The Lovelands

Bathtime Ritual

2012-01-26T08:37:00.003-05:00

We have a bathtime ritual. I absoulutely love bathtime!

First we adore the chub. (That usually means blowing many poppers on the rolls.)

Then we place the baby in the sink.

Then we commence to make a faux hawk in her luxurious hair and sit and admire it for a while.

Then we just let her play. She loves baths. I think we are going to have to graduate to the tub she has really enjoyed splashing around a little too much for a kitchen.

Then, this is my favorite part of the bath, the post bath time loves. As soon as we take her out of the tub she loves and loves on you. She tries to bury herself into you and if you are not careful she will just sing herself to sleep with no clothes or diapers on.

I LOVE bathtime.

Random catch up

2012-01-26T08:27:00.002-05:00

Yes, she IS my daughter... Not that I would ever eat a snickers, cookie dough, brownie dough or any sweets for breakfast ever! Ha, yeah right!

We have some goodies in a freezer and Ryan had gotten a couple out. I think the cold felt good on her teeth and it made for a cute picture.

This also made for a cute picture! Look at that face! She's amazing!

These are just two of the most beautiful people in the world and the most beautiful dog. I love taking pictures of them togther!

This one is a little overexposed but I love it because this is how Ryan and Claire play all the time and you can tell that they just love each other.

Silly daddy and daughter!

10 months and Crawling!

2012-01-26T07:11:00.003-05:00

Sooo Claire turned ten months this month! On her ten month brithday she just up and crawled! I have been kind of worried because she hasn't crawled until now. I was talking on the phone to my mom and she saw something she wanted and just decided to go get it....She LOVES life now. She can entertain herself forever by playing with toys on the floor. She sits there and talks to the object in the softest sweetest baby voice ever. Melts my heart!

This is her on her 10 month birthday. We took her pants off so she had better range of motion. Annndd because she has the cutest rolls on her legs!

Her she is, going for the gold. She makes her daddy proud by reading his pathophys book. What can I say? Baby genious! haha

Some other ten month updates are:

She has added a few new words to her vocab. She says Mama and Dada correctly. She says hi she has also learned Anna. Whenever my sister Anna walks by Claire will say her name, it's pretty precious.

She is mimicing animal noises.

She is clapping her hands like a maniac! Something she does that melts my heart is in the middle of breast feeding she will just start clapping her hands, like she is saying, "Good job, mama! You rock! Thanks for doing this!" I can't get enough of it!

She is pulling herself up to a standing position and will stand for 5-10 seconds without holding on to anything.

She is walking if she has something to hold on to.

She LOVES it when we play the chase game. She will go into laughing fits because of it.

Something I just LOVE about her is her sense of humor. She will find something funny in just about anything AND she lets you know its funny, too.

There is so much more I could write about her, but I will hold back for right now. I love this little girl. She is just too much sweetnees to handle!

Our Flight Home

2012-01-26T07:04:00.002-05:00

Our flight home from Idaho, after Christmas was insanse....The flight itself went fine, but we had to be at the airport by 4:00 A!M! Yeah, that's crazy, the real crazy part was how wired and excited Claire was to be up and flying at that time. She was hamming it up so bad the flight attendent asked if she could take a picture beccuse Claire was being so cute. We obliged...lol

She was crazy! It has taken WEEKS though to recover her normal sleep schedule. She doesn't adjust to change well.

New Years with my BFF!!

2012-01-19T22:23:00.009-05:00

I was so blessed this holiday season! I got to see my best friend from high school and her family. They came ALL the way from Georgia! We got to bring in the New Year with them and it was one of the funnest New Years I have had in a LLLOOONNNGG time!
This is Lisa and her sweet baby. Claire and Ethan are only 2 months apart. They are most likely going to get married.

Kyra and Claire are already best friends!

She has the most precious babies! I love her kids!

He is such a sweet guy!

Lazagna heaven!

Oh Claire Bear, you are definitely a Loveland!

Ha! I Love it!

She is serious about her food!

mmmmm good!

Lisa and Levi with their cute braces. I don't think I could pull braces off like they do.

Levi, Kyra and Anna. They are soo good with babies.

I just love Claire and I love loving on Claire! She is so sweet. She is usually to worried about wha tis going on to give too many loves but when she does I just soak them up!

Don't mind my goofy face, I love Claire's face in this!

Yeah, we're best friends.

Happy New Years!!!!!!!!

Mwahhh babe, Love you! Can't wait to see what this next year brings us!

Lisa and Justin! What a goregous couple!

Ethan and Claire, what a gorgeous couple! haha

Oh and of course, when Lisa and I are together we HAVE to make brownie dough and eat it. So we made pizza and brownie dough and it was delicious!

Kyra just being miss cutie pants herself.

Oh funny story....So we accidentally locked the door. I heard about it thought, 'Oh no big deal, the guys can get it, I'll deal with Claire.' Well, a while later they still hadn't gotten it so I was thinking, 'Really, whats going on?' They I guess did not come from the hood like me and aren't pro at picking locks....Ha, just kidding but I love this picture because the you can see the guys in the background. I pick up serious lock picking technique from living with my brother Nick, who is autistic.

We were craft maniacs too!

Kyra is so stinking beautiful! I just had to make her a pretty flower for her beautiful hair!

Claire is from the hood, too. heheh

To some it up... I LOVE my girl Lisa! She rocks my socks! I am so blessed to have her in my life and be able to see her occasionally. I hope I can see her more! You and your family rock! Thanks for all you have done for me!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T22:21:00.013-05:00

This year for Christmas we got to go out to Idaho to visit Ryan's family. It was such a blast. Claire LOVED her cousins (there were 5 of the 6 girl cousins there and only 1 of the 4 boy cousins). It was a girl party everyday. Ryan and I had a great time too. It was a perfect break from school and life for Ryan and I. We just wished we could have stayed longer.

This is Claire and her sweet cousins Aaliyah. She is 7 years old and was AMAZING with all the little cousins running around. Claire loved Aaliyah! She was one of the only people who Claire let hold her all the time.

Aaliyah is an incredible dancer and she entertained the younger cousins by teaching them how to dance and do the splits. So cute!

We HAD to get a bath time picture. Claire was not thrilled. This was all the cousins there. Going from left to right we have Akyra, Lizzy, Aaliyah then down to the next row Amyah, Landon and Claire.

Claire loved to ham it up. She is such a tease. She would act so cute people would want to hold her then she would get quite upset when they tried. Oh Claire Bear!

Claire loved her cousins. This is Amyah. She is 13 months old. It was so fun to see them interact.

Just getting the pecking order down...hehe

Aaliyah did an incredible dance routine for us. She also was so sweet and taught Akyra and Lizzy a routine and had them perform for us too. I just couldn't help it. With all this girliness I had to make TUTUS!!!

Here is Lizzy posing in her Tutu. Amy got all the girls these awesome shirts.

Look at that amazing pose by Akyra!

Oh Amyah your cuteness melts my heart!

And Claire Bear you just look so edible!

Quick note: Claire danced for the first time! She saw all her cousins dancing so she started dancing too! It was sooo cute!

Here they all are! Look at those cuties!

This is Landon. He is ALL boy and loved being lifted on your shoulders to shoot the basketball. He is so fun!

Lizzy was so sweet with Claire too! She loved to comfort her and hug her. What sweet cousins!

It was a pj party! Love it!

The girls found out that it was fun to tackle aunt Jeni....

Yup, so they did that for a long time...hehe it was way too fun!

Then we got some cute pictures of all the girls!

I just had to throw this picture in. Look at how precious Amyah is!

Here are the three sisters. Akyra, Amyah and Aaliyah! Love them to peices!

This was us on Christmas day getting ready for church. I love my little family!

And Claire just hamming it up again.

and again...

Uncle Ryan on Christmas morning playing with Lizzy. The kids loved playing with him. He is so amazing with kiddos.

This was us on Christmas morning. Claire was so aware that she was getting presents. It's crazy. I thought she would have no clue. She totally knew she was getting presents.

Lizzy and Claire again.

Claire riding on Rody. She's a little cowgirl.

This is Claire and I and my sister in law Jen and Lizzy. It was so fun being together again.

Classic baby crying on santa lap.

I love these too!

Ben (Ryan's brother) and Jen and Lizzy and Landon. What a sweet family!

Bruce and Joyce, Ryan's mom and dad. They were amazing hosts. We had such a great time. We can't wait to get together again.

Hope everyone had a greart Christmas. I am excited to see what is going on with our family next Christmas!

Quick Visit

2011-12-23T18:21:00.002-05:00

Alex and I were best friends in high school. We went through a lot together. She ended up in Indianapolis being a hair stylist. We have been meaning to get together for forever and finally we did! We flew out of the Indianapolis airport to go to Boise so before we left we met up with her. It was so fun! I love her so much! She is such a wonderful person.

A side note: I was born in Indianapolis... It still feels so unreal living 2 hours away from my birth city...Never thought that would happen!

Failed Christmas Present

2011-12-22T06:42:00.007-05:00

This year for Christmas I wanted to get my mom a sweet picture of Logan and Claire together...Do you even know how hard it is to get to babies happy and smiling at the same time? It's not just hard, it's IMPOSSIBLE!

The minute we set Logan down for pictures he started crying. Itt was soo sad. He is such a cute baby but he just didn't want his picture taken with Claire!

He might have even been a little annoyed...

We tried giving each carmel popcorn balls to make them happy...Yeah he ended up pop with all the popcorn balls and very unhappy....

Claire was going for it.

But seriously....look at that face! Pure Preciousness!!

This was the best picture we got of them all night...Not quite Christmas present picture material.

Claire was getting into the posing though. Look at her pose!

And again...
And again...(have I mentioned I LOVE her profile?)

Wait...one more time!
Reach!! For grandpa!

SOOOO Happy!

And....we're done!

Too Cute for Words

2011-12-07T11:39:00.002-05:00

My heart just wants to explode with how much I love these two!! So precious!
**Note the stuff animal in between them...it's so cute!

