Santa!

Christmas is such a magical time of year, and that magic only increases once you have a little one to share it with.  Claire may still be a newborn and has no idea what is going on, but the whole experience of taking her to have her picture taken with Santa for the first time was so special. As we waited, and once we finished, we had a ton of people come up to us and comment on how adorable/cute/perfect Claire is, and I can't help but agree. One group of ladies told us they saw us holding her from the second level and thought she was a doll because she was so tiny and beautiful.

One Month Old Photo Shoot

 I bought a set of monthly stickers and plan to do a little mini photo shoot each month with Claire to keep track of how big she's getting.  Here is my little princess at One Month Old!

Little Miss Claire: One Month!

I know this post is a little late, but I've been busy feeding and snuggling our number one Princess!

This first month has been the best month of my life.  Claire has been a part of our family for such a short time, but she has wiggled her way deep down into our hearts and we already cannot imagine our lives without her.  She is such a good baby... most of the time.  She has her moments, but for the most part, she only fusses or cries when she needs something.  She rarely cries just to cry.  Claire is a good little eater.  She was already back up over her birth weight at 2 weeks old.  She was 6 lbs 9 oz when she was born, but left the hospital at 6 lbs 2 oz.  At her two week check up, she was 6 lbs 12 oz... like I said, a good eater!  Nursing was HARD at first.  We both struggled for the first 2-3 weeks.  I struggled because I was in so much pain (my nipples were sore, bruised, and scabbed over and one of my ducts got clogged) and she struggled to figure out how to suck, and then because she was hungry all the time because I had to limit the amount of time she nursed so I didn't pass out from the pain.  No joke, it would hurt so bad to nurse that it made my toes curl and I wanted to give up.  I had several friends encourage me to keep going - they told me if I could make it through the first three weeks that it would get better, and they were right.  Now we have it down and it is so much easier.

In her first month:

• Just now filling out newborn sizes - and they are actually still a little big.
• Hates being swaddled - she likes to be able to move her arms and gets REALLY mad when we swaddle her
• Has a ridiculously adorable pouty face and a cute little chin quiver when she's mad.
• Has a dimple on her right cheek that you can only see sometimes, mostly when she smiles (which she only does when she's gassy right now) - I'm sure we'll get to see more of it once she starts smiling for real.
• Makes her Mama feel like its a feeding frenzy on Shark Week on a regular basis.
• Has recently become very clingy and wants to be held all the time.  It has gotten to the point where she will only sleep on someone or in someone's arms... hence my disaster of a house.
• Does super duper well with noises - most of the time she doesn't even flinch when Bella barks.
• Still has dark blue eyes and brown hair.
• Has a strong neck!  We've only done tummy time a couple of times, and she's not a huge fan, but she loves to practice holding her head up whenever she is on my shoulder to get burped or when I hold her to my chest.
• Had one diaper blowout that resulted in an outfit change and a bath.
• Went to Uncle Zack and Aunt Alex's wedding where everybody finally got to meet her, and subsequently fell in love with her.
• Loves to eat...  I mean really loves it.
• Loves baths, and showers as well, but hates when we take her out to dry her off.
• Snuggles!  She loves to snuggle!  When she is sleepy she will nuzzle into your neck.  I hope the cuddles continue and she doesn't grow out of them!
• Takes a bottle like a champ
• Only takes the pacifier sometimes, and could care less about it for the most part.
• Hardly ever cries.  
• Is the cutest girl ever.

My favorite moments from her first month:

• Seeing our sweet girl for the first time and having them lay her on my chest and just stare up at me calm as can be.  I have never seen anything so perfect as that sweet little girl, and I could feel the Spirit so strongly in the room like Heaven was all around me.
• The moment I looked up and saw Nick holding Claire for the first time.  It was a moment I will never forget, and I fell even deeper in love with him as I saw the way he looked at her with so much love and tears in his eyes.
• Late night feedings.  It sounds crazy but that was my favorite time with her - when the whole world was silent and still and it was just she and I together.  Often in those quiet moments after feeding her, I would rock her and sing her back to sleep with hymns from the Children's Songbook.  There were a few moments in those late hours, singing my baby to sleep with "I Am a Child of God" and "Families Can Be Together Forever" when I could almost swear than if I turned around I would see my Grandma sitting there with me.  In those moments it was just Grandma and two number one princesses.
• Being able to spend two wonderful weeks together as a family of three.  We were so sad when Daddy had to go back to work.

Pictures from her first month:

These are all from my phone, so please excuse the blurry, grainy photos.

 Leaving the hospital... Luckily she calmed down as soon as we picked up the car seat and started walking.

 Halloween!  I remember buying this little outfit and hoping that she would be here in time to wear it, and wondering if she would be small enough to fit in it... well she was here, and she was so small that it was HUGE on her!

 Mommy learning to multi task.

 After her first sponge bath... loved the sponge bath, not happy to get dried off.

At her Newborn photo shoot - she was the PERFECT little model!

 She almost always sucks her bottom lip under like this when she sleeps.  It is too cute!

 Her first real bath!  She had her foot up in the air like this the whole time.  It was hilarious.

 First time going to church!

 Tummy time!  It takes a ton of concentration to hold that big ol' noggin up!

 Happy Thanksgiving!  I am one month old today, and Mommy bought the wrong size shirt before I was born, so it was too big for me!

Zack and Alex... Married!

My baby brother is married!  It's hard to believe he's old enough to have a girl friend, let alone a wife, but I couldn't be happier for him.  We absolutely adore Alex and are so happy to have another gorgeous girl in the family.  I am incredibly proud of my amazing brother and his beautiful bride for getting married for time and eternity in the temple.  There is no better place to start a life together than in the temple, where families are sealed together forever.  Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Kitterman!!

As we sat there in the sealing room, I couldn't help but think back to our sealing 6 1/2 years ago.  I am more grateful for the temple and forever families than ever before now that Claire has joined our family.  Nothing makes my heart swell more than knowing that she is mine forever - that as long as I make the right choices in my life I will be able to be with Nick and Claire (and whatever other littles eventually join our family) for this life and forever after.  What could be better than that?

I didn't get to take as many pictures as I normally would have because I was trying to make sure Claire was taken care of, but here are the few I managed to snap.  

The reception was beautiful as well, and it was a little trip down memory lane for Nick and I because Zack and Alex had their reception at The Grand Tradition where we had ours!  The place was just as beautiful as I remembered it.  It was fun to see everything done up for them, and while I am still partial to my own decor, theirs was absolutely beautiful as well.  I am just grateful that little Miss Claire was so well behaved the whole day so I could enjoy myself a little bit.  And a big thank you to Aunt Claudia who made sure she was well taken care of so that I even got to dance for a while!  

 I love this photo of my Grandma, my Mom, Claire, and I - not just because it is a four generation photo, but also because it is four generations of oldest girls!  My grandmother was the oldest in her family, who had my mom who was the oldest, who had me (the oldest), and now Claire is the oldest!  I think that is pretty darn amazing.  Claire is also the first grandchild and great grandchild on my side of the family.  My grandma was pretty smitten with her... and I don't blame her.  Everyone who meets Claire seems to fall under her spell!