i forgot...

i forgot to tell you about our food adventures as of late...

well i finally had the chance to try my hand at making my own baby food. sunday i made pears and froze them. thalia is trying them today for the first time so we will see what the report is when i pick her up from "school". then last night i really dove in and tried making chicken. i basically poached a few chicken tenders and then put them in my food processor. it kinda looked like canned chicken. about the time i had finished chopping it all up, thalia was getting hungry so i figured she may as well try some. she had a hard time swallowing the chicken at first because it wasn't totally pureed but she got the hang of it and loved it! she didn't even spit any out! now i have to stop by the grocery store because i don't have anything else to puree. i am thinking peas and green beans next. i am pretty excited because we hadn't gotten to try many things before we left michigan. now i feel like i am a bit of a better mom for giving her different foods.

i'll keep you posted on what comes next!

love you!

First Days

so i am sure you are all dying to hear about thalia's and my first days at work and day care ("school"). truthfully, it has gone better than i had expected. before we left, thalia had been having some minor separation issues so i was really hoping things would go smoothly on monday. i want to say that it was tough to leave her but i am a terrible mom and was so concerned about making it to work on time that we gave her kisses, she found a toy to put in her mouth and chris and i were off to gsk! i think it was good though because i didn't really have time to dwell on it. plus i have been leaving her at home to go to work for months. so it wasn't that bad. and she has been doing really well at school too. the teachers love her. and she is one of the first babies there in the morning so she gets good one-on-one attention for a little while. on monday, she did her first art project! the teacher, miss alice (which is totally misleading because miss alice is about 50 years old!), painted the babies' feet and did footprint art. i think the school is going to send out the pictures. which is super cool - the school will email me pictures of stuff they do during the day. i will be sure to post some of those when i get them.

monday night we got to have dinner with chris' cousin elizabeth and her daughter sophia who just turned one. she is super cute and has these teeney little teeth! the girls had fun throwing everything on the floor, while we had fun catching up and having dessert!

my first few days at work (not that you care as much, but you have to hear about it anyway!) have been great. i am getting to know a lot of people and beginning to get familiar with some of the reports we use. i got to sit in on my first meeting yesterday and actually got to contribute to the discussion, which felt awesome! and the guy that i am going to be working with the most, Ted, was really impressed and is excited to have me sit in on other meetings and give him my thoughts. he said he is happy to have a field person's input because a lot of the people in the commercial analysis department have never been in the field. so i am really looking forward to the upcoming weeks to really get going. everyone has been really super nice. my desk is on everyone's way to our break area so a lot of people have been stopping by and introducing themselves.

other than that, thalia is beginning to adjust to our new place. we had a rough weekend with naps and sleeping but the past two nights have been better. here are some great pictures of her chillin' on our couch and getting a bath in the sink. we have a "garden tub" which is nice if you want to take a bath yourself, but not so nice to try to give your child a bath. so for now, she is in the sink. i may try the kitchen sink next time...it's a little bigger.

i think that is all for now. we really miss you guys. chris left yesterday so make sure you give him a call or get together with him so he has someone to play with. it was hard last night but i think we will be okay. and i get to come home tuesday and stay home for 5 days so that will be really nice.

back to work! much love and a little more sleep,

c, c, and t

we made it!

just wanted to let everyone know that all three of us made it down to north carolina safe and sound. my drive got a little harrowing last night when i was driving down a highway with a 5% grade (read: very steep) and many curves when fog and rain came in and made visibility about 5 feet. AND there was construction so there were no lane lines. talk about scary!!! chris meanwhile had uneventful flights with the baby in tow.
my new apartment is great! it's really nice walking in and most of the moving is down for you! my new address is:
2314 summitt ridge loop
morrisville, nc 27560
yes there are two "t"s in summitt. we aren't sure why but if you try to mapquest it without the second "t" it comes back with a "cannot find exact location" message.
we also signed thalia up at a childtime down here. her "teacher" is a really nice older lady. we met some of the other infants and teachers. we were really pleased with them and we are saving about $400 a month but getting nearly the same ciriculum and care and attention.
that's about it for now. much more to come though!

