2 Year old checkup

Claire had her 2 year check up on Tuesday, hard to believe my baby is going to be two!!! I love our pediatrician- he is SO wonderful with the kids and you can tell that he loves what he does. Claire's height and weight are right about to 30%- which for her is normal, he head on the other hand is in the 65%! Which our doctor assured me is totally normal. He estimates that she will be around 5'2/5'3 as an adult, and that she will be petite. She is doing wonderful with her milestones, she has far exceed those for 24 months, and her vocabulary has just exploded- she says at least 100 words, and will repeat anything you say! This has become a problem for mommy and daddy- we have to watch everything we say now!

Just to make things difficult we have started to have issues with her ears again, her right tube fell out last month and there is some nasty fluid sitting in her eustation tube, she is acting fine, but we don't want that fluid to stay there. So after the first of the year we are headed back to the ENT for what will most likely be her second set of tubes. They were working so well, if only that right one had stayed put and not fallen out, but overall a great checkup- her health is the most important thing to us, as long as we are all healthy that is all we can ask for, I thank God everyday for blessing us with such a beautiful, wonderful, healthy child, she has truly given our lives new meaning.

Claire officially turns two tomorrow on Christmas eve, and she is nothing short of our Christmas miracle- we will celebrate her birthday by attending mass at our church then dinner with the family, then let the festivities continue on Christmas day, we have lots planned and lots of great presents for Claire I can't wait to see her face when she sees them!

Merry Christmas to all, may you all enjoy time with family and loved ones!

Happy 2nd Birthday Claire!

Well, she's not quite 2, but we always celebrate 2 weeks before her birthday as to try to avoid the holiday rush. People seem to like taking a break from the holiday shopping to come over for dinner and celebrate with our little lovie.

This year we did a ladybug theme and it turned out really cute. I pride myself in the small details at parties, this year my wonderful sister in law made all the food, and it was wonderful. Guests also snacked on fruit kabobs and veggie cups. We also had chocolate covered antenne's (pretzel rods) and chocolate covered ladybug spots (oreos) as well as a wonderful cake from Caked Las Vegas, her white cake it to die for! I never skimp on the cake, it's the center of the party and I just can't get into the boring grocery store cakes. Claire had blast and only had one breakdown during the whole party. My mom flew in from South Carolina for the occasion and we loved having her in town, so did Claire- Nana is the center of Claire's world when she's around! Claire is loving all her presents, her favorites seem to be her hot pink Cozy Coupe car, the Aqua Doodle doodle pad, Rockin Elmo with accessories, and a baby doll complete with bottle. I think this party was actually harder for me, I am not too proud to admit that I cried when she blew out her candles, she is getting so big so fast, it's amazing!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who love Claire so much, without them we couldn't have great parties, and we love to throw a good party! I will admit it's a bit of a let down I plan these parties months and months in advance so now to have it behind me is depressing. Although I already have next years theme and lots of ideas already in my head!

Ladies and Gentlemen we have a Holiday Card!

After hours spent out at Lake Las Vegas last weekend and many hours spent surfing the web for the perfect holiday card my photographer and I came up with one! THANK GOODNESS!

It is so stress full getting holiday photos done, you have to have coordinating, not matching there is a difference, outfits- then you have to have to have the right shot- God forbid you have a great vertical photo, but the card calls for a horizontal photo, because that will never do! Then you have to make sure the card coordinates with your clothes and your background- it's just very stressful, trust me. My husband always says that if all I have to stress over is a holiday card then I'm doing pretty good, so maybe he's right- but the right holiday card is just one of those important things in life, okay maybe not in every one's life, but definitely in my life!

I don't want to reveal the entire card, as to keep it a surprise for those who will actually be getting a card in the mail, but here is a sneak peak of the front of our card, pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

Crazy random thoughts from the mind of Shannon!

Since I was been totally MIA for way too long and this poor blog has been neglected I am going to just give you guys an update of what's been going in our crazy lives and some random thoughts from me.

-Claire is doing great, she contines to wow us everyday. Her vocabulary has increased by leaps and bounds and she pretty much repeats everything we say, which is scary- we really have to watch what we say now!

-I am going out of my mind getting ready for Claire's 2nd birthday party, as many of you know I'm the insane party planner who worries about things like straws, food labels, and personalized favor tags for parties. The party is in about a month so I need to get my butt in gear! photos to come after the party- but I'll give you a hint the colors are red and black polka dot- any ideas what her party theme is?

-I have a serious obsession with smocked dresses and monogrammed clothing for Claire- it's very scary. John just shakes his head as he sees package after package arrive at our house, he just doesn't understand how cute girl clothes are and I just can't say no.

