Meeting Uncle Stephen

Uncle Stephen came in town this weekend. We are so glad he could come for Claire's blessing! Even though Stephen got in town on Friday, he didn't really meet Claire until Saturday because she was sleeping when he arrived. But on Saturday, what better way to win her over on their first meeting than to feed her right when she woke up? Thanks, Uncle Stephen! She really appreciates it!

Claire's Blessing Day

Today was a special day for our family because Claire was blessed at church today. Claire was so good, too. She didn't cry at all; in fact, she was actually smiling.

It was so wonderful to have so many of our family members here for it, too. I know that many of them sacrificed to come, and we are so appreciative of that. Here's the whole Hervey Clan. It was nice to see all of my siblings, their families, my parents, and my grandmother.


Four Generations!
And here's the Cooper Clan. We know that those not pictured wanted to be here, and we appreciate that, too.

Brothers



Thanks, everyone, for making this a special day for us.

More Family Members

Last week, Claire got to spend some time with more family members. Here she is with Aunt Jennifer.

Claire also met my cousin Emily and her daughter, Ellie. Ellie is two months older than Claire. Maybe Ellie and Claire will love to play cards together when they're older! :-)

And here is Emily's son, Joshua, sitting in a rocking chair just his size. I loved sitting in this chair when I was younger!

Dallas Fun

Here are some pictures from our trip to Dallas. We had a great time!


Claire and Uncle Peter

Claire, Marcus, and Julia

We went to two of Taylor's T-Ball games. His team won both, and he did a great job, too! - Look at him run!


And here he is swinging.

Uncle Marshall and Claire

Claire and Granddad

Claire showed Granddad her tongue, so he then showed her his tongue!

I got to see my friend Tasha and her cute kiddos!

We had a great time in Dallas!

Two Months Old

Claire is two months old today! I can't believe she's been with us for two whole months now! But I'm so, so glad that she is here and that she has been here for two full months. She is such a joy in our lives! I love spending time with her and taking care of her, and I love the funny things she does!

She still loves her tongue and loves to stick it out!

She is also smiling a lot these days. That is sooooo fun!!!



And one more thing she has started doing more just today is sucking on her hands.

To celebrate her two months of life, we walked down the row of fruit trees with Granddad, and we talked about ripe fruit and unripe fruit. Then I got to eat some, but Claire didn't get any because she's still on a liquid diet! :-)

Cousins

Claire and I went to Dallas yesterday, and we're here for the week! We've had a great time so far. When we arrived yesterday, Claire got to meet her cousins on my side of the family. When we walked in the door, Marcus, who is three, said, "Is that my cousin?" It was very sweet. He wanted to hold her, and he did, but he didn't want a picture taken while he was holding her. Here he is with his mom, Jennifer, and Claire.

And here they are again. - This might be more typical of Marcus!
She also got to meet Taylor, who had played in some t-ball games earlier.
She does like to stretch!
Then she met soon-to-be Uncle Matt, who got her to smile!
Uncle Matt, Aunt Laura, and Claire
Uncle Peter, Claire, and Taylor

She also met Uncle Marshall for the first time yesterday, but I didn't get any pictures of them together -- YET. (I certainly will!) Now she has met everyone on my side of the family.... Claire is looking forward to meeting Uncle Stephen, on Jordan's side of the family, this upcoming weekend.

2 Month Stats

Claire did very well at the doctor today, even though she got three shots. She even smiled after she got the shots and before we left -- once she calmed down.

Here are the stats:
Her head circumference is 38 cm, which is in the 30-something percentile. (I don't remember exactly).
She now weighs 10 pounds, 9.5 ounces. She's in the 50th percentile in weight.
And she is 23.5 inches long, which is in the 91st percentile for height! But the doctor said she doesn't look at percentile to see if children will be tall or not until age 2 or 3.

She was very tired last night when I took this picture!

