Claires song

Claire asked to record this song for everyone to hear, so we obliged. And in case you ever doubted that Claire grew up in New Jersey, just listen to the way she pronounces "carrot."

 

:-) :-) :-)

I guess the title of my earlier post was foreshadowing the day to come. We just got our power back!!

Daylight on Day 6

Thanks to daylight savings time, I saw daylight for the first time since Tuesday! My poor eyes didn't know what to do. Yesterday after work I decided to meet up with the New York City Clemson Club to watch the football game. It was a nice distraction for a little while, but I was exhausted and only made it to halftime. As I was getting ready to leave, I played the pity card on the bartender and procured a cold beer to enjoy once I got home. I had my own candle light Bugles & Beer party while I boiled my 8 pots of water  :-)  

Parts of Hoboken are returning to service, but we did not fall in the areas that got power back yesterday. That leads me to believe it will be a bit longer. Dan is not sure when he is heading back to Hoboken, but his work has been very flexible with him under the circumstances. 

More devastating pictures if you want to check them out.

I am tired, wondering why Mother Nature is sending another storm our way on Wednesday, and missing my family. We will all make it through this, but it is tough. Tomorrow will be 7 days without power

Day 5

After my rant about the marathon I was happy to see that yesterday afternoon someone finally came to their senses. So, I feel justified in my ranting.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Work all day, once again boiled my 8 pots of water, diluted with cold water to get enough warm water for a sponge bath if you will. I was able to charge our laptop at work and pick up a free Wi-Fi signal at home for as long as the battery lasted. Read a little bit in bed with every blanket in the house piled on top of me and don't think I moved an inch before I woke up too early. It was more than painful to break the blanket seal and allow cold air in. I could have laid there all day. But I was up, washed my hair and headed to work where I can at least plug in the hair dryer.

This is an intersting link that shows some before and after pictures in areas throughout New Jersey.

And the below pictures made me smile  :-)  They are at Nana & Piperes so I would not be surprised if this was at breakfast

Thoughts on Day 4

Let me first say that these are my thoughts, not influenced by work and honestly I don't know how anyone at work really feels about this. But when I sit at work all day and hear how employees can not get to work because there is no gas in their car and employees who are at work can not make it to the field because there is no gas, contractors from as far away as California are being flown in, their trucks loaded on military planes, and there are no hotels within 80 miles of NYC. FEMA is assisting with setting up mini camps at 3 locations throughout the city, each housing 1000 contractors. But have no dear, the marathon will go on. Starting in Staten Island that has been torn to pieces and still has 53K customers out of service. I just don't understand how it is a good idea to divert police resources to clean the marathon route, hold pedestrians back from the route, hand out water, etc... It really frustrates me to no end. Release their hotel rooms to the people that could use them, give the water and snacks to those who need them. Am I alone with these thoughts, what do YOU think? Hello, McFly, anyone out there? I posted a few links to articles below, I'm sure there are plenty of others out there.

Daily News Article
New York Post Article 
New York Times Article

After working yesterday I headed home, donned my head lamp flashlight, and began the daunting task of cleaning out the fridge and freezer. It aggravated me how much money I was throwing out and made ne question why we went grocery shopping before the storm. When we prepare for the next storm we will certainly prepare differently. Guess it wasn't that important to get milk for the girls 2 days before the storm hit. Why do people but bread, milk, and eggs when a storm is coming? 2 of the 3 got thrown out last night. I took out 6 bags of food alone, down 3 flights of stairs in the pitch black. All the while wondering why I didn't just open the fridge 2 days ago and at least enjoy a beer while they were cold. After all that work, I figured I at least deserved a bath so I took the 4 biggest pots I could find in the house, filled them up and boiled some water. After 8 trips back and forth bringing the water to the bathroom I had enough hot water that I could mix with cold water to have a lukewarm sponge bath. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? The hair washing is done with my head flipped over the tub in the mornings and then I dry my hair as soon as I get to work.

That is all for now - hope everyone enjoyed Halloween. I'm sure Claire would love to play if anyone is around Massachusetts. She will be there all of next week through November 10th.

XOXO

Here is a picture from one of our mini camps

Amazing Pictures

These pictures, all of them taken in Hoboken, give me chills.

Hurricane Sandy Day 3

The days go by and the disbelief is really starting to set in. Seeing the pictures of Hoboken really open my eyes to the devastation that has taken place there. So far I have only been in Hoboken in the pitch black and I have yet to venture off the main street while driving. Dan posted this picture on twitter, it's where we grocery shop. and this article details some of the devastation in Hoboken. The National guard rolled in yesterday to perform some rescues and help people out. If you watch the Today Show you probably saw Natalie Morales reporting live from Hoboken. I'm not going to lie, watching those videos give me the chills and bring tears to my eyes.

