Three Weeks

Can three weeks have gone by already?!?!? It's so funny because Claira used to not be here, and in just a short time, it seems like we've always had her. Life is strange.

She is definitely a good baby. Cries when right when she wakes up because she's starving, but other than that, is very mellow and calm. She loves to be held against your chest. She still just gets all snuggly and curls her feet up and gets in a little ball.

She is very much an every 3 hour eater, as I can attest from our midnight, 3 am, and 6 am feedings that we had last night. What are ya gonna do?!?!?!

Last night everyone had on their Big Brother, Big Sister, Little Sister shirts that Kathy gave them.

The current fight in our house between Pacen and Camry is who can get their face closer to Claira's. They'll be looking at her and one of them will get in super close and then the other one will cry because they can't see her. We are working on giving everyone their space, but it hasn't sunk in yet.

A post about nothing....

We love Jana. She plays really well with the kids and is willing to put up with my kids whenever I need her, and let's be honest, my kids love her. The other day they were going over to Jana's to take their naps so that I could take Claira to her doctor's appointment, and you would have thought that it was Christmas. Mom!! We get to take naps over at Jana's house!!!!!!!!! Who knew taking naps could be so much fun?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been a house favorite these days. It was so cute...Pacen was 'reading' to Claira and Camry. Then the pages started hitting Claira's head as he was turning them, and he was quite concerned about what to do. He's a sweet big brother.

Here are just some random pictures of Camry. My friend, Summer, came to visit and brought Claira some cute little clippies, and Cam just wanted all of them in her hair. So pretty.

tHe StAtS

Two week checkup: General consensus...a perfect baby.

Height: 21 inches...75%

Weight: 8 lbs. 15 1/2 oz....70%

Head: 15 in....90% A shocker....our kids have big heads. :)

We are sad that our daddy is out of town this week. And he's super sick and has their big conference. Get better! We're sending our love via blog.

I don't know why I have so many monster hair pictures of Camry on here lately, but I took this the other morning. Pacen & Cam were in the bed hanging with Claira and Pacen says, "Mom, go take a picture of this!" Let's hope that Camry doesn't rip her head off with all of her "love".

And here is the grouch-o face that we all love.

Look, Grandma! I did it!

My mom got these sweet toys for Pacen & Cam--well, actually, she got them for her classroom, but then gave them to my kids when she saw how much they liked them. What a good Grandma. :) This one was tricky because the pieces are so small & it takes some time to finish...especially for a 4 year old, but Pacen did it! He was so proud and wanted to make sure that grandma could see all if his hard work.

Breakfast

We are breakfast people. We love to have eggs, or pancakes, or french toast, but, having a newborn baby kind of puts a kink in your morning and you can't always make something good. That results in lots of cereal, and since Camry doesn't like cereal, lots of cinnamon toast. But she can't just eat it like a normal person. She's obsessed with butter and has to lick off the top of the bread, giving her a face that looks like this.

And this is the final masterpiece.

We love our quirky Camry.

Three's a crowd??

Three's a crowd? We don't think so.

Carrie's Photo Shoot w/ Claira

Tell me this picture isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen?!?!

My friend, Carrie, came & took a bunch of pictures of Claira this morning. These are the first she's sent me, & seriously, these are cute!

I love this little baby! Thanks, Carrie!

One Week

Claira is one week old! Sad! She's already bigger!

Can we get any grumpier?!?!?!?

This is the, seriously, get that camera out my face cry. One time I was taking a picture and Pacen said, "Mom, I think that big light is hurting her eyes!"

This is how we spend most of our day...just staring at the sweet baby girl!

And this is their morning entertainment. She can do as little as grunt or move her arms, and the kids think it's hilarious. What a fun time.

First Day of Preschool--Take 2

Pacen had his first day of Preschool yesterday--only a week late, but hey--we were excited! Pacen was especially happy to wear his backpack...can ya tell??? It definitely was interesting trying to get all 4 of us ready to be out the door by 9, but we did it...almost. I had to run back home and get my purse that I forgot so we could go get Claira's bilirubin test done.

All was a fun day at preschool, I guess. Pacen said that he had fun and told me what they did. I asked him if he made any new friends and his reply was, "Only mean friends," and said something about not being able to sit on a chair. Yes, way to break a mother's heart! I don't really know what happened but hopefully he can make new friends. He's a real sensitive soul. He keeps saying how fun it was, though, so I'm trying not to worry. Here's to tomorrow--hopefully he'll find those 'nice' new friends. :)

Back to Real Life

Now everyone is gone and we're left to fend for ourselves! Yikes! We were so glad to have had so much help this past week. It will hopefully make for an easy adjustment to real life.

Pacen & Cam are constantly hovering over poor Claira. Camry is always saying, "Oh, don't cry baby Cwaira." and "Ooohhh, Baby Cwaira is soooo tired." It's really cute.

Can you tell how much Claira wanted to take this picture?!?!?!

Claira Fix for the Day

This is how Claira would like to sleep all day, everyday. And let's be honest, I let her because nothing is so fun like having your little baby sleep on you.

Sisters

Camry has been such a sweet sister already. She was the one that I was worried about adjusting, but she has been great! She really just loves Claira and would be constantly up in her face all day if I let her. Having a new baby is so fun.

More Claira

Life is going well. Here are just a few photos from the past few days. Claira continues to be sweet & we have learned likes to wake up for the day at 8 PM. Nice.

We're quickly running out of lap room.

We're Home!!

Here she is: Claira Ruth Hancock

Isn't she just pretty?!?!

We're home now--thanks to a pre-existing condition that leaves one without 'real' maternity insurance--we got out of there as soon as we could. But I'm so happy to be home with this healthy, sweet, baby girl. Here is the picture to prove that my hair wasn't picture perfect like Than said. It got all messy because I was just roasting hot towards the end and I put a wet rag on my forehead. :)

It really was the most amazing experience. I really think that I would do it without an epidural again. Luckily, I am very blessed with good baby making genes. It was pretty much like Than described it. It wasn't easy by any means, but it was only hard for like 25 minutes. And I just feel great now--I'm having a very good recovery.

Here is our awesome midwife and nurse. They did an awesome job keeping me under control. I am definitely a midwife fan now.

And here's my support team. They did a good job, too, watching and silently supporting.

Oh, and here she is again. She's just wonderful. She has this little grouchy face that makes her look like an old lady. I just think it's amazing how much you love your kids. Who knew you could have so much love stored up in you?!?!

The kids have responded so well to her. They just want to touch her and give her kisses all the time. Than said that Pacen was a little disappointed that she wasn't a boy, but said that he could

call her "Cougar" anyway.

Our first new family picture. You really shouldn't take pictures in your hospital gown. Not that cute. Can you believe that we have three kids?!?!?!

And here's her grouchy face. That cat is about it get it. And there she is so happy to be home. We are a very blessed family.