Smiley Claire

Like I said...I haven't been able to get a STILL shot of her smiling, but a video will work!

AND, just in case any of you thought her smiles are because of GAS, (Kika :P) check THIS one out! She is TOTALLY responding to her mommy :). On purpose.

I really do enjoy her.

Nap Time for my Honeys

While I got ready for work the other day, I came in the bedroom to find this:

It's a little fuzzy bc it was fairly dark and it's not like I could use the flash! a little later I took this one too:

So, after I nurse Claire in the morning and Jordan gets home, usually I won't put her back in her crib...I'll just put her in the bed with Jordan to take a little nap, since it's typically pretty short. BUT, just a little important addition here: last night, Claire slept for 5 HOURS STRAIGHT from 9pm to 2am and then again from 3am to 7:30am! I even had to wake her UP at 7:30 so I could go to work! Crazy. Not sure this will last, but hey, it was great for last night!

Hangin' Out at Aunt Shaunie's!

Becca has been in town this week. It has been so great! We're going to be able to hang out more tomorrow (craft day--stay tuned for the post!) and Saturday for Lauren's 1st birthday! On Wednesday, we went to Shaunie and Bart's house and hung out with Shaunie, Lauren, Becca, Kaylin, and Zachary. They are all such CUTIES!!! I put Claire in lavender and white for Shaunie--lavender is her favorite color. She loved it...

Shaunie with Kaylin and Claire

Kaylin and Zachary were so cute. Kaylin was so polite...she would ask Shaunie, "may I have some carrots please?" Shaunie would melt, of course... then Becca would tell Kaylin that she needed to stop eating them (she had like two little baggies of them) or her "poop would turn orange." Reminds me of "you'll shoot your EYE OUT!" from Becca's FAVORITE movie, the "Christmas Story." :) haha.

My honey with my honey. :)

It was really cool to see how Claire would get fussy when held by someone else at times, and then when Jordan would scoop her up, she'd calm right down...so cute! My grandma would also tell me how she kept her eye on her mommy the whole time... It's cool to see how she is really starting to bond and recognize and trust Jordan and me...

Jordan with Heather's cute little Lauren

Lauren was really cute with Claire. She'd stare at her and then grab her hand...Heather told me later, "well, at least she doesn't grab at her eyes or something!" Very funny. Lauren is a cutie.

So I need to say, also, that I used to think that babies with the headbands with the HUGE bigger-than-their-head bows and flowers...weren't that great, but NOW I LOVE THEM!!! That lavendar flower looked so freaking cute, I was dying... anyway...

Pretty Girl: Claire at 6 Weeks!

She's getting so big now!!

Some milestones:

*Smiles! (Has been for about 2 weeks...haven't been able to get a full one on camera yet though!)
*She likes to open and close her hands and check out her fingers
*Can stand for about 30 seconds
*Holds her head up like a pro!

Ann-Marie Comes to Town!

Valentine's Day was so fun! Jordan and I went up to Heather and Jay's house to visit Ann-Marie, who was in town last week. Let's be honest here...it's not like Jordan and I had...plans :)

We had an excellent dinner prepared by Heather and Jay, and we played some games, of course! It was so fun to see Annie!!

Claire totally enjoyed it, that's for sure...

Ann-Marie and me!

New Hair

I had to make a change. 2.5 inches shorter and a whole lot lighter! What do you think?

Call the "Mom of the Year" award people...

Like I said, Jordan and I believe that "desperate times call for desperate measures..." which means, sometimes our little cupcake needs a little incentive to suck on that pacifier and stop crying, poor thing!

So, this morning, I was waiting for this great lady in my ward who is a lactation specialist, to come over... I've been thinking that Claire hasn't been getting enough at each feeding because she wants to nurse ALL THE TIME. So, anyway, I was waiting for her to get here, and couldn't start nursing til she came, so I had to hold hungry little Claire off for 10 minutes or so with the "desperate measure," we like to call "pacifier a la apple juice"



So, that's really hard to watch in the beginning...I hate seeing any baby cry! It's so sad!! But funny once she gets that pacifier in! It's like flipping the off-switch! (and yes, I know I put it in upside down...not that that matters) Great to use in the car when we can't really do anything else to get her to calm down!

By the way, seeing a lactation specialist is the BEST THING EVER!!! She totally set me straight!! I mean, Claire was getting enough each DAY, but not enough per sitting, if that makes sense. I just needed to figure out how to help her be more efficient when she nurses and it worked!! Now she just needs to sleep for longer periods of time...crossing my fingers!

Ps. I've TOTALLY broken my promise about saying that not every post will be about Claire, haha... it's just too hard. I just don't have a LIFE right now except for what I do every day with Claire...PLUS, I have to get all her little antics, pictures, etc. onto the blog...for posterity.

And Hangin' Out in the Carseat

I have to say, I think Claire is less inclined to be happy in a carseat than other children. That's just what I'm guessing though... She does usually fall asleep in there, but it could take a while. But every time we get her in, she REALLY doesn't like it...this is one of those rare times she's happy in there :)

It's so cute, because even when she was just a week old, she always puts her little hands up to hold her pacifier in--even though it doesn't work very well, haha...or she just holds her arms up at her head all the time...

Hangin' Out

Can I just say that the Baby Bjorn is a LIFESAVER?? Claire likes to sleep in it... or just hang out with Daddy!

Bath Time!

Jordan couldn't resist getting Claire this super-cute pink bathtub. She loves bath time--I think :) At least, she doesn't cry! So I guess she's OK with it? She does kinda clench her fists, but I think that's just because it's a new thing she's unsure about. Jordan thinks it's because it's wet and reminds her of the womb, and she doesn't want to be put back in! (becuase she loves ME too much, honey...)