The reality of this event is starting to set in. Our employees are having trouble getting to work because there is no gas to be found anywhere and lodging is limited. Waking up in the cold is no fun and the thought of taking a cold shower is sometimes unbearable. This morning I just flipped my hair into the tub and opted to skip the shower. Once I get to work I plug in the hair dryer and resume the feeling of semi-normalcy. And to think I have it better than most. Last night I drove home a few employees who also live in Hoboken - they had not been home since Sunday. They were more than grateful and I drove them in again this morning. You now need 3 people in the car to enter Manhattan between 6AM and midnight. The one street in Hoboken that does have power has set up sidewalk internet cafes so people can charge their phones as needed.

Day 2

Watching the little bit of news that is constantly running at work, the Sniders seem to have lucked out in Hoboken. Over 10,000 customers are out of power in Hoboken and we remain one of them. Dan stayed home to keep the kids entertained yesterday while Mommy worked. The novelty of being home with no power is starting to wear on Dan and the girls and they have opted to head out of town. Claire can only color so many pictures and Jenna can only terrorize the house so many times while eating PB&J and pasta over and over. Not being able to open the fridge for milk  beer is tough and there is certainly no Halloween taking place in Hoboken. So, Dan is packing up the girls and their costumes and making the trip to Massachusetts, leaving Mommy behind to work long day and take cold showers.

Parts of Hoboken are still under water and the National Guard arrived today to start evacuating people as needed. It is anybodys guess when the power will be back on but we can only wait and see.

Thanks to everyone who has reached out to check on us, so far we are doing OK. Dan will be much better once he gets a shower - and a hot one to boot.

Sandy Sandy Sandy

Just a quick update to let you know that we are surviving in Hoboken. On Monday Dan stayed home with the girls, his work was closed and school and daycare was closed as well. Things started to pick up in the afternoon with a lot of wind and I was able to get home from work before the 4PM no driving restriction went into place in Hoboken. About 5:30 we lost power but were restored around 7. We put the girls down to bed and watched the news in total disbelief as the waters started rising in New York City and also in Hoboken. Luckily where we live is not in a flood zone and the only water that was coming down was from the river not rain. Around 9:15, when the tide was at its highest and the news coverage was getting good, the power went out again. Word on the street is the substations got flooded so we will see how long it takes before we are back on. I was up at 4:45 this morning, was glad to get a warm shower in dark and slowly made my way to work in the Bronx. I was detoured a little bit due to flooding but otherwise fared OK. Once in the city it was desolate with lots of trees and branches down. Now, I am sitting in the Response Center trying to coordinate different activities to get the power back on. Right now, there are 750,000 customers out of service. By far the most destructive storm to hit the area.

On the positive side, we are all safe and getting by. We're hoping for some quick restoration of power and the removal of the curfew in Hoboken so Dan can at least get our of the house. Thanks to everyone for checking in - rest assured we are surviving.

Claires Swim Show

Yesterday Claire had a carnival at camp and her group performed a little swim show. Hard to believe how far she has come with her swim skills!

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Flippers in the USA!

Claires group at camp is called the flippers and apparently they learned this dance, substituting Party in the USA with Flippers in the USA. For some reason it never gets olds and I smile every time this song comes on the radio. This wasn't her best performance, but you get the idea!

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Heading home from a perfect vacation

Hi,
It's hard to believe but we are heading home tomorrow! This has been an amazing vacation we have done all and more than we ever anticipated.
This has been the best time to see London because they are prepared for visitors and have thousands of volunteers all over the area. I have to say we have navigated the area quite well on our own but have also taken advantage of the volunteers and they are a wealth of knowledge and guidance.
They are also pleasant and eager to help.
We have met many lovely people from all over the world and have enjoyed talking to them. The Brits have been gracious hosts all over the area. Today we went to Greenwich to see the observatory and found out they made a mistake in the literature and it is closed until Sept. so we went to the largest mall in the UK and found it way too crowded. In fact that was the largest crowd we have come across. When we sat to have a sandwich we started talking to couple from  Woolwich and he said it was a great place to visit and the tall ships were there.
We decided to get out of the mall, took the train and went to Woolwich and it was great. While there we found out that we could take a boat back to central London so we did and got off at our favorite spot, went to a great wine bar Gordon's ( it is an old bomb shelter underground   that has limited electricity all the tables have candles)We ordered our usual half bottle of wine sometimes it's a whole bottle and bread and cheese it was the perfect ending to our trip.
I have to admit we are very tired and really couldn't keep up this kind of pace much longer.
The family we are staying with have been fabulous we had a perfect vacation!!!!

