Another Leak!

Another leak?! Yep, that's right. We replaced 80% of our plumbing in Milwaukee due to frozen pipes then started with leak after leak in this house. It is enough to make us swear off buying old houses... maybe. Though our 112 year-old beauty is a true gem, the leaking is really getting us down. This time is even worse because the cracked drain pipe is ruining our beautiful built-in. It looks like we'll be replacing about a twenty foot section of pipe. Until that happens, though, two of our bathrooms and our washer/drier are out of commission. So check out the pics below of Claire and daddy helping fold laundry at the laudromat. We can make lemonade out of these lemons!!

8 months

I can't believe another month has zipped right by. Could Ari and I possibly be parents to an eight month-old? The answer is fortunately yes as we continue to enjoy Claire more with each passing day. She clearly is getting physically bigger. I think the biggest change has been that people no longer look at me quizically when I tell them how old she is. They used to say, "Really? But she is so small." Then I would have to explain that she was 9 1/2 weeks early. Now that just tell me how cute she is, which as her mom I already know! Her personality is becoming more and more apparent and I am glad to report that she seems to be laid back and fun loving just like her daddy; no hints of mommy's type A personality traits yet. Developmentally, she sits without us worrying about support anymore. She is making efforts to crawl but usually just scoots backwards or turns 360 degrees. Her dexterity is much improved and she is starting to learn "tricks." When I say "spirit fingers" she will reach to touch my wiggling fingers and laugh. She will also give Ari "five" most of the time. She will take little steps when you hold her hands and can sit up from nearly lying on her back. She is also starting to be a performer. She will do something she knows excites you and look at you waiting for applause; that is a riot! All and all I would say I am certainly blessed to be her mom!

A Whole House Full

The first weekend in August we had a big Wesleyan reunion at our house. We are so fortunate that all of Ari's college friends have remained a tight group and to encourage this to continue we invited everyone, their spouses, and children to spend the weekend at our house. Let me tell you when I say spend the weekend at our house I literally mean that there were 19 people staying with us from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Now I know why we have such a big house; it was perfect!! Friday night was pretty low key with everyone arriving and we all sat around catching up and eating pizza. Saturday, I made a big breakfast and then we all went outside to play. We had badmitton and volleyball set up. Then there was the first annual cornhole tournament. The couples were all split up and we had a double elimination tournament. I am proud to report that Ari and Sarah Beth took the title with Nate and I coming in second. All the while kids were running around and having a great time. Then we grilled out for dinner. Soon it was time to put the kids to bed and each little family took up one room in our house and were all cozy on air mattresses. The adults stayed up drinking beer and catching up but didn't make it long; we certainly aren't as young as we used to be. Sunday morning I made a big brunch; we took a group photo and then one by one the families left. It was an awesome experience and we are looking forward to making it an annual event. A big thank you to Sara, Tom, Conner, Dan, Amber, Jason, Jen, Jakob, Josh, Addison, Beth, Andi, Alex, Evan, Amanda, Nate, Preston, Jenny, and Karen for making the trip to Cincinnati!

Our Little Carnivore

Grandma and Grandpa Leib, please skip this entry!! One of the exciting things that has happened in the last month is that Claire has become a true carnivore. We introduced her to both chicken and turkey and she loves them! Thank goodness because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Ari and I had decided even before we were married that our kids would eat meat until they chose not to. I am proud of him for keeping his promise and not crying when our little bear ate meat just like bears do!!

Teaser

The good news is our computer is up and running... seems we had a nasty Thai virus... the bad news is that it is already way past my bedtime and I just can't stay up any longer for more updates. I did want to put a quick pic up, though, to show you how big Claire is getting and to tell you that we will catch you up on the month's events soon!

Sorry!

Sorry for the lack of updates... our lives have been crazy and our home computer is down... more soon!

Rollin' Around

The other day when Claire and I were playing in her room, I decided to take a few pictures. She was rollin' all over the place to get to her favorite toys. I think the funniest pictures of her are those in her defeated pose: head down into the rug because she just can't get to what she wants. The best part is this only lasts a minute and then she is up playing again.

