Packing

I hate packing. When Bud decided we could have the military move us the last time we moved, I did a happy dance. The thought of not having to pack anything but the few things we needed to last us a week made me oh so happy. I have been dreading packing for this trip home, because not only do I have to pack for myself, Bud and the dog, now we have a baby. And, that just adds a LOT.

I started packing for Claire last week, and this is what I have accomplished for her so far. I wish I could say that was everything. But, 2 weeks is a long time in baby world....that means a lot of diapers, wipes, clothes, blankets, burp clothes, so on and so forth. And I do realize that I could just pack a few things and do laundry every couple of days, but who wants to do that? Not this girl. I hope to only have to do laundry twice for all of us while we are at my mom's. That would be enough of a Christmas gift...only doing laundry twice in two weeks?!? Fabulous! (I doubt it will happen, but one can wish...)

This is the start of our mess. Bud is easy to pack for. He could pretty much care less what I pack for him as long as he has clean clothes to put on every day. So, he is almost done. I, on the other hand, pack like a typical girl. "What if I need to dress up? What if I need to have comfy clothes? How many layers? How many shoes?" Sigh.

And then there's this gal. You'd think she'd be the easiest to pack for, right?!? Wrong, Bud is easier. We have created an incredibly spoiled dog that is quite particular. (You may have noticed she is laying on her bed and blanket ON the futon mattress...one can't be too comfy!) We have to have the obvious food and water, then bones, and raw hides, and a kong, and peanut butter, and her bed with at least one extra blanket (we wouldn't want to poor fur ball to be cold!), and how could I forget just normal treats.

Oh well. I have 3 more days to get it all done. We are going to pack the car Thursday night so we can head out ASAP when Bud gets home from working and start this loooooooooooooooooooong trip we have ahead of us. Wish me luck!

Pictures

I uploaded a bunch of pictures this afternoon, so thought I would share a bunch of them because, well, she's just so darn cute! :)



We have been meaning to read to Claire since the day we brought her home, but it just hadn't happened yet, and then I was packing the other day and decided to take a break and read and see what she thought. She LOVED it. She stares at the pages and kicks her legs and coos like crazy. It is so great. So, I had Bud get a picture last night when we were reading bedtime stories. I am looking forward to keeping this tradition for many years to come.

Those of you who know me well know that I have a (more than) slight obsession with all things ducks for babies. I bought this pair of jammies and the blankie before I was even pregnant. (Crazy? Slightly.) I knew we were going to be trying in the near future and I just couldn't pass this up, how precious is it?!?

Last Saturday Bud went to play football with some guys in his class, and this is what my girls and I did. :) After Bud got out of bed, I shoved his pillow and blankets all away so Claire could lay next to me and we could chat, and we all ended up falling back asleep.

We have been trying to get Claire to entertain herself for small periods of time, and this works great (for about 5 minutes.) :) Bud's aunt and cousins got this for Claire for my shower, and it is awesome. The colors are so bright and there are so many different things to look at...I think we have more fun with it than she does. :)

Claire enjoyed a hockey game last night with her daddy. :) Her belly was hurting a little bit, so he did this and she immediatly locked eyes with the TV and stopped fussing, it was pretty funny.

Another attempt to teach her to be alone for a bit with out freaking out. She does enjoy this one a lot right now, but it vibrates and sings to her and looks more comfy than the lazy boy, so I don't think she has much to complain about!

This picture is just too cute to not post. Lacey's favorite part of the day is when Bud gets home from work. She is always waiting at the door with her tail wagging so fast her butt shakes...it's about the greatest welcome home he could ask for. Soon enough he will have that and a little girl shouting, "Daddy!"....I can't wait for those days!

And last but not least, our little angel, middle finger and all. :) Think she is trying to tell me she has had enough of the camera flash?!?

Update

Between being back at work and all of our visitors, I have been awful about updating. It only take 5 minutes to update, but, not gonna lie, I would much rather spend my 5 free minutes holding my baby than updating my blog!



Claire is doing very well. She is about the easiest baby I have ever taken care of, thank goodness. Bud and I are scared to find out what our next one will be like with how easy this one is! :) She is about 23 inches and about 12 lbs these days...she is growing like a weed. Her neck is incredibly strong, and she is very alert while she is awake during the day, she loves to look around and stare at different things. She was also very alert last night from about 1:15 to 2:30 AM. :) She is sleeping very well most nights, typically 6-7 hrs. I would attempt to get her on a good schedule since she is such a good sleeper, but I know that will be thrown out the window while we are home for Christmas, so I'm going to wait until after that.