Check your email Auntie Gail!

Just in case you somehow checked the blog and not your email (your MSN account) I sent you a possible lead on tickets!

Cheerio from London

Hi again,
We have been in London for three days and have already seen a great deal. We have becomme quite adept at traveling around using public transportation.  We have used the bus, train, the tube and of course  our legs. We have seen so many things The Royal Art Museum ,the Londo Tower ( there we took a tour with  the " beefeater" he is dressed in uniform and verydramatic, funny and knowledgable.  That was great. We. Went to the theater and saw Jersey. Boys. It was wonderful and they actually have half price ticket booths in the theater district.
Still no tickets and I don't think we are going tobe able to get any. The official site is only selling to residents of the UK. We did hang around the XL center hoping to buy some but no luck. We are off to the Olympic Park tomorrow that should be fun and we will try to see the today show. Also we did see the Olympic Tourch that was amazing we went to the right place at the right time and had a great view on the Tower Bridge. We were also interviewed by Sky TV but never saw it. That was fun.
The family we are are staying with are all very nice an in a perfect location.
Look for us on the Today Show tomorrow ( dad's birthday)
Sheryl and Gail

Bonjour from Paris

Hi, Just wanted to keep you updated on our fabulous trip. We have been in Paris for five full days and it has been perfect. Our hotel is very charming and within walking distance to just about everything we wanted to see. Needless to say we have walked many miles! Sad to say we are leaving in the morning it has been absolutely amazing. the people have been friendly and very helpful. We ended our last evening at a famous cafe' "Les Deux Magots" we had a glass of wine sat outside and people watched which is quite popular here. Now preparing for our trip to London tomorrow morning. We will take the metro ( which we have become good at),and take the Eurostar to London it's very fast and comfortable. Then through customs we heard it's tight in London. We have heard there's a good chance we can get some tickets when we get there hope so! I'll try to keep you posted. I did try to attach pictures from my new best friend my IPad but couldn't figure it out. So Bonsour for now. Gail and Sheryl

When Daddy is in charge....

it's a pickle on a stick for breakfast. I give him credit for getting everyone up and out of the house so early.

I married a rock star!

As our 8th Anniversary passed and I found myself working 12 hours and falling asleep shortly after Claire proclaimed - Mommy, Daddy bought you a cannoli and shoving it down my throat, I quickly realized something....I think I married a rock star. For real, as much as we tried to "plan" for this contingency at work, it wasn't until I was up at 3AM on July 1st checking my E-mail and realizing the company had locked out the union workforce that I realized this was going to be tough. And just a few days into this ordeal it dawned on me that Dan certainly has the raw end of the deal,  but he is handling it like a champ! I get up every morning, head to work for a 12 hour work day, where they feed us if we are near a work out location and head home, usually arriving around 8. By that time, Dan got up and got himself and both girls ready, dropped Jenna off at daycare and Claire at the bus for camp, worked a full day, came home to pick up Claire, pick up Jenna, make dinner for the 3 of them, do dishes, and baths. Sometime Jenna is out before I get home, other days I see her long enough to get a few hugs, read a book, and lay her down. Claire is excited to see me and never wants to go to bed. But I promise you, when she finally is tired she only wants her Daddy to brush her teeth, her Daddy to read her book, Daddy to tuck her in, and of course she only wants to snuggle with her Daddy. In the race to fall asleep, I have been beating Claire hands down! There have only been a few days she is out before me. Dan had them both on July 4th and had them out and about and to a friends for dinner. And both Saturdays he had them - this past weekend taking the car to be inspected, taking them to a pool party 45 minutes away and then back to Hoboken for another birthday party that afternoon. Yesterday I tried to give him a break, but I know he must be tired. And with all that going on, I nominate him for Father of the Year (as did many at the birthday parties!) and I came to the realization that I married a rock star.

Now the big question is how long is this going to last? I really wish that I had an answer for that, but all we are being told is pace yourself and prepare for the long haul. I'm not sure there is an end in the immediate future. Let's just hope it is over before our Labor Day trip to Vermont and the Zac Brown Band concert.

Since I am not seeing the kids much, Dan is wonderful about sending me pictures in the morning and afternoons. Here are some of the ones I have received



She could not be any happier with her camp! And let's forget Dans first successful pony tail...

  

Dan took Jenna for her follow up appointment with the surgeon. She got the all clear and no need to return again. Her stitches are still there, but do not bother her one bit. So glad this was done and over with!