7 Months Old!

I am absolutely amazed to say that our little bear is 7 months-old! Just the other day I was starting to put together a photo album of her photos and I couldn't even remember what it felt like to hold her when she was brand new and only 3 pounds. Now the only evidence of her preemie days is that she is smaller than other babies her age. She has made amazing strides in the last month. She now sits independently; don't get me wrong, toppling over still happens. She is able to reach for toys, though and come back to a sitting position. She transfers objects between her hands regularly and uses her hands together to manage to lift more complicated toys. She babbles and makes the most adorable expressions when she talks to you. But her laugh is really my favorite. What is even better, is that when I laugh she starts to laugh as if she knows that if I am laughing something must really be funny and she doesn't want to be left out. She is really into making noise and banging her toys on surfaces. She also still seems to be a lefty. Crawling doesn't seem that far away either... she gets on her hands and knees and seems to really want to be able to move but for now we are limited to rolling. We have plenty of drool but no teeth yet... hopefully soon! Regardless, she is a complete delight and we just can't wait to see what she will do tomorrow.

Father's Day

Amazingly enough, Ari and I were both off of work for father's day. Claire and I couldn't wait to give daddy his gift: a super cool jogging stroller. Daddy was just a bit disappointed when it all came together and Claire was a bit too petite to be secured properly. I am sure that in a month or so she'll be ready to jog! In the afternoon Katie, Ryan, an Ian came over for a cookout and a swim. Ian really loves the water. We just couldn't believe he had the audacity to wear a Cubs hat to our house... I guess no one is perfect. After lots of time in the pool, we did a purely vegetarian grill out because I was out numbered by vegetarians! All and all it was a pretty fun day. What do you think of Claire's new hat?

Smiles

It has been a bit tough to catch Claire smiling on camera recently. She is such a joyful little thing that when she smiles she is usually giggling and throwing her head back or wriggling with glee. I have MANY blurry photos of Claire smiling; I am guessing you may not be interested in seeing those. Anyway, here are a few I captured that aren't blurry.

All By Myself

This blog entry is officially dedicated to my sister who says she is tired of reading blog entries about Claire eating... too bad lady! She clearly doesn't understand how much fun meal times with a baby are. Our little Claire Bear loves to eat and play with her spoon. Since I am a bit more type A (shocking I know) than Ari, I tend to keep a tighter reign on her but these are pictures of Claire set loose with her spoon and some prunes... yuck! She enjoyed every second of it!

6 Months

I can't believe our not so little peanut is 6 months old! I think it really hit me yesterday when I was consulting on a brand new baby and she was all floppy and sleepy and making all those new baby sounds. Claire has come such a long way from her 3 pound preemie beginnings. She now weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds, 2 ounces. She is rolling front to back and desperately trying to roll back to front. She sits with very little support. She loves to eat and if you put food on her spoon she will take it from you and put it in her mouth. She absolutely loves to laugh and will start laughing just because I am laughing. She continues to have the most wonderful temperament; always full of smiles and crying only when she is over tired. Everyday she is such a joy; I just can't believe she is ours.

A Visit From Fairy Godberry

Last week... yep, I am catching up!... we had a visit from our Fairy Godberry (residency nickname). Sarah came in to town and we were glad that she could join Ari, Claire, and I for dinner. She was super thoughtful and overly generous as fairies often are and brought Claire some adorable outfits and shoes. We then headed off to Tellers were we had a good meal but absolutely slow/terrible service. On the bright side it gave us time to catch up since we haven't seen Sarah since she got married. We had a great visit and Claire can't wait to see her Fairy Godberry again... and who knows maybe there will be a little fairy in the works sometime soon!

Claire's First Baseball Game

After our long afternoon at the zoo, we decided to go to the Reds game with Dad and Lily. The Reds were playing the cubs and since dad and Lily are misinformed they happen to be Cubs fans. With Claire and I Cardinals fans and Ari a White Sox fan, that made for some interesting dynamics. Oh, if you are readiing this honey Claire is also a White Sox fan... unless they are playing the Cardinals in which case Cardinals win! Anyway, going to the game gave us an opportunity to put Claire in her little Cards cheerleading outfit which is adorable. She sat through the game like an angel; ate like it was no big deal and mostly people watched. They people around us couldn't believe how well she did. She briefly cried for a minute when the fireworks went off but otherwise was perfect. She made it though 11 innings! That's our little baseball fan!!

