2 Month Birthday- November 2, 2011

So despite our excitement that CC turned "two months old" the Doctor said that two month birthday doesn't mean anything! 

Au contraire Dr. Nick!  CC has had several significant experiences on this milestone of life.

*CC has been rolling over since 5 weeks (As of late, since she mastered it already, she can't be bothered with the effort any more...we are trying to convince her it is worth the extra effort!)

*CC loves her tummy time!

*CC gained weight...making progress!
*CC gets to sleep uninterrupted (thanks to a breakthrough in all our feeding issues from birth she no longer had to be awakened up at regular intervals)

*CC had some serious immunizations in the legs--that alone is enough to warrant mentioning the date.  She is RAM tough (as Daddy would say) so it barely phased her beyond the intial 2 or so minute scream.

but most importantly....

*We took pictures of CC identifying the day as her 2 month old birthday!  That means it is of the upmost importance, right?

Gotta love this girl!  She is darling, eh?

Bathtime Shenanigans!

Monday September 12 was a big day for little Claudia Cate.  She got to have a real bath!  It was so cute!  I wish I would have had Paul record video of her first bath, we have probably 40+ still photos, but CC's reactions to the water and getting washed up were seriously so adorable!

Here are a few of the photo highlights.

Happy "One Week" Birthday to CC!

Little CC was born 7 days before her Grammie's birthday.  Grandma Rich's birthday was September 9, 1946. 

September 9, 2011 is Claudia's 1-week birthday!   I'm excited that we will always get to celebrate Claudia's birthday while honoring and remembering her Grammie each year.

I can barely stand that she was already a week old here!  Daddy got her dressed in her pink Nike onesie that is a tad too big for her.  We are looking forward to the many weeks and many noticable changes as she continues to grow up.

She loves to interact with her Daddy!

How cute are those legs?

An odd angle, but honestly....that tongue sticking out is priceless!


Happy Week Birthday Claudia Cate!

The Guardian

 Kiki our 11 1/2 year old pug has taken on a new role besides "Big Sister."  I must admit we were a wee bit worried about how should react to little CC.  We prepared her by having her get used to Claudia's scent via a receiving blanket before we brought Kiki home to meet Claudia.  It was actually really cute to see her initial reaction.

CC is well protected by Kiki.  Kiki doesn't allow more than one person between her and the baby girl.  She sleeps between the bed and the cradle on the floor in our bedroom. She leaves her bed to protect her throughout the day.

Kiki does her "rounds" at night to make sure the family is okay.  If I have gotten up in the night to feed or change Claudia, and snuck past Kiki without her noticing, when she awakens and doesn't see us in the room.  She paces the house without looking at us until she finds where we are hiding out.    We call her the guardian out at night protecting our home doing her security sweeps regularly to ensure our families safety.

I am relieved that Kiki has not become jealous of Claudia.  Let's hope that she doesn't suddenly change her tune.

"I got a feeling...(woo hoo)...

That tonight's going to be a good night, that tonights going to be a good good night!"

Can I just describe to you how much better and BETTER each night gets?  I know I'm probably in the "dream like period" of her babyhood. I am still haunted by that first Monday, but despite all of that, we are really sooooo lucky!  She sleeps in long stretches and actually I have to sometimes wake her up (Dr.'s orders) to feed her in the night! 

Showing a little love for the "West Side of WA"

She loves her morning time in bed with us--sometimes we love to just sit and watch her that we don't start the day as early as we should...oh well, she's only this little once!

Sleepy Morning Time

How many patterns can you find in this picture?  I count 4!

Manicure Anyone?

So in addition to this little bundle having long fingers and toes...she was born with sharp little claws too!  So we were having a filing session while she was sleeping.

I think this will have to be a ritual we do often!  She didn't even flinch at all!  Here's momma working the nail file.

It's all about being PC...Precious Cargo

Can I just tell you how much we adore our little one?  So much that we break out into song just saying simple things to her on a daily basis.  We just look at each other multiple times a day and say to each other with our eyes or in words--just how lucky we feel to have this little on in our possession to take care of. God has placed this little bundle of love in our midst and trusts that we can care for her needs and help her to be strong and righteous.

We often do our secret handshake and comment on how we had the right "mix" too create such a darling kiddo.  Paul always comments that he hopes Claudia has all of my "nice personality traits"  He comments on her expressions being "just like her mom."  and it brings joy to my heart.

She loves to snuggle.  In the morning after a feeding and a little play time, she loves to nestle next to her daddy on the bed, or she will lay on his chest and quickly climb up to his neck and cuddle in.  She is already mesmorized by Paul's goatee and loves to put her feet firmly against his hands.

I am so thankful for an incredible spouse who cares so deeply for our child--and pays attention to the little details that make some of the most amazing memories.

Needless to say the Precious Cargo entrusted to us has changed us forever.  We are in love with our sweet little girl.  She has brought us closer as a couple to each other and closer to the Lord.  We are thankful for the joy this little PC  brings into our lives.

Stretching

Stretching More...

Relaxing with arms folded for a prayer

Trying out the cradle

Momma actually does get dressed! 
I think this is one of the few pics of my dressed as a normal human holding my baby girl.

Pink Nike Onesie
Paul is convinced those super long fingers will bring us more riches than piano playing.
He's hoping for a "baller"

I guess we were tuckered out.

Visitors Galore...

In addition to our family, here are a few of the folks that came to visit Claudia in her first few days of life. 

