Happy Easter!

We went on our first road trip for Easter weekend. We went to Mitch's mom's house. It actually went really well. Clare slept in the car the entire time there and home. She was spoiled all weekend long by the Grandparents and Aunts/Uncles. We went to church and again Clare slept through the entire service being held by her Daddy. Her are a few pictures from the weekend.

Sleeping peacefully:)
The Happy Family on Easter morning.

Daddy's little girl.

Clare and her Easter baskets.

Clare was getting tired of all the pictures.

Mommy and Clare resting from all the excitement.

Clare's First Sock Hop

Clare and Mommy with three students from Daddy's class.
The three girls who insisted that Mitch dance with them, which he did. It was pretty adorable watching him dance with the kids.

On Friday night, Clare went to her first dance. There was a Sock Hop at John Campbell Elementary where Mitch teaches. All the kids from Mitch's class were excited to see Clare including the teachers he works with. We put Clare in her front pack and she slept through most of it, which was amazing because the music was so loud. It was so cute seeing Mitch dance with all the little girls in his class. They just adore him and couldn't get enough of little Clare.

First Time At Church

We went to church as a family for the first time a couple of weekends ago. It was very exciting but we were a little nervous. Fortunately, Clare slept through the entire service and seemed to really enjoy the music. In fact, she was very content during the service when everyone was singing. It was great to introduce Clare to everyone. Hopefully, she continues to be good during church. In fact, Clare was so good this day that we actually were able to go out to lunch after church and enjoy it.

Daddy and I before church. Mommy and I before church. Mommy was just hoping that I would fall asleep.

Here Comes the Easter Bunny :)

My Grandma got me this silly hat for Easter. I have matching slippers to go with it. Check them out below.

I'm not so sure about this hat. It feels a little tight on my rather large head. Plus, I can't understand why my Mom and Dad are laughing at me.

Here I am just chill'in in my Boppy pillow.

Look at my matching slippers to go with my hat.

Alright, I've had enough. Take this hat off of me but you can leave my slippers they keep me nice and warm.

Week 3 Update

Check-out those chubby legs. She is content after eating.

Daddy doing the night time feeding.

Gage insists laying by the crib when Clare takes her naps during the day. He is definitely becoming more interested in her.

Clare taking her morning nap in her crib. She definitely looks content.

Clare fell asleep last night as Mitch was burping her. She is so flexible.

This week has been really good. Clare and I have finally settled into a routine. She has become a great sleeper. In fact, last night she went to bed at 10:00 p.m. and slept until 6:00 a.m. I still got up a couple of times to check on her because this is the first she has done this. Her typical schedule is that she will go to bed around 11:00, wakes up at 3:00 a.m. to eat, and then wakes around 6:00 a.m. She has started to eat a lot more and typically will eat around 4-5 ounces each time. I'm breastfeeding during the day and then for her last feeding at night and during the night we typically feed her from a bottle. She does great switching between the two, which is good for when I have to go back to work. I definitely have no trouble producing enough milk to keep her fed. If I'm not breastfeeding then I am busy pumping. It seems like a never ending process.

She is growing out of her new born clothes. It seems like every couple of days we have to switch out her clothes. I'm loving being home with Clare and it is so nice to finally be able to move around and start to get in a routine. Clare is a pretty good baby. Mitch has a checklist that he goes through when she cries: Is she hungry? Does she have a dirty diaper? Has she burped and/or passed gas? His theory is that if he has checked for all these things then she should be okay and shouldn't be crying. He doesn't understand that sometimes she just wants to be held and cuddled. He is starting to realize it and is more willing to ensure she falls fast asleep before laying her down. He did insist that she start sleeping in her crib this week. I know this sounds corny but I cried the first night she slept in her crib instead of the bassinet. I felt like it was a sign that she was growing up but I now realize how much easier it is to sleep for all of us. She makes a lot of noises when she sleeps so I would wake up at every wimper.