Awake at the Zoo

Two weeks ago when Dad and Lily were in town we went to the zoo. Now Claire has been to the zoo many time, I am sure she doesn't remember them because we have always had her in the stroller and she falls right to sleep. This time we decided to put her forward facing in the baby bjorn. Wow! What a difference! Claire loved watching all the animals and the people and stayed awake the whole time. She was such a good sport even eating there. I wonder what animal will become her favorite.

Playing with Our Food

I am not quite sure who is having more fun experimenting with food, me or Claire. I have had a blast reading about what foods to introduce when and making Claire's baby food myself. She has enjoyed gobbling up sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas. Peas were definitely not popular; the fake gagging was especially dramatic (hopefully not a sign of things to come). Green beans were not popular but no where near as bad as peas. We are definitely going to have to feed her in her bumbo chair for a while... she is WAY too petite for her high chair. A special thank you and apology to Ari because I begged for us to go out and buy it and for him to put it together only to realize we are probably months from being able to use it (see the pictures). This week we have acorn squash and carrots on the docket; I am betting both will be popular.

Swimming (Part deux)

Memorial Day we were back in the pool, this time playing with our friend Eva. Our med school friends Brent and Nahid have a beautiful 1 1/2 yo that really enjoyed sharing Claire's pool and her toys. We had a great time grilling out then little Eva decided to crawl all over our screened in porch and got SO dirty that we put her back in the pool (in our front yard) and gave her a white trash bath. She screamed the whole time, poor thing! She went to sleep great, though, and we were able to stay up and watch a movie. We are really going to miss them when they move to North Carolina.

Please Take a Moment

I usually try to keep the blog upbeat, so bear with me as I get a little serious. Recently a close friend of mine lost her nephew to complications of congenital heart disease and I have also been a part of the deaths of two hematology oncology patients here at Children's. Could you all just take a moment out of your day today to pray/reflect on the poor children who leave us to soon and the families that are left to grieve for them? Children are such little miracles, rejoice in those that are happy and healthy as well. Thanks.

3 Days Off!

Since I have gone back to work, I have been joking with the chief fellows that they should never give me two days off in a row because every time I get the entire weekend off I enjoy playing mommy so much that I don't want to go back to work. So you can just imagine how I felt after 3 days off for the Memorial Day weekend! I was in full mommy mode and lovin' it. Here are some pictures I took while Claire and I were playing.

Sweet Potato Princess

Look at that grin, can you tell our girl likes sweet potatoes? So after weeks of chowing down on rice cereal, we made the big leap to sweet potatoes and boy does Claire love them. She grins the entire time she is eating them! It must seem so much more exciting than rice cereal. What I can tell you is that it definitely is more of a mess. Claire gets really into her solids and loves to suck on her fingers while she eats then the food goes where her fingers go... clothes, bumbo chair, hair, you name it! It is worth it to see that grin, though!! We love our sweet potato princess!

5 Months Old

Can you believe our peanut is five months old already? We can't! Claire has made so many strides this month. She is constantly vocalizing and her giggling is infectious. She continues to be a great eater; she is now getting cereal twice a day and just started veggies... I will blog more about that later. She grasps well and shakes her rings and keys and puts everything in her mouth. She actually even transferred her keys from one hand to the other a few days ago. Her head and trunk control is getting better every day and she can sit with just a little support. When she is on her tummy she will bring her legs up like she wants to move but isn't quite there yet. She also doesn't get up in the middle of the night to eat anymore! She is just such a joy and she continues to have a wonderful temperment. Happy 5 months big girl!!

Doll Baby

We call Claire our little doll baby because we both enjoy dressing her up and she tolerates us doing just about anything to her: making her dance is one of our favorites. So these pictures are when Ari dressed her the other day... he has great fashion sense doesn't he? I swear Claire does smile... she just doesn't do it on command for the camera!

Claire's First Swim

Two weeks ago... yep, I am finally catching up... it was 88 degrees outside. Ari and I agreed that after work (oh how I love working on the weekend) we would blow up the inflatable pool we bought Claire and try out her swimsuit that Grammy bought her. My first mistake was trying to blow up the pool with my own lungs at first; that was going nowhere fast. Then because I am cheap, I went out and bought a little manual pump. Sure it works on both strokes but I was beat after pumping up her whale shaped pool! I hadn't even filled it with water yet. Because I didn't want her to get cold I was bringing a gallon bucket to and from the house filled with bathtub warm water. Ari had to finish the job because I haven't gotten that much exercise since before I was pregnant. Finally the toys were in the pool and Claire was decked out in her swimming suit. She LOVED the water. We were splish splashing and having a good ole time UNTIL we wound up a wind up dolphin and shark. She starting SCREAMING when she saw them swimming at her. What a bust! The pool adventure was pretty much done after that. We did video the whole experience so as soon as I have two seconds to myself, I will try to figure out how to upload it.

