Playtime

Claire's favorite toy is her Baby Einstein Activity Mat. It has a motion-activated mode that turns on lights and music when she hits the toys hard enough. She has figured out how to activate this and keeps it going almost constantly when she is on her mat.

Her favorite toy is the duck. She hits it and pulls on it. She will also hit the mirror and kick the red bird; but the duck is her favorite, even when we move it to a different position.

Claire loves tummy time.

All of this playing makes her tired. Here she is taking a nap after an exhausting few minutes of playtime. I love this face!

Claire also has a swing. She wasn't so sure about it at first, but now she really enjoys it. This week she has discovered the mobile above it and will stare at it for long periods of time.Claire has recently discovered her hands and has started sucking her thumb. She sometimes falls asleep while eating. Even trying to burp her won't wake her.

When we put her to bed, she insists on being swaddled. She simply cannot fall asleep unless she is wrapped up tightly. We call her our burrito baby.

However, as soon as she falls asleep, she kicks her feet out so that only her arms are wrapped up. She is definitely like her mommy. I can't stand to have my feet covered either.

We are so in love with this girl! She was definitely worth the wait!

Our Beautiful Girl

We have been way too busy having fun with Claire, leaving no time to post to the blog. She is growing and changing so quickly that we don't want to miss anything. For this I make no apologies :) However, I have been taking a lot of photos and will try to do better at getting them posted on here. Here are a few of them:
I have tons of pictures and will try to post more over the weekend.

Happy Birthday Claire!

As I type this it will only be four minutes until Claire is exactly one month old! Amy and I have put together a fun video to celebrate our lives together, and our future with Claire! Please enjoy~

Note: Sorry if you watched the previous version uploaded through YouTube -- evidently they found the audio on this little masterpiece unacceptable, and it quickly became a silent film. This version has the soundtrack included enjoy~

You may also enjoy the HD version on Steve's Facebook page!

A Road Trip, A Celebration and A Swim

Claire went on her first road trip this week. On Monday, we hit the road headed for Tulsa. This is normally an eight-hour drive. We made it in nine and a half. (We had to stop a couple of times to feed the girl.) Not too bad. Claire did great, sleeping most of the way there and back.

Claire met her Uncle Adam, Aunt Shannon and cousin, Analise. She also met her great grandparents - GG, Big Pop and Nanny - and her great aunt, Frances.

Meeting Analise

Meeting Aunt Shannon

Analise gave Claire a pink princess sock monkey. Too cute!

While in Tulsa, we celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day. Steve and I were so excited that we got to celebrate this day!!! Here's me with all of my loot. You'll also notice that Maggie is on my lap - a very common occurance these days when Claire is not in my lap.

Analise went around collecting the Hallmark gold crown stickers from everyone's cards. She decided that they fit perfectly on her nose. Here's a picture of Analise with her "stickies." So adorable!

Claire went for her first swim today in our hot tub. (It's Houston, so we don't turn the heat up. We use it as a pool with bubbles. It's fabulous!) I was in the hot tub a lot during my pregnancy. It was very relaxing. Apparently, Claire enjoyed it too. If she's ever fussy, we can take her outside and turn on the jets. The sound calms her immediately. And today she got in for the first time. She seemed to really enjoy herself.

We took Claire back to the doctor on Friday to have her weighed. She now weighs 9 lbs 10 3/4 oz. She gained 6 oz in the last week. Wow! She's growing so quickly. I can't believe how much she's changed. Steve and I are loving every minute with her and are having the time of our lives!

Praise

"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise" Matthew 21:16 KJV

Family Pictures

We spent the week in Tulsa celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day and introducing Claire to my brother, sister-in-law, niece, grandparents and aunt. We had a great time. While we were there, my SIL, Shannon (who also took our wedding pictures), took some family photos for us. Enjoy!

Our beautiful baby girl

I love the expression on Claire's face in this picture.

We are so in love with this girl!

The loves of my life!

Our Birth Story

I have had several people ask me about Claire's birth story, so I decided to post it here.

As all of you know by now, Claire is quite the miracle. Steve and I prayed and stood in faith for a baby for three years before finding out that we were pregnant with Claire. My pregnancy was easy and fun. I loved being pregnant. I didn't have any weird symptoms or any problems. In fact, after sending in blood work during the last month of my pregnancy, my midwife commented that I had had a perfect pregnancy and nothing was wrong with me - no matter how hard they tried to find something to fix. I was their easiest patient.

On the Wednesday before Claire was born, I had a scheduled doctor's appointment. During this appointment, at 40 weeks and five days, I expressed my concern that Steve would miss Claire's birth since he was scheduled to work over the weekend. The midwife decided to strip my membranes to see if that would kick start labor. Braxton Hicks contractions started within half an hour and continued all day. (This is usually a sign of labor - contractions that don't stop.) Steve and I spent all day running errands. After all, activity is supposed to help labor along. That night we went to church and went up for prayer asking the prayer partner to agree with us that Claire would be born before Steve had to leave for the weekend. The prayer partner agreed with us and prayed that we would have a pain-free, quick and easy labor and delivery - just what Steve and I were believing for even though we hadn't mentioned all of that to her. When we got home from church that night, we sat down to watch American Idol. During the first 10 minutes of the show, all contractions stopped.