The second weekend of November Bud's mom, Marie was able to come for a long weekend. She was able to be here on her birthday, and Claire loved helping her Grammy celebrate her birthday! The birthday girl's only request was to see the beach, so we spent the afternoon with our toes in the sand.

We also went to the air show in Pensacola to see the Blue Angels...it was VERY cool. I had never seen them before, and it was pretty amazing. Bud got some really great pictures, but I haven't gotten them on the computer yet. Check back for those later this weekend.

Christmas Card Preview...

How many shots does it take to get a cranky baby and a hyper dog both looking at the camera at the same time? A LOT. We got one decent one, and that's all that matters! Look for your Christmas cards to arrive in about a week!

My "Helpers"

This is what happens when Claire helps me fold laundry...


This is what happens when Bud 'helps' me fold laundry...

Lots of Pictures :)

Our first round of visitors are gone. It was so wonderful to have the help, but it is also nice to be back to our little family for a little while. We are getting our snuggle time logged in before Grammy Marie gets here and we hand her over for a few days again. :)

Here are a bunch of photos of everyone from the last week or so...there are SOOO many to choose from, so I will do another post of pictures in a couple days. :)

Happy Halloween!

From our little pumpkin!

Beautiful Girl

How could you not want to stare at this face all day?

We are settling in to life with our lovely little lady, she really is a great baby. She only cries when she is hungry or being changed, and only whines a little when she is tired. She is only 9 days old, so I know this could easily change, but we are really lucky so far.

My mom has been here since Saturday and it has been so great to have some help around the house. She has been busy doing dishes and laundry and even made some cookies today! :) She spends the rest of the day holding Claire and taking ridiculous amounts of pictures of her. :) She is loving every minute of it.

After my mom leaves, we will have 10 days until Bud's mom gets here, and after she leaves we will have 10 days until my dad arrives. This baby will be SO spoiled by the time her grandpa leaves! Oh well, she is lucky to be so loved.

Go Vikes!

Bud was so excited today to share his first Vikings game with Claire! We were all dressed for the occasion so took a family picture. :) She wasn't thrilled about having her picture taken as you can see....oh well.

First Bath at Home

We gave Claire her first bath at home last night....she did not enjoy one single second of it. :) I moved as quickly as I could, but it wasn't fast enough.

Even after we got her bundled in her towel, she was still very mad at me.

We are kicking ourselves now for not getting a picture of it (first of 123981092389 times as parents we will miss a photo op I am sure), but after I got her lotion on and in her jammies, I sat with her in the recliner and she layed on my chest completely sprawled out with her eyes wide open like she had just been through the most traumatic thing ever. We have a drama queen on our hands, I'm afraid. :)

Claire Elizabeth

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Claire has FINALLY made her arrival! She didn't make her way into the world with out a fight though, she had to make one last ditch effort to let us know she did not want to come out!

Here are all the details of her arrival....

Short Version: I was induced Sunday night, and after 2.5 hrs of pushing, we decided we needed a c-section if little miss was ever going to come out. :) She was born at 5:38 Monday night.

LOOOOONG version: (really, really long, but a lot of you have asked....)