Kitty Cat

2011-12-04T19:34:00.003-05:00

Little Claire is getting quite competent at standing while holding on to something. I wonder if she will just skip the whole crawling stage...hmm...we will have to see. Anyways, I thought this picture was so cute! We have been so blessed with our pets! They love Claire and are so good with her. Vlade sees her as a play mate and a lot of the time I will find him hanging out with her.

This picture is just so typically Claire. She loves to watch and look at things but she will always turn back to make sure you are there and you are seeing what she is seeing. So precious!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T07:41:00.009-05:00

For Thanksgiving we made the long, arduous trek to my parents house...the whole 30 minutes. I still can't get over the fact that we live to close to them! What a blessing!

We had a really great time! The food was great. I may or may not have made eight...yest EIGHT pies. My sisters also made pies. I think our pie count added up to around 12 pies...So YES, it was a GREAT Thanksgiving...hehe

What are we grateful for? Well, the first thing is our Savior, Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and atonement that was made for us. There are just no words to express the gratitude we have for his perfect love.

Next we are grateful for eternal families and the restored gospel that makes it possible to be together for ever!

Next we are grateful for...you guessed it! CLAIRE!! She is so perfect! We love her so much!

This is Claire and Levi. She loves her uncles! On Sunday during the sacrement she starts laughing, kicking and flapping her legs (the combination of movements that means she is incredibly happy) when she sees the deacons passing the sacrament. I think that is because she thinks the boys are her uncles. She is so silly!

Claire is definitely grateful for her silly grandpa. She has him wrapped all around her little fingers!

She really loves him and grandma, too. She knows she was born to be loved. I am grateful for my parents. They are such incredible examples to me. It makes parenting a lot easier when all I have to do is just think, "What would mom and dad do in this situation?"

I admit it. I am addicted to dressing her up! I can't.stop.! It's just too fun! My mom got her this outfit at a yard sale and I made the head band.

The picture above is soooo Claire! Ha, what a silly little girl!

This picture is even more Claire. Everyone who knows her, when they see this pictures, automatically mimics the noise that would accompany such a face.

*Purely Precious*

Oh on a side note~ Claire is sooo close to crawling! It is sad and happy at the same time. She loves to stand (holding on to things) and can scoot forward if she is sitting, but not crawling yet. She definitely says 'mama' when talking to me or wanting to eat. She loves people even more than last time I posted. She could stay at a store all day because of the attention she gets. It takes me 3 times longer to go anywhere with her because so many people stop and talk to her and she feels it is only polite to talk back. Silly girl. She is definitely a mama's girl though. She loves to talk to others only if I am the one holding her. I kind of love it :-)

Ryan is doing great! He is getting so close to finishing his first semester of school! He is so smart and doing great in all of his classes. He is an amazing dad. Claire just adores him. He is so sweet with her. Most mornings I go to the gym early and come back to Claire and Ryan all snuggled together. Melts my heart every time! He is just amazing.

We are so happy and so grateful for everything we have!

8 months and Dynamic!

2011-11-16T20:23:00.006-05:00

8 MONTHS....
What?!?!?!
How did 8 months go by so quickly? Ahh...It's scary. She is just growing and changing so fast I can't believe it!
She is just perfect!
I get stopped in the store often by someone telling me what a doll baby I have. The other day someone came up to me and said, 'Your baby is Dynamic.' It took me a second, but then it clicked, that is exactly it! I couldn't agree more ;) Now when I am at a loss of words on how to describe her, I just say, 'Man, she's DYNAMIC!"
She has cut through her top two teeth now. That was crazy. For a couple days she wasn't as happy as normal and had a little runny nose then...Wa La!! She had to little teeth popping through. She did fuss or cry with these or with her bottom teeth. My theory is she experienced a lot of pain with the colic :( and so teething is no biggie for her.
She has been saying words like 'mamamama', dadadada, abadbabada, gRRooOwl (heheh) for a while now, but it seems like she understands who "mama" is and who dada is.
She has been mimicking sounds for a couple weeks. I don't know if she realizes what she is doing but if I repeat a word over and over she will usually try to say it.
She isn't crawling yet, but unfortunately it seems like it will start soon. My life will never be the same!
She is sooo happy all of the time! She LOVES people. She LOVES to shop because there are people at stores. She will greet people with sometime of growl or shout and it sure get's their attention.
People LOVE her. She can make anyone smile...especially Ryan and I.
Did I mention that she loves to match with me? hehe

I am proud of this outfit...The clothes are all thrifted and the headband is made!

I am proud of this girl:D

The picture above you can totally see her two top teeth. I started to cry when I saw them. She is growing up too fast!

Love is too weak of a word when it comes to how I feel about her.

The daddy is hooked!

The mama too!

Claire Bear, when you are older and reading this I just want you to know what a special person you are! I am so blessed to have you in my life! I love you!

Daddy Love

2011-11-10T08:54:00.004-05:00

I thought I loved Ryan before we had Claire, and I did. The thing is, is that the love I have for him now is so much deeper and fuller and richer and just more real. There are many reasons for this that I won't go into now, but one of the main reasons is I just can't describe how much my heart melts when I see him love and play with her. It is just the most complete feeling in the world!
Way before I was pregnant with Claire, Ryan confided in me in hushed, embarrassed tones, that he actually wanted to have a baby girl first... He wasn't sure why but he just really wanted a daughter. He didn't want anyone to know that because he thought it would make him seem like a sissy. I told him that just made him even more attractive to me! I think he wanted a daughter first because both him and I could feel her precious spirit and a part of us could remember her from the pre-existence and we knew that we loved her desperately.
Well, we got what he wanted and he is not embarrassed at all about loving on his little girl!

While Ryan was studying one day I saw a deer right outside our back yard fence. I showed Ryan and he immediately grabbed Claire and ran out to show her the deer. She didn't see the deer but loved the time with Ryan!

If you look close in this picture you can see the deer. I saw it and thought, aww how cute! Ryan, on the other hand was telling Claire how they could turn our upstairs bath room into a "tree stand" so he could bow hunt from inside....I'm glad Claire didn't understand.

Ryan loves seeing Claire dressed up and deck out in pink. He just gets all soft and gooey for her.

And then he has to get all dressed up in pink to match...Oh Ryan.
What do you think? He may just be a perfect dad for a little girl :-)

I think those are two of the most beautiful people in the world! I just love those kissable faces! I am so blessed!

Clearly you can see that Ryan isn't biased and she is just too incredibly lovable!
I love what a proud Daddy Ry-guy is. He is just amazing and would do anything to see that Claire is happy and healthy. He is working so hard and school right now so that she can have a good life and have a dad who can be around and not working those awful nursing hours.
Thanks, Ryan for being amazing. We love you!

Family Pictures

2011-10-16T22:26:00.016-04:00

I decided that I wanted to get family pictures every year around our anniversary so we could see changes in our family from year to year. Well, with buying and house and moving in the family pictures got put back a couple months... Here they are! (And yes, I will be posting pictures of the house soon...I just hate taking pictures of it and not having it decorated and all the way unpacked!)

I love Claire's face in this picture!

I love this face even more! Ha, it's like, 'Daddy, not now!'

I just think my husband is so handsome! He's gorgeous! And he makes gorgeous babies :D

Claire definitely stole the show.

I just love how proud Ryan is of his baby. I feel the most loved when he is loving our daughter. It's the best feeling in the world!

I think this is cute, because it is so Claire...She is in charge and she knows it!

It's hard to take pictures with a baby! She gets so distracted, but sometimes I just think it is so cute!

Finally we are all looking!

Have I mentioned how much I love this man?

And wait...have I mentioned how much I love this girl? Life is so good!

This isn't the best picture of us, but I love how Claire's hand is on Ryan's chest. She seems to be saying, 'K, mom's holding me and dad is right here. Life is good.'

BEST*FACE*EVER!!!!
(I'm pretty sure she was laughing at one of her aunts or uncles in this picture, she loves them.)

Wait, have I mentioned that we have a new addition to our family? Ha, I wish! Logan wanted to be in some pictures. Isn't he just the most beautiful boy! He's amazing!

He loves his baby!

We love our baby! I love her kisses! She will grab you by the face and insist on chewing on your face to give you loves. It's amazing!

This picture we both look high. The thing is we were...High on baby loves!!!!

This picture is one of my favorites!

Life gets better and better! Everyday I thank my Heavenly Father for the amazing blessing my family is in my life. Sometimes I wonder if being a mom will get old or annoying...Nope, hasn't happened yet! It's the best thing in the world! Being a mom brings me closer to my Savior and to my husband. What a sacred calling!

Splish Splash!

2011-10-12T12:46:00.002-04:00

Claire LOVES bath time. For a long time we just showered with her so it took her a while to get used to bath time, but man she loves it now! We have 3.5 bathrooms in our new home but she prefers the kitchen sink! Silly girl! She was just so cute while taking her bath I had to document it :-)
I just thought this picture was too adorable for words!! She may kill me for it later, but seriously, this is why we are just wrapped around her little fingers!

Here she is just fascinated by the water. Oh and you have to take a moment to appreciated those rolls! Seriously, I gotta admit I am a little proud of myself for producing the milk to support those rolls..hehe

She kept trying to grab the water. She does this in the shower too. It is so cute!

She just loves bath time! She couldn't stop laughing and talking to the water.

7 month Photo Shoot

2011-10-09T22:24:00.004-04:00

Soooo.....I did it again...I took a million pictures of Claire and then I couldn't decide which one I liked more so I posted tons on here....Oh well, when she is older she won't be able to say I didn't take pictures of her :-)

She is 7 months old!!! (Tomorrow) Goodness! I think she will always be 6 months old in my mind. She is growing up so much! I just can't get enough of her!
The picture above just may be my favorite. It was taken in my parents back yard. She loves to ham it up for the camera!

Here she is just hamming it! About three weeks ago she cut her first tooth...painlessly!!! If you look close you can see it poking through on the bottom. It just adds to her cuteness!

