Santa....I Know Him!

We took Claire to see Santa last weekend. The Yankee Candle Factory has a year round full time Santa. In the summer time he wears a hawaiian shirt and shorts and hangs out in the Christmas Village of the factory (Christmas year round...I love it). At Christmastime he has a nice set up in the center of the factory and is even joined by Mrs. Clause.

I figured she would do well as Claire absolutely loves people and other children but I got a little nervous since pretty much ever kid before her broke out in tears. But when it was her turn she went right to Santa. She loved the white fur on the sleeves of his coat. He talked to her, they read a book and took so many cute pictures together. It was a great day! The family is definitely getting a Santa picture along with their gifts this year. We will be going back again next year for sure.

Santa!

I was a good girl this year!

What do you want for Christmas?

I love this book!

Reindeer Games...

I was tagged in this Christmas blogger game going around by the lovely Katie Ridings from "My Blossoming Bud".  The game is intended to help bloggers get to know each other, and what better way than a pass it along Christmas questionnaire. These are the five questions that I was tagged with by Katie. Once you answer the questions on your own post, tag five other bloggers that you follow. Let's spread the Christmas cheer and get to know each other a little better. Merry Christmas!

1. What makes Christmas such a special holiday for you & your family?
From as early as I could remember every Christmas my whole family (parents, sister, cousins, aunts, great aunts, grandparents and great grandparents) would start our Christmas eve at my great grandmothers tiny two bedroom house. We would enjoy dinner and pies before we all opened presents that my great grandma worked all year saving up for. She had such a big heart. She didn't have much money but everyone got a gift albeit usually a sweatshirt and underwear it was the meaning behind it that mattered. After we finished there my more immediate family would caravan to each others houses opening gifts. Then when Christmas morning arrived we opened our Santa presents and stockings before joining my immediate family at my grand parents house to spend Christmas day together.

2. Were you told the truth about Santa Claus by your parents or did you find out another way? & do you plan on lying to your kids (if you plan on having kids) :)?
I don't remember my parents ever telling me Santa wasn't real. I was raised to know the biblical meaning behind Christmas but also was raised with Santa being part of our Christmas Spirit. I think as I grew older is was one of those things I just figured out on my own. To this day we still get "Santa" presents. We plan on carrying this same tradition on with Claire so she can experience the wonder of the Christmas season.

3. Real tree or fake tree?
Artificial tree, though I love the smell of a real tree they are so messy and don't last as long as I would like. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is decorating the Christmas tree. I love to be able to enjoy it as long as possible. There is something magical about seeing my lit up Christmas tree through my living rooms picture window as I pull into my driveway in the evening. 

4. Do you open presents on Christmas morning, Christmas Eve, or both?
Both: My family opens on Christmas eve but opens Santa presents and stockings on Christmas day. Christian's family opens gifts on Christmas day. 

5. What is your favorite Christmas movie to watch, & favorite Christmas song to listen to?
I have so many Christmas movies I love. I live for the 25 days of Christmas on ABC Family. But some of my must haves that I own and must watch every year are Home Alone, White Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Elf, Surviving Christmas, A Christmas Story and The Family Stone.

Now time to pick five bloggers to repost & share the Christmas fun.

1.Cindy-Life with my Celiac Sweetie
2. Tanya- The Little Pogue

3. Stephanie- Crafty Auntie
4. Meg-Henning Love
5. Megan Brink- A Brink Adventure

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was so much fun this year! I have to admit, last year I was having some baby blues. Claire was born the week before quiet early and she was in the NICU. There is nothing harder than having to be discharged from the hospital and leaving without your baby. But having to spend her first holiday with her in the hospital was an extra sting to the heart. So this year Thanksgiving was a much happier day for me. I feel like it was her "first" Thanksgiving since she was actually home, even if it wasn't.

 We had a nice small Thanksgiving at home this year. Which was nice, no pressure just family and we all enjoyed it. In the morning we watched the parade and after that was over my sister and I went to work in the kitchen and my husband and brother in law went to work on the turkey in the back yard. On our menu was fried turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, rolls, rum cake and pumpkin pie. Everything turned out perfect!Only one snafu with a broken thermometer but nothing major. We all enjoy our delicious feast (including Claire). Then spent the evening watching movies.

Our little turkey!

Watching the parade.

Watching daddy and uncle cook the turkey (don't mind the milk face)

Enjoying her feast!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash

Claire's birthday party was on Saturday and it was a hit. Almost everyone we invited showed up and she had the most amazing time. It was wonderful to see how many people she is blessed to have in her life. The day was a happy and emotional one for me just thinking about what she was doing last year.

This time last year I was spending my days in the NICU day in and day out and this year I was watching my baby girl crawl around chasing her friends and laughing away. Not to mention last year she was getting liquid fat by IV in the NICU and this year eating her birthday cake. I hope you enjoy the pictures of her special day. The smile on her face made it all worth it. I love her so much!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash

Claire's Corner

Some of the details

Backyard

From birth to 12 months

Highlights from opening gifts.

