bouncy girl

reindeer games

 A tradition was started long before I moved here of the staff kids taking candy to the dorm kids around Halloween time.  We're up to a pretty sizable group.  These are all of the elementary-age and younger kids, minus Milo Baughman.

 Ryan hauled Claire around in her reindeer outfit.  Jaclyn got it for her on clearance after last Christmas, thinking that it would fit her this Christmas.  Since she's such a chunk, there's no hope of that happening, so it became a good costume to wear this time of year.

Anastasia, Olivia, Carson, and Samantha with Kelly, our assistant dean

5 months old!

 At 5 months, I have found my feet and I like to laugh.

 I still don't like being on my tummy very much, but my parents make me anyway.  Maybe one of these days I'll get around to rolling over.

This is a picture of my mom playing with her foot and one of me holding mine!



I'm so big! 18 lb. 11 oz. and 26" long

peek-a-boo

Claire started laughing at peek-a-boo today.

big girl!

1 week | 10 weeks

so big!

There's not a better way to show how much Claire has grown than to put pictures of her taken next to the same item over time.

 2 days | 4 wks | 8 wks

try not to factor in the zoom here

 1 wk | 5 wks

7 wks | 8 wks
this one makes it look like she grew out of her clothes - the incredible hulk!

 4 days | 3 wks

6 wks | 9 wks

6 days | 7 wks
good to know Ryan showered in between sometime...

cool in the pool

squeaky clean

time flies - and Claire's trying to fly too!

Claire week 2 snapshots

 Tuesday, May 31 - one week old today

taken while video chatting with Lindsey

Wednesday, June 1 - nap time

asleep in her pack 'n play

Claire had to go to the doctor to have her weight checked.  She weighed 5 lbs 12 oz, up 2 oz from the weekend.

 Thursday, June 2 - found her tongue!

This was the first day Claire really stayed awake for an extended time between feedings.  She was content to just look around and make faces at me.

 Friday, June 3 - first tub bath

Claire's umbilical cord fell off on Wednesday, so we were finally allowed to give her a real bath.  She didn't mind until we took her out of the water.

 Sabbath, June 4 - asleep in her bouncy seat

This is one of the outfits we have bought since Claire was born.  She's too small still for a lot of newborn outfits, but does well in onesies so this little romper works well.  She still could definitely fill it out a little better!

 Monday, June 6 - celebrating Canada

My mom sent this sleeper with moose and pine trees on it.  She said we had to take a picture of Claire wearing it with a Canadian flag.  Ryan couldn't be prouder.

Claire's first week

After about three hours in the labor & delivery room, Claire and I were moved upstairs to a postpartum room.  She was taken to the nursery for her first bath.  Ryan and his parents were able to be there to take pictures and video.  She spent a few hours in the nursery the first night while we tried to sleep a little.

We spent Wednesday visiting with our parents until they had to go home.  Other visitors stopped by throughout the day too.

Claire was discharged from the hospital a few hours before I was on Thursday and we finally got to leave together.  I didn't want to leave until I got my free massage. =)  I was glad that even though she's tiny, her carseat fit her well.  She slept all the way home.  We were home by about 3:00p, so not even 48 hours after she was born.

 

We didn't get to rest much in the first couple days home.  Claire had jaundice and had to see the pediatrician on Friday and again Sabbath to check her bilirubin.  Luckily, the level did not go up over the two days so she didn't have to be checked again.  Her weight got down to 5 lb. 10 oz. over the weekend.  

Sunday was our first day home all day with her.  On Monday, we got out the stroller and took Claire for her first walk - to visit Connie & Phil in the girls' dorm.  Before we knew, it, she was a week old!

Claire is here!

 Claire Avery was born at 3:30p on May 24.  She weighed 5lb 15.75oz and was 19" long.

after the nurses gave her a bath

about to go home Thursday

37 weeks & nursery pics

Jaclyn and Stephanie were here yesterday and helped me get the nursery actually ready to bring a baby home to.  I got to direct traffic while they did the work.  The crib is ready now with a new crib skirt (the one that "matches" the set had embroidery hidden by the wood).  We still need curtains.  Still trying to figure out what kind of curtain rod I want.

inside the crib

The toy organizer holds the growing collection of pink stuffed animals and other toys.  Carson told us last night he thinks she will stand on the dresser and jump to get her toys.  Let's hope he's wrong . . .

We'll probably put the glider in this corner, whenever we get a chance to buy one.  Being on bed rest isn't exactly conducive to shopping for furniture.

Jaclyn also made sure we took some updated pictures of me & the belly.  Here's 37 weeks.

This is us at "full-term."  We'll see how much longer!

Goodwill finds

I swung by Goodwill in Gallatin today to drop off some things we needed to get out of the nursery and decided to look for some things to ADD.  All of their baby outfits are $1.99.  Pretty good deal, huh?  Especially for Carters, Baby Gap, etc.

29 weeks + nursery painting

Jaclyn was nice enough to take some pictures of the 29 wk 5 day belly.  This was a lot easier than the tripod/2 sec. timer method of doing it by myself.  Ryan was able to get in on the shoot too.

  

Rookie wanted in on the photo shoot

  Then there was the painting . . .

all finished by Sunday morning at 11:30

we used just about every drop of paint in the gallon we bought - have enough for any touch-ups we notice in the next few days

 

This picture shows the green pretty accurately.  It's probably brighter than I meant to buy, but we like it.  It matches the bedding well and the furniture looks good against it.

The art teacher at Ryan's school bought the owl pillow I registered for at Target.  I was so excited! :)

24 weeks 3 days

if you look very closely, you can probably see her kicking

baby girl

Well, I guess by now I assume everyone who reads this is also seeing my posts on Facebook, but for archiving sake and in case my assumption is wrong, I'm updating the blog anyway.

Ryan and I went on Friday, the 21st for my 20-week ultrasound in Nashville.  We had a great time getting to see the baby for about a full hour.  In addition to finding out that we're expecting a girl, we saw that she's measuring the right size for her due date and looks healthy.  I edited the 30+ minutes of video down to some highlights on YouTube.

 hands

profile

I had been feeling great until coming down with a sinus infection this week.  Thanks to some antibiotics, I think I'm close to kicking it though.  Speaking of kicking, I am reminded all day long that I'm not alone!  Ryan can't wait until he can feel the baby moving too.

shopping trip

Nikie and Carson brought me two outfits from Kohls today that are really cute.  She also said they were having a big sale on their Carters and winter stuff.  Tonight Ryan and I went and got these.  My favorites are the brown corduroy outfit and the green striped shirt.  The two fleece outfits will be good for next winter.  Our receipt said we saved $70 (never would have paid the original prices) and we also got $10 Kohls cash. =)

13 weeks

Ryan got to come with me on Thursday when I had my second OB appointment in Nashville.  Besides the regular check-up stuff, we heard the heartbeat for the first time, which was really cool.  We could see it in the first ultrasound, but it was neat to hear.  I actually lost weight over the last 5 weeks, which makes sense because I haven't felt like eating.  I go back again for my next appointment on January 4.

Here's the only ultrasound picture we have from October 29 (8 weeks).  We won't have another ultrasound until 20 weeks if everything is going ok.