She loves to observe! She is so content to sit and watch people, pets, and especially other kids or babies. I love the look on her face when she is trying to figure the world out!

So this outfit is old school, but it is just all kinds of ruffles and lace I couldn't resist it. In fact I decided I want to bring old school ruffles, lace and fluff back for baby girls. It is just too precious!

I love this girl! She thinks the whole world is just there to entertain her! Life is meant to be laughed at, according to her.

She is just all smiles all of the time! Life was difficult for a while, but at about 6 months she decided she actually likes mortality and now everyday she loves it more and more!

Words just can't express what I feel for her!

This silly girl has found her tounge. She loves to poke it out of the side of her mouth. It is so cute.

This is the look she gives when she is trying to make other people smile at her. No joke! And guess what? It totally works, every time!

Ka-ka-ka-KICKS! She loves wearing shoes because then she has toys attached to her feet. I gotta admit I love the purple tights!

I love the old fashion lace!

Oh silly tongue!

All in all she is 100% pure preciousness! We are so in love with her!

At 7 months she is waving at people.

She LOVES to interact with people. She especially loves kids from 11 years and younger. During sacrament meeting she will interact with kids a lot older than her. I have had parents come up to me and thank me for letting Claire play with their kids so that their kids behave during church.

She will play catch. I know it sounds crazy but that is one of her favorite things to do. We roll something at her, she picks it up and throws it right back. She will do this for over 30 mins.

She will kiss you to death! Just last night she would lean in and give me the biggest kiss then pull back and laugh her head off, then she would lean in and give me a bigger kiss and then laugh her head off. She repeated it for a while. Let me tell you something, she gives BIG kisses. She grabs you by your face with both hands and will chew your face off. That is how she kisses. I love it!

She still isn't eating solids. I don't think I will start her on those til she is about a year. She is doing great on breast milk and doesn't care for solids.

Life with her is crazy amazing. I wouldn't give it up for anything!

One Last Outing before School

2011-09-18T18:10:00.010-04:00

For Ryan's birthday I got him tickets to the BSU vs Toledo game in Toledo.
We had a blast!
Not only did Claire do great, but she looked great!! hehe
We met up with Ryan's friend from highschool and college, Rob and his wife Lindsey.
It was such a great weekend!

The marching band...I know I am a band nerd ;)

Claire might have stole the show....Or she at least stole my show!

She had to take a little nap to rest up from all the excitement.

Ryan was in heaven watching BSU play.

There was even a firework show!
The proud daddy...He would do this every time BSU scored. Maybe that's why they won?

Ryan was trying to show off my boots...yes I wore boots! I lived in Texas, Arizona and Idaho, I am allowed to wear boots to a Broncos game!

Claire loved being surrounded by all the people. She is definitely a people person.

Our little BSU fairy!

My all time favorite picture!

Ryan and his friend Rob.

At the end of the game. We were all a little tired...

This was at the hotel. And Yes I did tuck my boots into my jeans.

Claire was so happy to be warm and cozy in her hotel. She was loving life!

The next day we went to an island in Lake Erie. It was so fun! We took a ferry over and then drove a golf cart around with our friends.

This was us on the ferry.

Lake Erie is HUGE! You feel like you are at the ocean!

Daddy and Claire on the ferry.

We took a tour around a really cool cave.

Claire loves being in the backpack. I think she feels like a big girl.

For some reason, for the first time in my life I felt very claustrophobic. I don't know if it was because I was worried for Claire, but I had a slight panic attack.  It was all good and fine, but I don't know if I want to go into a cave with Claire again for awhile. I think my mama instinct was kicking in or something.

The picture above was taken after my panic episode, you can tell, I was a little shaken.

Ryan LOVED driving around with Claire in the front of the golf cart. He was in heaven, again!

This is us by the lake again. We had such a great time!

The Park & Art Museum

2011-09-14T20:02:00.008-04:00

My three youngest siblings are being homeschooled online. They had a home schooling party at a park so I took them and Claire to party. We had a lot of fun.

They are all a bunch of monkeys!

Oh Annie!

They love each other!

After the park we went to the art museum in Cincinnati. It is incredible! It is also completely free! Up to this point, this was one of the biggest outings I had taken Claire on and she did great.
This was a structure outside of the museum that the kids had a good time playing.

The area around the museum was beautiful.

These are the steps to the museum.

We Bought A House!!!!

2011-09-14T18:04:00.004-04:00

Sept 14, 2011 is a big day for us!

We did a couple firsts (good and bad):

We bought a house!

We got into debt for the first time of both of our lives
(thank you house, not a good feeling at all :( )

Ryan got his first scholarship for his graduate degree...THAT he didn't even apply for!!!
GO RYAN!

One thing we did that was NOT a first is:

I am moving out of my parents house for the THIRD time in my life!
I just have to give a shout out for my parents. They don't have tens of thousands of dollars laying around to just give us, but through by them letting us live with them for 18 months (5 months after we got our ASN and now its been 13 months of living here) we have been able to save up a substantial amount of money that will help us get through graduate school and buying a house. They are just two of the most incredible people I have ever met!

I have mix emotions right now...

Happy to have my own place with more than enough room for us to grow
Sad to not be literally 1 minute away from my mom :-(
Excited to see some solidarity in my life and not feel like I am in constant transit
Sad to not that Claire and I won't be able to say good bye to her grandpa everyday before work
Silly for feeling sad about moving out at the age of 24
Grateful that Heavenly Father has blessed us with this home
Nervous about being a mom all on my own
Overwhelmed at the thought of actually having to prepare menus and cook meals
Spoiled for all the blessings I have had in my life
Calm and confident in our decision and in Heavenly Father's presence in our lives
Suprised that I am not scared about such a big decision
COMPLETELY, UTTERLY, SATURATED WITH HAPPINESS

Zoo Time!

2011-09-14T17:30:00.003-04:00

We LOVE the ZOO!!!!! Mom and Dad went to Arizona for my uncle Glen's wedding. While they were away we partied! We packed everyone up and went to the zoo!

Daddy and son...Curly hair!

Scott's beautiful little family + Levi

My sweet little family!

Logan, was super excited about the giraffe.

Claire was LOVING the back pack!

Oh maybe she was just loving the daddy :-)

Ummm....Don't ask....

There may be some similarities.

She got plum tuckered out!

She crashed!

I just love the zoo! Now that the weather is great I hope we can get away and go more often!

One Word.....

2011-09-04T19:06:00.003-04:00

Happy!

I once had a stake president (a leader of my church) who gave and incredible talk that has stuck with me for over 10 years.
He got up during stake conference and said,
"You want to know something that makes me different from a large majority of others?
....I am happy...."

He continued to explain how, because of the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, he has the knowledge to make choices that has led to his incredible happiness.

This, through out the years, has stuck to me like potatoes and gravy on my ribs ;)

I have been acquainted with many people who are searching for happiness.
Many people who think that by putting themselves first and worrying only about what they want and need will find happiness, and yet they have not quite caught that elusive state of happiness.
I have known people who think that earthly possessions like money, cars, houses and so on are what will bring happiness
I have been there. I have thought that was the answer. I now know that truly there is no better happiness than when you are serving others and living the principles of the gospel.

I am so happy. It is wonderful and freeing to be happy.
Happiness has no boundaries, no earthly value.
By some comparisons, I am poor, I don't have a lot of material goods.
By other comparisons I have too much.
I guess that's why it's a good idea not to compare ;-)

I know that I have the gospel
I know my Heavenly Father on a personal level
I have a Savior who lived and died for me, who I love completely
I have the most incredible husband who I love so tenderly and he loves me
I have a wonderful, vivacious daughter who is full of love and life
I have incredible parents who have done so much and sacrificed more than I deserve
I have incredibly unique siblings who have taught me so much
I have the knowledge that even if one of these amazing family members were to leave their earthly existence that I would still see them again and be with them forever

The sum total of all those things mean one thing:
I am
HAPPY!!!

Life is good! Life has ups and downs, ins and outs.
It's hard and easy
Rough and smooth
But in the end it is so beyond good

I just wanted to document the reason for my happiness :) If anyone has more questions about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I would love to talk and share my happiness with you!

Kissing Cousins

2011-08-31T21:04:00.007-04:00

Claire and Logan are becoming more and more aware of each other. Logan loves to hold her and love on her. Claire loves Logan and will laugh at him hysterically even when he is doing nothing. One day Claire and I visited Logan in his room and he was just so full of love for her! It was so sweet!
Here is Claire and Logan exchanging kisses...I think I will make sure to save this for black mail later on...hehe

Logan showing Claire his room.

Logan, unable to contain his love for her, pulls her into a big bear hug!

They just love each other!

The close up of the bear hug...Claire doesn't know how she feels about this...I love the look on Logan's face!

He looses all of his strength because of his love for her and has to sit on the floor!!

Now all body control is gone!!!

He is holding on tight. How cute!!

I LOVE this picture!!

It is so fun to see Claire and Logan grow up together. They are such wonderful, sweet precious babies...and I swear I am not biased at all!!!

Teaching Them Young....

2011-08-30T14:54:00.004-04:00

Claire was quite interested in my box of oreos...hehe, wonder where she got that from? hmmm

Yes, there is a hint of pride on my face. She knows where the good stuff is!!

She is so funny! She is getting so good at holding things and bringing them to her mouth! No, she is not eating solids, yet, but she is definitely practicing!

I just enjoy my baby too much!

Happy Birthday Ry-love!

2011-08-30T14:21:00.004-04:00

Ryan turned 28! We had a wonderful laid back birthday. We have been so crazy busy running around with buying a house and getting ready for school to start that we loved taking a day just to relax and enjoy our little family.

Here is they happy, handsome birthday boy!
For Ryan's birthday I got him tickets to a Boise State University football game up in Toledo. In a few weeks we are going to go watch it. I figure if you can't bring the boy to Boise, bring Boise to the boy, right?
My parents got him this amazing, electric pen that writes, records lectures and then does all this other crazy stuff. Ryan spent all night playing with it. He thinks it will really help him with school.
His parents sent him a wonderful birthday card with some much appreciated cash.
Thanks everybody!

