Our Beautiful Claire Bear

Happy Easter

2010-04-10T21:00:00.005-04:00

Happy Easter. A little late but better than never. We had a blast on Easter. We had a huge dinner and had a great Easter egg hunt. Claire picked up the eggs and put them in her basket. She really had a great time.

New Pictures of Claire

2010-03-28T19:53:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone. Here are some new pictures of Claire. Some of the new pictures are of Claire in her new glasses. Claire had to get glasses recently to fix an issue she was having with going cross-eyed. We went to a specialist and they suggested glasses. Her eyes are healthy but her eye muscles are just not strengthening properly. The glasses will help her strengthen her muscles and the doctor said she may not need glasses by the time she is 12. Other than that she is doing great and growing quick. Stay tuned for more videos and pictures soon.

Claire representing the Braves!

Claire in her glasses doing some grocery shopping.

Claire's on YouTube

2010-03-23T20:53:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone. I am starting to put videos of Claire up online on YouTube. So now we will have links to videos on the blog as well as new pictures we take. The first video is of Claire playing with her ball. I hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/dobsjp?feature=mhw5

Snow Pictures

2010-03-02T21:51:00.003-05:00

Here are some snow pictures. We had about 3 or 4 inches on Feb 12th and 13th. The next Saturday it was 60 degrees. We had another 2 inches today and it will be 60 again Saturday. Ah yes, you have to love the weather in the south.

A Few New Pictures

2010-03-02T21:30:00.003-05:00

Life is a little busy here so not much time to post anymore. Claire is doing fantastic. She has learned to clap and wave bye. She dances and loves rolling around and hanging upside down. I cannot wait until spring so she can enjoy being outside. Hope to have more time to post soon.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T20:57:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone. Our family had a great Christmas. It was very special sharing so much time with Claire and all of our family members. Below are some pictures from Christmas and New Years. This year will be full of fun since we are counting down the days until Claire turns two. Be sure to keep following along with us.

Claire getting ready to see Santa

Nice and toasty warm

Santa Claus! And NO tears!

Claire and Grandma Deb and ChristmasClaire at Grandma Debs for New Years day

My little munchkin

Claire going to see Grandma on Sunday

Claire's First Birthday Pics

2009-12-24T06:55:00.004-05:00

Well it has taken me a while to get these birthday pictures up because of the Christmas holiday. Having her birthday so close to Christmas will take some getting used to. Hard to believe our little Claire is one. She had a really good birthday. She did not like to get to messy with the cake and she did not like the sweetness of the frosting to much. She got quite a few gifts! We thank all of our family and friends for celebrating Claire's birthday with us. Deb and Dad a special thanks goes to both of you. We could not have done it with out you. Love you!

Claire Updates and Our Thanksgiving Trip

2009-12-05T13:33:00.005-05:00

Wow! Where does the time go? Almost a year ago we were preparing for Claire to be born. Now she is just an absolute joy to be with! What a great little girl. Every week we see more and more of her personality come out. Claire will be one on the 9th. She is walking around everywhere! If she falls down she does not crawl, she finds herself something to put her hand on in order to stand up and walk. She follows us and chases us everywhere. She loves when you hold her hand and walk with her. It is so awesome. While we were on vacation she played peek-a-boo all the time. She absolute loves it. If you play with her she gets the biggest smile on her face. She also has become very shy while on vacation. Every time someone would say hello she would put her head down on you and just stare at them. It is so cute. She now has 6 teeth on top and 2 bottom teeth. She loves her little finger foods. Gerber makes these puff and pinwheel things that are like little cereal pieces. She eats them and LOVES them.

For Thanksgiving we traveled to Massachusetts for vacation. We stayed with Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff. We had so much fun. Claire was awesome on the flights. We even endured a three hour delay with no problems. She had so much fun that I think she was sad to come home. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Claire traveling and reading her map

She was laughing because Sara was playing peek-a-boo

Isn't she cute?

Claire and her Great Meme having fun.

Look at us!

Running and playing at Aunt Amy's and Uncle Jeff's

Aunt Amy cooking! YUM!

Great Meme playing peek-a-boo

I love to chew my fingers!

Look at little miss serious!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T16:42:00.003-05:00

Claire had a very fun Halloween. She looked really cute as a little pumpkin. She really did enjoy her outfit. I hope everyone else also had a great Halloween. We are 3 weeks away from out trip to Massachusetts. We are getting very excited!

Lulu's Birthday and Pumpkin Picking

2009-10-04T15:45:00.012-04:00

It was a very busy September. Claire's cousin Lulu turned one in late August and we celebrated her birthday in September. Also, Sara and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary.

Claire has been doing very well. Her 9 month appointment was in early September. She weighed 19lbs. 6 ozs. and was 27 inches long. She is crawling around everywhere and is pulling herself up to stand on everything. She shimmies sideways along the furniture very well. Sara has been working with her to get her to stand. She will stand on her own for about 30 seconds and then fall on her butt. You can see when she is standing she has a ton of determination to take a step on her own. She has not yet but we both think that she will soon. This past week she also started to put food in her mouth. We got her some baby biscuits and she loves them. Tuesday night she just picked it up and put it in her mouth.

Today we took a trip up to Bert's Pumpkin Farm to get a pumpkin. We had a lot of fun picking out our pumpkin for Halloween. Claire LOVED being around all those big pumpkins. She really did have a good time.

Here are pics from Lulu's birthday and the pumpkin farm:

Happy First Birthday Lulu

Lulu's first bite

She is wearing it and eating it

She had a blast

This is the table that Sara painted for LuluClaire playing at Lulu's
My girls
Claire and I at the pumpkin farm
Claire loved all the pumpkins
She had so much fun

Claire and Mommy

Hi Everyone!
Claire, Mommy, and Nanny
My new favorite pic
Mommy picking out our pumpkin
Claire approves!

A Few New Pics

2009-08-30T16:24:00.003-04:00

Wow almost a month between pictures! Claire has been growing in leaps and bounds. She now has her two bottom teeth completely in and a top tooth is breaking through. She crawls and pulls herself up on EVERYTHING! She has learned how to fall down from standing like a champ. She is pretty tough. Enjoy the pictures.

My First Tooth, Sitting Up On My Own, and Starting to Crawl

2009-08-02T11:59:00.006-04:00

So much has happened since the last post on 7/14. First, Claire's first tooth has come through. I really do not have any pictures of it yet. It is just through her gums and has come in a bit more over the last week or so. When you stick your finger in her mouth to feel for more teeth and she chomps down on your finger with the tooth she does have......it hurts. That little tooth is sharp!

Second, Claire is sitting up on her own. She started about a week ago but always fell backwards and hit her head hard. Sara has been working with her for the past week and just about four days ago she has gotten the hang of it. She is doing great at it and has started to sit up on her own when she is rolling around playing.

Last, Claire has really started crawling! Last night I was banging some toys of hers together and she crawled toward them and kept crawling as I moved them. Well of course Sara and I were ecstatic so we set her up to do it again and got the camera out. There is video below of her crawling toward her toys. She did not do it as well as she did the first time but she does pretty darn good. This morning as we were eating breakfast she is really moving around pretty good. She we roll a few times, get up and crawl five steps and then fall down and roll again. It is unbelievable how fast she gets from one place to another now.

Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff's Visit

2009-07-14T21:09:00.005-04:00

Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff flew all the way from Massachusetts to visit Claire for the first time. We had a lot of fun during the visit. Claire enjoyed spending time with them. We loved you Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff and miss you already!

Claire has been on her hands and knees ready to crawl...but so far no success yet. She has also been teething. She has had some of the most miserable days I have seen her have yet. I feel so bad for her. Growing pains are tough sometimes I guess. I hope you all enjoy the pics!

Claire and Lulu during their play day!

Claire smiling it up for Amy and Jeff

Claire, Auntie Amy, and Uncle Jeff

Auntie Amy and Claire

Happy baby!

Look at me up on my hands and knees ready to crawl

Happy Happy Happy

Uncle Jeff and I lounging

It was a fun weekend. Now nap time. Miss you Auntie Amy and Uncle Jeff.

