An Elliott Family Update

Hi Everyone! Well, I've completely lagged on posting on this blog. I've been so busy lately I forgot I had it! Oh well! So here we go....

Funny Claire Quotes:

1. The other day I was changing Claire's diaper and asked her if she'd pooped. Her response was "No, just toots in there!" I could have died laughing! Where do they come up with these?!

2. Claire can now sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and the Elmo version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" in which she ends with "And a red monster up a tree!" So cute!

3. At Thanksgiving she was getting into my mom's bowl of nuts. We taught her to say "AWWW NUTS!" Video is below...too funny!

4. Now if you ask her what deordorant is for she'll tell you"Daddy's stinky armpits." We can thank Link for that one...

As for us, we're just busy getting ready for Claire's 2nd birthday and Christmas. We also have fun stuff going on. Today Link is going to the USC vs. UCLA game at the Rosebowl. Meanwhile, Claire and I are heading to Long Beach for Ava Feely's 3rd birthday party at Color Me Mine. After the party we are heading to Judy & Ava Valadez's house for a nap, dinner, and a trip to 2nd street in the wagon to watch the Christmas parade! It should be a lot of fun! Then, on Wednesday, Link and I are going to President Sample's USC Christmas party. We'll probably be the youngest people there, but it will be fun! Aunt Nancy & Uncle Fred will be there, too! And last, but not least, we are going to go to the Irvine Park Christmas Train at some point. This is a regional park where the light up the trees and you take the decorated train to see Santa! It looks like a lot of fun...can't wait!

We hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season!

Love, Bonnie

Claire's Obsession with Disneyland

Like most toddlers, Claire often has a hard time staying awake in the car. If she falls asleep before nap time she won't nap later on. Therefore, I have the fun job of trying to keep her awake. Lately discussions about Disneyland do the trick! More than once this week she's been nodding off and all I need to say is, "Claire? What is your favorite ride at Disneyland?" to which she answers "JUNGLE CRUISE!" She perks up immediately, it is quite funny. So I figured I'd share the same discussion that I've had dozens of times now. Enjoy the little video! :)

Claire Cracks Us Up

She's just so funny these days! She's developing a sense of humor and finds things really funny now. Last night she was watching Bear in the Big Blue House and laughed hysterically when he "sniffed her!" I am afraid she might have inherited the Wilcox cackle..appropriate since she's going to be a witch for Halloween! Another new thing is that she's playing by herself for LONG periods of time. Yesterday she took all of her stuffed animals and blankets off of her bed and piled them on top of her froggy chair. Then she climbed in the middle! She played in her room, on her own for an hour and a half!!! I actually got some work done!

Claire is also now saying four word sentences which is pretty darn cool! She says things like "More milk please Mommy" or if I tell her we are going to Target it is "Buy. New. George. Color Book!" So funny!

As for Link and me, things are going a lot better! I got a job that pays the same and is about the same number of hours..still from home, so that is awesome! Link got a raise so we are moving in the right direction. We can put August and September behind us and look towards the future. :)

I guess that's all I have to report. I'm including a few pics for your enjoyment!





Here is some video of Claire at the USC v. Oregon game. She is trying hard to perfect her Victory Sign!

Claire's Horsey, Mo

When Claire turned one I got her a giant stuffed horse. She showed no interest in it so I put it away. Well yesterday I pulled it out during Claire's nap. I put him on the coffee table in the living room and when she woke up, I told her that I had a surprise for her. As we walked down the stairs Claire noticed the horse and said with total wonder "horsey." She then hurried down the stairs and ran to the horse, smothering it in hugs and kisses! I asked her what his name was and she said "Mo!" Now Claire and Mo are inseparable! It is so cute! Last night he sat with us while I read books to Claire before bed. One book had a similar looking horse in it and she kept pointing to the horse saying "Mo." Then, I had put him down when I stood up to sing and put her to bed and Claire said "Mo???". I had to pick him up and carry him around, too, during our songs! Needless to say, Mo slept in Claire's bed. Just had to share!

Things are getting better!

