Valentine's Bear

My mom got Claire a Valentine's bear and she loves it! Everytime I show her the bear she smiles and grabs for it! She tried to eat it the first time, but made a funny face... must not have tasted too good! Thanks Nuna for the bear, the yummy sugar cookies and heart shaped plate! That was very sweet of you!

I think there is a bear on my shoulder...

I like this side view of Claire because you can see the angel wings on the back of her shirt!!

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Love,

Claire

Rub a Dub Dub

Okay.... so here's the story. Today Claire took an unusually long nap, almost 3 hours. I went in to get her and unwrapped her and found the poor baby covered in poop. She had rolled onto her belly during her sleep so it was everywhere. This had to be some sort of record for the largest bowel movement in the history of man. I yelled for Ben's assistance because this was definitely a two man job. Really we could've used several more sets of hands. I stripped Claire down in her crib and took her straight to the sink (which we cleaned very well with Clorox afterwards) and gave her her second bath of the day. Ben and I were both amazed that such a cute, little baby could produce something so vile... and it was VILE.

The BUSY Threesome

My best friend, Maria, came down from Michigan with her twins for her Great Grandmother's funeral. She asked if I would watch the twins (Bruce & Brianna) while she went to the viewing and funeral. I was happy to help and looking forward to spending time with the kids! I had them about 4 hours last night for the viewing and was suppose to watch them today, but the funeral was postponed due to the inclement weather. I had so much fun with the twins and they were so well behaved. I was disappointed I get didn't get to watch them today! Claire of course, loved watching Brucie and Bri and the they were very sweet with Claire. They both just kept patting her on the head! I definitely had my hands full with three kids under the age of two (the twins will be two in May), but we had a great time!!!

Brucie... I'm not sure you're suppose to be standing on the couch. You better sit down before my mommy sees you.

Hey Bri, do you think I can have a drink of juice from your sippy cup?

Brianna: "No... this is MY sippy cup, get your own."

Okay, I'll just have a drink from Brucie's cup then.

Your McDonald's and juice sure do look good. I wonder when my mommy is going to let me have the yummy stuff???

Random Acts of CUTENESS

Just some cute pictures of Claire!

Fun with Friends

Yesterday Claire & I spent the afternoon with the Calfee clan! I took care of Lane Calfee when she was a 27 weeker in the NICU 5 years ago! I was her primary nurse, meaning whenever I worked I took care of Lane. Lane's mommy & daddy (Jenny & Ben) and I became fast friends! We found out quickly that we had a lot in common. Most importantly was our faith in the Lord. I really enjoyed taking care of Lane and getting to know Ben & Jenny! I had so much fun talking with them and spoiling their little girl! Lane was in the NICU for 2 months and I formed a really close bond with her and her parents. I held Lane and rocked her whenever I had a free moment and as she got bigger and was in the Graduate Nursery I carried her everyplace! She walked around that nursery with me a lot. I prayed she wouldn't get home and expect her mommy & daddy to play with her at 2 am in the morning. I tried to wean her off the middle of the night socializing, but it was hard to resist cute, little Lane! I am thankful that the Lord entrusted such a precious life into my care for a brief time. I truly enjoyed every second I took care of Lane!!!

Lane is doing wonderfully despite her rocky start (she had a lot of people praying for her). She is in pre-school and enjoying it. She is such a sweet little girl who loves animals especially Kangaroos!

The 3 Calfee kids (Lane, Rowan and baby Beckett) with Claire! Beckett is just a month older than Claire. As you can tell by the pictures... Claire loved touching Beckett and smiling at him! They were too cute together! Ben & Jenny adopted Beckett from Guatemala when he was 4 months old. What an amazing addition to their family. He is a true gift from God!

