Memory Lane

I was going through some of our pictures a few days ago to find some of Claire to display at her party and I started looking through some from when I was little and one we have a Bryce as a little boy.  I thought it would be fun to take a little trip down memory lane and post some of them on our blog.

This is the only picture we have at our house of Bryce when he was little.  I really need to get some more from his mom so we can see if there are any that look a little more like Claire.
This is a picture of me when I was just a little older then Claire is right now.  Its pretty clear where she gets most of her looks from haha.  Bryce is sweet and always says he loves that she looks so much like her mom, since that's who he did fall in love with after all ;).
Since we already started our trip down memory lane I figured we might as well keep going so I posted a few more pictures of me growing up.

My sister Laci & me.  We have been best buddies since we were teeny tiny.

Proof that I have always loved dogs ;)

Another of me when I was around Claire's age.  

I love looking at old pictures.  Its so fun to look back and see how much I've changed.  Now I need to stick to my word and get more pictures of Bryce so we can revisit his childhood next time!

If you give a baby a chocolate chip cookie....

She will make a mess.

Storytime: Red Sled

We love story time at our house.  We always make sure we read a few books before every nap and before bedtime.  Claire has always liked being read to but now she is starting to really love it.  She'll point, smile, and giggle at the pictures on the pages and it makes me so happy to see her enjoy it.  I thought it would be fun to post some of our favorite books every so often on our little blog.  I ordered the book Red Sled for Claire a few weeks ago with some Christmas money she was gifted.  It is such a cute book and is one of our favorites to read now!  It has the most darling pictures and doesn't have very many words so it is perfect for a wiggly impatient baby always wanting to turn the page.  The story is about a bunch of animals who borrow a little girl's sled after she has propped it up by the house for the night.  It's a really fun one that I think everyone should add to their collection.  Books have such a special place in my heart; if I can pass on one thing to my kids I hope it is my love for books & reading.  

Claire on the Phone

A few days ago Claire started carrying my phone around pretending to talk on it.  Bryce and I thought it was so funny.  I really don't talk on the phone much but I have been calling people about her birthday, so I guess she picked it up after seeing me make a few phone calls.  I caught it on video a few days ago and had to share it.  It is so dang cute.  She does this little thing where I think she is trying to mimic me laughing when I'm on the phone, and it just about kills me every time.  She is getting so fun and silly at this age.  I love it!

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 51 Weeks

Claire turned 51 weeks old yesterday.  I can't believe she only has one week left of being an 11 month old :(.  I am already pretty sad about it.  I love this age and I have so much fun watching her grow.  I just hate how it goes by so dang fast!  Claire is walking everywhere!  She gets so excited that she can walk from room to room all by herself now.  It's fun to watch her explore our house from her new perspective.  This past week she started copying me when I would tell her good job, so now she says good job all the time.  I love when she mimics us and learns new phrases.  

We are down to two nursing sessions a day.  I've been working on the weaning process really slowly since she loves to nurse so much.  Once she officially turns one next week I'm going to cut her down to one session a day for a week or two and then hopefully wean her all they way.  I'm a little worried about making sure she still gets enough calories once she's done nursing because she doesn't eat very much, but that is a whole another post.  

Claire still sleeps really well at night usually 12-13 hours.  She has pretty much stopped taking two naps a day and will only take one nap now.  If she will go back to sleep after she nurses at 6 and sleep until around 8 then one nap is usually enough for her.  I have her nap after she eats lunch between 12 and 1 and she will usually nap for 2-2/12 hours.  The hard days are when she wakes up at six and doesn't go back to sleep after she nurses.  Then she is ready for a nap earlier, which messes up her schedule because she won't take a second nap.  Then she is super grumpy in the evenings so I end up putting her to bed between 6 & 6:30.  But if she goes to bed early she usually stays awake after her 6 am nursing session and her schedule stays thrown off.  We're still working on it and I'm hoping once I get her completely weaned she will start sleeping in longer. 

I've been doing lots of party prepping so I can get everything done ahead of time and just enjoy her birthday with her instead of trying to frantically finish everything.  I am really excited for her party and to see what she thinks about getting her own little cake to eat!  

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 50 Weeks

Claire turned 50 weeks old yesterday.  She has been loving all her new toys from Christmas.  Her nursery is starting to look much more like a big girl room now that all her little baby things have been replaced by big girl toys. 

These are two of my favorite toys Claire got for Christmas.  She got them from her Grandma & Grandpa Leishman.  They are so cute.  Claire can't quite walk around with the butterfly push toy yet by herself but she loves when we help her with it.

She loves the xylophone pounding bench toy.  She has even started figuring out how to pound the balls through their holes so they'll roll down the xylophone.

Claire is walking all over the place now.  She even stands herself up in the middle of the room instead of having to pull herself up by something first.  

Claire is also starting to mimic us all the time and it is the absolute cutest.  She will say, Uh-Oh, thank you, tickle-tickle, and if you ask what Rory or a Tiger says she will growl.  I got some of it on video today while I was feeding her lunch.  Only two more weekly updates left until this little girl is a one year old!

2014 Year in Review

2014 was so good to our little family. It really has been my favorite year and will always be so special to me as it is the year I became a mother. I had a really hard time narrowing down this post, but here are a few (and by few I mean many) of my favorite memories:

*The best moment in 2014 was the birth of our little girl, Claire Olivia, on January 19* 

*Celebrating Valentine's Day with our tiny valentine*

*Taking our first family pictures with Claire*

*Documenting Claire's growth through weekly & monthly pictures*

*Seeing Claire's first real smiles*
*Celebrating Rory's 1st Birthday in February*

*Celebrating our 3rd anniversary in March*

*Celebrating Easter*

*Spending my days playing with this cute girl*

*Claire's Blessing Day in May*

*Celebrating Bryce's 24th Birthday in May*
*National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day*

*Taking Claire to her first drive-inn movie with Laci & Lydi*

*Feeding Claire her first solids*

*Finding any excuse I could to put Claire in her adorable swimsuit*

*Celebrating the 4th of July with a parade, concert, & fireworks*

*Swimming at Pineview*

*Celebrating Claire's 6 month birthday in July*
*Going to the Pioneer Day Parade*

*Camping trip to Tony's Grove & Bear Lake*

*Back to School Feast in August*

*Taking Claire & Rory to the Castle Park*

*Going to the Ogden Temple Open House*

*Watching Claire learn to crawl*

*Claire's first ponytail*

*Seeing Claire & Rory become the best little buddies*

*Celebrating/inventing Oktoberfirst*

*Taking new family pictures in the October*
*Dressing up for Halloween as Russian nesting dolls & Bryce as a Russian Folk Dancer*
*Celebrating my 25th Birthday*

*Showing Claire the first Snowfall of the year*

*Claire's first pigtails making her look like a toddler instead of my little baby*

*Decorating for Christmas & putting up our Christmas Tree*

*Updating everyone's stockings in time for Christmas*
*Seeing Claire take her first steps*

*Going to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square*

*Taking Claire to see Santa*

*Celebrating Christmas*

*Ending the year with the annual Mecham Family Crabfest*

I have loved 2014 so much.  This will always be one of the most special years I've had.