Grace's 1st Week

Grace is one week old today, what a sweetie she is. The first 36 hours at home were a bit rough as Mom hadn't figured her out yet. We think a combination of being hungry waiting for Mom's milk to come in and some tummy issues had our little angel a bit adgataded and wouldn't approve of sleeping anywhere but in mom's arms. Once she could eat all that she wanted and got some gas drops she relaxed and is sleeping just about anywhere, but mostly in her crib for naps and definitely at night. Whewwwwwwwwwwww, dodged one for now, but I am not so naive to know that I have about 1 more day until I get another curveball in the ever changing sleeping game. Grace went to the doc for a couple of weight checks and is overachieving and gaining 3 ounces a day and the doc said she looks great! Little nuances to Grace include: lots of grunting and "talking" as she puts herself to sleep in bed, sometimes lasting up to 45 minutes; she is a cuddle bug and would prefer to be curled up in a ball when snuggling; she HATES getting her diaper changed and lets us know it; she loves to play on the floor and gets excited for new sounds and will turn her head. Here a a few other pics from the week, including her first Teddy Bear that came with flowers from Great Grandma Fields!

Snow Days!

The only one of us who officially had snow days was Mike, but all of the schools were closed for 2 days. The first day was in the 20's so still bearable to play outside before the temps went south of ZERO! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Claire was so excited to go sledding with Mike, and loved every minute of it until the sled tipped, she got snow on her gloves (yes on, not in), and that was the end of it, tears and all. Daddy was a bit disappointed she didn't want to play longer, oh well! The last pic is of someone else who had fun playing in the snow and came back in with a face full!

Heading Home!

Here is Grace all bundled up for the trip home for the hospital, although it had snowed a bit the day we went home we got home just in time. The next 2 days it snowed somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 inches!

Welcome Miss Grace!

It's been almost a week that we were blessed with the arrival of a 2nd healthy baby girl, Grace Maren. Turns out she was on her way to joining the world before we even checked into the hospital for the induction Thursday. When I got hooked up to the baby monitors I was having contractions 6 min apart and had progressed since my last doctors appointment. The induction didn't exactly go as planned because before they could give me the cervidel drug they had to monitor Grace for 20 minutes, but someone was so dang active they couldn't keep her on the monitor for more than 5 minutes at a time. I had to lay in a million different positions, the nurse decided she was just going to sit next to me and hold the monitor and we FINALLY got her "monitored" around 11pm so I got the drugs. Of course the night went the same way, she kept moving so nurses were in constantly trying to "chase her down" and not much sleep was had. The good news was once the pitocen was given at 7:15am, things went really fast and our little angel arrived at 10:21am! We had a good couple of days in the hospital, Grace ate and slept well allowing mom to get caught up on some sleep before heading home. She got some good quality time with both Aunt Emily and Grandma and met Grandpa. We had a special 90 minutes of family time when Big Sister Claire came to visit with Daddy. Claire helped change a diaper and got to snuggle with Mommy while Grace and Daddy bonded. Here are a few pics from the hospital!

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas this year, our last as a family of three + Cali. Had a great time on Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's with the Barkemeyers and Mere & Jake. Claire and Ellen had the time of their life sliding down the stairs on their tummies, so much so they both had red tummies from their shirts riding up! Christmas was low key with most of the day spent at home, just as we like it. We opened Santa presents, made brunch, opened more presents from the Hochberg side of the family. Claire had the time of her life, and squealed multiple time! We headed to church to tell Baby Jesus Happy Birthday and then had a light lunch at home before mom and Claire both took long naps. We stopped by Grandma Fields house to say hello for a couple of hours, but then headed home in time to play with all of Claire's toys again! I hope all had as special a holiday as we did! Click here for link to our photos on snapfish!

December!

