Claire's First Christmas

This holiday season was busy and fun!

We spent Christmas Eve with Dave's aunt and uncle in McMinnville. It was nice visiting with family and Claire got to hang out with Sydnee her second cousin who is 3 months older. She is quite a chunk and super cute. I however forgot to take my camera so we have no pictures to share.

Christmas morning was a quiet event with just the three of us. Claire had a few gifts to open and Dave made us a yummy breakfast. Grandma Corky and Grandpa Dan got in early in the afternoon and were very excited to see Claire and of course us too. They were nice enough to watch Claire for a few hours while we went to dinner. We met the Hicks clan for a Fra La La La La chinese dinner and then off to the Blazer game. The original plan was to take her with us but she was being a bit fussy and Grandma hadn't seen her in almost two month so this gave them a chance to play together. However, after some razing from Laurie and Ashley, once dinner was finished we decided to go back home and take her to the game.

Barclay, Laurie's boyfriend, invited us to join them in their suite at the Blazer game and it was awesome. We had a great view, plenty of room to get up and move around, our own bathroom and bartender. I was a bit worried that Claire would be over stimulated with all the noise and lights but she was a trooper. It is the ONLY way to go! And of course, I forgot my camera.

We would have loved to spend the day with all the Grandma's and Grandpa's but alas the day is just too short and they are way too spread out. Please know we love you and were thinking of you and hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

Christmas Tree

We went searching for our Christmas tree last Sunday. I always like to get our tree the first weekend in December. Unfortunately it was bitterly cold and windy but we decided to bundle up and head out. Since our home is surronded by tree farms we didn't have to go too far, just down the road. We both prefer grand nobles so it makes it pretty easy to agree on one.

Claire was a good sport most of the time. She didn't really care for the all the layers but once we were outside she seemed to enjoy looking around at all the trees. It is hard to say for sure but I think she likes to be outside. Whenever we go on walks she happily looks around or when she is in the middle of a unexplained crying fit you can step outside with her and she immediately quiets right down.

My plan was to get the tree decorated this week and get our Christmas cards out but Dave and I got the flu. The frustrating part is that I got both the seasonly and H1N1 flu shots this year and still

got sick. Luckily Claire hasn't caught anything and we pray that she stays healthy. The doctor said other than lots of hand washing there isn't much we can do to prevent it. My fever finally broke yesterday and Dave is starting to feel better too. Hopefully we can get the tree up and inside this weekend. The cards might not make it out this year as the pictures still need to be taken, sent out to be printed, addressed and mailed. We quickly learned that mommies and daddies don't get sick days!

Wind Storm

On Sunday morning when we woke up not only did we not have any power, we had lost a tree. Luckily it didn't hit the house or take out any other trees on its way down. Now we have plenty of firewood for camping!

2 month checkup

We had our two month check up this week and all is good. In fact, Claire is at 90% for height and 70% for weight when compared to other children her age! She is 10 lbs 14 oz and 23 1/4 inches long. Hard to believe in just two months time she has gained four plus pounds and grew two inches!

We elected not to have any vaccines given this time and are following a delayed vaccination schedule. This has been a hot topic in our house for the last couple months. Dave wants to wait till she is a bit older and have them spread out over a longer period than is recommended.

However, I was able to get the H1N1 vaccine, which has been short supply. That with the seasonal flu shot I received in late August will help protect us from bringing the flu home and getting Claire sick.

Ruby and Tucker are getting more used to Claire (as you can see). At first they were leery of this little thing that invaded their home, took time away from us throwing the ball and cried a lot. Teaching them to be gentle has been a challenge, but they are learning quickly not to play too rough and accidently step on her. After all they have had the whole house to play where ever they like for a few years now.

Our Little Pumpkin

I wanted to go to the pumpkin patch and take a bunch of fun pictures (the colors are great for scrapbooking) but the weather didn't cooperate and she is too young to have any fun. So my second thought that would be super cute was to carve out a pumpkin and place her in it. The little hiccup in my plan was that Claire hated it. I am not sure if it was the texture of the pumpkin or if she was just crabby but she wasn't having any part of it. Maybe next year :)

We have to give special thanks to Grandma Colleen for our adorable outfit!

1 month down

We made it to the 1 month mark safe and sound. Just 1140 more to go, she would be 95 and I figured that would be a good age for me to stop worrying. I may be long gone but I will still be her mommy :)

This last month has been a blur and has gone by too quickly. We have had lots of sleepless nights, dirty diapers and tears, mainly hers and but also a few of mine. My sleep deprivation is compounded because of my milk supply being low. We have seen the lactation consultant on a weekly basis for help and ideas. Per their recommendations we have tried taking herbal supplements and breast feeding, followed by a supplement bottle with formula then pumping every 3 hours. This whole process takes about a hour and half giving me just about a hour or so to sleep. Just this last week we switched to a prescription to increase the supply and dropped the pumping. It has helped a little on both fronts, more milk and more sleep. I am grateful for both! At this point the thought is at least she is getting some breast milk and some is better than none.

Claire caught her first cold. It ended up being fairly mild, just a runny nose and was slightly congested. Dave become a pro a the nasal aspirator (nose sucker thingy). With her being so young other than using it and the humidifier there isn't much more we can do. I know it isn't realistic but hopefully all her colds will go that smooth.

Oddly she is losing her hair on the top of her head and looks like a little old man. If the hair on the side was long enough we could do a comb over! I was expecting for her to lose it in the back or all over but just the top was surprising. Thank goodness we had our photo shoot with Danielle before it started falling out.

Many thanks to our friends and family for the visits, meals and help. We appreciate your love, friendships and generosity!

Claire at 2 weeks (taken 09/25/09)