The Name Reveal.

I've been debating for a while now about whether to just come out with our littlest miss' name, or to wait until she's actually here to do the introduction post. With Claire, we kept the name a secret and formally introduced our newest Loveland. And I loved it. I know we hurt a few feelings along the way though. Last night we decided it wasn't really a secret and we know this is definitely our gal's name, and I got the OK from Ross to do an announcement post.

We've had the name picked out for a really long time. At 16 weeks, we just couldn't wait any longer to find out what we were having. We decided to pay for an elective gender ultrasound and went in a month early to discover we were having another lady! (I have been wrong both times. Both pregnancies I would have sworn that we were having a boy, especially this one.) We really didn't have any girl names thought up yet, and we had a lot of work to do.

As you all well know, I am in love with "old lady" names, while Ross is a fan of "unique" names. This one is a compromise. We've told a few people the name we've chosen already, and I really haven't loved the reactions we've gotten. Maybe it's a good thing we're doing an announcement post rather than an introduction, so we can get all of the shock and bewildered faces out of the way before she arrives.

Ok, I've given enough back story and jabbered on enough, right?? Here we go. Our littlest lady will be named...



Please forgive the green wall. The flash makes the color more shocking than it really is. But there you have it.

Aoife (EE-fa) Elaine. NOT Eva.

We are fully aware she will be forever spelling and pronouncing her name, but we love it. Here's where it comes from.

This name is obviously off of Ross' list. He has quite a bit of Irish heritage. Before we even came up with our lists, he mentioned how much he loved Irish names. After I had looked at a few, I decided I really did, too. When going over Ross' list, at first I passed this name by without even a second glance. I just had no idea how to say it. After Ross told me how it was pronounced, I was in love.

Elaine is my Grandmother's name. I truly adore this amazing woman and am so excited she's letting us use her name.

Well, the secret's out! In just a few short weeks, Miss Aoife Elaine will be joining our family! We couldn't be more excited!!

Claire's Tutu Tea Party With Tutu Many Cookies.

Claire got a Disney princess kitchen for Christmas. We weren't sure if she'd even like it, but there was an awesome deal and we couldn't pass it up. So we got it for her, in hopes that she mights play with it in the coming months.

Christmas morning proved us wrong. She LOVED the kitchen! It makes a bunch of different kitchen sounds and came with a princess cookbook that Claire loves to flip through. The real prize, however, was found in the tea cups and Mrs. Potts tea pot. We got started right away teaching Claire all about "chinks" and practiced pouring tea. For weeks Claire has loved to bring us her tea cups to do chinks with us. I decided she was ready for a tea party trial run.

Claire put on her finest tutu and I set up her toy box as our table. The tea party was anything but dainty, girly, and polite. Claire started as a lovely host, pouring my tea and performing the chinks, but then the dishes started flying.

She also has this little tray that holds a couple plastic muffins and cookies. Those were displayed on the toy box table as well. Claire was even gracious enough to hand me one when I would ask. I'd pretend to eat it and place it back on the tray. Of course, I kept asking for more. She obliged for a few minutes, but then I made the mistake of asking for just one more cookie. It must be frustrating, accommodating a guest with such a large appetite. She took the tray full of goodies and threw it while telling me in loud terms how she felt. (It was HILARIOUS, really. I might have reacted the same way.)
She then decided the tea party was OVER and swept the dishes off of our table with her arms while running to pick up the fallen dishes and throw them again. It was everything I hoped for and expected in sharing our first tea party. Though we'll have to have a few more practice runs before we invite friend's over for a toddler tea party play day.

We've been practicing our manners recently. Claire has become quite the manners police when it comes to saying "excuse me". I'm not really sure how it got started, the gesture was probably something I was doing without realizing it. Whenever I'd burp, I'd look at her, cover my mouth, and say excuse me. Claire picked up on that. Whenever someone burps or "toots" Claire will stare at you with her hand over her mouth until you politely say "Excuse me" Friends and family, you have been warned! However, heaven forbid Claire make some bodily noise. She will proudly laugh and smile right at you. Hypocrisy will be our next lesson.

Be Careful What You Pray For...

Claire's screams and cries are the most stressful sound in the world to me. It's like a switch gets flipped and I go into psycho mode. Not only do I question my ability to handle two rugrats, but I also question my sanity in wanting and choosing to do so.. I know I'm going to be functioning on VERY little sleep, and there will be a lot of adjustments to be made in our family. A few weeks ago, I decided I wanted to work on being more patient with Claire when she's upset, so I'd be *more* ready to have two kiddos around.

So what did I do? I did something I swore I would never do. I've heard stories of what happens when people pray for patience, and I didn't want to get into that mess. But I did. I prayed for patience. And what did I get? Almost overnight Claire turned into a real toddler. An independent, opinionated, talking, running, climbing, maniac that seems to have a death wish as she dives off of the couches, runs into furniture, and tortures the poor cat. And she started getting teeth. A lot of teeth. Seven of them to be exact.

Claire has always had a mind of her own. She knows exactly what she wants. I suppose that'll be a good thing when she's older. Yesterday, she even started telling me "No." It was a shock, and I laughed because of how stinking cute she was, and she really doesn't understand what that word means. She's also just like her mama and can't wait to grow up. We had planned on taking away the beloved binki when Claire hit 6 months, however, just before Claire turned 3 months, she refused to take a binki. I was relieved I'd never have to go through the trauma of taking it away, but we also had to get more creative with our soothing methods. I wanted Claire to stop using bottles completely by 14 months. After she turned 1, we'd give her whole milk in her bottle less and less frequently until she only had a bottle before bed. At 13 months, she refused to take a bottle any longer. (Again, relief to my soul, avoiding the trauma of taking it away.)

Now she's almost 14 months old. And she likes to feed herself. Neither Ross or I are able to help feed her ANYTHING. I've had to get creative and think of foods I could throw on her tray and let her feed herself. Let me tell you, it's hard! I miss the days where I really only had two choices of food for her, either nursing or formula, and Claire really couldn't have cared less which I chose!

I started to get really concerned and felt like a terrible mom when all Claire had eaten for two weeks was apple juice, bananas, cheese sticks, and some lunch meat. Oh, and let's not forget her favorite Gerber cheetos and fruit snacks. That girl would live off of cheetos and fruit snacks if I'd let her.

We've NEVER had this problem before. Until now, Claire would eat everything in sight and still ask for more. What happened to my amazing, nonpicky eater?! I caved and went to the library to find every book on toddler nutrition I could find. What I found was this.


I had gotten the first book, The Girlfriend's Guide to The First Year, after Claire was born, and completely forgot about it! I love these books. They are quick, to the point, and humorous. I mean, hello? With my own toddler running around, I don't have time to read anything!

"They are the urges, frustrations, desires and fears that all of us feel... It's as if your most egotistical friend mated with your worst date in high school and their baby shared DNA with Evel Knievel. Maturity is really just a matter of learning clever ways to cover up the lively toddler in all of us."

Claire really is a big spirit with a big personality trapped in her *little* body. I doubt I'll be praying for patience again any time soon, but it really has been a humorous couple of weeks of creativity and discovery. I am grateful for lighthearted mothers who can write books like this so that I can get advice, as well as comfort knowing I'm not a horrible mother if my daughter only wants to eat grapes and chicken dogs for a week. I'm actually really excited about having this little person running around, and even more excited we'll be adding more crazy to the mix in just two months!