Had I the Faith of Hannah

As the year is brought to a close, I am reminiscing over the past several New Years' Eves. Specifically I can remember this time two years ago, when I was already desperately praying for a child. I was already on the long road of fertility treatments, taking medicines, charting temperatures, going to the doctor month after month for bloodwork. A few months later we would conceive and shortly after lose our first baby to miscarriage. Many months and pills later we were on to more doctors and more methods for conception assistance.
And then there was last New Year's Eve - we'd seen her! Of course, we didn't know she was a "she" yet, but Martha Claire was growing in my womb - Praise God! We had this ultrasound picture showing her tiny heart and its four tiny chambers - what a miracle!
Sometimes looking back over the course of a year (or more), I see things I am proud of. Earning my stock broker's license. Buying my first home. Reconciling my marriage. Growing in character and faith.
As I look over the past year, I feel overwhelmed not at anything that I did, or even something I did with God's help - but I feel amazed at His faithfulness to me. Like Hannah in the book of First Samuel, I begged and pleaded with God for a child. I spent so many nights in tears, but I grew certain in my heart that God would not give me the baby I so ardently desired. And yet - He was faithful. In the midst of my disbelief, He remained faithful.
I hope I will never forget all that the year of 2009 has taught me about the faithfulness of God through the amazing gift of my sweet baby girl.

First Out of Town Visit

Before Christmas, we took Claire on her first road trip to Montgomery to visit our friends the Hamils. Here are Claire and Morgan sharing secrets. We are hoping 2010 will bring a little blessing to the Hamils (who are in the midst of the adoption process) so that Claire will enjoy our visits with them even more than she obviously does!
While Claire had an excellent trip on this particular weekend to Montgomery, the Birmingham trip the following weekend was a catastrophe and she now HATES to be in the car. We enjoyed visiting her friend MC, but the travel was NOT FUN. Here's hoping that gets better soon.

Claire's First Thanksgiving

So this video doesn't exactly scream Thanksgiving, but the only one that I have that did doesn't have Claire in it at all because she was sleeping. Here she is with her cousins on Thanksgiving morning. I have a bunch of random videos from Thanksgiving, but this was the best interactive video with Claire in it.
I was going to post her first bath video before this one, but I have to figure out how to edit videos on my computer for length. It's too big to put on the blog for now...

Christmas

I posted this picture on facebook, but wanted to add it here as well. If you scroll down to the previous post, you will note that I am going to add videos of a bunch of Claire's "firsts" over the next few days. Her first car ride, first bath, first Thanksgiving, first Christmas, and first cereal are all coming soon. I am also hard at work on a slideshow of 2009 in recap (from Claire's birth forward, though I may think of starting with the preggie pics as well).

But I figured folks did want to verify that the Peel family did have a good first Christmas for Claire, and we certainly did. We were also careful to keep with the spirit of Christmas and not get swept away in the overspending, something we are committed to continuing in our family for the long haul. Knowing that in all likelihood, Claire will be an only child, we will have to work hard to keep her from being too spoiled - especially when she has such generous grandparents and aunts and uncles. However, we you see the haul she received for Christmas, you probably won't realize that the bulk of what she received was purchased second-hand or in some cases, re-gifted so that very little was spent.

I have become a big fan of Amy Dacyzyn's Tightwad Gazette. In the midst of the tips and tricks for saving oodles of money, she also has some great articles. One on Creative Deprivation in her second compilation really captures one way of thinking that Geoff and I are committed to as parents. The author says that when her children seem disatisfied with a treat such as a small ice cream cone, it doesn't make her think that they should be given a larger banana split, it makes her think that they have been having ice cream cones too often to appreciate them. I think gratitude is an important trait for Claire to learn and hope to teach it to her in the Christmas season just as during any other time.

Okay, enough of a soap box for one night. More posts to come soon...

