Safety (and other fun things)

Like most first time moms I am extremely protective of my little princess. I make sure she won't fall off stuff, get stuck behind things, pull stuff down on her etc. I am also the car seat police, lol. Eric gets so irritated with me constantly checking to make sure the seat is correctly installed, questioning him whether or not he buckled her in correctly etc. I think part of that is because I am a first time parent, but also a large part is definitely a result of my car accident when I was 29 weeks pregnant. Being in a car accident with Claire in the car is probably my top fear. It literally terrifies me to think about it. We have been blessed with a good car rider from day 1. Claire rides happily in the car with little fussing and naps wonderfully in the car so I know that this makes our choice easier. We are committed to keep Claire rear facing as long as possible. Our goal is to the limits her seat allows rear facing. She doesn't know the difference and is happy. I was really excited about the prospect of  turning her forward facing. The law says 1 year and 20 pounds. Well 1 year hit and she was only 17.5 pounds. Even at 15 months she is only 18.5 pounds. When  I went to Claire's 1 year checkup the doctor told me the law, but that the new recommendation is until age 2. I did some research and although the AAP recommends 2 it is actually a compromise because the NHTSA recommends until age 4. The reason is because in a crash when they are forward facing they are at a high risk for internal decapitation. Their tiny bones are not fully fused until closer to age 4. The way their heads move forward in a frontal collision (which is the most common crash) can cause this. Obviously most people die instantly from this. There are a few survivors however as you can imagine their lives are drastically different following recovery. I by no means want to offend anyone who turns their kids around at age 1. It may be much easier said than done to leave Claire rear facing for that long. This is a good link with information about extended rear facing as well as a crash test video (at the bottom of the page) showing a child rear facing vs. forward facing in a crash.

  Reaf Facing vs Forward facing

It is also important to make sure they are buckled in correctly. The chest clip should be across their chest in line with their underarms. I see so many pictures of kids on their car seat on Facebook with the chest clip down at their tummy. The problem with this is is in a crash the chest clip can cause severe damage to their internal organs, that is why it needs to be across their chest bone. It is also important to ensure the harness is tight enough. The rule of thumb is you should not be able to get more than 2 fingers between the harness and the child's collarbone. Something we don't have to worry about too much in Texas is thick jackets, however thick jackets should be removed prior to putting the child in the seat. A thick jacket can compress during a crash causing too much room in the harness possibly even ejecting the child from the seat. Here is how you test to see if a jacket is too thick for the car seat.

1. Put the winter coat or snowsuit on the child.
2. Put the child in the car seat and buckle the harnesses as you normally would before car travel. Adjust the straps to the appropriate fit for your child.
3. Take the child out of the car seat without loosening the straps at all.
4. Take the coat off your child.
5. Put the child back in the car seat and buckle the harnesses again, but do not tighten the straps.
6. If you can fit more than two fingers under the harness at the child's shoulder bone, the coat is too thick and is not safe for use with the car seat.

This topic is just something that is important to me and I wanted to share. I had no idea about any of these things prior to having a baby and even after I had her I didn't know all of this until recently.

On to more fun things! This year was our first year to get a real Christmas tree. Eric had the idea of going to a Christmas tree farm and actually chopping down a tree. I was hesitant about a real tree due to the mess and "maintenance" it requires, but it has actually turned out to be quite clean and easy to care for. We had such a good time wondering through the field and picking out a tree.I think we will try and make it an annual tradition. Claire was happy to be outside and even met a "gagga" while we were there. In case you don't know a gagga is her version of saying doggy. She apparently hears the word a little differently, lol. We got home and decorated the tree. Well, Claire had more fun undecorating it as quick as we could hang stuff. Shockingly she hasn't messed with it since. Cooper messes with it more than she does. He thinks the branches are his own personal back scratcher. Special dog. Here are some pictures from our tree picking day ;-)

