Drumroll please . . . It's a Girl!

I'm a month late on this, but here are the details of the birth of our very precious Clara Ann.  She is such a doll and we all love her to pieces (sometimes literally).  I think Bowe and Ava could kiss her a million times a day.

Clara was born on 9/2/10 or 90210 for you Beverly Hills Fans.  She was born by c-section at 8am at Rochester General Hospital and everything went really smoothly.  We didn't know ahead of time if she was a boy or girl so it was really exciting to hear Todd say, "It's a . . . girl."  Then we both cried.  Maybe out of joy, maybe out of relief, maybe out of fear of the upcoming teenage years.  She was a little cold and they couldn't get her temperature up right away so she stayed under the warmer for a little while, but other than that, it seemed like a breeze.  I stayed at the hospital for 4 days then came home to a house full of excitement.  Man, were we tired for the first few days.  Clara and I slept a lot and Todd did an excellent job of keeping everyone at bay.  It was so hard for Ava becuase she had a cold and we tried to keep her distant.  This seems like forever ago, but it was only 6 weeks!  Time surely does fly.

Ava started kindergarten a week later.  It was really hard for her to leave her baby everyday.  I tried to tell her she wasn't missing anything, but naptime.  She didn't seem to believe me.  We had a lot of help that first week home.  Meals every night, help cleaning, help with Bowe, help with Ava, visits, well wishes.  Thank you to everyone for being there for us. 

Over the next few weeks I started getting around a little easier and by 4 weeks I feel fairly well back to normal.  At 6 weeks, I'm cleared for exercise, lifting, and basically real life.  I have to be honest, I've been avoiding real life a little bit.  I'm not sure I"m totally adjusted to having three kids because we don't do a whole lot all together.  It's that or, three kids isn't as hard as I was imagining.  It certainly has it's moments though.

A little about Clara - We have yet to learn her real personality, but so far she has been a joy.  She is sleeping 4-6 hours at a time at night, eats really well, is happy sitting by herself while she's awake, sleeps through screaming, vacuuming, and stomping feet.  She makes very serious faces, but I feel we are just now on the verge of seeing a smile.  She makes a little wimper noise sometimes when she sleeps.  We just discovered she has a bit of silent reflux.  The first day I started her on medicine, she no longer cried at all in the evening.  About a week ago she started crying in the evenings and it built and built all week long.  Thus the trip to the doctor and some medicine.  Turns out, I was right and I'm so grateful to my friend Lisa for telling me about such a thing as silent reflux.  I feel I have saved my little baby from pain and preserved my own sanity for just a tad longer.  She also endures being put off until I have free hands or time to get to her needs and handles the Ava and Bowe kisses fairly well. 

I don't know if it's because I'm older and a tad more mature, or if I just have a different perspective, but this time around, I am really trying to appreciate every little thing about this phase of her life. It has helped me appreciate Ava and Bowe for what they are doing and where they are in life too.  Those two rascals never cease to amaze me.  They are really funny, smart, and energetic and if I give them the room to be themselves, they'll surprise me with their comprehension of life and the world around them.  I also don't understand the unwritten law of nature that states brothers have the right to constantly annoy their sisters, and sisters have the right to boss around and control their brothers.  These are not taught behaviors so I'm assuming they are instinct and therefore approved by nature.  Those two can be best friends and worst enemies within a commercial break.

Now for the fun stuff and enough of my ramblings.  On to some pictures . . .

One Week Old with Big Sis

2 Weeeks Old

 3 weeks old with Nana

 4 weeks Old

 1st smile - 5 weeks old

That's all for now!