I got rythm, I got music . . .

Claire is working on sitting up all on her own.

She loves to play with her music station that she got for Christmas from Aunt Cindy, Uncle Keith and Cousin Blake.

As you can see she loves it a lot.

Things I’ve learned in the past fifteen weeks . . .

1. If the baby has gone to sleep, don’t wait up thinking she is going to wake up at any time because that is the night that she is going to sleep through the night starting at 8:45. (and this is quite possibly the night that the dog throws-up at two o’clock in the morning)

2. There is a difference in diapers.

3. Shout! gets out more stains than you would think.

4. You have more interest in another person's constitution than you ever thought possible. AND you sometimes call your spouse to come look for a second opinion or just to witness whatever it is that you just discovered in the diaper. (Don't let Mike tell you any different, we have both coming running) This also gives more credence to number two above. (no pun intended)

5. Your child will wear the same outfit three times in one week simply because the unfolded laundry is handier than walking five feet to the closet of perfectly good and new clothes.

6. You will run the dishwasher and the washing machine/dryer more than you have your entire married life.

7. That you will probably never complete most any task that you once did in one sitting like say a top ten list . . .

If I'm the Queen of Halloween, shouldn't that make Claire the Princess?

Well, our Halloween wasn't all that I imagined and hoped for. Much to my horror, my child did not like her costume. She had a hissy fit when we put the head part on her. Isn't this her birth right? To love Halloween? To relish in the magic and mischief of the night (season). She did like our decorations in the house and loved wearing her Halloweenie themed outfits but she wouldn't have it with the costume. Sooo, much to my chagrin, we do not have a cute picture of Claire the Hippopotamus. Yes, I got a Hippopotamus for Halloween, sort of. So call me a mean mommy if you will, we are going to keep trying on the costume until I get my picture! This is my daughter's first Halloween and I am getting a picture worth framing! Hazel on the other hand has been a very good sport about her costume.

Good Weekend

We had a good weekend. Mike was home the whole weekend and I think Hazel was happy to have us home. Hazel went to the vet Saturday morning for her itching. For those of you who don’t know, she has been scratching for far too long for not having fleas. So we finally decided it was time for the shot they told us to get if it didn’t get better. So she got her shot and some antibiotics and new pills for fleas instead of the Frontline stuff. She hasn’t been scratching nearly as much so hopefully this will work well for her.

Claire was a sweetie all weekend but I think this new schedule that we are trying to put her on is beginning to get to her. Hopefully she will adjust soon. I looked at her yesterday afternoon and it looked like she has dark shadows under her eyes.  I know she probably isn’t getting enough sleep but it isn’t from lack of trying on our part! We love her so much.

Mike and I got a few things done while Claire was sleeping on Saturday so that was nice. We are getting rid of the recliner in the living room that Mike’s folks lent us use while I was pregnant. That has loosened some of the furniture situation up a bit (thank goodness). Maybe we’ll be able to have a Christmas tree! Woohoo!

We're baaack!

We're back. We are going to start posting again. I started work this week and my friends were giving me the business since I abandoned the blog. It isn't that I didn't want to do it but it was part time and part sanity or lack there of. I can't imagine the posts if I had written them after the up til 4 a.m. nights . . . or while I was up til 4 a.m.

So here is a brief update – Claire is here and is 12 ½ weeks old. She is a growing girl and is now pretty much the same size as other babies her age. The doctor did tell her she was a little tall and a little plumper than what the rest are her age but I told her that if she was anything like Mommy, then that would be her life story, welcome to the world. But she is getting more alert and coordinated and beautiful everyday. She smiles when she likes the things she sees and even giggles a bit now. She bats at the toys on her baby gym and likes to swing. She is a good sleeper and pooper and just an all around good baby and a delight to have around. Who knew a crying, pooping, tinkling, eating, sleeping machine (at any given time) could bring so much love and joy into our lives.

Now that I am back to work she is staying with our folks. Two days with my folks and threeish days with Mike's folks. I think Hazel had mixed feelings about my going back to work. On the one hand that thing that Mommy & Daddy brought home that likes to cry all night isn't there during the day anymore and she can get back to her routine. And on the other hand, her days aren't nearly as exciting and Mommy isn't home. The life of a dog.

More to come, we promise!