Blessings

Often times we get so busy we forget to stop and think about the many blessings God gives us. We either focus on everything we don't have or focus too much on how we can achieve what we want. Sadly I know I am very guilty of all of the above. On Tuesday I sat down to pay our large stack of bills and review our finances. The month of October was a rough month financially for us. Both our cars were in the shop at one point with $1,000 plus a piece repair bills. Claire had 2 ER visits and to end the month off right our garage door broke. Also during the month all 3 of us were sick at least once and several other personal issues peaked. Eric and I were discussing the other day what a sucky month October was. Thankfully while we were in the midst of everything God didn't allow us to dwell on all the crappy things that were happening to our family otherwise it would have been easy to get depressed. Things really didn't hit us until we stopped to recap the month. Anyway as I am paying close to $4,000 of additional bills above and beyond our normal monthly expenses the panic started to set in. At the first of the year when Eric and I decided to take a step of faith and for me to quit my job and stay home with Claire we had worked out our monthly finances for a year. As most of us do we think a year is a really long time and that finances will be really different by the time a year is up. Usually though and in our case things really are not any different than they were a year ago. Again back to Tuesday's bill pay session I started to freak out which is exactly what the devil wanted me to do. I caught myself starting to panic and immediately started to pray. I asked God to reaffirm his will for our family. That I am still supposed to be at home with Claire. Of course that is what I want. I cannot imagine missing out on all the funny stuff she does all I day. Then that stinkin devil started to creep in again saying "how could that be what you are supposed to do when you can't pay your bills". Then God stepped in and told me to remember Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". So that is exactly what I did in my little kitchen with my laptop on my left and stack of bills on my right I presented my requests to God and you know what? I was no longer anxious I was at peace and know that God is going to take care of my family. I also started to count my blessings. I reminded myself how blessed we are to have such a beautiful and funny little girl. She is the child I prayed and prayed and prayed for. I also remember that while we always get a case of the "I wants" we do have what we need. We have a nicer roof over our heads that a lot of people, we have a closest full of clothes, we have a car in the garage, we have good health, we have wonderful family, friends, and church family. The list goes on. As many of you know I am working for an insurance agency that is letting me sell out of my home with no quotas. Of course this is not guaranteed income. Some months I sell several policies which really helps us out financially and some months I am lucky to sell one. Yesterday the lady who owns the agency I am selling for emailed me. She said that her and the girl that service policies out of the office are overwhelmed with servicing customers. She proposed if I was interested that she send me over service issues (nothing would have to be completed immediately she is aware that I am home with my daughter) and pay me a flat weekly fee and that I would have no more than 5 hours worth of work a week and if I feel I am going over the hours a week she will increase the fee. Of course I said I was interested! She sent me over all the details and the weekly fee ended up being right in the middle of what I expected and what I hoped for. A really fair fee. I am so amazed at how God blesses us and takes care of us. While this income is still short of what we need to stay afloat it will certainly help a ton. God also answered my prayer and reaffirmed that I am exactly where he wants me to be at home with my child. Eric also received his quarterly bonus at the first of November. This money we had plans to put back to help with bills for next year. Of course with our expensive month of October this money went towards paying those bills. At first I was discouraged that we were not able to put back this money, but then I remembered how blessed we were to receive it. God tells us not to worry about tomorrow and he certainly took care of "today". The bonus check was able to cover 2/3rds of our unexpected expenses. That's huge for us. While we still have 1/3rd of the bills to pay for I am reminded that God is going to take care of us and how incredibly blessed we are to serve such an amazing God.

Halloween and the Ducks!

Eric and I both said this was our favorite Halloween by far ever! I know most of it was because this was Claire's first year trick or treating. Last year she was a mere 6 weeks old and wasn't exactly old enough to trick or treat. I also think this was our favorite year also because we spent it with some wonderful friends. We had a blast watching the kids trick or treat and laugh along the way at how excited they all were. I had my doubts about Claire enjoying Halloween. My first concern was her dislike of her costume. Every time I tried her costume on her she would scream bloody murder. I had such a hard time even measuring her for it. She absolutely hated it. My second concern was she is so shy around people that she doesn't know that she would be a screaming and kicking scarecrow walking up to people's houses. She completely shocked us. Once she saw her friends dressed up she let me put the costume on her and even kept the hat on for awhile. She wouldn't let me paint her face completely nor would she wear her arm bands, but I didn't care  because the main part of the costume was on!! I think she smelled the candy because before the night was over she was practically running to each house and even smiling and taking the candy out of people's hands! She had a blast and crashed before we could even get a mile down the road.

My not so scary scarecrow!

 Claire and her friend Mickey Mouse!

 Trick or treating with Daddy!

 Enjoying some candy!

My inspiration for the costume.

Claire has recently fell in love with our neighborhood playground. I love it too because it lets her go "bye bye" which she is always wanting to do. She is a bit like me and can't sit still at home for long. Plus it is not far away. We get to walk and then play. By our neighborhood playground is also a small "pond". In this pond there are many ducks. Claire has become fascinated by these ducks and runs the whole way saying "du du du". (Claire's version of  "duck"). We have learned a bit about these ducks lately. There is a couple whose house back up to the pond. Apparently these people are the self appointed neighborhood duck caretakers lol. The guy feeds them everyday and has even named most of them. They instantly run when they hear his voice. He showed Claire the 11 baby ducks in his backyard that he rescued from our neighborhood pool. Apparently the Momma duck set up her "home" in the pool. Not the best place so this poor guy spent nearly 2 hours trying to capture 11 baby ducks while fending off a mad momma and then catching the momma duck and setting them up a habitat in his backyard until they are old enough to join the pond. Claire loved them and she even got to pet one. There is also one lone goose. I have noticed this goose is a little "special". I learned from the guy that this goose's name is "Silly Goose". It was raised by a woman and that is why it always chases women not men.  We have been chased several times. I also learned that the majority of the ducks have been dropped off by individuals who I guess raised them and then didn't want them. Yesterday Silly Goose did his usual chasing us thing and hung out on the playground most of the time following Claire and I around. All was well until Silly Goose decided to grab Claire's shirt while she was sliding down the slide. Didn't hurt her, but scared the crap out of her lol. From now on we will see the ducks last instead of first since Silly Goose has a problem with boundaries.  Here is a picture of Silly Goose from yesterday and a picture of Claire and the ducks the other day.

