Christmas is Coming!

We are officially in Christmas mode at the Rooney house!  Thanksgiving was wonderful.  We spent lots of time with family and friends, ate way too much good food and spent some time reflecting on how very lucky we are.  We did a "thankful tree" this year, which involved the kids choosing something every day that they were thankful for.  Some of them were pretty hilarious (Jack was thankful for "poop" more than once), some were very expected (Meredith was thankful for Hello Kitty, Jack was thankful for fire trucks) and some were very, very sweet (the kids were both thankful for Claire more often than they were thankful for anyone or anything else).  We went shopping this morning for the family we adopted for Christmas.  It was tough to explain to Meredith.  I told her that we were helping a family who didn't have any Christmas presents and she said, "I guess we'd better buy something for me too, since I haven't gotten any Christmas presents yet either!"  Once she finally understood what we were doing, she was so great about helping to pick out toys and making sure we didn't forget anything on our list.  Days like today make me feel so blessed!

We have an exciting December coming up.  I think this is going to be our most fun Christmas season ever!!!

Catching Up

Catching up on some pictures from the last few weeks--this is what happens when I finally dump the memory card from the camera!

 

Claire watching Meredith and Jack play outside

 

Mere's birthday present was a purple Barbie Jeep.  It was a huge hit!  Jack has even learned to drive it without scaring me (too much)

Meredith and Skyler going for a spin

A few pictures from the pumpkin patch last weekend

Pictures from Papa's retirement party

My favorite guys

Meredith and her Hello Kitty cake.  She went to the doctor for her four year checkup this week and was 91st percentile for height and 68th for weight.  Oh, if only those were my stats too!

Jap Woowee

Since the time Jack first started talking, he has called himself "Ung".  I have no idea where Ung came from, but it's been one of our goals in speech to go from Ung to Jack. No easy task, I assure you. Tonight while we were eating dinner, Jack looked at us and said, "Mama, I Jap. Jap Woowee." I've never heard sweeter words!

Four

Four years ago today, I woke up as a mommy for the first time.  Yesterday was Meredith's fourth birthday.  My oh my, how time has flown.  It's hard to believe that in four short years, she's gone from a precious new baby to my silly, smart, sweet, spirited Mere Bear.  Meredith, I am so proud to be your mommy and I love you so, so much.  Happy birthday!

Chomp chomp

 Jack survived his first trip to the dentist yesterday! He did such a great job! Meredith got her teeth cleaned too and did so well. I think they were both braver than I was! Taking three kids to the dentist so two could get cleanings plus getting my own teeth cleaned-about as easy as it sounds. I feel like I say this all the time, but I have no idea how moms do these things if they don't have a Papa to help out :)

This weekend was my dad's retirement party. It turned out great! The highlight of the weekend was getting to spend a few days with my brother and his family. Meredith and Skyler became fast friends. Here they are coloring at breakfast on Sunday morning.

We're doing shots!

Not the fun kind, unfortunately! Come to think of it, no shots sound fun anymore. One type makes my babies cry and the other just gives me a headache the next day. Yep, I'm officially old! We took Claire to the pediatrician on Tuesday for her four-month checkup. The stats: she weighed in at 17 lbs 9 oz (98th percentile) and was 26 inches long (94th percentile). She got two shots and was a trooper. She has also started rolling this week and is a total chatterbox. Jack tagged along because he keeps saying his ears are "buzzing" and was diagnosed with his first post-tubes ear infection. How does that work? It was Claire's appointment, but Jack ended up with Augmentin? So goes the life of baby Jack.

Mere and Jack started swimming lessons last week. Meredith has started referring to her brother as "Michael Phelps", which is hilarious every time she says it. They both have chosen Daddy as their swimming partner, which is just fine with me.  I have no desire to put my postpartum behind in a bathing suit anytime soon, thank you very much!  The report from Daddy is that both kids love swimming and are doing great.  Speech is going well too. Jack had three new words yesterday and he was very excited to show them off at therapy. My favorite is how he has started calling Claire "my baby". Okay, so that's not a new word, but it just makes me smile. He has also been asking to pee on the potty a lot lately. Not getting my hopes up just yet!