Cake Time

Candid of our 1 year old!

Happy 1st Birthday Claire Lucille

Hard to believe that one year ago she surprised us all when she came into this world early! She has been through a lot in one year and continues to amaze us everyday. She has brought us pure love and joy! She is our world and we love her more than she will ever know! Happy 1st Birthday Claire Lucille!

At birth she was 4lbs 4oz and 17in long and now at 1 year she is 16lbs 10oz and 28in long. She has quadrupled her weight which is amazing even though she isn't on the growth chart yet. She loves to eat, lately her favorites are cottage cheese and pineapples, quesadillas, mixed veggies and toast. She is now on whole milk (fortified for extra calories though) and loves it. Some of her favorite things is going to the park to swing and go down the slides, her sit to stand walker, Minnie Mouse and Elmo.

Her Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash is tomorrow and I am so excited. I made all her decorations, there will be lots of yummy food, friends, family, presents (of course) and I can't wait to see her smash into her cake. A lot of pictures to come from today and her party so stay tuned!

Prematurity Awareness Month

Did you know 1 in 8 babies in the US are born premature? Claire is 1 in 8, weighing barely 4lbs when she was born. She has struggled to overcome some of the issues resulting from her prematurity but with the help of modern medicine, an exceptional NICU and a team of amazing doctors she is happy and healthy.

November is Premature Awareness month. I am thankful for organizations like the March of Dimes that work to help mothers have full term babies and research the problems the threaten babies lives.

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of some of the decorations I've made for Claire's birthday party this coming Saturday. A lot more pictures to come, so be on the look out!

Typical Day

Oh how my days have changed since I was a working mom. Before my days were non stop and exhausting, I didn't usually sit down until around 9:30/10:00 at night. I really don't miss those days. My job yes but not the scrambling to get everything done and ready for the next day. By the time the weekend arrived my husband and I were so exhausted from the week we didn't want to do anything. 

Now that I stay home with Claire and run everything in our home my days are filled with order, flexibility and Claire's doctors appointments (no kidding she has one almost once at week). It was a hard transition at first but after a month or so I settled into my new role. Myself and our family is so much more stress free now and we can actually enjoy our evenings and weekends together. I've also actually been able to go on extra trips home to California for family events, which before I always missed out on because of work. 

Thought i'd share a typical day for Claire. It's always interesting to see other babies schedules especially if your trying to work out a schedule for your own. Of course it's subject to change depending on her appointments and other events we have going on like MOPS. But this will give you a basic idea of how  we spend our days now. 

Claire's Typical Schedule

8:45/9:00: Wake up

9:00: Morning sippy cup (6oz) and breakfast 

9:20-10:30: Play time (toys, books, sit n' stand walker and her jumper)

10:30-12:00: Morning Nap

12:00-1:00: Snack time and table top toys or activity center

1:00: Midday sippy cup (6oz) and lunch

1:30-3:00: Errands or walk to the park and playtime

3:00-4:30/5:00: Afternoon Nap

5:00: Evening sippy cup (6oz) and a snack

5:30-6:30: Play time

6:30: Bath time

7:15-8:30: Play time

8:30: Night bottle (6oz)

8:45/9:00: Bedtime

*She drinks water and snacks at will throughout the day*

Fall Has Arrived....

Fall has arrived, which as much as I love fall, the cold weather and the change of colors it also means all the acorns and leaves start falling in our trees. The last few weeks the acorns have been falling. We will be in our living room and just hear them one right after another drop onto the house, roll down the roof and then drop to the ground.

Christian and I had been talking about raking them up over the weekend before the leaves start to fall, when he mentioned that he wished there was something we could do with all of them besides bagging them up to throw out. That got me thinking, surely I could do something with them.  I quickly did a quick search on Pinterest and then made a trip to the craft store and whipped up this wreath! Overall i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I'm thinking I could do something similar for a Christmas wreath too. We'll see if I feel up to it once I finish all of the projects I have going on for Claire's birthday this month.

Claire's First Halloween

Yesterday was Claire's first Halloween. Its actually also her last "first" holiday though I don't know if I count Thanksgiving since she spent that in the NICU. Anyway as usual I like to go all out! I can't help it, I love any and all holidays! Unfortunately my poor Claire Bear was sick. She has been fighting a horrible cold all week so we didn't take her out trick or treating especially since at this age it would really just be for us anyway. We spent the evening watching Halloween movies and we dressed her up in her costume to help us pass out candy to all the kids trick or treating, she loved that! All in all it was a great Halloween. I cant wait till next year since she will be walking and talking and can truly enjoy this fun holiday.

Happy Halloween from Minnie Mouse