The Fair

Yesterday, we took Claire to the fair. The weather has finally cooled down so it was a nice afternoon. We ate some really good "fair food" which hit the spot with this pregnant mom. Then we took Claire to see all the animals. She saw cows, pigs, sheep, goats and some beautiful Clydesdale horses. She had a great time. She is getting so independent. She wanted to walk everywhere by herself. It was great family fun at the Kern County Fair!



Loves to give hugs
Posing with the cows
Claire and Josh loving the fair
Walking everywhere

Fun at the park

Yesterday, Corrie, Jennifer (Granna) and I took Claire to the park. Josh was out of town so I was trying to keep Claire busy and have fun all at the same time. It's a little hard for me these days, since my belly is growing bigger, to chase around a one year old. So off to the park we went. Claire absolutely loved it. She was all smiles. She would have stayed all day, but it was a little hot. Thanks to Corrie and Granna for playing with her at the park. She had a wonderful time!







And great news....Claire slept all night in her bed. I didn't have to get up to pat her on the back! Yea!!!!

Bathtime!

Claire loves bathtime. She is now taking a bath in the tub, not in her "duck" tub. She got some new bath toys for her birthday and loves playing with them. She's already showing some real potential with the basketball hoop!

Sleep is a WONDERFUL thing!

The last 2 nights have gone really well. Tuesday night she woke up 3 times but all I had to do was pat her back for a few minutes and then she went back to sleep. This occured every 2 hours. But last night was so much better. I did the same routine and when I layed her down in her crib, she made a wimper and then was asleep. She only cried out twice last night. Once around 11 and then around 3:30. We patted her as usual and she settled back to sleep. So far this is working and we are so thrilled. Miracles do happen! Hopefully, she will keep it up! Thanks again for everyone's comments. I have taken everything you said and tried it!

Good News and the Crying It Out Method

I don't have gestational diabetes. All my blood glucose values were within normal range! Yea!!!

Thanks to all of my friends, we are trying the crying it out method with Claire. Last night was horrible. She cried for 30 minutes then fell asleep, only to wake up 30 minutes later. She cried for an hour and then slept until 12:30a.m. All I had to do was pat her back and she went back to sleep. But at 2:30a.m. she woke up and cried for an hour. Finally at 3:30a.m. she fell asleep and stayed asleep until 7a.m. So we tried it again tonight. Same routine. This time she only cried for 5 minutes and was asleep. But when I walked in to her room to check on her, a very fowl odor hit me smack in the face. There was my sweet baby sound asleep in her own vomit. So, we had to change the sheet, her clothes and wipe her down since she smelled so bad! But she layed back down and only cried for about 5 minutes and was asleep. So as I type this, she is still asleep and I pray that it continues. I will give more updates later in the week!

Walking Everywhere!

Claire is walking everywhere. She is getting really good at it. She can walk across the den and from the kitchen to her bedroom. She is getting a lot of exercise so is taking a better nap each day. Praise the Lord! These pictures were taken before we went to church this morning. She is really concentrating at looking where she is going.

26 Weeks

I'm 26 weeks and doing well. Just getting bigger! I haven't heard anything from the doctor about my glucose test. Hopefully I don't have gestational diabetes, but I should know by Monday.

Desperate mom in need of help!

As many of you know, Claire is a terrible sleeper. From day one, she has not liked sleeping much at all. The only way I can get her to sleep is to rock her. Over the last few months, she has been waking up every few hours and not wanting to go back to sleep. So out of exhaustion and frustration, I just put her in the bed with us. I never said I would do this, but it worked. But now, I really need her to stay in her bed. I've read quite a few books and nothing seems to work with her. Last night I tried just laying her back down and patting her back. It worked for a little bit and then she would wake up. She gets so upset she makes herself throwup, which is not fun when you are tired as well. At midnight I gave up. I let her win! I'm so frustrated that she can't stay asleep and won't go back to sleep. Any suggestions on what to do! I've got to get her to stay in her crib before Carson gets here or I will be nuts!

Claire Walking!

Here are a few picures I got of Claire walking. She's doing really well and is always so proud of herself.

Update on our family

Last week I had to do 3rd trimester labs, one being the one hour glucose fast. This would determine if you had gestational diabetes. I hadn't heard from them so I thought this was good. Then I received a message from the nurse yesterday that my gluscose was elevated. So I had to go in today to do the 3 hour glucose test. No fun at all. I was stuck 4 times for blood draws and had to drink the 100 gram glucola, which is the worst thing. Then for 3 hours I had to sit there and have my blood drawn every hour for 3 hours. All I could drink was water. Well, I survived and pray that my test will turn out fine. I checked my blood glucose yesterday at work and it was only 82, so I hoping the first test was a fluke!

Claire is doing great. Pretty much walking. She has no fear and is taking more steps everyday. At first it was only 4-6 steps, now it is 10 or more. She gets so excited when she walks. I've tried to get a picture of her, but it's a little hard with her walking towards me. I'll try to get one soon.

Josh is liking his new job. He has been really busy, but is learning a lot. He is starting his doctorate next week, so he will really be busy then. But it will be worth it in the long run. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments!

One Year Pictures

We took Claire to have her 1 year pictures on Saturday. She did really well. Now that she is very active, it was a little harder to keep her still. They turned out cute, though. Here are a few of our little angel.