www.ericandcolleen.com

We were fortunate enough to have Colleen’s mom, Laura Lee, here for the past 5 days to help with a lot of things. She went grocery shopping for us, cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner, cleaned, as well as spent lots of time with her granddaughter. She was the reason that Colleen and I were able to get out and celebrate our 3 year anniversary, so we definitely appreciated that. I took her to the airport this morning at 4:45 a.m. as Colleen got up to feed Claire her early morning breakfast. It was a good stay and we’re very lucky to have such helpful grandparents (especially coming all the way from Arkansas)!

Now that she’s back in Arkansas, my mom, Shirley, has come up from the coast to help out in a similar capacity. She prepared an excellent dinner for us this evening and is currently getting some grandma/granddaughter time in. We’re both in continued amazement at how great our families are.

Thank you to everybody who’s helped us through the past couple of weeks! We really appreciate it

On another note, there’s apparently been some issues with the automated e-mail that goes out when we update our website. Sometimes it goes out when it’s suppose to, sometimes it doesn’t…. sometimes it doesn’t go out at all. Be patient as we try to figure out what’s wrong with it and just check our website for new stuff!

Okay, so maybe “action-packed” isn’t the right term, but it definitely was a busy day for Miss Claire.

We took her to church for the first time and I must say, she was the perfect baby! She slept through the whole service and didn’t even blink an eye when the preacher held her to introduce her to the congregation. We left with several casseroles and couldn’t have felt more blessed to have such a supportive church family.

After church, Claire got a visit from her Uncle Jay and Aunt Nancy. We were planning on introducing her to Cousin Cash, but he’s got a case of the snotty nose, so he spent the day with Grandma instead. Jay and Nancy stayed for a few hours and Claire continued to be on her best behavior. It was great to spend some time visiting and we look forward to taking Claire to visit Cash soon.

And for all those screaming for us to post more photos - you can find a huge album of pictures taken during the first week of Claire’s life on our site. Just look on the right rail under “photo gallery” or click here.

Today my sweet girl is 9 days old. Eric and I are learning more and more each day and enjoying getting to know her. She’s been showing a bit more personality this week, opening her eyes up big and focusing on our faces. We now know that she could care less if her diaper is wet or dirty, but let’s you know it when she’s hungry, full of gas, or is fighting sleep.

Claire has had a few big “firsts” this past week. She’s been to the pediatrician twice now - she’s lost a good amount of weight so we’re working on fattening her up. Eric and I like Dr. Coleman a lot and have been following his advice on feeding and burping, which is helping with her fussiness.

She also received her first sponge bath. She likes the water, but hates to be laid flat on her back. We quickly discovered that things went much better if one of us held her while the other washed. It was an exhausting experience and I’m currently thankful we don’t have to do it every night. Although, you must admit, she looks awfully darn cute in her way-too-big-but-so-adorable bunny towel.

Here are a few videos I took over the first couple of hours of Claire’s life.

The first one is of Claire’s “whimper” when she’s not necessarily super mad, but not happy either 

The second one is of Claire in the recovery room only minutes after she was brought into the world.

The third one is of Claire’s first bath at the hospital and as I’m sure you’ll notice, she was NOT too happy about it 

Eric and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary today with a trip to the pediatrician’s office, a walk around an outlet mall, and a dinner at a local steakhouse. Grandma LeLe was super kind and watched Claire while we had a few hours to ourselves for dinner. Apparently her job was quite easy - Claire just slept the whole time!

I consider myself to be blessed in so many ways - I am so thankful for my husband, my daughter, and my family. Happy Anniversary, Eric!

Photo taken right before our “big date night”…

Claire got to meet her other grandma yesterday with the arrival of Colleen’s mom, Laura Lee, known to Claire as “LeLe”. She got into RDU around 5:30 pm and was about as excited and anxious to meet her first grandbaby as could be. Below is a picture and video clip of the first encounter

Claire is obviously very photogenic! She works the camera, posing like a movie star and showing off her good looks.

I think my personal fave is the second from the left on the top row. She had lost the privilege to keep her fingers free and stuck out her tongue in response.

Today marks the first day that Claire gets to spend at home. They actually told us Sunday afternoon that mommy and baby were doing so well that we could go home if we wanted to, but we decided to stay one more night just in case something came up (and so we could utilize having the nursery close by). She scared us pretty good the first night in the hospital by choking on some mucus that was left over in her tiny little lungs from birth, and the second night was our first all-nighter with an inconsolable baby Claire. She was feeding ALL the time, but as soon as she would get done she’d start crying and looking for more. The nurse explained that she was getting all the colostrum that she wanted, but wasn’t getting any milk just yet since it was too soon in the process for Colleen’s body to start producing it. We gave her a tiny amount of formula through a process called “supplemental feeding” and she fell right to sleep. By Sunday it seemed that we had established a pattern for feeding and were getting more in-tune with what Claire was trying to tell us when she cried. Most of the time it was, “I’M HUNGRY, DANG IT!!” but every once in a while she’d cry when she had a dirty diaper.

We got home today (Monday) around 12:30 p.m. and have just been relaxing for the most part. Colleen’s currently resting on the couch with Claire on her chest and I’m going around trying to organize the things that we brought home from the hospital. As good of a day as it’s been, I know that tonight will be a different story since Claire’s been sleeping so much now. But oh well…. that’s where daddy’s job begins

Claire shocked mommy and daddy by arriving with a full head of hair. We were all but certain that she would be born without a single strand, just like us. That’s what we get for assuming anything when it comes to this already-proven stubborn child!

This photo is for Aunt Bon Bon, who has been dying to get a glimpse of all that hair! More to come soon…

Eric and I have learned so much about little Claire in the short time that she’s been in the world. She LOVES to eat - can’t seem to get enough! She likes to keep her feet flexed, like they were in the womb. She has a curious nature and is very alert - opening her big blue eyes often. She’s not a fan of diaper changes. And she has an amazing set of lungs!

I’m recovering well and staying pretty medicated. I’ve been much happier since being allowed to eat solid foods. I’m sure the hospital’s room service thinks they’re serving a family of 10, not just one person!

Photo of our happy little family, just a couple of hours after Claire was born.