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-05T15:33:00.002-04:00

Happy 4th of July everyone. Not much new here to report. Here are just a few pictures of Claire. Hope you all enjoy.

My First Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T21:29:00.005-04:00

Well today we celebrated my first Fathers Day. What a fun day! We took Claire over to Grandma Deb's brothers house and we got to go swimming. She did pretty good with swimming, got a little upset, but overall had a good time. She smiled at everyone, got to play, and we had a great time. Thank you Deb for the pictures! (We brought our camera, but forgot the battery....DUH!)

Claire had her six month check up about a week ago. She now is 17lbs and the doctor says she looks great. She is average height and weight for a baby her age. She rolls around like a tumble weed and loves to play! She loves to reach for your face and play with you nose and lips. The doctor has put her on stage two foods also. She grew out of size 1 diapers in what seems like a only a month. She now wears size two and Sara said we may want to buy a small pack of size three's to see how they fit. She grows up a little more every day. She is a very serious baby. She smiles a lot but we do not get many laughs out of her. I try all I can to make her laugh. I do get pretty lucky sometimes. When she does laugh it is the best sounds in the world

I kind of got to thinking today that only about six months ago we brought home this little 5lb. 3oz baby. I look back at the pictures and she was all skin and bones. I think back and remember how absolutely scared I was. You would think that when the hospital sends you home with a baby as small as Claire was that they would send a nurse or owners manual home with her. You wonder how each day would go and I would pray that she would grow to be smart and strong. Then six months later you think back and realize how fast time has flown by. You see her now with her chubby little cheeks, arms, and legs. You hear her talking to herself when she wakes up in the morning. When you walk into her room to get her there she is, smiling up at you and just so happy to see you. She plays with you, reaches for you, and makes my day an absolute joy! I pray that she does not grow up to fast. I have so much to look forward to and cherish every minute I have with her. I love you Claire, just promise that you will not grow up to fast on me.

Claire swimming with her cute suit on

Claire and daddy swimming

I love my laptop mommy & daddy bought me

The many expressions of Claire

Still working on my laptop

She was hilarious this night! Look at this face

So so cute!

New Video

2009-05-29T20:24:00.003-04:00

We just made this video. She is a giggling fool! TO CUTE! I hope you all enjoy.

Memorial Day Weekend Pics

2009-05-29T19:33:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone. Attached are a few pics from the weekend. We went up to the cottage and spent the day with Dad and Deb. It was a lot of fun. It was a perfect way to spend a day!
Claire is doing great. She has been rolling over from her back to her stomach and just over the last two days has been rolling back over from her stomach to her back. She talks all the time now also. She is getting her own little personality. We are trying to get some videos of her rolling over and talking. Hopefully we will have some soon. Our love to all.

The next two pics are pics Deb took. Just awesome!

Relay For Life

2009-05-17T13:38:00.003-04:00

Friday night we packed up and headed to Cumming to participate in Relay for Life. Deb is a cancer survivor and does the relay every year. We had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go again next year. Here are a few pictures taken from the evening.

Sara, Claire, and Courtney

Claire chilling in her stroller

The dads and their little girls

Look At Me.....Growing Up Fast

2009-05-10T17:53:00.005-04:00

I know I have only been posting once a month lately. Shame on me! Claire is growing up fast. She just turned 5 months on this past Saturday. She has started reaching and holding things, she loves to play in her excer-saucer and jumper-roo, and she has started eating fruits and veggies. She is so much fun! She laughs and smiles all the time. She loves to sit up and have us hold her as she stands up. She HATES laying down. She has been sleeping from around 9:30pm to 8:30 or 9:30am the next morning. All in all everything is good.

I hope everyone enjoys all the pictures below from Justin and Heather's wedding and also Mother's Day. If you get a chance check out more pictures of them from their wedding at www.lindsey-turnerblog.com. The photographer Lindsey did a great job with pictures and Sara and I hope she can take pictures of Claire when she turns 1. She is one of the most talented photographers I have ever seen. Her pictures are amazing. Also, special thanks to Deb for the pictures of us at the wedding. She took some great pics with her new mack daddy camera and they are fantastic. Love you Deb!

Our love to all!

Sara, Wesley, Grandma, Auntie Anne, Claire, and ISara, Wes, Claire and I

Grandpa, Claire and I

The greatest picture of Claire!

I love this picture! It is so awesome!

The bride, groom, and LuluClaire in her dress that Grandma Deb bought her

Nanny and Claire

Mommy and Claire. SOOO CUTE!

Claire Bear

Claire and I at Justin and Heathers Wedding

Claire and Mommy at Justin and Heather's wedding

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:19:00.006-04:00

Happy Easter everyone. It was Claire's first Easter. First things first though. Claire had her four month doctor appointment Thursday. She weighed 13lbs and was 23 1/2 inches long. The doctor said she is average height and weight. The doctor also said that Claire can start eating fruits and veggies. Claire has started eating apple sauce, sweet peas, and sweet potatoes. She is doing great and the doctor said she is very strong. She is now sleeping 9-11 hours a night. The doctor said that is not normal but not a bad thing either. The doctors had no complaints.

Saturday, Claire went on her first Easter egg hunt. Claire found 6 eggs (with the help of mommy and nanny). Claire won a stuffed bunny, a new book, and a pair of sunglasses.

Claire had a great Easter. Lulu came over to hang out with Claire and play for a while. We had a lot of fun and ate some really good ham, corn souffle, broccoli and rice casserole, and salad. Heather brought some really good cupcakes. It was a very nice Easter.

We hope all of you had a great Easter. Our love to you all.

Mmm! Sweet Potatoes.

Daddy and I hanging out.

Claire at her Easter Egg Hunt.

Claire and mommy after church.

They are so beautiful.

Happy on Easter!

Claire and Lulu hanging out.They will be trouble someday.Lulu is a doll!

Too cute.

Rice Cereal! HIP HIP HOORAY!

2009-03-31T18:50:00.005-04:00

Claire got her first taste of some rice cereal tonight. It was a little weird for her at first but she adjusted and ate about a teaspoon full. Here are the pics.

Pics From The Weekend

2009-03-29T20:31:00.004-04:00

Well another weekend come and gone. It was a nice one. Claire is doing very well. However, she has been very fussy lately. Sara and I are not sure but we think she may be getting a tooth. Sara and her mom have both felt Claire's lower gum and said that there is something hard. If you put your finger in her mouth she chews on it. We have been giving her some baby oragel and it seems to be working. Sara's Aunt says that it is not a tooth but a milk tooth. Not sure what that is but it is something that babies get and then they go away.
Claire and I also watched Tiger win the golf tournament today. I am getting her primed for her future sport of choice. We hope everyone has a good week!

Claire and Daddy

Look at my little baby

Sleepy time

Hanging out

Claire and Wesley

Claire and Mommy (Mommy got her hair chopped off)

Check out my headband

My princess crown

I think this picture is so cute

My Daddy Finally Adds Pictures Of Me!

2009-03-24T18:57:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone. It has been a very very long time. Life gets busy when you have a three month old. I am going to keep this post quick. Everything is great here. Claire's 4 month appointment is 4/9. I hope to have more free time soon to provide everyone with a good update.

Look at how happy I am!

I am starting to like my exersaucer.

She looks soooo sleepy.

"Don't mess with me smiley sun. I am watching you."

Oh I hope this shirt comes true.

Look at me loving my bumbo.

I am watching you.

Finally! New Pictures!

2009-02-28T16:55:00.004-05:00

I am very sorry to all the blog readers. We do not have that many but the ones we do have are looking for new pictures and we have not been doing a good job keeping up. Well, it is not that I do not want to put up pictures, it is just finding the time.

Everything is going very well with Claire. She had her two month appointment and her two month shots a few weeks ago. At her appointment Claire was 9lbs and was 21 1/2 inches long. She is growing well. The doctors were very pleased with her progress.

At the appointment we were told that the doctors would like to see Claire go to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta because her head is a little misshapen. It is not terrible but it is causing her ears to not be aligned properly. Her head is like 75% perfect. It is the other 25% that needs to be fixed. We will be going March 9th and they will be doing a scan on her head to see what needs to be done. They said they may try physical therapy and she also may need to wear a helmet. All I know is if she does it better be pink and it better be cute!

