First Month of Claire

Aug 1-31

The boys were excited to see their sister and have us home!  Grant was more excited than Blake was but both did a great job.  Grandma and Grandpa took the boys to the store to get presents for Claire.  They got hot wheels and a race car but had fun doing it!  Claire got them a tablet and they were so excited!  Something to entertain them when Mom and Dad are exhausted and need a break.

Usually the first few days after I give birth I have really bad postpartum blues and just cry all day and night long.  I decided this time I was going to sleep the first two nights home and see if that helped my hormone shift.  So Greg graciously got up with Claire the first two nights.  The next morning home he was sleeping so it was my job to get the boys out of the house and to daycare and man it was tough!  It took me a few hours to get them all ready, lunches made and Claire fed.  Getting three kids ready is going to take some getting used to.  Greg said she did pretty well throughout the night.  We have her in her rock n play so she sleeps way better in that.

This was the first time that Greg has been able to have some paternity time off after one of our kids and it has been SO nice having him home!  It is nice to have someone to talk to during the day and someone to watch Claire if I need a nap. 

Claire did not like her first bath at home so we made it quick!

Grant loves to hold and Claire and Blake will hold her for about 1 second and he is done.

Uncle Mit, Uncle Peter and Auntie Kellie got to meet Claire! I just forgot to take a picture of Uncle Peter holding her!

Claire has seemed more awake during the day than I remember my other two being but maybe that is because of all the noise going on in our house!

Claire has also spent quite a bit of sleeping also!  One of my absolute favorite things is to take a nap with her on my stomach.  She doesn't love it as much as Blake did so I enjoy the few times this happens.

We have tried to get Blake to potty train but have not been successful this far.  He went poop on the potty one night and we were so happy!  We are trying to bribe him with his new computer.

I caught a rare picture of Claire smiling in her sleep and I am in love!  So precious!

Greg is such a great Dad and is reading some library books to the boys.

We spent a lot of this month trying to figure out what is causing Blake's seizures.  We went to a few holistic appointment's today but did not feel that comfortable doing their treatments with a 2.5 year old. We went to Iowa City Neurology to get a second opinion and Greg and I were happy with the doctor but still not happy about putting Blake on medicine.  The seizure medications have a lot of bad side effects. They sent us home with a script for a rescue drug and for us to think about which medicine to start.  I am still going to search to figure out what is causing these issues.  All of his testing came back normal. I found 2 facebook groups that are parents of epileptic children and I have gotten a lot of knowledge from those groups.  It also is scary and anxiety provoking to read because there are a lot of kids way worse off than Blake.  I spend way too much time looking for answers especially when I am up at night with Claire.  We have yet to find someone like Blake who is developmentally on track and having these seizures.

We had our newborn pictures this month and they were stressful!  From finding clothes for the whole family to wear to taking the pictures.  My boobs were so swollen it was hard to find a shirt that would fit.  Blake was hangry so he cried most of the time and Claire was awake for most of the time but we got a few good pictures.

Grant finished his soccer season.  It was more difficult getting 3 kids out of the door in time for soccer but the weather cooperated for mid August and it wasn't too hot for Claire in the morning.  Grant played with his friends Tyler and Lenny on his team.

Breastfeeding has been going well for us. it helps I know what I am doing (for the most part). This has been the easiest breastfeeding journey so far!  I hope it continues. :)

Grant has been doing swim lessons through daycare this summer.  I am not sure how much he is learning and I think it is more of a "play time" with his friends in the class, but we went to visit him.

I enjoyed some time cuddling with my boys and absolutely loved it.

The boys got new Captain America costumes and love dressing up and playing super heros! They go and find the bad guys around our house and catch them.  Keeps them entertained and moving to burn off all that energy when Greg and I are so tired!

We tried to figure out all the ways to keep these boys busy and burn off energy.  Trampoline and bounce houses helped!

We've also taken a few road trips up to Webster City to visit Greg's Dad!

Since we have been spending a lot of time with Claire and Blake dealing with his seizures, Greg took Grant for a daddy day and he loved it! They went to the jump park!

We took the whole family to the fair this year.  It was a lot to bring them all, especially a few week old, but it went surprisingly well!  We met up with Grant's friend, Tyler so they had fun hanging out also!  It got hot around lunch time so we headed home then.

Grandma and Grandpa came down to visit us and take the boys fishing!

I love catching moments of the kids playing nicely by themselves.  Here is a video of Blake playing so well by himself.

It was a very busy first month for a newborn but we did it!  It helped a ton that Claire sleeps well in that pack n play.  She sleeps about 6 hours a night.  We are not looking forward to transitioning to the crib but we know it has to be done.  She was 9lbs 13.5 oz at the end of the month.  She did not get jaundice like she had a potential so that is good also!