Thought I should put a post on for the month of December, not knowing when I might be able to again. Time will tell if being at home with baby for the next 6 months will result in more or less posts...who knows! The Hochberg's are READY....ready for the holidays, ready for baby girl to arrive and I am especially ready to be done being pregnant. Presents are wrapped, diapers are purchased and I am one HUGE contraction with a lot of back pain. I have officially made it longer in this pregnancy, Claire was here at this point. I also think I will make it a couple more weeks, but you never know. : ) Blood pressure is hanging steady at an acceptable measure, not dialted at all and this was only my 2nd week without the progesterone shot to prevent labor. However, now that baby is head down (her birthday present for her mom), maybe that will be enough pressure to start something! Claire has been doing well, is liking school, getting more sassy by the day and is very obsessed with Santa at the moment. The sassiness has turned into flat out acting up, the usual 2 yr old behavior that you hear about.....deciding she doesn't want to walk and going limp in the middle of the parking lot, running away from us, hitting, etc....fun times! Good thing she is just so dang cute and I can't resist kissing her little cheecks! Daddy has also particulary enjoyed her new high pitched scream that she thinks is fun....she really is a girl! Here are a few recent pics of our little lady! Breakfast Pinic with Daddy Sporty Claire Excited for her Christmas party at school

Happy Birthday Ellen in Peeka

Claire is all about birthdays and birthday parties, so today was a good day...Ellen's 2nd Birthday party in Topeka (Peeka as Claire says). It started one weekend in September when we had 2 of our neighbor kids birthday parties to attend...every since then she has been obsessed and wants to know when it is her birthday again. She wants "Happy Birthday Cake" and "Happy Birthday presents". Halloween is starting to rival birthday parties though and has become another of her favorite questions too! Anyway, we had a great time at Ellen's party and Claire forgot she was shy running around with Ellen, helping with Maggie and playing with Madi and Taylor! Other than that the Hochberg house is on baby countdown. We made some progress this weekend on the baby's room, went through tubs of clothing and bedding and started getting ourselves ready and our heads around the whole situation. This week is hospital registration and from there it is all just up to the little lady to keep growing so she is big and strong when it is time for her to make her appearance. Oh and hopefully she will have a name sometime soon too! Here are some pics from today enjoy.... Ellen and Claire....HUGS! Holding and Feeding Maggie Just a REALLY GOOD pic of Mom and Taylor!

Halloween

So I realize how long it's been since I posted, I am not going to try to catch up, just post about where we are now....Halloween!! Claire had a great Halloween, for a shy girl, she sure did have a GREAT time trick or treating and handing out candy. A few of the older kids costumes were a little scary but overall Dorothy a great night! Here are a few pictures..... Carving pumpkins! Our Little Dorothy Claire and all the Hochberg pumpkins! "Looking, but not touching the candy!" She had to put her hands behind her back because it was so tempting! Dorothy + her friends ( Bride Cinderella and Jessi from Toy Story) Claire waiting for "more kids", she had fun handing out candy!

September

It's past my bedtime so I am not going to write much, but if I don't upload some of the photo's I just edited, it's not going to happen this weekend! Claire's new rain jacket and boots from Nana and Granddad...she is not quite sure what to think but says THANK YOU! Playing outside...she asks to go out as soon as she wakes up! Big Girl Panties, she made it ALL DAY today (not counting nap) with no diaper and no wet panties! Here is a video and from a couple of weekends ago when we got Claire' big girl bed...she loves it! We haven't switched her yet, but she goes in there everyday and reads books on it! Go Cats...1st game of the year! In closing, this about sums up Claire's life....no pants on, feet on the counter, sipping her juice box. It's a rough one, but someone has to do it!

Change

Some of us are more comfortable with change in the Hochberg house than others, but like it or not there is a lot going on! Not in a big or signficant way (at least not yet until baby girl #2 joins us in a few months) but more just visbily. Claire's big girl room is almost complete, the basement is almost complete and our new office/guest room will be complete once it is no longer the dumping ground for contents from the basement, playroom, etcc. Lots of organziing to be done in the next several weeks! Also I am usually not one (ok never) to complain about shopping but I am growing wary of "searching" for furniture/decor for all these new spaces that meet my style expecation at a price that I am willing to pay. You know me I get "visions" of what I want in my mind and then I just have to find it. I LOVE fabrics and decor, but don't love it when I can't find what I want! Part of the problem is I can't tell you the last time I went "shopping" in a physical store where I could actually browse without having a 2yr old helper or trying hard to get somewhere and back before that 2yr old wakes up from her nap. Since I leave her all week long, I make it my mission to spend as much of the weekend with her. Long story short, lots of internet searching and purchasing has been happening. THANK GOODNESS for etsy.com which gave me lots of options for Claire's new room, if only they sold couches and allowed you expereince how comfortable they were on line! : ) We have a busy weekend ahead, I will do my best to post some new pictures soon.