We were lucky enough to have all of Chris' siblings, their spouses and kids in town two weeks ago.  We attempted an official family picture (can't wait to see how it turns out!), had a cookout, and took the kids to the fire station.  Could this picture be any cuter?  Our kids are so lucky to have so many cousins so close in age!

 

We are anxiously getting ready for my dad's retirement party in a few weeks.  Here's a picture of Papa with his babies (we made him hold his fire helmet so we could use the picture for the party--makes it fire department official somehow if you hold your helmet!)

I'm looking forward to having family in town for the party and to being able to celebrate my dad and his career.  He has so much to be proud of.

What Did You Say?!?!?

I seriously ask that question 15 times a day.  As Meredith and Jack get older and have more to say, the hilarity never stops!  A few examples from our week:

 

--Yesterday, for example, Jack decided to be a big helper.  Both kids have transitioned from their toddler beds to their big kid beds, so we decided it was time to take the cribs down and put their headboards on.  It was a bit emotional going from a three crib house to only having Claire still in one!  Anyway, Meredith yelled from the bathroom that she needed someone to come wipe her, so I jokingly told Jack to go take care of it.  I guess I need to start paying better attention to the jobs I give Jack, because within 30 seconds, I heard a shriek from the bathroom and Mere screamed, "Jack, stop wiping my butt!!!  If you can't poop on the potty, you can't wipe me!"  Thankfully, I made it into the bathroom before he caused himself a big mess. 

--We went to breakfast with our family this morning and when Claire started to cry, Meredith told my cousin, "Don't worry.  Claire is just hungry.  Give her back to my mommy, since we didn't bring any bottles.  She'll take care of it." 

--Jack has started telling knock knock jokes.  Good, because he cracks himself up.  Bad, because no matter the joke, the punchline is always "Poo poo" or "Firetruck".  He also ends most of the things he tells us with "Ha haaa ha!" as if to say "I told you!"

--Claire, not to be forgotten, has started making sounds of her own.  My favorite is her growl.  She sounds just like Jack when he makes a monster noise and saves it for when she's really happy.  

 

Claire is an amazing sleeper and went 12 hours last night.  She's rolling onto her side now and is making progress towards rolling all the way over.  At last check on our scales at home, she was just over 17 pounds and just moved into size three diapers.  Three months has gone so fast! 

 

We have a busy fall coming.  Swimming lessons start for the two older kids in two weeks and Jack has started weekly speech therapy.  He talks like a champ and has no problem with us understanding him, but it gets a little shaky when he's out in the world.  He's been adding a new word every day, so it must be working!  We have to make sure we're not confusing actual progress with what Meredith reports to us.  She says all the time, "Mommy, you'll never believe it!  Jack can say ______!"  Today's words were apple, catastrophe, ridiculous and butt.  Jack pretty much only said butt.

 

Jack and Meredith are still loving their little sister.  Jack likes to sing her songs and gives her kisses on her forehead for no reason.  Meredith is an expert in all things baby-related (and makes sure to tell us daily!) and could probably give her a bath unassisted if we'd let her.  Our other new favorite thing is the iPhone.  Jack has two games all his own that he loves to play.  He knows all of his colors and shapes and is working on his letters.  Meredith has been reading some sight words and has a really neat handwriting app that she loves.  Amazing that they can work the phone better than I can!

 

Some playroom pictures from the past week:

 



Jack's birthday!

We celebrated Jack's second birthday on June 13th.  I can't believe he's already two!  We had a tractor party at our house with our family plus a fun day playing on tractors and going to lunch with Mimi, Papa and Grammy.  I think Jack really enjoyed himself!  In true Jack fashion, he ended up with a cold once all the excitement was over.  He coughed so hard last night that he threw up in the middle of the night.  I was feeding Claire, so Daddy took the brunt of the initial onslaught.  Nights like that make me grateful that my husband isn't afraid of bodily fluids!  He's much better today, thank goodness.  Meredith slept through a screaming baby, a crying Jack and all of the commotion that goes with the middle of the night drama.  Wish I could sleep like that!