At my appointment last Wednesday, the doctor and I decided it was time to evict our little lady. :) We knew she was going to be big, and I was getting really uncomfortable, so it was time. Since I was still not dilated at all, they told me to call on Sunday and we would go in to things started. After getting a little bit of run around, they called at 9:00 pm, told us to bring our bags and head on over. I was admitted and they started a medication to help me dilate. I didn't get much sleep on Sunday night, between the anticipation and being checked on all the time, I spent most of the night doing some reading (which I know is something I won't have much time for in the next couple months!). At 7 am on Monday, they started me on Pitocin, and by about 8:30 I had my epidural and was passed out. :) I knew I was going to need my energy, and made Bud deal with anyone that walked in the room. The epidural made me sick, so they gave me some kind of medicine to help that and that helped me get some really good sleep over the next few hours. By 1:15, I was 9.5 cm dilated! The took the next hour to get things ready, and at 2:26 (Bud remembers) I started to push. And I pushed, and I pushed, and I pushed. This kid just did not want to come out. Her head was not going to come through, and after over 2 hrs, I finally looked at the nurse and asked if she was going to come out....her answer was what I knew it would be but not what I was wanting to hear, she didn't think she would be coming on her own....it was time to talk about a c-section. At this point, they had turned my epidural down to half strength to try and help me with the pushing, so not only was I exhausted, I was hurting pretty badly. I continued to push while we got everything figured out, hoping to give it one last ditch effort. I ended up pushing over 2.5 hours. I was really disappointed it had come to this, and had a complete emotional breakdown with Bud, my nurse and 3 doctors in the room. Not the highlight of my day. :) They all felt awful, and were very reassuring, telling me I had done everything I could, she was just a big girl and wasn't going to come the way we wanted her to. After that, everything is kind of blur--they moved really fast to get me to the OR and get this over with. Before I knew it, Claire was out and we were listening to her cry. She was perfect from the beginning, so Bud was able to leave with her while she got cleaned up. It took them a while to get me put back together--I asked a couple times if I was okay, and they assured me I was fine, I had just had a really big baby and it was going to take them a little longer than normal! When I was finally wheeled to the recovery room, I was shaking so badly from a combination of being freezing and all the drugs in me, it was still a while before I could hold her, which of course killed me, but she was quite content snuggled up with her Daddy.

I am continuing to feel better every day, and have not been in nearly as much pain as I was expecting, which is always a good thing. Tuesday morning, I had the most AWFUL headache I have had in probably years (which says a lot considering the amount of headaches I get), but once that was under control I was feeling good. Bud has been amazing taking care of both of us. It is very clear that he loves his girls very much...we are both so lucky to have him. Since we both were doing so well, we were able to be released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon, and we are very happy to be home together and beginning this part of our life. We are amazed at what our love has made, she is truly an amazing blessing and we couldn't be happier.

Enough blabbing....here's some pictures and a video...

Our big girl!


Our first family photo---yes, I was quite drugged at this point :)

Pretty in Pink!

Ready to go home!

Our attempt to get a quick picture of our whole family. :)

For one of my shower gifts, I was given this dog and a picture book with a spot to put a picture of her every month until she is one to watch how big she gets compared to the dog. Very cute idea, and we got the first picture taken today.

We went back to the hospital today to have Claire weighed and have her jaundice level checked again. She didn't have any issues while we were there and still checked out perfect.

We are planning on giving her a bath tonight, so check back tomorrow for pictures of that. :)

Happy Due Date!

I certainly was hoping I wouldn't see this day still pregnant....but here we are! I wasn't going to post anything until she was born, but it was requested of me today to take a picture, so here you are friends...



And, since she is way cuter than me, here's a couple pictures of Lacey from last night....I came to put sheets back on the bed last night and found that she had made herself a little nest out of all the pillows AND somehow managed to cover herself with one...she is quite talented. :)

And, last but not least... Happy Engagement, Kyle and Elke! We really wish we could be at your party tonight to help you celebrate, we are so excited for you guys! Enjoy your night!

39 Weeks....

And I am STILL pregnant. :) I really thought she would be here by now, but am now beginning to think she is going to have to be evicted if we are ever going to meet her. She clearly is quite content right where she is!


I have done every old wives tale you can think of to get her out (except castor oil....gross!). I have walked and walked and walked with the dog, I have had a ton of spicy food, lots of pineapple, I sit on an exercise ball.....you name it I've tried it. I didn't necessarily think any of it would work, but I sure was hoping! She has other plans I guess...oh well! We will be happy to meet her whenever she decides she is ready (or when my dr decides to induce me...we will see which comes first!)


Today is my dad's guess for when Claire will arrive, tomorrow is my mom's and Bud's guess. I sure hope someone is right!!! We have said since the week we found out I was pregnant that it would really be very cool if she was born on 10-10-10, so maybe, just maybe this little stinker will show up tomorrow for us.


Bud took my picture last night...you can see in the second one how massive my belly is. :)

The weather was absolutely beautiful here for a few days--we were able to turn the air off for 3 or 4 days in a row, which was wonderful. The fresh air in the house is so nice. Lacey has really enjoyed having the windows open so she can keep an eye on both her backyard and front yard--she has spent a lot of time sitting like this in Claire's room...

Time to go get my laundry going for the weekend....I am hoping that my next post will have pictures of our baby girl!