Claire Elizabeth Currie

Claire Elizabeth Currie

July 23rd, 2014

6:46pm

7lbs 11ozs, 20.5 inches long

11:30 - Weekly Dr. appointment

12:30 - Got home and contractions started

3:00 - Called Mark to come home and get me

4:30 - Arrived a the hospital

6:46 - Claire Elizabeth arrived

We are absolutely blessed to add a healthy baby girl to our new family of 4! Elliott is completely taken with her and wants to hold her first thing every morning. 95% of the time he's very gentle with her and will rub her head and give her kisses. Every once and a while he gets a little rambunctious, but that's to be expected from a 27 month old! She's been such a happy and content baby...very different from her brother when he was a baby. :) I find myself having to wake her for the majority of her feedings. We were very blessed to have family with us the first week at home to help Mark and I ease into the whole parenting of 2 thing. 

27 Months

This is Elliott's last month as an only child so Mark and I are trying to make sure we can soak up our time with him! He truly is growing into a little man and I can't believe how much he has grown the last couple of months. He is very expressive and I love listening to him talk. My favorite is the way he says "Oh yeah" with a little high shriek when you ask him to do something. It's adorable! Below are some of our favorite conversations.

In the car on our way to school:
Elliott: Mommy, why we have to go to school?
Mom: Because mommy and daddy have to go to work.
Elliott: Why?
Mom: So we can make money.
Elliott: Why?
Mom: So we can eat, buy clothes, and get you toys.
Elliott: Why?
Mom: So we aren't hungry, naked, or bored.
Elliott: Oh yeah.
10 seconds later...
Elliott: Mommy, why you have to make money?

Dad: Lets read books and then go brush our teeth.
Elliott: No, Daddy. I already did.
Dad: You already did what?
Elliott: I already brushed my teeth.
Both Elliott and Dad look at Mom
Mom: No, you didn't. Don't lie.
Elliott: Oh yeah (laughing)

Dad: When you wake up in the morning we are going to go to the parade.
Elliott: First thing the next morning... "We go to parade now."

Elliott: Mommy, it's dripping.
Mom: What's dripping?
Elliott: It's dripping from the sky.
Mom: You are right, it's raining.

Building towers with Uncle Danny...yes, that's how he smiles now

Fishing with Dad

He's become quite the pool nut! 

Reading books while Mom finishes getting ready in the morning 

4th of July

4th of July 

Pops and Mimi host everyone at the lake over the 4th of July every year. With 4 kids and their spouses, 3 grandkids, and the Wallers it was a full house! We had so much fun and Elliott had his best friend Addison to keep him entertained during the day.

Adventureland

John and Laurie made a spontaneous visit to Des Moines Tuesday night to take Elliott to Adventureland. I'm not sure who was more excited to go...John or Elliott? Elliott did great and much to our surprise went on a lot of rides by himself.

Riding on the train...Grandpa got Elliott a blue slushy as soon as we got there so he had a blue mouth the whole night

Riding the tea cups 

Riding rides gives you a big appetite...he scarfed down a whole hot dog in less than 2 minutes 

Excited to go on the river ride

Elliott got scared once the "big kids" yelled a few times 

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for such a great time  

26 Months

The Month of Firsts

Elliott is truly starting to become a little boy. He no longer has the chubby baby cheeks and innocent baby look. Twenty six months was a big month of firsts for Elliott and after writing them all down it's easy to see why he's been so tired lately. 

1) First Day At "School": Elliott started at a new daycare on June 2nd. I think you can probably judge from the expression how unexcited he was about the whole thing. He struggled a little bit...ok, a lot! The first couple of weeks were pretty rough and Elliott had a lot of "sad" moments according to the teachers. Lets just say that this kid does not like change! They started bringing him into his cousin Katherine's room when he was sad and it really cheered him up! We are 4 weeks into the new school and he is doing much better. He still cries when we drop him off but according to the teachers he has made great strides and he is actually enjoying his time there. 

2) First Time Using A Big Boy Potty: Mark went home the weekend of June 14th and 15th for a basketball tournament and took Elliott with him. Laurie got out the potty the boys used when they were little and Elliott decided he wanted to sit on it before bath time. He's sat on the potty several times at home but has never actually gone. Much to Mark and Grandma Laurie's surprise he actually went! And the next day he went #2! 

3) First Time In A Big Boy Bed: Elliott slept in a big boy bed all by himself at Uncle Steve's while on our way back from Danny and Javen's wedding. He then slept in Mark's old toddler bed while at home in Odebolt. We decided to bite the bullet and move him into a bed at home and he's doing great! He still whimpers when we leave the room but not for very long. (I still haven't taken a picture. I'll post one soon.)

The Wunschel Wedding

Danny and Javen 

May 30th, 2014

Danny and Javen got married in Glenwood, MN on May 30th, 2014. It was the Friday after Memorial Day weekend so Elliott and I decided to take the whole week off and vacation with Pops and Mimi and the Uhl's. Addison, Elliott, K'Lyn, and I got in one car and Aaron got in another and we took off for the 6 hour drive north. Don't worry, Addison packed a stuffed animal for her dad so he didn't have to drive alone. Much to our surprise, Elliott and Addison did great! They played with the iPad, watched a few movies, took a nap and had zero melt downs! 

We stayed at a big cabin (by big I mean a 5 bedroom cabin that sleeps 26 people) and had an amazing time. It rained poured on us the first night but the weather the rest of the week made up for it. We visited the park plenty of times, watched the movie Turbo even more times, and went to the "beach." 

Mark and the Conley's arrived late Wednesday night and we spent most of the day Thursday just hanging out and decorating the reception site. We went to rehearsal on Thursday night and Elliott and Addison got to practice their roles of ring bearer and flower girl. 

The wedding day was absolutely gorgeous. The weather was fantastic and the bride and groom were just glowing! Elliott and Addison did wonderful...despite our worries.

The gorgeous cabin

The water was freezing but Elliott and Addison didn't seem to mind 

"I ryden my biiike"

The beautiful reception site 

Addison playing the role of Mom and making sure Elliott is doing what he's supposed to

The bride and her flower girl

What a beautiful moment 

The Lageschulte sisters 

On the pontoon 

The wedding party 

The best picture I have on my camera of the bride and groom

We got to visit Aunt Chelsey and Uncle Steve in Minneapolis on our way home 

Megan's Graduation

My little sister graduated from high school...let me say that again...my LITTLE sister graduated from high school. The sister that we took on walks in the stroller after church. The sister that I watched take her first steps. The sister that I watched grow into a beautiful, mature lady. I couldn't be more proud of her!

Senior Night

Grandpa Jeff rented a bouncy castle and Elliott and Addison had the best time of their life

"Hey guys, did you see that Microsoft went up 2 points?"

The cousins