I had to lay out their outfits, but they were sporting their 4th of July shirts for school and camp on July 3rd

Heading to camp this morning. This girl is rocking an awesome tan that I am super jealous of!

I told you Dan had this Mr. Mom deal down pat, right? He sent me this picture of the girls heading from the pool party to their second birthday party of the day. Either there is a gas leak in the car or he did a good job of tiring them out!

Not a bad work location for my first assignment, but unfortunately this gig ended last week.

And that is our crazy life right now! Claire is growing up before our eyes, preparing for the new school she got reassigned to for next year and Jenna just gets bigger every day. She took herself off the bottle about 2 weeks ago when she finally got the hang of the sippy cup. We had to give the cry it out method a go for the second time since we babied her so much during her surgery and Claire being gone. Jenna is down to one nap a day and no longer eating baby food. She loves the Dr. Praegers food - potato bite, brocolli bites, sweet potato, spinach, etc. She is not a fan of chicken nuggets but will eat brocolli and corn. She is already a better eater than Claire ever was.

Changing of the Camps!

Claire has successfully completed Camp Wishing Well Way and Pipere lives to tell about it - imagine that! It seems that Claire had an awesome time and she was such a good sport. While I do believe she was a little lonely, she pushed through and was kept busy with all the activities that were planned for her. I am pretty sure she swam more in those two weeks than she has in her entire life, ate more ice cream than you can imagine and dined with Pipere on a frequent basis - let's not mention how many times she celebrated her birthday. Pipere was ratted out once through when Claire reported back that he had a beer during lunch. And after Claire climbed back in the car with us, she proclaimed that she has a new favorite way to eat pasta, just like Nana - with butter and lots of salt. I enjoyed a good chuckle. Now that she is back I am sure Nana and Pipere are enjoying some quiet time and being able to sleep in the same bed because every night at Camp Wishing Well Way was a girls night and Claire and Nana slept together and kicked Pipere out to another room. What a precedent to set!

Claire moved directly from Camp Wishing Well Way and we met up with her at a counselor meet and greet at her new camp - Deerkill. She was super excited and thrilled to see one of her classmates there, while showing Nana, Pipere, Mom, Dad, Jenna, Andrea, and Matt where she would spend her summer. We got to see her group house along with all the playgrounds and animals that are on site. Then we headed out to a birthday party where Claire proceeded to take off the swimmies and jump in the pool, pop right up and start swimming to stairs. Not sure when exactly that happened, but she can swim! And I am sure this will only improve as she is now spending 40 minutes a day in swim lessons and another 40 minutes in free swim. She went off to camp this morning without any trouble. Dan said she woke up at 6:10 and asked if the bus had left yet. She gets picked up at 7:45 and returns no sooner than 5:15. She is going to be one tired little girl!

In the meantime, what we had been planning for at work finally happened. It looks like the Company offered the Union to continue negotiating and they chose not to, so they were locked out. What does that mean for me? Since I am management, I am now working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day until this gets settled. Not exactly sure how long that will be, but we will get through it. Dan has welcomed his role as Mr. Mom - at least on Day 1, we will see how that progresses.

Claire enjoying her visit to NJ on the weekend between Camp Wishing Well Way. She is so excited to have her own hat - a Cleveland Indians hat to boot!

Jenna sure enjoyed a little alone time with Mom & Dad

Claire anxiously waiting to get on the bus to Deerkill. She was so excited for her first day!

Jennas Surgery

We made it through Jennas surgery - woo hoo!! After all was said and done I think it was definitely worse on Dan and I than it was on Jenna. Early last week the surgeon called to let us know he had a morning cancellation and would we be interested in moving up the surgery from 10:15 to 8:30. Hmmm, let me think about this - yes, please! So we were up and out early and at the hospital before Jenna even realize she hadn't eaten. She was so cute in her little hospital gown and kept all of the nurses entertained as she ran around the waiting area giggling. The surgeon came to visit us before his first surgery and asked about the two cysts (I had called him earlier in the week letting him know I thought there were now 2). He took and look and said it definitely looked like two, but he had never seen that before. Interesting.... Shortly after 8:30 they came to get Jenna and I was able to suit up and carry her back to the operating room and stay by her side until she was knocked out with the gas mask, which she took surprisingly well. I gave her a kiss and headed back to wait and wait. It was probably a good 20-25 minutes before the surgeon showed up to let us know that everything went well, but it was only one cyst. His exact words were - the cyst was huge. We're not even talking black olive size, it was the size of an eyeball and it is a very good thing that you had it removed now. He said there was no doubt in his mind that it would have eventually burst, so I am very very glad we decided to have it removed sooner rather than later. A few minutes later the nurse came in and I heard Jenna crying down the hall. They led us back to the recovery area where we were able to be with Jenna. I think she looked great, but she did not enjoy coming out of anesthesia at all. She still had the IV in her foot and the little sensor on her toe. She sucked down 3 bottles of Pedialyte and then alternated between very fussy and sleepy. The nurse eventually gave her some Morphine and she fell asleep for about 30-40 minutes. Just as she was waking up again they wheeled us back to our room in the waiting area and she was back to her normal self and running around. We got our discharge instruction and we were off, dermoid cyst free :-) 