This is our happy little family and the delicious ice cream cake. Thanks daddy-o for the cake!

Claire, thought the cake looked incredibly delicious...Sorry Claire, you're not going to eat solids for about another 6 months.

Claire and Daddy had the same thought...

We are so happy Ryan was born 28 days ago (yesterday). He is just incredible and the biggest blessing to us! We love you Ryan!

Shopping

2011-08-25T08:14:00.003-04:00

Claire is such a blast! She can sit up all the way now and so she now loves shopping! I just couldn't get over how cute she was in this picture!

5 months (a little late!)

2011-08-21T17:55:00.009-04:00

So the dangerous thing about digital cameras is that once you start, sometimes you just can't stop! These are Claire's 5 month pictures, and I kind of went a little over board, but when you can...why wouldn't you??
Claire is just growing and developing by leaps and bonds!!
At 5 months she:

weighs over 20 lbs
can sit up all by herself
loves to sing even more than ever
will growl in either pure joy or to get attention
has become a definite mama's girl (and believe me, mama LOVES it!)
her fine motor skills are quite advanced
loves to be the center of attention
is the biggest flirt ever!

She loves to relax!

She loves to smile :-)

She loves to strike a pose...

This is the face she makes right before she growls.

This is her, "I am trying to figure this life out" look.

She seriously has the most preciously chubby cheeks ever!!

This is her growl face!! GGGRRRRrrrRRRrrr!!

This is another pose she is striking

This is just her being a baby doll!

She is such a diva ;-)

Don't you want to just kiss that face??!?!?!?

Silly girl!

Oh...and she might be a little mischievous!

I just love her more than life itself...literally! Ryan and I just can't get enough of her! When we have free time all we want to do is play with and love on her. We get kind of frustrated when she sleeps all the time. I had know clue how in love with a baby you could be until Claire came along. The first couple months were more difficult than I expected but it's just because Claire is more special than I could have imagined! We love you Lilia Claire!!

Cousin Time

2011-08-13T21:20:00.002-04:00

Claire and Logan were hanging out one day on the kitchen table. I just had to get some pictures. It would have been a sin not to document their beauty!!!

Claire and Logan are really starting to get interested in each other... I love it!

I just had to get a close up of Claire's headband... I made it!

Green!

2011-08-13T21:13:00.003-04:00

I was raised in the beautiful green midwest, then at the age of 16 we moved to the desert of Arizona. I lived there for 3 years until I moved to Idaho for school. After I married a native Idahoan I just assumed I would never live in a green beautiful paradise again.... Well, I am grateful that fate intervened and here we are enjoying the beauty of green all around us! The other day Ryan, Claire, Sophie and I all went on a hike. It was our first hike with Claire and it went great!
This picture is really blurry but it depicts the depth of green all around us! Beautiful! (yes that is Claire sleeping in the stroller...hehe)

Here is a close up of her sleeping preciousness! Oh and her precious chubbiness! Yup! 100% breast fed chub!

Oh yes, we are that hard core! Look at Ry four wheeling it with Claire snoozing in the stroller!

Ok, look at these two kissable faces!! Oh the love I feel when I look at this picture is purely precious!

It was almost exactly a year ago (August 12, 2010) that we moved to Ohio. So much has changed and gone on. I love how Heavenly Father has a specific plan for us. It is wonderful to hand the reigns over to Him and be along for the ride. It is amazing where you end up! I am so grateful for His love and guidance. Through Him and His plan we can be more happy and find more joy and fulfillment through anyone or anything else!

Vlade Loveland

2011-08-13T21:02:00.004-04:00

Meet Mr. Vlade Loveland (pronounced Vah-lah-dee). My brother came home with a stray cat. My dad threatened to take him to the pound so I was able to convince my dear husband that once we move into our new house, it wouldn't be a home with out a sweet little kitty....I am a sucker for homeless animals!

Vlade is a Russian blue. He is around 6 weeks old. He was in really good health when we got him and then the vet assured us he is in tip top shape. He is very calm and quiet. I just love the little guy!

Seriously? How could I have said no? Could you have?

Chilling with my buddie

2011-08-07T20:48:00.003-04:00

So Claire and I don't look too much alike, but we are pretty much best buddies! (Oh and don't mind my brown toot...long story but I am in the process of getting a veneer for it...)

So, I have never been one for taking pictures of myself in the mirror, but come on! Claire was just too cute in the mirror so I had to take a picture of us together. They didn't turn out that well, but if you look close enough you can see her preciously cute face!

This is a bad picture but her face was so precious!

Ry-guy- You Rock My World

2011-08-03T21:31:00.003-04:00

I just needed to document this story about Ryan, to depict what kind of a husband he is.

Lately, Claire is on ANOTHER growth spurt! When she does that she eats like CRAZY! When she eats like crazy, my milk production increases, when my milk production increases I can literally feel the increased hormones and chemicals in my body. I tend to get more stressed, depressed and life over all is just a little tougher. It doesn't help that during her growth spurts she has to wake up every hour or so to eat because she gets THAT hungry. Hey, I am not frustrated with her though, how else does she weigh 20 pounds before she is even 5 months???

Well, now that you have the background information you can see that the last couple days I was not in the best mood, infact I was super upset. Luckily, I have come to understand that it is just a hormone imbalance from the huge milk production; that knowledge helps where I direct my bad mood (I don't get upset with Ryan any more:) but it doesn't help the fact that I am in a bad mood.

Yesterday, I was at the pinnacle of bad moods and was spiraling down into a that muddy pit of self pity and depression. Ryan suggested that we go on a run because he knows that is a quick fix to the hormonal imbalance. We live out in the country surrouned by tons of corn fields and farm houses. It is safe, but it is just too secluded for me to run by myself. The thing is, is that Ryan has been sick, so sick that he called in sick that night to work. I told him that it would be crazy for him to be running when he was sick. He said that he would ride his bicycle beside me instead. Well, it was 93 degrees with 60-70 % humidity, I told him that would be ridiculous to bike because it was way to hot to be outside. During this whole interlude, I wasn't very convincing; tears wear streaming down my face because I just had all this pent up emotions from those dang hormones! He said, "No, you are going on a run, you need it. I will drive my truck beside you the whole way." Really? Who does that? Ryan is super frugal and never wastes a dime, let alone gas like that. It was kind of a big deal for him to offer that. After some intense coaxing and prodding he got me outside and after 4 miles, I was able to run off my hormones. He drove right beside me the whole way, cranking out the country tunes and having a wonderful talk about our life and our future. Needless to say I was a much different person when we came back from that run.

I don't know what I did to deserve a man like him. He is my best friend, my rock, my partner, my sweet heart and just my EVERYTHING. He evens me out so perfectly and I am just so grateful for his continual sacrifice and love that he gives for Claire, me and our future family. I love his rock steady testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love how seriously he takes holding the priesthood and his temple covenants. I love him completely. It is amazing how he anchors me down during the turmoil that is called life and helps me soar during blissful ecstatic moments that is also called life. I just hope that our children and our children's children and our children's children's children (and so on and so forth) understand what a wonderful man he is. I love you so much, Ry-guy. You really do rock my world!

Obsession!

2011-07-29T08:23:00.002-04:00

So, I may be just a little obsessed about my baby...Don't judge, if she were your baby you would be obsessed about her too!

I think she definitely looks more like Ryan, but sometimes I think she might look a little bit like me? Maybe?

Oh, a cute little fact about Claire: She is a flirt!! She will flirt with anyone and everyone. She gives them a sweet little smile and then ducks her head down like in the picture above! Oh man, I just can't get enough of her!

I just love her beautiful eyes! So precious!

GRRRrrrrrRRRRrrr! The Tiger Bear comes out! (That is Ryan's nick name for her...long story!) Ha, she is so cute because she likes to make these crazy faces. Oh man, I just love this girl!

Rocking out with Grandma

2011-07-28T17:59:00.006-04:00

My mom is obsessed with Owl City lately. I enjoy their music, but I think Claire LOVES it! Mom put her head phones on Claire and Claire just thought it was awesome!

She would even cry when we tried to take them off.

Pure Preciousness! Just had to document her cuteness for prosperity.

The Big 2..4..!

2011-07-21T13:59:00.006-04:00

Last Sunday was my 24th birthday. It was one of those incredibly awesome days! Nothing particularly special happened (except I got to eat a whole bowl of brownie dough. I will explain later) but it was just wonderful to spend this day with my family. I just feel so incredibly blessed!

(Kids-Don't try this at home...)

The week before mom had asked me what I wanted for my birthday dinner. Well, ever since my pregnancy food just isn't appealing any more. It kinda destroyed food for me...anyways, so I told mom the only thing that sounded good was brownie dough. She thought I was joking at first, but then she realized I was serious...dead serious. So on my birthday everyone else had ribs and potatoes I had brownie dough...Oh was my day complete! As you can tell, I was quite thrilled :-)

I think for the most part everyone else was disgusted...Hehe, to each their own.

And YES I did have brownies for my cake. I really dislike cake, but I sure do love brownies. Oh and YES I did blow out all 24 candles in one breath...I am not old yet!!

Brownies and M&M's...can anything be more divine?

This is my baby on my birthday. I can't have a post with out a picture of this girl.
I love how much my dad loves my baby! He is such a sweet grandpa!

Man, I LOVE this girl! I am so blessed!

Little Miss is 4 months old!

2011-07-10T16:54:00.007-04:00

Ahhh! Claire is 4 months old! Everything is going great. She is becoming such a happy, sweet little girl. Her Daddy and I just love her to pieces. At 4 months Claire loves singing. She will sing along with the radio, with people or just sing to herself. She puts her WHOLE heart and soul into it!

She also has been tri-pod sitting and rolling around. She is doing great with grabbing things with her pudgy little hands. And the other news about little Claire Bear is at 4 months she is now growing out of her 9 month clothes...She is just so long and chubby! She is going to be a tall girl! Hopefully she will carry on the family tradition and play basketball!

