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.

Tiny Tots Gymnastics

Claire had gynastics class on Monday, and absolutely loved it. She didn't want to participate in the game the teacher was trying to play, but had so much fun running around on the bouncy floor, climbing foam objects, doing obstacle courses and bouncing on the trampoline with the other girls. She ran and climbed for 50 minutes straight and was so tired when we got home she was asking to go to bed! Here are a few pics!

The Beach

We had a great week at the beach last week. We traveled to Kiawah Island, South Carolina about 20 miles south of Charleston. We spent much time walking the beach, exploring the beautiful natural island and enjoying all the resort offered for kiddos and families. Our condo was oceanfront on the 3rd floor, so we had a great view over the dunes and could hear the crashing waves round the clock. Most mornings were spent on the beach, then we came in for lunch and Claire's nap. The afternoons were our time to explore the island. There was a great pool, a nature center with live animals and a children's play room, a park and playground, etc. One evening there was a carnival for the resort families and Claire rode the train twice, jumped (okay sat while the big kids jumped), and danced to the live music. We had a wonderful week and discovered what a beach baby Claire is. She loved to run on the beach, splash in the ocean and puddles left from the tide. She learned lots of new words including alligator and beach! Here is a combo video of the waves and Claire, both taken on our balcony. Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the week!

Bare Feet or High Heels

Claire has a one track mind lately....shoes. She either wants them on or off, and it doesn't stop, once they are on she takes them off, etc... They ALWAYS come off in the car, the stroller (you better be watching or you will have to go back and look for it), and this week she even sat down in the middle of the street to take her shoes off as she was on her way to get the mail! She got some new outdoor/waterproof Keen shoes this week which she seems to like and tolerates on her feet much longer than most others. They are also a bit harder for her to get off so it slows her down a bit too. Once inside, she likes to put both Mike and I's shoes on, usually just our flips, but as you will see, she has learned to walk around in my heels! The weather was great this week, so much of our evening time was spend outside. Here are some pictures from the week, enjoy!

Cali Hugs

Claire has always loved Cali, but lately she really shows affection to her. Every morning when we are leaving for the day Claire tucks Cali into her bed and gives her a hug. Here are a few pics and some of the affection I caught on video today, Cali was giving her hugs back which made Claire laugh like crazy!

Rainy May

So I think Mother Nature got April and May confused, it has been rainy and cool for most of the last week. Not so good for being able to play on that swingset that just stares at Claire from the backyard! She just keeps saying "outside", "shoes" and "slide". Good thing we have a long summer ahead of us to spend swinging and sliding! I had a good Mother's Day weekend, Mike, Claire and Cali spoiled me on Sunday and just had a good time spending time together. I introduced Mike to Spin Pizza and he is now a fan like me, yummmm!! On Saturday we headed to Topeka for a Mother's Day lunch with the Barkemeyers' and Mom and Dad. It was a great visit and Ellen and Claire played together which usually doesn't happen, it was cute to see. I am so proud of Miss Ellen, moving into her big girl room, two more months and she will move to the big girl bed to make room for baby who will be arriving the end of July! Claire's 2 year molars are back at it this week as evidenced by lots of hands in her mouth, low grade fever and a bit of unpredictable crankiness : ( I promise to get some recent pics up this weekend, it's past my bedtime now and I don't have the motivation to go get the camera an upload photos...stay tuned!

This is FUN!

"This is fun" is what Mike said Friday night when he came in mid-swing set installation. He liked using his tools and putting soemthing together! He worked on and off through the day Saturday and my late afternoon it was 95% done, enough for Claire to use it. Although she didn't say it, the HUGE smile on her face also told us she was also thinking "This is FUN"! Saturday evening was filled with LOTS of swinging, sliding and just running around. Today Mike put the finishing touches on including putting the rocks on the rock wall, hanging up the rope ladder and installing the tire swing. At one point we had 4 neighbor kids + Claire playing, what a fun day! The last pic is dark because I just took it, but it is 100% complete!

