Long overdue...and 14 week update

Guess I have been slack about updating the blog - I'm not going to lie, I have been getting to bed very early lately! I don't feel tired during the day but after coming home and getting dinner ready and then getting Claire bathed and to bed, I pass out about 5 seconds after I find the couch. Wonder where those awesome genes come from?!?

While Dan was on a 3 day Phish tour (and since he can't stand the inside of pumpkins) we headed to Andreas to carve pumpkins - or maybe from the look of it we ate them....

But we eventually did get to carving them. Claire enjoyed popping the pieces out much more than she enjoyed sticking her hands in the pumpkin.

And here's Claire and I's final product. Do you see the kitty we cut around? Claire loved seeing the pumpkins lit up outside Andreas. We had to go back and keep looking over and over and over.
All Claire wanted to be for Halloween was a yellow princess. We showed her tons of costumes and this was the one she wanted. At least she will be able to play dress up with it now. She really wanted nothing to do with the crown, but she loved the costume.
I was going to upload another picture from Halloween but blogger is giving me trouble so this is all you get....

On another note, I had another doctors appointment today and everything looks good, heartrate was strong at 155 bpm. Today I am 14 weeks and 3 days along with the peanut and have gained a total of 5 lbs. The first trimester screening came back good and we scheduled our gender ultrasound! They let me schedule it a little early so we can find out before Christmas :-)

Ultrasound pictures

Yesterday I had my first trimester screening which includes an ultrasound. While it is kind of hard to see what is going on in the pictures, it is crazy to see the difference between the last ultrasound we had at 7 weeks and this one. We are still on for a May 14th due date.

This pictures shows the profile view with the baby's hand over his/her nose. The entire time we had the ultrasound the baby was rubbing his/her nose.
Just the plain old profile shot
And a 3D picture for you - you can see the baby's right arm on his/her head and the feet curled up.
Saturday marks the start of the second trimester :-)

Paul's Epic Halloween Costume

This weekend, we ventured up to Boston College to see Clemson lay an egg, but we had a good time nonetheless (I live compound words.) As it was Halloween Eve, people all over the place were dressed up. The only one in our party to do so was Paul. He chose to dress up as Kenny Powers from HBO's Eastbound and Down. He pulled it off pretttttty good. See for yourself.

Claires statements of the week

Honestly, I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, but sometimes we can't help but laugh at the things that come out of her mouth.

Last week we were eating dinner - as soon as we sit down Claire goes around the table - Daddy, how was work? Mommy, how was work? And then a few minutes later she looks at me and says - Mommy, no talk with food in your mouth - chew first. Well, excuse me little lady....

I took her to the bathroom and as soon as she peed she looked at me and said - Mommy, I'm so proud of you

She must tell me 10 times a day - Be patient, mommy, just be patient

Paula - stop reading! Yesterday Claire woke up from her nap, walked into the living room and said Mommy, pee pee accident in my bed - oh Jesus! I really don't know where this one came from - but I couldn't help but laugh :-)

Long time, no post....

Over Columbus Day weekend, we took a trip to Ohio to celebrate Dans grandmothers 90th birthday. We had a great time with great weather while we there (until we left to fly back), but that's a story for another day. Let's just say we enjoyed 2 flights from Cleveland to Newark because of the weather...



Focus, focus (it's hard for the pregnant lady you know)...enjoy these pictures from our trip!

Nicoles shower pictures

Enjoy this video of pictures from Nicoles shower :-) If you are at work, you might want to turn the sound down.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mason's first day at work

Donations for Julie's Clinic

Julie is still in need of $300 for her clinic so for those who still want to donate please send a check made out to Julie to my house. Her clinic is being renovated and she is very busy working on it !! Thank You Julie and Gail

Happy Birthday Julie

Happy Birthday Julie we hope you have a great celebration with your fiiends. Maybe you will find some delicious American food like a cheeseburger and fries!!!!

Happy Birthday Andrea

Have a wonderful Birthday what a great place to celebrate Ireland

the beer is great even if your not a beer drinker you have to try some!!