I love it when she is not fully clothed! She is so precious!

I just love her eyes! When I look at then I always remember the first moment that I saw those precious eyes, and it makes me so grateful to have her! She is the biggest blessing in our lives!

I woke up early this morning before church just to do a photo shoot with Claire. She was not a happy camper but we still got some cute pictures!

I love the look on her face! She is like, "Really, mom? How many pictures do you have of me?"

When i take Claire out to the stores I get a lot of comments on her. My latest favorite is, "Wow, now that is a doll baby!" I love it!

She is just in love with life these days!

I Just can't believe how fast 4 months flew by! It just reminds me how I need to try to enjoy each moment because they are gone before you know it!

Today

2011-07-06T17:23:00.005-04:00

It is funny how much one small day in your life can affect so much of it. Today was one of those days. Today:

We made another bid on our "dream" home

Ryan accepted the E.R. position (that is a HUGE change from where he has been working)

Ryan registered for classes today and we found out just how expensive Grad school is...

These three things are going to greatly affect our lives. We are super excited for all the change but we are also a little nervous to see how everything works out. It just seemed so overwhelming to start the day off by figuring out what would be the best career path for Ryan to take. It is exciting but there is going to be a huge learning curve for Ry. Then right after we decided that our Realtor called and told us the bank wanted a bigger offer on the house (we are buying a house that is in the short sale process. What a HEADACHE!!) Anyways and then we realized that we needed to register for Ryan's classes and the reality of the work and price that is going to be really set in.

After a day like today I am just grateful for personal revelation and the peace it provides. I would be a lot more worried and nervous if it weren't for the Holy Ghost and knowing that Heavenly Father has a plan for us.

Forth of July Picnic

2011-07-04T18:26:00.009-04:00

This year, like last year, Ryan had to work for the forth :( But he stayed up late to go to the branch picnic. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of good food!

This is Ry-guy doing an homage to Lion King...What a cute goof ball!

This would have been a complete family picture if Sophie would have behaved. Oh well!

I just love the little Claire Bear!

This was Anna, mad about something...Even when she is mad she is beautiful!

Us sisters, plus Claire. I am really so blessed to have such great sisters and live with them!

My daddy-o had oral surgery this week but he is doing great other than some swollen cheeks.

We are just best buddies! I can''t get enough!

This is my other best buddy! I love Katrina!

One of the most beautiful people ever! Inside and out!

All in all it was a great day. Claire and I bugged out on fireworks because she goes to sleep by 8:00 and is absolutely miserable if she isn't sleeping when she should be. I also thought the sounds might be too loud.
The forth of July is one of my absolute favorite holidays! I am so grateful for the country I live in. It may not be perfect but it's the best one out there!!!

They Grow Too Fast!

2011-07-01T16:40:00.004-04:00

The last week or so, it seems like everyday she looks older and bigger so I just thought I would take some pictures of here today just to try to catch the changes. Here is my little sweetheart!

This is her dolly that her Grandma White got her. It has stripes and dots and makes all kind of jingly and crackly noises. She just loves it and can play with her for ever! (And of course anything she loves she has to put in her mouth :-)

Claire Bear, we love you to pieces!! Thank you for being you!

Quick Update

2011-07-01T16:12:00.002-04:00

Everything is going great.
Ryan is preparing for school starting in the fall and he is still working.
He actually just got two job offers in a Medical ICU and in one of the biggest and busiest Emergency Departments in the state of Ohio. He thinks the the ER job would be a great way to prepare more for becoming a nurse practitioner, but he wants to think and pray a little more before deciding for sure which job he will take.
He is such a hard worker and will try working a couple days a month while in school.
Ry-guy, you rock our world ;)

Claire is just exceptional :-)
Doesn't every parent feel that way?
Well, I definitely do!
She is starting to prefer me over anyone else, which I gotta admit makes me feel warm and fuzzy.
She loves her daddy and already thinks he is a really fun guy.
She loves her Grandma and Grandpa a ton and her aunts and uncles all make her laugh and talk a lot.
Logan, her sweet cousin, LOVES to love on her and pat her back and bounce her. We have to be careful of the bouncing and pats...hehe.
Something, Ryan and I have noticed is how precious her smile is. I call it a slow-cook smile because she does this think were she slowly smiles and it grows and grows and then...BAAMM! Sunlight shining smile, there you are! I really think it is so sweet.
She is starting to enjoy peek-a-boo, believe it or not, and I can get her chuckling hard core from that.
I have started to get comments from people at stores and church like, "Does she ever cry?" "How do you get her to be so still and good"--Let me tell you...exceptional parenting!!!! Ha! Just kidding! Those comments make me laugh because if you had met her a few weeks ago, no one would have said anything like that. And it is definitely not anything I have done to get her to act so sweet and calm, she is just figuring life out.
I also get a lot of comments on her sweet, beautiful blue eyes. She definitely got those from her daddy. I love them so much!

I (Jeni) am doing really well. I have gotten back in to running more and biking a little and exercising a lot. Those are some of my passions. I definitely feel like if I spend a little time a week doing some of those things I feel more balanced and ready to take on what ever life throws at me.
We are still living at my parents and it is wonderful because I just wait for nap time (Claire is still keeping to her schedule!!) Then if my mom or dad or sibling (usually mom, thanks mom!) is available then they listen to the monitor while she is sleeping and Ryan and I head out for a run or bike ride, or I just do an Insanity Workout DVD in (I highly recommend those). It really works out great and I feel spoiled living here with so much help.
I am just digging the whole mommy thing. It is amazing! Don't get me wrong. Life is not always peaches, but I can get through the rough times because of how great the good times are. I am learning a lot, as a person, and growing even more.

It has been so nice to live here for close a year. My parents don't let us spend any money on food or anything like that and all we have is a 40$ phone bill and gas to pay. We have been able to save enough money that we just made an offer to buy a house in cash! I cannot express how much I owe to parents. They have helped us get so far in so many different ways! Thanks mom and dad.

All in all, life is great and we are just so blessed! I am excited to see where the next few years take us!

3 months

2011-06-16T17:46:00.013-04:00

Wow, how time flies!! She turned 3 months on June 10th.
She is doing so well and has totally turned the corner. She is just so happy and pleasant all the time (unless she is hungry...). She is still breast feeding like a champ! No problems there. She is amazing and the last 2 weeks has put herself on a schedule. Wow, NOW I know why people make such a big deal about schedules. It is amazing! She is happy and so I am happy. Her schedule goes like this :

8:00 a.m. Wake up
eat~play~eat~play
10:00 a.m. morning nap
11:00 a.m. wake up
eat~play~eat
12:00 afternoon nap
3:30 p.m. wake up
eat~play~eat~play~eat
5:00 p.m. evening nap
6:00 p.m. wake up
eat~play~eat~play~eat~play
8:00 p.m. go to sleep

If you didn't notice she sleeps for the majority of her day...I would be alittle worried but the Dr. says its just fine and according to my mom, that is exactly how I was when I was a baby. What a life :) When she is awake she is so happy and loves to play and interact. I thought I would share some of the things she loves to do:

She loves to sit in her little chair. She will just sit there and watch everyone and what they are doing. She is definitely an observer.

She loves to spend time with her daddy. When ever she sees him she gives him this open mouth smile. I am still working on getting a picture of that.

She loves to play with mama on the play mat. She also loves to play, suck, and chew on mama's hair. If you notice she has a fistful of it :)

This is out of place and my computer is not letting me move it, but this is her hanging with the daddy again.

She not only loves to play on her play mat but just the other day she learned how to roll over on to her tummy and back! I was so proud of her!

She loves to play with her stuff animals. Her Auntie Annie Ann is wonderful at sharing her toys with her and Claire takes playing with her animals very seriously. She actually takes a lot of life seriously. She is like her dad and is constantly trying to figure everything out.

Seriously? How purely precious!! She is holding court with her toys!

She loves to dress up! I have been told by many different people on many different occasions that upon seeing her she was mistaken for a baby doll!

She loves to make precious faces! Ha! I love this one!

She loves to smile!

I just had to throw this picture in there :)

She loves to smile at mama :)

She loves to cuddle with daddy :)

She loves to look precious.

She loves to cuddle with mama

And then she loves to fall asleep on mama's chest.

She loves to play on her play mat.

And she loves to play with her cousin Logan on the play mat.

She just loves to play with Logan! He doesn't seem to mind it :) He actually just loves the Claire Bear.

11 weeks- Our baby doll!

2011-05-29T21:18:00.005-04:00

So, as I have mentioned before, Claire does not love tummy time, she actually hates it! I was feeling guilty and wondering if she wasn't get strong in the right way because she never is on her tummy. So, I laid her on the floor and with in seconds she was pushing herself up looking around! I was so proud of her!

There she is! Little Miss Blue Eyes.

She is so absolutely precious. She is feeling so much better and doing so well. She has been talking back when we talk to her for a few weeks but now she loves to sing! When I sing and dance with her she starts smiling and singing and getting so excited, in the end it sounds like she is crying but she is smiling ear to ear, happy as can be!

I will do anything to get a smile out of this baby. I love her smiles they melt my heart and make me feel like I am worth a billion bucks! It is just hard to get a straight on shot of a smile because she will smile at me, then when I bring the camera up she gets distracted by the camera...Oh well, I am sure she will figure it out.

We just love her!

She is our little baby doll!

Pure Preciousness!

I never knew how good it would feel to be a mom :)

The Zoo

2011-05-29T09:40:00.009-04:00

So I am not sure why we went to the zoo when we pretty much live in one with 17 people under the same roof ;) Ha, no it is really fun. This last Saturday we went to the zoo. The Cincinnati zoo just happens to be literally across from the University of Cincinnati campus. We bought season passes so Claire and I will have something to do while Ryan is in school.

I didn't post too many pictures of the animals, but I HAD to post this picture. I absolutely love manatees!!! They are my FAVORITE animals! They are so soothing and relaxing to watch. I was so happy when I found out this zoo had them!