She is progressing and growing so much. She talks and makes so many noises. It is adorable. She has been making eye contact so much lately and also watching people when they move around. And smiles, we get so many of them. She is an absolute joy to have in our lives.

Here are some new pics of Claire. Also, I was patient enough to post a video of her in her bath. This video does not do justice of how much she squirms and splashes around. Most of the time she pushes herself off the lip of the bath and she floats. I told Sara I want to put her in infant swimming classes at 6 months. Seeing her enjoy her baths, easily her favorite thing every day, just confirms swimming classes are in her future. Everyone enjoy. Our love to everyone!

Claire and Daddy

2009-02-08T20:17:00.003-05:00

Here of some pics of Claire and I goofing around tonight. We has so much fun she fell asleep.

Daddy's Heisman Trophy pose.

New Pictures

2009-02-08T16:52:00.004-05:00

Not much going on here. Claire has her 2 month appointment Tuesday. She is doing very good. Growing fast. I will update everyone with her appointment details.

Grandma and Claire.

Claire chilling out in her boppy.

Claire ready to go to church.

Claire and mommy.

My two girls.

"C" is for Claire. Good job baby.

Claire in her church dress.

Look at Claire in her booties.

One of Claire's favorites, tummy time.

Claire's First Trip To The Cottage

2009-01-27T22:31:00.005-05:00

Sara, Claire and I went to Grandma's & Grandpa's cottage this weekend. Grandma surprised us and made lots of hats for Claire. The hats are SOOO awesome and are adorable. Of course we tried them all on because Claire looked so cute in them. We had a lot of fun and cannot wait to do it again. I do have more pics to add but it is late and I am tired so here is a sampling of some of the pics from over the weekend. We hope you enjoy the pics of our bundle of joy.

Sleeping with my hat on.

Awake and having some tummy time with one of my hats on.

Claire flexing and showing off her muscles.

Claire enjoyed posing for pics.

Claire is #1 in our book. I am glad she agrees.

Sleep tight princess.

Growing Up!

2009-01-18T10:54:00.003-05:00

Claire had her 1 month doctors appointment last Monday. She gained over 2 pounds since leaving the hospital and weighs 7lbs. 5 ozs. She is growning up oh so fast. The doctor said that everything looks great and that seems to be a very content baby. Claire loves her bath time a lot and lounging in her boppy. We also brought up her swing yesterday and put her in that. She had a good time in it for a little bit. It is alot different for her so I think she needs to get used to it. Sara has also been giving Claire lots of tummy time. She has started to lift her head up and look around a little bit when she is laying on her tummy. She also likes to sit up on your shoulder and look around. She has been doing very well holding her head up in small intervals. The weeks are going by so fast and every minute of every day is a new adventure.

Not much new with the family. Two nights this past week it was 6 degrees here. 6! I mean we live in GA! It is supposed to stay kind of warm.......right? We had a few snow flurries last night but not much to talk about.

We really have no new pictures. We have not been camera crazy lately because of being so busy. The next few weekends will be jammed packed. Today all of our friends are coming over to watch the football games. Next Saturday night we are going to our friends house and then Sunday it is up to the cottage to spend the day with Dad and Deb. Then the week after that we will be over to Vinny and Katie's to watch the Super Bowl. Claire will get to have a lot of new adventures over the next few weeks.

Here is a collage I did of Claire. I am going to do one every month so we can see how much she grows. Our love to all!

My First Bath and Other Events

2009-01-04T15:49:00.004-05:00

Well this week was a week of firsts. Claire lost her cord this week. YEAH! That means bath time for Claire. Claire had her first bath today in her big girl tub. At first she did not like it at all but she finally warmed up to it and had fun. Since it is winter time she is always covered up. She has the cutest little feet and legs. She was having a great time in her bath tub.

Claire also discovered her hands this week. She has been paying so much attention to her hands. She moves them back and forth and watches them the whole time. She is fascinated by them.

Sara and I are talking about how much she has grown in a month. I remember when I first held her she was so tiny that I could really hold her in one hand. She has put on weight and grown so much that you definitely need two hands to hold her now. Plus she is a very active baby. She is always moving around and is very strong. We have been putting her in her Boppy and she has been sliding out of it because she is moving around so much. I think it is time we strap her into it.

I cannot believe a month has gone by so fast. She will be a month old on the 9th. Time really does fly.

Claire getting in her bath

Claire not happy at all with her first bath

Oh but wait.....this is kind of fun

She is so so so so cute

Still having a lot of fun

Alright! I am clean!Do I have to get out?Oh boy this is fun

All done. Can I go back in?

My hooded towel still does not fit me because I am still small

But I look really cute in my robe

The Best Pictures Yet!

2008-12-31T10:26:00.003-05:00

Claire and I were just relaxing last night and I was messing around with the camera. All of a sudden she started smiling. I took as many shots as I could get. These are by far my favorite pictures of her yet. They are so cute and I am so excited that I took them.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T10:08:00.003-05:00

Nothing new in the household this week so far. We have no plans for the next couple of days except to relax. Claire has been doing really good. Here are some more pics. We hope you all enjoy and our family wishes everyone a Happy New Year.

We don't see this much anymore!

2008-12-29T11:42:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pics of Claire sleeping. Over the last 3 days she has been sleeping a lot less. We have had a lot of fun with her being awake. I have been trying to make her smile but no luck yet. I got to snap these pictures of her while she was taking a 20 minute nap with me yesterday.

Christmas Photos and More!

2008-12-28T11:41:00.005-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Claire on Christmas day. They did not come out as good as we hoped, but we tried. They are still cute but I think Sara and I are trying to be professional photographers. I have discovered in taking all of these pictures that I need to save for a good......really good digital camera.

The funniest thing happened the other night. Sara and I were sitting with Claire on the couch watching Fred Claus. I told Sara that the outfit that Santa's assistant was wearing in the movie would look really good on her and then all of a sudden Claire let out this "He He" laugh. We know it was not real laugh (probably gas) but it was the funniest thing. Sara and I laughed about that for while.

Our love to everyone!

Claire's first little black dress

Our best attempts to take pictures of Claire in her stocking

Claire in her afternoon Christmas outfit in front of the tree

Claire in her morning Christmas outfit at her Nanny's house on Christmas

Mommy and Claire

The Christmas family portrait

Claire and Nanny

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T10:56:00.011-05:00

Well it is Christmas Eve and we are just relaxing at the house. My last day of work was yesterday. I am out until Jan. 5th! I am excited to stay at home and relax with my girls.

I am sorry that we have not posted any pictures the last week or two. We have had problems after problems and just have not had the time. Our septic tank backed up for the 2nd time in three months last Friday. We may be looking at a very costly repair. I have had a few people come out and give us estimates. I need to do some digging in the yard on vacation to find out the problem. Lets hope it is not a $6k problem and more like a $600 problem. Then this week the car would not turn over. I think that it was just because it was really cold but who knows. Luckily I popped the clutch on it and away we went. It is now parked in the garage and we are waiting on warmer weather to see if it starts up.

Claire is doing really great. Last Friday she went to the doctor to get weighed. She had gained 8 ozs in a week. She is now up to 5lbs. 13ozs. She is eating so well. Some days she will eat really often and other days she eats bigger amounts but not as often. As the doctor said, if she wants to eat let her eat. She has not been sleeping as much as she used to. She was up for about 5 hours last night with Sara. She is so cute to watch her sit there and just look around. She likes it when hold and let her sit up with me on the couch and look around the room. She just lays against me and just looks all around. If I talk to her she will look up and me and just stare at me until I stop talking. She is so perfect. She really is not very fussy at all.

One thing about her that I find so funny is her hands. She has the biggest hands and longest fingers. She is only two weeks old. I am just baffled by the size of them. They are so cute. Wait.....everything about her is cute!

Well this is it for now. We have a lot to do on Christmas tomorrow. We are going to Sara's Moms for early dinner and then to Heather and Justin's for late dinner. My mom is cooking late dinner tomorrow night. I am sure we will take so many new pictures on Christmas and the days to come that it will make up for the lack of pictures over the last week or so. Make sure to leave Santa cookies and the reindeer carrots (to our Aussie readers; what do you leave the kangaroos?). Santa has a lot of houses to visit and he needs all the fuel he can get.

