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?"

6 Months Old

On Tuesday January 16th, Claire turned 6 months old! Wow, I can't believe it! She had her 6 month check up last week and she weighs a whopping 17.8 lbs. and is 27.25 inches long. She is very well proportioned coming in the 90th percentile for weight, length and head circumference! She is just a very big girl! Her doctor said she is doing great and he said she is definitely thriving!! We are having a blast with her. She is a very smiley girl and doesn't seem to know a stranger! The doctor said most babies start having separation anxiety and become fearful of strangers, but not this little social butterfly!

The quilt pictures are taken with Claire's Baby Dedication gown that Grammy & Grandpa bought about two years ago (yes, two years ago!). Grammy had her name embroidered on the inside of the dress! I love this gown and it something Claire will have for the rest of her life.

Baby Dedication is similar to the Catholic's Christening of babies. At our church it is more for the parents than the babies though. The church prays for the parents that they raise their children to grow in the knowledge and truth of the Lord. Please pray for us that we can teach & lead Claire to know and understand the love our Lord has for her and that one day she will give her heart to Jesus! That is truly my hearts prayer for her.

Snow Dog!

Today was the first day since we adopted Sophie that we have had a decent amount of snow. We weren't sure how she would like it because she is definitely an "inside dog". Well, Sophie LOVED the snow and she played for about 30 minutes running, pouncing and rolling around in the fluffy snow. It was very sad for us, but we were glad to pass Maddie's beautiful winter coat on to Sophie. It kept her nice and toasty!!

Our Girls

I always knew any child of mine would HAVE to love animals, but I had no idea Claire would be this fascinated with them, dogs in particular! She is so enthralled with Sophie! When Claire & Sophie are in the same room, which is most of the time, Claire always has an eye on Sophie. She smiles at her non stop and you can tell she is hoping for a response from Sophie in return. Sophie, however, is only interested in Claire if there is something edible involved! Sophie is very sweet with Claire and we are trying to teach Claire to be gentle and respectful of Sophie! They are too cute together. They're our girls!

Landon & Anna's Party

Today we went to Landon's house to help celebrate Landon & Anna's first birthdays. Landon turned one on December 28th and Anna turns one on January 27th. We had a great time! It's always so much fun to get all our babies together! They are all getting so big!

Claire fell asleep right before the group picture and amazingly stayed asleep for the majority of the photo shoot!

Happy Birthday Landon & Anna! You two are so cute!!!

Claire sleeping next to her friend Tessa!

From Left to Right, Top Row: Tessa with her mommy Elisabeth, Claire with her mommy Michele, Elise with her mommy Beka, Kendall with her mommy Chante, Ava & Carson with their mommy Mandy.

Bottom Row: Deanna with her nephew Connor, niece Aleia and son Landon, Anna with her mommy Brittney and Noah with his mommy Cynetta.

Claire's First Solids!

I can hardly believe it, but Claire is almost 6 months old so we just introduced her to the exciting world of solid foods! She loves her rice cereal and whines in between bites because I'm not quite quick enough with the next spoon full for her. She started this funny thing with her tongue since she began eating solids where she thrusts it in & out of her mouth like a little lizard. I think she just realized she has a tongue! It's so neat to see her discover and explore things for the first time!

Needless to say, Sophie is VERY interested in Claire's food! She is really good though and as tempting as it probably is for her to lick Claire's messy face she responds well to my "NO LICKS" command. Sophie's a good girl!

Claire is trying to grab the camera in this picture. She wants everything, especially electronics like the remote, the phone, the camera!

Here is the funny tongue picture!