The Bumbo Chair and Cereal

For those of you not familiar with them, the Bumbo chair is this wonderful invention that helps babies work on their truncal strength and stay in a sitting position. We got one for Claire a couple of weeks ago and she likes it... for the most part. What it has been most useful for, however, is feeding her cereal. Yep, that's right our girl is a big cereal eater now. After watching her smack her lips for weeks while we ate at the dinner table, the pediatrician in me said, "it's time to start some solids." Our doc had recommended waiting because she is a preemie but I promised Ari that if she gave any sign that she wasn't ready we would stop and wait awhile. Did she show any signs of not being ready? Nope, she ate it like a champ. She loves her cereal and smiles and coos during her evening feeds. The other super bonus: it totally knocks her out and she will sleep about six hours after she finishes! Way to go big girl cereal eater!!

A Walk in the Park

Near the end of Ari's parents' visit, we all took a trip to Ault Park. It was a beautiful day and we dolled Claire up in a little dress and went out to enjoy the weather. The park is absolutely beautiful and parts of it remind me of the quad at the U of I with its crisscrossing sidewalks and people playing music, frisbee, or just enjoying a good book. Claire enjoyed it until Ari was posing with her in a tube on the playground... not quite ready for that yet!

Opa and Bobe

In March, yes I realize that was nearly two months ago, Ari's parents arrived to meet Claire. They were helpful in watching her while we got ourselves back into a groove with both of us at work. They stayed for two weeks and I think they really enjoyed all the bonding time!

Apologies

For those of you who keep up with our blog routinely, I want to send out my apologies for the lack of updates. Transitioning back to being a fellow and being a mom on top of that has been overwhelming to say the least. I love my job but it is intense and the hours are long, leaving me little time to cuddle my precious baby. As you can imagine, I would rather cuddle than blog. I am off this weekend and promise to do our blog justice. Here are a few photos to keep your interest until then. They were taken a few weeks ago... just wait until you see how big she is now!

Four Months Old!!

Does that look like a happy 4 month old or what? Grammy got Claire all dressed up for her big day which corresponded to Grammy's ___ birthday. You know I won't tell how old she is and it is even harder to guess now that she has her new hair do. Anyway, Miss Claire has had quite a month. She is now sitting in her bumbo chair regularly and has really good truncal strength. She loves to coo and smile and at times seems to try to mimic what we are doing with our mouths. This is especially apparent at dinner time as she sits with us smacking her lips and drooling... our pediatrician says no food yet because she was so early. She intermittently swats at toys you hold in front of her and help you hold her paci and bottle. She continues to have the most lovely temperament; she rarely cries. She is still waking one or two times to eat at night, which I don't mind since I spend so little time with her during the day. Happy 4 months Claire Bear!

A Few of My Favorite Things

While Claire is certainly too young to pick her favorite toys, it is quite obvious that she prefers some over others. She definitely loves "Moosie" the colorful moose, "Gracie" the pink giraffe that rattles, her ring toy that is super colorful and makes that fun crunching sound, and "Ting Ting" who plays a French song. While I was at work the other day, Ari had fun posing Claire with all of her toys. I call this picture "Claire's Menagerie."

Kiss Me!!

Auntie Kristen sent Claire the most adorable St. Patty's Day outfit! This is the first time we put Claire in a dress and I think she looks adorable, but of course I am her mother! She wouldn't smile for the camera but I think she is looking very kissable. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

3 Months Old!

Just look at that face! I spent quite a while trying to coax a smile out of Miss Claire on her 3 month birthday, but she just wasn't having it! Claire continues to brighten our lives everyday. Things we have noticed this month is that she is much more interactive. Her smiles are no longer random, if you talk to her or tickle her she will reward you with a goofy little grin, unless of course you are trying to capture one on film. She is also starting to use her voice and coo more than more throaty sounds. She is also using her hands more purposefully and holding her nuk in or holding your hand while you feed her. Her neck strength continues to improve and she has been working on her push ups during tummy time. One other thing that we are loving is that she is sleeping much better at night (most nights!). She wakes only once to eat and then goes right back to sleep. Thankfully, she also sleeps through mommy's pager going off! Happy 3 month birthday Claire Bear!

