And we danced....

Here's a few pics of Claire...this is a favorite position to sleep in.

Here's a few pictures of Claire--Grandma H. gave her this adorable outfit. She only had it on for about 1 1/2 hours when she had an explosion!

I finally uploaded pictures to the computer. Here are some pictures of Claire during her first week of life. Such the hard life--eating, sleeping, eating, crying, eating, sleeping... The day of her first doctor's appointment (08-14-08)--where the doctor gave us the OK to head to NM.

Still haven't uploaded new pictures to the computer...soon...but here are some more of Madison before Claire was born. Chris is feeling better--almost back to normal. Last night he commented that he felt like he hasn't spent any time with Claire and it's true. He hasn't held her since Sunday--I did not want anyone else catching his sickness and luckily we've all been okay. Madison continues to love on baby Claire. She always wants to know where she is and wants to hold her, change her--help in any way she can. She especially loves giving her kisses. Madison got this dress from Aunt Courntey and Uncle Matt--what a silly expression.

Here are some more pictures of Madison in the dresses she got for her birthday. We went to NM last weekend for my brother McKay's return from his mission in Peru. It was a long drive and short trip but totally worth it. I haven't uploaded any new pictures yet--so those will come soon. We're home and I'm learning how to handle two kids---unfortunately Chris got sick our last night in NM and has been terribly ill with the flu--so he's no help to me and I'm not much better help to him. I just try to keep the kids happy and away from him when he gets home from work--yes he's still going to work because he has so much to do. Claire is so sweet and Madison loves her SO much. I'll be posting new pictures of her soon.

Kendal arrived Friday afternoon. I started having a few contractions on Friday but nothing consistent all weekend, so Sunday morning I was set to be induced at 6:00 a.m. Chris set the alarm at 5:15 and hopped in the shower only to receive a phone call at 5:30 a.m. telling us we were on hold because they didn't have any room at the moment. So we went back to bed and called the hospital at 8:15 to see what was up and they said we could come in an hour. We arrived at the hospital and they were very slow about getting everything set up and situated. We started the process at about 11:15. It already feels like a different experience than Madison because with her I was in labor when I arrived at the hospital. I was dilated to a three when we arrived and now it was just a waiting game. Finally at 3:00 they broke my water and I was dilated to a 4 so now I get the blessed epidural. Once I got that everything felt great. About two hours later the epidural was wearing off. Kendal brought Madison to the hospital to visit us. She was so sweet and wanted to take care of me. She would feed me ice chips. The contractions were really starting to hurt. They checked me and I was a 7, so we're getting closer. The epidural had pretty much completely worn off. So the doctor put a more powerful medicine in my drip and it finally started to work--so well in fact that my legs were so numb! My doctor came in at 8:46 p.m. and she was born at 8:56 p.m.

Claire Orme weighed 8 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was a week early, so she was really a good size. All day long Chris and I talked and decided I would never be induced again because it was such a long day and it felt like we were trying to force her to come. But after she was born we found out there was a knot in the umbilical cord and that the umbilical cord wasn't connected right to the placenta. The doctor said it was a good thing we induced her because otherwise she might not have made it to her due date. We are so blessed and grateful that everything worked out for this sweet baby girl to come and join our family. Chris thinks she looks like Madison--I think she has her own look.

So do you think these two little girls look alike??

As I said before, Madison got lots of new dresses for her birthday. This one was given to her from Grandma Rae Dene and Grandpa Kirk. As you can see in this first picture she is being shy. When I took her in to get her two-year pictures this is how she reacted to the photographer, but we did finally get her warmed up and got some adorable pictures.

About 1 1/2 weeks ago Chris left on a scout trip so I really got to work to get everything ready for the baby. I got everything washed and prepared. So the baby's carseat has been sitting in our room since then. Madison decided she wanted to explore it. Once she got herself in she couldn't get out very easily and will call for help. You might notice in this picture that she is wearing a crown. She puts it on and walks around calling herself "princess Aurora" from sleeping beauty. As you can see she is defintely too big for this carseat--hard to imagine just a year ago she was using it.