Swing Set - Day 1

The Hochberg swingset arrived today, and Mike couldn't help himself and got right to work. What an amazing guy, patient with the process, patient with a nagging impatient wife, and building the swing set with all the care in the world for his little girl. Is there a better Daddy out there, Claire doesn't think so?!! Claire and I are both lucky to have such great dad's! Here's the progress after a couple of hours with lots of interruptions!

Lots of Little Thoughts....

I have lots of disjointed thoughts and blogger is not good at formatting, so here they go, good luck following me! Mommy's little helper What a little helper I have. Yesterday I got home while Mike was gone picking up Claire and I decided to take the opportunity to try to quickly get my annuals put in the ground that we bought the day before. The get home, she runs over sits down next to me, picks up the hand rake and starts helping. Tonight we watered all my annuals. On Sunday she was Grandma's helper and dusted and put away silverware! Madi and Taylor Claire has seen Madison and Taylor on a pretty regular basis, and like all other people she knows well, she has started saying their names, at least for a day or so after we see them. Sunday she did spend some time with them, and we were practicing saying "Madi and Taylor" in the car. Sunday came and went, and then yesterday I didn't hear their namese all day until we were saying bedtime prayers. After I got through the list of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, Claire looks at me and says "Madi and Taylor". So cute that she included them in prayers too, obviously they are special to her. Breakfast time When Claire wakes up a bit early before I have eaten breakfast on weekday mornings, I usually give her a few cheerios to nibble on while I eat breakfast, as she eats breakfast with her friends at Kim's house and I don't want to give her two full meals. Well this has been happening more and more and I have started to use this time to practice sitting on a booster chair not strapped in vs. her high chair. This morning was one of those mornings, and I just looked over at her, thought to myself how big she has gotten and more importantly she is feels like my friend, someone I can talk to, be with, and someone who get me. The Mother/Daughter relationship is an amazing one. Blessed to have both my mom and my daughter as best friends! Rain, Rain Go Away This weekend was rather rainy and cold which meant much more inside time and even a bit more TV for Claire. We had an episode of Dora the Explorer on in the background and Dora was singing rain, rain go away with hand gestures. Being very relevant for us, I joined in and helped Claire with the gestures. We really have very little Dora in our house, but after dinner she had some Dora stickers, and our potty seat happens to have Dora on it, and both times she broke out her new song and dance of Rain, Rain Go Away!

Bye Bye....

Bye Bye..we hear it 100 times a day. Claire always wants to go somewhere, mostly just outside. On Monday she kept telling Sharon, our parent educator, to go bye bye. She wakes up and says bye bye, I believe asking if she is going to Kim's that day. We have been working on saying "bye bye Cali" every morning, the closest she has gotten is bye bye.... (long pause)....cali. This morning Bye Bye Cali rolled off her tongue as she was running down the hall...amazing what they can learn in their sleep in one night! : ) We had a better week, although I still think about Anna all the time. Other things that Claire has graced us with this week include; taking her pants off repeatedly, using the potty like a big girl, lots of hugging her moms and dads legs while saying hiiiiiii....., tucking Cali into bed, putting a significant portion of her dinner including her fork and spoon down her shirt,temper tantrum when we left the swing set warehouse (thank goodness we ordered one), getting in and out of her car for 30 minutes straight saying hi and bye each time, and the list goes on. What a fun age this is she brings such joy to us! Here are few pics from the last several weeks. A special thanks to Uncle Dave and Aunt Kathy who gave Claire her apron and have influenced her cooking "naked"! : )

Morgan is our Angel....

