August 10

Mom went to get her hair trimmed today. The first time since winter, and she went and picked up Claire from the house (dad was home with all the kids today). Claire got her hair trimmed up first and dad came to get her from the salon and took the kids to try on clothes for school. Mom headed back to work afterwards with her new doo.

August 7

Claire slept well last night. Dad was up late watching tv and if Claire was up, Dad didn't say anything about it. In the morning, the kids were quickly fed and dressed as Claire's brother had a dr appt. He's due for a sports physical, and rumors are there are immunizations due this year. Mom played tag-team with dad as he had to show a house first thing this morning, and mom had a meeting... dad came to get the kids while bro was in his physical and mom left the dr's office for her meeting as soon as dad arrived. whew. It was quite a morning.

August 6

A nice lazy Sunday. After church, the family went to get school supplies and try on clothes for school. Then off to look at an open house and back home to be lazy. Once mom got her second wind, she was cleaning up the house, or trying to. Today, it is an overwhelming task, so she is just going to concentrate on one room at a time. Claire's room is done and she's moved back in. Mom and dad hung up her bronzed baby footprints... so very tiny, while Claire is still so small, it was amazing how much smaller she was 3 years ago. wow.

August 5

Today mom and dad have a little breathing room, so they are focused on cleaning Claire's room up before moving all her stuff back in. Everything is set up so nicely now and she was moved in by the end of the day. Mom got the bumper pad, she settled on... pink... to match the bedskirt. With the cream walls, it is very cozy. Claire just needs a fluffy rug and she'll be all done with her new room... until mom gets another wild hair.

August 4

Claire's brother went to the beach for the weekend. So big sis is going to be spoiled a bit... starting with a night out, dinner and a movie. Claire and her parents took big sis to eat Italian and then see the opening of Barnyard... very cute. Dad really enjoyed it, mom cried... guess there was something for everyone. Claire's sister enjoyed it too. Claire was a bit squirmy, but didn't make noise or bother anyone. They sat in the back row of the soldout theater, and that was lucky as it would allow mom to stand with Claire if she needed to, without bothering anyone. Sis also got to sit in the seat that is in the aisle, so she didn't have to look over any seats, much less people, in front of her. Worked out well.

August 1, 2006

Claire slept well last night. Mom went in to check on her and both her legs were through the rails on her crib, and she was sound asleep. Mom moved her legs out of the rails and she went back to sleep. Tired Bear. She ate all her food today at her school, including what she had for breakfast, she ate about 2 cups of mush.

July 31

Claire slept well last night. Mom is so happy that she seems so bright-eyed these days. She had a nice day at school and came home and hung out in her chaire. Dad gave her meds and late dinner and she fell asleep in her chaire. He put her there, fed her and thought it would help her digestion to keep her sitting up, only to notice moments later she had fallen asleep. Tired Baire.

July 30

Claire was making noises most of the night... she was kicking her feet as she had been doing all week, and now started making the clicking noise with her tongue, at 7am. At least the sun was up, but having her sleeping in the room with us, well, mom went through the roof when Claire started with that noise... it is loud, perhaps that is why she likes it so. The family was up and out the door around 9:30am and on the road home, stopping through Savannah, GA for a light lunch and a bit of exploring, then back on the road and home by 8pm. Everyone was exhausted. Claire had time for dinner and meds and off to bed. So good to be in her own bed, esp now that mom added the nice matress pad under Claire's sheet. Ahhhh.

July 29

Claire was making some nice noises during the night. Enough that mom and dad knew she wasn't sleeping, perhaps all that sleeping during the mountain drive is why she was a bit restless. Claire likes kicking her feet and did that most of the night. Mom and dad are up, and Claire is getting her exercises.
The family packed up and left Hickory, NC headed for home. It was a great vacation, but they must start the trek back today. They stopped at the marina to say goodbye and pick up Claire's sibs who where there much of the morning hanging out. Ate a hotdog or hamburger and got on the road to Charlotte to visit with more friends for a break in the drive. They ended up staying over night and the hospitality was grand. They ate hamburgers and hotdogs and drank rum drinks.

July 28

What a fun day. The family went to the mountains with friends. They visited Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain by Boone. Mom realized she has a fear of heights. She and Claire were content to stay on the part of the land that didn't have a steep overlook. The pictures mom took were gorgeous. Dad took the camera on the swinging bridge at Grandfather and took a pix looking down from the middle of the bridge. Mom can't even look at the picture. They popped over to Linville Falls and Gorge - quite a hike, but worth it. At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted, but they had a ball!

July 27

Claire slept in late, and mom let her. They had a fun day, mostly hanging out at their friends' lake house and planning what they wanted to do. Mom and dad ended up doing a little furniture shopping and then picked up a Highlander for a test drive. Evidently, the friends they are staying with has a relative that owns a dealership, so they did a little car shopping for mom too. Cute car, zippy too.
In the evening, everyone gathered at the marina to go tubing on 'Big Bertha' a very large tube. The kids had an absolute blast! Claire enjoyed the ride and mom enjoyed taking pix and video of the whole event.

July 26

Claire slept great. She was up for breakfast and bath and then off later in the day to see the Biltmore in Ashville North Carolina. She was a trooper and dad had to carry her much of the tour of the estate home as there were few elevators between floors. Mom and dad worked hard to keep her cool, as there was also no air conditioning and some points of the tour were hot, even for mom. They visited a sunflower field, the winery and the farm too. Claire seemed to have a good time and the kids sure did.

July 25

The family had a nice day. Dad took Claire's brother to go fishing on a boat at the marina and mom was up late with Claire. When the boys got home, mom went to the marina to help out some and Claire came later with dad to hang out with mom. Mom had a new helper to feed Claire. It was nice for mom to get a break and Claire did great eating all week.
The family had a fun time in the evening hanging out with friends on the back deck overlooking the lake. Mom set up a small fan for Claire so she would stay cool and she was laughing at her uncle's stories.

