Claires first Christmas

I would have to say Claires first Christmas was a success. She didn't really open presents (mostly like just ripped bows off) But she got lots of fun new toys that she is enjoying. We spent CHristmas ewe with Adams family and Christmas day with my family. I was so tired by the end of Christmas. Claire was not in the mood to be set down. she wanted to be hled non stop which made it hard to get ready for our trip to seattle on Christmas. Now I'm startingto wonder if her ear is bothering her, I have noticed her pulling at it a few times. I guess I will just need to keep an eye on her. tis the season for colds!

It's Christmas Time

Last year at this time...I was 7 months pregnant,we were decorating claires room, and getting everything ready for baby! This year I have been so excited to show Claire how much fun Christmas is. She loves our christmas tree and is a big fan of lights. I have had to hold back on decorating the house because not everything is baby friendly. Her latest discovery is bells. I have some jingle bells hanging on a few door knobs and she loves playing with them. I think claire has caught the Christmas bug!

Cookie making!

Cooking making this year turned into a marathon! Too many cookies not enough time or skill. Haha I included a picture of what we wanted our cookies to look like and what they ended up looking like. You guessed it "cookie fail" I guess we are just not very good decorators. Claire had fun crawling around with all the ladies in her christmas outfit. This last month has been a big one for claire. she started crawling everywere and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING! The highchair, her crib, her walker, the cat. she is also mastering waving hello and good bye. she is so close to saying hi! she waves and says HA. She has even taken a few steps according to grandpa. I missed it of course. I'm so excitied to show her all the fun stuff about Christmas. I put lights up on the house and she loves looking at them. I love everything about christmas and I'm hoping my little claire bear will be the same way.

Thanksgiving

For thanksgiving I ended up doing a lot of driving but we really wanted to see all the family so it was worth it. Adam had to work so Claire and I got up at 6:30 and after a fall with a bloody lip we were off on our thanksgiving adventure. Our first stop was the airport to pick up katy. Then we headed to my dads for a wonderful thanksgiving and visiting. Claire loved playing with her cousin cooper! After a wonderful time we headed out in the POORING rain to Adams family up on Camano Island. After a very long day of food and travel we pulled into home at 9:30. I was so tired but we had a great day.

My little cutie pie turned 9 months old last week. She never sits still anymore. She's crawling and pulling herself up on everything! Which means more bumps and falls. We even lowered her crib because we were afraid she was going to climb out. Having a christmas tree should be interesting!

baby proofing!

well we have hit that point were we need to start baby proofing things. Claire is getting more and more mobile and been scrawling (combo of crawling and scooting). I came home from work on tuesday to dads attempt of baby proofing (duct tape) haha! It works for the moment but in no time at all I think she will be able to pull it off the wall. She is also turning into the little mess maker. I left a bottle sitting next to her for 2 minutes and she had shaken milk EVERYWHERE! You can see some of the milk in the picture. milk all around her and on the remote and I had to change her clothes because they were soaked!

The weekend news

The big news this weekend at our house was Dad got a day off of work! but only 1 and doesn't get another day off for 7 days. Claire loved spending time with both mom and dad. Claire continues to get into everything even though she's not crwling but she manages to scoot and roll to get places. Claire and I got to go to lunch with all the ladies in the family this weekend and they were setting up all the pretty trees for Christmas! One of the biggest changes coming is Katy will be moving out this week. Sad to see her go but so excitied for her and her new job as a medic!

Panic attack

Panic attack number 1 was when adam called me yesterday and told me his work schedule changed for the next 2 months and now he has to work on christmas. WHAT! He is now going to be working a LOT more. Damn it! The first thing that comes to mind is babysitting. crap we need to find grandpa some help babysitting and fast! insert panic attack number 2. Oh crap I just agreed to cook Christmas dinner for my whole family! I have never had Christmas at my house before and now I get to attempt it while Adams not even home! perfect... excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall. Thank you Adams work for not even considering their employees lives! My stress level has just hit overdrive!

my little bugger!

This little one gets more and more mobile everyday! She is pretty good moving around in her walker and she loves pulling down the dish towels in the kitchen. Yesterday I was folding clothes and she started pulling all the piles on to the floor. It was pretty cute! She found it so funny. Grandma called and said they were almost out of diapers at their house, so I got together a bag of diapers. I went to make claire a bottle and when I got back she had taken all the diapers out of the bag. She thought it was fun to put the diapers on her head. :)

carving pumpkins

We got to carve pumpkins this weekend. Claire also got to meet her cousin Johnathan who is 3 months old. They were so cute together! Them both squealed with joy. I think these two will have fun growing up together.

Toys!

Im trying to decide what toys to get claire for Christmas. I was at Costco yesterday and she showed some intrest in some. There was a train with animals on it that played songs that she seemed to like. what ever she doesnt get I guess I could get for her birthday in February. I don't want to go over board at CHristmas but I am going to have to really have some self controll! Grandpa on the other hand has given her every christmas present they have bought for her! Haha, he just can't resist. Here is a picture of grandpa showing her, her new cell phone. (which was a christmas present!)

7 months old

This month has been a fun one. Claire is now eatting solids better and waking up only once a night! She is able to play and entertain herself for longer periods of time so I can get more done. She also has learned to clap! Its the cutest thing I have ever seen :) SHe gets excited and starts clapping. I know this falls under the mom thinks everything her baby does is the most amazing thing ever category, but I don't care its still the cutest thing to me. She was clapping her hands while sitting in her toy box but its hard to capture with a picture and the second I turned on the video camera she stopped. of course!

Fall Weekend

This weekend we went to the festival of farms. It was fun visiting farms, getting lost in corn mazes and drinking hot cider. I got to dress claire in her Halloween closes! Her spider web pants could be the cutest thing I have ever seen! Katy came with me and is always such a big help. She knows the drill and always knows exactly what to do to make claire a happy girl! Claire loves her auntie katy.

Alaska

The whole family took a cruise to Alaska in early september. This was Claires first vacation and she did pretty good. I have to say vacationing with a baby is very different. No late nights, your lucky if you get to eat dinner with the rest of the family and packing light is out of the question! But we still had a good time and got to explore beautiful Alaska.

Sleeping on the job!

Claire has a way of putting her babysitters in a sleep trance!

New wheels!

Claire got a walker this weekend end and she still learning how to use it. So far she can just push herself backwards. But I think she will be chaseing the cat around in it in no time! She also got a new camo hat. She's ready for hunting season!