Claire

I forgot how much I enjoy having a tiny newborn. She smells sweet, she sleeps all day, and I love her scrunched up little body. Definitely beats pregnancy. These days I can be found in pajamas, hair undone, no makeup, holding this precious little baby.

Her arrival was extremely untimely, coming on the same day we were scheduled to move, but somehow it all worked out. My mother-in-law ended up taking me to the hospital while Matt loaded the moving truck. Once there, I learned I was already dialated to an 8. An 8!! I suddenly got a panicky feeling that I might somehow miss my "window" for an epidural, or even worse, that Matt might miss the whole thing. I remember saying to the nurse, "I definitely don't want to go natural. Please tell me I can have an epidural." I probably reminded her about 14 times and I'm sure I was annoying, but I always hear those stories about other women missing their opportunity. I got the drugs, Matt made it to the hospital, and Claire was born at 11:43 am on Saturday, september 19th. At 6 lb, 8 oz, she is a lot smaller than Sophie (8lb, 14 oz) was.

We're mostly settled in the new house now, but there are still loads of boxes to go through. How did we accumulate so much stuff in only 7 years?! Luckily we have a basement, so anything we're not sure about just goes down there. I hate clutter, and I hate being unorganized, but I'm trying to work on one box at a time. For now, I'll keep holding my little Claire and ignore all the junk in the basement.