A haircut and a smile!

Claire got her first haircut today! She was so excited and had so much fun. We went to one of those "why didn't I think of this" places - a salon for little girls. This places is a sea of pink and purple designed to make little girls feel like princesses. There is even a throne. We got the "First Haircut" package that included a certificate and a lock of her hair for probably twice what we should have paid but it was a special day and worth it! There wasn't too much hair to cut but it looks cleaner and a little thicker with the layers in it. We skipped the mani/pedi package but maybe we will be back for that one day. Claire was so excited about the whole experience that she . . . gasp. . . SMILED for the camera! Yea! Claire did get glitter in her hair, a glitter stamp on her face, a balloon and a lollipop. Not bad. I wonder if they would cut my hair there?
Claire was excited to play on her new playset that Jo Jo and Doc gave her and Ford for Christmas. I got some cute pictures of her playing with lots more smiles for the camera!
The last picture I stumbled upon when I was downloading the others - it's for Shanan. Can you believe that picture was take Jan. 22, 2007 - less than 11 months ago? My how things have changed. That was before we knew Mason or Ford and when our first babies were, well, babies. Claire and Cole have always been so incredibly sweet to each other. She's lucky to have him as a friend. And maybe one day a husband . . .

Little Friends

Claire and Sydney have been friends for a long time now (since her Mom and I were waddling around the PICU worried that everything we did there was going to somehow harm our babies). Well they turned out perfect despite all of the radiation and contagious diseases we were exposed to. Sydney turns two today which means Claire turns two in 9 days. It's difficult to believe that time has gone by so quickly. Sydney had a party at Kids Gym last weekend and we had a blast! Claire wore herself out climbing, jumping and riding on all of the fun equipment. The first picture is of the two riding in the see-saw boat. If you look closely you can see Claire's smile (she does actually smile just not when a camera is around). The second picture is of the two of them leaving school today. They had their Christmas party today - nothing more fun than a bunch of toddlers eating pizza! They held hands and walked out together - too cute.
I was able to (sort of) get a picture of Sydney, Connor and Claire together at the party. It was a lot easier when they were 8 weeks old (in the bottom picture). Claire has just a little bit more hair but not much! We are going to get her first haircut today despite the fact that she doesn't have too much to spare. I've heard that if you cut it then it will thicken up a little bit and help it grow. We will see. I'm sure I'll have some interesting pictures that I'll post later.
We are off to North Carolina to visit with Rhett's family this weekend. If we survive the 6 hour drive (plus stops) we will have a great time up in the mountains. We are looking forward to some relaxing time in front of the fire looking out at the Smokies!

Our little lactation consultant

There has been a lot of breastfeeding going on around here lately for obvious reasons. Claire has definitely shown a great deal of interest in the whole process. She continues to bottle feed her babies but occasionally she will get all of the necessary equipment for pumping and head back to my bedroom telling me that she is going to make milk for her babies and that she will be right back. On this particular day she decided that Bunny (aka Bubby) needed to pump. At first it looked like she was trying to resussitate Bunny with the pump (maybe I just miss working in the ICU too much) then she got it together and poor Bunny will never be the same (if you've ever used a breastpump you understand!). (click on the pictures to get a better view!)

Bah Humbug!

My quest to take cute pictures of Claire continues. It is now complicated by the fact that I now have the challenge of incorporating another child in the picture. I thought they looked cute this morning in their matching outfits so I pulled out the camera and the tears began. I hope I get credit for trying.
Ford is doing great. He was 7 weeks yesterday. He weighs around 13 lbs now. He is a sweet baby. He just fit right in our family perfectly. We are very blessed with two really great kids.
Here is a funny story about Claire . . . we were playing with a felt nativity scene last night. She was having a great time with all of the little pieces and people. She was playing with the baby Jesus and all of a sudden we hear this "No! No! No throwing Baby Ford Jesus! No throwing! Time out Baby Ford Jesus. Time out!" Rhett and I cracked up but she was very serious about her discipline of Baby Ford Jesus. I hope He got a chuckle too!
Claire and I have had this argument before but it came up again today so I thought I'd share. We were leaving CBS this morning when she looked at me and said "Char vroom vroom" (She calls herself Char and vroom vroom means drive). I said what I usually say when she wants to drive "No Claire you can't drive only Mommy or Daddy can drive" then she gets all upset and the tears start coming because she can't drive. There I stand in the freezing cold trying to strap my 1 year old in her carseat as she cries because I won't let her drive! She definitely has some of her momma in her. I wanted to drive from the time I could walk - there was even an instance involving a Volvo when I was 12 but we won't mention that will we Susan?. We have had great success with teaching her to "take turns" with her brother with things like his bouncy seat, play mat or even sitting in my lap. She is fine with it if it is his turn because she knows it will be her turn next. Well today she got smart on me and in a last ditch attempt to win the argument and drive home she said "Char's turn vroom vroom!". Gotta give her credit for trying!

First smiles!

What a sweet day - a baby's first smile! This is the first one I caught on camera. It's fun to see Ford's personality emerging. So far he is really laid back and has a sweet disposition. He is 6 weeks old now and weighs 13 lbs. He is content with a full belly and being held. He likes the swing a lot like Claire did. I dubbed it "baby crack" at the time but, hey, you do what you have to do and if it makes him happy - great!

Claire also has a beautiful smile but refuses to show it off when a camera is around so here is yet another picture of her with a blank look on her face.

Lots of babies lately . . . my college roomate, Ellen, just welcomed #3 a little boy named Davis. The triplets were born last week at 35 1/2 weeks. Two of them weighed 5lbs 5 oz and one weighed 6 lbs! That's almost 17 lbs of baby! Amazing! Great job Luann! Our friends from college, Matt and Jamie, are bringing baby Wells into the world as we speak! These little ones are such sweet blessings.