Life Lately...

It's been almost a month since I posted, where did August go? Lots going on that carries over from my last post. The basement is ALMOST done and Claire has been at her new school for a month now, plus we have just been BUSY! Another family wedding, Mom turned the BIG 6 - 0, and Pi Phi has been keeping me busy with recruitment going on. I am feeling well and Baby Girl Hochberg is getting busier and busier and I can feel her moving around often. Claire's transition to school has had it's ups and downs. She really does like going and is learning so much! However, the fuller her class gets the more she is struggling with napping and comes home just exhausted and over stimulated, making for some not fun evenings. All Eleven kids have started, and I am hoping as they they all get settled, Claire will get back into her groove as Mom and Dad can't take many more of the evenings we have had over the last week. It didn't help that she had an ear infection and twisted her ankle so on top of "the transition" she hurt as well! Claire reminds us what a BIG girl she is everyday! She says more and more everyday, and remembers and knows how to do so much!She has really started to love coloring, and is something she will sit and do on her own multiple times a day. The table and chairs she got for her birthday is getting great use, and the two of us usually have breakfast there each morning. Claire has always liked her books, but she really likes to be read to now, which has been fun as we can get out many books that have been given to us like Madeline, Going on a Bear Hunt, etc... She is doing GREAT with the potty and once I am brave enough to commit to a weekend of potty training, I know we will be done with diapers, who knows, maybe this weekend?! The teacher thinks she is ready and I know she is because when we take her on a regular basis she always goes int he potty and keeps her diaper dry! Claire has been taking her shoes off for awhile, but now she put them on too all by herself. We need to go shoe shopping as we are pushing it with her current size, but really hope we can make it through summer and just buy fall shoes in the next size. Here are some pics and a video from the month. The video really sums Claire up, make sure to notice the little things like her closing the drawer on her way down the hall, she is purposefull in all that she does!

Busy Week

We have only made it through Tuesday and we are exhausted at the Hochberg house...lots of new going on! Claire started her new school this week, which is overall going well. Monday drop off was a piece of cake thanks to her friend from Kim's being there, Neale. Tuesday was not so smooth, but not horrible, fingers crossed Wednesday goes okay. The problem being she is not napping, needs to get used to the cots they sleep on (as all kids at daycare and preschool do). She has napped less than 30 minutes total the first two days so far which has resulted in a not very fun Tuesday evening. The school is closed Thursday and Friday for teacher inservice, which is actually a good thing I think, I don't know if she could handle 5 full days the first week. On a positive note, she seems to be loving the school part, they have daily crafts, reading and learning time, plenty of time to play, and even had a guest "band" on her first day, Mr. Stinky Feet! : ) We also had Claire's two year appointment Friday at the end of the day. All is well and she is a tall girl...just a quarter inch short of 3ft tall which is the 92nd percentile. Watch out Aunt Beth, Claire might pass you up soon! : ) Her weight is just over 28 pounds, tracking right where she already has been around the 70th percentile. No concerns developmentally and we spent some time discussing the potential asthma and breathing issues. Since all issues seem to be virus induced the plan is to proactively use her inhaler multiple times daily ONLY when she has a virus. In addition we discussed the potential of a daily asthma med through the winter time virus season, but will see how things go once that is upon us. Her goal is to manage and proactively treat this in hopes that as her lungs continue to grow it will correct itself (fun fact, you lungs grow until you are 12 years old them stop). Daddy also got a bit of a lecture from Dr. Mellick about "is he sure his exercise induced asthma is really gone" and it might be smart to do some lung function testing to prevent problems later in life. I knew I liked her! : ) In addition our basement remodel started bright and early Monday morning, so we have had various workers in and out of house starting at 7am. Basement is framed, electrical work is mostly done and the sheet rock goes up on Friday....it's looking good! Claire's favorite book this week is "We are going on a bear hunt", and she has requsted it 3 mights in a row. Last night after Mike got done reading it (in the very entertaining way he does), she took it from him and read it to us. It was the cutest thing, she turned each page and alternated between "swishy swashy, swishy swashy" and "Oh No" on every other page. She got pretty animated which made us laugh so hard partly because we are pretty sure she was imitating her daddy. I am looking forward to a bit of break on Thursday and Friday from our new routine. Mike is staying home Thursday and me on Friday. We also have lots of social activities planned for the weekend. Friday Claire and I have a bridal brunch for my cousin's soon to be bride, and then we are planning an evening trip to Topeka so Mike and Claire can meet Miss Maggie! Saturday is my cousin's wedding, Claire is going to sit this one out as the reception is a little more formal downtown. My cousin Katie is coming over to play and stay with Claire. Katie by the way is a senior at Aquinas which I CAN NOT believe, I used to babysit her when she was a baby....yes I am getting old! Next week is our sonogram, looking forward to viewing the little sweet thing that has been with me for the last 17 weeks for the first time. I am praying all is well with this little one and that we have been blessed with a 2nd healthy baby. Happy Wednesday!

