She fits!!: Her new pasttime - chewing on her hands:

I LOVE her smile!:

"Pictures AGAIN, Mommy??":

Could she look ANY MORE like Brian in this picture??:

3 months old!

Happy 3 month old Birthday Mary Claire!

Mommy and Daddy are so blessed that God chose you to be our daughter. We will do everything in the world for you! We love you sweet girl!!

She did it!

She slept 8 hours last night!! She was in bed at 1025pm and woke up at 645am! Whooohooo! If only I could have slept that amount of time, too! Around 145am she started stirring and getting fussy. I waited 2 minutes, got up and put my robe on and walked to her room. By the time I got there she was calmed down and back asleep! I then woke up at 330am - her normal time for waking for a bottle - and went to check on her and she was STILL asleep! Yippee!

Mary Claire and I also weighed on the scale and Nannie and Poppa John's....Mommy LOST another three pounds (lunch only consists of Michelina's Lean Gourmet TV dinner and a yogurt) and Mary Claire is up to 15 pounds! So she has gained 6lbs in 3 months....that seems to be right on track with Preston's weight gain!

Mary Claire is spending all afternoon and evening with Nannie and Poppa John today. Mommy has to work 230-11pm and Daddy is working the night shift. I really hope she does okay. Brian said that when I worked all weekend she cried for an average of 4 hours each day!! Eeek! All I can figure is that she missed me because he said he tried EVERYTHING. I'm sure she will grow out of it....I hope!

I think Mary Claire and I will have a photo shoot this weekend since it will just be us....Daddy has to work and Nannie and Poppa John will be in Orlando. Hopefully I can get some good pictures!

My great internal debate...

is this: Should I let Mary Claire sleep like this at night:
?????????????????????????????????????????????????

She seems to sleep so well on her stomach for naps, but I am paranoid of putting her in her bed in her room across the house on her tummy. What would you do?? I know when she starts rolling over that if I put her to sleep on her back she will most probably roll right over onto her stomach to sleep, but what about now when she is not yet rolling over??? Last night when I got home from work she was asleep in our bed with Brian. So I brought her to her bed and put her down on her back. She immediately started tossing and turning and woke herself up. I put her pacifier back in her mouth and she calmed down. I went to bed only to be woken up an hour later by her tossing and turning and wide awake again. So I gave her three ounces of formula and rocked her. I put her to sleep on her stomach and she went right to sleep, even spitting out her pacifier (an indicator she is really asleep). I went and laid down and immediately got panicked. I went back to her room and rolled her over. She went back to tossing and turning again! She finally calmed down....until 245am. I woke Brian up and told him just go get her and put her in bed with us. She slept snuggled up against me all night....a wonderful feeling! By around 845am she started her tossing and turning bit. So I flipped her over onto her tummy and she slept until 1030am! So what should I do???? I'm torn! I know my brother and I slept on our stomachs so it can't be all that bad, right? I guess I would feel a lot more comfortable about it if she was rolling over, but she's not. Any suggestions?

This was on the way to day care:

Her big, bright eyes:

Wanna fight???:

Who knows?!?!? I tried to zoom this picture in so y'all could really see her face, but it didn't work. We've gotten some good laughs about it, though! Try clicking on the pictue to enlarge it:

Big girl pictures!

Staying up late watching TV with Daddy:
She ate too much and was spitting up:

Feeling better after burping and spitting up:

Realizing the camera is on her AGAIN:
Will they ever quit taking my picture?!?:

Asleep in my arms later tonight with a pacifier ring around her mouth:

Valentine's pictures

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mary Claire says Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!!! We have some cute pictures of her in her two valentine's outfits that I will try to get posted tomorrow. Mary Claire also says thank you to Nannie and Poppa John and to Aunt Martha and Uncle Tom for her beautiful cards!! We loved them!

Daddy is working tonight, so Mary Claire and I went over to Nannie and Poppa John's. Poppa John grilled steaks while Nannie cooked a potato casserole and made a pretty green salad. Mrs. Nelda, Mr. Wayne, Macie and Maggie brought some green beans and yummy brownies! It was delicious! And Uncle David was there, too!

Daddy got Mommy some GORGEOUS diamond earrings for Valentine's Day. Mommy LOVES them! Thank you Brian!! Mommy got Daddy just a few little things....nothing compared to Mommy's gift!

Check back tomorrow evening for some pictures. Mommy needs to get into bed so we can go shopping in Lafayette tomorrow with Nannie!

Just some pics

Finally tolerating tummy time a little....and doing a great job! Just a little grin for Mommy!

Too darn cute!

Can you sleep when it's cold???

So, last night was interesting....for lack of a better word. Mary Claire had her little "snack," as we like to call it. (A little 2oz bottle around 730-8pm is her snack.) Around 815pm she started getting antsy and fussy wanting her bath, so I gave in at 830pm. She got her bath, got slathered with lotion and dressed in her gown, and then promptly fell asleep....and I mean a deep sleep in my arms. So she kind of had a "dream feed" at 1000pm with her bedtime cereal bottle. I put her in her bed at 1025pm and covered her with a light blanket tucked under her.

Around 145am this morning I hear her stirring! Not even 4 hours after her last bottle!! What is up with that??? So I got up and got a bottle together, changed her and then fed her. I then put her back in her bed while she was still awake. It took a little while for her to go back to sleep (two trips to replace a dropped pacifier), but she did go back to sleep. So then she started stirring around 445am, so I just told Brian to go get her and bring her to bed with us. She fell back asleep for about an hour...enough time for me to shower, eat and get a bottle ready. As I walked by the thermostat in the house, I had to do a double-take. It was 65 degrees in the house! No wonder Mary Claire couldn't sleep!! Daddy had turned the heat off and the AC on yesterday and I didn't know it! So hopefully we'll have a little better night tonight!

