Trip to D.C.!

We had a GREAT visit in D.C. with Auntie Danielle, Uncle Brad, Nana Banana, Aunt Connie, and Uncle Ed! It was so nice to see everyone! The trip went by too fast and now we are back at home! Chloe and Claire did very well together, playing and chatting away! It is so fun to watch how they interact with each other. We of course did some shopping on our trip, and a lot of down time to just hang out! Claire was a trooper in the car, I can not complain! We are hoping Claire's vocal skills will rub off on Chloe and Chloe's mobility will rub off on Claire! We missed Daddy a lot so we are happy to be home but sad to be away from the family! We probably won't see them until March for Claire's First Birthday!!!! I am so excited!! We are already starting to plan it! Mark your calendars, March 6th will be the day ( her actual Birthday)! We also had a great visit with Nana and Grandpa Richey before we left for D.C. I wish we could have spent more time with them! I have a feeling we will be doing some traveling this coming year! We are very excited about the new year! This year has been the greatest year of our lives, Claire Bear makes our world go round! We love her so much!!! I hope everyone enjoys their new year and is Safe!!

First Christmas!

Christmas Eve Crawling around!

Christmas Day! Yay for toys!!! and my tutu!

YUM! Blocks!!

Christmas Eve again opening a present!

Claire had a very good first Christmas!! She went to church last night and was very well behaved. Then we had dinner at Grandma Crystal's and Fredpa's. It was very good! and She had a lot of fun! She then came home to ply with Ralphy(Grammy's dog). Then Grammy and Grandpa J spent the night and the festivities began in the morning! Claire opened(ok I opened but she was kind of interested) her presents, and she was a lucky girl! She has so may wonderful things! Thank you everyone!! she really enjoyed herself playing with everything and showing off for everyone. Then she took a much needed nap(that is why I am able to post this now!) We are going back to Grandma Crystals and Fredpa's for dinner tonight, and then Nana and Grandpa Richey will be here tomorrow and then Claire and I are off to D.C.! We can't wait!!! :o) It has been too long since we have seen Cousin Chloe. Uncle Brad, and Auntie Danielle!!!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Claire and Santa!

Claire went to see Santa yesterday afternoon and did pretty good! She didn't really know what to think of him, and we got a good 4 minutes before she started crying! We didn't get any pictures of when she started the meltdown....which I guess is good! Some very EXCITING news occurred on Monday!! Claire has her first tooth! Her bottom tooth decided to break through the gums and make it's debut! We are all very excited about this event (especially me)! We are getting very excited about Christmas!! We have a very busy day tomorrow, I hope Claire is up for it all! Many pictures will be posted after Christmas! MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone and a Happy New Year!! Be Safe! :o) Here is a video of her first bath after her casts! Sorry It's a little bit late!

9 month check up

Thursday Claire went to the doctor for her 9 month check up and she is a healthy girl! She weighed 22 lb 3 oz and is 29 1/2 inches. she is still in the 100th percentile for height and 95 perecentile for weight. She is doing everything she needs to do and we don't go back until after her birthday. Then we start milk hopefully, I can't believe she will be a year in less than 3 months! We are still on alert for a tooth, as mitch says "All we want for Christmas is Claire's teeth!" She is adapting to her new fingers, and having fun! She is fighting her first cold! The poor thing is so stuffy!! But she is being a trooper and hopefully will be over it soon! We hope everyone is surviving the snow! We didn't get a lot luckily! But uncle brad and aunt dani and Chloe are supposed to get around 20 inches !!! I hope Chloe enjoys the snow!

Christmas #1!

This past weekend we had our first "first" Christmas with Claire at Grammy and Grandpa J's. It was a lot of fun eventhough Claire didn't quite understand everything but that's ok! We got to spend sometime with Aunt Desi, Uncle Matt, Cousin Landon, Aunt Heidi, Uncle Bryan, Cousin Brayden, Uncle Timmy, Aunt B, Aunt Lyda, Uncle Bob, and Uncle Billy! There were a lot of people to see! The kids were very good with one another crawling around and having fun! I can't wait till next year when they are walking and talking! She got lots of toys and clothes she is avery lucky girl!