much love and hopefully more sleep,
c,c and t

as promised

well, i made it home from my meeting and i think i am all packed. and as promised, before i leave, i wanted to give you some new pics. isn't the hippo one adorable?! i will put it in this post too so you can make it bigger.

go blue!

six months already!

thalia got her hand in her cereal and then wiped her face

chewing on her new favorite toy

thalia's first impression of peas

she was holding on to her crib rail in her sleep! isn't that precious?!

more to come once we get down there. love you all!!

much love and no sleep,

c, c, and t

quick update

hey all,
just wanted to give you a couple quick hit updates. first, thalia had her six month checkup on tuesday and she is "perfect"! :o) i forgot to ask chris how big she is now but the doctor said she is doing great and to keep trying new foods. so far she has had peas, pears, bananas, and ice cream and mashed potatoes courtesy of her grandparents! so for the record, ironically, if thalia is addicted to ice cream it is not my fault!!
in terms of milestones, she is trying really hard to crawl. she is getting up on all fours easier and more frequently but can't quite get her legs and arms to move at the same time. then she gets mad and throws her arms behind her like a beached whale which really doesn't help the situation. she is getting even better at sitting up. now she can turn and look over her shoulder without tipping over. she still does tip over from time to time and she gets a funny look on her face when she does. i try not to laugh but sometimes she cracks me up!

second, i am leaving tomorrow for north carolina. i will arrive and friday and finally solidified an apartment that is close to ron and martha and close to a daycare. not only that, but it is on the first floor (the other option was on the third floor!) and i can move in on friday (the other first floor option wasn't available until late next week). so while i am sad to leave my family and friends and colleagues, i am excited about the opportunity and to get down there and have an impact.

so continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this move. i am still in traverse city for a meeting and haven't packed for my trip tomorrow. and pray for chris that he does well flying with thalia by himself. i know he will do great. i will keep you posted on our progress and promise to put up some new pics (including thalia's six month hippo pic) before i leave tomorrow.

thanks for your love, support, and prayers. we really feel like we have the best extended family!

much love and less sleep,
claire

big news

many of you already know this but for those of you that don't, i have some big news to share. i have accepted a year long rotation in the marketing department for one of the medicines i sell. unfortunately, the marketing department is in raleigh, north carolina. the plan is for me and thalia to move down to raleigh and for chris to follow sometime later this year. yes, i know that is shocking to some...but he has a lot in the air with the band right now. so he is going to focus on his music and trying to get the band's cd signed to a record label. he should know by christmas what is going to happen with it. then he will either be a rock star :o) or move down to nc with thalia and me. we think it is a win-win situation. i get to pursue my dream of being involved in marketing and he gets to pursue his dream of becoming a rock star. yes it is going to be hard for everyone to be apart but the company does provide two airline tickets a month that either i can use to fly back to michigan or chris can use to fly down to raleigh.

so the plan is for me to leave thursday morning and drive my car down, and for chris to fly down with thalia on friday. the company provides a furnished apartment for us to live in so hopefully we can move into it friday. i may have to wait until later the next week depending on availability. i am trying to work that out today. i also still have to find a day care for thalia since chris is going to stay in ypsi for a while and the one that i looked at that was "on campus" cost more than my house payment. (yikes!) so next week is going to be crazy...just like this week actually. but it is a fantastic opportunity for me...i am the only person in the country who will be doing this particular rotation.

please keep up in your prayers over this next week as we get ready to move thalia and me down to north carolina. we do have some family down there which will be very helpful and comforting. but it is definitely going to be a big adjustment. thanks for all your love and support!

much love and little sleep,

c, c, and t

here is a funny picture of thalia chewing on her hat strap to make you smile :o) have a great weekend!

labor day at hubbard lake

hello everyone! i hope you all enjoyed a long weekend. we spent the weekend up at hubbard lake and while this was thalia's second trip up to our cottage, it was her first time actually getting in the water or going out on the boat. here are some quick favorites from the trip...more to come! love you all!

much love and little sleep (again...grr!), c, c, and t