Potty Training

I was determined to have Claire potty trained before Harrison arrived; however, when we went for her 18 month check up the doctor told me I might want to wait until after he was born. Why? She said often times kids will regress with all the changes a new baby brings. So I decided to wait. I waited until Harrison was a week and a half old and decided it was time. When Claire woke up on the 29th, I asked her if she would like to wear big girl panties. "No mommy". I thought no big deal...what kid doesn't like to run around the house naked? Even though it was freezing outside, I decided to just roll with it. She ran around naked most of the day until I convinced her to get dressed because her grandparents were coming to visit.
Day 1 of potty training was a huge success. That night she wore a diaper to bed, but as soon as she woke up the next day (her 2nd birthday!!), it was time for big girl panties again. Since Day 1, she has had less than a handful of accidents.She is only wearing a diaper for nap time and bedtime . We never got to use the cute potty calendar above. She was definitely ready.
This is one proud mommy!

Christmas Day

*I am definitely going to have to get some pictures from my mother in law because I just realized we only have a couple.

Christmas morning we woke up and got the kids dressed in their Christmas PJ's. I had planned to dress them both in their PJ's the night before, but decided not to wake them up for something as silly as PJ's. The whole time we were getting them dressed, Harry and I could not stop smiling. I think we were more excited about seeing Claire's reaction than anything. Once everyone was dressed, we headed downstairs. The first thing Claire saw was her new kitchen. She was so excited!! (Ignore the crazy bed head) She also got a musical set, bubbles, bubble toys, and new bathtub toys. The bubbles- A few days before Christmas, Claire kept telling me that Santa was going to bring her bubbles in her stocking. I looked at a few stores and couldn't find bubbles. Luckily I was able to order some off Amazon and they were delivered just in time!

Harrison loves his Slumber bear

After opening presents at our house, we headed to the Durbin's. We spent the morning by the fire opening presents. Claire's favorite present was her vacuum cleaner. She vacuumed Mimi and Papa's house for what seemed like hours. We ate a yummy lunch and headed home for naps. 

After naps, my dad stopped by for our gift exchange. Claire was in toy heaven! Papa Mark played for a little while and then headed home. We spent the last few hours of Christmas with just the 4 of us. Our first Christmas as a family of 4 was so special. 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is always a busy day for our family. This year my cousin decided to host the Walters' family Christmas. I feel awful because I only took one picture while we were there. I was too busy visiting with all of my family. Her house looked amazing and the food was delicious! 

GiGi and Claire at cousin Beth and Alex's

After the Walters' Christmas, we headed to the Rogers' Christmas. Harry and I were stuffed from our first stop, but Claire dug into the green beans and entertained everyone while they were eating. After dinner, it was time for presents. Claire had a blast! This year she had so much fun unwrapping presents. I think she unwrapped almost all of the presents that night. 

She was worn out by the end of the evening. My grandparents live about 2 minutes from our house and she was asleep before we got home. 

Harrison was such a trooper on Christmas Eve! He slept through the first round and then ate and slept during round 2. 

Harrison's 1st Bath

Harrison feels the same way as daddy does about baths...He strongly DISLIKES them!

Santa Comes to Visit

Since Harrison barely missed Breakfast with Santa, Santa offered to come visit us at our house.
Our dog, Sophie, enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap. She loves anyone that will show her tons of attention. The poor girl was an only child for 3 years, so she has had a hard time adjusting to not only Claire but now Harrison.
As you can see, Harrison slept through sitting on Santa's lap, but I am so glad we were able to get a few pictures of him with Santa!
Claire again wanted nothing to do with Santa. Santa stayed for an hour to see if she would warm up to him, but she never did. He even tried to bribe her with Hershey kisses..still no luck! Ever since Santa came to visit, she constantly asks about him and worries that he will return. When we tell her not to worry, she says, "No more Santa. Santa all gone." and then she smiles from ear to ear.

Thanks Santa Bob for visiting!

Visitors Day 2

Since I was in recovery until 8:30pm, we decided it was best for Claire to come meet her baby brother the day after he was born. Claire, Jennifer, and Mamaw came to visit us just before lunch time. Claire fell asleep on the way to the hospital, so I was able to snuggle with her when she first arrived.

While Claire slept, Mamaw was able to hold and love on baby Harrison.

When Claire woke up, she was so happy to meet her baby brother. Our first picture as a family of four. Love it!!

It was hard seeing Claire leave the hospital without us, but I know she had a blast playing with Mimi, Papa, and Jen Jenn.

Our afternoon and night visitors included Grandma and Papa, Beth (who came the night of Harrison's birth but wasn't able to say late enough to see him), Mimi and Papa, and Brad and Sabrina (whose pictures we forgot to take)

Visitors

I love living close to our family! It was so nice to have our family visit us at the hospital. On the night of Harrison's birth, both set of grandparents were there as well as his aunt and our friends, Matt and Angela. (somehow Matt did not make it into a picture)

Before everyone left to head home that night, Angela prayed for Harrison and our family. It was the sweetest prayer and a great ending to our long day.

Harrison Dee Durbin

Sunday morning around 10:00am, I started having contractions. They were consistent, but were anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes apart. When they started getting closer, I decided to take a bath with Claire to see if they would stop. After no luck in the bathtub, I decided to take a shower. Harry had talked with his mom after church and asked to drop Claire off, so he could run errands. Once his parents were finished with lunch, my contractions were 5 minutes apart and had been for about 45 minutes. Harry dropped Claire off at his parents and came back home. He told me it was time to go to the hospital. I was in complete denial. The contractions were painful, but were not making me cry or absolutely killing me. I kept telling him I didn't think that we needed to go. No matter what I said, he never backed down. He packed the car and insisted that we head to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital, it was confirmed that indeed I was in labor. I was so scared. My first c section with Claire was awful. My blood pressure was high and the nurse (who car pooled with Harry during middle school...She was amazing and such a God send) called the on call doctor. When she came back to my triage room, she said we are having a baby today. I think my jaw fell to the floor. She reassured me that things would be different this time. She was so right! I had a great spinal block and the c section could not have been any better.

At 5:30pm Harrison Dee Durbin was born.

7 lbs 8 oz

20.5 inches

Breakfast with Santa

Every year our church has breakfast with Santa. This has been a tradition since I was a little girl. It is a great memory from my childhood and I am so thankful that Claire and Harrison will have this memory as well. Last year Claire was fascinated by Santa as seen below. (Harry was still working at Northwestern Mutual and had to work his first Saturday morning during Breakfast with Santa)

This is our 2010 picture. Little did we know that this would be the last picture of Harrison still in my tummy. As you can see Claire wanted nothing to do with Santa. Ever since this encounter if you ask her about Santa, she will say, " I don't like Santa". There are plenty of years to come and hopefully Santa will grow on her.

With an almost 2 year old and a little one on the way, I failed to get Christmas cards ordered and mailed. With that said, Merry Christmas!!