Surprisingly, her little hands have no interest in touching her eyes or pulling at the stitches. We are supposed to keep it moist and put on some ointment twice a day for a week and she does not mind at all. Thursday she was bruised pretty badly and had a little swelling but everyday since it has decreased. We are so pleased with the results and can't wait to see how it looks once it heals completely.   

Heading out to the hospital

Jenna is not quite sure what all the fuss is about

Heading back for anesthesia

In recovery - finally calmed down with the help of some Morphine and her bunnies

Headed home from the hospital

Sunday afternoon nap - 4 days post surgery

When her eyes are open - you would never know she had surgery :-)

Watch out Washington Street

Claire has a new bike and she is still learning to use the brakes!

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Claire in Action

Claire performed wonderfully at her end of the year show - I think she wins for most enthusiastic!

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Great weekend

For our wedding, Dan & I got a gift certificate for a registry of bed and breakfasts. We always knew it was there, but we never got around to using it - knowing that it expired on our 7th anniversary. Well, as we approached that anniversary last year I was super pregnant or wrestling with a newborn so just before the 7 year expiration hit I called them up and begged for another year - success! That extra year was coming up again so Dan and I started researching and picked last weekend to go away. We drove to Saratoga on Friday night for the Zac Brown Band concert - it was fantastic! Nana & Pipere graciously took the girls for the weekend so we stayed in Saratoga Friday night and then headed for the bed and breakfast in the Berkshires on Saturday. After hitting the Lee outlets and realizing how much easier it is to shop without kids, we checked in and headed out for dinner. Our inn keepers recommended a little restaurant in town, which was absolutely fabulous. Dan had duck and I tried soft shell crab. We walked around the town that night and slept for a long time, in peace ad quiet, before being treated to a nice breakfast Sunday morning. We drove back to WS to pick up the girls and and after a very relaxing weekend made our way back to Hoboken with two very tired kiddos. Not sure what Nana & Pipere did to wear them out, but they sure were exhausted.

But you do know nothing goes as smoothly as planned. Fast forward to Monday morning when I wake up at 2AM and notice red dots all over my stomach. I didn't think much of it and feel right back asleep until my alarm went off at 5:30 and I woke up to a rash all over my stomach, back, neck, arms, and legs. After getting ready for work I came to my senses and decided that I needed to have this looked at before I brought it to work. So I dropped Claire off at school and headed right for urgent care where they diagnosed me with an allergic reaction to a medicine or something I ate. I have never had allergies to any food or medicine and I don't have sensitive skin so I was a little lost. But we moved forward with a prescription, some Benadryl and a shot in my @ss to start a Monday morning off right. After almost passing out in the doctors office, I slowly made my way to work and watch my rash begin to fade while pondering what caused this allergic reaction. Now I think I might have the answer - did you know that when you eat soft shell crab you eat the whole crab, shell and all. And the shell contains something called chitin that causes a lot of people to have a reaction. So I don't think I'll be eating soft shell crab anytime soon and I will stay away from eating bugs because the chitin is what makes their shells hard. Whew - what a start to the week, it can only get better, right?