Claire goes to the Doctor this Thursday for her 9 month check up! We are interested to see what she weighs because we think she lost weight but she has gotten taller too! my guess is 21 lb and 31 inches. We got our tree up and Claire loves it! She likes playing with a nutcracker that is on a string at the bottom of the tree. She is standing really well and trying to do it on her own. What an independent thing! She has been going to PT for her Torticollis and she is doing better but it is still there. I still need to take Claire to the mall and go see Santa! We will do it this week or next and then my grandparents will be coming and we will have Christmas with my family and then Grandpa and nana Richey. The 27th Claire and I are adventuring to D.C. to see Cousin Chloe, Aunt Danielle, Uncle Brad, Great Aunt Connie, Great Uncle Ed. hAVE A BUSY REST OWe have a busy rest of the year

A Life Changing Day!

Today was a very long but very EXCITING day for Little Miss Claire! She got her casts off and we got to see what the magical Dr. Seitz did! He is so awesome! She has two "actual fingers" on her right hand and a thumb nub, and a first finger nub. She will be a getting a brace to grow those fingers in possibly 6 months. Her left hand he couldn't split super finger so she has super finger, thumb nub and finger nub. Her foot looks so good! Her big toe is straight! and he sewed up the middle, It looks great! Our day started out rough, we started by taking the casts off, She was NOT happy. She then went to X-rays next.....That really made her MAD. But her day did get better after that, she got her first sucker......I know that is horrible but Tyler made me do it! (Tyler is a 2 1/2 year old boy from New York that has a brace on his hand, like the one she will be getting soon. He was born with his first finger and thumb fused together. They had surgery on the same day and every time we have been back he has been there) He brought over some safety pops and insisted Claire have one to make her feel better, and BOY did it make her HAPPY! We then waited to see Dr. Seitz to remove the pins, which he did very quickly but Claire was not loving that! We then went to an Occupational Therapists to show us how to clean her hands and foot, and she gave us a wedge to put in between her split fingers so that they are separated when she sleeps. So we arrived at Cleveland Clinic at 11 and left around 2:30...We were all tired, especially Claire. A big Thank You to Fredpa and Grammy! We couldn't have done this without your help! Claire is trying to crawl but is a little unsure because of her hands but had no problem pulling up on to furniture. So I am guessing she will be doing everything she was doing before by Thursday. She got a Bath tonight and absolutely loved it!! We let her play for about 15 minutes before her "Actual Bath" and the smile on her face was priceless ( and the way she smelled afterward was too!!) The first time we put her down she saw a pony tail holder and grabbed it! I think it brought tears to both Mine and Mitch's eyes, just because we know before she would have struggled to grasp that and now she can do it with ease! We are so excited to see what she will be able to do! We are so proud of her and she is one tough cookie! I will try to post some pictures tomorrow. Here is one of the videos we filmed with Mitch's phone, ENJOY!

Thanksgiving 2009!

Claire and Daddy snoozing on Thanksgiving!

The whole clan!

Claire hanging with Daddy!

Nanna reading to Claire, Collin, and Emily

Looks like Claire is taking a break!

Well Claire's first Thanksgiving has now passed and it was a great one! We went to Pigeon Forge, TN with Grandpa and Nana Richey, and then some more! Aunt Desi, Uncle Matt, Cousin Landon, Aunt Katie, Uncle Jason, Cousin Collin, Aunt Sara, Uncle Erik, and Cousin Emily. The kids had a blast babbling and playing with one another. The girls went shopping (like that was even a question!) The boys went hiking on Saturday and we all had a great time!! We can't wait for next year especially for all the kids to be a year older! Oh what they will be doing then! We had a good trip down and back, Claire did awesome! We took Grandma Crystal and Fredpa's Van and she loved looking out the window! I think Claire is trying to give us a hint! haha Unfortunately when we got back mommy got a cold, so I'm fighting a cold and trying not to get Claire Bear sick. We are getting very excited for Monday!! The casts come off!! I can't believe Sunday she will 9 months old, time is just flying by! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!! Only 23 more days until Christmas!! We are looking forward to it, and then Claire and I will be taking a little trip to visit Aunt Danielle, Uncle Brad, and Cousin Chloe with Grandma Crystal and Fredpa!! We are so excited since we didn't get to make it to Chloe's first birthday!!