Capturing the Firsts

I'm going to try to post a bunch of videos over the next few days, because one of our shower gifts from Mimi and Mr. Mike was a really nice camera which we have made a lot of use of already. It occurred to me that I have all of these videos and should share them, so keep checking back as I try to post a bunch of the "first" videos.
We'll start with the first car ride - a very short video:

Only after this car ride home from the hospital did we learn that Claire was too little for a car seat like this. We ended up being able to borrow an angel bed seat from a friend - a real life saver for carting Claire around in her first 2 months of life. We didn't ever think to take a picture of her in it until she was too big for it - but it is a great flat carrier for tiny ones!

Cousins!

All Smiles

Despite not feeling super well today, Claire was all smiles for a little while this morning. Glad I finally got a good shot of a smile to share with you!

We had cousin Sara over to play yesterday and I have to tell a tale on her for a minute. (For those who don't know, Sara is about to be 5). Here is a conversation with Sara from yesterday:

[Claire is a bit fussy]

Sara: SHHHHH! (Right in Claire's face)

me: She's okay, Sara.

Sara: But I don't want her to cry.

me: (thinking this is sweet) Well, she's not really crying, she's just being fussy. And sometimes babies just cry.

Sara: Well, but it's really annoying!

At another point Sara said, I want you to play with me! Can't you just put her in her crib or something?

Ahhh, to be five again!

For the Record

At some point, I intend to put together from my blog and other sources, a baby book for Claire. Lately I've been posting a lot of pictures and not much text, because I know that most of my "readers" these days are really just looking for pictures of her. But there are certain things that should be recorded for posterity.
Such as...
Claire absolutely LOVES "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" - in fact, singing this song (with motions, of course) is my new way to catch her smiling on camera. When I do the motions, she brings her hands together and mimics me a little. She's not coordinated enough to do the motions yet, but she's thinking about it. This tells me it's time to start getting serious with the baby sign language, as I have a good feeling she's going to pick it up with no problem very soon.
Claire has a security blanket now. It's a small Winnie-the-Pooh blanket my mom brought down for her when we first told her we were pregnant. It has some different textures and makes rattly and crinkly sounds. Claire mostly likes to chew on it and likes for me to make it dance while I sing the Winnie-the-Pooh theme song.
At her four month check-up on Tuesday, Claire had moved into the 75th percentile on both weight and height. (Previously she had been in the 50th on both, except for her first check-up when she was in the 10th). She weighed 14lbs 8oz and was 24.5 inches long.
I had a pretty good idea she was really growing when we visited our friend MCW last weekend. Unfortunately, neither that MC's mama nor this MC's mama had a camera to show that they were basically the same size. If you scroll back through blog posts you will find a picture when Claire was 6 weeks and MCW was 12 weeks and they were vastly different in weight and height. While MCW is longer than Claire now (she has a pretty tall daddy and brother), she and Claire weigh the same. Wish I had had a camera for that get together!
Claire likes to grab things with her feet. When she went to the doctor and the doctor was listening to her chest and such, Claire wrapped her feet around the doctor's arm. She also likes to do this when I change her clothes or diaper.
Claire can roll from her tummy to her back on her own, but she doesn't really like to be on her tummy that often unless she's sleeping. When you catch her in just the right mood, you can put her on her tummy and she will lift her head and push with her feet. She has even scooted enough to grab hold of her Pooh blankie. Just today she is showing interest in trying to get from her back to her tummy, but is really frustrated when she can't get her muscles to cooperate. She can almost get to her side, so it's only a matter of time before she's got that way down as well.
Claire is completely fascinated with her dogs and cat, especially Colson (see her four month picture). I don't really let the animals get all that close to her, but Colson managed to sneak in a kiss on her ear while she was in the jumperoo the other day. Each animal is different. Irving, the cat, ignores her or sniffs her, but mostly wants her to get out of the way so he can have his mom back. Soozie is a little over-excited still, but seems alternately interested in and scared of Claire. I've started to try to give Soozie attention when I hold Claire sometimes so that she won't feel threatened, because Soozie was the only one I worried about when it comes to how she would handle the baby. She does well with the cat, so I'm hoping she'll get the point that Claire is not a threat. Colson is a gentle sweet baby so he loves Claire. He is afraid of all of her toys, though. For those of you worrying about my pitbulls (and cat) mixing with my baby (Nene!), please know that I do not let any of my animals have any interaction with Claire unless Geoff or I am holding her, and even then, she's out of the animals' reach. I know all animals well enough to know that until Claire is my size, she's not going to have unsupervised interaction with 80lb dogs!
Claire really likes to hear herself talk now. She mostly makes these noises that remind me of a parrot or loud bird. She seems to be experimenting with volume and likes to squeal to get attention (as if there isn't someone practically staring at her during every waking hour of the day). Occasionally when she cries, it sounds like she's saying "Nani! Nani!" I want to get this on video for her grandmother.
I guess that should suffice as an update for Claire's current activities and such. We'll get some more pictures going on the next posts. We have some family time coming up with Christmas next week, so pictures and videos coming soon.