Mary Claire has been scooting. I know many of y'all will not believe that statement, but it is true. Twice we have laid her down on her activity mat to play, turned around or walked to the kitchen and then hear her screaming. She scoots her self, on her back, head-first towards the coffee table and promptly gets stuck! It's crazy, I know.

I'm so excited for the day she rolls over. I'm sad to know that it will probably be at day care or somewhere I'm not, but I'm looking forward to ME seeing it for the first time. She puts her feet flat and gets her knees to the side, and sometimes her body, but that is it. When I see her doing that I do flip her over and show her how to roll over. She is getting better at doing a LITTLE bit of tummy time. I find that if I put her on her tummy on her changing table she tolerates it a little bit more.....must be something fun about that changing table! It's amazing how fast they grow!

I'm definitely ready for another baby, but Brian says he is not. I just love watching Mary Claire grow and explore and learn things. Motherhood is amazing!

We did it!

Okay, so it was only the first night we tried it, and it may have been a fluke, but Mary Claire slept in HER bed in HER room for the first time! Whooohooo! I think I am more proud of myself for actually getting some sleep as well. She did great! Down at 1020pm, up at 320am to eat and then up for the day at 0730! Yay! It was a little nerve-wracking trying to go to sleep, but once I was asleep I slept great! Now to only get her to sleep until 0530....

Enjoy the pictures...I took them this morning when she woke up!

That's a bright light Mommy!

Playing with Mommy!

Enthralled with her mobile:

Already?!?!

My baby girl is sick. After 4 days of day care. Yes, she did not go Friday. I wanted to spend the day with her before I had to go to work at 230pm. She has a sore throat and a runny nose. And she keeps sneezing. She can't even cry her normal cry because her throat hurts, and when she does cry she is so hoarse. She also wants to eat ALL the time. I think that is because the formula feels good on her throat. It only took 4 days of day care. I hate it. I wish I knew someone who stayed home or something and could keep her on the few days that Brian and I both have to work. Next week I would only need someone for Friday....I am off Monday and Tuesday and Brian is off Wednesday and Thursday. Oh well. I just keep trying to tell myself that this is building up her life-long immunity.

She is doing great otherwise! I was getting her dressed this morning and was just looking at her little naked self in awe. She is perfect. It is amazing what God does for us! I am so honored God chose me to be Mary Claire's mom.

I can never remember....

to bring home that silly little paper the day care fills out everyday telling me when/how much Mary Claire ate and slept and how many and what type of dirty diapers she had. Does that make me a bad mother? I did take the one down off the wall today and promptly laid it down and forgot it! So I'm getting a little bit better!

Mary Claire seems to be doing good at day care. She was in the "cool" swing today....almost asleep and I stopped the swing and squatted down to talk to her and she woke up and started smiling at me! Melt my heart will you????

Isn't she precious???

My "AH-HAH" moment....

So, last night I felt so "proud" of myself - for lack of better word. This was a moment that many of you will just think to yourself how crazy and silly I am to feel this way, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

Mary Claire ate at 900pm while I got ready for bed and then I tried to burp her, but she wouldn't...hardly ever does for some reason. She was "supposedly" sound asleep on my chest so I thought I would try to put her to bed early....YEAH RIGHT! As soon I put her down in her bassinet her eyes popped open and she wanted to play. So I got her out and laid her on the bed and let her kick and coo and all that while I tried to read. I got so sleepy and Brian had just walked into the bedroom to check on us, so I asked him to bring her to the living room with him for an hour and then bring her back at her normal bedtime of 1030pm. (We can put her in her bassinet at 1030pm and turn on the music and her little light and she will be asleep in 10 minutes - yes, very nice!) About 10 minutes later I hear Mary Claire SCREAMING her head off! I wait a minute or two, but she never let up. So I got my slippers back on and went to check on her. Poor Brian, he said he didn't know what was wrong. I told him to try to burp her and he said he had. So I picked her up and patted her back and she let out the loudest, wettest-sounding burp ever! And was happy as a lark.....for the next 30 minutes or so when she started screaming again. This time she was just ready for bed!

I know that sounds like the silliest story ever, but I felt so proud and happy that I KNOW my baby girl.

First day of school

On her changing table before leaving for day care:Mary Claire and Miss Cindy: Being held by Miss Cindy and talking to Miss Jennifer:

Well, I survived my daughter's first day of day care! I have to admit....I was EXTREMELY busy at work today and, while I thought of Mary Claire OFTEN, it only registered once that she was at day care being taken care of by strangers. So that was good! But that one time....I did have to hold back the tears! But, as you can see, she appears to like it. Brian said she was in a good mood, and he hated to bring her. But we may as well get into the habit and routine.....in today's economy we both have to work and I guess we really should be thankful we both have good jobs.

Mary Claire was eating when we got there.....of course! She saw me and you could tell she knew who I was. She even quit eating and kind of cried like she wanted me to pick her up, but I let the girl keep feeding her - she has to get used to it. When we got home we talked and played for a while and now she is sleeping. I love her so much!

So thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

Superbowl Sunday pictures

First time actually sleeping on her stomach: So beautiful!:

In my pretty new dress from Nannie and Papa John:

So tomorrow is Mary Claire's first day of school....:(.....I am having a very hard time with this. She is really only going for like 5 or 6 hours. Brian plans to drop her off about 10 or 11am and then I will pick her up around 330 or 4pm after work. I know they will never love her as much as we do, but I just hope they love her enough! Brian has promised to take her picture at day care, so hopefully I can get it posted tomorrow evening sometime.