Claire Olivia Week by Week: 43 Weeks

Claire turned 43 weeks old today.  This past week she was able to see and play with snow for the first time!  She seemed to think it was pretty fun, until she got cold.  I put her hair up in pigtails for the first time a few days ago.  I didn't realize she had enough hair but I thought I'd try it out one day just to see.  I think it looks adorable, but it makes her look so much older.  She is looking more like a toddler and less like a baby everyday!  She still hasn't cut any of the other teeth she's been working on, and still has yet to take any steps on her own.  She stood for about ten seconds by herself on Saturday night, but that's as much as she will do on her own.  If she has something to hold on to she will walk around all day long, she just isn't quite ready to try it on her own.  I'm okay with that though as I am happy keeping her a baby for as long as she'll let me.
When we were just about done taking pictures Rory decided to jump on the bed and crash our photoshoot so I had to include this one too :).

Pigtails!

I'm taking advantage of Claire's afternoon nap today and blogging twice. I took these pictures this morning and I HAD to post them. I put Claire's hair up in pig tails for the first time, and just like that she looks five years old :(. As a mother, there's definitely a love/hate relationship with watching your baby grow up.

Claire's First Snowfall

Yesterday morning before Bryce was leaving for school he checked the weather and grumbled to me that there was snow in the forecast.  I was elated!  I love snow so much, and I especially the first snow of the season. Everything is so magical and it really brings the holiday spirit.  Later in the morning I looked out our bedroom window and saw that it was in fact snowing!  I was so excited to show Claire.  Bryce came home a few hours later for a lunch break so we bundled Claire up and took her outside to show her the snow for the first time.  It was so cute to watch her fascination with the fluffy white snow blanketing the ground!  We were only able to stay outside for a few minutes until the magic wore off and Claire wailed her discomfort of being cold.  Still, I think she could tell something special had happened.  Now I just keep picturing her tromping around outside in a big fluffy snow suit.  I can't wait until she is big enough to make snow angels, snowmen and snow caves with us!  I have such fun memories from my childhood playing outside in the snow for hours and hours.  I can't wait for Claire to make memories like these of her own.

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 42 Weeks

Claire turned 42 weeks old today.  This past week she really mastered the wave!  She waves at everyone at church or at the grocery store, at Bryce when he leaves for work or school, and at me when I go get her out of her crib.  She loves to wave, but I think she especially loves the reaction she gets from people.  She is turning in to a little flirt and loves to do whatever she can to get people to laugh and smile at her.  She still loves to walk around pushing her little walking toy but she is very timid when it comes to standing or taking any steps on her own.  She will stand for a few seconds but as soon as she realizes I'm not holding it freaks her out and she lunges for my arms.  She will walk all over the place as long as she has something to hold on to, she needs to muster up the courage to try to take a few steps on her own.  It make take her a couple more months but I'm sure she'll get it soon enough! 

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 41 Weeks

Claire turned 41 weeks old today.  This week has been so much fun!  She celebrated her first Halloween so I thought I would take her weekly pictures in her Halloween costume.  I was really excited to celebrate this holiday with her since it is my favorite.  We took her trick-or-treating for the first time and she loved it.  Mostly, she loved seeing all of the kids in their costumes.  She's still cruising along all the furniture and walking with the walker toy we have.  She has stood for a few seconds by herself, but she still doesn't have great balance yet.  She is still working on cutting her top right tooth.  I can't believe how long this one is taking.  I keep thinking any day it will finally cut through her poor swollen gums, but no luck yet.  I think we finally identified her food allergy/intolerance and strangely enough it is apple juice.  Anytime she eats anything that has been flavored with apple juice concentrate (puffs, puree pouches, fruit snacks etc.) a rash breaks out around her mouth.  There have been a few times I haven't fed her anything with apple juice and a rash has still flared up so I'm not sure if there is something else she is allergic to also.  We just have to keep watching her and be careful with what we feed her for a while.  At her next doctor's appointment I'm going to see if we need to take her to an allergist or something.  Oh, and she is finally sleeping through the night again and has stopped waking up early.  She even slept in until 7:30 this morning.  I hope she is back to her old sleeping habits for good! 

25th Birthday

My 25th birthday was a couple days ago on Halloween.  I am officially a quarter of a century old.  We celebrated a little on Halloween having dinner with my parents and siblings and also by taking Claire trick-or-treating.  I love having a birthday on Halloween since there is always something fun going on.  

We celebrated my birthday with just our little family yesterday.  Bryce spoiled me this year and let me get my birthday present a few months early. I had been wanting to try and start a little photography business but wanted to upgrade my camera if I was serious about it.  So I sold my old camera, used my birthday money from Bryce and money from a few photoshoots, and was able to upgrade to a Canon Rebel T3i.  I have loved it so much!  I especially love that my new camera records video so I can record lots of family videos of special occasions and such.  I've already got tons of use out of it.

I also got some birthday money from my parents and grandparents.  Bryce agreed to go to shopping with me at the station park shopping center in Farmington so I could get some new clothes.  I bought a cozy new sweater, a pair of red flats, and a black wool floppy hat.  After shopping we went to dinner at Zupas and had soup, salads, and sandwiches.  I thought it was a perfect dinner choice on a cold fall day.After we finished dinner we headed home.  Before we put Claire to bed, Bryce brought me a birthday cupcake complete with a glowing candle, and sang happy birthday to me.  Claire was really loving the candle flame and kept trying to snatch it.  Then we put Claire to bed and spent the rest of the evening cuddled up on the couch watching Netflix.  I had such a great birthday!  It's hard to believe I'm actually 25, it seems strange that I've already reached my mid-twenties.  This past year has by far been my absolute favorite.  Nothing has brought me so much joy or fulfillment as being a wife and mother.  I don't see how it could top it but I am excited to see what my 25th year of life holds.  

Halloween 2014

We went with a Russian theme for our Halloween costumes this year.  Claire, Rory, and I dressed up as Matryoshka (Russian nesting) dolls and Bryce was a Russian folk dancer.  I sewed all of our head scarves, aprons, and Claire's little yellow dress.  I even made Claire her own little matryoshka doll that matched her outfit perfectly.  Bryce borrowed one of my dad's white button up shirts so it would be nice and poofy on him.  I cut him a sash out of red fabric and found him a raccoon fur hat at Savers and I just cut off the tail.  The best part about our costumes was that I only had to spend $2 on Bryce's fur hat.  I had all of the  fabric in my stash and we just had to borrow Bryce's shirt.

As soon as Bryce got off work we put on our costumes and headed to Morgan. We stopped at Bryce's parents to trick-or-treat first and then went to my sister's to meet up with her for the Business trick-or-treat.  We went around to a few businesses but no serious trick-or-treating since Claire can't really eat any of the candy yet.  Claire did love seeing all of the kids in their costumes though!  After the business trick-or-treat we took Claire to both of my grandparents houses (Claire's great-grandparents) where she was spoiled with lots of baby-friendly treats.  We ended the night at my parents house for a little party & my birthday dinner.  It was such a fun Halloween & birthday.  Having a baby made Halloween even more fun than it usually is!  I'm possibly already brain storming ideas for costumes next year when Claire will really be able to trick-or-treat for the first time :).  Happy Halloween!