first for Amy.......poop. Our poor little girl is a little constipated so we are trying prunes etc to see if that does the trick. If there is no progress by tomorrow morning she'll be off to Dr Gibbons. She doesn't seem to be in any pain but it is not normal for her to go this long.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-09T15:08:00.000-06:00

As usual I was all excited that it was Halloween time and trick or treaters would be knocking on our door. Even more exciting was that I could dress Amy in her cute little fairy costume! Well I of course had way more candy than I needed and our poor little girl was getting tired and ready for bed by the time the first trick or treaters arrived. Although she did get to greet 1 or 2 of them. Before we know it we'll be celebrating her first Thanksgiving and Christmas.