Christmas party

This morning we hosted our 2nd annual Christmas party for our friends. Yes, I know it's only Nov. 30, however, since December can get pretty busy, we decided to bump up our party and get into the Christmas spirit! The kids had such a great time decorating their Gingerbread houses. And the mommies enjoyed good food, laughter and fellowship. I'm not going to lie...it was CHAOS with 14 precious kids running around, but I think they all enjoyed it, which makes it all worthwhile! Even though Carlyle was immobile, she was still somewhat high maintenance today. I think she was overtired, therefore, it was hard to get her to sleep. So, I had to resort to feeding her every 2 hours...ugh! Fortunately, since we're all mommies, I don't think Carlyle's screaming bothered anyone! Camden, Claire, Carlyle and I all had a wonderful time. Thank you to everyone for sharing your morning with the Chileks. Looking forward to next year!

Claire decorating her house


Mrs. Chaney, Madison, Mrs. Jamie and Parker


Camden and Charley


Grayson, Natalie, Camden and Charley


Lillie Katherine is working hard


Mrs. Jennifer and Kaitlyn


Madeline had fun at the party


Leighton is all festive


Cullen is concentrating on his house


Mrs. Jennifer and Gage


Grayson checking out his house


Mrs. Kate and Annaleigh


Mrs. Jamie and Parker


Carlyle enjoying the party

Weekend Fun

Jeremy's brother, David, is in law school in Houston and came home for Thanksgiving. This is his first time to meet Carlyle. He wasn't too sure about holding her, but I needed a picture of him and his 4th niece. Carlyle was a little hungry so we were trying to hurry and get a picture. Needless to say, Carlyle was not cooperating. There's only one thing on her mind...FOOD!


Sunday morning we got dressed to go to church. Since Thanksgiving is over, I can officially dress the girls in Christmas attire! So, we pulled out the Christmas dresses. Camden and Claire's dresses still fit from last year and Carlyle got to wear the dress that I bought for Camden's first Christmas. Even though it's 5 years old, smocking never goes out of style! Don't they look adorable??


Sunday afternoon we decided to decorate our Gingerbread house. This has become an annual tradition that Jeremy helps the girls with. They have fun getting all messy and making a masterpiece! Here's the finished product.




Last night I went in to check on Camden and Claire before going to bed. This is what I found.

Claire had climbed up the ladder and gotten in bed with Camden. I'm not sure Camden even knew it. Of course, taking a picture woke Camden up. She asked, "Why is Claire in my bed?" Then Claire woke up. I convinced her to come down so she could sleep on the bottom. I'm sure this is not the last time that the girls will end up together in the same bed.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day was a lot of fun! We headed over to Marme' and Pops for lunch. Aunt Mary, Uncle Ed and Uncle Al were all there. Jeremy's dad enjoyed spending time with his brothers and sisters. Uncle David wasn't able to make it this year and he was greatly missed! Al's daughter and her family also joined us. Jason, Jean, Aiden and Jonas drove down from Dallas to share this holiday with the rest of the Chilek family. Camden and Claire had a great time playing with Jax, Madeline, Aiden and Jonas.

Madeline and Claire


Mary loving on Carlyle


Pops, Jax, Camden, Claire and Madeline


Mommy and Claire


Our family


That afternoon the girls and I headed to my parents house to spend the evening with them. Jeremy stayed at his parents to spend more time with his aunt and uncles. They all have a tradition of playing poker Thanksgiving night. Jeremy didn't get home until around 6:30am Friday morning. They ended up playing ALL NIGHT! The girls and I spent the night with my parents. My dad wanted to go shopping Friday morning, so I left the kids with my mom and my dad and I hit the stores. We had a great time and got some great bargains.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Feast

Here are a few pictures of Camden and Claire enjoying their Thanksgiving feast at school with their friends.