Our love to all,

Jason and Sara

Wesley and Claire

Claire being a big girl in her boppy

Taking a nap

Woo Hoo its Christmas

Isn't she cute!

This is her pack and play. Her chill out spot

Spotted Claire

Claire has the funniest sleeping positions

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2008-12-14T12:37:00.004-05:00

I am very sorry to all of our readers for not putting a post up earlier. We have been very busy getting adjusted to life at home. I went back to work Friday and Saturday. Mom and Claire are doing so good and getting better and better every day. We have so much going on I really do not even know where to start. Claire had her first doctors appointment on Saturday. Everything went great. She gained a whole 2 ounces. Sara and Mom loved the doctor. The doctor said everything looks really well with Claire and she is pleased with her progress.

Ok lets start with Claire's updates. Claire has been eating great. She has increased the amount she is eating and we have had no issues with her getting sick anymore. She has been a very very quiet baby also. When she does fuss she either likes to be sung to, have all the lights on so she can look around, change her, or feed her. It really has been as easy at that. I am sure that things will change but right now we are enjoying it.

Sara is doing really well as well. We git a really good night sleep last night. Claire slept about 3 1/2 to 4 hours in between feedings last night. It was really nice to get all that sleep.

So that is it from the house now. We are watching some football and getting ready to eat a big dinner my mom is cooking. When Claire wakes up I am going to try and get some more pictures and get them up on the site. I think since it is football Sunday Claire needs to be wrapped in one of daddy's football jerseys.

Our love to all!

PS - I was just told that if I do not give credit to Aunt Melanie for the help with picking out Claire's middle name then I would never hear the end of it. LOL! We thank you very much Aunt Melanie! Courtney and Aunt Marilyn helped as well......so we can't give Aunt Melanie ALL the credit.

Claire's going home outfit!

Claire at home after eating

Claire and daddy's first Sunday together (getting our sleep for football!)

Claire looking cute

Claire and her big brother Wes

Claire taking a nap

Claire......Day 3

2008-12-11T12:46:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone. Claire is doing great. The pediatrician checked her out and said that she looks wonderful and she is beautiful. Of course she is beautiful! HAHA

Sara is getting much better. They did a blood transfusion and she is starting to feel pretty good. We are hoping to possibly go home today. There has been no official word yet but we have our fingers crossed. Sara's next round of blood work is at 4:30. Sara and Claire did some breastfeeding today and it went wonderful! The nurse said that Claire did great (the nurse actually said she was a champ. HA!) and she did so much better than many full term babies do. You know that make daddy proud. Anything to get her weight up would be great!

Things are going well. Our love to everyone and enjoy the pics. I think I am going picture crazy taking and posting so many but I just cannot help it.

Claire......Day 2

2008-12-10T14:07:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone. Its day two and it is a better day today. Sara and I got a great night of sleep. That makes a huge difference.

First Claire's update. She is doing fantastic. With Sara not feeling so well I was thrown in the fatherhood yesterday. I had a few bumps but did ok. Everytime Claire would eat with me she would throw up. The first time I freaked out because she kept gagging but in the end it was ok. I checked with the nurses and they said it was because she has a lot of mucus in her system that she needs to get out and that is completely normal. It still freaks me out but I handle it perfectly fine now. She threw up this morning when Sara was feeding her and I completely cleaned her up and gave her a new shirt. Next was the diaper. That was the easiest. I am a diaper king. Yesterday my fun goal was to learn how to swaddle her. They always wrap her so well here and she really likes it. On the 3rd time I was an old pro at it. I love wrapping her like that because it keeps her nice and warms and she is so easy to handle. So with all that said we are doing well.

Sara is doing better today. They are still concerned with her hemoglobin and they may need to do a blood transfusion. They just drew blood from her to test it and they are hoping the results are better. She cannot get up on her own and does not have the energy to do much. She is eating though and things are getting better each day. Actually as I am typing this they just came back with blood results. The results stayed the same. So they are just going to watch her and hope that they keep going up on their own. We are still not in a regular room. We are in what I like to call an intensive care section of labor & delivery. There is guards outside in the hall to guard the babies. They have not said much about us going home. They said we may move to a regular room tonight or tomorrow but it seems a lot is up in the air.

Also, Claire has a middle name. Her middle name is Francesca. Claire Francesca Dobson. We both love so many of the suggestions that everyone gave us and we both thank you. This one just stuck with us. We really like it a lot.

I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. I will be posting as much as possible. Our love to all.

Welcome To The World Claire!

2008-12-09T10:56:00.005-05:00

She is finally here. Tuesday, December 9, 2008 (Congrats to the Godmother Amy. She picked the date). She was born at 6:48am and weighed in at a whole 5lbs. 7ozs and was 19 inches long. It was an adventure as it seems everything is that we do. Sara had been only dilated 3cms all night. She changed to 4cms at about 4am and then she started having some strong contractions. The nurse came in at about 6:30 to check on her and sure enough it was go time! Luckily I was up at 5:30 and had showered and was ready to go. I watched the entire thing. I am glad I watched it all. It was amazing! When her head finally came out and the doctor cleared out her airways she started screaming and I was so excited. She is perfect!

The downside is Sara would not stop bleeding and they could not get the placenta out. They had to rush her into surgery and do a DNC. I was left sitting there with Claire scared to death. I said my prayers and about an hour later Sara came back in and was ok. She is very very groggy. She has not recovered from the meds they gave her and she is having a tough time staying awake. They are keeping a close eye on her. She may be here for a few days extra because of all of the issues. Doctor said we need to see how her body responds.

I missed so much of the story because I am trying to get this all out before Claire & Sara wake up. I am so thankful for all the prayers that everyone has given us. Everyone of you are my gifts from God. Thanks and as things settle down I will update you guys more.

Our love to all, Jason & Sara

Turkey Day Pics

2008-12-08T22:48:00.003-05:00

Well since I have a spare minute and have the computer and the camera all in one place I decided to post a few of our Thanksgiving Day pics. Enjoy these pics.

PS - I AM SO ANXIOUS! Come on Claire. Sara is still only dilated 3cms. Not much change.

Our 26lb. bird!

Hospital Pics

2008-12-08T22:40:00.004-05:00

Well I am just relaxing and not doing much of anything. Here is some pics from the evening.

Sara with her friends Marilyn and Melanie

Baby Claire Watch Update

2008-12-08T21:39:00.003-05:00

Hello to everyone that might be following or reading for the first time. Sara has her epidural and just after that they broke her water. Everything is progressing nicely. We have an awesome nurse. Her name is Melissa. The bummer is we are losing her at 11. Lets hope our next nurse us just as cool. We are in for a long night.

Our love to all.

PS - I need a lot of coffee! Also, we are sitting here trying to think of a middle name. We have had NO luck at all. We are looking for something unique, cool, different etc. It is harder than you think.

The Day Has Come!

2008-12-08T17:49:00.002-05:00

The day has finally arrived. We were at the hospital Sunday night because Sara thought that her water broke. We were told that her water did not break and we were sent home. Frustated and sad we were sent home.

Well Sara had an appointment with the specialist today. When they did her ultrasound her amniotic fluid was low. The doctor said that we were going to have our Claire in 24 hours. Well they would not let Sara leave until they heard from her doctor because they said they may want her to head to the hospital and induce her. The doctor did not call her so they sent her home. About half way home the doctor called her and said that they wanted her to be at the hospital in 30 minutes. That was not happening because I had not even left work yet.

I immediately left work and started heading home......fast. So fast I got pulled over from the City of Milton's finest. That's right. The cop was actually very nice. I explained the situation and why I was speeding. I was doing 60-65 in a 45. It took me about 2 minutes to convince him why I was speeding and that I was not lying.

We got to the hospital about 3:30. It took them a while to get us a room but we got one and got set up. At last check she was dilated 3cm and 70% effaced. She is having contractions every 1-3 minutes but they are not strong yet. They have put her on pitossin and her contractions have started to get stronger as I type.

We are both very excited that it looks like Claire will be with us in anywhere from 4 to 12 hours. Please keep us and Claire in your thoughts and prayers.

