A Day with Mom

Beach Fun

Last weekend we took Claire to Barber's Point, for a relaxing Sunday. She LOVED the water! This was her first encounter with sand, and she didn't have any problems with it. Randy and Claire played in the water for about an hour and a half. Thankfully Claire only had a small taste of sand. She was a full on giggle box every time the water came up and she didn't mind that it was a tiny bit cold. We are going to take advantage of the warm "winter".

Saying Aloha to Hawaii

Randy found out on Tuesday that he was chosen to be an Instructor at the Captain's Career course at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina. We will be moving back to the mainland in April!!!! We are both so excited to be moving back and be so close to both of our families. The next 5 months are going to fly by and I can't wait to say ALOHA to Hawaii. Its been an amazing ride, and we have enjoyed our time here....but its time to begin the next chapter in our life.

Thanksgiving

Randy, Claire and I had a great Thanksgiving in Florida with family. It has been 2 years since Randy has been to Florida, so it was a great "homecoming" for him, as well. We had 2 Thanksgivings, and Claire LOVED all the food! We also had the opportunity to goto Sea World with Randy's sister and her family. That was so much fun. I haven't been there since I was in Jr. high, and it was awesome to watch Claire take it all in.

Here is the link to Snapfish, so you can view ALL the pictures :o)

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5451605009/a=33052411_33052411/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Happy Mother's Day

Today is the best day! I can't believe I'm a mother to a 4 month old!! Where has the time gone. I'm truly blessed to have Claire in my life, and I can't imagine what it was like without her. I never knew you could love someone so much!

Rolly Polly and Chatter box

The title says it all. Claire has a new trick and loves to talk. She started to roll over some last night, but I thought it was an accident. Then this morning at Stroller Strides she was doing it again. I am just happy that I was able to get it on video for her daddy. He's gonna love this!

I'm so glad that I have such a happy baby! She really only cries when she is wet and/or "starving". I hope she stays this happy, especially when she hits the "terrible twos" stage. Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

Enjoy!

Beach and Zoo pictures

Two monkeys sleeping at the zoo. Wonder who is more comfy? We can't wait for daddy to be home, so we can show him ALL the animals.

This is at North Shore. We found some shade under a palm tree. She had a blast. She is a regular Beach Bum! Her daddy would be proud.

Girls Gone Wild

Claire and I had some visitors this past week. My cousin Lindsey and her friend Kelly came for a visit. We had so much fun in such a short time. Every day was a new adventure for Claire. We took the girls to Barbers' Point and set Claire up in her new Cabana. She loved it!

We also took them to a Luau. Claire was the talk of the place. She was happy to show off her Hula Girl outfit. Yes, I did try to get her a job while we were there. Sadly, they said she was too cute for the show. Lindsey and Kelly had a great time, and enjoyed the food and drinks.

Claire and I had so much fun! Its always nice to have family come and visit. And of course its always nice to have a little help with Claire-McBear. I'm hoping that Lindsey and Kelly had as much fun as Claire and I did. I know that Claire will miss her "back seat buddies".

Busted!

I laid Claire down, thinking she was asleep, so that I could get a quick shower. I had the monitor in my bathroom and I could hear her "talking", so I thought I would sneak a peak. She has been "talking" nonstop since. She definitely gets that from me :o)

More Easter Fun

Claire and I dyed some eggs. We each have one with our names on them, its kind of hard to see CoCo's but she has one too. Claire is still learning to control her head, but she LOVES being able to see what's going on. We did have fun with the eggs, but we did miss daddy. I think he could have made some more creative eggs.

Sadly though, I forgot to put the eggs in the refridge after they dried, so I don't get any egg salad this year :o( That is what mommy-hood does to you, makes you forget things. All in all it was a good Easter. We went to Mass and Claire was good, slept through most of it. Then we enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home, full of napping, sewing and doing laundry.

Easter Morning

Happy Easter! The Bunny made it to our house, and left some really cute things for Miss Claire.

