Update and Pictures!!

There has been a lot going on these past few weeks! We finally got a nurse in the house which worked out well for a while but it had to come to a close today. We are working to find someone new that will hopefully fit with our family.

We got established with a new Urologist that is planning to do surgery for Claire on June 30th to repair her kidneys. We really like him and feel really great about what he wants to do. We also met with a neurologist that we will NOT be going back to!

We have been busy getting the house decorated and organized which is making us all feel pretty good. The kids love their playroom, although Claire would rather be climbing the stairs....

Jack is doing pretty well. We were hopeful that his episodes were environmental and now that we were away from our Ithaca house they would stop but unfortunately he had another bad episode Friday night. He has had some trouble feeling himself since. The good things with Jack far outweigh the bad things right now. On Monday we took the kids to get their pictures taken at Sears and for the first time in his life Jack actually WANTED to get his picture taken! It brought tears to my eyes! (you can see the pictures below...) He is also completely in love with Dora and Diego. He has several toys and loves to pretend with them. The cutest thing he does is singing some Dora songs. I will sing, "I'm the map, I'm the map, I'm the map, I'M THE MAP!!" and then I say "Jack's turn!" and he'll mumble in a sing-songy voice! It is Way cute!!!!

Claire is about to turn ONE! I can't believe it! She has come so far this year. She has been standing independently for two months now but I think she is fearful of those first steps. Oh, but she is not afraid of steps! She climbs the stairs 20 times per day! She loves to get up to the landing, turn around and laugh at me. It is really sweet. She is using all sorts of words. She says "up, mama, dada, jack, ball, baby, dog," and others. She also makes several animal noises. She eats everything under the sun! She loves all fruits including strawberries, blueberries, grapes and bananas. She also eats everything we eat during the day. She even had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch today. She really enjoys her meals and transitioned to milk without any issue. It is amazing to see the way a typical kid develops their eating skills.

So here are some pictures that were taken yesterday. I hope you enjoy them!!

The Flu

The title says it all. Jack came down with the flu on Easter Sunday. We were hoping it was just a 24 hour bug but it wasn't. He was sick for a whole week. Then, the day before Jack was better Claire came down with it and is now miserable. Besides the usual flu yuck she is not sleeping and Philip and I have been up with her through most of the night. My poor babies have been so sick and with no nursing care my steam has almost run out. I really hope the state approves our PA soon so we can get a nurse working with us!

Happy Easter!

We have had such beautiful weather here! We have been spending a lot of time outside playing in the yard, going for walks, and going to the playground. We had our first appointments with our new pediatrician and we were very happy! Claire is a whopping 24 pounds! Who would have thought that our little skinny baby would be 24 pounds! She is catching up to her brother! They already wear the same size diapers so I don't know what I am going to do! Right now we are dealing with a sick Jack. We are really hoping this doesn't last too long. We'll update again soon! For now, enjoy the pictures below!

Happy Easter!

Claire and her "May-May"

First time on the swings! Big brother was a big helper!

Chillin' with Diego!

Very creative, Jack!

Look at those teeth!!!

Yay! Jill came to visit!

The Easter Bunny came!!!

"I see Eggs outside! Come on mom! Open the door!!!

This is our "sitting room" It's almost finished!

Again, the sitting room.

Our half bath

Philip pulling into the driveway for the first time in his new car!!!! Good bye Saturn!!!!!

New Ride!

Claire playing peekaboo!

Lots of Pictures!!!

A Fresh Start

I realize it has been a long time since this blog has been updated and there is a very good reason for that. Or family has been going through so many changes in the last few months. We have a whole new life in a new place with new jobs and new friends. Philip got his PhD from Cornell in January (in record time! Just 4.5 years!) and accepted a job with IBM in Yorktown Heights, NY which is in Westchester county and a suburb of NYC. He is working on a secret project he is not even allowed to tell me much about it (not that I would understand anyway :-D). It is still in the Nanotechnology field and so far he loves what he is doing.

Since we couldn't afford to live in Westchester county and didn't want to pay $5,000 per month in rent we decided to move north and have a commute. We chose a lovely town called Fishkill (Kill in dutch means "stream") It is just south of Poughkeepsie. It has everything we could want from restaurants to shopping and there is a hospital nearby. We live in a wonderful community of townhouses and we are looking forward to the pool opening up this summer to meet some other families. It is just starting to warm up after the huge snowstorm leaving over 2 feet of snow and then the rainstorm flooding a lot of the area. Luckily we did not loose power or have any flooding. We have been so busy making our new house into our home. We still have a lot of decorating and hanging up pictures but it is starting to feel a little bit more like our own. We were even able to get some new furniture that didn't come from a box! I felt like such a grown-up going to the furniture store to pick it out and then waiting for the delivery. I love the pieces we chose! For those of you who know me well you know that I love to be in the kitchen. Unfortunately in our new home the kitchen is rather small and I struggle with space. Also I am in a constant battle with my oven that tends to burn everything I bake. I had to bake Philip 3 birthday cakes before I got one that was edible. I need some more time to figure this out and learn how to adapt.

Jack and Claire are doing wonderfully adapting to their new environment. Jack acts as though this has always been his house. I was really worried about the fact that there are 4 levels in our house and Jack didn't have that much experience with stairs. Well, we have been here 3 weeks and he can go up AND down the stairs safely! Just yesterday I was changing Claire's diaper when I heard him cry out from far away. I had thought he had run into the kitchen but I was wrong. When I found him he was halfway down the stairs from Claire's room on the 4th floor! He was pretty proud of himself and mommy realized she needed to buy a new gate this weekend! :-) One of the wonderful features of our house is a playroom on the main level. It is complete with built in cabinets and shelving that makes organizing a dream! There are also french doors that seperate it from the rest of the house so if I don't want to look at the mess of toys at the end of the day I can just close the doors. Both Jack and Claire love to play in the playroom all day. Claire is really developing since we have been here. She is 9.5 months old but already thinks she's 1. She has 3 teeth and another 2 right at the surface. She is climbing up and cruising on everything! She's even climbing up on her little doll stroller and walking behind it all over the house! She loves to climb up on our laps and then just push herself up to stand! She can stand by herself for a few seconds before falling. She will be walking soon for sure. The other amazing thing about Claire is her eating. With Jack, we never got to experience oral eating. Claire is way ahead of her peers and LOVES her food! The only things she has not liked is tomato basil spaghetti sauce (all others ore ok...) and last night we found out that meatloaf is not her favorite (takes after her momma). Other than those things she eats everything! Most anything I cook for dinner she eats. Most babies her age are still eating purees but not Claire! She wants the big kid stuff!

So, we are still here and doing well. As soon as we find our camera adapter we will be able to post pictures from the last few months. Keep checking back!