Our love to all,

Jason and Sara

Baby Claire Watch 2008

2008-12-03T12:07:00.002-05:00

This just in from our mom to be after her doctor appointment:

Dilated - 2 centimeters
and
20% effaced

No other doctors visits until next week. Stay tuned!

Mangiare, Essen, Jesc, Comer, Manger, EAT!

2008-12-01T15:30:00.002-05:00

That is how you say eat in Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, French and of course English. Sara went to see the specialist today for her ultrasound. The doctor said that everything looks ok but that Claire's weight is not where they would like to see it. She was at 5lbs. 6ozs. The doctor said that he wants to see Sara eat more so she can get Claire to put on a few extra pounds. She was in the 63rd percentile for weight last time but this time she was in the 34th percentile. The specialist wants to see Sara next week and also the week after. The doctor said that everything else looks great. I am of course worrying now. I am sure everything will be fine. Please keep Claire in your prayers. Just a few more weeks to go!

New Poll

2008-11-29T15:26:00.001-05:00

I have placed an updated poll on the site. Place your votes and lets see who is right!

Almost.......but not quite

2008-11-26T20:18:00.002-05:00

Yes you read the title right. Tuesday night we had an "almost" moment. Sara had been feeling pretty bad all day. Since about 3:30pm on Tuesday she had been having contractions. When I got home at 5 they had become a little more steady. I asked Sara if she called the doctor and her answer was no. I laughed when she said "I do not want to be one of those crazy people that think they are in labor when they are not". I told her to go call the doctor.

Well Sara called them and they were very nice. She went through all the symptoms and they suggested to Sara to take a hot bath and relax. They said to time the contractions and call them back in an hour. We started timing them and she was having about 8 an hour. We ended up calling them back almost 2 hours later to let them know the situation. At this time the contractions were getting a lot stronger than they were a few hours ago. They told us to head down to the hospital.

So Sara got her bag together and gathered Claire's. I grabbed the camera, laptop and the bags and we head out the door. Oh but wait! If we were having this child tonight we need a car seat, DUH! So I ran back in the house, grabbed the car seat and then we were out the door.

They got Sara in the hospital and hooked her up to every machine they had. Well her cervix was at 1 cm and they decided that since Claire was not in any stress that they would give Sara medication to stop the contractions and see what happens. Well the medicine worked. Sara stopped contracting and they sent us home around 2am.

They said that the main goal was to get Sara to 36 weeks. They stated that the babies are still premature if born before 36 weeks and they would like to get Sara a little further along. They said if she would have still been contracting after taking the medicine or her water broke they would have let her go. We also went to the doctor today and Dr. Nix was great. She went over the whole situation with us and reassured us that everything looked great.

Just an observation on my daughter. Sara is right, that child NEVER stops. They had Sara hooked up to the monitor and she did not stop moving the whole time we were there. She was SOOOOO loud on that thing. The nurse would come in every time and she could not believe how active she was. Sara always said that is a huge reason why she could not sleep at night. Now I see why.

Well we are back at home and I have a Thanksgiving feast to prepare tomorrow. Sara is very very excited about being home for that. Our love to everyone and we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Work Shower

2008-11-23T18:30:00.004-05:00

Here are some pictures from the shower that was thrown for Sara and I at work. It was really nice. Sara was able to make the drive out so she could meet everyone and be there at the shower. I want to thank everyone for all the very special gifts we received and an extra special thanks to Nick, Misty, Stacey, and Tabatha for putting it all together and making it so awesome. It is really nice to have such a special group of people to work with.

This is Claire's training potty complete with Jello and Baby Ruths.

I was told I needed to wear the ribbon from the gifts. Cute huh?

Updates on Sara

2008-11-16T21:05:00.004-05:00

Well this week we had a very good week. On Tuesday Sara and I went and met with Dr. Andy Andrews. He will be Claire's pediatrician. He was very nice. He answered all of our questions and we were very comfortable with him.

Sara also went and saw the doctor on Wednesday. The doctor said that in another week and a half, if Sara goes into labor, they will not stop it. I think the reality of all of this is now setting in. We are both very excited. Thank you to everyone for all the prayers that have been said to get us up to this point. This has been the best experience of our lives. Please keep us in your prayers and in your hearts in these last few weeks. Thank you and we love you all.

PS - I put a poll up. Please place your vote!

Updated Pictures of the Nursery

2008-11-16T20:40:00.004-05:00

We think it is finally done. Mom, Sara, and I have been working on finishing up the nursery. We made a final trip to Ikea and Target today and I think that we have finished. Mom bought us a beautiful lamp that Sara fell in love with as soon as she saw it. Sara and Mom were so happy with the way the room come together. I really like it as well. It has really come together and I think it is very pretty. Thank you Mom for all your help getting the room together. Now all we need is Claire to make it completely perfect.

Shower with Family and Friends

2008-11-16T20:33:00.003-05:00

I finally am getting around to getting some of the pictures from the shower posted. It was a very awesome shower and we cannot thank family and friends enough. It was a lot of fun and we received so many great gifts for Claire. Sara and I thank everyone and send our love, appreciation, and gratitude to you all.

The Honey-Do List from my Nesting Wife

2008-11-10T20:48:00.003-05:00

What a Sunday. I am very glad that I have had every Sunday off for the past 2 months, and so far, the rest of this month. Sunday's have been a great family day, run your errands day, and mental health day for me. We wake up every Sunday and Sara and I make breakfast together for us and Wes and then we read the paper and do a few chores before we relax and watch football.

This Sunday was a little different. Sara has been making a honey-do list for me over the past week. This was my request because she would keep calling me with all of these different things I needed to do and she wanted done before the baby gets here. We got up as usual on Sunday and made our breakfast. My mom surprised me and called and said she was doing nothing and wanted to come over and help. I was very very happy to have her there. My list consisted of such things as:

1. Moving the computer to the basement which meant I had to move the computer and desk, rewire the internet, our wireless, and also rewire my cable downstairs.
2. Move all the wood flooring material downstairs. We decided to put tile in the kitchen and wood in the dining room. We are doing the tile first and then the wood floors next.
3. I completed the pack and play
4. Rearrange the bedroom to make room for the pack and play. This consisted of moving dressers, tables, a fax machine and phone and a fan. It was not bad.

With each of these items the house was vacuumed, dusted and as Sara likes to say "declutterized" (aka removal of clutter). Mom and I also ran out to Target to get those canvas shelves you hang in the closet to make it more organized. We even found some cute plastic tubs to put on the changing table to store diapers, wipes, etc in. Sara's friend Marilyn had come over Saturday to help hang some pictures. I must say that after looking at the room the other day it is really coming together and is really organized.

Now on to Sara's nesting. The girl is a CLEANING AND ORGANIZING MACHINE! I had come home the other day and found out that she had been sitting on the kitchen floor cleaning the cabinets. She has washed, folded, and arranged Claire's clothes at least 3 or 4 times. Everything on the changing table has been reorganized at least 6 times. Today she calls me and says she cleaned the fireplace. We have a large brick fireplace and she said she cleaned it with soap and water and a towel. I just received a text message from her and she said she just cleared out the dining room of all the clutter. I keep telling her she needs to take a break. She just does not listen very well. In my opinion, she is officially nesting.

Just to let everyone know she has been feeling really good. She looks great and is taking care of herself. We both are very excited for all the fun that may be around the corner. We really have no idea of what any plans are for Claire's birth but she is only 50 days away from full term. Many people in our group of family and friends have her giving birth before Thanksgiving or just there after. I would prefer we make it until December which is only 3 short weeks away. I want little Claire to be as strong and healthy as she can be. At this time we are still without a middle name. Sara is picking between a few that she likes. Nothing has really stuck yet. We continue to say our prayers and count our blessings every day. We thank God for getting us this far and ask him for his blessing to get us through the next many years of her life.

Tomorrow we are going to interview the pediatrician that we think we have picked out. Today, just to butter us up, they sent us a huge welcome packet. I actually thought that was pretty cool. Sara enjoyed it thoroughly.

