Claire Cait at 1 Month

 Davy here, Rachel has tagged me in to update the blog with some new photos of the wee one.  We are quite proud of the fact that little Claire has learned to smile already.  She really is a great baby.  Eats and sleeps...then poops. 

 Here she is pulling off her best Winston Churchill impression.  She keeps that right fist up ready to slap Ronan in the head if he gets to close.  I've seen some boxing posters that look just like this

Ronan is in love with her as are the other two kids.  They always are trying to hold her.  They are all very cute these days.

Claire's Blessing

We were lucky enough to get most of Dave's family at the blessing. It isn't often that we get together with everyone. It was really fun for all to see each other.

What can I say, there are no words for these Ratchfords.

Oh this baby was divine in her blessing dress. She didn't cry one bit during her blessing. Just slept like the perfect baby that she is. I guess it helps to bless them when they are 3 1/2 weeks old.

And get ready for the picture overload. I took way to many so it was hard to narrow them down.

Spring Break 2011

We started our spring break adventure up at The Homestead. We were packed for St. George and changed our minds about SLC because we only had 3 days and that just wasn't enough to make driving worth it. 

Davy took the girls swimming in the volcano.

Ronan swam and swam as much as we would let him.

Claire slept and ate and slept and ate. I had taken her to the doctor and she hadn't gained any weight since I brought her home from the hospital at 7 pounds. So I had to be vigilant at waking her up and making sure she nursed enough. The doctor said to give her a bottle if she acted hungry. That is the problem I said, "she never cries." Anyway took her back in Tuesday and she had gained almost a pound luckily.

There was lots of baby holding over Spring Break. It probably wasn't the kids favorite school break.

I took Eva and Ronan to Kangaroo Zoo after the babies doctor appointment.

I took the kids to Heritage Farm for baby animal days. Then we stayed at my moms for 2 days.

All our ward friends that we met there. I am going to miss them so much when we move.

Baby Claire Week 1

So can I begin by saying this baby is a dream child. She is such a blessing to our home and we couldn't be happier. She came home from the hospital pretty much sleeping through the night and has given me 7 hour streches the last 2 days. With the extra sleep at night I feel like a million bucks. She nurses really well something that hasn't always worked with my other kids. On top of that she is very calm and easy to sooth. With that said I know we are only a week in and that could all change when 3 weeks hits. The whole family is really just enjoying every minute. Here are a few photos from our first week.

Some photo shoot attemps as soon as we took out the camera she decided to stop sleeping and be wide awake and fussy. Something she never does since she is sleeping most of the time. My friend Emily came over and caught a few others between Claire's fussing.  Check them out here.

I love a good photo of my kids crying. I think when they grow up I will want to remember that too.

Somehow I have a ton of clothes for 0-3 months. Everyday has become a fashion show and it is really quite fun. That is the girls favorite thing to pick out her outfits.

Out cold in the pack in play. She loves to have her legs straight out. Something she did right from the start at the hospital. I find it hilarious because my ribs hurt so bad while I was pregnant I wonder what she was doing stretching out in my tummy. If I wrap her up to tight with her legs tucked she cries.

As a friend of mine did with her little guy. A picture in the chair once a month. Here is our first day home from the hospital picture.

She spends most her time snuggled in these aden and anis blankets that I absolutely love. Also I splurged on a new swing that is awesome she takes most of her naps there during the day.

Here she is coming home from the hospital. It is amazing how small they look in there.

Ronan really likes her. Here he is the first time he held her. He asks to hold her a couple times a day but then wants me to take her back 10 seconds later. That doesn't mean we aren't having an adjustment period with him. He is being a little stinker. Lets hope that stops in the next few days.

First bath I had a family of helpers. Leah my assistant and Davy the photographer.

Claire Cait Ratchford

Clair Cait Ratchford.  Born at 1:45 PM on March 18th

 Davy did not Faint...enough said.  Actually he did really well and was a huge help.

 Claire getting her first bath.  She loved getting her hair washed. 

 Getting her first tan under the heater lamps. 

All the kids came over to see the baby.  Leah and Eva are "little moms".  Ronan was a little scared but did touch her foot before he left.

She's been sleeping a lot.  So far, so good.  She is a great little baby.

So Rachel here just wanted to add in some details about the delivery and Claire's birth. We decided to get induced on this one. The excitement of rushing to the hospital on Ronan and feeling contractions to a ten needed to not be repeated. Plus my doctor was going out of town and I really wanted him to deliver me. So we check into the hospital at 6:45 and got all set up. As they were monitoring me we noticed that I was having regular contractions on mine own but just not feeling them. I got started on pitocin and then the doctor came in and broke my water at 9:00. I got my epidural shortly after. It was very painless but then I only got numb on one side. I could still feel my contractions on the other. So we turned me and dosed me to try to numb the other side. It helped but I never got completely numb and felt a portion of my contraction for my whole labor. Besides that everything went perfectly. The babies heart rate stayed good the whole time. When I got to a 8 they called the doctor. By the time he got there I was ready at a 10. I pushed for 2 contractions and out she came. What was the most shocking was her dark hair. We have had all blond babies. So in the hospital we had a bit of a problem because I couldn't walk by myself until 8 am the next morning. Dave and the 60 year old nurse had to take me to the bathroom every time I needed to go. By the next day I was feeling good and ready to get out of the hospital. So we packed up and headed home around dinnertime Saturday night.