I think we are all better (fingers crossed)

After an interesting and exhausting last week Claire seems to be better yay! Our poor baby ended up at Texas Children's last Thursday. We called her doc Thursday afternoon (after hours) when Claire would not stop screaming and nothing I did made any difference. She would arch her back etc. and no matter how what I did she wouldn't stop. But then she did stop. Then about an hour later she started up again. So Eric called the doc on his way home from work because I couldn't hear myself think much less be able to carry on a conversation. We kept thinking it was just her reflux irritated which is what Eric started telling the doctor. She immediately said that it didn't sound like reflux, but intussusception. We quickly learned that that meant one part of the bowl had slid into another part of the bowl. She said it is not uncommon after having a stomach virus that it can happen. She said to go to Texas Children's instead of St. Lukes because if that was what is was then they were equipped to handle it. She also said she had called one of her colleagues and gave them a heads up so hopefully we wouldn't have to wait as long.  By the time we got there she was calm (actually she was asleep) and we thought maybe she was ok after all. We got checked in and in a few minutes were sent to triage to get her vitals taken. The place was packed and we were basically told that even though they had received the heads up on Claire we were still going to have to wait. Luckily or unluckily I'm still not sure which, while the nurse was taking her vitals she started having one of her screaming episodes. The nurse immediately noticed this wasn't your normal screaming from being tired, or mad, or a tantrum. It scared her bad enough she ran and grabbed the first doctor she could find. By the time she got the doc in Claire had settled down, but they still decided we didn't have to wait they would start running tests. The first thing they did was cath her to check for a UTI. She hadn't been peeing much at all over the past week since she wouldn't eat/drink. I was shocked at the amount of pee they were able to get out of her. They said it could be a UTI and that was the first thing to rule out. Almost immediately after they cathed her she relaxed and started asking to eat and drink. Whoa! Once we got settled in our room she was playing and laughing! This is the first she wanted to play and actually get down and walk around in a week. I thought surely it must be a UTI if she felt that much better after they emptied her bladder. They came back in about an hour later and said the pee test came back negative so it was time for plan B to do an ultrasound and check for intussusception. Long story short, thankfully the ultrasound looked good, unfortunately we still had no idea what was causing her so much pain. So at 2:00 a.m. we were sent home with our very tired baby. The next day she was about 80% herself and by Saturday she was 100% herself. I don't know if she had a bladder retention problem and draining her bladder helped or what, but the main thing is my sweet girl is finally back!!!

Sadly we did not make it to my brothers house. We were so nervous she would relapse and we just wanted to keep her in her own routine and environment so she could rest that we decided not to go. It was such a hard decision. After the week I had I really needed to get away, but Claire always comes first. Since I was so bummed about not getting to go to  Dallas Eric was so sweet and told me we could do whatever I wanted all weekend. We decided to go with our good friends to the pumpkin patch. While smiles were few and far between (Claire was more interested in playing with the pumpkins and dirt) we did get some good pictures and had a great time hanging with friends.

Oh I almost forgot to share some funny pics. It's kind of mean I think they are funny, but while we were at my Mom and Dad's house last weekend on Friday night Dad was mowing the yard. After he was done mowing Dad wanted to take Claire for a ride on his mower. I thought Claire would love it, but she really didn't it. That Friday I thought she was better, but of course Saturday I learned different. Anyway I don't know if that contributed to her dislike of the mower or if she was truly scared but these make me laugh anyway. Pappaw said we will try the mower ride again next time.

Sick

My poor baby bear has been sick :-(. All you Moms know how terrible it is to see your baby sick. Claire has been sick a few times in her life, but I can honestly say nothing has been as bad as this past week. It all started last Thursday. I had plans to leave and go to my parents Thursday morning during Claire's morning nap time (yay for long naps in the car right?). Mom and I were helping throw a good childhood friend a baby shower on Saturday and I wanted to get there a few days early to prepare for the shower and hang out with my parents. Eric had to work late until Friday evening so Claire and I were supposed to go spend a some relaxing time in the country. Claire loves it at my parents. They have a big front porch and the last time she was there she crawled all over it. This time I was excited because it was her first trip to Nana and Pappaws as a walking girl. So Thursday morning I got up early to get shower, dressed, packed and loaded. Claire normally gets up around 7 like clock work every day. 7:00 rolled around and I was still getting ready, 7:15 rolled around, 7:30 rolled around and I thought thanks baby girl, the one day I can't sleep in you do. 7:45 rolled around and I decided to make some noise and get the car loaded. Around 7:55 I heard some noise on the monitor. Not crying just some noise like she was talking to her glo worm or her very hungry Caterpillar. I opened the door with my big morning smile to great my princess and then it hit me. The smell. I know that smell anywhere. Vomit. I always wondered when Claire was an infant if I would know the difference between spit up and throw up. With all her reflux she was a spitting machine. I don't know why I worried about that because there is a very distinct smell. Weird thing was she didn't cry, didn't seem scared, nothing. It was everywhere. All over her, in her hair in the crib on the crib, you name it. Last night's dinner, yuck I know. I took care of her cleaning her first. When I was a kid I threw up a lot. Mom used to tell us if we couldn't make it to the bathroom to run outside and throw up. Anything to keep it out of the house. So my instinct told me to strip her outside in case round 2 was coming. I got her bathed and cleaned with no round 2 and got the bed stripped and sprayed lysol like crazy. The smell was terrible and persistent. .She acted fine, happy even. She asked for her morning 'baby milk" as we call it, which means she wanted to nurse. So I sat in the glider and she happily nursed. When she was finished she promptly sat up and threw up everywhere. Nice. Now it was all over me, her, and the glider. Bath #2. I won't go into details, but lets just say I went through 3 outfits and Claire had 5 baths before the day was over. Obviously we didn't go to my parents on Thursday.