Happy Birthday Paul

Hope you have a wonderful Birthday and a great vacation

Next Stop: Ireland

I've had a great week in England and tonight my friend Laura and I travel to Ireland to meet up with our friend Richard. We have a busy week planned and we will be there until Thursday night when we head to Germany. I'm excited for several reasons - 2 being I am officially on vacation next week (I've been working from the J&J offices around here) and I've always wanted to go Ireland!

This week has been great. When I got here on Friday and couldn't find my friends, I immediately regretted not having a working phone OR getting my watch fixed before I left. After about 30 minutes (I think?) they found me waiting right where we had agreed to meet - Russell had decided they should go in and meet me but I had already passed through when they got there so they missed me - oh well. We had a 'full English breakfast' and then headed off to London for the day. My friends live in Windsor so we took the train in on Saturday and drove in on Sunday. Great weather and great sites - we had fun!

This week I've been working in our offices in Maidenhead and Pinewood . We've laid low for the most part -work, gym, dinner, tv, and sleep - but it is been good just not being home!

This morning I went to Windsor Castle while my friends went to work. It is about 1.5 mile walk from their house and the walk is mostly along the river so it was a perfect morning for a coffee and a stroll. I was really excited to see the changing of the guards...but of course in the month of September that only happens on odd days....Oh well - still a good time! You can't take a lot of pictures but here were some of the highlights....

My welcome banners in front of Laura and Russell's house...


Walking up to Windsor Castle...

Inside the fortress...
Saint George's Cathedral
Guard on duty...
I think this is one of my favorite pictures I've taken so far!
It's official - I'm not destined to get a good picture with a guard! Oh well!

Here is a brief plan for Ireland:

Cork --> Kilarney --> Galway --> Dublin

I hope everyone has a good weekend and gets to go and enjoy the Big E!!!

Greetings from London!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from my weekend in London! More details to come....

'Proper Fish & Chips' - the meal and the name of the restaurant! Just for you Mere...


Playing with my new camera at the London Eye!

Big Ben & the Parliament - I look exhausted because this was post-red eye with no additional sleep...
Having a beer along the Thames with my friend Russell
Tower Bridge walking to dinner

Jumping picture with Laura in front of Buckingham Palace -



I had to do it...



We were running a little low on time and resorted to the car for part of the tour - with Big Ben!



We had been trying to find a guard ALL DAY! Finally found one while we were getting ready to leave at Downing Street and I made my friend stop his car so we could run and get a picture...

...the cops weren't as excited about our plan as I was :) Just got off with a warning and a 6 month addition to some list - I personally think it was worth the picture!

A few pictures

...because we've been bad about updating. Not much has been going on with the Snider clan. We have had a few weekends at home which were much needed to relax. Claire is becoming so independent and keeps us laughing with the things that come out of her mouth. The picture below is Claire heading out to get ice - always a treat!
Yesterday, we tried out a new bar where the Clemson Club was getting together to watch the game. Lucky for us it was in Hoboken so Claire and I left at halftime. Claire had a blast and of course loved all the attention she got as the cutest Clemson fan at the bar. Poor child is already brainwashed. She runs around saying Go Tigers - touchdown! Too bad they lost a tough game last night.

I guess we tired her out. Any suggestions on how to keep this angelic looking child in bed at night? She doesn't have a problem going to bed but often times gets up at 2, 3, or 4 AM and wanders into our room. She only wants Mommy to get up and bring her back to bed and goes back to sleep fine once I rub her back for a minute or two. And I don't think it's nightmares because she never cries. Second problem is she gets up for the day way too early - usually between 6:15 and 7. She was a better sleep as an infant!Friday after work we took Andrea to the airport and she is now enjoying 16 days in London, Ireland, and finishing her trip in Munich for Oktoberfest. She is sad to be missing Nicoles shower, but we are definitely looking forward to seeing everyone. :-)

Now back to the football game - let's go Patriots!!

Lots of News

We've missed lots of updates lately...

