What does our Christmas look like?

Christmas for me growing up included a lot of handcrafted decorations. I loved it and I love that I now have some of those items in my own home. I had mentioned to my mom that I wanted Claire to have a Christmas stocking much like the one someone made for me after I was born. My mom said that she would take care of it. Little did I know how much work was involved! Here is a picture:

Do you see all those sequins and beads? My mom hand sewed everyone one of those. Do you see all the lettering? Yep, she hand sewed all of that too! She also cut everything out and pieced all together. Unbelievable! I can't imagine how long that took her.

The two on the right are the ones I grew up with. My mom was so good at filling our stockings with fun goodies. I hope I am able to do that for Claire.

(PS Can you see that I'm in the holiday spirit with my holiday socks?!)

Here's what our house looks like for Christmas:

Oh, I wish you could see how the lights are sparkling on it! The tree has a lot of handmade ornaments on it from different family and friends. The skirt was quilted by my Aunt Mary Jane, as well. One day, Claire will get to add her special touch with macaroni and glitter art!

Tim did this for me. I had cleared the hutch off and managed to get a few things up but he completed it last weekend by adding the garland and lights and other decorative knick-knacks. I love looking at it. It is quite festive! It includes a number of pieces that my grandparents made.

Well, I better get back to work. Tim requested clean pants to wear to work!

Merry Christmas!

Claire - 5 Months - Week 2

"Turning over a new leaf" is this week's theme. Claire's sleep troubles came to a head this week. It was horrible. The poor baby would try and try to fall asleep for naps and night time and it just wouldn't come easily. I would have to stand at her crib after laying her down asleep and wait for upwards of ten minutes or more to make sure she would stay awake. She would jolt every time her feet hit the mattress. She managed to sleep through the night on Monday and Tuesday night but Thursday and Friday nights we were up 'til midnight trying to go to sleep. I could tell she was just miserable. Well, she got up on Saturday and it was like we had a different baby. She is falling asleep much easier. She isn't sleeping through the night but she is going to sleep so much more easily. I think she was just going through some developmental spurt that didn't seem like it was ever going to end. As a result, though, Tim and I have noticed some fun changes the past couple of days. She has become even more vocal making the funniest squealing noises. I've seen her start to grab her feet today and I also noticed today that she now seems to be rolling over intentionally. She is even fussing now to let us know that she wants to get down and play.

Oh! We also let her eat some rice cereal yesterday. She was rather nonchalant about the whole thing. She ate it but expressed nothing regarding whether she liked it or hated it. I think I'll buy her a banana.

Here are this week's pictures:

Tim put some rattles on her ankles. I think she kinda liked it.

Yeah, this is alright but I think you could do better, Mom.

Claire - 5 Months - Week 1

Claire had a really good first week as a five month old. No huge developments to report. She is getting close to being able to sit on her own but I think it'll be another month or so before she is completely there. I think she has been going through some developmental changes or something that is causing her to not be able to sleep well during the day. I think, however, we might be getting close to sleeping through the night on a more consistent basis. This week was pretty tough and exhausting with her needing so much help sleeping but I think we're getting close to getting through it.

Here are some pictures:

She's wearing BabyLegs Not Sox. I ordered them off of babysteals.com for Christmas but I couldn't wait to try them on her. Aren't they adorable?!

Tim's mom brought Claire this musical gym the last time she came to visit. All of her grandkids have played with it and Claire loves it!

Hugging her Daddy!

Ready to go out into the cold. She is wearing a scarf that her Mimi knitted her. So cute!

She rolled over in her crib. Look, she's wearing the NotSox again!

She is using the big girl side of her bathtub now.

Claire - 4 Months - Weeks 3 & 4

I apologize for the delay in my blogging. We have been quite busy since we returned from Augusta on Saturday. I had to go to the doctor on Tuesday since I broke out in in head-to-toe hives for no apparent reason the day before Thanksgiving. I had to go see the oral surgeon on Wednesday to make sure I was all better and I am. Claire has had a hard time falling asleep this week. This afternoon she is sleeping very well and I think that is due to sheer exhaustion.

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving in Augusta. We had a great time visiting with Tim's family and Claire enjoyed playing with her cousins. We ate lots of food and had a good time catching up. On our way back on Saturday, we stopped in Atlanta to visit with my Aunt Mary Jane, cousin Rick and his daughter, Lilly.

Here is an update on Claire

• She has really started reaching for toys and people. She loves to bat at the toys hanging over her in her tunnel and she loves to play with people's faces when she is laying in their arms. She even reached out for me once when Tim tried to pick her up while she was trying to go to sleep.
• She is showing signs of affection. I think she is hugging us now. It is quite adorable and very much enjoyed.
• She has become more verbal. She had stopped talking a lot when she started teething and chewing on her fingers. Now she is making a lot of new sounds and squeals.
• She started making raspberry noises.
• She really loves to watch us eat and drink. I think she'll be ready for her first meal at the end of the month.
• On Tuesday, while I was at the doctor's, Tim stayed home with her. She cried for an entire hour until I came home. I think we have some separation issues.
• She really loves it when we sing to her. Nothing gets her laughing better than "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Day-O."
• She loves to be wrapped up in a blanket or towel. When I wrap her up to walk her to her bath, she gets so excited.
• She has started grabbing us with her feet which is totally adorable but it is making diaper changing a bit more of a challenge.
  

Claire turned 5 months old this week. The time goes by so fast! I'll post on her first week as a five month old in a few days. In the meantime, here are the pictures from the past couple of weeks. For some reason, the slideshow feature isn't cooperating so just click on it and select slideshow at the top left.

Thanksgiving 2009

In Sickness and in Health...

I've been reflecting a lot on our wedding vows this week as we approach our 9 year anniversary tomorrow. Yes, 9 years! My dear husband has really lived his vows and I still feel very honored that he chose me. This week we got to live the "In Sickness" part as I had to have a cyst removed from my gums that was also embedded in the bone. It had been there for two years but the surgeon didn't feel the need to remove it when I saw him a year and a half ago but he saw where it was embedded in the bone at my last visit and determined that it needed to be removed. In times like this, Tim is exactly what I need him to be without any special instructions from me. He took great care of me and our sweet little daughter. It was almost worth it to go through the procedure to watch him and Claire enjoy each other yesterday. I am doing well but the surgeon did say that my worst day will be tomorrow, on our anniversary. I hope it isn't too bad as Claire has her first play date tomorrow and I would hate to cancel it. I also have a lot of baking that I would like to do. Well, I better get back to the laundry. Take care!

Poor Baby!

The Teething Monster can be quite vicious! Claire woke up last night at around 11:30 screaming like I've never heard her scream. I have always prided myself on how I deal with tough situations. My brothers were always getting into scrapes that would send us to the emergency room and I think that was good training for some of the tough situations I have faced but there is something about listening to your daughter scream herself hoarse that will just undo you. I fell apart! Thankfully, Tim heard us and got up and brought me back down. During times like this, I am so thankful that I have been able to nurse and that Tim talked me out of quitting in those hard early days. I coaxed her into nursing since that always seems to calm her down and she fell asleep after about ten minutes.

She had a pretty good morning but then the pain returned a couple of hours ago but not with the same intensity as last night. She is sleeping in her swing now and has been for over an hour which means that she is definitely not feeling well. Being a baby is hard business!

She did it!

Tonight, Claire rolled over from her back to her tummy! Our girl just keeps getting stronger!