-We are getting ready for our annual family photo shoot for our Holiday card, and this is a total stresser in my life- I have our coordinating outfits all ready, now I just have to pick the perfect card- do you have any idea how hard that is??

-I am LOVING the new show Revenge- it's my new guilty pleasure, if you don't tune in Wednesday nights, you must start- it's the best new show of the fall.


I will do my best to keep the blog updated in the coming months, I am working on giving it a face lift- it's time to move on to new bigger and better things, so stayed tuned!

Happy Fall y'all!!
-

It's the year of FUN!!!!

If you are realty TV junkie like me that you know that Bill and Guiliana Ransic are back on The Style Network. The new season premiered on Monday night at 8pm, and it was a great episode. We join the couple trying to move on with life after 2 failed IVF cycles. They decided to have a " Year of Fun" and to table having a baby for a year and then revisit the issue. I think this is a great idea, I think so many times you get caught up in trying to have a baby that you loose sight of life. I know that happened to John and I, and we are still working to repair the damage that it did to our relationship, I don't think people realize the stress that infertility puts on a couple.

So if you watched the Ransic's last season you know that Bill built this AHH-MAZING home for his family in the burbs of Chicago, let me tell you that house was just perfect, but he decides to sell the house and move to LA to be closer to Guiliana, since that is where she is based because of her job with E! Network.

The show ends with Bill saying that even though he doesn't know anyone in LA and it's very scary to sell your home and move to a new city, that he will do it because life is an adventure, and as long as he has the love of his life he can live anywhere. Can I tell you how much I love Bill- I think he is great!

If you are a consistent reader of my blog then you know that I constantly compare John and I to Bill and Guiliana, because I feel out lives parallel each other in so many ways, and this episode was not any different.

To give you some insight into our lives John and I currently live in Las Vegas, John has been here pretty much his entire life, and I am going on 7 years, and that is about 6 years too long for me, I am ready to jump ship and go back to the South- where my family is. Now that we have Claire this urge to "jump ship" is even stronger. I just do not want to raise my daughter in Las Vegas. Well, just like Bill, John would be moving somewhere where he doesn't know anyone and doesn't know the areas, but because he loves me and for his daughters best interest he's willing to give it a shot. So, eventually we will be moving to North Carolina- we have many things to get into place, but it will happen sooner than later. I had to have John watch the part of "Bill and Guiliana," where Bill was talking about life being an adventure, he just shakes his head and says "see we are so much alike". Now if we could just be friends with them, I wonder if I can make that happen!?

Okay, I am off to watch Sesame Street with Claire- this is our new nightly routine. Next up photos from out latest family vacation!

18 month stats

My baby is growing up so fast, I cannot believe she is 18 months old. We just had our 18 month well check and she is healthy as a horse! The pediatrician and I discussed her vocabulary and her eating habits- he said keep pushing the veggies, Claire is not a fan- she would much rather eat cheese or chicken! She continues to be on the petite side, but she has had a growth spurt- jumping up into the 50 th percentile for her height, I thought she looked taller. Our pediatrician said she is very well proportioned and said she is just perfect, I have to agree.
I had to laugh when they came in with her shots she looked at the tray and said UHH OHH!! Poor thing, she knew what was coming!

Here are some 18 month stats:

Weight: 22.5 lbs- 30th percentile
Height: 31 inches- 50th percentile
Wearing 12-18 month clothes
Wearing Size 4 diaper
Continues to love "puppy" who goes everywhere with us

LOVES Elmo and Sesame Street
Saying about 15 words- which include: Mama, Dada, Elmo, Daisy, Baby, Money

Claire is such a happy and sweet kid- she loves to give kisses and hugs, but still remains very serious and guarded around people she doesn't know- she always looks like she is just taking in all her surrounds and processing it.

Just Breathe. . .

When we are 10 years old and playing house with our friends we fantasize what our lives will be like when we grow up. We say we will marry Prince Charming and live in a big white house with blue shutters, a red door, and a tire swing in the front yard. No one stops to tell you that that is not reality.

We grow up a little more and realize around the age of 21 that Prince Charming does not exist and that just maybe we won't have 2.5 children and a white picket fence. We realize that money does not grow on trees and that at some point you have to pull yourself together and go to work.

At some point you get married and after about 2 years the honeymoon phase ends, and then the realty of mortgages, jobs, and responsibility sets in. Then in the blink of an eye you have a baby, and you get hit by a ton of bricks. Whoever thought you could be SO tired? How can a 8 pound meatloaf push you over the edge? Well at 4am when you haven't slept in 3 days you find out just how close to that edge you can get. You realize that sex is the last thing on your mind, the bed is for sleeping now, and sleeping only! You now do not own anything that is not covered in spit up or vomit, and your memory- well forget that, oh wait you already did, and where the hell are my damn keys!!??