Easter Fun

Here is some video footage of Claire dying Easter Eggs. I think she had fun, however, next year will be much entertaining for all of us. I also added a video of Claire sitting in her Bumbo seat. She is starting to get used to it. I think she likes being able to see everything around her now :o)

12 weeks and a new trick

I can't believe that its already been 12 weeks! Its amazing the amount of changes that Claire goes through ever week. I am enjoying seeing her personality come through. Its also nice to see that she is starting to look a little like her mommy *finally* :o)

While we were watching TV, she decided she wanted to try to sit up. With the boppy there for support and just in case she flopped over, she almost got it!

I'm so proud of her and with a little more practice, she'll be using her bumbo seat in no time.

Plain ol' cute pictures

This is our friend Christie and her baby, Samantha Jane, who is about 3 weeks younger than Claire.

8 weeks

For some reason at 8 weeks I stopped taking the weekly pictures and shot more candid and posed pictures.

2 weeks and 4 weeks

2 weeks old

4 weeks old

Pictures as promised

The first of many family pictures. I'm not sure who is happier, me or Randy. He was amazing during the delivery, couldn't have asked for a better coach.

These were taken before leaving the hospital. It looks like Claire likes to have her mouth open, she maybe a non-stop talker :o)

Getting some love from her daddy. He is already wrapped around her little finger.

Claire doesn't want her daddy to go either. This was a really hard day for Randy and I, definitely broke my heart to see him tell her good-bye.

A New Year, A New Blog

So, I figured since its been a year since I last updated our blog, I would just start out fresh. A lot has changed since January 2009. In May of 2009, we found out that we were expecting our first baby! It was a bittersweet moment due to the fact that Randy would be deploying (again) in September. Thankfully, with the help of my parents and Randy's dad and Gloria, we were able to celebrate the summer with our families. My parents made their annual trip for 2 weeks in May and definitely enjoyed buying things for grand-baby #5. Randy's dad and Gloria made their first trip out, and we enjoyed doing the "tourist" thing again. And I enjoyed eating for two during both visits :o)

Randy and I decided to find out what we were having, so that Randy could begin to form a bond before he left. July 28 is when we found out it was a GIRL! That was an amazing moment in our lives, truly the day that changed everything. I think about 3 days later, we decided on naming her Claire Lily. Randy actually picked Claire out and I chose Lily after an Aunt. Probably the easiest decision the two of us have made. We were able to get Claire's room 99% finished before Randy deployed.

Randy left in September for another long year in Iraq. Fortunately this time, he took his laptop and we are able to Skype, frequently. I went to North Carolina for the last 2 weeks of October, my last chance to fly "safely" before Claire was born. I am glad that I FINALLY got to enjoy Riley's birthday with him. I have definitely missed being around for family birthdays.

My parents came out on December 23 and stayed until January 22, I was truly thankful for that! I'm glad I didn't have to spend Christmas alone. Randy came home for R&R on December 31 and was able to ring in 2010 with me. With a due date of January 7, we figured it would be nice to have at least a week together before the baby comes.

I had a doctors appointment on January 4 in the morning, and had to stay for awhile because my blood pressure had been high. I think we were at Tripler from 9:30 until 2:00pm that day. I had been having contractions, but not regular or strong enough to be concerned. After we left the hospital, we went to Taco Bell in Kapolei (I started having contractions on the way, but still not too consistent). After lunch we headed to Target, where my water broke. We managed to walk around for a little bit before I HAD to go home. We were at the house for about 30 minutes before I HAD to goto the hospital.

About 6 hours after my water broke, Claire was born! It was truly an unbelievable and indescribable moment in our lives. It was amazing to spend the next week and half with my daughter and husband (my parents were still here, and were great help to us). Sadly, Randy's R&R was over, and he left to Iraq, another hard day for me. My parents then left on the 22nd and I had to learn how to be a mom, alone.

For the past 3 months, I have done great (we're both still alive). I am fortunate that my dad was able to come out at the end of March for 2 weeks. He was a great help.

I know this is a LONG one, but since its been a year, thats what happens. I will post pictures soon and promise to keep this more up to date.