About Time

Finally purchased Claire's hospital pictures. All four turned out great, but this is my favorite:

Four Month Milestone

At four months, Claire is on the move! She can now roll over from her tummy to back unassisted, and as evidenced in an earlier blog post, she's definitely got the hang of the jumperoo. We are in for a busy future as she really starts to get moving.

Playtime with Pooh

Putting the honeybees back in Pooh's hunny pot.

The Best Entertainment on the Web!

My hat's off to you if you can find anything cuter (or more entertaining) than this!

Christmas Rush

So we're in that season of busy busy just before Christmas. I have a lot of year-end projects to complete for work and I've managed to work Claire into a nap schedule just in time for her to start teething! I have been terrible about taking pictures lately - I don't think I took a single one last week. I do have plenty of videos that I need to post and hope to do so soon, but soon might be after year-end and all my projects are completed. For now, I did manage to take a picture of Claire helping me decorate our tree yesterday morning.

Thanksgiving 2009

Claire finally met her mommy's family over Thanksgiving. This included both of mom's siblings and their families! Mom has lots of videos to organize and share, but most of the pictures will have to be emailed to her from other people's cameras before there will be a slideshow from the week.
Highlights from the week included:
A pop-up RV in the front yard to sleep Uncle Kevin, Aunt Shelby, Nani, Mercy and Stone
Cousin Mercy dropping an entire roll of toilet paper in the toilet
Aunt Minnah building a fort for Stone and Mercy in Claire's room
Cousin Wyatt showing the kitty cat how to chase a spotlight
Tons of cooking, football, and photos
We were so blessed to have all of us together for the first time in three years, and we can't wait to do it again. More pictures and videos to come soon!

Ravens' Championship

My nephew's team made it all the way to the championship in football this year. They lost the final game 6-0, which I know was so disappointing to him, but they played so well! At the final game, Claire got a little time with Mimi and Mr. Mike in the stands.
She held up well considering the night game was past her bedtime and it was pretty cold out. Of course, we've paid a penalty in the nights following that excursion, because it completely threw her off her bedtime schedule. Last night I finally let her cry it out and it only took 8 minutes for her to fall asleep on her own - I thought of this as a victory!

Sweet Birthday Memories

I have a bunch of good videos from the hospital that I look forward to sharing along with the new videos we're trying to take now.
Ian and Claire at the hospital. At first I told Kelley (Ian's mom) that after hearing all of the many stories that Geoff has about Ian's dad from growing up together, that there was no way Claire would be allowed to marry into their family. But Ian is such a sweet boy I may have to reconsider! (Still, Kelley informs me that Ian really prefers older women, so perhaps there is nothing to worry about).

Play Time

Videos!

I can finally post videos to the blog (as evidenced by the football post from the other day). I have a bunch from the hospital, but I'll start with Lara changing Claire's diaper so we could hear her tiny cry.