Doctor visit

So today was the dreaded day...the day for Carlyle's doctor's appt where she would get shots. I wasn't at all worried about it. Actually, didn't even give it a second thought. I guess having gone through it twice already, I was prepared. Yes, Carlyle would cry. Yes, the shots would hurt. Yes, she may be sore and/or run fever. But, these vaccinations were good for her and I was OK with it all. Camden and Claire, however, would be a different story. They asked me all morning why Carlyle had to get shots, where they were going to be, how many shots she was going to get, would they hurt, etc... I answered these questions as best I could, explaining that they had also gotten shots when they were little, and that they would get shots again as they needed them. Their little minds weren't quite grasping this concept. If shots were good for you, then why do they hurt? Anyway, Carlyle did great for the nurse as she listened to her heart, got her length, weight and head circumference. She did great for the doctor who checked her ears, mouth, heart and range of motion. But, apparently we will need to work on her range of motion for her neck and head. She tends to favor turning her head to the right and gets mad when we try to turn it to the left. The doctor said he was surprised that she didn't have a flat spot on the side of her head because she tends to lay on the right side. He just said to try to get her to turn her head more to the left and when we're trying to get her attention, stand to the left of her. We'll see if it works. Anyway, back to the shots. The nurse came in to give 4 vaccinations (1 orally and 3 injections in the legs). I held her hands and the nurse held her legs and quickly gave the shots. Of course, Carlyle screamed. You should have seen the look on Camden and Claire's faces. Their eyes were huge. I guess they were shocked that the nurse "hurt" Carlyle. Claire almost started to cry, but I quickly told her it was ok. I picked Carlyle up to comfort her and as the nurse walked by Camden and Claire, you should have seen the look that Camden gave the nurse. I'm sure she didn't even mean to do it, but she glared at that nurse as if she were trying to put a curse on her. All the way home, Camden continued to ask about the shots. She said that when she grows up and has a baby she's not taking it to the doctor. And that they should just throw those shots away! Fortunately, Carlyle won't remember the trauma she encounted today. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Camden and Claire. Here are Carlyle's stats for 9 weeks:
Weight: 10 lb 6 oz (33 percentile)
Length: 23 inches (70 percentile)
And here's a picture of Carlyle just hanging out while waiting for the doctor


One of Carlyle's poor little legs.


And one of Carlyle AFTER the shots, ready to head home. The crying didn't last long at all!

9 weeks old

Carlyle is 9 weeks old today. I know I say this all the time, but these past 9 weeks have FLOWN by. We're constantly on the go, which makes our days go by so fast. Carlyle is growing, growing, growing. She has her moments where she will be so still and just study me. I'll talk to her and she will try to talk back and smile. It's so cute! We go on Monday for her 8 week visit (tell me why they made our appt for 8 weeks when she will be 9 weeks???). Oh well, putting off her first round of shots a little longer is fine with me. She's still not sleeping through the night. I guess I thought one of these nights she will surprise me and sleep all night, but I think I'm going to have to stop hoping...at least for now. Last night was a really good night. She went 5 hours before waking up to eat and then she went right back to sleep(going back to sleep after waking up and eating is very rare). I've posted a few pictures of Carlyle. The first one makes me laugh. I work at Mother's Day Out at Colonial Hills and Carlyle just happens to be in my room. Anyway, Thursday I was in the middle of feeding some of the older babies their lunch and happened to look over to notice Carlyle just swinging away while her bow had been pulled down over her eyes. Before I fixed it, I just had to snap a picture. So cute...it didn't seem to bother her at all.

A visit from the policeman

Thursday, the kids at school got a visit from a policeman. He talked to the kids and let them check out his car. Thanks Tyler P.D. for making a visit to our school.

8 weeks

Carlyle was officially 8 weeks old last Friday. These last 8 weeks have flown by. She is so sweet and is much more content. I'm assuming it's because of one or both of her new meds. Not sure which one is making the difference, but I'm afraid to take her off either one. So for now, we're still going to be taking Zantac for reflux and Levsin for colic. Carlyle smiled for the first time last Tuesday and I've been trying ever since to get a picture of her smiling. She will do it at the most unexpected times, and of course, I don't have my camera. By the time I get it, she's done smiling and refuses to cooperate for the camera. Oh well, at least I know she can do it. As far as sleeping through the night...we're not even close. Camden and Claire both slept through the night at 8 weeks, therefore, I was very hopeful that Carlyle would do the same. However, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. Oh well, I guess I should take advantage of my one-on-one time with Miss Carlyle during our 2am feedings. I wish I could freeze time so that all my girls would stay the age they are right now, but unfortunately, that's not how life works. I know I will enjoy every stage of their lives, but I'm really loving their ages right now. Not that it's easy, because it's not. There are many days that are so very difficult, but at the end of the day when they are all peacefully sleeping, I thank God for the day and pray that I have another day to look forward to with my girls!

Grandparents are the best!

We are so blessed to have two sets of grandparents that love and adore Camden, Claire and Carlyle! They love to spend time with their grandkids and always make each visit special! It's an added bonus that both sets live close and get to see the girls often. We love you Nana, Papa, Marme' and Pops!!!

Marme' and Pops with all the grandkids...Jax, Madeline, Camden, Claire and Carlyle


Marme' and Pops with Camden, Claire and Carlyle


Nana and Papa with their 3 favorite girls

MIA

Sorry that I have been M.I.A. for a week or so. My computer is being "cleaned up". Apparently, I had gotten a virus from an email and we thought we had it fixed. However, after a few days our problems appeared again. So, I've been anxiously awaiting the return of my computer so I can upload some pictures from my camera. Right now, I'm using a computer that Jeremy brought home from work. So, this post will have no pictures, which I know you all are very disappointed about. Hopefully, we will get our computer back on Monday and I will try to write a new post then, full of pictures of my beautiful babies! Stayed tuned for upcoming posts:
A visit from the police car at school
My 8 week old baby (I can't believe she is getting so big!)
Grandparents

Fall pics