Well, since my last post things have gotten better...or let's just say they haven't gotten worse (other than that horrible loss to the Beavers on Thursday). Claire is doing great! She's become a little parrot and we need to really watch what we say. She's started to play make believe with her dolls and stuffed animals. I bought her a tea set, dining set and some baby bottles yesterday. She's a very good mommy and makes sure all of her babies are well fed. She even burps one of the babies. I told her the tall glasses are champagne and she hands Link a glass of champagne when I tell her to. Too cute! :)

Last Saturday Krista got married! She and Erik had a beautiful wedding and Link, Claire and I were all in it. I was a little worried about Claire going to down the aisle (I held her hand) but she was AWESOME! She realized everyone was watching her and marched down on her tippy toes. She did not fuss or cry once the entire day and loved dancing to the band. I was so proud of her!

On the job front, I'm waiting to hear back from one company. I'm hoping it works out because I can keep working from home. I should hear soon. Wish me luck! I also have a little work from a company called Risi, so that will help. I'm trying to remain positive. :)

Not much else to report. Link is into his football mode at this point...playing his football game every Friday night to determine the score of the SC games. We took Claire to the Ohio State game, which was fun but a lot of work for me!

I'll post again later when I have more to share! Oh, and of course, here is some new video footage of the Monkey!

It has been a tough month...

For those of you who haven't heard, I lost the baby last week. I started spotting on Labor Day (of all days) and saw the doctor the next day. They couldn't find a heartbeat or a baby on the ultrasound and I probably lost the baby about a week before. I had a D&C on Wednesday. It has been rough but we are getting through it. I think God that this happened the second time around. Claire and Link keep me going every day and I know that I can have a normal, healthy pregnancy since I've already done it once. I guess this just wasn't the right time. So bottom line, we are doing pretty well.

Onto happier stuff. Yesterday I met my cousin, Katie, and her daughter Alex at South Coast Plaza. We took the girls on the carousel and they LOVED it. In fact, we went six times because the girls loved it so much! I'm posting some of the pictures because the turned out pretty cute. Unfortunately, Claire wasn't too happy when we were all done. She had a lovely meltdown and kept screaming "More of that horsey!" I knew it was going to happen so all I could do was laugh! Enjoy the videos and the pics! :)

Oh, what a month!

Let's just say that this has been a very, very challenging month! Starting Aug. 1 Claire got sick. She ended up puking for 7 straight days. Once she was over it, Link got it. They were both starting to feel better when I got news that all of my freelance work was being pulled in-house, thus leaving me jobless. Oh, the stress! I'm still waiting to hear on a job so keep your fingers crossed for me! Well, the next day...yup, one day later, Claire developed a horrible, croup-like cough. It went on for a week and she was finally diagnosed with a sinus infection (she also has some kind of bad rash on her right thigh that is driving her nuts). The dr. put her on Amoxicillin, which she HATES! On top of all of that, on Tuesday night she decided that it was time to get up for good at 12:30 am. She did NOT go back to sleep until 8:00 am. And neither did I. Oh, and our credit card number was stolen AND Sweet Pea still refuses to poop in her litter box so we have to get rid of her. I CANNOT WAIT for September! To make matters worse, our first football game is in August. Let's hope our black cloud stays out of Virginia!

So on a happier...or more fun note, Claire had two milestones yesterday. First, she took her very first shower with me and LOVED it! I got it on video (her, not me). I also converted her crib into a toddler bed. She climbed out twice on Tuesday night and I'm too worried about her hurting herself. Last night was bumpy, but she made it through and did not fall out. :)

Stay tuned for happier posts. My next doctor appointment is next Thursday. :)

I heard the heartbeat!

Let me just stay, this last week has been ROUGH! Claire ended up puking from Saturday, Aug. 2-Friday, Aug. 8. She's been crabby because she doesn't feel well and I haven't slept because I worry about her. On top of that, Link got the flu on Saturday, Aug. 9 and he's even crabbier than Claire when he's sick. UGH! I think I'll move to Australia! But, there was a ray of sunshine in this week that was constantly cloud-covered. I heard the baby's heartbeat!

I went to the doctor on Thursday. I told her that Claire had been sick and that I'd probably lose it if I didn't hear the heartbeat. This kind woman (it was the nurse practitioner) was AWESOME! She started off by saying that in the 15 years that she's been doing this, she's only heard a heartbeat at 8 1/2 weeks with the doppler about 5-10 times. But she was determined. It took two tries and a trip to the bathroom but we finally heard it. It was amazing and instantly put my mind to rest. This baby is a keeper!

