Baby Blessing

Last Sunday Erik blessed our baby girl. It was such a special day for our family.

Everything went well; there was no pooping or spitting up on her dress and thankfully no crying during the prayer.

Claire is so fortunate to have Erik as her father. He gave a beautiful blessing and I will always remember how strongly I felt the Spirit.

It's amazing how becoming a mother turns you into an emotional wreck. Crying has become almost a daily occurance - the sight of Claire sleeping in her crib, the sound of her laugh, and the look Erik gives her when he sees her smile make me melt. Life is so sacred. Erik not only blessed Claire that day, he blessed our entire family.

(Our family with my parents)

(Our family with Erik's parents and Farmor)

(Our family with Erik's grandparents)

(Our family with Erik's siblings and their families)

(Sadly, my siblings couldn't make it as they live out of state. They were with us in our hearts.)

I want to give a big thank you to everyone who helped us out that day and a really BIG thank you to my mom. She spent hours making Claire's blessing dress without even having a pattern! It was absolutely beautiful! Thank you!

Fun at the Fair

Last week Erik's family joined us at the Salt Lake County Fair for a couple of hours. I always love going to the fair. I walk around aimlessly looking at animals, people watching, and wondering "who buys all of this junk?" I've never even made it on any of the rides...maybe one year. I guess I just like the change of pace. This year was even more fun because we had our little "Claire Bear". Activities like this are so much more entertaining with children. Great weather and a sugary funnel cake added to the fun night out with our family.

Not Used To This

Erik is out of town, Khloe is playing at her four-legged sister's house, Claire is at her two-legged aunt's house and I am all by myself at work. What am I to do? I don't have anyone begging for my attention! Oh wait....I have files up to my ears, am taking an endless amount of phone calls and in about 3 hours when classes start, I'll have 50 people asking me stupid questions. Yikes! Surprisingly, I'd rather be at home changing Claire's diaper and playing fetch with Khloe.

Cutie Pies

Ever since Claire was born, I've wanted to get a cute picture of her with Khloe. Until recently, I couldn't even get Khloe to sit anywhere near Claire. Today, my Mom and I had a quick 5 minute photo shoot and I finally got a shot of the two of them as well as an adorable shot of Claire by herself. My little girls are so cute!

Utes Come Out With A Bang

Thursday night Claire went to her first football game. Utah beat Pittsburgh 27-24 in overtime. Go Utes! It was so much fun spending the night out as a family, especially since the game was such a nail biter.

Claire was a trooper and slept almost the entire time thanks to her ear plugs and Baby Bjorn. Everyone stared at us as we walked up and down the stairs, but who could resist looking at this little princess.
Even Erik enjoyed the half time entertainment. She was way more interesting than the band.
My only regret? Claire had no Utah garb on. There was a little baby behind us that had a onsie which said "Ute Fan Since Birth". It was so cute. I haven't been able to find it anywhere online though. Hopefully I'll find something soon so she can be a true, dedicated Ute fan.

Claire Bear & Claire Bear

Our little Claire Bear turned 2 months old on Monday. She's growing up so fast. I adopted one of my sister's traditions and will be taking pictures of Claire with her "Claire Bear" each month to see how much she's grown. I got lucky with this last one - she smiled for the first shot!

2 Months

1 month

Newborn

So Proud - Update

Letting Claire cry herself to sleep is not going as well as it was initially. Yesterday afternoon she didn't cry at all. Yesterday evening she cried for 20 min., slept for 30 min., cried for 25 min. and then I got her up. Last night she literally cried nonstop for 1.5 hours (I went in about every 20 minutes and consoled her).

Erik was a softy last night and after listening to her scream bloody murder for 1.5 hours, he told me that she has probably had enough torture and to go rock her to sleep. She fell asleep in about 30 seconds.

Today's afternoon nap she cried for 20 minutes and is now asleep. This I can handle, but if I have another night like last night, I'm going to go insane! I really hope she gets the hang of this soon!

So Proud!

One of the things I've had on my list to do is to get Claire to sleep without rocking or other "sleep props" as Babywise puts it. Yesterday I decided I've put it off long enough and that I need to just buckle down and start letting her cry herself to sleep. I was dreading the 3-5 days they say it takes for a baby to change their sleeping habits and knew I would have to listen to hours of endless crying.

