07/16/2008 - And we're back...

It hasn't quite been a month, but close. It's amazing how time flies! As Anna Claire has become more and more interactive, the pictures have slowed; the blog has slowed; but time did not get the memo.

We have had huge accomplishments since Father's Day:

• Anna Claire is sleeping through the night!
• Nana came and visited for a week or so.
  
• Mandy & Eric had their first mountain bike ride.
• Anna Claire saw her first 4th of July Fireworks.
• Mandy started back to work.
• Anna Claire started school (not really, but Daycare does not sound like much fun)
• We had Anna Claire's 3 month pictures with both sets of Grandparents.
  

What a busy 4 weeks!

In my opinion, the biggest step of these is Mandy going back to work. We had grand plans of giving "school" a dry run for a day or two prior to Mandy starting back, but never made time for that, so on Monday, July 7, I put Anna Claire in the car and headed for her school and Mandy headed to work. We are through week 2 and things are going well...no big troubles or mishaps. Not too shabby for a new set of parents!

I have finally added a link to a Month 3 photo album on the right...

In the meantime, you can see the slide show that our photographer, Diana Simpson, put together from the shoot last weekend.

You can click here to see it.

We will be back soon!

Ciao!

07/07/2008 - Anna Claire's First Day of School

It's hard to believe that she is almost 3 months old! Today is her first day at school. Mandy starts back to work this week as well, so it is going to be a whole new ball game for us as far as determining how we are going to get ourselves ready for work, Anna Claire ready for school and then get her dropped off...all with us getting to work before lunch!

I drew the short straw and got the dubious honor of taking her to school on her first day. She was a trooper, as usual. I got to school where Dreama and Carolyn were anxiously awaiting the newest member of their class. She was an instant hit with her killer smile.

We added a few more pics to the month 3 album...check it when you have a chance.

07/03/2008 - Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'...

Well, we knew it would only be a matter of time before our little girl would start becoming mobile. I went up to get her up one morning and found this...

She had rolled on her side and was so content. Up to this point, we have been wrapping her snuggly in a sleep wrap. I guess we need to think about wrapping her arms outside of the blanket so that she can move her head around.


It won't be long before she is propping herself up. She is really getting good head control.


This is awesome!

06/15/2008 - Father's Day

What do you get the dad who does the late night feeding, makes it to work on time and still manages to put dinner on the table?...

a clean closet...

a couple of ties...

and a little bit of quality time with his little girl :)

We've finished updating the Month 2 folder! We'll get Month 3 up there soon...

05/29/2008 - Anna Claire Update

We have added some more pics to the Anna Claire - Month 2 album!

She's now up to 9 and 1/2 lbs., growing at about a half a pound every week. She is becoming more and more alert everyday. We love it when she gives us one of her "full mouth" smiles! She is also discovering her voice and doing a lot of "cooing". We're having a lot of fun with her!

05/11/2008 - Mother's Day

I had such a fun first Mother's Day! The day started off with a card and gift from Anna Claire. She got me a gift certificate to Natural Body. What a thoughtful daughter!! She reminds me of her dad :)


We took Anna Claire to church for the first time. My mom and the Graus joined us and then came over to our house to enjoy a delicious meal that Eric made.


After lunch, Anna Claire and I hopped in the car with Nana to go spend a week at her house. Eric had a conference in Charlotte this week so Nana graciously volunteered to take care of us :)

Anna Claire comes from a family of shoppers so we decided it was time to introduce her to the mall. She enjoyed it quite well. This was her reaction when I told her that we were going shopping :)


Click on "Anna Claire - Month 2" on the right, to see more pictures from Mother's Day and our trip.

05/08/2008 - Anna Claire Turns 1 Month Old!

Anna Claire celebrated her 1 month birthday today. It is hard to believe that she is already 1 month old. She is changing so much each day.

Here are some pictures of her on the cute swaddle blanket that Ali got us.