New Routines

Oh how life has changed (I think I say that every time?!)! Claire is 12 weeks today, I started back to work last week and am working from home again, and Claire is now being watched during the day by a lady down the street.  Maybe I'm a bad mom because I really love being back at work and don't feel guilty having someone else watch Claire during the day. Claire's babysitter is also watching 3 boys (a 15 mo. old, and 3 & 4 yo brothers) and I love knowing that Claire will have some playmates! I do miss her though and look forward to 5:00 when I can pick her up! I think of it as quality time spent with her now as opposed to quantity. And that's what works best for us right now.

Anyway, here's a little recap of our past month. I don't post many pics on FB these days, more so from forgetfulness... so here's your dose :)

1/25/16... Sleeping while I make dinner.

1/25/16... It was warm and sunny out, so we took a walk to Lake Erie. It's 0.8-miles down the road from where we live! Of course, you put this girl in her carseat, and she falls asleep! The lake was beautiful and half frozen over.

1/26/16... Claire's 2-month appointment. She was happy the entire time... until they gave her 3 shots. Ouch :(    ...11 lbs. 9 oz., 23"

2/3/16... Sometimes the crying is too much to handle. So instead of consoling her, I take pictures...

...and then she's happy again playing in her MamaRoo. Talk about mood swings.

2/4/16... Cuteness overload this day while she was playing. She was all smiles and arms flailing for those toys above her.

 ...and of course, trying to eat her hands.

Last week, I had to fly down to Birmingham to get reinstated at work before I could begin working again after maternity leave. So Ross, Claire and I flew down Wednesday and came back last Saturday. I was all nerves planning for this trip. How would Claire do on the flights? When would I feed her during all of the travel? How do you possibly nurse in public while trying to maintain as much privacy as possible? How would I pump at work? etc. etc. etc. A million thoughts ran through my head and I had Plan B's, C's and more like a maniac. All in all.... the trip couldn't have gone better!!! Once again, Claire proves to us that she is such an easy baby (aside from nighttime fussiness) and goes with the flow. She must take after her dad's laid back personality!

Ross & I opted not bring the carseat or stroller. I love packing as minimally as possible and with her size, we figured it would be just as easy to carry her through the airport in my wrap, and rent a carseat with the rental car. Best decision ever to not have to lug that stuff (at least for this trip)! I fit all of our items in 2 carry-on suitcases and 2 bags. Go me!

Claire ended up sleeping on all 4 flights! (2 down to Bhm, 2 back). It couldn't have gone better!

**Sidenote: Claire slept in the wrap on the first flight. Apparently this is against FAA regulations to have them in the wrap during take-off and landing. No one said anything the first flight. So the other flights she just slept in my arms while I held her.

One her first flight, the flight attendants and pilot signed a little card for Claire's 'First Flight' that they handed to us when we got off the plane. It was adorable and I can't wait to add it to her babybook!!

The 2nd flight was the only flight where she was awake for a bit. I played with her rattle with her for 40-minutes. She was all smiles and really trying to eat both of her hands. Guess that's a lot of work because she slept the remainder of the flight :)

More smiles during her playtime...

Almost conquered eating both fists...

Flight #1 coming home. Asleep already!  And lucky for us, none of our flights were full so we were able to keep our middle seat empty and spread out a bit :)

Dressed in her dachshund hoodie and ready to meet my coworkers!! She put on a good show and was all adorable and good and well-mannered. Yay!

 This is how Ross babysits during the day in the hotel while I was at work. I can't blame him, haha.

Asleep at the restaurant while Ross & I ate dinner. I've decided that hoods with ears are the cutest thing ever! I must buy more!! More.HOODS.WITH.EARS!!!

Overall the trip went smoothly! Though I did have a few casualties along the way...

Casualty #1, I left my coat behind on the first flight. Whoops! Good thing I didn't forget the baby *wink wink* A coat can be replaced so I didn't fret too much. Though I did like it :/  darn.

Casualty #2, left my corporate credit card at the restaurant for dinner the first night in Bhm. Luckily they had it when I called to inquire about it the next day and I swung by to pick it up! *whew* Disaster averted. 

Casualty #3, lost the copy of Claire's birth certificate for our flight coming home. I nicely exclaimed to the Travel Lady at the counter checking us in "You can clearly tell she is under 2 years of age!" but she said is was procedure. Anyway, she let us go without charging us for a ticket, but said we would need the copy next time we fly to Bham or we would be charged for Claire to have  seat. Yikes.

I blame all 3 incidents on my 'Mom Brain.' That's a thing, right?!
 

2/15/16... And lastly, I teased Ross that he didn't buy his daughter her first Valentine's flower. So the next day he came home with a flower he received earlier that day at work. Kind of cheating. But whatevs. I'll take it :) And Claire tried to eat it.

So that's it! I've now officially survived Claire's first 12 weeks. I've heard those first 12 weeks are the toughest (I hope!). It's.ALL.A.BLUR.  It's exciting, testing, scary, thrilling, rewarding, and more. All emotions rolled into one. I wouldn't change it for the world. But I can't wait to see what is to come...

*Kristin*