Tuesday, June 1, 2010

One Year Update

What an amazing year it has been! Steve and I are so blessed to share our lives with each other and with Claire. God is SO GOOD to us!
Claire had her one year checkup today. Here's the skinny (literally):

Claire has grown taller and is now 29 1/2" long, putting her in the 75 percentile for her age. Yeah, Claire! However, she has dropped in the weight category. Weighing in at 17 lbs 10 1/2 oz, Claire is now in the fifth percentile. What this means? The girl has to eat! We've been feeding her what seems like tons of food, but apparently the baby food isn't cutting it anymore. Too much of it is low fat or low in calories. She's ready for the real stuff - preferably high in calories. So today I fed her two 6-oz containers of yogurt (her favorite food in the whole world), oodles of Cheerios, peanut butter and crackers, chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A along with fruit (She wasn't really fond of the textures of the fruit. I really hope she doesn't turn out to be like me in that regard!) and milk. She's been downing whole milk like crazy today, and she tried what we had for dinner. She refused it, so Steven gave her chocolate pie instead. She ate it until she was just too full and couldn't eat another bite. Hopefully we can fatten this girl up in the next six weeks, when she has to go back to the doctor so that they can check her weight gain.

May was a very busy month for our girl. She took five vacations - Memphis, Niagara Falls, Sea World and two trips to Tulsa. She saw/met a lot of people - Tammy and her son, Parker, Bryce (who Tammy used to babysit), Aunt Susie, Uncle Doug and Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Duie and Aunt Jodi, Cousins Diana and Laura (who I used to babysit), Valerie and her son Henry, Aunt Cheryl, her new baby cousin, Allie, Matt and Shari Bailey and their girls, Brooklyn and Taylor, Micah and Kathy, Matt (our new roomie in Memphis) and everyone else in Tulsa who came to her birthday party. It's been a great month!

Claire is doing so many new things everyday. I know I've forgotten so many of them. She copies me every time I turn around. She will blow kisses, point, stand on her own (She just pops right up now.), lick her fingers, roll her eyes, etc. There are just too many things to count. She is so funny and loves to laugh and make others laugh. She's very friendly and waves at everyone everywhere we go. She's so sweet!

She's talking more now. There's almost non-stop babble. Some of the words that are now recognizable are Claire, love you, thank you, balloon, pretty, baby, doggie (which she sometimes just says "gie" with a hard "g.") and Bob! (from one of her Veggie Tales videos - Larry is jumping on a trampoline and can't figure out how to get off. He starts yelling, "Bob! Bob! Hey, Bob!" Without fail, Claire will yell, "Bob!" every time. It's too funny!)

Claire is trying lots of new foods. She wants to taste everything I eat. So far her favorite is cheeseburgers. She, of course, likes ice cream, cake and pie too. About the only thing she refuses to eat are French fries, mashed potatoes and fresh fruit (other than apples). Hopefully she'll continue to be a good eater, and we'll be able to stack on the L-B's.

We are moving to Memphis this weekend. It's going to be a big change for us, but we believe that we are exactly where God wants us. Once we made the decision to move, Steve quickly and easily sold his business. He found someone to take over two of his other jobs and was able to get him trained quickly. (And the extra income couldn't have come at a better time for the other guy!) Every tiny detail is falling perfectly into place. There's no doubt that God has ordered our steps! We are really excited about this new season in our life!

Now that Claire is a year old, I will no longer post to this blog. We have another blog, a family blog, to which we will post all further updates on Claire and on us. Just click on this link to jump over to our blog: Happily Ever After Claire's blog will always be out here, but it will not have new updates.