Playin'

Before I went back to work last Friday, Claire, Marine and I did a lot of playin'. Not only did we read stories, play with toys and have tummy time but we also went to the zoo and on walks. Now while Marine and I enjoyed the walks and the zoo, Claire slept right through them! Every time she is in her car seat or stroller, she totally passes out... now that I am thinking of it, we should probably put her in her car seat at night so daddy and I can get a reprieve from the late night awakenings! Nah! I just spent every moment I could taking in being a mommy before it was back to work. Just look at that face and you can imagine how hard it would be to leave it!

Sarah and Brian Meet Claire

Last weekend Sarah, my medical school roommate, and her boyfriend Brian came up from Lexington to meet Claire. They came up in Sarah's new Toyota Venza, which I have to say is one sweet ride. It even has a camera to show what is behind you! After stuffing our faces with Dewey's Pizza, Sarah showed us her pictures of a recent trip to Paris and London with our friend Holly. Thank goodness Marine was here to make sure she was pronouncing things correctly! Brian totally passed out on the sofa while the girls were gabbing, Ari was at work. Sarah said he would be hard to wake but I have never seen anyone sleep so soundly. We could have had a marching band in our family room and he wouldn't have woken up! The next morning Sarah and I made breakfast while Brian got a chance to hold Claire. Ari finally woke up and entertained everyone with ER stories. Too soon Ari had to head back to work and Sarah and Brian had to leave so they could make it back in time to see the UK basketball game.

Visitor Magnet

Sorry for the lack of updates, our lives have been a bit crazy... but I will get to that in a bit. As you can imagine, having a new baby at home is like having a magnet for everyone you love. It has been so fabulous to have our house full of loved ones coming to see Claire... and Ari and I. My mom has already been here four times! Thank goodness, too. I am not sure what we would have done without her support through Claire's hospitalization and the holidays. She also has gotten us organized, painted Claire's room and our master bath, as well as sewed drapes for Claire and our au pair's room. She also did about a year's worth of our ironing (I hate ironing!). Now I know that as a mother I should be aiming to be the best mom I can be, but how can I ever compete with that? Oh, I didn't even mention the numerous errands she ran as well as cooking and serving delicious meals. I wish she would move in! I love you mom!! I digress... so mom was here cuddlin' Claire and of course taking care of us. Then Jenn came in to town so she could meet baby Claire before jetting of to Australia. It is so funny to watch her and my mom interact, its like my mom has two Jen's. The visits were full of cuddling, cuddling, and more cuddling... but check out the picture of Jenn reading to Claire, it is too cute. Also too cute are the outfits that Jenn and her parents gave to Claire!

After a fun trip to Jungle Jim's, a six acre grocery store... I am not exagerating, it was time for Jenn to go just in time for us to pick up Marine, our au pair. It was like greeting our long lost French relative. She is so cute and gracious. She loves everything we cook for her; she says everything is "delicious." Of course she is trying to teach me to say that in a very cool French way, but I just can't get it. Ari has definitely caught on to more French than me!

2 Month Check Up

Friday was Claire's 2 month check up. Dad gave her a niece hairdo at the doctor's office while we were waiting for Dr. Zimmerly! Claire was weighed and measured and continues to grow like a weed: 7 lbs 3 oz now! Personally, I think their scale is a little off since she was 6 lbs 12 oz on Tuesday but regardless she is making great gains. If you adjust her numbers for her prematurity she is between the 25-50% in head circumference and weight and 5% for length. No tall genes in this family! Claire is also advanced for a preemie because she is already meeting her 2 month milestones; that's our girl! She even showed off her neck strength for Dr. Zimmerly. Last up was THREE shots! If you think the two of us didn't do well with the one on Tuesday; it was certainly worse with three. Good thing daddy was there to cuddle Claire and provide me with emotional support. Our girl certainly was not herself all day but after a couple of doses of Tylenol was back to herself by Saturday.

