Sick Again!

Dear Family,

I think Baby Kate wants to be like me! This past week, she came down with my old virus! I tried to tell her that copy-catting is really dangerous when it comes to viruses, but she was already committed to the illness by then. Kate kept Mom and Dad up for hours and hours at night with her congestion, so on Tuesday night, Nana came to stay with us and give Mom and Dad a chance to sleep and therefore function. Poor Kate survived with no medication (there's nothing they can do for an infant!), but did go through the whole week unable to breathe, coughing, sneezing - she even lost her voice for a while and Mama had to set her alarm to wake up to feed her at night because her cry wasn't loud enough! Kate is doing much better now (almost at 100%), but it once again made for a long week at home.

Luckily, before Kate got sick, I did get to see my playgroup friends at a pajama jam. I got to dance and show off Baby Kate. During one scary song (Day-Oh), I had to have Mom hold her hand over my eyes so it wouldn't scare me anymore. It was great to be back in the action!

While we were once again quarantined at home, Mom dug deep to come up with ways to entertain me. We bathed my toys, read LOTS of books, made muffins, decorated the house for Christmas, got reprieve from Nana, Granddaddy, and Nonnie. I also played a fun "night night" game with my princesses, and Mommy listened in as I tucked Mulan into "bed" and then said to her, "Minute, Muyan, I hug Tink now." Mama says play imitates life right now, and I am really turning a corner with understanding sharing and accepting my sister!

The last piece of news from the week is that yesterday, Kate celebrated her 1 month birthday! Weighing in at 7 lbs 5 oz, she has exceeded the doctor's growth expectations and has added a priceless and precious (although sleepless) aspect to the McClinton family! We love her so much (even me, now)!

Click here for pictures from the week

Love,

Avery "Can we leave the house yet?" McClinton

The Best Laid Plans

Hey family!

This past week was not quite like I expected it to be. It was Mama's first full week with us gals alone, and we were going to rejoin playgroup, head to Pre-School, and even have a big girl pajama party with church friends on Friday night. Instead, I woke up from naptime on Monday feeling a little under the weather. I sported a 100 or 101 all week, complete with a terribly runny nose, yucky cough, and congestion. Turns out I had a sinus infection and all the liquid in my ears made for a double ear infection. Yikes! On Saturday, I started my antibiotics and I am feeling much better today. Mom is THRILLED that we will be able to leave the house this week and start interacting with humans again! Despite Mom's best efforts, it sounds like Kate is coming down with the same stuff. Please join us in prayer for her little body to be healed so it doesn't escalate. (For those keeping track, YES - this does equal 2 full blown illnesses in 3 weeks - I've been more sick this month than in the past year combined! Pre-school is doing it's part to build my immunities, that's for sure!)

Because I was sick all week, we got pretty creative in coming up with ways to stay entertained. Needless to say, there was a LOT more TV than usual being watched ("Pee Pan" is a favorite this week), but we also took long soaks in Mom's tub, colored and did stickers countless times, irritated Oscar and Dottie, and took several visits to Nana and DD's house. (Mama is so thankful they aren't afraid of germs... getting out of the house was a mental health issue for both of us this week! :)) We also got to bring the cool little house that's been at Nana and DD's home with us this week, and I have really enjoyed playing in it! Granddaddy went to Disney World this week on business and brought me back some treats on Wednesday night, and I happily played with the cool colored hot chocolates, my new Ariel cup, and Princess stamps that he got for me. I also had time to play under their dining table like it was a tent with all of my princesses and enjoyed "chicken ah fries" with them more than once!

While I was at Nana's house, Mama, Daddy and Kate got to go see the new location for our church. We hope to be meeting there at the start of the new year, and Daddy can't wait to leave his drum set up instead of tearing it down each week! It's going to be amazing to have a place of our own for The Waters to meet!

Also this week, Kate continued to grow and change! Since we couldn't get out of the house to show her off, Mom and I took some pictures of her. Last night when Daddy weighed her, she was 7 pounds 1 ounce! She's a growing girl!

Click here for pictures from "Sick Week"

Love,

Avery "Illness" McClinton

The Good and The Bad

Dear Family,

If ever there was a week of big events and transitioning behaviors, this was it! The week was a mishmash between having a blast celebrating Halloween and Daddy's birthday and learning that Kate is here to stay and trying new acting out behaviors to see what gets me the most attention. Don't get me wrong, I'm a precious angel about 80% of the time, it's just that the combination of being two and being de-throned is sometimes a lot for us all to handle.

Great moments from the week:

*Daddy and Nana taking time off of work to play with me

*Having visitors at night - Nonnie, Great Nonnie, and DD all stopped by!

*Daddy's birthday: breakfast in bed with him, Saltgrass dinner to go, and special hugs for my "not old yet" Daddy

*Pumpkin carving - I helped until the smell got too strong :)

*Watching Kate GROW - from 5 lb 6 oz to 5 lb 10.5 oz this morning!

*Hanging out with Aunt Amanda and Uncle David

*Saying cheese with Kate for professional photos

*Trick or treating with Daddy, DD, and Mommy (Nana stayed home and helped Kate pass out the candy)

*Playing with my Playgroup friends at a Family Halloween Party

The not great moments from the week are way less fun to recall, so let's just say there were a few fits when I saw Kate being held, when I woke up from nap, even at the playgroup party... every week that I realize Kate is here to stay will get better and I know before long it'll hit me that she really belongs in our family! :)

Click here for pictures from the week

Click here for pictures from the professional photo shoot

Love you!

Avery