Friday rolled around and Claire was finally grouchy. Thursday was so weird that she was so happy despite barfing all day. I decided to play it by ear on Friday and see if we were going to make it to my parents. At noon there was no throw up. She ran a very very low grade fever that morning, but by noon it was gone with no meds needed. So at 12:30 we decided to make the trip. By the time we got to my parents it had been a full 24 hours since she had last vomited. I thought we were in the clear. She was whiney and clingy, but that was to be expected after being sick I thought. Saturday morning was the shower. There was a fantastic turnout and a very special little boy has lots of fun stuff to look forward to. Claire is always shy so I wasn't surprised when I couldn't put her down when we got there. A crowd of people always stresses her. What did surprise me was how lethargic she was. She actually fell asleep in my arms without me even trying. I should have known something was up. Then the diarrhea started. Yay (not). Next thing I know it has ran down her leg, my arm, and is all over the floor. I changed her diaper and pressed on. She then decided she was hungry and was signing to eat so I let her have a snack. Bad idea. 10 minutes later barf everywhere. It was time for us to leave the shower. I felt terrible this happened at the shower and now even more terrible there have been several people get sick. Claire was the germ spreader. Aaahh. Everyone who knows me knows how much I dislike when people bring their sick kids places. To my defense I honestly thought she was better. By the shower time she had been "well" for 36 hours. Lesson learned. I will no longer judge other moms when they bring sick kids out.

Later Saturday afternoon she had not thrown up anymore so Mom aka Nana made her some jello which she actually ate.  I waited 45 min or so and left to take her to visit her Mimi (Eric's Mom). Car ride was a bad idea. When I went to get her out of the car she threw up red jello everywhere. Over her, over me, the car. The only positive was I had already pulled her out of the car seat and luckily did not have a car seat to also wash. My poor Mom did more loads of laundry for us while we were there. Sunday she seemed better, but poor Pappaw not so much. Claire shared her virus with her Pappaw. Oh and did I mention Eric called me Saturday night he had came down with it too!!! This was one mean virus. Made it home Sunday evening safe sound, and insides intact. Right before bath time Sunday night I was loving on my baby and she barfed again! Seriously? Why? Another 24 hours had passed clear and again thought we were over it! I was really concerned at this point. Claire wasn't wetting many diapers as she wouldn't eat or drink. She would nurse, but she has only been nursing once a day for about a month and my supply I know isn't very much anymore. I called her doc Monday morning who told me what I knew, just a virus had to run it's course etc. I was concerned though about dehydration. They told me make sure she is wetting a diaper every 10 hours or so. I told them she was right at that mark. All I wanted was for them to check her out, but no they tell me if I am concerned to take her to the ER. The ER? It was only 8:30 in the morning why couldn't they just assess her? I did manage to get a little more down her on Monday, but she was not herself at all. By the time Eric got home he was very concerned about her behavior, mainly how lethargic she had become so we decided off to the ER we go. Yay for sitting in the ER until 2 in the morning with a tired, sick 12 (almost 13) month old. They did what I wanted her pediatrician to do and assess her for dehydration. Thankfully she was not dehydrated. They gave her some zofran for nausea and sent us on our way.  Tuesday rolled around and she was still free from vomit since Sunday night, yay. However she would not let me put her down or even take her off the boob for that matter. Nothing I did made her happy. We survived Tuesday barely. Wednesday (today) rolled around and I had to get up with her screaming bloody murder at 4 a.m. Weird because she hasn't woke up in the middle of the night for 4 months. Got her back to sleep. Woke up at 7 screaming bloody murder which continued non stop until 9:30 when I finally got her to sleep. Whew. I called the doc and insisted to be seen. Her doc was out of the office, but I didn't care who I saw at this point.  She still won't eat, drink anything besides a little jello and whatever breast milk she is getting. Eric and I had noticed over the course of the week that she was refluxing terrible. To be expected though after throwing up so much. This morning I knew that it was her reflux causing her to scream in pain for hours. The doctor confirmed my suspicions and upped her reflux dose quite a bit. So now we wait and pray that the dosage upped makes her feel better. She was down to 16lbs 11 ounces this morning. Over a pound lost in less than a week. That's a lot for a little girl. She weighed that much 3 months ago. The doc said he wasn't concerned and that when she started eating again it should come back on quickly. I sure hope so. It is scary to hold her and fell her bony self. Babies aren't supposed to be bony they are supposed to be squishy.

This weekend we have plans to go to Dallas and visit my brother and his wife. I feel terrible I haven't been to there house since their wedding. eeek terrible sister. And with my brothers work schedule (he works weekend nights) he hasn't seen Claire in 7 months! Please pray my sweet girl feels better soon and that we get to go to Dallas. I have had a rough week with Claire being sick and other things stressing me and seeing my silly brother would really help. More than anything though just pray Claire feels better. I miss my goofy smiley girl.

