All my ramblings…

I said I was going to be better about updating my personal blog, and here I go letting more than two months pass without writing a thing here. Of course, I have been quite busy with, oh, LANDING A NEW JOB, and all, but still—I said I’d post more regularly. Oh well. It’s not the [...]

If you ask Clare how old she is, she will tell you that she is, “two right now, but soon I am going to be three and then four, and five.” I keep reminding her that she will be three very soon and that her birthday is coming up. We then rattle through the list [...]

We had probably a foot of snow in the last few days and today was one of those bright blue-sky Colorado days. Check out Clare’s first sledding adventure.
 

The first night, we put Bryce to bed at 6:30pm. She woke up at 6:50am. It was a Christmas miracle.
The second night, we put Bryce down at 6:30pm again and she got up at 4:45am, talked/cried for about 15 minutes (Justin says…I put in my earplugs), and then slept in until 6:45am.
Call me crazy, but [...]

We have a situation on our hands. Yes, our angel of a child, Bryce Anne Shacklette, has begun waking up way too early for our tastes. For months, it seems, she had been inching her way closer to the 7am wake up time, and now for whatever reason, she has been waking up earlier and [...]

Shazam! It’s December. And, more than two months since I last updated my blog. What can I say? I’ve been busy. Having two kids– in case no one has told you– is a LOT of work!
Since I last wrote, I returned to work. My four-month maternity leave came to an end, and I went back [...]

Nothing says, “summer is over” more than falling snow. Today is October 8th, and it is snowing. I know, not a huge shocker, but still those rapidly falling bits of sky carry more significance for me today. It is our first snow, which means that summer is now just a memory. Goodbye summer and goodbye [...]

“Uncle” Simon came to visit earlier this month, and as a special treat he took Clare to the toy store to pick out a present for her. They apparently had a great time playing in the store but when it came time to choose something to take home, Clare was not interested, and instead said [...]

Today Bryce is three months old. It’s hard to believe that three months has already come and gone. I can remember vividly in those early weeks praying for these months to fly by so that we could quickly skip past the rough nights and newborn phase. Of course, now I am recognizing that I need [...]

Minutes after this picture was taken over the weekend, Clare was out in the back yard playing. I look out to check up on her and she’s sitting in the grass with a piece of Logan’s dogshit in her hands. She’s breaking it apart and inspecting it. When I send Justin outside to take care [...]

As I write, eight-week old Bryce is asleep in her crib. I count this as a small victory seeing as a week ago, I would still be sitting in her room, cradling her swaddled body, rocking her to sleep. Late last week we decided that it was time for Bryce to take a step forward [...]

Yes, finally! I am terribly overdue (runs in the family, obviously) on publishing this post.
On the evening of June 21st, I began what would be a very short labor at around 10:30pm. Laboring at home until almost 3am, we headed to the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. I was 5cm dilated. The [...]

No baby. Not yet. Still waiting.
We’ve tried everything that one can imagine to help coax this baby to come out of its very comfortable home. Monday and Tuesday of this week I checked off acupuncture. I’ve also eaten spicy food, drank castor oil, eaten pineapple, eggplant, gone for hour-long walks, and whatever else is on [...]

My due date (June 14th) has come and gone, and now it’s time to pull out all of the stops and see if I can’t “encourage” him/her to come on out.
Since June 7th (my last blog post), I have had two more OB-GYN appointments. On June 8th, Dr. Swartz stripped my membranes. Of course, the [...]

My brother came to Boulder this weekend for a visit. We were all hoping that the baby would make his/her grand entrance while he was here, but no luck there.
We did have a very nice weekend together though and Clare continues to charm her uncle. Simon and she played a lot together and he even [...]

Clare had two run-ins today with sharp household objects where I found myself saying, “Yea, you’re going to have to remember this.”
First Incident: This morning, shortly after putting on a new summer dress, Clare wanted the tag cut out. I had already removed the price tag and another laundry tag, but she wanted the brand-name [...]

It’s been MANY months since I sent out a Clare update of photos, so I have put together the following slideshow which captures March-May.

That is the beautiful phrase I heard when walking into Clare’s room this morning. (Definitely worth sharing, Internet.)

The MacClellands left today after a great holiday weekend together. It was awesome to see Clare playing with both Chase and Gracie. We hit up the Boulder Creek Festival, the Dinosaur Park at the East Boulder Rec Center, Red Robin with the extended MacClelland family, and had an awesome time with our good friends.
Thankfully, this [...]