Ryan just wanted to show off his muscles by wrestling a 'gator...No big deal, all in a days work for Ry ;)

Anna, thought of a better use for the gator... hehe

Claire spent most of the visit asleep in the stroller.

Uncle Austin looking dashingly handsome. He is 13 1/2 years old and is wonderful with little Claire.

Little Levi is 11 years old going on 35.! He is such a hard worker and tries to help everyone around him!

Auntie Annie Ann is such a great aunt! She is always helping with Logan or Claire. She is going to be 10 years old this June! Crazy!

Little Logan excited to be alive!! He is so fun :)

I just love my little siblings! Unfortunately Trina and Nick were on a photo strike and didn't want their pictures taken...

I realized I haven't been taken that many family pictures because Claire is just too cute I only want pictures of her but I figure posterity might want pictures of the whole family...

I just love my little family! It feels so good to be at this point in my life!!

The zoo wore these babies out! It was a success :)

Claire's Cuteness

2011-05-19T15:09:00.007-04:00

Now that Claire is feeling better, I have much more time to blog and document her incredible cuteness!! Enjoy :)

This is some more Claire/Grandpa time. I love seeing people I love play with my baby. It is especially sweet to see my parents playing with her and loving her. We are so blessed!

Is there anything cuter than little Logan? Not really! He is so precious! He loves to hold little Claire. He starts talking in his special Claire voice and reaches out for her. He gets mad if you take her away. He is only 14 months old and is already a great cousin!

Daddy and Claire hanging out before daddy had to head out for work. They really love each other!

My aunt Melinda made some bracelets for Claire. She LOVES them! She will rub them all over her face and lips. It is so cute to watch her play :)

My mom and I couldn't resist taking a little naked baby picture. She was exactly 11 weeks the day this picture was taken. I just love her!

I can't get enough of her face :)

My grandma sent this extra precious outfit to Claire. I just loved it! She looks like a little doll in it.

So happy!

Is there anything better than chubby baby thighs? Nope!!

Isn't she a little too young for attitude? Man this face could say a thousand words :) We are just completely in love!!

Bouncer Time

2011-05-18T15:07:00.003-04:00

Claire does not enjoy tummy time, at all. Our substitute for tummy time is bouncer time, and as you can tell, she loves it! I love this picture! She was really proud of herself when she realized she could hold herself up. She is just the best !!

This is her focusing on standing up. She is doing great!

This face just says it all!

Exciting News!!!!!!!!

2011-05-15T18:36:00.004-04:00

Why is Mr. Loveland so excited??? It might have something to do with what is on his shirt....
Let's get a closer look:

Wait! Why would the Cincinnati Bearcats make him so happy???

Oh because he is going to be one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He got accepted into the Family Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Cincinnati!!! He is going to start this fall. And yes, we will finally be moving out of my parents house....I am a little sad about that, but I guess by the time I am 24 years old, it is time ;)

I am so grateful for Ryan and how hard he works for us. He is amazing! This is going to be a difficult program for him, but I know he can do it! He is so smart and compassionate. I am so happy for him!

Exciting news #2

Ryan and I have made a big decision that I thought I had made a long time ago, but had to do some serious rethinking over.

I have always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I struggled with this after I became a nurse. Not only did I spent long hard hours going through nursing school but I found delivering babies and working with the women and families was so satisfying that part of me was thinking maybe I could work out being a mom and working part time. Ryan, being wonderful as always, whenever I would talk to him about it, he would just say, "Jeni, I know we will do the right thing, we just don't need to stress about it when Claire is so young."

Well, I was agonizing over this when one of my friends, who is a nurse, called me up. For some reason we started talking about it. We brought up the fact that back in the day, the General Authorities would actually say that women should not work but now they have backed off from saying that so firmly because so many women get offended. She said, "You know, I have never heard anyone say, 'I wish I would have spent more time away for my children.' No, they always say the opposite..." I knew that, but for some reason after having Claire, it just struck home more." I told my friend I just felt sick when I thought about working, but it was a hard thing for me to think about giving up. She said, "Jeni, you know that is the answer. If you feel that bad about something, it is not right." She was so right. I decided right then and there, that I was not going to work at all, as being a mother.

This maybe something silly to blog about, but I just cannot express how free and happy I feel when I say, "I am going to be a stay at home mom!!" Every time I look down at Claire and see her smile or goo or just sleep, I know this is the right decision for us.

Ryan is incredible. With Ryan going into graduate school maybe people would say it is excusable to work right now, and some people even judge me and think I am crazy for not working when money will be tight. Ryan is so in love with Claire and so supportive of me, he wants me to stay home, too, so Claire can get the best care possible. I love him so much. He is exactly the kind of Dad I prayed my future kids would get :)

****Disclaimer**** I am not judging ANY mom out there. This is our decision for our family and if others moms want to, or need to work, then that is there decision, not mine. I felt this was important to put for my children and there children to read in our blog book. Please, no negative comments. Thanks !!

9 weeks

2011-05-15T18:19:00.004-04:00

Claire and Grandpa White (my dad). This was taken after church. They are quite a handsome pair!

I think grandpa is just in love with her!!

I have to admit, I just LOVE dressing her up! It is too much fun! She is such a doll!

One of her incredibly precious poses. She is just so deliciously precious!!

She is only 9 weeks but she is almost sitting up by herself! I know it is crazy but she holds herself up so well for a few minutes before she wears out,

Yup, she is her daddy's daughter :) They look so much alike! I just love both of them so much! Life couldn't be better!

8 Weeks

2011-05-15T18:11:00.002-04:00

She just keeps getting bigger and bigger!!! I love this face!! She puckers up her lips and makes sounds like she is singing. She is feeling better everyday and the better she feels the more personality she gets. The other cool thing about her feeling well is she is taking more and longer naps. It is just wonderful to see her so happy!

Uncle Scott and his family have moved in my parents house too!! How cool! Now there are 17 people living here! It is actually really great! Logan, absolutely LOVES Claire, he has this high pitched voice he uses just for Claire. It is really precious! Uncle Scott is kinda found of her too. Claire likes them both, but she especially likes Aunt Roberta. It is so neat!

My little munchkin, waking up from a nap, giving me a look that is VERY much like her dad....
It melts my heart!!

7 Weeks

2011-05-14T18:25:00.003-04:00

She is starting to do a lot better with colic! She is not fussing half as much as she used to and she is starting to notice the world! It is neat to see a change for the better :)

That face just melts my heart! We love her so much!

Easter

2011-04-28T16:48:00.006-04:00

For Easter we went to Illinios for an impromtu White family reunion and my grandma White's house. It was so fun!

This is us in our Easter best. My little sister informed me my dress was not Eastery. I had to explain to her when you are breast feeding your wardrobe is cut in half because you have to wear things you can easily breast feed in.

We all took a walk to the near by park while some of my uncles and Ryan went canoeing. I couldn't find our stroller so I had to put Claire in her sling. She loves being in the sling, the problem is she is getting too big... I need to get a bigger sling.

Pure Preciousness!!! Have I mentioned I am madly in love with my sweet Claire bear?

These are some of my girl cousins and sisters having a blast!

This was a happy coincidence. This is Bevan and Austin on their Rip Sticks. No posing just there pure swagger ;)

This is my aunt trying to help Claire feel better when she was having a colicy moment. She had a daughter with colic and was very sympathetic!

This is the most amazing nephew ever, Logan, or as I call him, Master Logan. He is just the cutest little 1 year old ever!

Some family bonding. If you notice my dad, could care less about the conversation and he was all eyes for Claire. He is so in love with his grandkids. It is so sweet.

My aunt Sara's boys and my brothers. They are full of it when they are together. It is so fun!

These pictures are a little out of order, but some of the cousins decided they needed to make a pyramid...You know how those turn out.

Yup!! Exactly!

This is my FAVORITE picture of the weekend! Isaiah and Claire! Oh I just get gooey over this picture. (Did you notice how she is almost too long for her 3-6 month outfit? ahh)

6 Weeks

2011-04-28T16:34:00.005-04:00

The colic seems like it may be taking a turn for the better!! It has been a hard time dealing with colic, but I think it has definitely made Claire and I closer. I just love her so much and it is so hard to see her hurt. I can only imagine what Heavenly Father feels when each one of us is in pain.

She wasn't happy about sitting up.

Isn't she just a doll?
Oh and just a quick update on her size. She now fits comfortably into all her 6 months clothes...Ahhh she is growing WAY to FAST!!

5 weeks...and colic

2011-04-28T16:29:00.003-04:00

This is Claire at 5 weeks. She is absolutely precious in every way. Lately, though we have been struggling with colic. We went to the Dr. and she said that her fussiness is caused by colic. It is heart breaking because she will be sound asleep then wake up screaming because of tummy cramps :( She has been fussy because she is in so much pain. I know that she will get better, though. I can just feel her sweet spirit and how much she wants to be happy.

I can put up with weeks of colic for that face! Couldn't you?

One Month Old!!

2011-04-10T22:52:00.005-04:00

Can you say Pure Precious Perfection? She turned 1 month on April 10! It is bitter sweet. Already I feel like life is flying by! One change I have noticed is how much I love her grows everyday. Everyday I feel like it would be impossible to love her more, and then the next day comes....and....BAM!!!!!! It's so awesome to be a mom!

Today We took her to church for the first time. It is waaayyy too fun to dress her up!

This is her in her Precious Purple Princess outfit.

This is our friend Emily Tolley. Her and Claire get along great!

My heart just melts for her!

Is there anything cuter than chubby baby thighs? I just LOVE her legs!!

Her and her daddy are great at nap time!! They are best friends :) Last Saturday, April 2, 2011, Claire smiled at her daddy!! He was the first one that has gotten a reactive smile from her!! Then she started fussing and I took her and she smiled at me!! I think that was the most amazing moment of my life! I have never felt that way before.

Last week I started running again. This is Claire's running out fit. It is so fun to put her in it because it is like having your own real life teddy bear :) We just put her in this outfit and put her in the stroller and...run!! It is great exercise to run with the stroller. It gives your whole body a work out. I love it!