Jennas 1 year post

Oh, my little Jenna-bug. I cannot believe it has been a year since you graced us with your presence. You bring so much joy into our lives and we can’t remember what life was like before you were born. You are like your sister in so many ways, yet so different in many other ways. You hit your first birthday with 7 teeth, pulling up and cruising and having taken your first step. In the week since your birthday you found your balance and now walk much better. At your one year appointment, you were 18 lb 5 oz, 28.25 inches long, with a 45 cm head circumference. In other words, you are still a little peanut. We just finished packing up your 9 month clothes, although some of them still fit. You are still wearing a size 3 diaper, but it is almost time to move up. You got multiple shots at the doctors, and you were not a big fan. Although you only cried in the office for a few seconds, we heard it from 10:30 that night until 3:30 the next morning  - it was the worst night we have had EVER with either child. Mommy & Daddy said we were going to drop the bottle and formula the day you turned one, but that didn’t happen – Daddy was concerned with that transition. You are not thrilled with the sippy cup yet, although you know how to drink from it. We have started mixing half milk and half formula in your bottles, you get 3 a day. And you get milk in a cup with dinner. You are only interested in eating a few things – the cheddar cheese puffs are your favorite, although you take down a lot of goldfish and crackers as well. For breakfast you will eat cinnamon bread, a waffle or a pancake. Like your sister, you love your yogurt and will eat that all day. Once in a while you eat some meatballs and you love turkey kielbasa. Pasta doesn’t really interest you – I thought all kids loves macaroni and cheese. Claire can make you laugh and any time – you are absolutely enthralled with her and her antics - your eyes follow her every move. Unlike your sister, your sleeping pattern leaves a lot to be desired – you have no set nap schedule. Sometimes you fall asleep for a nap as early as 9 and other days it is not until noon or later. An afternoon nap is hit or miss unless we are out in the stroller or driving around – both knock you out. Bedtime has become quite and chore and we are going to fix that soon. You, my friend, cannot put yourself to sleep. You have always fallen asleep while drinking your night time bottle, but that has started to change and the days you don’t fall asleep on the bottle, Mommy & Daddy battle with you. When we put you in your crib, you scream and scream – jumping up and down and not letting yourself calm down. We have let you go as long as 20 minutes but you show no signs of calming down. You are warm blooded like your Daddy and you are always sweating. If we pick you up after your screaming, sometimes you pass out instantaneously so we know you are exhausted. Just let yourself fall asleep – I promise it is a good thing. Sleep training is definitely in our near future. Mommy better bring the ear plugs home for that one.  The doctor did show a little concern for the fatty deposit that has found it’s way under your right eyelid. She recommended we see the eye doctor to make sure it is not affecting your vision or making your eye lazy. Fingers crossed that everything is fine and the bump is not hurting you – we will find out soon enough. We hope you had a wonderful birthday celebrating with such wonderful friends and family. It was certainly fun watching you rub frosting all over your face.

Happy 1^st Birthday Jenna Marye !

*Update* -  We took Jenna to the eye doctor and got both good and bad news. She was diagnosed with a dermoid cyst over her right eye. Dermoid cysts are benign and just a cluster of cells that developed in utero and ended up landing where they did. The good news is the cyst is not affecting her vision at all - no astigmatism. The bad news is the doctor recommended that we have it removed. Being located where it is - we have to see a plastic surgeon who specialized in work around the eye. There is no rush to have it removed, but we were reminded that the younger we have it done the less she will remember. So that will be added to our to do list. 

And - we let Jenna cry it out tonight. She didn't fall asleep on her bottle so we put her in the crib and let her cry. After one hour and 25 minutes, one diaper change, and one clothes and sheets change because she worked herself up so much she threw up - she is finally asleep. Here's hoping each night is better than the last! 

Watch out world

Jenna has found her feet!

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A Night With The Sniders!

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Zac Brown Band

OK cousins and aunts, who would be interested in seeing Zac Brown Band at Champlain Valley Expo on Sunday, September 2nd? I absolutely love his music and he put on a great show when we saw him last year. Who is in?

11 months

Where does the time go? Yesterday, Jenna turned 11 months and we can't believe it. She is still crawling as fast as can be and is into EVERYTHING! I think Andrea thought we were kidding when we told her to clean her living room, but she realized soon enough that we were right. With Claire, we never had to babyproof anything but Jenna is already into the pots and pans, tupperware, trash, and any other cabinet that she can get into - and she looooooves to eat paper of any kind. Jenna pulls up and cruises anywhere she wants to go, but isn't walking yet. We have noticed her getting a little braver lately and letting go for a second here and there. A few weeks ago she figured out how to "chew" and now loves to try new food. Her favorites have been goldfish, crackers, and the Gerber cheddar puffs. She has also eaten turkey kielbasa, meatballs, and sausage which she enjoyed. She will try anything, but is not a big fan of pasta or vegetables. She is eating baby food fruits, but mostly table food. And just like her sister she steers clear of anything green.


Claire and Jenna get along great - Claire loves to play with her now and can always make her laugh. Claire is starting to get a little rough and likes to pull her around the house. But I can tell you there is no sweeter sound than listening to the two of them interact and luagh at each other.