First of all, happy birthday to ANDREW, KRISTIN, PETER, AMY, MIMERE, and EMMA! We love you all and hope you had a great day celebrating!.

Second, here are some pictures of Twin A from Nicole's last ultrasound:



Happy Monday everyone!

Just a reminder that Julies Birthday is Sept 30th! Her address is
Julie Bordua PCV
Peace Corps Ghana
PO Box 962
Tamale, Northern Region
Ghana

Also I am going to Vermont the weekend on Sept 24th with somea couple of friends and anyone who wants to go it's fine with me!

While in Vermont....

I hijacked Tinas pictures from the wedding. Don't they all look pretty?

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Meredith!

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Meredith,
Happy birthday to you.

Hooray!

Random

As everyone heads up to Vermont for Jonathans wedding and what I am sure will be a fun adults only weekend (you know - the aunts/uncles, the adult adults), Kristin is heading South to Florida to attend a friends wedding shower and get fitted for a bridesmaid dress. Off topic -Which of these events are we more likely to see pictures of - Jonathans wedding or Kristins dress?

Kristin sent me a note last night saying she was in JFK airport listening to Daughtry - not over the radio listening, but literally listening - he was putting on a small concert at the airport....random!

Ultrasound Pictures!

For those of you who don't already know...we are having GIRLS! The ultrasound technician said they were very uncooperative, and wouldn't sit still. She had a very difficult time taking images of the girls, but determined with "a fair degree of certainty" that they were both girls (which in english meant approximately 90%).

For those of you still not convinced, we have another ultrasound in 4 weeks because they were so fidgity and the technician wasn't able to get some of the needed images. One is approximately 12 oz and the other is 14 oz., which I am told is a little larger than normal at that stage. I don't understand how since I am only recently able to eat real food! The babies are head to butt! The tech thought that was pretty funny, and so did Larry. In fact, he thought that the one with its butt in its sisters face was a boy (at least before we found out that the second one was also a girl).

So far we have gotten several name suggestions which include: Paula, Amy, and Lisa (Larry's sisters roommate suggested that one). Any other suggestions?

This picture has taken on a whole new meaning in our house this week for two reasons - first, check out the previous post. Claire is still doing awesome and we haven't had a pee pee accident since Wednesday.

And we'll caption this picture Goodnight, Sleep Tight, you know the rest....



well, the bed bugs haven't gotten Claire but they have sure eaten me alive and a little bit of Dan. I had heard they were running rampant in New York, but the thought never crossed my mind that we would get them - but we did! Last week I noticed some bites but didn't think anything of it. By Wednesday night Dan had done some research and we found one of the tell tale signs - little blood drops on our sheets. So now we are dealing with that (which is neither easy nor cheap). But I won't bore you with those details, other than to say we believe they are confined to our bedroom and Claire is just fine.

And below are two videos - Claire finally got the ABC's down last week - all the way from A to Z and the second video is her swimming at my parents house and jumping off the diving board. We tired her our so much she fell asleep eating before we left and then slept the entire ride back to Hoboken and went to bed an hour and a half later.





Now off to let the bed bugs bite...

Potty Training

I still can't believe we dove into this head over heels, but we did! What were we thinking?!? Claire has been going to the potty on and off for some time now, but only if we happen to time it right and we never really thought she was ready for full on potty training. We would always have her brag to her teachers when she went hoping the encouragement would help. Last week I decided to ask daycare what we needed for them to start working with her at school. Since we were nearing the end of our package of diapers I figured they would say send her in Pull-Ups and we'll take her to the potty frequently. I was shocked when they said just put her in panties and send lots of changes of clothes.