First Birthday

Claire's first birthday and birthday party have come and gone. We had so much fun. Her "Paris" themed party was a success. She is very blessed with such wonderful family and friends.  Claire was her goofy self when my parents were here.  She thinks my mom aka Nana is the funniest person in the whole world. She just looks at her and laughs. Pappaw is pretty fun too as he takes her on walks when she is fussy and lets her get away with what she wants. Surprisingly Claire wasn't very interested in her birthday cake. She was terrified when everyone sang happy birthday and took a couple of licks of icing, smeared it all over me and called it a day. She must take after her Daddy. She likes salty stuff, but sweets aren't her favorite. (Unlike her Momma who loves sweets way too much).

It's hard to believe a year has passed. This has truly been the most wonderful year of my life. My little princess has changed me in more ways than she will ever know. She has made be a better person, wife, mother, and Christian. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us and her. I just love our little family. The joy she brings to our lives is indescribable. I know she is very shy around other people and it takes her awhile to warm up, but she really is hilarious and goofy. I try my best to socialize her and help her not to be scared. She does fine and warms up well as long as I am in the room. When I leave however she clams up. I know separation anxiety peaks at her age and I remind myself this is normal. Please don't take offense if she doesn't warm up right away. I promise she will warm up if you are patient and when she does she will bring many smiles to your face. I have really stressed over her separation anxiety. I have felt like I have done something wrong. I still doubt myself as a mother a thousand times a day and talk to God often for guidance. I just want my little girl to be happy, well rounded, loving, kind, and most of all love God. I have to remember that being social and outgoing isn't everyone. I was a shy kid and still am a shy adult. I take a while to warm up to new situations. A very dear friend told me the other day that when she first met me she thought I was kind of snobby because I didn't say much. She said she quickly learned that I am not snobby at all I just observe new situations and people before I jump in. I think Claire is the same way, but as a baby she can't express herself like an adult nor does she have the "social norms" to govern her behavior. She acts on the outside what some of us are doing on the inside. Screaming get me out of here! I know I have been in certain situations and scared where I wish I could scream and bury my face. My Mom also made a good point that since I breastfed Claire she wasn't passed from person to person with a bottle. People love feeding babies their bottle and being passed around and sitting in unfamiliar people's laps isn't something Claire is used to.

A week before Claire's birthday we had birthday photos taken. They are beautiful. Here is a link to some of them if you want to see.  (hopefully this will work) http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.245987295446351.60835.159745780737170&type=1

Here are a few pics from her birthday and birthday party.

Reflections of a first time Mom

With Claire's 1st birthday coming tomorrow I have spent the last few days reflecting on the days leading up to her birth and the first few days of her life. On the 13th I laughed with Eric as we remembered how upset I was her due date had come and gone and there was still no baby. I think I was most upset about having to go to work the next day. For 9 months I had it in my head that after the 13th I was on maternity leave, no more work for me, wahoo! Well clearly God had other plans. A year ago today I had my last doctors appointment, the appointment that I had laughed at the receptionist making months earlier because it was after my due date, of course the baby would be here by then. I'll never forget the receptionist telling me I'm gonna make it "just in case". Good thing she did because that stubborn baby had plans of her own. I had finally come to terms that I would need to be induced only to get to my doctors appointment and be told the hospital was full until Monday! Another 5 whole days! I thought it was a lifetime. Well, after an ultrasound discovering the amniotic fluid was low the hospital had to make room for this Momma because baby Claire was gonna be born the next day!

I also have been laughing remembering how awkward I was as a new Mom. During her birth (warning probably TMI) the doctor exclaimed she has blond hair! Of course I was dying to see it, but at the angle I was at (haha) I couldn't. Eric got to see it as my crazy doctor was giving her a mowhawk mid birth. They put her on my tummy for a brief moment before they whisk her away and I was left with my legs in the air. Eric of course ran over to watch the doctors and nurses check out the baby. By the time I was put back together and sitting more appropriately I was brought my adorable baby burrito. She was nicely wrapped up tight with a dang hat on her head. All I could see was a gorgeous squinty baby face. I was dying to unwrap her and get a good look at all her fingers and toes and every inch of her perfect self. I decided I wanted to nurse her immediately after birth and all I wanted to do was snuggle with my beautiful new creature, but I thought I can't unwrap her, won't I get into trouble? I was sure that if I unwrapped her everyone would scold me quickly that that's now how you are supposed to handle a newborn. I didn't know the rules. I had limited baby much less newborn baby experience. I have always been afraid of looking stupid or getting into trouble that I often forgo my own wishes. It didn't dawn on me until months later when I was thinking about that moment that duh! I was her mother! I called the shots not the doctors and nurses. Yes they give advice and all, but she is my baby I could have unwrapped her and snuggled all I wanted! Well, if God decides there is a "next time" in the cards for us I will certainly get my snuggles in immediately. I also had to laugh thinking about my first diaper change. It was either late the first day or the second day at the hospital and Claire had pooped. Something I soon learned she was very good at. At this point in my life I had only changed maybe 3 diapers ever. Never a poopy diaper. Thank God Brandi was in the room with me because I was clueless. My first thought was where is the nurse? Again new mom and the nurse had changed every diaper up until this point. I thought for a moment "isn't the nurse supposed to change the diaper?" Not because I didn't want to, but because I thought what if I don't do it right and they are supposed to do it? Brandi laughed and said just change it. Thankfully she walked me through changing my first Claire diaper.