This was a really tough week. My good friend from college, Anna and her husband lost their precious little girl after a 8 month battle with Leukemia. Miss Morgan would have turned 2 on May 29th. Although I know Morgan is a much better place an no longer has to fight that horrible disease, my heart aches more than I can describe for Anna. Morgan was an amazing little girl full of spunk and happiness. The last time I saw her was in December and all though in remission at the time she was still being treated for chemo just in case. I visited her and Anna at the hospital and you would not have known she was sick, in fact I noted to myself at the time that Claire who was at the time teething was much whinier than Morgan. She was happy, smiling, and playing games in her nightgown and ugg boots. She showed me her "tubbies" the ports that were coming out of her chest where they administered her meds and chemo. I was only there 30 minutes or so but left feeling so inspired by a little girl who was in the middle of a week long chemo treatment. Not only did Morgan touch my life, but her story gives me perspective. Life is precious and we must appreciate it. She has taught me to have more patience with Claire, she has taught me to focus on what is important in life and not the trivial things. Now on to Anna, nothing other to say she is an amazing woman, mother and wife. Her strength, perspective and reliance on her faith through this all have given me examples to model my life after. If you want to read her story visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/Morganknoblock/journal

It's been awhile....

....since I have posted anything, but we have been busy! Had a good trip to Virginia over Easter weekend, flew home mid week, and have had a short week at home. Although we had a good trip, Claire is so happy to be home, and back into her routine. She is a super Happy girl and is sleeping like a champ! Kim even commented on how happy she was this week, just running around and bouncing on furniture! On a separate note, it's official Claire is bedding obsessed just like her mom. I noticed a couple of months ago that Claire often stands next to our bed and lays her head agaist our down comforter. As she has essentially outgrown the blankets in her bed, I decided to order a toddler size down comforter. Well we got it and it was scratchy fabric (I told you I was a bedding snob), so I have since been obsessed with finding a discontinued PB Kids duvet cover. I finally found a brand new one on Ebay, it arrived this week and Claire loves it. When we put Claire in bed, she pats the comforter and then lays down, wanting to be covered up. She rubs her face against, it, etc...she loves it! I guess there are worse things to be obsessed over. Can you blame her, who doesn't want to be comfy and cozy! We have a weekend full of outdoor projects ahead of us and I am looking forward to being outside. Claire's grandma and grandpa gave her garden tools, a watering can and a bucket for easter, and since then "digging" and putting dirt and rocks in her bucket have become favorite outdoor activities. In addition she helped her Nana water the plants on the deck and so she "waters" my tulips several times a day with her watering can. I am just glad she is not dirt and grass phobic like I was when I was little! Here are some photos from our trip....

Good Hot and Bad Hot

I LOVE warm weather, today was gorgeous...80 degrees and sunny. Not too hot, just perfect! So that's the "Good" Hot. The "Bad" Hot was Claire's 99.9 degree borderline fever. She had a rough afternoon, and we could tell she just didn't feel good. We are pretty sure it is those darn molars, as she has had random low grade fevers over the last 3 weeks and goes through bouts of being inconsolable. Today it happened again it a bad way after her nap at daycare, nothing could make her stop crying! It is not fair that little ones have to go through such pain. Daddy and Cali made her feel better by going on a long walk to the park. Poor baby.....

A Spring Week

We had a good week, the weather is teasing us and some days is kind of warm, but other days just rainy and cool! In addition to the "iffy" weather, Claire's mood has also been "iffy". She is working on her two year molars and you can just tell her mouth hurts some days and she can be quite moody! Thank goodness these are the last teeth for a long time! Also, some good potty progress is being made. She is able to go most times that she sits on it. I know we have a long way to go, but it's a start! Today we had a fun day hanging out with my parents, Emily, Ellen and the Wilkins girls followed by some quality time outside at home! Mike assembled "The Cozy Coupe" that Claire got for Christmas from Emily and Brett and she had a great time racing up and down the sidewalk! She also continues to enjoy exploring the backyard. Here are some pictures from the week and weekend.

Mike's Birthday

We had a busy week, just getting caught up! On Mike's Birthday we celebrated with gifts, cake and BBQ beef, I think he had a good day. Here are a few pictures!