Speaking of Mere, I found yet another reason to be thankful that I had a C-section with Claire the other day.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I just don't get it.  How could Claire be in your belly and then be here?  How did she get out of there?"  I'm totally not ready to have that conversation with my three-year-old!  I showed her the scar from my C-section (which she sees daily, considering I don't think I've showered without at least one kid in the bathroom since 2008) and she was fine with that being the answer.  Whew!

A few pictures from the past few weeks:

Claire in her sun hat sitting on the deck while Meredith and Jack play outside

On the day of Jack's birthday, we went to Hartville to play at the John Deere dealership.  Jack is a man of limited interests--tractors, firetrucks and construction equipment.  He must've crawled on these tractors for over an hour

Big sister had as much fun as the birthday boy did

Playing in the Gators at Hartville Hardware



One month picture

Jack's birthday cake



For Jack's birthday party, all he wanted was to ride on my dad's tractor.  Papa was wonderful enough to bring his tractor over so he and Jack could ride it at our house during the party.

The day after the party.  We were on a party hangover and just had a relaxing morning watching movies in the playroom.  I love seeing all three of my babies together!

This week brings Jack's checkup with the ENT to make sure his tubes are still working and also his two-year checkup with the pediatrician.  I'm anxious to see how both go!  Scheduling doctors appointments around the schedules of three kids has definitely gotten interesting.

One month

Today was a milestone--the first time I got all three kids up and out of the house by myself!  I'm happy to report that we all survived.  Meredith and Jack headed to school for a few hours this morning while Claire and I went to the pediatrician for her one month checkup.  The stats: she weighed in at 8 lbs, 15.5 oz (49th percentile) and was 21.75 inches long (75th percentile).  Her head circumference was 46th percentile.  The doctor was thrilled with her progress.  She seemed a little tan still, so we did another bilirubin level just to make sure she's within normal limits.  Miss Claire also got her first shot and was a real trooper.  Now, we're just hanging out for the afternoon.  She has been eating like a champ and rarely goes longer than three hours between feedings.  This translates to 8-9 feedings a day.  I think Jack must've broken me in as far as sleep deprivation, because I'm definitely not as tired as I thought I'd be with two toddlers and a newborn.  So far, so good!

Hard to believe, but my baby Jack turns two next week.  We're planning a John Deere-themed birthday party.  I can't wait to see his face!  He transitioned great to his new place in the car.  He's sitting in the back seat and seems thrilled to have his own bin to hide toys in and a special cup holder (yep, he's my easy kid!).  He also thinks it's hilarious to crawl in the back of the car and slide all the way over on the back seat.  Ever try to haul 32 lbs of wiggly toddler out of the back of a car and into a car seat?  Meredith has been as funny as ever.  She scolded Papa the other day because he moved her picnic table and messed up her toys.  She did this complete with crossing her arms, stomping her foot and wagging her finger at him.  I forget she's not even four yet with some of the things that she tells us!  Daddy put her in timeout a few days ago for teasing Jack.  When I asked why she was in timeout, she said, "Mommy, I have no idea.  Daddy put me in timeout for teasing Jack, but Daddy teases me all the time and no one ever puts him in timeout."  We are definitely in trouble with this one!

Week One!

We've survived our first week as a family of five (actually, almost two weeks).  I'm so sad that Chris is going back to work on Monday.  We've had a really wonderful week off together.  I'm so lucky to have a husband who is such a hands-on dad.  We spent lots of time playing in the back yard and even managed to take a trip to Hartville on Thursday.  True, it may have taken us twice as long to get ready, but we managed to get everyone out the door and had a great time shopping.  Not sure how I'm ever going to do this on my own, but I guess I'll learn!  So far, this has been a much smoother transition that I could've ever anticipated.  It probably helps that our lives are already chaotic with two kids, so throwing another one into the mix hasn't changed our norm too much.  Three kids under four--I still can't believe it!  I'm anxious to see how this week goes.  The kids are heading back to school on Monday for part of the day (they've been off for two weeks--should be interesting) and Claire and I have a doctor's appointment for my two week checkup.  Thankfully, Papa will be along to help us out since I still can't lift the kids.  Hopefully, that'll only last for another week.

