Good Times and Hard Times

Though it is soo sad to post a few pictures of Claire in the hospital, we are so thankful that the doctors were able to figure out what was wrong with our sweet girl. Most of the people reading our blog already know what went on with her a few weeks ago but for those that don't I'm doing to make a LONG story REALLY short; she had been extremely fussy and clingy from about the first week in October (we thought it was teething.) Next, we noticed that she was choking on her milk with every sip (after two doctors appointments about this we were told it was a throat infection.) The coking continued so we got a chest x-ray that came back fine. She was put on an antibiotic after two weeks of EXTREME fussiness (which is not like her at all, actually her entire personality had totally changed.) The antiobiotic didn't change anything and we finally became very concerned because she was seeming very clumsy and was unable to stand up on her own. We took her to the doctor again and they sent us to have a brain scan. THe scan came back fine but they admitted us to the hospital for more tests. After blood work, and MRI and a spinal tap she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, an incredibly rare illness. Her case was a mild one, thank goodness. She was in the hospital for 4 days while the monitored her to make sure the illness was not getting worse. She did not have to receive any treatment and she will be completely recovered in a few more weeks.

Needless to say, that was one of the most scary things Jon and I have ever been though. We are so grateful for the diagnosis and to have an answer to what was going on. Claire's funny, lovable and crazy personality is back in full force and Jon and I are loving being able to enjoy her again. We have received so much love and support from friends, family and people we have just recently met here in Charlotte . We know so many people were praying for our sweet girl, thank you!


We think that Claire got a bad reputation with the doctors and nurses during her stay :)
She would SCREAM every time someone new walked into the room to check on her.
Between the doctor and nurse visits she really was a great sport. She was spoiled and enjoyed treats of stickers, balloons and doughnut holes!



Our last day there. Can you tell she was feeling better? She loves putting "hats" on her head.



Claire will actually sit still for a few minutes at a time now!



All dressed up for the Halloween play date. We borrowed cousin Bradley's pjs because we didn't have a costume. I promise she will be something sweet next year, though it was actually appropriate after all that she had just been though!



We were still able to take our trip to PA for Jon's cousin's wedding!
We spent a night at my Aunt Merle's house and Claire loved seeing Andrew again!



Gramps took Claire for a ride on the lawnmower at Grandmother and Grandfather's house.






Looking pretty at Susan and Bj's wedding.






Dancing with GramE and Gramps!
I love this picture!
Notice Bradley running up to join the party and Jake groovin' on the side.
It is rare that I actually get a picture of Jake because he always runs away from the camera :)




Having fun with Daddy



So sweet. She loves snuggling on soft things now.



Her hair kind of reminds me of a 70's boy band 'do in this picture.



Claire and her favorite, lovie. Aka "luhlie"



Just woke up! Good morning.

October

We retired the diaper bag and replaced it with this cute owl backpack.
Can't you tell she loves it, ha ha.



Claire had fun fixing Grandy's hair.



Surfing on a container lid



Playing at the park



She is so good at going down slides!



In the tunnel with Daddy.




Climbing up to the BIG slide.



She can't go down this one alone.



We had such a fun visit with Evyn, Henry and the Stansell family.









Buddies!



Claire was really proud to be sitting on the couch with her big cousin Jake.
She loves her cousins so much, we are so excited to have them live right down the road from us now!

A Few from the Weekend

She was hot stuff in Daddy's shirt.


We were about to leave for church and she looked so pretty and sweet.
I wanted to get a good picture. Instead I got this and......



...this. She would not still!
In the closet, of course.
We are hoping her enthusiasm for the vacuum stays for a few years :)



She found this sleeve from anew notebook on the floor and put this on her head. It was her idea and she did it all by herself.

Sitting Pretty

Though Claire shows very little interest in playing with her toys, she does like climb in the basket to sit on them.


Watching tv in her big girl rocker.
She loves to climb in and out of this too.



Playdate with Landon. It is so fun to watch them begin to interact!


Poppy helping her at the playground at the mall


Enjoying a summer evening outside at Granny and Poppa's house.


"My hands on my head"


So glad that Jon has a football partner in Claire. They were excited for the first Clemson game this season.


Landon and his beautiful Mama, Jenn.



She is really beginning to like looking at books.


Sitting in her toy box again!

The Past Two Months

It has officially been forever since I have updated the blog. So sorry. I decided that instead of trying to play catch up from the past two months I will just post a few pics from the summer and move on from there. Unfortunately I am not a devoted blogger like some of my wonderful friends but I realized that I do like having a place to look at special pictures and little updates of our sweet sweet girl, so I am going to try to do a better job at keeping this up!



We were in Pawley's Island for her actual birthday. We went with my Mom's side of the family. We all had such a wodnerful time. She LOVED the beach and all of the attention, of course!


She really is this happy most of the time!



At home on the fourth of July watching the Nathan's hot dog eating contest for the second year in a row.



Playing in the rain at Jon's 10 year high school reunion.



Claire and I took a trip to Rhode Island and had a very relaxing stay. One of her favorite things there was this swing in the front yard.


Claire spent a whole weekend away with Grandy and Mimi while Jon and I had a vacation in Charleston! She did so well and had a great time.

Claire turned ONE!

We had a small family party at our house at the end of June. Claire acted exactly how you would want your baby to act at her first birthday. She loved opening presents and eating her cupcake.