Claire Elyse: Brand New

I am blessed to have a family friend who is an amazing photographer.  She has been so supportive of Sean and I and we have known her for a very long time.  She is so excited about Miss Claire and was kind enough to take our maternity poctures, newborn pictures, and pictures from the hospital.

When Kim came to the hospital to take pictures my parents were there meeting Claire for the first time.  Claire was less than 1 day old ( ~15 hours old).  I love these pictures.  At 1.5 months old she has already grown and change so much!  I love having these pictures to see how small and new she was.  They are perfect.  They depict what we were feeling less than 1 day after meeting our daughter.  I am puffy and exhausted but filled with joy and Sean is giddy and in awe of his little girl.  I love that we have these pictures to look back on and remember those moments.

Warning: This post is extremely picture heavy! =)

Reveling in the newness of our sweet babe.

Just a dad and his baby girl!

Grandparents meeting their newest grandchild

Exhausted, sore, swollen, and so so happy!

so small in daddy's arms!

 

skin to skin

 

 

At 9 days old, Kim took some more styalized photos of our girl.  I love the the hospital pictures because they are true and real and exactly her.  I love her newborn photos because they are creative and beautiful in a completely different way! 

 

 

 

Claire: 1 Month

I can't believe my baby girl is 1 month old! Time continues to fly by! I am torn between wanting her to stay small and loving seeing her grow and her personality develop!  

• Claire weighed 7lb, 7oz at birth and was 19 inches long
• She celebrated her first holiday, Easter,  in the hospital (2 days old).
• She left the hospital weighing 7 lbs, 1oz.
• At 1 week old she weighed 7.9 lbs and was 20 inches long!
• My aunt passed away when Claire was 3 days old.
• She had her first outing to Nana and Papa's house on a very stormy day!
• Claire met a lot of family at my Aunts wake at 1 week old. 
• She was  a champion eater but I struggled with a lot of pain!
• At 2 weeks old, Claire weighed 8.6 lbs and was 20.5 inches long.
• Claire eats every 2 hours during the day and 2-3 hours at night.
• She sleeps most of the day.  
• She enjoys tummy time laying on her dad's chest.
• She is in almost all newborn clothes and some 0-3 month onesies.
• After her 9-10:00pm feeding she is usually wide awake until her next feeding.
• She wakes up after being put in her cosleeper and then falls asleep in bed with me. 
• At 3 weeks old, I decided to sacrifice sleep and hold her longer after night feedings until she was in a deeper sleep and now she sleeps in the cosleeper all night.  
• Claire has made many trips to Target, Nana and Papas, and Pizza Hut. 
• She went to her first restaurant (Buffalo Wild Wings) with me and Nana.
• She facetimes a lot with Grandma and Boppa.  
• She went to Steak and Shake with me and Sean!
• At 1.5 weeks she visited with Great Papa Tom.  
• Claire attends church regularly with mommy and daddy!
• Claire loves all her cousins! They love her too!
• Claire has been away from mommy twice- once while mommy went to a work event ( that was difficult!) and once while mommy did some shopping! She enjoyed daddy time though!
• Claire has a had a few bottles of breastmilk.
• Claire smiles a lot in her sleep! 
• Daddy always cuddles with her as soon as he gets home from work!
• She watched the first round of the Bulls playoffs while Sean holds her (for good luck!).
• She snorts when she's upset.

We are loving this time with our girl! Now for a picture dump...

Claire's first Easter at the hospital, 2 days old.

Solly baby wrap!

Wearing one of the outfits I wore as a baby!

"Crazy Eyes"

sleepy smiles

cousins

wearing an outfit her Auntie Em wore as a baby!

watching the Bulls with dad!

Mother's Day 2015

This year when Mother's day rolled around, I was lucky enough to be honored as a mother! I celebrated my very first Mother's Day! Claire is 5 weeks old and while I have not been a mother long, it has been the best thing I have ever experienced! Claire was born 5 weeks ago but the truth is, I became a mom the second I saw that 2nd line.

On Sunday morning, I slept through my alarm and woke up to my Claire alarm instead.  Claire gave me the wonderful gift of throwing up all over me!  I fed her and raced to get ready for church! After church I headed home to shower and get the food ready that I was bringing to my grandmas.  Sean had ordered me my favorite chocolate covered strawberries and gave me the most beautiful bouquet of daisies! 

We headed to my moms to give her gifts and then off to my grandmas!   My mom is truly such a wonderful Nana.  I can't imagine not having her to give me advice, support, and love throughout this whole experience! She has been my rock as I adjust to motherhood and I am so glad we take this day to show extra appreciation to her! 

The entire morning had been gloomy and raining but it stopped for a bit so I headed out to get some First Mother's day pictures!

The rest of the day was spent at my grandmas.  Claire was an absolute angel as usual! She was passed around and loved in and barely made a peep! She even let me get lots of pictures before having a diaper blowout!  It is always so nice to spend time with family and especially give others  a chance to love on our sweet girl! 

I feel so blessed that God chose me to be this sweet girls mom! I am so thankful for her everyday.  She was even sweet enough to gift me with 5 straight hours of sleep that night! I was worried that the next day she would be fussy after having such an eventful day before but in true Claire fashion she was calm and laid back and enjoyed an extremely lazy day with mommy!