I have a lot of pictures to put up. I have not even dove into a post about the the shower thrown for Sara by our family and friends. I have pictures of that to put up. That was a really fun day. I hope to get to that this Sunday. Also, Friday of this week, they are throwing a shower for us at work. I work with the nicest group of people and I thank them for all the support they have given to us through all of this.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We love you all!

Quick Update

2008-11-03T21:20:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone. I have a lot of updating to do but I really have not had the time. I just wanted to let everyone know that Sara is feeling great. We had an ultrasound today and Claire was weighing in at 4lbs. 6ozs. She has gained just over a pound and a half in 3 weeks and 3 days. I have a lot of updates for the site and I will probably get to them this weekend. We send our love to all!

The Crib and Changing Table are Complete

2008-10-19T21:21:00.007-04:00

Well today was a really fun day. Mom came and got me around 11 and we went on our search to get a changing table. I had many ideas on my mind. Maybe we could find an old dresser and refinish it. Or maybe find something interesting at Goodwill. Whatever the case I was ready to find something. Mom and I tried a flea market and this cool $99 store in Alpharetta full of many many interesting pieces of furniture. Seriously, if you live in the area you need to check this place out. It is across from the old Dairy Queen on Hwy 9.

Well we did not have any luck at either place. We went to Babies R Us to get the foot board for the crib. While Mom and I were eating lunch Mom made the suggestion we go to Ikea. Well that was a great idea because we found our changing table. Here are pictures of the changing table and the crib.

28 Week Ultrasound

2008-10-12T18:02:00.006-04:00

Sara and I went to have the ultrasound on Friday and everything looked great. The doctor was very pleased with Sara's progress. Her cervix and placenta look great. Claire also looks great. They estimated that Claire is weighing in at 2lbs. 14ozs. During the ultrasound they were giving us a good look at her face. Sara and I were watching and Claire was opening and closing her eyes. We both noticed that but the nurse noticed that she was opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue. That sounds like a typical baby of mine. Here are a few pictures that we got.

Here is our Claire. You can see her eyes, nose, cheek, and lips.

This is one looking down at Claire.

28 Weeks Is Here!!!!!!!

2008-10-08T21:16:00.002-04:00

Hello to everyone. I know it has been a while since I have last written anything. So many of our prayers have been answered during all of this. I am very happy that Sara and Claire have made it to 28 weeks. This was our next huge milestone and now I feel the sky is the limit. Sara had a doctors appointment today and everything went great. She has gained 5 pounds over the last two weeks and Sara and the baby are very healthy. Sara told the doctor of her back pains she was having and they checked her to see if she was having contractions and she was not. The doctor said just continue to take it easy. It is so neat! They also told Sara that the current plan is to induce her 7 - 10 days before she is due. Her due date is December 30th or 31st.

Claire has been moving around a lot. You can see her kicking through Sara's stomach. Last night it looked like she was tap dancing in her belly. It was hilarious. She has been moving more and more. I keep trying to talk to her and see if she might respond. Nothing yet but I am going to keep trying.

Our families have been great over the last few weeks. Mom bought us a beautiful crib. It is 85% put together because one of the pieces was not made properly so they had to order me a new piece. It looks really beautiful. We got a mattress, a beautiful stroller, and a rocking chair from Dad and Deb. They came over for dinner last Friday and it was very nice to have them over. Sara's Mom bought the cutest dress for Claire. I am pretty sure it is the first dress that we have. She will look so cute in it. Heather gave us a huge back of clothes for Claire. There are some adorable things in there. I keep finding new things to buy Claire. Old Navy had the cutest little outfit on sale online for $6 but I could not see paying $7 for shipping on it. So I decided to stop by the Old Navy in Woodstock and just my luck they had one left. It was on clearance for $3.80. I was so excited. It is really really cute. Sara and I appreciate all of it so much. I just can never seem to say thank you enough to everyone.

Well that is it for now. Sara has her 28 week ultrasound on Friday and that gives me an excuse to take a half day. Love to all from both of us!

The Nursery Gets a Floor

2008-09-21T20:17:00.011-04:00

What a day! The nursery is complete. Sara and I cannot thank my brother enough for all his help installing the floors. He did a fantastic job. The floors look very very good. It is time to decorate now. Here are some pictures from the day.

The start of our day. Looking good already!

Half way done.

Showing off the floor like Vanna White! I actually did work. I did some of the cutting of the boards.

We're done! Sara is so happy!

Another picture of the floors. They look great!

Sara's side profile shot. She is getting big. She looks so beautiful!

Phoebe likes it too!

Sara and I are very happy with the nursery. Thank you so much Justin! We love you!

The Most Overwhelming Experience.......EVER!

2008-09-13T14:56:00.002-04:00

Ok before the overwhelming story begins here is a little update on Sara. She went to the hospital on Wednesday and she is doing very well. She gained two pounds since her last visit and she looks great. Claire is weighing in at a whopping 1lb 9oz and is 12 inches in length. The doctor said that everything looks really good and they are very pleased with her progress.

Alright, Friday night was baby registration night at Babies R Us for Sara and I. I was very excited. Sara got clearance from her doctor to take a wheelchair ride around the store and scan scan scan! I had no idea what I was in for.

See, I had this perfect picture in my head of what I wanted, how I wanted things to look, and just what we were going to register for. Boy was I wrong. Some of the stuff was just ok, some of it was just not cute at all. There is just so many things. How do you know which car seat to choose? How many pacifiers do you need? Are there good and bad pacifiers? Sippy cups....there is like 100 different ones! Sara asked me if I wanted to get a "guy style diaper bag". Do I need one of those? What, will the pink one not fit my style? OMG! Way to much.

It seriously stressed me out a little. I felt bad because we had no like "plan", no scheme. We were just free wheeling around the store. We did register for some good stuff. I love the pack and play we registered for as well as the car seat, and I am digging on the boppy.

We could not find any bedding last night. Poor Sara has had a hard time finding bedding that she likes. Today she found some at Target.com on sale and free shipping! I told her lets just order it and if she does not like it then we can return it. She was very excited about it. It is very pretty and we should get it this week. Problem though, WE HAVE NO CRIB! Sara has had a hard time finding a crib she likes. We saw one of the ones she likes last night at Babies R Us but when I got to looking at it it looked flimsy and cheap. Some of the ones we do like are like $250+! Thats nuts. And the changing tables, wow, those are outrageous too! These are the two items we are having the hardest time with.

I looked at the registry online today and we did pretty good with the items that we ordered and their ratings. I felt a little better about it after I reviewed it today.

Sara wants me to ask all of our readers if there is anything that our readers think we should have/register for? As parents whats your favorite item? Are there any items that are overrated and we do not need? Also, is there anywhere else to look besides Babies R Us, Target and Walmart for cribs? All the help and suggestions that people can give would be great! PLEASE GIVE ALL SUGGESTIONS! We need it.

Love to all.

Sara and Jason

Pictures of Sara and Claire's Room

2008-09-07T17:31:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone. Just a quick update on Sara. Her and Claire are doing very good. I felt Claire move again the other night. She was kicking and rolling around a lot. I felt her move quite a few times. Sara has an ultrasound on Wednesday so we may have some new pics. Also, Wednesday is 24 weeks. That is the first goal that I made for ourselves. I know we are going to crush that goal.

Sara also started registering a little bit online. I think that we have some great ideas for Claire's room. I am not leaking any of them yet. You will just have to wait and see. Also, Sara found a crib she likes a lot. Things are coming together pretty quick. It is very exciting.

On the previous post I forgot to let everyone know that we got some flooring for Claire's room. We found some really nice laminate hardwood flooring at Floor and Decor. It will look really nice.

So after work on Saturday night I came home and worked on the babies room. I removed all the carpeting, padding and tack board. It was easy but tedious. I had told everyone previously that the room was painted lavender. Here are some pics of the room with no flooring.

Also, I have some cute pics of Sara. Here they are:

Ok well that is it for now. I will update everyone in a few days. Love to all.

Our Niece - LuElle Ansley

2008-09-02T19:11:00.002-04:00

Here are pictures of our new niece LuElle "Lulu" Ansley. My brother Justin and his fiance Heather are the proud parents. She was born Tuesday August 26th. She is Claire future best friend.