My two cuties!

Washing her hair!

I think maybe she was sad to get out?

The BESTS.

Let's just say, I was thinking of all the BEST things in life...

*These are all in no particular order...that would take too long, let's be honest.

BEST Foods
1. Oranges. Sliced in quarters. Only from Costco, where you KNOW they'll actually taste good.
2. Megan's Apple Dumplings - girls, these are a GREAT idea for Valentines' Dinner!! They're so so so good!
3. Papa John's Pizza (but not the customer service at the Riverton location. They're pathetic!)
4. Yoplait Yogurt
5. Cafe Rio pork salad
6. Gummy Bears
7. Whipped Cream (I know this isn't a food per say...but Jordan does tease me by asking, "would you like a little pie with your whipped cream??")
8. French Toast
9. Salmon - the way Jordan makes it...yummmmm
10. Jason's Deli Tomato Basil Soup

BEST Singers/Bands
1. U2
2. La Ley
3. Celine Dion
4. Josh Groban
5. Coldplay
6. Rob Thomas/Matchbox 20
7. Sarah Brightman
8. Carrie Underwood
9. Daughtry
10. Juanes

BEST TV Shows
1. The Unit
2. American Idol
3. America's Next Top Model
4. So you Think you can Dance
5. All HGTV Design Shows
6. Project Runway
7. 24
8. Bones
9. Chuck
10. Lie to Me

BEST Songs
1. Love Story, Taylor Swift
2. I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
3. The Blower's Daughter, Damien Rice
4. The Luckiest, Ben Folds
5. Mientes Tan Bien, Sin Bandera
6. February Song, Josh Groban
7. One, U2
8. A Dios le Pido, Juanes
9. Requiem, Andrew Lloyd Webber
10. Say, John Mayer

BEST Pastimes
1. Reading
2. Watching my favorite TV show
3. Waterskiing, Tubing
4. Sledding (it would be skiing if I were better at it...meaning, if I went more than one time in my life!)
5. Blogging!
6. Shopping for home decor stuff :)
7. Playing with Photoshop
8. Swimming
9. Playing with Claire
10. Going on dates with Jordan!

BEST Stores
1. Target
2. Aldo
3. Layers Clothing
4. Smiths
5. Express
6. Pier 1
7. Costco
8. Ikea
9. Banana Republic
10. Gymboree

BEST Movies
1. What's Up Doc?
2. Singing in the Rain
3. Last of the Mohicans
4. Ferris Bueler's Day Off
5. While You Were Sleeping
6. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
7. Baby Mamma
8. Zoolander
9. 13 Going on 30
10. Pride & Prejudice (the Masterpiece Theater version)

BEST Places to Visit
1. London
2. Cancun
3. Jackson Hole
4. Hawaii
5. Southern Germany
6. Las Vegas
7. Spain (although, I have yet to go there!)
8. Rocky Point, Mexico
9. Oakly, UT--the Cabin!!!
10. Orlando, FL

OK that's enough.

Parenting.

I thought I'd talk a little about how Jordan and I are as parents thus far :)

Jordan:

* Jordan doesn't like to hear Claire cry one bit! If I'm upstairs changing her diaper, or something similar that she doesn't like, and she cries for more than a minute, I can pretty much count on him to run up the stairs and come over to comfort her :)
* Jordan is great at burping our gassy little baby. He has a lot of different techniques: over the shoulder, belly down on his thighs, bicycle with her legs...from patting her back to rubbing in an upward motion...he's got it down! When he's around, I usually nurse her, and hand her off to him to burp and/or change her diaper!
* When we are out with Claire, Jordan loves to carry her around in the Baby Bjorn. She goes right to sleep too!
* Jordan has also already developed quite an unusual nickname for her: (should I really post this? I mean, not sure I want this nickname to "STICK" if you know what I mean!...oh well, I have to post it for posterity...) Claire-aroni....kinda like macaroni, but Clairearoni... Yeah. He thinks "Claire Bear" is way too overdone. I have to agree.
* Jordan also likes to make up funny songs... :) He'll sing Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" changing the words to "Sweet Claire-aline" or "Sweet Claire-of-mine." haha... I think he only knows the chorus though--but let's be honest here--who actually knows the verses to that song anyway??
* If I'm out and Claire wakes up prematurely or is being fussy, Jordan never calls me with the typical husband plea to come home :) He is very patient! (He even resorted to a bottle of formula the other day...)
* Jordan practices standing with Claire. She can now stand, supporting herself for 5 seconds at a time before her legs give in. Is that advanced? :)
* OK so this probably won't win us any parenting awards but Jordan discovered that if Claire is really fussy and won't calm down...if he dipped her pacifier in apple juice she calms RIGHT down :) She is definitely her daddy's daughter!

Janessa:

* Janessa feels like a cow :) All she does is provide milk...and let's be honest, it's not like she can fit into her clothes yet! But it's all for a great cause--nursing Claire is the BEST! And Claire definitely likes to fill her tummy!
* Janessa wakes up at night to feed Claire, but sometimes falls asleep herself unfortunately! In fact, last night she dozed off while feeding and then did one of those "jumps" in her sleep...it was pretty funny. Claire didn't even wake up though...pheewww.
* Janessa loves singing primary songs to Claire. The other night, she propped her up in front of her and Claire listened to her sing primary songs for at least 20 minutes! It was great--her attention span isn't usually that long. Favorites are "I Am a Child of God," "I Know my Father Lives," and "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus."
* Janessa mostly refers to Claire as "Sweetie," or "little Sweetie," or "Sweetheart." Jordan also calls her Sweetheart all the time. It's really cute.