My Claire

My baby bump!

Claire 1 Day Old


One of my favorite pictures!


Gymboree.

Where the sidewalk ends.

Cheerleader!

Claire at one of her favorite places. Build-A-Bear!

I've been having one of those days today where I just can't get enough of my kids. They have been so sweet this morning and I am reminded AGAIN about how truly blessed I am. I decided to do a little blogging about my girl and what makes her who she is.

Name: Claire Adeline

Age: 3 years 7 months 18 days 5 hours and 52 minutes

Hair: Long, Brown and beautful (Even with her new bangs that she cut herself. She did a great job and I actually like them!)

Eyes: Blue

Favorites

Food: Bananas

Drink: Milk

Color: Blue

Animal: Horse

Stuffed Animal: Pepper (her giraffe she got from Auntie Monica for her 1st Birthday!)

Song: The Cars song (Real Gone-Sheryl Crow)

Thing to do on a sunny day: Play outside

Thing to do on a rainy day: Splash in the puddles

Brother: Cohen

Best Friend: Drew

Cartoon: Maggie and the Ferocious Beast (It's not as scary as it sounds!)

game: Talent Show

Talent Show character: Her crayon people

Joke:

Q: "What did the bear say when he was offered dessert?"

A: "No thanks, I'm stuffed!"

Her Story.

We weren't actually "trying" to get pregnant but we weren't exactly "NOT trying" either. The night I found out I was pregnant I was at my Mom and Dad's house. I was so sure I wasn't pregnant but I wanted to double check before I took some Advil. So while Brian was at his basketball game, I took a test. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was positive and all of the sudden, I was freaking out. Not because my life was about to change. Not because I had a little person in taking up residence in my rapidly growing womb. No. I was freaking out because now EVERY person would know without a doubt that Brian and I were doing the deed that created this little person! Welcome to the crazy mind of a woman who just found out she was with child. From here on out, these are the kind of thoughts that monopolized my time. Thoughts that don't make sense.

So...my plan was to wait until Brian got there to pick me up to share the news with anyone because I thought the father should be the second person to know. Well, that didn't work out so well. I don't know if it was my eyes that were the size of silver dollars, my bright red face or the look of sheer panic that gave it away, but my Mom knew something was up. Especially since I was still holding the pregnancy test when I came out of the bathroom. I used to be so much better at keeping things from my parents! So Brian came home and I gave him the news. His first reaction was to be scared that my Dad was going to kill him. Not exactly the reaction I was looking for, but he was still upright so I took it. We went to Grandma Connie's house and gave her an early Christmas gift (a bib that said "I love my Grandma") and she was thrilled!!! The next 7 months was the BEST. I felt wonderful and LOVED LOVED LOVED my baby bump. We went to find out the sex of the baby and of course the baby was sitting on my bladder and refused to move. So we had to wait another 6 weeks and went to have a 3D ultrasound. We were able to see her little face and we could tell already that she had hair! I cried through the whole thing and Brian managed to compose himself for about half! We left and went shopping where Brian bought his first dress. He wanted to pick out something just for her. I love that man. Summer, Steph and Jamie threw me an amazing shower at the Tower Club and I spent the afternoon surrounded by so many people that mean the world to me. A few weeks later I went for my checkup. I was 3 weeks from my due date and my doc told me I was 4 cm!!! Exactly a week later, Claire was born. I never felt a contraction. I pushed 3 times. She was perfect! I was on top of the world! She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 21 & 1/2 inches long. Her head FULL of dark hair was amazing. I have often regretted the fact that I was unable to breastfeed but all I have to do is think about the look on Brian's face when he gave her her very first bottle. I will never forget it. I think it bonded him to her instantly. We went home on a Friday and on Saturday Claire attended her first wedding. Jana and Bryce are good friends of ours and we couldn't miss it!!! If you know me, you know I still experience a certain pain when their anniversary rolls around every year! We spent the next week at home as a family getting to know our new little person. At the age of 3 we still haven't figured her out but we love her more every single day. I will save most of the bragging for the journal I keep for her but I still can't believe that she is mine. I look forward to having the relationship with her that I have with my mom. I hope that she loves and respects me as much as I do my Mom. I'm not sure what we ever did without her around here. I know for a fact we didn't laugh near as much! Thank you Jesus for the amazing blessing that is Claire Adeline.