Update

2008-09-02T18:15:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone. Below are a few pictures from Sara's ultrasounds when she was in the hospital. Sara and Claire have been doing very well. All of us are taking care of both of them. Sara is 23 weeks tommorrow and she also has a doctors visit so I will update everyone on that visit.

Love to all,

Sara and Jason

Sara is home!

2008-08-27T19:58:00.002-04:00

Just to update everyone really quick Sara came home from the hospital Tuesday. She is still on bed rest but she is doing very well.

Also, Tuesday morning my niece was born. We are all very excited.

Well good bye for now and I will update everyone in a few days.

Getting Better

2008-08-24T14:34:00.003-04:00

What a week! This post is a positive post. No sadness, just happiness.

Sara and Claire are doing very well. Sara has been off the Lovenox since Wednesday night. Everything is going great! She has been feeling pretty good and the doctors say that she may, MAY, be able to go home this week. She has an ultrasound on Tuesday and may get to come home after that.

We had the coolest moment on Saturday. Sara was on the contraction monitor. They have her on it just to see if she is having any contractions, which she is not. They wrap this band around your waist and put a monitor on her belly right below her belly button. Sara says Claire always kicks her like crazy when it is on. Sara started to feel her kick and told me to just take two fingers and slide them under the band and I may feel her kick. She kicked almost immediately! It was really cool. I was so excited to feel it. I was laughing with Sara and telling her how cool it was when Claire kicked even harder again. I only got those two kicks out of her but that was the coolest thing in the world. I am so glad I finally got to experience that.

God continues to bless us every day. He is listening to our prayers and the prayers of everyone else. It is a great feeling to know that she is off the medicine and everything is really good. We both have so much to look forward to. We are very thankful!

PS - If Sara comes home this week I have a bunch of pictures to post and will do them later in the week.

Another hurdle

2008-08-20T20:04:00.002-04:00

Sara had another ultrasound today. Everything looked good. They said that her placenta was actually migrating away from her cervix. It is 1 millimeter away but needs to be 3 millimeters to be safe. The specialist said that the baby is developing really well and that everything looks great.

Now the not so great news. The doctor and the specialist want to see Sara come off the Lovenox, which is the blood thinner. The doctor told her that they have no reason for her to be on it. They originally put her on it because of her past history and thought that it may be something different to try. She also said that with Sara on it this late in the pregnancy there is a big risk that she will have a contraction and start bleeding. The doctor said that she most likely will not go close to full term. She said that if she starts to bleed when Sara is on Lovenox they will have almost no way to stop it and it could take her and Claire's life.

Of course with this news we were thrown for a loop. Sara was really upset and I do not think she stopped crying last night. I am just beside myself. Sara and I talked about it and we really have no choice but to take her off the medication. The doctor still wants to keep her on the baby aspirin, which helps prevent clots. Keeping her on the Lovenox risks to many lives and I think we both feel that is not the right option. The doctors said that they would run tests on her after she is off the Lovenox and make sure everything is ok. I think the doctors feel the baby will be coming sooner than later and they want to make sure Mom and Claire are safe.

I think the next step is a lot of good old fashioned prayer. God has blessed us by getting us to 21 weeks. We are not sure why so many hurdles are in our way but we are trying to stay strong and make it through all of this. Every spare moment in my day I say a little prayer that everything will be ok.

Love and thanks to all!

Jason and Sara

Nursery

2008-08-18T21:45:00.002-04:00

Sunday Mom and I worked on the nursery. We started at about 9:30 in the morning and got all of the stuff cleared out and moved into the basement. We repacked everything and stacked it downstairs.
When I went to see Sara on Saturday she picked out the color that she wanted Claire's room to be. She chose a very pretty lavender. Mom and I primed and painted the room all day. We finally finished at about 7:30. It looks really cute and as we decorate the room it will come together. The task Sara has assigned for me is to look for wood flooring. I am excited that we keep getting closer and closer. This Wednesday she has another ultrasound and will be 21 weeks.
I have so many pictures to post but not a lot of time. As soon as I get a few hours I will post all the pictures. I am excited that I get to see Sara tomorrow. I miss not having her at home.
I will post later in the week and update everyone on Sara's ultrasound. Sara and I give our love to all.

Roller Coaster Ride

2008-08-16T10:55:00.002-04:00

Hi everyone. It is Saturday morning and it has been quite a week. There are not many changes to update. Earlier in the week Sara had stopped spotting for about 36 hours. This happened between Tuesday night and Wednesday. They were actually preparing Sara to go home. All the nurses were explaining to Sara what bed rest meant and what she could and could not do. Sara was excited that she may get to come home and at least be with us at the house.

Well Thursday came and she had more spotting. The idea of her coming home kind of went out the window. The doctors told her that they want to keep her for at least another week. The bleeding had to stop for 5-7 days before she can go home. That is at least the ideal scenario.

Sara got to have an ultrasound on Thursday and she got to see Claire again. We got a side profile of her head and also a picture of her toes. I will post them when I get a few hours at home so everyone can see them. Sara's mom was also there and said it was really cool to see the ultrasound and Claire's heart ticking away on the screen. Doctors said Claire looks great. All of her organs are growing and she is progressing along nicely.

Sara continues to be in good spirits. So many family and friends have come to see her and spend time with her. She has had a music relaxation volunteer visit her. She was supposed to visit Sara Tuesday or Wednesday in the afternoon but Sara was sound asleep both days. Mama's gotta get her rest :-). Sara has also had the pet people (not sure what you call them) see her and Sara was signed up for a wheelchair ride today.

My mom and I are going to clear out and paint the nursery on Sunday. We are super excited. I woke up Friday morning thinking we should paint the nursery since Sara is not there. The whole week I was thinking I would remove the rest of the wallpaper. Not sure why I was thinking about that when I should be doing painting. So with the nursery being painted the only thing left to do in the nursery is the wood floors, thats where Uncle Justin comes in, and decorating. Mom and I are excited to get the painting done and get the nursery started.

Sara asked me to make sure to put and extra special thank you to everyone that has kept us in their prayers, asked other people to pray, has given us words of encouragement, and been there for both of us through this first week. I have gotten special emails from so many people. I have found out that there are people praying for us in Montana, Oklahoma, Alabama and the list goes on and on. We really cannot thank everyone enough that lends us a helping hand in every way. This little girl is so special to us and having so many people behind us is amazing.

Update

2008-08-11T19:29:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone. I have let Sara know of all the well wishes and prayers and she says she is very thankful. She is still having a little bleeding and the doctor told her today that he is in no rush to send her home anytime soon. Looks like she may be in for a while of not up until she gives birth. Thank you to everyone for everything. Please keep us in your prayers and I will update you with any new information I get.

Quite a scare

2008-08-10T13:39:00.006-04:00

Well this weekend has been an interesting one. We got quite a scare on Saturday. I was half way to work when I heard my phone beep because I had missed a call. It was from Sara. I called her back and I could tell right away something was wrong. She told me that she had started bleeding a bit and that we had to go to the hospital. I asked how bad and she said not to bad but because of the past history she knew that they were going to want her to go. Of course I turned around and did about 60 the whole way home.

I got home and Sara was doing ok. She said that she felt Claire move about 5 minutes before she noticed the bleeding. So we headed to Northside Hospital in Atlanta. We were told to go to the women's center. I had my fingers crossed the whole way that they would not send us to the ER. We got there and the women's center kept Sara. We were sent to room LH7 in like 15 minutes and they started running a bunch of tests. First they noticed that she had a bit of a bladder infection. Then the nurse came in with the heartbeat monitor to get Claire's heartbeat. Our fingers were crossed the whole time. She found it pretty quick and Sara said she could feel her moving around a lot. That right there was a huge relief. Let me say the nurses are all so nice and so friendly.

We then got to go get an ultrasound and see what was going on. Sara's perinatal specialist was there that knows all of her history. Audra did the initial ultrasound. She had mentioned that because we were getting one today we did not have to have one this Thursday. I told Sara that we needed to know for sure what the sex was of the baby. So we told Audra that the regular doctor had told us a while back but we would like a definite confirmation. Audra decided to make it a point that it be the first thing she looked at. "It's a girl!" Sara and I were very happy. Claire Bear is here to stay. So Audra showed us her hands and feet, she does have 5 fingers and 5 toes on each. We got to see her head, abdomen, femur, stomach, kidneys, her heart and her brain. It was all really really cool. They said that she looked great and that she weighed around 12 ounces. My little girl is getting so big :-).

