We survived January!!

It has been a while since I updated the blog. Life has been very hectic. Claire gave us quite a scare and was in the hospital with RSV for 5 days. The whole family got the cold and finally after 3 weeks of it we thought we were in the clear and Taylor brought home Pink eye.. Thankfully it didn't get the rest of us. We are now living in a bubble of Lysol!! So now all is well and we are getting caught up. I feel like 2 weeks of Claire's life have been erased.. She is doing very well and starting to sleep a little better. Brian's flexible schedule has been a life saver. I will soon go back to work a night a week, yuck. Emma and Taylor are doing well despite Taylor's 2 hour tantrums. By the time she is done we don't even remember what started it.. I started back running and wow the first couple runs were painful. I am running a 5K this weekend and hope to run the San Francisco 1/2 Marathon in July. Brian of course is running like Forest and will run his 3rd Marathon soon. He is taking full advantage of Mountain Bike riding here and I am thankful everytime he comes home in one piece. NOw that I am not pregnant I hope to do more here as well.

All my piggies!!

Claire is 8 Weeks Old!!

Time is flying by and Claire is growing like a weed. She should be all she does is eat!! I took some pics today of our little darling.. She is doing well starting to get a little personality and a little spoiled.. She is either very content or screaming to be held. A monster in the making. Emma and Taylor are really good with her and can be trusted for the most part. Although her Pediatrician claims all siblings under the age of 5 are homicidal. We have adjusted to life with 3 kids, crazy!!

Claire 7 weeks old

Where's Claire??

We rounded up quite a few baby dolls and stuck Claire in the middle..

You would think Emma and Taylor played with dolls.. They don't!!

If I could only get sleep like this...

It is Feb and Emma and Taylor still listen to their Halloween CD. They were dressed up as princesses but acting as monsters.. All they sing is Monster Mash and We wish you a Merry Christmas. Painful to hear..

Now that is scary..

Claire in her bed..which she hardly sleeps in. She still sleeps in our room but I try to put her in her crib so she gets use to it.. She sleeps about 10 minutes and then is done. Hopefully that will change.

Her head looks rather round in this pic. Must be the angle :)

Taylor holding Claire after a bath..

They want to help and it usually it a disaster, poor Claire

Emma holding Claire

Claire in the tub.. We usually do a quick wash off on the counter, it is so much easier.

These are a couple pics taken from Point Lobos. As I say below, it is just a few miles from the house and a good place to walk trails, bike ride ect.. Brian has been there many times, this was my first trip. The views are breath taking. You could sit out on a rock and not get up for days.. This was along the trail we walked.

This picture was taken from Point Lobos just a few miles from the house. There are hiking trails and a state park. This time of year the Grey Whales are migrating south and they are seen all time in Monterey Bay. The "white" spout of water is a whale. Sorry not a great pic but neat to see.

Us looking out over the "cliff" watching for whales.

Brian walking up the trail with the girls. Kinda nerve racking, the cliff drops off and goes straight down to the water!

Just some scenic pics from HWY 1.

While we were at the beach with the seals there was a very pretty rainbow over the mountains..

Elephant Seals..

Description is below

We drove down to see the Elephant Seals.

Every year they migrate to the beach to have their babies, get pregnant again and head back out to sea until it is time to do it again. Remind me to never wish to be an elephant seal!!! The males have a "trunk" and are huge! they can weigh up to 5000 lbs. There were hundreds of them and really interesting to see. They were just a few feet away from us, makes you forget they are wild..

A male elephant seal

The seals on the beach. They were all over in both directions.

Sorry, this out of order

Taylor picking flowers

Emma and Taylor had fun picking flowers after watching the elephant seals. They were pretending like they were getting married.

Boy we are in trouble!!

Emma

Merry Christmas!!

We hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Emma and Taylor were spoiled by Santa this year. I guess that is what happens when you start shopping in Sept! We waited for Claire to take a Christmas pic. Here are a few of the girls.

Happy New Year!!

Claire all wrapped up!!

Just a few pics I took of Claire for our Christmas card/ Birth announcment. She did so well, I expected it to be a disaster, screaming baby or worse pooing and peeing all over the place!! Brian played Santa with a stocking on his arm and the bottom cut out and a ladies white glove. I am giving away all my secrets..

She was bigger then I thought!!

What must have been going through her mind??
Yes I torture my kids to get the picture..

Welcome to the World Claire Ella Decker

Well Claire finally made it. She wasn't going to come out on her own. She was fat and happy in there and after listening to her crazy, loud sisters for months she thought she was safer inside.

She was born Dec 11th at 7:51 Pm

She weighed 8lbs and 10 oz's and was 21 inches long. Rather large compared to Emma and Taylor 5lbs and only 18 inches!! We came home Saturday and are adjusting well.. Emma and Taylor are doing great with her and are a help. Brian being around this time has made things much easier, nevermind it is just one this time.

Claire 6 days old..

A Smile!!
Must be Gas...

Claire and I the next day..

Her poor head looked like a cone when she came out. Thankfully it rounded out quickly.

Proud Big sisters!

Emma and Taylor seeing Claire for the first time. After seeing her they came over to me in bed and wanted to see my belly button, that is how she came out..... Taylor also informed me that my belly was still "kinda" big.

The honesty of kids..

The Girls..

Emma and Taylor are happy to have Claire here.

They wanted to know if my back would quit hurting now!

Considering she came out sunny side up, it may be a while..

Anyone who has had 10 lb babies, Kudos to you!!

This was enough for me.