3 Week Pictures

2011-04-10T18:30:00.002-04:00

These pictures were taken April 1, 2011. Obviously, I am way behind! I need to play catch up. Well, she is doing great, as always! We are even more head over heals in love with her!

She is still just waking up once a night! I think the reason is, is we co-sleep. I know this is controversial. I wasn't planning on it, but the first night I came home with her, it just felt right. It felt absolutely horrible to let her sleep in her bassinet. It may not be for everyone, but for us it is perfect!

Just Some Precious Moments....

2011-04-01T09:03:00.004-04:00

2 Weeks old!

2011-03-24T18:24:00.003-04:00

Wow, where have the last 2 weeks gone? Claire is getting so big! I can't believe it but she is now too long for her new born clothes! Ahh!
Another neat thing that has happened is that for the last 1 1/2 weeks she has only been waking up TWO times a night! How great is that for a newborn? Well, last night the first time she woke up was at....5:00 a.m.!!!!!!!!!!! Wow! I was in heaven. I really don't mind waking up with her at night (she is so precious how could I mind?) but I haven't slept for that long in MONTHS! I was so happy when we woke up a 5:00 a.m.

Grandma White (my mom) just bought a fancy new camera. She loves taking pictures of Claire with it.

Claire is doing great. She is still breastfeeding like a champ. She is happy and only cries when she is hungry. We are still just completely in love!

Grandma and Grandpa Loveland Visit

2011-03-21T15:23:00.006-04:00

Grandpa and Grandma Loveland were able to come visit their 10th grandchild! They stayed here for a week. It was so fun. Claire absolutely loved it :D

This is Claire's super woman pose.

I am just so in love!

This is Grandma Loveland (Ryan's mom). She was wonderful! She loved holding Claire and she helped out so much around the house.

Just had to throw this picture in there. I love this outfit!

Grandpa Loveland loved holding Claire too. He also had tons of fun playing with my younger brothers. He was so good to them.

The picture definition of precious...

Ryan and his parents went to the town Loveland, Ohio. That is only about 30 minutes away from here. There is a real castle over there. I thought the pictures were neat.

Grandma and Grandpa Loveland are going on a mission for our church and leaving on April 9th. They are going to the Heber City girls camp. They are really excited.

Ryan and his dad

One day Ryan and his parents and my siblings and our neighbors went on a walk in our woods.
Funny Story: When they were getting ready to go, my mom suggested I go on a walk with them. I automatically refused, the thought of leaving Claire, KILLED me. Mom said that maybe getting some sun would be good for me. So I said ok and Ryan went to get my shoes. When he handed them to me, I just started crying uncontrollably... I guess I wasn't ready to leave Claire.
Mind you, this walk I would have been less then 10 mins away from Claire at all times....I think I am a little bit hooked :)

Ryan, my dad and Ryan's parents went to the river walk in Cincinnati. They thought the old architecture was really neat.

Our first family picture...ignore the fact I don't have any makeup or haven't brushed my hair for days.... Everyone else looked too cute to not post the picture.

I LOVE this picture!!

Purple Princess!!! She looks great in every color, but I definitely think purple is her color! I love it!!

1 Week Old

2011-03-21T12:13:00.003-04:00

So she turned a week old on March 17, St. Patrick's day. I am just really behind and trying to catch up. My dad gave me a good idea and told me I should try to get a picture of her every week for a while so we could see the changes. I thought that would be fun. So these pictures are of her at exactly a week old. I think she has changed so much! It is exciting but also sad. I really don't want her to grow up at all!!

I love this one! She is such a poser! I made a tutu for her JUST for St. Patrick's Day. You can't tell that I am excited to have a girl, can you?

This is my favorite picture of her, though. I am so in love!!!

Hospital New Born Pictures

2011-03-19T10:55:00.005-04:00

We got hospital newborn pictures done. They were pricey but definitely well worth it!

Lilia Claire Loveland has Made Her Debut!!!

2011-03-15T15:09:00.017-04:00

CLAIRE IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!! LIFE IS COMPLETE, WONDERFUL, PERFECT, HEAVENLY, ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I was debating whether or not I should tell the birth story now, or later. I figured I might as well do it now. It is a LLLOONNNGGG story, because it was a LLOONNGG labor, so if you are interested sit back and get comfortable ;)

On Monday March, 7, 2011 I woke up and got up to put my dog outside. As I got to my bedroom door I felt a "gush" of fluid. It stopped me in my tracks. I thought, is this my waters breaking?!?!? Well, I tried to stay calm because, although I have not had incontinence during this pregnancy, I know it is common and I knew that it could have just been a leak of urine. Ryan worked that night and called on his way home. I told him that I think my membranes may have ruptured. He got really excited and I had to tell him that it didn't mean anything was about to happen.

Well, my contractions started to pick up and get a little stronger. They were not very regular and I just tried to relax. Now, by afternoon, I knew that my water had broken. I had a continual leak of amniotic fluid. Having been an L&D nurse I knew that if I was not in, at least active labor, by 24 hours after the rupture of my membranes they would want to induce me. I did NOT want to be induced so I decided that I would take the right precautions and watch for obvious signs and symptoms of infection (which is the biggest risk of having membranes ruptured) and not go into the hospital until I felt like labor was more imminent. I was also keeping track of Claire's movement and felt confident that she was doing well.

Nothing really happened all day, except me contracting. I went to bed that night hoping I would wake up in intense labor. Well, at 1201 a.m. I woke up with an INTENSE contraction. For some reason it just felt horrible to be lying down. I got up. I was so excited! I sat and relaxed in the rocking chair in our room. Slowly, irregularly I started to feel more and more intense contractions. It was so exciting. At one point I got in the shower and then braided my hair so I would be ready for delivery ;) If only I had known.

By 5:20 a.m. I just was sure this was it and I was going to have the baby that day. Ryan and I decided that March 8 was a great day to have a baby. Ryan told me that I should get as much rest as possible, though and that I should try to lay down and rest. I tried. It hurt. I didn't rest. Through out that day Ryan and mom started to get the house ready for a baby. I just tried to rest and relax and breathe through my strong, irregular contractions. By 2:00 p.m. I knew I should at least call my midwives and tell them I think my water broke and I was contracting. She told us to come in and get checked.

After a long wait in the office, I got checked and it was indeed amniotic fluid and I was dilated to 3 cm! A few days ago I was only 1 cm so I took this as a good sign. I called my mom and told her what was happening and told her and Trina to meet us at the birthing center.

By 6:45 p.m. we were at the birthing center and my contractions were still irregular but they felt more intense. We got situated and I started the labor dance.

The below picture is one of my favorite positions to be in during labor. Now, the WHOLE time I was in labor it KILLED to be lying down during contractions, I was on my feet or sitting almost the whole time. Even when I was 9-10cm dilated I loved rocking against Ryan. It made the contractions fell better.

Ryan and Trina made a party out of the night. They tried to keep the mood light.

I got insanely jealous of Trina who not only could she lay down but she could sleep! In between contractions I laid down next to her. Oh, that would have been nice :)

This is Ryan showing off his support person name tag. He was super excited and flying high at first.

This was me still in labor trying to rest, rocking in the chair. This was in the middle of the night and it had now been over 24 hours since I had slept or really laid down. It was starting hit me.

In the morning they decided they needed to start an IV on me to give me antibiotics because of my prolonged ruptured membranes. It was a good thing I told them that my water broke on Tuesday instead of on Monday or they would have been pushing for more interventions sooner.

For the most part, my labor was actually super relaxed. I had done a lot of mediating and preparation for labor and it was neat because I felt in control.

These are my support people :) They were really great. Ryan was taking a much needed break. Mom was on duty at this point. Mom and Ryan were just incredible. So was Katrina. She just couldn't stay the whole time because she had to be at school. I am so grateful they were able to be there. Ryan was wonderful. He rocked and moved and repositioned and talked me through the whole time, especially during the end when things got rough.

My mom was just wonderful. She got maybe 3 hours of sleep during the 3 day process. She was by my side and supporting me and my decisions the whole way. I needed that support because things didn't go the way most "normal"labors go.

This was Ryan and I rocking through contractions. It is wonderful having such a strong big husband :)

By Wednesday evening I was only dilated 5-6 cm. That means I had only progressed 3-4 cm over a 24 hour period...If I had been under different care I would have been started on pitocin and I KNOW I would have ended up in a c-section. I am so grateful for my midwives and OB's.

I got into the pool when I was 5-6 cm dilated. It was wonderful! It really helped me relax. I was hoping to deliver in there but it didn't work out that way.

Ryan was by my side, talking me through contractions. A phrase he would say a lot that I think brought him a lot of comfort was, "That is one contraction closer to Claire!"

Now for the intense part of the story. So by Wednesday night I was exhausted. I hadn't been able to lay down since Tuesday morning at midnight. My body was worn out, emotionally I was becoming drained and discouraged because I know that labor does not usually go this way.
At about 11:00 p.m. the midwife and nurse came in and checked me with no change :( I was soo upset I started crying. They told me that I could keep on doing what I was doing and I would probably just wear myself out too much to even get to the pushing stage, I could get started on pitocin right now, or I could try this drug cocktail that would make me sleep for a few hours and maybe relax my body enough to encourage some kind of cervical change. They gave Ry and I a couple of minutes to quietly think and pray about it. We felt like the best thing to do at this time would be to get rest. I knew I couldn't handle too much longer of the non-productive contractions and I knew I could not handle being on pitocin without rest. So they gave me some IV medicine (phenergan and nubain). Instantly I was woozy. They told me I would sleep for about an hour...I was out for 3 hours. I think I was just exhausted and I had never had medicine like that before so I wasn't used to it. I woke up around 2:00 a.m. right when the midwife walked in. She checked me and found that not "all my water and broken" which translates into I had a forebag that probably broke but the main bag of water didn't break. I was also dilated to a 7 cm finally. So she went ahead and broken my waters...again. Instantly I was contracting much stonger and closer together. I was so happy and rested, though, that I didn't mind. Ryan and I started to do lunges and squats and rocking together more. We had gotten my mom back in the room because she had went into the lobby to get some rest too while we rested.