Valentine's Day

We really enjoyed our first Valentine's Day with Claire. We got her all dolled up in her heart outfit and topped it off with a bow. There was no candy this year... much to Ari's chagrin, but there will be plenty in the future I am sure. We spent most of the day lovin' on Claire; pretty much a typical day. We then, foolishly, decided to head out for a late dinner. We tried to eat at a couple of restaurants but the wait was over 2 hours! We finally figured out that this little Thai restaurant by our house could seat us immediately. I was starving by that time and worried that Miss Claire would wake up ready to eat herself. Instead we had a really great meal and Claire slept the whole time. Happy love day to all of you!

Out and About

So after 5 weeks of being house bound, we really started getting Claire out and about this week. We are certainly careful because we don't want her to catch any of the nasty winter viruses but we just were getting stir crazy! We try to take her out at off times when there are the fewest crowds. This is her all cozy in her car seat (she loves it) at Red Robin. We had a big day of yummy sandwiches and a trip to IKEA. Claire did great. The only bad thing about the car seat is that she gets so comfortable that when she finally wakes up she is starving and mommy just can't feed her fast enough!

2 Months Old!

I love that little sly grin! Anyway, our little Claire Bear is officially 2 months old and has also passed up her official due date! A home health nurse came to assess her and give her a Synagis shot to protect her from RSV; during the visit she weighed Claire... 6 pounds 12 ounces! Holy cow! Our little girl is packing on the pounds. Must be all that quality fortified breast milk! We are enjoying her more and more every day, waiting to see what she will do next. Tonight she gave this big ole grin and cooed at the same time; it was awesome! We have to go get our official two month check up with Dr. Zimmerly on Friday and she will get SEVEN immunizations; thank goodness they can put five in one shot. You should have heard the poor girl cry after just one today; my heart just broke. Luckily she was easily consoled by mommy's hugs.

Morning Cuddles

Ari is on vacation this week... he asked off many months ago thinking that we would be expecting Claire this week, not caring for a two month old!... so Claire is enjoying the extra cuddles from daddy. Earlier this week I gave her over to daddy so I could make breakfast; don't they look happy? Don't worry, daddy is not asleep he is posing. The pediatrician in me does not allow co-sleeping, just lots of cuddling!

Stronger Every Day

You might be thinking: why are you posting a picture of poor Claire face down? I did it to illustrate the strength of our little peanut. When on her tummy she easily picks up her head and turns it to the other side. Amazing! Tonight for the first time she also really pushed up with her hands. Now the doctors say that she should be developmentally behind because she was a preemie. I think someone forgot to tell Claire because she has developed a social smile and she coos as well. She is also more and more alert every day. I can't wait to see what she will do tomorrow!

Claire meets Grandpa Pope and Grandma Lily

This weekend we were so excited to have Grandpa Pope and Grandma Lily drive from Chicago to meet Claire for the first time. Like those that have come before them, they instantly fell in love with our little angel. Now we use a lot of terms of endearment for Claire: Claire Bear, Pretty Peanut, Milk Face (my favorite while feeding her) but my dad has come up with his own... Princess of Adorableness. I think it actually is quite fitting. Needless to say, there was hardly time to do anything but let the new grandparents cuddle her little majesty. I could tell she liked snuggling on grandpas chest. While snuggling Friday night we did watch Slumdog Millionaire (a must see!) while enjoying Dewey's Pizza. Saturday there was LOTS of cuddling, some dominoes (boy did I kick butt), and I made dinner. Sunday came all too quick and after some french toast and more cuddling, it was time for Lily and dad to head back to Chicago. They are already planning their next trip back to see her royal highness!

Blog Facelift

Inspired by my friend and fellow blogger, Laura, I decided to give our blog a facelift. I thought this background was colorful and fun. Let me know what you think!

Claire's First Non-Doctor Outing

On Super Bowl Sunday, we decided that it was time to get Claire out and about. Of course we didn't want to expose her to any nasty germs or crowds of people but we did think it was time for a change of scenery. So when our friends Brent and Nahid said they were having only six germ free people over to watch the game, we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to get out of the house. Wow did I under estimate the amount of time and things we would need to bring just to be out of the house for 6 hours. Claire is certainly not low maintenance! Well I guess neither is her mother! Regardless, we got to Brent and Nahid's before the kick off and we had a great time. Everyone enjoyed holding the baby... after washing their hands. Nahid made delicious spaghetti and we all sort of watched the game. It was a very successful outing; we'll have to do it again sometime!