I also had to laugh about my first few days at home. I was sleep deprived which added to my stupidity, but we were going to bed one night and my milk had just come in. So at night it was like a really bad leaky faucet. I got my nightgown on and knew I needed to wear some nursing pads. In my groggy head I thought I'm not wearing a bra so what to I stick the pads to (duh my nightgown) so instead I thought it was a bright idea to stick them to myself! Well in the middle of the night it wasn't a pretty picture when I went to remove them to feed the baby. My very full, very sore boobies where in for a shock when I ripped that sticky side of the pad off! Yes, I know, I'm not always the brightest.

There are many other funny moments I like to think about, but these are 3 that I think I will never forget. I just can't believe my pretty princess will be one tomorrow. She gets funnier every day. The other night I was getting her ready for bed and while I was changing her diaper Eric was entertaining her letting her hold her little Bible. We started talking to her about the Bible and about Jesus. A few seconds later she says "Jesus"! Such a beautiful thing to hear your child say Jesus. It truly is amazing what young children understand. I really try and made it point to tell her about Jesus several times a day. My greatest wish for my child is for her to know Jesus as her Savior.

Painting Fun

Last week I was trying to find fun stuff to do outside with Claire. The weather was a tad cooler and the walking girl begs to go outside all day. I thought she had eaten her fair share of leaves and other dirt so we needed something else to do. I was doing my daily fun on Pinterest and discovered a homemade sidewalk paint that when it drys it looks like chalk! It's edible, non toxic, you know all the stuff kids aren't supposed to have. It is 1/4 cup of cornstarch, 1/4 cup of water, and food coloring. I learned the hard way a little food coloring goes a long way because even a week later poor baby's toenails are still tinted blue. Needless to say she had an absolute blast. She spent more time spilling the "paint" and pretending to brush the driveway. Oh and of course licking the paint brush. The driveway is still a nice rainbow of colors, but one day (hopefully) it will rain and wash our canvas a way for us to start again! Here are some pics from our "artwork".

Barefoot baby!

As I said Claire has started walking. These past few days she has really started walking more and more. She is now split between 50% walking and 50% crawling. I love watching her walk across a room. She constantly jabbers and is usually holding something. Half the time I think she forgets where she is heading. I know being barefoot is the best for a new walker and she isn't really fond of shoes anyway, but she has such a small foot that finding actual walking shoes is a challenge. We went to Stride Right the other week since they are apparently the know alls in walking shoes to get her foot sized. Well, the lady said, "you will have to look online for her size because we don't carry walking shoes that small." Great, now I have to find a 2.5 for a "new walker". After doing some searching and finding most of the small selection of size 2.5 is ugly and extremely expensive. I decided to wait to buy shoes. My little baby will just have to be barefoot in the meantime. Not that she is complaining. Luckily she is barely in a 2.5 and most of her 2's still fit and the few 2's I do have will work in the meantime since we are mostly indoors. 

I absolutely cannot believe in almost 2 weeks she will be a year! How is this possible? It's like when you become a Mom time is suddenly going in warp speed. It is the weirdest thing. Before you become a Mom time goes "normal".  A year feels like, well a year. After having a baby a year feels more like 3 months. It is rather scary and exciting all at the same time.

At Claire's 9 month check up the doctor took her off her reflux meds. I was excited. Yay no more scheduling! Well I noticed over the past several months she has gotten increasingly fussy. I attributed most of this to cutting her molar teeth (which I know part of it has been due to the teeth). Everyone told me between 6-9 months they outgrow their reflux. In my head of course she has out grown it. Well, after really paying attention to her the last few weeks I started noticing she may not have actually outgrown it. The spitting up isn't there, but like once a week, but when I listen I can hear her swallowing back stuff and fussing. She has also wanted to nurse more like when she was a month old and it was bothering her. We were down to only 4 times of nursing a day and over the past few weeks she has been wanting to nurse nearly every hour. This is with eating 3 solid meals a day and having snacks. I know she wasn't hungry every hour. I finally got out of my denial and put all the signs together and called the doctor. She agreed it sounded like her reflux was still bothering her. She has been back on one of her meds (Zantac) for almost a week now and I cannot tell you how much of a difference it has made.  She still has her fussy moments, but she is finally the happy girl I know! This proves to me there is only a "normal" for your baby and "normal" does not apply to all  babies.

I know I am 2 weeks late in posting this, but here is the 11 month picture I took of her.

Walking!