It is amazing how fast she is changing. Everyday she becomes more active and appears older. I cherish everyday that I can spend at home with her. I only have four more weeks before I return to work. This week I visited the day care she will be attending. My heart was put at ease when I got to meet a couple of the little girls who will be there with her. The girls are 3 and 4 and were so excited to meet her. They wanted to help me feed her and change her diaper. Clare will only be there with the two girls during the day so the day care provider ensured me that she would have plenty of time to give her attention. I know it is going to be hard but I definitely know that Clare will be well taken care of and will great interaction with the little girls.

Baby Shower At L&D

Today we attended a baby shower at L&D. The shower was for Clare and Elizabeth who is the daughter of one my co-workers. Elizabeth was born a month earlier, however, you couldn't tell since Clare is so large. She wasn't as long but she definitely had a larger head and definitely had more chubbies on her. Clare received a lot of cute clothes, her very first piggy bank, and various other items. Everyone was so eager to hold her and she didn't mind it one bit. She was very good and slept pratically the entire time. The lunch and cake were very good. Thank-you to everyone at work. You were all very generous.

Welcome Cambrielle Jo Brown!

Congratulations to our friends Cameron and Katie Brown who welcomed their first child, Cambrielle Jo Brown. Cameron and Mitch have known each other since high school. I'm sure Clare and her will have many memories together.

Favorite Pictures

Clare enjoys sleeping propped in the Boppy pillow inside the crib. Mitch discovered that she really enjoys sleeping like this. Last night she slept from 1:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. We couldn't believe it.
She looks so peaceful sleeping with her hands crossed.

Clare is a great sleeper but.... she does require that someone holds her until she falls asleep. I don't really care as long as she continues to sleep her 3 to 5 hour time spans like she is currently doing. Mitch thinks that I'm spoiling her but he does it too.

Clare showing off her outfit she got from Aunt Kyanne. We had to put it on her before she out grew it. Unfortunately, she only wore it for a couple of hours before a complete wardrobe change was required due to a substantial blowout. However, there was a positive to the blowout in that her belly button finally fell off ;)

Here she is ready for our big adventure to Costco. Clare loves her car seat and falls asleep within seconds of being in the car. Did you notice the pink mittens? We had to put them on her today due to the large scratch she gave herself this morning. Hopefully, Daddy will cut her nails sometime soon. Mommy just doesn't think she has the nerve to do it.

This is one of Mitch's favorite pictures. She is always moving her lips and making weird faces. I think she is constantly thinking about eating.

Clare fast asleep in her bassinet. This is how we know she is fast asleep when her arms go above her head. She has already almost outgrown her bassinet.

Family Time

Today was the first time Clare spent time with Grandma Bonnie, Uncle Clancey, and Uncle Lee all at the same time. They all came to visit for the day and Clare enjoyed being held and spoiled.

Clare will definitely be looked after well and I feel sorry for any boy who wants to date her because they will have deal with her dad and her two uncles.

Uncle Clancey a little unsure how to hold her.
Uncle Lee looks like he's done this before. I think Clare already has him wrapped around his finger. Thank-you Uncle Lee for feeding and holding me today.

Clare spending some time with Grandpa Strand. She isn't quite sure what to think of his booming voice.

Rough Week :(

I apologize for not posting any pictures or updates recently. It has been a pretty rough week. Mitch went back to work this week, which started out okay but took a turn for the worst mid-week. My Doctor still has me on limited physical activity and I have to spend most of my time laying down with my feet up. Hopefully, when I go to the my doctor's appointment next week I will be taken off of some of the restrictions that have been placed on me. As if having to stay in bed isn't bad enough I developed Mastitis in one of my breast.

It started Wednesday afternoon. I was trying to nurse Clare and all of a sudden I got the chills really bad, started to ache all over, and had a fever of 100. My symptoms progressively got worse and within an hour my temperature was up to 103. I called the doctors and they knew immediately what was wrong with me. Thankfully, it was right at the end of Mitch's school day so I was able to call him to come home. Unfortunately, he had to miss his final for the class he is taking this quarter but the professor is allowing him to make it up. I was barely able to hold Clare by this point. I'm now starting to feel a little better, however, my infected breast is still really sore and it hurts tremendously to pump from it. I hope I don't ever get this again. I should have more time this weekend to put some pictures on the Blog since Mitch will be home.