Three Months!

Okay, so technically Claire is 3 months old tomorrow, on the 13th, but I couldn't wait to take her picture in this little outfit from her Nani. I don't have my brother-in-law's flair with picture taking, but hopefully these do the trick.Claire at 3 Days Old

Claire at 3 Months Old

My How I've Grown!

Got rid of my long hair (donated to Locks for Love). It feels good, but weird, to have short hair again after years of it being so very very long.

Sweet sleeper.

For perspective, I laid the onesie Claire wore for her Week 1 picture on her today. Wow! She has grown!

Touchdown!

So proud of my nephew, Jonathan, performing a quarterback sneak here. His team only has to win one more playoff game to make it to the championship! (By the way, we took Claire to this game a few weeks ago because it was a day game on a Saturday and we figured it would be warmer than the night games. It turned out to be one chilly day!)

Twelve Weeks

Claire awoke this morning ready for adventure... So we decided to try something new! She loved the jumperoo.

She is making gaa and laa sounds now and blowing bubbles. We've only gotten an occasional laugh from her - though she laughs frequently in her sleep. She continues to earn the title of a very good/very easy baby (for which we couldn't be more grateful).

Monkey Business

Too cute not to share!

Trick or Treat!

Claire with her cousins.

Yep, she's a little football. Will post more pics of this outing soon.

11 Weeks

Our little girl is growing so quickly. It's hard to believe 11 weeks have come and gone since the day of her birth. On milestones...

• She is now wearing 3 to 6 month clothing due to her weight and long torso.
• She is also up to the size 2 diapers.
• She is starting to notice her feet and likes "this little piggy" - especially in the bathtub.
• She loves her bath and cries when it is over and we're trying to get her ready for bed.
• She sleeps at night - one six hour followed by one four hour stretch, but she doesn't really want to go to bed most nights until around ten (an adjustment for us early to bed, early to rise folks).
• She plays more with her left than her right hand - grabbing toys and holding onto whoever is holding her with her left hand.
• She LOVES just a few toys which can be repeatedly played with throughout the day - Seymour the Frog (bigger than her), Brown bear (her all-time favorite), tinkle bug (a chime toy that we use on her play gym), and her mobile.
• Her favorite songs are Yankee Doodle when she's wakeful and The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow when she's sleepy.

Just one more week of the weekly Thursday picture and I will start posting monthly on the 13th from here on out. Don't worry, though, I will post pictures as I take them. :)

Pictures from my Phone

Make a Smilebox slideshow

New Blog Title

I changed my blog title because I felt like most of my postings now have very little to do with me and everything to do with my little girl. It comes from the old rhyme:

Monday's child is fair of face;
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe;
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving;
Saturday's child works hard for a living;
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is fair and wise, good and gay.

Now, I've decided since my neice Mercy was born on a Wednesday, that Wednesday's child is actually full of "Whoa!," because she never ceases to amaze me. I figure Wednesday and Saturday children get a bad rap from the poem. But I liked what it had to say about Thursday's child. I don't take it to mean that my girl has a lot of catching up to do; I take it to mean that my little one is going to go far. I certainly think so!

Double-Digits

Claire is 10 weeks old as of yesterday. She is the most active child ever - sometimes late into the night. I actually managed to get a picture of her while she was being still yesterday evening. All of the other shots I took of her are blurred by her movement. She loves to kick her legs and flail her arms, especially while watching her mobile.
The child that plays hard, sleeps hard.

Week 9 + Photo Update

Here is the delayed posting of her 9-week photo. A professor from Geoff's workplace gave us the baby witch's hat. Who would have ever thought to make one of these? I know it's not Halloween yet, but I loved putting her in her pumpkin shirt.