Little bit is walking! She has been cruising for about 3 months and I was beginning to think she might just cruise forever. Eric and I have been encouraging her for weeks to let go, but her confidence just hasn't quite been there. I finally decided I would take a few weeks off from pushing her and realized just to let her do it in her time. She shocked the crap out of me and actually did it in her time when I was least expecting it. She took her first steps Tuesday August 9, exactly 1 week shy of 11 months. We are by no means a pro walker right now and still choose crawling as our main mode of transportation, but every day we walk a little more and a little further. She loves to practice standing on her own and when she gets fixated on practicing it she will not rest! When she really gets to going usually she gets over excited and tries to go faster and falls down. Luckily we never cry and usually giggle when we fall down. It's an exciting thing to watch her wobbly steps. I'm sure in a few weeks when she is sprinting I may have a different opinion, lol.

I also discovered 2 more teeth tonight for a grand total of 10!! I thought she was cutting her bottom canines, but when I actually looked in her mouth she cut 2 back molars! God knows the child loves her meat so that must be why he is giving her molars early. Unfortunately they are not all the way in yet so I am sure there are still some fussy days ahead. Luckily she hasn't been too fussy cutting them she just has had a few rough moments.
I leave you with a short video of her walking!

Nakey Baby Time

No this post doesn't include any nakey baby pictures, but nakey baby time sure is good for the baby 's and mommy and daddy's soul. Little one is always hyper and on the move, but omigosh take all her clothes off and she is on overdrive. About 15 minutes before bath time little bit decided to take a massive poo (TMI I know). Since Eric hadn't changed a diaper all day I told him this one was his. With only 15 minutes before bath time I didn't want to waste another diaper so Claire got to enjoy some naked time. We laughed non stop at her. We kept her contained to her room so we didn't have to clean pee up all over the house. I told Eric she hardly ever pees this late in the day and when she does she waits to do it in the bath tub (which is why I have been putting her on the toilet before every bath and 9 out of 10 times she actually pees). Of course she proves me wrong and pees, lol. Anyway she loves I mean loves nakey baby time.

I mentioned the other day a blog I was following that really impacted me. If anyone is interested in reading it here is the link. I highly recommend that you read the first entry in June first. It is nearly a month to catch up on and long, but please read the story from beginning to today's entry. Their journey is amazing and you will be touched by their story even more if you read every entry in order.
http://jamescamdensikes.blogspot.com/

Love my little girl

I sure do love my little girl and my little family. Each day I stand amazed at the blessings God has given to me. I somehow have stumbled across several blogs of people I don't know in real life. One I came across on a parenting board I like to read on. I now find myself reading their blog every few days. This one in particular lost her little girl to SIDS in February at only 4 months old. They live somewhere in Houston and their little girl was only a month younger than Claire. Reading about their family, lifestyle, hopes, dreams etc. hits home for me at how similar our families core values are.  They are Christians and their strength amazes me. They are able to praise God through it all. Yes they have terrible horrible days and try to make sense of their terrible loss, but they never cease to know God needed their little girl more than they did and has a plan far greater than they could have imagined.  

The second blog I have started following only a few days ago. They too are close to home, live in Dallas,are fellow Baylor grads and Christians. Only 20 something days ago they took their almost 8 month old son in because he had been vomiting for several days they were sent home told it was only a virus. Several days later and still vomiting they finally admitted him to do further testing. Long story short he has a very aggressive brain tumor. They were able to do surgery and remove most of the tumor. They were told he would need aggressive chemo for the next year and were given a 50/50 chance of survival. Less than 2 short weeks after removing the tumor they discover the tumor has grown back bigger than it was 2 weeks before. Given the option to start chemo immediately with little hope or bring their sweet boy home for his last few days or weeks they opted to bring him home and show him as much love as they can. They too amaze me at reminding themselves God has a plan and praising God for giving them 8 months with their sweet boy.

Why do I insist on reading these blogs I dunno. I end up in tears almost every time I read them. I pray for these 2 families who I have never met daily. It reminds me how precious life is. It reminds me to hug my precious baby girl a little longer and to cherish every moment even when I want to pull my hair out. It's only 2 months away from her first birthday. I have been having a really hard time coming to terms my "baby" is almost a year old. I don't know why. I guess I feel like my "baby" is no longer a baby after she turns one. Of course she still is. For some reason I never thought much beyond her first year. I prayed for so long for a child that when I got her my focus was on growing her both in my tummy and out. Now that she is almost a year I know I will still have to "grow" her, but it will no longer come from my body. I know just because she turns a year I don't have to stop nursing her, but I do know it is the natural progression of things. I will miss our morning cuddles when I feed her in bed with me and I get a little extra sleep while she eats her breakfast and the way I can sneak off with her for a few minutes no questions asked because only I can feed her her milk. After reading and following these 2 blogs I am feeling much better about Claire turning one. I feel so blessed that God willing I will get to see her first birthday and hopefully many more. Something these 2 families would give anything to see. That I get to watch her grow into a little giggling girl. I am excited for the next stage in our little family. I will miss my little baby, but I have come to learn that every stage has been my "favorite" stage. I know that trend will only continue. These stories also remind me to be thankful for everything God has given me. To not worry about tomorrow that God will take care of us. So hug your babies a little tighter and a little longer and look for the miracles in your everyday life. I promise there are so many every day we take for granted.

Time with family!

This week I am spending time back home with my family. My poor Mommy fell and broke her arm last weekend and there just isn't much you can do one armed. Eric is working all week due to some employees on vacation so Claire, Cooper, and I are hanging out in the country. Claire and Cooper have the best time at Nana and Pappaw's house. Claire loves crawling all over their big front porch and Cooper explores all 15 acres discovering new scents. Both of them are so worn out by the end of the day.