Claire's 2nd Birthday

What a fun day Claire had today. We spent the morning outside and at the pool, and then had a great family birthday dinner and party. Claire was in her element and loved all the attention, showing off more than just a bit! Here are some pics from the day!

Curly Hair Cousins

Dave, Kathy and Mikaela just left for the airport and we had such a fun weekend. We took the girls to Wonderscope, Fritzs where a train delivered our lunch and just had fun playing at home, in the new playhouse that Nana and Granddad gave Claire for her birthday and in the pool. While Claire had a few rough moments sharing her things, the girls had a great time. They held hands, gave hugs and kisses and made each other hysterical laughing together. Here are a few pics and video.

Feeling Better

When Claire gets sick, she REALLY gets sick. After a short bout with pneumonia, she is back being her silly self again! We had a great weekend, and made a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa, a short stop at the farmstead and a little bit of fun in the sun in her our backyard inflatable pool and overall just got caught up on our rest and sleep. Here is a slide show of photos that I put together of Claire being silly with a spoon on Saturday. As you can tell she is feeling better!

It's been awhile...

WOW! It's been awhile! My excuses are many, but I won't go there. Lots has been happening in the life of the Hochbergs, but tonight I am going to take the advice of one of my mentors at Hallmark who told me last week when life throws you curve balls focus on the little things and live in the moment. So here's what I've got... Bugs Claire is obsessed with bugs. It started one day a couple of weeks ago with her squatting so low to the patio that her nose was practically on the ground watching a little gnat crawl across the patio. It has gone downhill from there. Today we couldn't stay outside because there was a worm (struggling to stay alive after the rain) on the patio. She immediately needed to be held and was practically in tears. We couldnt' just leave the patio and go swing, we had to leave the entire back yard. She then continued to check on it and point out the "bug" from inside the back door the rest of the evening. Paci's There have been many moments that I have been proud of Claire. This past weekend was the first time I was proud of Claire for her strength and character. Sounds wierd to say about a 2 year old I know. Friday afternoon we packed up all the pacifiers into a ziplock and delivered them to Baby Brady (my cousin's 6 month old). Not only did Claire put all of them into the ziplock, she carried the ziplock into their house and then unzipped it and handed Brady (6 months old and not sure what to do) each and individual pacifier. Megan was a great help, telling Claire thank you so much for giving those to Brady and for being such a big girl. Although it has been harder for Claire to fall asleep than usual and she has woken up more at night, she has not thrown a fit, she barely cried and is very clear that she knows where the paci's are and that she is OK with it. I am so proud of her for overcoming this, she LOVED those paci's so much. RED, WHITE and BLUE It is very common for Claire to come home from Kim's with a new pedicure, always fun colors and she is always so proud. Well last week topped them all. Claire came home with Flags on her toes to celebrate the 4th of July, I included a pic below. SO CUTE! One of a million things we are going to miss about taking Claire to Kim's house. How blessed we have been to find such a loving woman and family to spend their days with Claire. Mike What would I do without him? I am not shy when talking about how blessed I am to have Mike in my life. He balances me so well and takes care of Claire and I in so many ways. Well as I have continued to feel gross through this pregnancy (yes I have told work so it's okay to talk about), he has been doing EVEN MORE than he already does for our family to allow me some rest and keep me from puking! Just when I thought he couldn't take any better care of us, he over delivers. Here is a pic of Mike and Claire on Father's Day. He is showing off the hat Claire made for him at Kim's with her footprint on it.