Constant Beginnings

It is hard to believe Claire is already 6 weeks old. She has grown so much. Harvest continues to be a first responder, rushing to Claire the minute she awakens from a nap. Claire is the queen of cat naps. We can count on her to sleep one stretch of an hour or two each day, but after that, it is 10-15 minute segments. She always wakes with a smile. Claire has also begun to coo. This began at about 5 1/2 weeks of age. She has alot to say. Initially, Claire hated baths. However, she has begun to enjoy them. She definitely is my child--sleeping, eating and bathing are the keys to happiness. She has discovered the simple pleasures at an early age. As always, Claire continues to be the light of our lives. We love her beyond words.

Claire and I had a brief photo shoot this morning. I was impressed as I actually got a few great photos of her smiling. Chris and I noticed her true smiles last weekend. They were clearly real smiles based on our silly antics. She is such a cutie. Harvest is also pictured because Claire was crying. When Claire cries, Harvest runs over to her to see what is wrong. It is so cute. What a great big brother!! I also included a picture of Claire holding up her head. Although she has really done this since birth, I have never caught it on film. All in all, she is doing great.

It is hard to believe she is one month old. It seems like only yesterday we were leaving the hospital with our nervous excitement. She has been an absolute joy. Claire eats well and sleeps for 4-5 hours at a time. Her days aren't as sleep filled, typically cat-napping throughout. She has grown and changed so much in such a short time. She is developing cheeks and continues to have her head of hair. Claire still tries to hold her head and has gotten better at doing so. She also wants to hold her bottle. She smiles often, although we are aware these aren't true smiles. Claire loves to look into our eyes as we are feeding her. This truly melts our hearts. We also love the way she manipulates her hands and falls asleep with the bottle in her mouth. When we remove it, her mouth hangs open in the air. We have experienced a few blow-outs now, even one at church. Both Chris and I have had the pleasure of having her urinate while we are in the process of changing her diaper, but...

Claire received these great videos from Lisa, Phil, Olivia, Luke and Ava. Although they have been the source of much recent controvercy, I am convinced that they are more than a baby gift. Perhaps they will be a gift of heightened intelligence. From birth, Claire was holding her head, holding her bottle, & holding her pacifier, so maybe we are dealing with a gifted child?? It is my hope that these videos will increase her potential. If not and instead do according to the reports of decreasing her language skills, Claire is fortunate. She knows an excellent speech-language pathologist that will get her back up to age level. We love the videos. I am sure I will love them more than Claire as she is at the point of wanting to be held all the time. I look forward to putting in a video for 15 minutes of freedom.

The attic project is nearly complete. When my family was here a couple of weeks ago, they painted the ceiling and primed the walls. We are so thankful for their help. Now all we have left to do is paint the walls and trim. I regret not taking photos of the space before as you would not believe it is the same place. Before it had eagle wallpaper, which was falling off, shag carpeting in a lovely avocado color, and a few odd shaped rooms. It is completely different. We love it.

In June Chris and I got the urge to remodel the upstairs bathroom. This is our final project, so we hope!! Chris did the tiling in the shower and floor. We had a shower door installed and baseboards will be done in a few weeks. Oh yeah, the drywall was replaced around the sink, toilet and opposing wall. I did the mudding!! I may have found myself a new career. It looks great. The entire bathroom is just what I had envisioned, so I am very pleased.

Left: My Aunt Kathy & Uncle Eldon sent Claire these cute little outfits and books. Right: My friend, Heather, her husband, Chad, & son, Max sent Claire onesies and a cute little embroidered blanket. My Grandma Dorothy sent Claire money for us to buy her a cross necklace to symbolize her baptism & my Grandma Arlene & Grandpa Elwood gave her money, which we will be saving. We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of our family and friends. We certainly have realized how blessed we are.

Upper Left: A die hard Yankees fan, my dad hopes to pass the tradition to Claire. He picked up the I Love NY onesie when we were in NY to match her cousins. Upper Right: This beautiful quilt was made by our family friend, Karen. It is gorgeous. Lower Left: My Mom and Dad bought Claire these adorable Carter's outfits. Lower Right: My Aunt Gail & Uncle Nick gave Claire these cute books and engraved picture frame.

Above Left: Onesies, tweety outfit and "this little piggy" pig were given to Claire by Chris' dad and his girlfriend, Stephanie. Above Right: Carter's onesie and book were given by Maryanne and Jim who are my sister's mother-in-law. Very nice of her to think of us. Lower Left: This entire Baby Gap outfit was given to Claire by our carpenter, John. He has been great to us and this is just icing on the cake. Lower Right: This cute little Old Navy outfit and pajamas were given to Claire by Daisy, Craig, Savanna, and Rylan. They are friends of my sister. Again, such kindness.

Since Claire was born, she has sported a head of hair that had a mind of its own. I did help this effort and shaped her spikey do into a mohawk of sorts. Luke loved it or at least he loved to push it down. It kind of became our little joke. I would push it up and he would knock it down. He says she is the only girl he knows with a mohawk like that. Here are some photos of her cool hairdo. She is a trendsetter at such a young age.