On a Claire note, these Baby Einstein videos are leaving a lasting impression! First she started saying "outback" and now she's trying to say goodbye in different languages! I've posted a video for your entertainment! :) ***Note: Claire is obsessed w/the camera so she freaks out when she sees me with it, hence the end of the video.

My poor baby!

Claire has been so sick these past few days! She started throwing up on Saturday around 8:00 pm. It lasted until Monday night/Tuesday morning at 12:30 am. She just isn't herself and is so lethargic. Mommy & Daddy aren't getting any sleep, either, so we are all pretty worn down. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow. I'm posting a pic of her right after she threw up yesterday morning. Poor thing!

That Little Monkey!!!!

So today I have two funny things to share about Claire. First of all, on Sunday we were watching Baby Einstein. She loves the Baby Noah DVD that has tons of animals. In the DVD they visit different regions and tell you about the animals in each region. Well, apparently Claire has decided that the outback is her favorite region. Whenever we get to the outback she yells "OUTBACK!" So we trained her...now if you ask her where a kangaroo lives she'll answer "outback!" So funny what they pick up!

On a separate note, we've come to discover that our nickname for her, "Monkey", is very fitting. On Tuesday morning at 4:00 am she scaled her crib and came down the hall. I heard her say "mommy" really close by and there she was, standing in the hall! I think she was pretty darn proud of herself, too! :D

As for the baby who has yet to be nicknamed (that will come after we hear a strong heartbeat), s/he seems to be doing well. The kid has been giving mommy an internal workout...I'm exhausted! I'm also starting to feel a bit queasy these days but it doesn't last long. Only a week to go until we see the doctor!

The sweetest thing!

All I have to say is that if this new baby is half as sweet as Claire, we will be the luckiest parents alive! I swear, my child is the sweetest, most loving toddler around and I just adore her (I should, she's my daughter)! Her new thing is kisses. I don't mean little kisses. I mean big, fat, juicy smackers! Now every night when I put her to bed I kneel down on the floor and put my kissy lips between the slats in her crib. Claire scoots over to me and plants a nice big kiss right on my lips and plays with my face. We do this when she wakes up, too. This has now become my favorite part of the day! She also gives big hugs now and says "hug!" She is very affectionate with her stuffed animals and baby dolls, too. She is spreading her love around...which is great now, not so much when she's a teenager! :)

And something funny to share, this morning at 3:00 am Claire decided she didn't want to sleep anymore. She stood in her crib saying "MOMMY! I DONE! BOOK!!!!!" It wasn't so cute at 3 in the morning but now I look back and smile. She finally went back to sleep after I told her a couple of Curious George stories and sang to her. :)

We told the family

Today is my dad's birthday so we decided to tell everyone today! We go my parents on IM with the video conference so that they could see and hear us. I told my dad that Claire had a special birthday message prepared for him. I then asked her what is in Mommy's tummy and she said "Baby!" We told Link's parents later on in person and did it the same way. It was very cute! So now the immediate family knows (I called Jeff to tell him and will call James later...once I find his number)! Now it is starting to feel real! :)

Here we go again!

Well, here we go again! Last Wednesday Link and I were SHOCKED to discover that I'm pregnant! Don't get me wrong, we know what causes it BUT it took us eleven months to conceive Claire! We decided early on that we wanted our children 2-3 years apart. Link perferred 3 years and I preferred 2. I convinced him that we should start trying sooner rather than later since it took so long to get Claire and voila! Two months later I'm knocked up!

So how did I tell Link this time? Last Wednesday I took a test after Link left for work. When it showed up positive I started pacing. I was so incredibly shocked that I didn't know what to do with myself. When Claire woke up I told her she'd be a big sister (I had to tell someone)! :) That afternoon I pulled out Claire's crayons and paper and I drew a picture of our family (like those cheesy ones you see on people's cars). I wrote on the top "Dear Daddy, I'm going to be a big sister!" I then let Claire scribble all over it. When Link got home I had her give it to him. It was pretty cute.

So the basics: I'm due March 14th. The kiddos will be 27 months apart. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm extremely exhausted and run to the bathroom ever 30 minutes or so, but other than that, I feel great! No real nausea...even less than I had with Claire although I know there is still time for it to kick in. I also get really bloated at night and look like I'm already 5 months along. Tonight I had a craving for Panda Express but Link said it sounded gross so we had our usual Wahoo's instead. :)

Until next time....