At this point I was pushing my self so much. I just knew that I had to have this baby vaginally. The thought of a c-section felt so wrong. I had to fight and give it my all. I had been in labor since Monday morning...this was Wednesday night (early Thursday morning) and my all was not a lot.

At 3:00 a.m. I was feeling the urge to push!!! I asked to be checked and I was 9-10 cm! Woohoo! I was so happy because in my experience it never takes that long to get rid of the rest of that cervix at this point. I did some change of positions. I was in the pool. I thought things were going great. By 4:00, there was still a lateral cervical lip...meaning that all of my cervix was gone except for a spot on the right side. My midwife suggested pushing through it. I agreed because I knew that you could usually push through the cervix.

Wow, that was the MOST EXCRUCIATING PAIN I had ever felt! It felt wrong. Don't get me wrong, I know it hurts when you push, but this pain was not the right kind of pain. But we stuck with it and we pushed and danced and chagned position and pushed some more for about 5 1/2 hours....5 1/2 LLLLOOONNNNGGG hours. Wow.

The midwife left me at one point and told me to rest and when she came back she would check me and we would go from there. She came back and not only was my cervix still there but it was swelling...There weren't too many options at this point. I knew that basically I had to choose from pitocin or c-section. I was afraid my midwives would not be patient enough to let me choose the pitocin and would be pushing for a c-section. But no! They were so supportive! We through me on the wheel chair and wheeled me over to the L&D because you couldn't be in the natural birthing center when being induced with pitocin.

By the time we got to the L&D I was feeling such a HUGE urge to push. I still had the cervical lip and if I pushed I would make the cervix swell and it would be impossible for me to have a vaginal birth. I knew that if I didn't get an epidural I would be pushing. So at more than 9 1/2 cm dilated, I got an epidural.

****Side note**** Oh man!! I do NOT like epidurals. I was so blessed that this epidural was done perfectly and so well, but man, I do not like how they make my body feel. I am grateful though because I went through both sides of labor--natural and drugged and now I can know wheat both sides are like. I think it may help me be a better L&D nurse.

After I had the epidural, my exhaustion took over me. My nurse kept trying to talk to me and I just couldn't focus enough to answer her questions. The whole room seemed to be spinning. (My blood pressure was just fine, it wasn't bottoming out). It was a crazy feeling like I was drunk on exhaustion. So I mustered up the energy to tell my nurse, "I can't talk right now...."

Well, after about an hour of the pitocin, my nurse came back to check me and....I STILL had the cervical lip!!! Looking back I was surprised that this didn't make me more upset. I was just filled with a calm feeling and just laid back and told myself to relax. We rolled me to the other side and decided she would check me later.

After dosing on and off all of a sudden I woke up because I could hear that my baby was having a deceleration (when the babies heart rate drops). Up til this point, Claire's heart rate had been great. At about the same time, I was feeling the urge to push come back. I started to get a little worried because I didn't want to push with my cervix still there. Well, my nurse came in and she decided to check me again because she thought that could be a sign of Claire's head rotating and dropping down. Lo, and behold.... it did!!! After over 2 hours of pitocin, the cervical lip was gone and Claire's head was rotated and now at a +1 station!!

My nurse went out and grabbed my midwife. She got everything ready. At the same time someone asked me if I minded if an EMT student was present at the birth. At this point, I could care less so I said, "Sure."After everything was all pulled together, Mick, my midwife, told me to give it a trial push. Oh... there was NO trial pushing for me. I knew that I was so exhausted, I had to get her out NOW or it was never going to happen. I took a deep breath and pushed just like I had instructed others to push so many other times. I could feel Claire moved down. The look on Ryan's, Mom's, my nurse's, and Mick's face was priceless! They were like, "We can see her head!" A couple of the nurse's were like, "Wow, she can push!" That was sooooo encouraging! After days of what felt like failure finally I did something right. Well after about 15 minutes, her head was out!! What a relief! I was so worn out by this point though. Claire had a nuchal cord (the cord was wrapped around her neck) so I had to stop pushing to wait for Mick to move the cord. Mick told me I had to push the rest of her out NOW. I pushed with ALL my might but I couldn't move her shoulders! Instinct kicked in and I had this weird feeling of being separated from my body. I yelled at mom and Ryan to bring my legs back farther to my shoulders (the joys of not being able to move your own legs) and at the same time the nurse was lowering my head. Although noone said it out loud, I knew we were all worried about shoulder distocia. Once they got me in a better position, I was finally able to push Claire out. Wow, the shear joy that filled the moment she came out and I saw her arms flailing.

They placed her on my bare chest and I looked down at her and said, "My baby!" As soon as Claire heard my voice she looked up and opened her eyes. My heart was gone the moment I saw her eyes. I am crying right now as I type about it. There was a look of recognition in her eyes and I KNEW I had seen those precious eyes before. It was this amazing feeling of reunion. I had missed this girl for the last 23 1/2 years of my mortal existence and being reunited with her again was the most sweet moment I have ever experienced in my whole life. The pass three days and hours of painful pushing were nothing. I knew I would have done it all over again just to have this precious baby.

As all these emotions passed through me, I thought, 'Where's Ryan? What is he feeling?' I looked up at him and I saw in his eyes the same feelings I felt. He was crying and I was crying. It was the most complete feeling in the world.

I looked over to my mom and her whole face was just a light with joy. She was so happy and I don't know if I have ever felt closer to my mom. Knowing what a mother goes through to have a baby and having my mom stand next to me while I did the same for my precious daughter created this amazing bond.

Later on my mom told me that the EMT student was crying when Claire was born. I think there was a very special feeling in the room. There always is in a birth when a baby is welcomed into the world by a loving supportive family.

I was so in love and every moment that passes by I feel more and more in love. She is the biggest blessing in our lives.

This is the precious baby girl!! She weighed 8 lbs. and was 21 inches long. Her name is Lilia Claire Loveland. I have no clue where we got the name Lilia other than the fact that her little spirit has always reminded me of a precious little flower. We named her Claire after my mom and I had a wonderful roommate named Claire. I figure it wouldn't hurt to name her after two of the most wonderful women in the world ;) We are going to follow the Lamoreaux tradition of going by the middle name and we will call her Claire. She was born March 10, 2011 at 12:03 p.m. practically perfect in every way.

Look at those beautiful muscular Loveland thighs! I have given many vitamin K shots in many baby thighs and I have never seen any thighs like this! She is going to a little athlete like her daddy! I am so excited :)

Those amazing thighs again :) Look at that beautiful head! It came out perfect! I did not tear at all! I was amazed! She does not have the White head size that is for sure :)

I did not want anyone to take her from me! I worked so hard for her, there was nothing in this world that could take her away from me. It has been a week now and she has still not left my side. I do let others hold her, but I can hardly handle being in a different room from her.

It was so neat. They brought us back to the birthing center after about an hour. As we were being willed into the hallway I looked over and saw my dad!!! I guess the moment he heard that I had Claire he got in his car at work, in Cincinnati and drove up to Dayton (about an hour away). It was so wonderful to see my dad! What an amazing day. My dad was so worried the whole time I was in labor. One time, he and the kids had come up to the hospital, while I was in labor and the pain in his face when he looked at me was so intense. He hates to see people he loves in pain.

Dad was a very happy dad and grandpa! He told me a couple days later that that morning when I was pushing he had a nightmare that he was in the womb again! How crazy is that?

This is Claire looking at grandma White with those precious eyes. She knows how much everyone loves her for sure!

This is us back in the birthing center. I was worn out but man I was filled with adrenaline and pure joy! NOTHING could get me down at this point! Notice how I am sitting up? I was still so numb but I could not handle laying down when I was so excited and happy.

Ryan was just amazing and worried the whole time. I just have to say how grateful I am for him. He is the most incredible husband and dad. He went through a huge emotional roller coaster ride during the whole event and he was just ecstatic once we finally had Claire in our arms.
Here is our precious Claire, later on, that day. She is probably about 7 hours old. I just love that cute round face!

Dad had driven mom back home because she had so little sleep. Then they came back that evening so the kids could visit. This is Anna. She is an amazing aunt! She is so helpful and so in love with little Claire Bear.

Austin loves his niece too. He comes home everyday from school hoping to get his hands on the baby. I love it.

Uncle Nick is so great with Claire. He loves to rock her to sleep.

Claire is so in love with her dad. She loves it when he talks and sings to her. I am so in love with her dad, too. He is a pretty special guy.

I Love Dad....Is there anything more to say?

Ryan and I both wanted to hold her. We tried to be polite and nice but it was hard for either one of us to put her down. I have to say after going though that whole experience I feel closer and more in love with Ry-guy than ever before.

True Love :)

This is the next day. We went home the next day around 5:00 p.m. I have to say I have not wanted to leave somewhere so bad! After I had Claire, I would move or turn and all of a sudden think I was about to have a contraction! It was kinda traumatic. I just needed to leave so I could relax.

This bear outfit was bought by my dad. One day he went shopping and randomly bought this outfit because he though Claire would look so cute in it...and she did!

Our little Claire Bear!
Is there anything more precious?

That evening we came home and the kids were so excited to see her again. I was showing Anna how to breastfeed. I think it is so important to teach and talk about breastfeeding. Our culture has lost the art of breastfeeding. So I have been talking to Anna a lot about it. She now knows how important it is. Claire is an AMAZING feeder! She is already putting on weight!

Uncle Austin going gaga over Claire Bear.

I love her hands! They are constantly moving and grasping things.

Uncle Levi loving on Claire.

Now she is home and doing great. We are so in love. I love every moment I get to hold her and love on her. I love her little spirit. I love her eyes. I love her moans and cries. I love her sighs. I love waking up with her every night. I love bathing her. I love dressing her. I don't think I could ever be more in love!!!!