Claire had her first visit to the pediatrician on Monday.  She left the hospital weighing 6 lbs, 12 oz.  Four days later, she was back to her birth weight and doing great.  We don't have to go back until she's one month old to do shots.  That's music to my ears!  She has been nursing really well.  At birth, we were told that she was slightly tongue-tied and it might affect how she was able to nurse, but it obviously hasn't been an issue.  I'm pretty happy to avoid any procedures to have anything clipped or snipped where her tongue is concerned.  She has been doing pretty well with sleeping.  She had two nights this week where she went five hours between feedings.  I don't think I've had that much sleep since I got pregnant! 

We had our first attempt at newborn pictures on Friday.  It was a flop!  Claire was awake the entire time and refused to lay happily.  We're going to try again this week with hopefully much better results.  I think we managed to get a really cute family picture though, so at least it wasn't a total loss.

Meredith and Jack are still doing great with their new sister.  Meredith kisses her all the time and Jack likes to rub her head and make silly faces at her.  We're finally starting to get back to our normal bedtime routine for both kids.  Watching the three of them together makes me so excited for when Claire gets a little bigger and can actually play with her brother and sister.  Meredith and Jack play really well together (90% of the time) and I'm sure Claire will fit right in.

Some pictures from this morning:

Claire napping in the playroom.  Not sure how she sleeps with all of the commotion!

"Here Claire.  You can cuddle with my bear."

Sisters

Waiting for Daddy to fill up the water table.  They were so excited!

Playing in the water

Baby Claire

Claire is here!!!  Claire McCain Rooney was born on Monday, May 7 at 7:25am.  She weighed 7 lbs, 5 oz and was 19.5 inches long.  My c-section wasn't too awful and I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered.  Meredith and Jack are so in love with their new sister!  They have helped give her baths, change her diapers and love to help with anything where she's concerned.  Jack isn't always sure about his new sister (he's sometimes afraid to touch her because I think he worries about hurting her), but Meredith is all over her.  She told us that Claire is "beautiful like a princess" when she came to the hospital the first time.  Claire is a wonderful baby--very laid back and sweet.  She is long and lean with huge feet and big, beautiful eyes!  Nursing is going fairly well and she is a pretty good sleeper.  We feel so blessed to have this perfect little angel in our family.  She was exactly who was missing and we adore her! 

My biggest stress with the delivery was being away from the kids, but they handled the separation like champs.  Mimi and Papa brought them to the hospital twice a day while I was there and it helped all of us immensely.  Mimi camped out at our house all week and Papa spent most of the week at the hospital with Claire and me so Chris could go between both places and spend time with all of us.  I really have the most amazing parents in the world.  They took care of our family and made things run so smoothly.  I love them so much!

So far, I'm amazed at how smooth our transition has been to being a family of five.  Chris is home all week this week and I'm looking forward to lots of quality time with my favorite people.  What a perfect gift for Mother's Day!

Some pictures from our first few days home:

 Meredith and Claire when we first got home.  This was the same outfit that Mere wore when she came home from the hospital

 Claire in the tub.  Daddy does baths at our house and took charge for her first official bath

 She loves to be swaddled!  She also loves her binky, which is a first for our kids.  Meredith and Jack wanted nothing to do with them!

 Jack and Mere have a new hiding spot--Mere's closet.  They call it their castle and love to play in there together.

 Helping give baby sister a bath

 Riding on the tractor at Mimi and Papa's house.  Jack said Claire could ride on the tractor, but only in the wagon

 Daddy and his girls

 Claire and her boys

 Meeting Claire for the first time.  Jack is sharing his gorilla

 Think she's excited?

Newborn photos are this week--can't wait to see how they turn out.  More posts to come!