It has been an exciting week. Geoff had a double tire blowout on the way home from work/swimming last Wednesday night. Claire and I went to pick him up and when I looked down I realized I had put on two different shoes. We were not anticipating the replacement of two tires for Geoff and still need to replace tires on my car - it's always something!Then, on Thursday night/Friday morning following the 2am feeding, I managed to break my toe on the bouncy seat which I thought I had put out of the way in Claire's room. It's nice and purplish and swollen and sore, but I'm sure it will heal quickly.And since these things always come in threes, Claire had a bad night last night. So as a recap, Geoff had the rough night Wednesday, me Thursday, and Claire Friday. She has been having a bit of a time getting over all of the many vaccines she received on Wednesday. Last night she was struggling with congestion and acid reflux and was wanting to eat but was throwing up whatever she ate. It was a rough night. However, it was followed by a great morning. In the picture below, she is playing with her Daddy (who is off camera).

No Picture Update

Here is a non-photo post. We went for our 8 week check-up today and all those folks that say babies forget about shots 10 minutes later are just WRONG! Claire is very unhappy this afternoon - cries in her sleep, cries when awake, cries when you touch her, cries when you put her down. I gave her a bit of baby tylenol and am hopeful she will wake up tomorrow feeling cheery again.
Other than the shots, the doctor's appointment went well. She is now weighing in at 11lbs 5oz and is 22 and 1/4inches long - height and weight both in the 5oth percentile. Pretty good for a baby that started in the 25th percentile on height and the 5th percentile on weight. :) She was so cheerful with the doctor that the rotovirus vaccine was a little hard to administer. That's just a liquid one that they drink, but Claire was more interested in cooing and smiling than in swallowing. She also made a lot of bubbles, which means a lot of that vaccine got spit out.
Tomorrow marks 9 weeks and I will post a new photo. I'm going to post photos for four more weeks counting this week, but then I'll switch to monthly photos for the scheduled ones. I know there are folks out there who would like to see the 52 weeks of the first year, but come on people! Don't worry, there will be plenty of photos every week, just not necessarily the Thursday photo of the week thing after 12 weeks.
Okay, I'm rambling, so I'm going to go comfort my little sugardumplin'.

Eight Weeks Old

We have come to the eight week milestone today! Here is a picture of her sitting in the bucket-style car seat that we borrowed from friends to cart her around in before she was big enough for a real car seat. She used to lay flat in the thing - I can't believe we never thought to take a picture of her in it.
Eight weeks after my daughter's birth, I am happy to report that I am 31lbs lighter. Yep, you read that right. I gained 18lbs and lost 31. I credit this to two things: nursing and watching what I eat. I am just starting to add the third part of the equation (exercise) into this, but am pleased so far to find that after the initial weight loss I continue to lose about a pound a week.
Also, I went for my final post-birth check-up and discussed future pregnancy possibilities with my OB. It was as I expected. It seems that should we decide to go through all of this again, I will have to do all of the shots again and all of the medicines and most likely have blood pressure problems and a very small baby. So we'll just have to wait and see if we really think we can handle all of that.
Okay, enough about me, I know you're more interested in her right now.
She is now really starting to smile at us and make funny faces (imitations of ours) on cue. She LOVES to be naked and to take baths. She had her first fever this week - it was just pitiful - but it went away quickly after a little tylenol. I had a tummy ache as well, so I'm pretty sure we were sharing a little something. I discovered that my mom may not have been using "Oh look - a mosquito" as an excuse to hit me as a child when I over-reacted and smacked one on Claire, making her cry. She is learning and growing and changing every day, and we couldn't be happier. In short, it's great to be eight weeks!

Pictures of the Week So Far

So far this week, Claire has had...

Daddy Time Mommy Time
Sleepy Time,
and... Grumpy Time

What a full week it has been so far!

Here's Lookin' at You, Kid

PEEK-A-BOO!

Seven Weeks

Big beautiful bright eyes! What color will they be? We think brown or green, but whatever their color they sure are dark!
Sleeping in her swing. The cooler weather has allowed me to pull out some of these soft warm blankets and clothes for her.