Claire in Sepia

Since I have this fancy new camera, I thought I would play with the photos that I have taken of Claire. I sorted through the 500 pictures... no that is not an exaggeration... to find my favorites to crop and play with. I think our angel is cutest in person but not bad looking in sepia!! Enjoy the photos.

Auntie Kristen Comes to Visit

This past weekend we were so glad to have Kristen come to visit. This is the first time she has met her niece and I think it was love at first sight. There were few moments all weekend long when Claire was not in Kristen's arms... mostly during diaper changing! Kristen helped to get Claire's nursery together and got me started on some cute projects to put some personal touches in her room. My mom has been in town since last Wednesday as well so it was great to have some girl time... sorry Ari! Kristen also brought a crocheted blanket that she made just for Claire and I am sure it will be a favorite. The weekend passed way too quickly but I am sure that Kristen will not be a stranger to our little peanut.

Firsts

As I am sure you can imagine, there have been a lot of "firsts" since coming home from the NICU. First trip in the car, first pediatrician visit, first bottle at home, first night in our bassinet, first diaper change at home, first bath, and first experience in our swing. We have captured some of these firsts on camera, so click on the title of the blog and enjoy!

Who Wears the Pants?

I know this is a picture from our previous life at the NICU, but for some reason I get the biggest kick out of Claire in pants. She has spent the last month in onesies, sleepers, or gowns so the pants outfits crack me up! Now if you would have asked us who wore the pants in our house before Claire, that would have been a toss up; clearly Claire wears the pants and is in charge now!

We Are Home!!

That's right loyal blog followers, we got out of the NICU yesterday at noon. The whole experience was a bit surreal. I mean I knew that eventually they would let us out and we would go home and have a more "normal" newborn experience, but it was amazing to see them take the tube out then take her off the monitor and hand her over to us. To be quite honest, I was as excited as I was nervous. I certainly have never taken care of a baby 24/7. We were as ready as we were going to be, though, so we put Miss Claire in her car seat for the short drive home. She did great, despite my worrying, as we spent the day eating and relaxing. The night was more of a challenge since she has spent the last month sleeping in a noisy NICU with the lights on. We tried to recreate the atmosphere as much as possible but she kind of chirped all night in her bassinet. Her napping today in it was much more successful. I guess there is nothing left to do but settle in!

Claire is One Month Old!

Can you believe our pretty peanut is one month-old already! What a month it has been! Claire made such great strides: she conquered her hyperbilirubinemia; she graduated to a big girl bed; she passed her eye exam (and hopefully her hearing screen this afternoon and car seat trial tomorrow); she now eats by mouth instead of through an NG tube, and she now weighs 4 pounds 11 oz! There is not much more we could ask for. The silly grins are such a wonderful bonus! Not to try to jinx us, but the doctors are predicting that we will go home on Thursday... yep, that's right, only two days from now. Saying that we are ecstatic is an understatement!

We would like to thank everyone again for their love, prayers, gifts, support, and patience (I swear that I will send the holiday gifts and thank you cards tomorrow!). We could not be more appreciative to everyone who has helped us get through this scary and stressful time.

Mommy and Daddy's Night Out

Before baby Claire was born, Mom bought Ari Xavier basketball tickets for Christmas. Since Ari went to Illinois Wesleyan, a D 3 school, he never really got to experience exciting college basketball. When we moved to Cincinnati, he adopted Xavier as his second favorite (do you think I would let him not be an Illini fan?!) college team. He is really into it and "throws up the X" everytime we drive by the school. So Thursday night we headed to the Cintas Center which is walking distance from our house when the weather is good. Our first stop when we arrived was the souvenir shop; baby Claire was on our minds as always and we wanted to see if we could find her a gift. We found a hilarious pink onesie picturing the Blue Blob. For those of you not familiar with the Blue Blob, I certainly wasn't, he is

an ancillary mascot for Xavier. Their official mascot is D'Artangan the Musketeer. The Blue Blob, however, is hilarious. The thing doesn't stop dancing during the entire game and the crowed loves him! So now Claire has a onesie she can wear to root on Xavier, when she is not preoccupied cheering for Illinois! Xavier played the St. Louis Bilikins. They absolutely crushed them but I was a little disappointed in the crowd... it certainly wasn't a Big Ten type of crowd. We had a great time, though, and afterward we were off to the hospital to spend some time with our daughter and kiss her goodnight.