Today's afternoon nap was my first shot. I changed her diaper, bundled her up in her Swaddle Pod, sang the first verse to I Am A Child Of God, set her in her crib and went downstairs with baby monitor in hand, prepared for the worst.

5 minutes went by and no noise. Then another 5 minutes. I waited a total of 15 minutes and decided I better check on her. Maybe the monitor wasn't working I thought. I opened the door and was amazed when I saw this:


My little "Claire Bear" sound asleep. I literally started to cry - I was so proud of her! I only hope this isn't just a one time thing. We'll see in a few hours when she goes down for another nap.

A Day Full of Accomplishments

Sometimes Claire has her days when she doesn't let me get anything done, but today, she was an absolute joy! She let me shower, do my hair, put makeup on, paint my nails, and even exercise for the first time in a LONG time. I've realized now that with a 2 month old baby, days like these are one in a million.

We did have one little mishap though. I fixed myself a turkey sandwhich and went upstairs for a minute. Well...it was a little too quiet. By the time I got downstairs, I was left with this -


This is exactly how Khloe left the plate. Somehow she managed to eat only the turkey and havarti cheese and left me the bread, lettuce and sprouts. "Thanks Khloers." :)

Family Outing (minus Khloe)

Last weekend Claire and I joined Erik on the golf course for a quick 9 holes. I decided that it's never too early to start teaching Claire the art of being a perfect golf companion. I must say, she caught on very quickly and she's on her way to being daddy's little caddy.

Here are the rules - first of all, there is no talking (or crying) while someone is hitting the ball. Second, driving the cart is an art form. Take the quickest route to the ball and try not to start/stop the cart abruptly. Third, tend the flag if called upon and lastly, while Erik (daddy) reflects upon all of his shots for what seems like hours on end, look at him with your big blue eyes and pretend to listen.


Claire's got this down pat!

Oops!

Motherhood is exhausting and it finally caught up to me yesterday. I put Claire in her crib around 11:30pm last night and then went in my room to go to bed. She had been asleep in my arms for the past hour and of course as soon as she was placed in her crib, she woke up and started crying. I was going to wait 15 minutes before going in to console her, but I was so tired that I accidentally fell asleep.


I found out this morning that Erik went and got her around 12:30am because she was crying (he had been all the way downstairs and couldn't hear her screaming). He said her hair was drenched from all of her sweat. Oops! She was probably crying for an entire hour! I felt terrible! Poor girl. Guess I need to try and get some more sleep so I don't accidentally neglect my child. :)

Claire's Favorite Things

...sleeping with her arms up...

...going on walks with her big sister (Khloe)...

...shopping at places named after her...

...sunbathing at the pool...

(I promise she had lots of sunscreen on)
...doing anything outside with Mommy. Gotta love this girl!

Things I am Enjoying About Claire

the way she smiles with her eyes closed

her little button nose

watching her stretch as she wakes up

how she always has her arms/hands by her face when she sleeps

the calmness that comes over her as we walk outside

cuddling with her as she sleeps

watching Erik interact with her

the "horse" noises she makes when she relaxes

seeing her grow up every single day

staring into her little eyes

knowing she's mine forever

Claire's Newborn Pics

Having Claire has been quite an adventure. Like everyone says, I never thought I could love someone so much. She's been an absolute joy (when she's not crying) and even though I've become extremely sleep deprived, I wouldn't change a thing.

Even though I spent years babysitting as a teenager, I'm learning new things everyday and after 2 weeks, I now understand why it takes mothers so long to get anything done. Today it took me 4 hours to pay bills and getting ready now takes all day. Nap 1 - shower. Nap 2 - put clothes on. Nap 3 - well, you get the idea. I'm hoping as Claire gets on a schedule and decides to sleep more than an hour here and there, that I can become more efficient. I did manage to figure out how to nurse and reconcile bank statements simultaneously today. :-)

Last week I FINALLY got around to taking some newborn pictures of Claire so I'm going to put off blogging about her birth until later. One thing I will mention is...can you believe all of her hair?! Here are my favorites- ENJOY!

***New Addition***