Thursday was very uneventful without even one contraction. I was so disappointed. About 9:00 p.m. that night, Steve agreed to help me clean out the pantry. This turned into also cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and drawers. We completely rearranged the kitchen. (Nesting - another sign of labor.) We finally went to bed around 11:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, I asked Steve to move to the guest room since I couldn't get comfy. Steve was scheduled to leave for work at 8:00 a.m. the next morning.

At 1:58 a.m. on Friday morning, I woke up - instantly wide awake. I got up and went to the bathroom. I felt no contractions, so I went back to bed. At 2:08 a.m., I had a very real contraction that caused my whole body to tense up. There was no doubt that this was the real thing. For the next 10 minutes, my body had one contraction after another. I finally made it into the guest room to wake Steve. He woke up and went to call Polly, leaving me to make my own way back to our bedroom. LOL

Contractions were hard and close together. They started out at two minutes apart. Around 3:00 a.m. my water broke. We left around 4:15 a.m. for the birthing center.

(Just FYI for those who have not yet experienced childbirth: Contractions are a tightening of the muscles. When you flex your bicep muscle, you are contracting it. It doesn't hurt to do so, but it does work the muscle. Labor contractions are the same way. The muscles tighten and work hard. They can even get very tired, but it doesn't hurt. For anyone who plans to have babies in the future, I strongly recommend reading Supernatural Childbirth.)

As I've mentioned before, Steve and I had read the book Supernatural Childbirth and were believing for a very supernatural childbirth - which means a quick, easy, pain-free labor and delivery. I was in labor for a total of six hours (very quick - especially for a first-time mom). I pushed for about 30 minutes (also very quick and easy - especially being a first-time mom and the size of our baby girl). I had a completely supernatural labor and delivery - completely drug-free and pain-free. At 8:38 a.m. on Friday, May 22nd, I delivered a 9 lb 6 oz beautiful baby girl without pain or complications.

Claire was born at Reunion Birthing Center. Since neither Claire nor I received any drugs or medical treatment, we were both alert and felt great immediately. We left the birthing center that same day. We were home by 1:30 p.m. that afternoon.

Steve and I chose to use the birthing center instead of the hospital (which is just three minutes away - door-to-door) because they allowed us to have the type of birth we wanted. We had been informed that once we checked into the hospital, I would be hooked up to an IV and monitors. I would be treated as a medical patient. I would have to stay in bed and labor on my back - which is why most women ask for an epidural. (A lot of the labor muscles are in your back. It's very uncomfortable to lay on your back during labor.) And to speed up the delivery process, most doctors perform routine episiotomies which require lots of stitches and quite a bit of recovery time. Steve and I wanted a drug-free, pain-free, non-medical event. At the birthing center, I was allowed and encouraged to change positions frequently. I was massaged during labor (which was FABULOUS!). My body was allowed the time to stretch, accomodating the birth of my baby, without being cut or torn. It was the best decision for us and allowed us to have the kind of birthing experience we wanted.

That Sunday, when Claire was just two days old, we took her to church. This time we went up for prayer with our daughter and dedicated her to the Lord.

Claire is now two weeks and two days old. She is sleeping at night, waking only to eat with four hours of sleep in between each feeding. She had her two-week checkup on Friday; and her pediatrician said she's doing great. She is peaceful and happy and content. Being her mommy is SO much fun!!!

Claire is our miracle baby. We were told that we couldn't have children; and yet I get to hold her in my arms everyday. God is the kindest person I know! He loves me! And He gave me the desire of my heart. I can honestly say that I have everything I've ever wanted. I am so very blessed!

Update

Just a quick update on the Nortons...

We are so happy to be "Norton - Party of Three!!!" Life is good!

Claire had her first pediatrician's appointment this morning. She's doing great! She cried when they pricked her heel for her metabolic screening and again when they gave her a Hepatitis B shot; but other than that, she was happy and alert. All is well.

Claire is sleeping through the night; so are her mommy and daddy! She only wakes up twice to eat with a four-hour sleep in between feedings. This is a great schedule!

Claire cannot fly until she has had her immunizations which are scheduled for July 27th. So for the time being, we are limited to road trips.

My parents came last week and stayed for six days. It was so nice having them here. Claire loved spending time with her Mimi and Pop Pop. Steven and I really enjoyed the visit too.

Claire's first outing was to church when she was two days old. She did great and slept all through service. Everyone ooed and awed over her.

I am breastfeeding, and that's going well. In fact, it's much easier than I thought it would be given all of the horror stories everyone feels so inclined to share.

(For the record, my new pet peeve is when someone feels the need to share their horror pregnancy story or their horror birth story or their horror breastfeeding story or any horror story related to their children. Everyone is different. Just because someone had a hard time with something doesn't mean that everyone will. In fact, I believe that we should be the exception to the rule. I had an amazing pregnancy, a fabulous and pain-free labor and delivery - yes, PAIN FREE!!!, and I think that breastfeeding is easy. God is good to me! OK - back to Claire - enough of my soapbox.)

And what you were really looking for - more pictures of my beautiful Claire:

Enjoying bathtime

Napping...

I love this expression! It's so Claire.

Sporting the new headband that Mimi got for her - it's totally fabulous!

Chillaxin' with Mimi

Napping with Pop Pop

Baby Girl just woke up and is hungry. I must go...

Fun Times!

Amy's parents were here this past week. We had the best time gallivanting around town, playing house. And showing off our daughter to anyone who cared (or didn't for that matter). I won't keep you waiting, let have some pictures!!