Sarah Platterborze and Emily Nedry came to visit us and brought "Canty CC" her own "canteloup"

Jessica Lutthans, my dear and longest friend I've had since I moved to Washington.

Matt Lutthans, Jessica's hubby and my former "boss" and dear friend

Our neighbor, Chevy came to deliver CC a cake on her 6 day old birthday

"Have fun with baby CC 6 days old"

We realized we had other people come and visit, but our camera-ing did not follow.  It was fun to catch up with Michelle Goodwin from our ward, my good friend Becky Palomera came to chat for a bit, and my friend Missi Peterson came and brought her son Tommy who is a mere two weeks older than CC.  It was amazing to see how 2 weeks difference in age shows up in their size difference.  CC and Tommy were an ounce different at birth and Tommy was a little bit longer than Claudia was.  He is at least a couple pounds heavier than Claudia now.

We are grateful for all the love and support we've been shown by our friends and family alike!

BHYC Day

Bring Home Your Canty Day

Here we are with our Claudia and Canteloup!

Saturday morning Sept 3, the new morning nurse came in first thing and said, "Well, you ready to go home?"  I said very quickly and assertively, "YES!"  We had been in there since Wednesday afternoon and honestly, I was ready to be at home in my red recliner relaxing with my little girl and hubby. ( All throughout labor I was requesting the red recliner be brought to the hospital because I was certain it would much more comfortable than the bed, rocking chair, and birthing ball I'd been limited too due to my "high risk" blood pressure issue that disappeared when I was admitted).

We quickly saw the Pediatrician, the on-call OB/GYN stopped by and we had the lab people to do the PKU test.  Then it was hurry up and wait.  We had the nurse come by again and go over discharge with us and our concerns and questions.  They wanted us to go to the Post Partum Clinic on Monday for CC since her billirubin blood test showed that she was jaundiced.

Paul's mom and dad came by early that morning to visit us before we were going home.  Then we had a relaxing morning with the visitors. 

Our friend Shannon Depew came just in time to help us photograph the dressing in the "take home outfit" (I stressed about picking this outfit out for several weeks prior to our birth) as well as helping us get packed up.  It was great to have an extra pair of hands while we were gathering all our goods.

Our dear friend Shannon Depew and Little Claudia ready to go home!

Here we are putting on the take home outfit and getting her ready in her car seat.  That is tricky...they are soo tiny and the straps and car seat is soo big and bulky!  We thought we had her all snuggly hooked in and the nurse came in and said, not tight enough!  Yikes!  The learning curve continues to astound me!

Getting her dressed in her adorable outfit and Jordan Hat

As we were about to leave the nurses said that my lunch tray had been delivered and asked if we wanted to eat before we left.  We did--Paul and I shared the pot roast and other items.

When we drove home Paul said there must be a governor on the gas pedal because the car just wouldn't go even a little bit over the speed limit (as if Claudia hadn't been traveling in the car with us the previous 9 months) so he was extra caustious.  I teased him until I drove her by myself and had the same overwhelming dramatic cautiousness come over me.

Aunt Holly was at home preparing the house for our arrival.  With foods, clean laundry, and an inviting atmosphere we were excited to arrive at home--safely--

Hooray for support people!

I know I have mentioned I had a really great crew of folks supporting me throughout the entire pregnancy, during the labor, and now after Claudia's arrival.  We've had many meals brought in, visitors volunteering to help us out, caring friends sharing their advise and reassurance to a couple of new parents.  To all of you we are so thankful for your many many kind acts and we cannot express enough how grateful we are to you all!  You know who you are...and you have blessed our lives in myriad ways!

Thank you so much!  I must do a special tribute though to the one who stood by me all along the way, comforting me and cheering me on.  I am so lucky to have married such a wonderful man and now father to our beautiful little girl.  He was so strong and brave and calm throughout the whole labor, and continues to be a calming influence during my mini-freak-outs as a new mom.

I love you Paul!

Wagers for goldfish crackers

Really new Claudia Cate

Sporting the Jordan gear...already

We were passing the evening away by putting in guesses for the next checks of baby girls progress...As the delivery times all passed by, people were wanting to change their predictions.  When Sarajane joined us and made her prediction, I was like "no way.... tomorrow morning?  Seriously?"

Our nurse Sarajane, was the closest winner on the time, of delivery and CC's length.  Kristalyn and I were the closest (but over) on her weight

Claudia Cate's Stats:         5:07 am 9/2/2011    19.5 inches   7 lbs. 8. oz.    dark blonde


Aunt Holly Rich              8:14 pm 9/1/2011    21.5 inches   *7 lbs. 15 oz.  blonde
Aunt Kristalyn Peterson    8:45 pm 9/1/2011    23 inches      *7 lbs. 14 oz.  dark
Grandma Teresa Schultz    6:15 pm 9/1/2011    21 inches       8 lbs. 4 oz     brown
Uncle Darrin Rich            5:30 pm 9/1/2011    21 inches       8 lbs. 0 oz.      
Daddy Paul                    12:01am 9/2/2011    26 inches        9 lbs. 4 oz.   blonde
Mommy Rochelle            9:02 pm 9/1/2011    22 inches      *7 lbs 14 oz.  blonde
Nurse Sarajane              *4:00 am 9/2/2011   *19.75 inches    8 lbs. 6 oz.       

*Denotes winner in each category.

Although there were goldfish crackers to be awarded, no one took them away from the baby mamma as a reward of their good guessing!

Here we are....that was hard work it's time for a nap!