Chair Picture Outtakes

It takes awhile to get a cute picture of Claire with her elephant in the glider. There are two hurdles - catching her when she's awake and not hungry, and keeping her from falling over. This is what happens almost every week.

Catching Up

With all of the events of the past few weeks, we've gotten behind on the blogging! We'll start with a few cute pictures of Claire...

4 Week Chair Pic

Play time - she's interacting with us much more now!

MS150 Weekend

Robert rode in the MS150 this past weekend, a bike ride from Frisco to Fort Worth, to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis. As most of you know, his father suffers from this terrible disease. I was so proud of him - he was rider number 5, which means that he was the 5th top fundraiser last year!

On Day One they rode from Frisco to Texas Motor Speedway - the ride that day was over 80 miles. We spent the night at a hotel in Southlake, and my parents met us there to spend some time with us (i.e., Claire!). We enjoyed dinner at the Reata in Fort Worth - always a treat. Mom and Dad gave us the best gift by keeping Claire in their room that night and getting up with her for the nightly feedings and soothing. We had adjoining rooms so I was able to pop in as needed, but Robert got a full night of sleep, which helped him tremendously with the ride on Day Two. It was a great weekend!

Playing with Grandma Patty Snoozing at the finish line

Robert crossing the finish line

At Sundance Square with Billie & Bob

Sick of having her picture taken?

I'm not sure Claire is as big of a fan of the new camera as I am...

"Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here?"

"What is that thing in my face?!?"

"Maybe she'll leave me alone if I show her Milk Tongue..."

"Can I go back to my nap now?"

Claire - Week Three

Claire - Three Weeks

My mom left on Friday, and we've been on our own since then. Being on our own most of the day, the swing and bouncy chair have come in SO handy. Now I have a place to put Claire for a few minutes when I need to make a bottle, take a shower, etc. She tolerates them pretty well...and frequently falls asleep in the swing.

Claire is awake and alert for a much larger portion of the day, so we've had some good play time!

I didn't know it was possible, but I think she just gets cuter every day - look at those eyes!

Claire's Second Week

Tuesday, April 22nd - Two weeks old!

Claire had her 2 week appointment with Dr. Neely on Thursday. She's almost back to her birth weight - she weighed 7 lbs. & 7.5 oz. (25th percentile), has grown 3/4 of an inch to 20 inches (also 25th percentile), and has a head circumference in the 50th percentile. She also got her Hepatitis B shot - Claire and Mommy both cried. :) Fortunately Grandma Patty was there to console us both. We're so blessed to have a healthy baby!






Claire's second week was a busy one! It's been amazing to see how much she changed in just a week. She's so much more alert and seems to get stronger every day. The week started off with a handoff between the grandmothers. Robert's mom stayed with us until Friday to help out. While she was here, Claire got to go to Fish City Grill & Corner Bakery.

On Saturday, we all went to Arlington to visit Robert's grandparents (both sets) and dad. She finally got to wear one of her cute dresses - girl clothes are so fun!

Claire spent a lot of the week sleeping. She likes to have her arms free - we frequently find her in this position...

Trying to capture a smile (I know it's probably just gas, but it's so cute!)

Grandma Patty and Granddaddy Darwin came back on Sunday. Dad stayed a couple of days, and Mom was here for the week and was so much help! Claire likes to sleep in her arms.

Claire's First Week, Part Three

We've been having so much fun with Baby Claire! One night Robert called me over to show me the new hairstyle he gave her to match the gang signs she's been flashing.

On Monday, she got her first bath. You would have thought we were torturing her.

But after it was over, she looked so cute in her ducky hooded towel!

Grandma Pat stayed through Tuesday. All of the girls cried when she left, but we were so fortunate that Grandma Nancy could come in the same day to help out. Robert started back to work on Monday, and while he's not working a full schedule, I'm so grateful for the extra set of hands around the house while he is gone!

A few facts about Claire:

• She doesn't seem to enjoy being swaddled - she likes to have her hands free. I'm so glad that we discovered Sleep Sacks! They keep her warm and cozy.


• Claire loves to sleep during the day, and does pretty good at night. We're waking her up a couple of times at night for feedings. She typically only needs someone to get up with her one other time.


• She loves to snuggle and so far has been fairly easy to soothe. One of the lactation consultants in the hospital commented a couple of times that Claire is very even-tempered. We hope that sticks!


• While she has trouble with the latch for nursing, she loves to eat and isn't too picky about the temperature of her meals and switches easily between formula and breast milk.


• Every day she seems more alert and interested in what is going on around her.

Tuesday, April 15th - One week old

Claire's First Week, Part Two - Coming Home

On Saturday, we were finally able to leave the hospital. I hadn't left the doors since coming in at 3 Monday afternoon for my OB appointment, so I was definitely ready to get some fresh air and sleep in our bed!

I had purchased two coming home outfits - one blue and one pink, and had my first lesson in the sizing for children's clothes. 0-3 months swallows her! I'd also bought a cute hat, but didn't realize until we got to the hospital that it was a size 12 months. We laughed so hard that my incision started really hurting - it looked like she was wearing the Pope's hat. We switched back to the one from the hospital.




When we arrived, we were greeted with a sweet balloon bouquet from Robert's parents - such a nice surprise!

First time in her crib

Claire's First Week, Part One

We were in the hospital through Saturday, and had several visitors, including both sets of Robert's grandparents, Courtney & Jared (who welcomed their own new baby on Friday, April 11th - Claire already has a playmate!), Jennie, Lindsay, and Miss Kristy.

Grandma Pat (Amy's mom) was there every day - Claire loves snuggling with her!

We had originally planned for Claire to exclusively nurse, but she had a few problems getting the technique down and was losing too much weight, so we started feeding her formula. Daddy quickly became a pro with the bottles. We're still working on nursing and met with a few lactation consultants. It's hard work for both of us, but we're hopeful that we'll get there with lots of practice!

Easily the cutest baby at Presby :)

Getting some good snuggle time with Daddy - Mommy needed a break from the hospital bed!