Christmas Pictures

We had our first family photo shoot on Wednesday. Here are a couple of our best shots!

Halloween

Claire had an awesome 1st Halloween. She dressed up as a pink elephant, courtesy of Will's mom Susan, and visited a few people to show off her costume. We are going to save door to door trick-or-treating for next year when she can walk and really enjoy it.

Claire's Christmas Dresses

Grandma Doni made Claire 2 adorable Christmas dresses with a black fur shrug and matching hat. The first one was made out of fabric I helped pick out.


The second dress was a surprise for me made out of fabric left over from a Christmas dress made for me when I was a baby. They both turned out great. Thanks mom!

What you missed this summer

I can't believe it is already October! I started this blog because my family and friends are so spread out I thought it would be a good way to keep everybody updated, but I was so busy being a mommy I haven't been keeping up with Claire's blog. So here is what you missed this summer:

Claire went to her first Mariner's game in April with me and Will. It was a night game and we didn't really plan on her getting tired so when she did we had to improvise. Will made her a bed inside her diaper bag. She took a nice little nap in it and when she woke up she was so cozy she didn't want to be taken out.
Claire has since been to one other Mariner's game. It was in August against the Yankee's and we got to see a lot of my dad's side of the family.

In May we flew to Las Vegas to celebrate mine and Sara's 21st birthday. Claire did great on her first plane trip and has continued to be a really good flier. Even though we were only in Vegas for a couple days we had a lot of fun. Claire especially loved floating on the lazy river at our resort.


In July we flew to Texas to visit Auntie Sara and Auntie Jaime. We went on a safari, spent an afternoon at Sara's work having lunch and meeting her co-workers, and spent some time at the pool. I wish they lived closer. It is hard being so far away from them.


In August Will, Claire and I moved into our apartment in Bellingham. We had a lot of much needed help from my parents and our good friends Randy and Heather. Claire wasn't much help in the lifting or unpacking department, but she did make sure that Grandpa did a good job putting her high chair together.

Last month we flew to Orlando, Florida for our first family vacation. We got to go to all four of the Disney theme parks and Disney's Blizzard Beach water park. My parent's came with us and were gracious enough to watch Claire so we could spend a day with my friend, Amanda, who is living in Orlando and going through the Disney college program. It was so great to hang out with her and see her in action! Our trip to Florida was the perfect way to end our summer.



Other Claire updates: Claire is 8 months old and weighs about 16 lbs. She has two teeth (which she hides with her tongue every time I try to take a picture) and is learning how to crawl (even though she can roll around to get pretty much anything she wants). I know everybody says it... but she really is growing up so fast!!!

Photo Shoot

Claire had her first professional photo shoot last Friday. Here are some of my favorite shots!

It's a miracle!

Claire slept through the night for the first time last night, but she did not go down without a fight! I've been having a hard time getting her to sleep in her crib since day one so I have resulted to putting her in her swing or (GASP) bringing her into bed with me. I called her pediatrician yesterday and explained the situation and he gave me some great advice including elevating her mattress and letting her cry it out. So I did! I put her to bed with a full tummy and dry diaper at 9:00 and she cried for a good 2 hours before going to sleep. I checked in on her twice and changed her once, but once she was out she slept until 6am! I woke up at 4:00 and couldn't fall back asleep because I was convinced she was going to wake up at any minute. I had to keep peeking into her crib to make sure she was still breathing. I nursed her and put her back down around 6:30 and it is now a quarter to 10:00 and she is still sleeping. Here's hoping this is the first of many restful nights!

Claire has the travel bug!

These past couple weeks have been very busy. On April 19th we drove to Long Beach to celebrate Claire's Great Aunt Dana's birthday. It was Claire's first beach trip and we were so fortunate to have beautiful, sunny weather. We walked on the beach, window shopped in town, and learned Grandpa Darren's sand dollar dance. We can't wait to go back when Claire is big enough to make sand castles and jump through the waves. At the rate she's growing it will be sooner than we know it!
The following weekend my parents went to New York so Will came down and stayed with me and Claire. We spent most of the time being lazy at home and enjoying the quiet, but as soon as the sun came out we made our way to the Mima Mounds. They are all the rave around here! We didn't know what to expect, but as it turns out they're just miles of grassy hills that were created thousands of years ago by a glacier. There is a trail you can follow around the mounds but we didn't have Claire's carrier and it was kind of cold so we just took some pictures and called it good.
On our way to take Will back to Bellingham we stopped at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Claire slept in her stroller the whole time, and I got so caught up taking pictures of the animals that I forgot to take any of her. Whoops!

When we got to Bellingham we got to visit a lot of people including a surprise visit to Grandma Ann's classroom. Claire enjoyed being the center of attention and the star of show and tell. We're looking forward to going back again. Next time we'll give a heads up so grandma doesn't get in trouble for not showing Claire to all her friends!

From Bellingham we traveled over Steven's Pass to Wenatchee for the Apple Blossom Festival. We got to visit Ben and Jodi and then got lost trying to find our way back to Amanda's house. Once we found our way we were overwhelmed by all the cousins that were staying there. In addition to Amanda's parents and 3 siblings there were 5 extra people visiting! The good part was there were lots of hands to help out with Claire. I don't think she ever got put down until it was time for bed! We had a great time at the parade and food fair and found the perfect gift for Grandma Ann at the craft fair. It was gorgeous and sunny for most of the trip. I'm so bummed that I didn't get any pictures. From now on I am going to keep my camera in my diaper bag with extra batteries at all times!

10 weeks and counting!!!

Claire is 10 weeks old and is growing and changing everyday. Because my family and friends are spread out far and wide I've decided to start this blog to share Claire's new experiences and accomplishments. At 2 1/2 months Claire can already hold her head up when lying on her stomach, smile, giggle, roll over, and more. She is very expressive and alert and is constantly moving her arms and legs. I can tell she's going to be quite the handful as soon as she can walk! Claire loves people and is, for the most part, a very happy and content baby. Above all she is a total mama's girl!


Claire had a very relaxed first Easter. It was raining so we nixed the Easter egg hunt and let her play with her new friend instead.