Thank you for being a part of our lives and for caring about our baby girl.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Day 31

On this last and final day of the Birthday Month 2010, Claire received another Veggie Tales video - Lyle, the Kindly Viking.
Video cases make great sliders too. Sliding isn't just for books any more.
Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl! Daddy and Mommy have had so much fun celebrating a month of YOU! You are the sweetest and most beautiful baby! You are our dream come true! We love you!!!
I must admit that I am a little sad that the Birthday Month is coming to a close. Claire has her one-year checkup with the pediatrician tomorrow (I couldn't make her go during her birthday month.), so I will do her monthly update sometime tomorrow.
May has definitely become my favorite month. I get to celebrate Mother's Day and Claire. It just doesn't get any better!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day 30

More Little People - but animals this time!
She recognizes the packaging now and couldn't wait to open them.
"Look at this one!"
"Fish on one side, bananas on the other."
What's a girl to do when she has only two hands but three new toys?!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Happy Birthday, Claire! Niagara Falls

We took Claire to Niagara Falls for her birthday trip. We had a wonderful time! Happy Birthday, Baby!
Both Steven and Claire received their first passport stamps when we entered Canada. (They were courtesy stamps, of course, but stamps nonetheless.)
Here's a short slideshow of our pictures.

Our friends, the Baileys, met us at the Falls. We had a great time with them!
Matt, Brooklyn, Taylor and Shari
Claire loves Brooklyn, who is so beautiful, inside and out.
Great friends!
We had a wonderful time on this trip. It was very relaxing and fun. Claire had a fabulous first birthday!

Tulsa Trip

Steve had to go to St. Louis, MO this past week for work. Claire and I were originally planning to go with him so that we could take Claire to the zoo. But on Monday, Claire's Aunt Shannon called me with some big news that changed our plans. So Claire and I booked a seat on a plane to Tulsa instead.

Watching Veggie Tales with Analise at MiMi's house (Analise's doll is named Baby Claire.)
The big news that changed our plans and our lives forever - Alexandra Brooke - Isn't she just gorgeous?!
The new and improved McComber family - Adam, Analise, Allie and Shannon
Adam and his girls, Analise and Allie
It was love at first sight! She was a wonderful surprise! We love you, Allie! And Analise is a wonderful big sister. She's so sweet and helpful.

While in Tulsa, I discovered first-hand how MiMi and PopPop spoil their girls! MiMi gave Claire an ice cream cone to eat at 9:30 a.m. And allowed her to eat it in the living room without a high chair or bib. Claire LOVED it!
I love the look she gave me when I walked in. She looks guilty, doesn't she? Too funny!
Claire is telling MiMi just how wonderful she thinks this whole thing is.
These things are so good!
the aftermath
We had a wonderful time in Tulsa and couldn't be more excited about our new niece and cousin. Welcome to the family, Allie! We love you!!!

Day 29

Today's gift is a book entitled Under the Sea. It has pictures of all of the animals we saw at Sea World yesterday.

Day 28 - Sea World!

Day 28 was a "two gift" day. Claire received the outfit she's wearing in the pictures below and got to spend the day with Mommy and Daddy at Sea World San Antonio! It was hot but SO much fun!

Entering the park
First stop - Dolphin Cove
Claire was totally fascinated with these little guys.
In love with Sea World already
Next we headed over to the coral reef. You'll notice we arrived at feeding time. There's a diver in the reef feeding the fish.
Daddy and Claire
Loving the fish
After catching a show and walking around, we were hot. We stopped at Shamu's Happy Harbour to cool off.
We had great seats at Shamu's show, Believe. Here's Claire waiting for the show to start.
She was totally captivated and entertained.
Claire was loving these guys until...
she got splashed. We were completely SOAKED! And Claire was shocked and a bit bothered.
She quickly recovered, and we had this family picture taken. Steve and I have been to Sea World many times, and we've been sprinkled and splashed but never soaked. We got hit with a wave of cold, very salty water from the tale of a killer whale four times in a row. It was great! So refreshing!
Our last show of the day was Azul. It's a great show! Here's Claire and Daddy with one of the cast members.
We had a wonderful day at Sea World! So much fun, in fact, that we are now proud owners of season passes!!! Steve, Claire and I can't wait to go again. Anyone want to join us?!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Day 27

A brand new Minnie Mouse sippy cup!
Checking it out...
The taste test...
She likes it!
I'm so in love with this girl!

Day 26

The Pet Shop Book!

Day 25

More Little People! The wedding set!