For perspective, if you go back and view other pictures of her on this changing pad, you can really see just how very much she has grown.

Her shirt says Super Happy Little Girl.

This picture was taken last weekend during a Saturday afternoon nap on Pop. This is her Saturday outfit. The shirt says Shh... I'm watching the game with dad. I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a boy's shirt, but who says a girl can't watch football?

MILESTONES AT SEVEN WEEKS

Well, these seven weeks have felt like an eternity in some ways. I cannot believe how much she has changed and grown in so many ways. And it is amazing how quickly the recollection of what she used to be like fades and is replaced with what she is becoming. The biggest milestone of the week is not really with her but with me. I have decided for the time being not to return to work. I am hoping to be able to work some from home and we are hoping we will be able to make this work for as long as we feel it is necessary for me to be at home with Claire.

Some Pictures from the Weekend

Angel face
3 Generations of Ladies

All in Blue

Six Week Special

Hard to believe six weeks has flown by already! I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to do something special for her six week picture - and here it is. The dress in the photos below was the dress that I was brought home from the hospital in. As you can see, I was not a four pound baby and it has taken Claire six weeks to fit into this dress. I had intended to bring Claire home in this dress which would have swallowed her at birth. Instead, Nani and Pop went and found her the beautiful premie dress and bonnet that I posted her in several weeks ago.

There is a picture of me in this dress in my grandmother's lap on a blanket that I still have and use with Claire. I want to re-create that photo with Claire an post them side by side for comparison soon.True to form, Claire moved in almost every shot. The pics still turned out pretty good. I've figured out that my camera does a little better without the flash. This picture (above) looked like "Hi Mom!" to me.Here she is from the other day being amazed by her cousin Stone's mobile. As you can see, she has two mobiles in her crib. I consider this the alert time mobile (because it tends to stimulate her) and the Pooh mobile is her sleepy time mobile (although lately we've taken to falling asleep to a Chris Botti CD).

I had thought of a few milestones/updates late last night, but they've slipped my mind. I can say that she holds her head up fairly well now and that we've transitioned her to sleeping in her crib but I have not yet moved back into our room. From the bed in her room I can hear her better when she stirs. We've also established a nighttime routine as far as going to bed is concerned and it seems to help with the nighttime fussy hour. You know how most babies are a little fussy around 5 or 6? Well, Claire had been having that time around 8 or 9. With our routine of bathtime and quiet music time, that fussy hour has turned into about 10 minutes. She really is a very good baby. :)

Getting Back in the Swing

God bless week six, when the new mom starts to get used to waking every three hours and producing an endless supply of nourishment and care to her little one!

Seriously, though, after a little more help from Nani, I got the encouragement I needed to start to handle the day in day out of being a mom. There are still moments, of course, but I feel like I'm getting there.

Okay, so I know today marks six weeks and I have something extra-special planned for our weekly photo, but you'll have to wait for it. I managed a trip to the grocery store and a brief visit by my office this morning and the little one is tuckered out so I'm not going to make her change clothes and sit for a photo. However, I have taken some pictures this week and can go ahead and share them now...Touchdown Auburn! You can't really see this little outfit, but I made it for her and even put her initials on it before I even knew whether or not we were having a girl.

Geoff's cousin Nancy sent us a fun package full of sweet things for our little girl, including this dress (Geoff says she looks like a porcelain doll in this picture) and the blanket she's laying on. We have received so many precious things for her to wear, to be wrapped in and to play with and couldn't be more grateful for the friends and family who have showered us and her with love and gifts.

Time with Daddy

Geoff is already finding ways to share his sense of humor with our little girl. Perhaps this is retribution for me not letting him put a mustache on her in the hospital...

5 Weeks Old and What a Doll!

Doesn't this remind you of E.T.? Of course, my girl looks nothing like an alien, but she certainly could pass for a doll. :)

And now for something completely different/random... When's the last time you saw one of these critters? I snapped the shot this morning. I haven't spotted one since I was a kid.