We had a great trip to California last week - we flew out on Sunday and despite Claire waking up very early every morning we had a great time. We walked the piers, went whale watching, and of course hit up Disneyland for 2 days. That was an absolute blast, but very tiring. Claire enjoyed most of the characters but Jenna was freaked out by anything with a "perma-grin" as Dan would say. But they were troopers on our trip - we made it the first day from 8:30 - 7:15 without a nap, but we paid for it that night when Claire lost it on the shuttle ride home and proceeded to scream while we drove to dinner. Lucky for us, she passed out in my arms and laid in a booth face time all through dinner, slept on the ride back to the hotel and never woke up until the next morning. We hit Disneyland and California Adventure on the second day and made it 8:30-8:00 with one quick trip back to the hotel for a much contested 1 hour nap by Claire. I will post pictures, but don't let your eyes decieve you - Claire did wear the same shirt the entire time we were there. Wednesday at the parks, Wednesday night to sleep and again to the park on Thursday. We got it off long enough to wash and she wore it another 2 consecutive days and nights before we were able to pry it off her. That was the best invested $5.50 we ever spent at the Disney Store!!

Hope you all had a great Easter - we missed everyone!

The childs imagination

Where in the world did this weather come from? It has been so nice this week, of course just in time to change for the worst before the weekend arrives. That's OK - I should really spend the weekend packing anyways.

The other day after school Claire and I were sitting on the stoop enjoying the weather. She was climbing up on the railing, which has a 10' drop on the other side and I told her she needed to stop before she fell.
C: (always pushing the limit) What will happen if I fall?
M: You could get really hurt Claire and then we might have to go to the hospital
C: What else could happen
M: You could get hurt really bad and die, then we would all be very sad
C: Like Mimere died - did she fall down too?
M: No Claire, she died from being old. But now she is in heaven
C: Where's heaven?
M: Way up in the sky, past all those clouds
C: Oh, OK

And she goes back to playing for a little while before stopping....

C: Which cloud do you think Mimere is in? (of course I point to a random one)
C: Do you remember when I was really little like Jenna, Mimere used to hold me all the time.

And with that we both continued playing with a smile on our faces and kisses blown up to the clouds.

2 more teeth

I may or may not have started Jennas baby book and this blog may or may not be the way I keep track of what is going on, but when I picked Jenna up from daycare today she had two more teeth on top. She now has her 4 front teeth up top and bottom 2 teeth. Can we stop the growing already?

Love

After Jenna was born, I won a photo shoot and a few pictures from a local photographer. Although Jenna was not so happy when we left for the pictures, she quickly turned things around and we got some great pictures. Yesterday I received an E-mail from the photographer letting me know that they featured the girls on their blog yesterday, so I thought I would share. We took Jenna for her 9 month check up yesterday and she is doing great. She weighed in at 15lb 10 oz, 26.5 inches long with a 42.5 cm head circumference. At least she is proportionately small in the 5th percentile for weight, 10th percentile for length and between 5th-10th percentile for head circumference. I asked the doctor how much she should be eating and she just started laughing and responded with - this kid, she can eat however much she wants!

Jenna still has the same tricks - laughing at Claire, clapping, pulling up on EVERYTHING, getting into EVERYTHING, and crawling and cruising. She loves the vegetables that Dan is making for her - sweet potato, squash, lentils, cauliflower, tomato, celery, onion, basil. But God help the person who tries to put a green vegetable in her mouth. She squeezes her little lips together so tight and closes up the feeding station. And good luck gaining her trust again after that! As far as fruits go, she will eat bananas although her stomach can't really handle them and after that she is not loving any other fruits. We have made some and bought some and haven't found anything she will eat on a regular basis so we aren't forcing the issue. The girl loooooooves her yogurt - she can devour 2 bowlfuls at a time. We have been giving her plain, vanilla and Stonyfield's Banilla (banana & vanilla) which I highly recommend, it is delicious!! She has no interest in the sippy cup and is still taking 4 bottles a day and sleeping from 8ish until 7ish when Dan wakes her up.

Claire continues to be sweet as ever with everyone at school and her sister but sure gives us a run for our money at home. She is so smart and knows how to manipulate us big time! Without a doubt our most difficult time of the day is bed time. She is a master staller as soon as we start our potty, teeth, and book routine. And once she is in her room she colors and writes and colors and writes for a loooooooong time before she decides she is ready for bed, which is normally between 9:30 and 10PM. This week we had our parent teacher conferences and Claire got an excellent report. Her teachers are impressed with her writing and her memory and have started working on initial sounds with her. They said she is like the big sister in class and helps to get all the kids involved and Claire loves to read and answer questions. And of course she is talking great. We asked them to stop napping her during the day in hopes that she will go to bed earlier at night - time will tell.

Happy Valentines Day!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day!

Claire and Jenna both had little parties at school and then we had a little Bruno Mars dance party once we got home :-) Don't worry - Jennas arms are still attached !