2 weeks ago was Claire's first VBS and my first time actually teaching VBS. Those children were such a blessing and so were the other teachers. Claire has a bit of a Mommy attachment and VBS did her so good. The other ladies loved and played with her and she really has been a much more secure and happy baby since then. I just hope she will keep up her feeling of security because it is a much happier Mommy too without a screaming baby whenever Mommy walks two feet away. Don't get me wrong we still have our moments, but I can actually get a few things accomplished during the day.

Speaking of Claire Bear she had her 9 month check up on the 20th. She weighed 15 pounds 11 ounces which dropped her to the 5%. Doctor wasn't all that concerned about her drop in % since she has always been between the 10-25%, but did tell me to work on feeding her more fattening foods. She suggested adding butter to her food, but I just don't think getting her used to butter on her food is the best idea so I am just upping her cheese, avacado and "good fat" foods. Her length % hasn't changed any she was 27.25 inches long and between the 25-50%. I told the doctor she truly does eat all the time she is just so darn busy she doesn't have a chance to gain weight. She had a cold which moved to her chest I also found out at her appointment so the doc put her on a nebulizer with albuterol. That albuterol is like baby speed! Her already busy self turned into super fast baby! We cracked up at her every day she was on it. On Friday the 1st I took her back for a lung recheck and everything was clear. She even appeared to have growth spurt and had gained 7 ounces.

Since Mom is down with her arm Daddy is having to actually do some cooking and cleaning. He cracked me up the other night showing Claire how to vacuum. So here is a picture you won't see very often Daddy vacuuming and explaining to Claire how the vacuum works. She was less than impressed.

9 Months!

Holy Moly, I cannot believe how fast time has flown and how long it has been since I blogged! Pretty Princess just turned 9 months! She has officially been out longer than she was in. It makes me sad. Being pregnant certainly did not fly by like these past 9 months with Claire has flown by. She has gotten sillier than ever. She jabbers non stop! She learned to wave now everytime she waves she sticks her hand up to her mouth and sounds like an indian. She crawls everywhere. It amazes me how fast she can get away from me! She is into everything! Forget the toys she wants everything she shouldn't have. We are working on our 8th tooth! She is my little Pirhanna! We are working on not biting. I apologize to anyone who has gotten bitten lately.  We are also cruising everywhere. She loves to pull up on things then get on her tip toes and reach things she shouldn't.

Claire and I took a trip to see the grandparents last week. She has soooo much fun! She went swimming loved the big pool. Her favorite thing was to crawl up and down my parents big porch. Being outside was so fun! Of course she was spoiled rotten. New clothes, new toys, and of course lots of love! While we were there I took a shot at taking Claire's 9 month photos. We had a lot of fun taking them. Poor Nana was the entertainment and I think we exhausted her, lol.

Next week will be Claire's first Vacation Bible School. She is very excited. I am very nervous because it's my first time teaching a VBS class even if it is the baby class.

Here are a few of the 9 month photos.

Easter and other things

I know I'm a little behind as always, but wanted to share a little about Claire's first Easter and other things going on in our life. For Easter my parents (Nana and Papaw) came in to share in Claire's first Easter. She had such a fun time with her grandparents! She shopped with Nana and her and Papaw swung in the swing a lot! I remember when I was pregnant thinking of her first Easter and how far away it seemed to me. I bought several possible dress choices because I knew if I waited until the last minute I would never be able to choose.  and thought wow she will be a little over 7 months when Easter comes. Interestingly enough I found her dress at a consignment shop when I was about 8 months pregnant for $2! Smocking, boutique brand, and all! Time sure has flown. Pretty Princess is now almost 8 months! Where does the time go? Claire had a blast helping make a bunny cake. When my brother and I were little Mom always made us a bunny cake for Easter and I wanted Claire to experience the same tradition so me, Claire and Momma (Nana) made a bunny cake! Claire also had her first Easter egg hunt at church and thought colorful eggs sure were fun to pick up. We also dyed Easter eggs. I actually thought this project out and did it in her diaper right before bath time. She spilled more dye than anything and wanted to play in the mess, but she had fun dying eggs.

                       With her Bunny Cake                          Making cake with Mommy and Nana

                                                                  Hunting Eggs!

                                                          Hunting Eggs!

                                                                 Dying Eggs!

                                                                  Dying eggs!

                                                                     Checking out what the Easter bunny brought!

                                                                      Easter with Daddy!

                                                                         Easter with Mommy!

In other Claire news today she decided she had mastered the art of pulling up by herself at no other time than naptime! I put her down for a nap to hear her fuss and squirm and when I looked on the monitor she had pulled herself up to stand and was trying to escape the crib! Needless to say Eric now has the project of lowering the crib mattress! Since she did that early afternoon she has spent the rest of the practicing her new talent and trying to pull up on everything including toys that can't quite withstand her 15 or so pounds and topple on top of her. Last week she decided army crawling was a lot of fun. She holds herself up on all 4s and rocks back and forth takes one crawl and decides army crawling is better. It's never a dull day and I love it!