In many ways it’s hard to believe that we are already in the middle of May. But, for those that have seen me lately and the size of this belly I am hefting around, one would think that it’s the middle of August, and I am two months overdue! Of course, getting comments such as, [...]

I’ve thought about this before, but on Wednesday, while spending the day with Clare, it really started to become more real. Our time with Clare –just the three of us– is soon coming to an end, and it makes me sad. These mother/daughter days that we have each Wednesday will no longer be for just [...]

Justin did an amazing job editing this beautiful video. Way to go, Daddy!

Today, Boulder is getting one of its famous spring storms. Already it’s snowed eight or nine inches, I think, and more is expected. This moisture is welcome though since the past many months have been so dry here. So dry, in fact, that we actually had to drag out the hose and water our precious [...]

It’s hard to believe, and I know that all parents say the same thing, but the last two years really have gone by quickly.  This past Monday, our little baby turned the big TWO. Birthdays have always been a big deal to me and I am all for celebrating, sporting the birthday grin all day, [...]

I’m currently in my 23rd week of this pregnancy and I feel like I’m in my 33rd week. I know it’s true when “they” say that the second time around women show a lot earlier in pregnancy. Not only am I displaying a round belly, but all of the other glorious pregnancy side effects are [...]

This past holiday weekend, I spent two nights in Frasier, Colorado (just outside of Winter Park) with 7 of my girlfriends for what has become an annual winter event, “Girls’ Weekend.” To be frank, I wasn’t even looking forward to this year’s weekend seeing as A) I cannot snowboard because of the pregnancy, B) I [...]

Happy New Year.
I have to admit that because I have been so preoccupied lately the fact that we are no longer in 2008 hasn’t quite sunk in. I guess I still have one foot planted in 2008 and need to make the jump forward to 2009 with the rest of the world. But man, what [...]

Thankfully, I have landed safe and sound in my second trimester and along with that milestone has come a new burst of energy. Hmmm…maybe “burst of energy” isn’t the right phrase for what I am feeling now. Basically, the lethargy and fatigue that plagued me throughout my first trimester has been lifted, and I am [...]

We have been lucky so far in that both November and part of December brought little to no snow in Boulder. That luck has run out. In the last week we have been hit with two small-to-decent sized storms. Last night we got probably 6″ of the powdery stuff. What’s most fun about it this [...]

Yes, now that all of our families are in the know, I am free to share our good news with everyone. Justin and I are expecting a new baby next summer on June 14th. We are excited, of course, and a little bit wary of what a new baby will mean to our current [...]

We were told to expect the worse by the medical experts, and yet, today Poppa actually went home from the hospital. Okay, not exactly home, but across the street from where he lives with Nanny to an assisted-living facility where he can rest, recover and undergo physical therapy.
It’s a miracle…or pretty close to one. We [...]

Last night, Clare and I were monkeying around on the bed after we arrived home from work/daycare. My cell phone rang and it was in the other room, so I let it go to voicemail, not wanting to interrupt the brief time I had with my daughter before her bedtime. A couple of hours later, [...]

After a great family weekend, Clare returned to daycare on Monday this week. Monday was a big day in our family because it was also the first day of Justin’s new job at Gorilla Logic.
In a carefully thought out orchestration of cars and carseats, I took Justin’s car (sans carseat) to work and Justin dropped [...]

Clare has shown some early interest in the potty for some time now. During a September visit by her grandparents, Ninni and Granddad, Clare actually peed for the first time in the potty. Nevermind the fact Justin and I were in Denver for a little “getaway” time and missed the momentous event!
To reward Clare for [...]

There is a fantastic children’s book that Clare’s “Ninny” (Justin’s mom) got for her last year called To Market, To Market. The large board-book features an elderly disheveled woman who heads to the grocery store to buy fixings for dinner and each and every livestock animal (pig, goose, duck, cow) she brings home invariably escapes, [...]

Yes, this time tomorrow, my family of three will be in Miami, Florida for a long weekend visit. Oh, how I wish that I could just blink my eyes, snap my pony-tail and teleport us there like Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeanie. Alas, no. We must get ourselves and our all of our [...]

No, not that kind. I’m referring to the kind that lives in one’s yard, which can in some cases, (specifically ours) cover up the mounds of dirt and rock that have been plaguing our front and back yards for months. Although, after what we’ve been through with this landscaping project, the “other” kind of grass [...]

As odd as that sounds and completely out of the ordinary, it is 100% true. Justin and I were down on the Pearl Street Mall with Clare this early afternoon enjoying our fresh-out-of-the-oven slices from Pizza Calore, when a teenaged duo set up their elaborate xylophones made of gorgeous wood. They began to fill the [...]