Because I am not a fan of shots for myself, (just ask Jordan about how much I don't like medical things that are even slightly gross for myself), I am aware of the "distract the patient" tactic. And I appreciate it! When nurses use that tactic on me, I am aware of it, and I like it! But I didn't think twice about Claire's shots today. I knew that she wouldn't like them. I knew that she would cry. But I didn't expect them to make me queasy. - And they didn't. (That's NOT where I'm going with this!) I just thought it was funny that the nurse who gave Claire her shots told me to hold down her upper body, and then she started using the "distract the mother" tactic. She asked me how many kids I want to have, when I want to have the next one, and other questions, too. She was giving Claire her shots during this conversation, and I was answering her questions, but I was also trying to console Claire by singing and trying to comfort her. That was a little hard to do while I was answering the nurse's questions! And I didn't need to be distracted; I didn't feel the need to cry just because Claire was crying. I just wanted to help her as much as I could.

Having fun with Dad before bed time!

Miss Thumper

Here is a video of Claire moving her arms and legs a lot. (It sounds thrilling, doesn't it?!!) If Claire is awake and not tired, you will often find her flailing about! Of course, right after I stopped recording, she really went to town flailing around! But you can get a pretty good idea here.




Sometimes I just look at Claire in amazement and think, "Wow, she's a real, little person." I don't mean a really little person, although she is pretty small still. I mean she's little, and she's real. She has her own body, her own mind, her own personality. And she's here on this earth in our family. Wow. That's just amazing. I feel so blessed!

Also, she's 8 weeks old today! My, how time flies!

Bath Time

Claire likes baths, as far as I can tell. (I guess I'm more certain that she doesn't dislike baths!) But really, she seems to like them pretty well. Her normal bath time consists of lying on a blue sponge in the bathtub filled with a little bit of water. We pour water all over her with a cup, we talk about which body part is being washed or rinsed, and then we get her out and dry her off. She likes it.

Sometimes, though, for a special treat, she gets to take a real bath with Dad. She has fun in the big tub! And Dad has fun giving her a bath in the big tub, too!!

Bando and Claire-o

Jordan is such a great dad! He is so good with Claire. It is so obvious that he loves her so much! When he comes home from work, he says hello to Claire, and she watches him and follows his voice. - It's obvious that she loves him, too!!! He is also a great help with Claire, and I am sooooo thankful for that! A few weeks ago, the three of us were out, and someone (whom we know) basically asked me if it worried me when Jordan took care of Claire. I said no way!!! I think he was making this person nervous as he put Claire into her car seat, but I wasn't nervous at all. I know Jordan knows what he's doing!!! And I'm so glad that he helps and wants to help take care of Claire - or, as he calls her sometimes, Claire-o.

For the past few days, though, when Jordan gets home from work, Claire has been very fussy. (She's so tired in the evenings). He still helps to take care of her, but it's definitely not as fun as when she's in a good mood.

Another note about Bando: He had another birthday celebration when his mom got home from Miami. He got 2 OR caps from Stephen and Mel, and I really think this was his favorite present! It made going to CRNA school, (and needing OR caps), so real to him. Thanks, guys!

Photo Shoot

I'm trying to get caught up with the pictures I've taken of Claire. I had a photo shoot with her one day, (back on April 29th, which was 2 and a half weeks ago). I propped her up, and she did pretty well for a while by herself, so I took lots of pictures! Here are some funny ones!

"What's going on?"

A half smile to the side

Tongue...

And more tongue!
"Whoa!!!"

"I've been thinking..."

My favorite

Smile!

This past week, Claire began to smile at us. I remember telling Jordan when he got home from work one day that Claire kind of smiled. And within the next few days she did it enough more times that I really believed it!

This afternoon Jordan took these pictures of Claire with Grandpa, and she started smiling! So he captured some smiles for us!

Look at those hands by her face! I love it when she does that!
Here, she's not so sure...
But here, she's all smiles!
So cute!