If you have not experienced any of these blessed events, just hold on because one day you will and you realize that everything I have just said is oh so true. Now I sit here as a 30 year old working mom and wife. There is nothing I would change about my life, and I do not regret any of the decisions I have made, for those decisions have made me the person I am today, but damn life is hard work!

I feel like I have 10 balls in the air at all times, and I do just about everything I can to keep them all up in the air. My mind, or what is left of it, is constantly thinking of what I have to do 2 weeks in advance, because I need to coordinate it. There is no more going out at the last minute, you need to schedule a baby sitter, there is no time for anything to go wrong- everything must run like a well oiled machine.

There is ALWAYS laundry to be done, meals to be planned, dry cleaning to be picked up or dropped off, groceries to be bought, phone calls to be returned, a house to be cleaned, dinners to be cooked, dishwashers to be loaded/unloaded, a dog to be walked- and the list goes on and on and this is just the daily household things. That is not including what I do during the 8 hours that I am at work.

Then add on taking care of a 18 month old and trying to maintain a healthy relationship with my husband there are days where this mountain seems almost to big to even try to climb. Somehow I manage to chip away piece by piece, but I never feel like I get enough done- there are always things that get left undone, and I feel like a failure pretty much on a daily basis. Now this is partially my fault, as I am perfectionist so I like things done my way and a certain way, but most days I feel like I am failing as a mother and as a wife.

My husband tells me that I need a hobby, and I think when do I have time for a hobby? I wish I had time- I wish I knew what I would like to do, because in this time of my life I almost feel robotic. I try to be proactive in certain situations as to avoid an issue down the road and sometimes it just blows up in my face, because I cannot accept that not everyone is like me. I try to plan things out months in advance and then I spend months obsessing, which is using energy that I really don't have to spare.

I feel like I need to just take a step back and breathe, I need to live in the moment and realize that if something doesn't get done the world will not end, I feel like I am missing my daughters most precious time, because I am more concerned that she stay on her schedule.

This is not meant as a bitch session, but mearly away for me to hopefully go back and read this and change things in my life as to make it better and better for those around me.

I got the right "stuff" baby!

In a time where so much is going wrong in the world and so many Americans are dealing with tough times we continue to be blessed and thankful for all we have. Although there are days where that gets hard for me, a few weeks back it felt like everything was going wrong, everything we touched broke or blew up, and I am not kidding. In the matter of a week our microwave died, our laptop blew up, our DVR stopped working, and my sunroof in my car started to leak. I was literally at the end of the rope. It took a few weeks but we managed to get everything, except my sunroof (which has been an ongoing issue) repaired or replaced. We now have a new DVR, a new laptop, and a working microwave, life is good again!

During this time when I felt like my life was a mess, all because of a microwave, a DVR, a laptop, and a sunroof I was quickly brought back to reality when talking to my mom and sister. My sweet 17 month old nephew, Drennan, was diagnosed with cancer 6 months ago in December 2010 ~ a rhabdomyosarcoma in his pelvis (a soft tissue mass - not in the actual bone). He has been undergoing weeks and weeks of chemo and radiation, and he had a major surgery several weeks ago to remove his tumor. Now when talking to my family about my nephew all our broken "stuff" doesn't really seem that important, it's just "stuff". The "stuff" that my sister and nephew have to deal with is the important "stuff" it's not electronics, it's life, and life is so precious and fragile and in a second it can change and it may never be the same.

Two days ago, I was buried up to eye balls at work and in a bad mood- I was stressed out and overworked, life was looking pretty bleak for me, I was just all around in a bad mood. I logged onto my favorite message board (The Nest) to see what was going on, and hope to be distracted enough to try to clam down. Much to my dismay I was hit with the news that one of my fellow "nesties" 9 month old daughter was diagnosed with a very very raregenetic disorder, for which she will need a bone marrow transplant to be cured. Yet again, all my work "stuff" isn't important, here, yet again, is another precious life that is changed in the blink of an eye. You just never know. I have added a Pray for Kate button in the upper left hand corner of my blog- please click it, feel free to add it to your blog and pray for Kate, her mom Lindsey and dad Alex.

John and I are like every other married couple we argue and disagree over things, and sometimes we even get into heated discussions, but at the end of the day we love each other and are committed parents to Claire, but its moment's like these that make us appreciate what is really important in life. So hug your kids a little tighter tonight, and tell your husband, your mom, your dad, your best friend, whoever is closest to you in your life that you love them, and remember they are the "stuff" that matters. Also please keep Drennan and Kate in your prayers.