Four months old!

Claire had her 4 month birthday last Saturday, but we went to the doctor yesterday, so I'm just now posting her recent accomplishments.

~ She weighs 13 pounds exactly (30th percentile I think).

~ She's 24 1/2 inches long.

~ She can flip from her back to her stomach (and is doing it now as I type) but gets stuck and can't flip back over.

~ This is a problem because she still doesn't like her stomach. I keep telling her that being on her stomach will give her better mobility and freedom, but she doesn't listen to me.

~ She can grab her feet with her hands now! So cute to watch :)

~ Likes to blow bubbles. And chew on her own mouth. I like to tell people she chewin' the cud.

~ Still sleeping through the night. Last night she went from 7 pm to 6:58 am WITHOUT ONE PEEP!

~ LOVES to entertain us with smiles and laughs. She's still a very happy baby.

We are so blessed by her!

Cousins!

We spent last week in Asheville and got to enjoy time with Caroline and Bruton!

Caroline really liked Claire's play mat...

Uncle Sam tried to get Claire to walk :) ...

BruBru and Claire got to compare size...

And we had a near collision...

Finally, Claire got tuckered-out from all the excitement :)

And that's that!

She's cute even when she's sad

Sheer Boredom

Claire and I have been home alone all day. And it's a rainy day. The kind of day where you feel blah. The kind of day where you stare at each other and think "Hmmm, what should we do?"

So I still haven't gotten dressed.

Or made up the bed.

Or taken a shower.

Or done anything at all.

Except for take self portraits :)

Which didn't really turn out all that great. Oh well. It's a lazy day :)

Happy One Year Blog!

One year ago I started this blog. I was pregnant then, but didn't know it :) Now here I am with a sweet little girl - so blessed!!!

In honor of Mother's day, I've included pictures of all the mothers in my life.

Here is a picture of my dad's mother back in the 1940's when she was a cheerleader at USC. She died right before Cole and I got married, but I really wish she could've met Claire.

This is my grandmother on mom's side who's still very much a part of my life!

Cole's mom Dana and his Granny :) I'm very thankful for these women's influence in Cole's life!

And of course, my own momma! Here we are very tired after surviving the first week of Claire's life :) Thanks mom!

I am VERY blessed!

Sleepless in South Carolina

Claire is now on the 4 hour schedule, which means I only feed her at 7, 11, 3, and 7. It's great for me, but that's 12 whole hours through the night! Can she do it?!? We'll see. Last night I was up at 2, 3:30, 5:30, 5:50, 6, 6:30 and Cole finally couldn't take it and brought her in our room at 6:52.

We'll give it a week....

Brrrrr....

It's cold in Asheville. Claire and I headed up there this week to spend some time with mom and dad (Quincy and Poppa) and it got cold!! For some reason, every time I've gone to NC with Claire, the weather has decided to take and turn for the worse and poor Claire and I freeze. I packed her all these cute sundresses, but alas, they remain packed. However, we've still had some good play time indoors. Quincy gets Claire all excited and she starts talking, smiling, and movin' & shakin'. Meanwhile, I take much-needed naps :) Yay for grandparents!


Mom hiding her morning face behind Claire :)



Finally - some sun!



Quincy & Claire

3 months of wonderful life!

Yesterday she turned 3... months that is :) I can't believe she's growing so fast! She is such a joy to us and we fall more in love with our little girl everyday. Who knew I could love a little person this much?!?!

Here are some interesting facts at this stage:

~Around 12 lbs

~23 1/2 inches long

~Smiles ALL the time!

~Knows her name (I think)

~Doesn't turn over, but turns around. She pivots in circles in her crib. During one nap time she turned 540 degrees in an hour and a half.

~Loves to stand up with me holding her hands

~Is completely fascinated by ceiling fans

~Sleeps through the night!!! Last night she didn't make a peep from 9:30 to 7. I, of course, woke many times wondering why I wasn't hearing her and hoping she was still alive :)

~Nurses quick as lighting. This morning she actually made it to 20 minutes but then the rest of the day she's gone back to 10-15.

~Has discovered that her hands can bring things to her mouth, which she can then suck on (AHHHH - it begins). Therefore she is constantly pulling her dresses up to taste them.

~Has the most expressive eyes. I am entertained just watching her as she listens to sounds.

~Is pretty much the cutest baby ever (do you think I'm biased?!?).

Playing in the swing

Hiking up her dress :)

Laughs!!!

On Monday as I was trying to nurse Claire, she kept pulling back and smiling at me. It was annoying at first because I just wanted her to go at it and be done. But after a few of those priceless smiles, I couldn't help but laugh at her. She was so cute grinning up at me like she was amused with herself. I kept saying "Claire, you're so silly" and as I laughed, she starting tying to laugh also! It sounded like rapid cooing at first, then started to sound more like "heh heh heh!" I was so excited!!!

World Traveler

Well, not quite. Just to Charlottesville and Asheville. Seeing as Cole was going to leave me for a week to go on a fun spring break trip with the youth (haha... just jealous), I decided to head up to see my brother and his wife and two kids. Claire had never met her cousins, so we made the 7 hour trip up to see them. (Is it just me or does packing get SO much more difficult with a baby?) It was a wonderful time of hanging out, going on walks, and getting much-needed baby advice from Rochelle.

The newest babies!

Notice how they all have the same expression!

Now Claire and Bruton are trying to fly away!

Claire did so well that as the week came to an end, I decided to "drop by" Asheville on my way home. Not that Asheville is on the way from Aiken to Charlottesville, but what's a few extra hours with a baby in a car??? :) Seriously though, Claire was wonderful and probably only cried a total of 20 minutes the whole trip! Plus we enjoyed seeing Quincy and Papa! Whew, what a week!

Quincy is getting some smiles :)

Papa stealing the paci!

My parents enjoyed showing her off at church!

Her new dress from Quincy