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Picture Preview

You can check out our pictures here



The password is my last name and FamilySession. Keep in mind it was super windy during the shoot and Jenna wanted nothing to do with picture taking. She wanted out of the sun and wanted to take a nap. Nonetheless I think they turned out great and the more I see them the more I love them. Now to narrow down the choices.

Puerto Rico

Once again, we had a blast in Puerto Rico - 9 days of fun in the sun. It truly was a relaxing vacation, spending most days at the pool or the beach, the guys went golfing 3 times, Andrea twice, and one day Kristin, Andrea, Dan, and I took an adventure to go zip-lining. It was super fun and ended up being 4 hours of zip lining. There were 8 lines and one additional where you lay on your stomach and zip about a mile across the mountains. Andrea was a little worried about that one, but other than the take off it was awesome! We arrived a little late and missed out on the handing out of the water, which meant we almost lost Kristin waiting for the last zip line. She was wheezing a little from the hike up and then got super pale. There was a good amount of climbing involved and Kristin was feeling a little dehydrated (add in the sympathy pains from the hurting Grandma in our group). I have no shame and asked the couple behind us if Kristin could have some water and that did the trick. Good thing, because I'm not sure how she would have made it across the line.

Claire seemed the perfect age to enjoy the trip. She is still skeptical about the ocean and the waves, but at least she didn't scream when her toes touched the sand. Jenna on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the sand touching her feet or putting her toes in the water. It took her a little while the get warmed up to the idea of swimming in the pool, but she got it by the end of our trip. Claire kept getting braver and braver in the pool. We started with her Puddle Jumper vest and then she decided she didn't want anything on. Although she can't swim totally on her own, she is very very close. We asked someone at the pool to borrow their swimmies to see how she would do with just those and she was off swimming on her own and jumping off the side. She lost interest in those as soon as I bought her a pair and was back to trying to swim with no swimmies at all. I'll take a bet that she is swimming on her own 2 weeks into summer camp!

Jenna enjoyed her vacation, walks with Pipere every morning, and naps by the pool. She wasn't exactly herself while we were down there, had a slight fever on the way down and took a couple days to clear that up. I kept saying she must have been teething pretty badly and sure enough we picked her up from daycare on Friday and she had her two front teeth broken through the skin. She now has 3 teeth, which is so much earlier than Claire. Jenna also started cruising on the furniture while in Puerto Rico. I think it's time to slow things down a little - it's all going too fast.

I'll try to post pictures soon - we are still waiting on the proofs from the photographer we had come meet us at the beach. Should be interesting since Jenna was in absolutely no mood and it was super windy. Here's hoping she got some great shots - we had a blast working with her.

Claire at her best :-)

Hope this gives you a good laugh or two - the second video is by far my favorite, you can probably tell by my ridiculous laughing in the background.

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What Jenna is up to

The holidays have come and gone and I have been super slack once again. Jenna has been up to lots, but I feel like I am losing track of it all. Jenna started crawling in the middle of December - a few days after we realized she cut her first tooth on the bottom right. I had no idea she was even teething until I caught a glimpse of her tooth popping through the gums. At least I know it wasn't bothering her or keeping her up at night. The diaper rash on the other hand, was awful and now we know why. Claire was exactly the same with getting a horrible diaper rash right before cutting a tooth. But other than that, the girls are so different in their developmental milestones. Jenna sat up way earlier than Claire ever did and followed that up with crawling (do you remember that Claire NEVER crawled, only butt scooted across the floor?). Now Jenna is a crawling machine, getting into everything and putting everything in her mouth. She also started clapping and is making a whole lot more sounds - many of which sound like Mama and Dada although I don't think she has any clue what she is saying. At her 7.5 month check up for the flu shot, Jenna weighed in at 14lb, 2oz - 2.5 lbs less than Claire was at this point.

We were slow to get started on the food but she is now eating anything that is pureed. So far we have made sweet potato, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, pears, applesauce, and bananas. I think this weekend we might expand some more and see what else she can try - she is enjoying yogurt though, and Claire loves sharing her yogurt with Jenna. Making baby food is so easy and definitely cheaper than buying it. Daycare game me a thumbs up for making it :-) We tried the Puffs but Jenna does not like the consistency at all.

Jenna started her New Years off with a bang - literally! On New Years Day Claire, Jenna, and I were playing on the bed and next thing I know Dan was yelling an expletive as Jenna was falling off the bed. Lucky for us she only ended up with a tiny scratch/cut on her head and only cried for a few minutes, but it certainly scared us. The next day she got out of her Bumbo seat and crashed onto the hard wood again this time landing on her cheek. I'm sure daycare was happy to have her back in their care ;-)

Next Saturday we are off to Puerto Rico for a week of fun in the sun - and more family pictures!