July 24

Everyone hung out much of the morning. Mom went shopping later with the other moms and that was fun. She thought the prices were kinda high - tho everything was marked down a good bit, and didn't buy anything. Dad was back at the house working on real estate and staying busy with that. In the evening, everyone went on a boat ride on the river/lake and Claire had a BIG time... full of smiles once that boat got started. Mom wasn't sure if it was the wind in her face or the rumble of the boat engine, but she was one happy baby... even with that bulky ol' life jacket on... the pix are just too precious!

July 23

Dad and Claire's brother went out for breakfast and didn't return until noonish. Evidently then went to the marina and hung out a bit before doing a little grocery shopping. They came and got the girls later and all of them went to see the marina and hang out. Mom helped them get a domain name and worked on a website 'place holder' as she didn't bring any software to work on a bigger site. After a bit they came back home for pizza, as it was getting late.

July 22

The family got in around 3am to the GA hotel as a stop over. Mom and dad were pretty wide awake (that surprised dad) and Claire and the kids were fast asleep.
Up early and got ready to travel from Athens, GA. Had a nice breakfast at the hotel and off to site-see. Saw the Tallulah Gorge and looked for the Falls. Drove through the mountains by way of Franklin, NC and then over through Asheville to Hickory to stay with friends for the week. They own a nice marina on Lake Hickory (where the Catawba River is dammed on two sides) and rent and sell boats, fix engines, sell bait. A real fun little place. Today they popped open a keg and cooked up hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a relaxing time. In the evening, the family gathered around with another family who was also visiting and they all stayed in a beautiful lake house on the same 'lake' as the marina... but down a little ways.

July 21

Everyone went off in the morning. Brother to basketball camp, sister to her summer camp, dad to work, Claire to school and mom to work. After a long day, everyone was home packing and busy getting ready for the week ahead. They are going to North Carolina to visit friends who live on a lake and own a marina. It should be a lot of fun and very relaxing! They got out of town around 9pm and dad got a new GPS for his laptop they plan on using. It is very cool as it gives you the exact location where the car is and the direction and even the speed, gives you written directions in one window and in another window shows you the map that you can zoom in or zoom out on.

July 18

Claire slept well last night, though her brother said she make little noises throughout the night, but he didn't mind. She was up with her daddy for meds and mom took over to give her breakfast. Then, off with her sister to summer school/camp, and then mom to work.

July 17

Claire slept through the night. She's a happy grrl today. Mom is getting her room painted and is going to decorate it for Claire. She has a few things for the walls and is very excited about the project. The nursery where Claire sleeps was painted 13 years ago when mom was expecting Claire's brother and hasn't been touched since. When her brother moved to his current room, that room was painted and the nursery was freed up for Claire's sister. When Claire's sister was born, she was in the nursery and later moved to her room to make the nursery availble for Claire and big sis's new room was painted for her. Now that it looks like the nursery is where Claire will be for a while (fingers crossed) mom has decided it is time for Claire to get a room of her own. A little more sophisticated, but still set up for a toddler and one guest if needed. The room, which was light aqua with sea creature mural painted (Claire's sister was sad to see that they were being painted over) was from a nursery set mom recieved when brother was born. Since Claire will be in her crib a while, mom is going to get her a new nursery set (bumper pads, etc) as the old set is a bit 'beat up'. Claire deserves a newly painted and decorated room as her sibs did when they got new rooms. Mom is going with an off white paint and accents of sage green and light terracotta-ish pink. Mom was inspired by a quilt that Claire received from hospice.
The room was being painted as the grrls left this morning for school/work.
When mom got home with Claire and her sister, she checked out the room. It looked great... so clean and ready for decorating. Mom and dad took the kids shopping. Mom was looking for a new bumper pad for Claire and a new set of bedcovers for her sister. After shopping, they ate dinner and got home in time for everyone to get to bed.
Since Claire's room was full of paint fumes, dad set up the playpen in her brother's room and she slept in there.
* Mom doesn't normally let posting for items on the website, but in this case, the Trisomy18Support folks who helped mom a lot when Claire was born, is offering beautiful little bracelets for a donation and mom wanted to post the link here if someone is interested. Order your Trisomy 18 bracelet today. *

July 16

The family had a very relaxing day. After church, they went get mom's car from the 'shop' as it was overheating last week and had to go in for a new hose. Then they cleared out Claire's room and dusted and cleaned it (leaving the crib, ceiling fan and daybed). Then off to her uncle's home for dinner and a swim. Home late and off to bed for everyone.

July 15

Big fun for Claire's sister as they went to a lake for a birthday party. Even mom went in the water as it was so hot. Claire stayed home in the air conditioning with her big brother and dad and when momo got home, the boys left for baseball practice, then brother went to a sleep over. Claire had a nice day, staying cool and keeping that rash away ... yeah! She ate well and was in her stander twice, both times falling asleep... guess it isn't uncomfortable for her. the second time, mom had to cut it short because she fell asleep after about 20 minutes. Probably doesn't help that she uses her stander shortly after lunch. But mom can't put her in there hungry... can she! :o)

July 14

Claire had a really good week. She finished her food the past 2 days. On Wedn, her therapy was cancelled and that concerned mom as it was cancelled just that morning, leaving little time to reschedule. Work has picked up considerably for mom, so she could make arrangements to get another appt. Claire could potentially go several weeks here without therapy, but mom is trying to stay on top of it all at home. whew.

July 11

Dad woke Claire for her meds so mom could get out of the house on time. He also changed her diaper for mom (great dad!). Claire went to daycare and as always, they were so happy to see her, as if she were a star.