Dan and I discussed it and decided to put her in panties starting Saturday morning just to see what would happen. By 9:30 AM she had two accidents and I was getting frustrated, but we stuck it out. She seemed upset when she had an accident and would immediately tell us she hurt Dora, or hurt Minnie (the characters on her panties), as if I couldn't see the puddle on the floor. We made progress Saturday afternoon and didn't have any more accidents. Sunday she did better and even went to the grocery store with Dan (and a diaper) but stayed dry and peed as soon as she got home. She was rewarded by being allowed to nap with her panties on. She was so excited! We finished the weekend with two accidents Sunday but we pushed forward Monday sending her to daycare in big girl panties (with a HUGE bag of extra clothes and panties). She started the day going on the potty before leaving for daycare and only had two accidents at daycare! Tuesday she had an accident before leaving the house but only had one little accident at daycare - she stopped and ran to the potty. Yesterday we took our first real venture out of the house for 2 hrs and she did awesome. She peed before we left and again as soon as we got home. We had to fight her to put on a diaper last night and she stayed dry all night and peed in the potty this morning. We are so proud of her!

I can't believe we are really into this whole potty training business - but Claire seems to be doing well and Dan and I are getting our exercise jumping for her everytime she is successful on the potty. However, Paul, Andrea, and our neighber who came over for dinner Monday probably did not enjoy the breaks in dinner while Claire begged anyone and everyone to come watch pee pee on the potty :-) Sorry!

Happy Birthday

ppy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Nicole
Happy Birthday to you!



Hope you had a great dinner out. Here's Claires wish for you. Just think, two more birthdays and you will have your own choir singing to you.

Good luck Mandy!

Mandys big surgery is tomorrow - here's wishing her lots of luck and a super speedy recovery. We'll all be thinking of you and praying for you.

cAMP

I will be in VT from August 2nd thru Aug. 5th with a few friends.

When I grow up...

...I want this little girls self esteem :) She is too funny...




Enjoy!

What's been going on?

The Snider household has been busy - here is a quick look at what has been going on.

Right after Claires birthday she because a bedtime nightmare and after much screaming, fighting, and freaking out - Dan & I figured out someone has a very strong dislike for being in her crib. At least that made the transition to a big girl bed much easier. She absolutely loves it and now gives us no problems going to bed. The hardest part now is keeping her in bed in the morning. She never gets up at bedtime but I will never get to used to her coming out of her room while I am getting ready in the morning. Or shall we talk about her opening the bathroom door while Dan was showering, peeking her head in and yelling Hi, Daddy!

Holy resemblance to Kristin - anyone else agree?

Claire loves to help and what better way than to have family pizza making night. Claire and Dora - her big girl panties - helped make pizza for dinner. Claire, Dora, and Claires tattoo were very serious and what didn't make it to Claires mouth made it to the oven for dinner. And it case you're wondering, no she's not potty trained, but we figure it can't hurt to let her run around in her big girl panties. We have cleaned up a few accident but I'm not sure who is more upset - me or Claire because she "hurt Dora" or "hurt Mickey" when she peed on them.

Here is another picture, just because I think it's funny. Someone needs a haircut - stat!

We have had lots of birthday parties for Claires friends, this past weekend Claire enjoyed the balloon artist. She got Elmo and a flower. The flower popped in the parking lot, but Elmo is still hanging around and gets tucked in every night.

That's it for now - we are heading to Vermont early early (5 AM early!) on Friday morning for a long weekend.

The next time someone wins the lottery....

....they should buy one of these for the lake!!!!


This weekend I found out the state park has a little beach/lake for $5. My biggest complaint about NJ is there are no pools so I was happy to see this. They had advertised the Wibit online but I had no idea what it was. For $3 for 30 minutes my friend and I tried it out (with about 8 little kids). It was the longest 30 minutes of my life and I have scratches all up my leg (no clue where they came from, I think the velcro). I must have fallen off trying to run across the little path about 12 times but it was awesome. Way harder than it looks - but worth every penny of the $3! We had a smaller version of the circuit above but the one below looks awesome too...

It would be an amazing addition to the lake....if we had piles of money sitting around with no good use of course :)

We can dream, can't we?

Way to go Julie!

Looks like Julie has successfully raised enough money for her Health Care Clinic Renovation - way to go! Can't wait to hear all about the details of the project from Julie :-)