First Time in the Nursery

Yesterday Claire went to the church nursery for the very first time. I have never left her with anyone but family. I have been putting this off for a while and every week Ben says, "we really need to put her in the nursery". I just didn't want to cut the cord. For some reason in my head I felt like I was letting go a little. Ben always says that parenting is "one hand pulling in and the other hand pushing out". I guess he's right! When I sent Claire to the nursery it was the one hand pushing out, but just a little!!! Claire did great! She loved playing with the other babies! She didn't even pay attention as I left and was happy as can be. I kept waiting for her number to flash on the little screen in the sanctuary (that means... come get your baby, she's out of control!). I was ready & waiting to run to her rescue, but she was fine! I feel like a momma bird pushing my little baby out of the nest so she can learn how to fly!!!

Claire & Maddie

Today marks 10 months since we lost our sweet Maddie. Before Claire was born (and actually before Maddie died), I had a bib made for Claire with a picture of Maddie on it! I was so excited about this silly bib, but who knew it would be the only picture I would get with my two girls together. I had envisioned getting tons of pictures of Claire & Maddie together and that didn't happen. It's still so sad for me. Sometimes I think I'm crazy because to this day I'll just start sobbing because I miss Maddie so much! It's hard to believe she's been gone 10 months. She will always be my first baby!

Isn't this Maddie bib adorable? The outfit I have on Claire is from Gymboree and it's called "Puppy Love". The shirt & pants have several different breeds on it and one of them is Greyhounds! I couldn't believe it because usually it's so hard to find anything with Greyhounds!

This is my shrine to Maddie. I found this shadow box and I thought it would be perfect to put a couple of special things of Maddie's in it. I have her collar, her bandana with her name embroidered on it, a picture of Maddie in which she is wearing the collar and bandana, and her paw print/impression that the vet tech's at OSU made of her paw after she died. It's still hard for me to see it, but I feel like it helps me to remember her.

More Baby Dedication

Here are some more pics from Claire's baby dedication last week!

Grammy had this cake made for Claire & Caroline! It was as delicious as it was pretty!

A picture of some of the family that came to see the dedication!

Yummy... CARROTS

Well, today Claire advanced from boring rice cereal to her first real food... carrots. She loved them. I couldn't scoop it in fast enough. When she is frustrated or she wants something she growls like a little lion. It's so funny and today when I was feeding her she was growling in between bites, like "hurry up with the next bite, mom"!!! If I had to guess, patience may not be Claire's strongest character quality. Ben would say she's just like her mommy in that regard and he's probably right! I know I've said it before, but we are having so much fun with her! My mom asked me today if I had any idea how much fun motherhood would be and I said absolutely not! Until you experience the miracle of a baby you just don't understand! What a gift!

Diaper Disaster?

Every night Ben gets Claire ready for bed. This nighttime ritual includes changing her diaper and putting her in a sleeper... not that hard. Usually he does a great job, but tonight when he handed Claire to me to feed her I noticed her diaper felt funny so I took the sleeper off and found her diaper only half covering her bottom. Ben said something went tragically wrong, but he's not sure exactly what happened. Thankfully this diaper error was caught before we had a diaper disaster!!

Claire & Caroline

Yesterday Claire & Caroline had their baby dedication at church! I will post more pictures of the actual dedication later, but I wanted to get these pictures of the girls posted! It was very special that they were dedicated together! All of our family came to witness the special event and after church we went out to eat to celebrate! As you can tell from the pictures... Claire is in a stage where she is fascinated with people's faces and loves to touch them and unfortunately Caroline is no exception. Poor Caroline is unable to defend herself so we are constantly pulling Claire away from her. Hopefully soon the girls will be able to interact a bit more peacefully!

Hi Caroline... you look very nice in your pretty white dress. I hope you don't mind if I grab your hair.

I'll take a quick break from attacking my cousin for a picture or two.

I can still try to touch Caroline's face even during the picture taking.

Has anyone told you, Caroline, that you have very soft skin? I just love to touch you! I can't keep my hands off you.

Caroline: "When will the madness end?"