Well they also checked Sara out and here comes the interesting part. Dr Lopezina (sorry if I spelt that wrong doc) said that the placenta is growing two close to the cervix. Sara has what is called marginal placenta previa. It is dangerous because the cervix and the placenta can tear away from each other and cause bleeding. Since Sara is on blood thinners they are worried about potential severe blood loss. Now, the good news is that as the placenta grows it could move away from the cervix, or the bad news, it could grow over the cervix.

Depending on what happens all of this news throws us a lot of curve balls. Dr Lopezina said that we are probably looking at a c-section at 36 or 37 weeks with the confirmation that the baby is full grown and developed. We are also looking at a potential of bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy or a complete hospitalization until the end of the pregnancy. We are not sure yet. Dr. Lopezina talked to the OB-GYN Dr Nix and explained everything that they saw. Bottom line is Sara is in the hospital for observation over the next couple of days.

As we were headed back upstairs to the room Sara looked at me and said "and I thought that if we got to 20 weeks then we were passed all the hurdles and obstacles and we would be ok". I laughed and said "C'mon, did you really think that Claire was going to make this easy." We got a good laugh. It was nice to know that she and mom were ok. We were sent back to LH7 for a bit while they tried to find us a room. As soon as we got back Sara had a lunch waiting for her of turkey and gravy, potatoes and a veggie with dessert. It looked pretty good. Since she was staying a while they said that they are going to try and get us moved soon.

Moving time! Not so fast. No nice room, just down the hall to LH4 this time. It was bigger, not luxury but bigger. We were told that there was no good rooms available until Monday and they were very apologetic about that. The OB-GYN Dr Nix came down and explained everything in detail. She said that they would see how things go over the next few days and take it from there. I ran home and got all of Sara's medicine and some clothes for her. I called my mom and asked her to stay with us for a while and help me out since I have to work a lot over the next couple of days. She said of course and that was a huge weight lifted off of me and Sara. Now we know Phoebe and Wes will be ok. Sara's mom went and spent the afternoon with her at the hospital which was great because it kept Sara occupied.

When I got back to the hospital I learned that they have opened up a room for Sara. Our new room 135! Room 135 is in the High Risk Prenatal section. This is the place to be. Sara gets moved up there about 7:30pm. We both got a huge laugh as we were walking in because this is what we see on the room marker:

Spelt wrong? Um ya. Anyway, Sara is really taken care of hand and foot. Nurses come in and check on her, feed her, ask her if she needs anything all the time. I left at about 9 or so because poor Sara was tired. It had been a long day. I went home and got NO sleep at all. She was not there with me, Phoebe was wondering where her mommy was. It was a tough night. I was up at 7 this morning to go see her before I had to go to work at 11.

I brought Sara a few more things that she wanted and the Sunday paper for us to read. I missed her so much I could not wait to finally get to the room. It seemed I could not walk fast enough through the halls to see her. She was awake and waiting for me. She was just sitting there watching "A Few Good Men On" on tv. The 2 hours I was there it was busy in that room. Sara had already had breakfast. The nurse came in and did all of Sara's vitals. They listened for Claire's heartbeat which was a little hard to find. She was way down in the back. They found it though and she was ticking away. Dr Nix came up to see Sara and see how she was doing. Sara told her she was still spotting some and that she had some cramping during the night. The doctor seemed concerned and I kind of got the idea from the doctor that the "few days" may be a little extended now. We shall see. The snack cart lady came by and let Sara pick from a whole cart full of snacks. Then the lady that handles the meals came by. They take orders for the next several meals. Sara had to place her order for today's lunch and dinner and tomorrow's breakfast and lunch. For lunch today she had chicken cordon blue and yellow rice. Dinner is grilled chicken sandwich and french fries. Breakfast is eggs and bacon and lunch tomorrow is meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I was floored. She is going to be eating well. After I left today she said that she got up to take a shower and they put all new bed linens on and the cleaning people came and cleaned the room. She feels like she is at a resort.

So that is the weekend in a nutshell. Bottom line is we need to kind of wait it out and see what is going to happen. One of the nurses said they have the "3 strikes and your out" rule. That is where if you have this bleeding episode 3 times then you are in the hospital until you give birth. Maybe with Sara it will be the one or two strike rule because of her past history. Not sure. All I ask is everyone please keep us in your prayers. I cannot thank you all enough for all the prayers we have already received. Saturday was a huge scare and kind of let us both know we are not in the clear yet. Claire is so important to both of us already. The health of her and Sara is all I want right now. As I find out anything more I will let all of you know.

From the Beginning to Today

2008-08-07T22:01:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. This is the first post and we have 19 weeks and 1 day of catching up to do. I am going to start from the beginning and work our way up to date.

3/22/08 - Let us start with this question. Who can say no to a night of karaoke, friends and drinking at the bar inside the Roswell Bowling Alley. Not us! We have put thought into all the nights around the date of conception and this one just sticks out. We always have a blast with all of our friends when we go out for karaoke. Who would have known that this night would deliver a gift to last a lifetime.

4/23/08 - I will start out by saying I remember this night vividly. I may never forget it. I was at my part time job working and I am pretty darn sure it was between 8 and 8:30 pm when my cell phone rang. It was Sara calling to not only say hello but to add "um sweetie I have something to tell you. I took a home pregnancy test". The exact set of words that came out of my mouth were "Are you freaking serious!". Sara said, "yes it shows positive. I am pregnant."

That news threw both of us for a loop. We were very excited but we were both very scared at the same time. It was the start of our long....long wait for Claire.

5/19/08 - Claire's first picture. You really cannot see much. If you look to the right side of the black hole you will see little "+". That is her.....the bean. Sara and I gave her this nickname for the first few months. We were dying to know what "the bean" was.

Sara goes to the doctor every week. Every week they take a urine and blood sample, take Sara's blood pressure and listen for Claire's heartbeat. I guess this is a good time to tell everyone the list of medications Sara is on. Sara has to give herself shots of blood thinners every day. They also have her taking prenatal vitamins, folic acid, DHA, and baby aspirin.

6/12/08 - The second ultrasound pic we have. She still looks like a bean. You can barely see her. Look closely. She is in there.

6/19/08 - Today was the first visit to the Perinatal specialist. We went and visited Dr. Lopez. He was very nice. We were very excited and I had devised a plan that would try and get them to tell us the sex. HAHA! Jackpot. Sara thought it was way to early. That is why she is still having a hard time believing it even today. Here are some pictures just one week later:

This one is Claire's side profile of her whole body. You can see her head, stomach, and legs. You can even see her bones starting to be defined.

This one is of little Claire's foot.

This is a picture of Claire's head. You can really see her cheek and jaw bones.

Look she is waving.

Just a few days after these pictures Sara felt her first flutters. It is no wonder she did because during the ultrasound Claire was moving around a lot. She was kicking her legs and waving her arms. It was very very cool. I had said to the doctor that "I wished we knew what we were having because I was tired of calling her the bean". The doctor then zoomed in from her bottom and said that he would give us a 95% chance of it being a girl. He said he did not suggest that we go buy a lot of pink (to late) but it looked like we were having a girl.

7/3/08 - Here are the next set of ultrasound pictures. You can see she has grown quite a bit. I think that the biggest change is she is becoming more defined.

You can really see her ribs and head. If you look close you can see her ear.

This picture is of her sleeping. She is sleeping with her arms and legs straight out. They had to wake her up this day.

8/6/08 - Sara called me freaking out. She said that the baby just did a somersault under her belly button. Sara has felt a lot of flutter but she said that she had not felt anything like that. I cannot wait until her movements are strong enough so I can feel them. It should be soon.

8/7/08 - Sara's most up to date weekly doctors visit. Claire's heart rate is at 157 bpm. The nurse said she sounded like galloping horses because she was moving so much. Up till now Sara has gained 8 pounds and up to 132. I just noticed tonight while we were doing this that her belly button is TOTALLY different. She's gonna have an outtie!