Good News!

We went to see Trevor today to have Claire's head measured. A month ago her head measurement was an 11. The goal is to get to a 2 or 3. Today it was a 5! Yeah Claire! We are so excited. He was really impressed with how much she had grown in only one month. When we get back from Mississippi, we will go again for another measurement. He is hopeful that she will be a 2 or 3 and no more helmet! So hopefully just another 3 more weeks and we can put some bows in her hair!

Peek-a-boo

Claire loves to play peek-a-boo. She thinks it's so funny to hide her face behind a napkin, towel or whatever she can get her hands on. The other day she was helping me with the laundry when she took a bath towel and started playing. Luckily, I got the camera and caught her in action.

Swimming!

On Friday, we went over to my friend Patti's house. She works with me at Empire Surgery Center. Her daughter was in town from Detroit and she has a little girl named Riley, who is 6 weeks older than Claire. We ate lunch and went swimming. Riley fell asleep so she didn't swim with us. Claire had a great time in the pool and it was so cute to see her playing with Riley. Thanks Patti for inviting us over!

Claire Slept Through the Night!!!!

For the last week, Claire has slept through the night! She hasn't done this since Christmas. She had a cold last week so I bought a humidifier to use when she sleeps. The first night I used it, she slept 11 hours! Each night since then she has slept in her bed, all night. I don't know if it's the noise the humidifier makes or what, but that's the best $20 I've spent in a while!

The morning after she slept all night!

Happy Mother's Day!

Claire and I after church. She loves the camera.

My gifts from Josh and Claire

Claire's sweet art project

Up close so you can see what it says

Today is my first Mother's Day and it has been wonderful. When I got up this morning, Josh and Claire had a dozen red roses, a gift certificate to the day at the spa, and a card for me. What a wonderful gift! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband and daughter!

At church, Claire made this cute art project....her first of many. It's so sweet. Thank you Claire!

Well, we wanted everyone to know of our good news....we are expecting another BABY! We were a little surprised, but very excited. I went to the doctor on Thursday and we heard the heartbeat....good and strong. I'm feeling much better this pregnancy than I did with Claire, so maybe it's a boy. We will just have to wait and see. The due date is December 10th. Keep us in your prayers that everything will go great!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to my hubby for getting a new job! Josh found out yesterday that he will be the new Dean of Student Services next year at North. I'm so proud of you! Love you!

She's Crawling!

Claire has been trying to the crawl for the last few weeks, but on Friday she finally figured it out. She is getting all over the house and each day she gets faster. She also has started pulling up on things. She thinks she is so big!

My heart is so sad today. My friend Gigi, who lives here in Bakersfield, lost her baby boy yesterday. She went in for her weekly appointment and there was no heartbeat. She was due in the next two weeks. I can't imagine what she is going through right now. She had prayed for this child for so long and finally her prayer was answered. But now she is grieving the loss of her unborn son who she will never know. It's hard to understand why these things happen to people, but we have to trust that God is the only one with the answers. For those who are reading this, please say a prayer for Gigi and her husband Zaldy as they are suffering so badly today and the many days ahead of them.

Claire is 8 months old!

Well, it's been a week since Claire has started wearing her helmet. She is doing great with it. We went on Friday for them to check her head and they added a little padding to the back for more pressure. We will go every Friday and they will check and after four weeks they will measure her head for any growth. Pray for some growth spurts so she won't have to wear it for too long!

Grammy was here last week and we had a blast. She bought Claire a swing that we hung on our porch. She loves it! It's hard to believe that Claire is 8 months old. She is almost crawling and is trying to pull up on everything! She thinks she is so big! She has two teeth on the bottom trying to cut through. You can see them and they are very sharp, but they just won't come on through. She is also learning to give kisses. She leans forward to kiss you but she hasn't figured out how to pucker her lips. It's so cute when she gives good night kisses! She's also learning to throw a bit of a tantrum. If she doesn't get her way or you take something away from her, she throws her head back and starts crying. Good thing she has the helmet to protect her head! But she's a doll. She is so sweet and loves to cuddle. She's doing much better taking a bottle so hopefully, she will soon start sleeping better!

The Helmet is Here!

We went today to get Claire's helmet. Surprisingly, she didn't cry when he put it on. He said usually they cry for the first two days because they want it off, but so far so good. She wears it for one hour on then one hour off for the first day. Tomorrow we will increase to 2 hours on, one hour off. We increase the time on each day and on day 5 she should wear it 23 hours out of the day! Hopefully, she will have a lot of growth spurts in the next two months so her head will form into the perfect shape. I took one picture before she got her helmet and some after. She's still a cutie no matter what!

Bathtime!

I got Claire a new bathtub yesterday. It's a blow up duck that quacks! It's like her own minature pool that I put in the tub. She really loved it.

Trying to crawl!

Claire is trying to crawl. She gets on all fours and rocks. She moves one arm forward and then crashes to the ground. She does army crawl all over the place. I took some pictures of her in action.

Women's Retreat

This past weekend Corrie (sister inlaw) and I went to Pismo for a women's retreat with our church. Melissa and Tiffany, our friends from small group, went with us as well. It was my first time away from Claire. I was a little nervous about leaving her since she doesn't take a bottle well. I was not nervous at all about leaving her with Josh. He is such a good daddy. I knew he could handle it! Well, to my surprise, Claire did great with the bottle. She and Josh had a good weekend together and I had a great time with the girls. The retreat was good, but the fellowship was even better.It was nice to get away and spend some quality time with the girls!

Since I have been back, Claire has taken a bottle from me 3 times! No fussing at all. She has gulped down the milk. If all continues to go well, hopefully, I can have her weaned from breastfeeding by next week! Yeah!!!!!

Claire should be getting her helmet this week. I'll post a picture of her in her new attire as soon as I can. Also, one week and counting until Grammy comes to visit! We are so excited!

Claire 7 months!

It's hard to believe that Claire is already 7 months old. Time sure does fly by when you're having fun! Claire woke up last Friday with a horrible cough. I took her to see the pediatrician and he diagnosed her with an ear infection. He started her on an antibiotic and she is feeling much better. While we were there, he looked at her head and neck, as he usually does. Claire was born with a flat head on the left side and torticolis. It is due from the way she was positioned in utero. She has being going to PT since 3 months of age and has improved so much. But the shape of her head....not so much. So he suggested going to an orthotist for evaluation. He evaluated it today suggested that we put Claire in a helmet. That's right a HELMET! She will have to wear it for the next 2-3 months for 23 hours a day! Only one hour off for a bath and a little breather! I'm not too excited about this, but I know that it will help her little head. She had to be casted today for it and should get it in about a week or so. But I ordered a cute one with colorful butterflies!

On a better note, she is trying to crawl. She can get on all fours and she rocks back and forth. She has been doing the army crawl all over the den. She is sitting very well and is talking a lot. She says da, da, da all the time and has finally started saying mum, mum, mum, especially when she is really tired. We have been practicing alot to say mama and she is so close! I do have to say she is so smart! She paty cakes all the time and has learned to "high five!" We're so proud!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!