Eat. Play. Sleep.

Our routine is much the same every day... we try to follow the model of eat, play, sleep. It seems to be helping her to sleep longer at night and nap better during the day. We starting utilizing the swing just this week after some technical difficulties (the safety switch got us!) The swing is like baby prozac! Now... if we could just find something for Mom and Dad. Ha! The swing has allowed me to find time to do things like shower, eat and PACK! We close on the house in just a week!

Here she is just half an hour ago playing on her Rainforest Gymini. She LOVES it! Brad and I can't get enough! We just sit and watch her play in the evenings. The sounds she makes are just intoxicating. She is also starting to smile. This is especially apparent when she first wakes up... sooooooo adorable!


A few short minutes later it was definitely nap time!

God Speed Uncle Alex!

My sister and her husband, Alex are currently stationed with the Air Force in Germany. On Tuesday, Uncle Alex will be deployed. He is heading to Iraq. We will all miss him terribly as he will be gone through May or June. The holidays and family vacay will not be the same without you Alex! Anna Claire is looking forward to meeting her "Uncle Ally."

This afternoon I purchased a web cam so we can send Alex off properly! He needs to see his niece! Hopefully we can keep in touch via web cam now and then while he is gone. Mary Beth will be coming to KY for about a month during the holidays. Just a few weeks until her arrival. We are looking forward to seeing her, but will miss Alex! MB will be return to KY in March for a few weeks to visit and pass the time. Please keep Alex and MB in your prayers as he heads off on this journey. I am sure it will be a big adjustment for both of them. Thanks for your service Alex! Thanks for all you do and please stay safe! We wish you didn't have to go!

God Speed Uncle Ally!

Lucky Number 7

I am not going to say much, because I know it is TOO good to be true, but Anna Claire slept from 12:30 AM until 7:30 AM last night!!!!! That is 7 hours in a row! We could not believe it when we woke up and quite honestly I had to nudge her to make sure she was ok. :-) We truly appreciated the uninterrupted sleep and wonder what will happen tonight... I am sure it is too good to be true! I think she will be moving from the bassinet to her own room/crib very soon. In just a couple of weeks we will be in the new house!

Off to begin the nightly feeding frenzy... wish us luck! My fingers are crossed!

A few of our favorite things...

Just a few cute pics from the past couple of days! As you can see... our girl LOVES a bath, but she loves nothing more than a bottle! Her usual bath time joy was interrupted by hunger this evening, so I had to multi-task to keep the peace! I am sure she was in heaven!

Brad has discovered a new toy... the video game Rock Band. In order to sooth her and indulge in his newfound, boyish, obsession (Ha) he discovered that he could wear her in the baby carrier AND play the game at the same time. When I saw that, I had to take a picture!

Anna Claire is really loving to snuggle and hold onto something. She is always reaching for something and loves to hold onto Mommy's shirt or hair! She loves her snuggle bunny!

Last but not least... a few shots of the NEW house. We are hoping to close on Nov. 26th. Will keep everyone posted! For now we are busy packing, planning and preparing for the move. We are so excited!

What a day...

Saturday was a crazy day filled with many emotions. A little after noon we got the news that my Papa passed away. He was ready to go and it was certainly time, but that doesn't make it any easier. Considering the C-section recovery and adjusting to life with Anna Claire, it had been quite a while since my last visit with Papa. Fortunately Aunt Kathy called me Friday when he took a turn for the worst and I rushed to the home in Wilmore to visit. He knew I was there and I held his hand and talked to him one last time. HE got to put his hand on Anna Claire. I think he had more clarity and was more in tune with things than he had been in a long time. He smiled when I spoke of Nana and how she was probably waiting on him. I left Friday night feeling that I may never see him again and sure enough... Again, I know he is in a better place and I find comfort in that! We will be post poning the celebration of his life until Christmas so our entire Corcoran family can be together. Thanks to those of you that have called and checked in on me and my family!

LATER THAT DAY... we placed an offer on a home and the seller accepted! Pending a clean inspection... it is our's! We hope to close and move somewhere around the first week of December. I will post pics within the next week or so as I plan to take some when we return to walk through with the inspector later in the week. We are thrilled and can't wait to move into our new HOME! Saturday was one crazy, roller coaster of a day. So... for my own sake, I have uploaded a great video of Anna Claire playing and talking on her changing table. The video is not of great qualify, but it could cheer anyone up! Turn up the volume!

Sleeping Beauty!

I have hesitated writing about this as I don't want to jinx myself! BUT... Anna Claire has starting sleeping SOOOOOOO much better at night! 4 nights in a row she has given us a 5 hour stretch of sleep, uninterrupted! We think it is the magic potion/aka NEW formula that we started her on this past weekend. After a bout of projectile vomiting, some refueling with Pedialite and a discussion about a possible milk allergy, we switched to the hypoallergenic formula. We call this the "designer" formula as it is certainly the most expensive on the shelf! (of course she has good taste!) Worth every penny as she is sleeping better and having less feeding and belly issues. Cross your fingers that this pattern continues!!! Maybe the 3rd formula is the charm!

This has been a great week with the new found sleeping pattern and the election! I know some of you have much different political views and I respect that - but we are glad our candidate won! See Obama's youngest fan below. Ha.

After much thought and a little coaxing from my Mom, Monday night Anna Claire spent her first night away from home. Honey and Poppy made the trip to Lexington to pick her up around 5 PM and we didn't see her again until about 6:30 PM on Tuesday! After crying three times, I finally calmed down and tried to enjoy some time to myself and with Brad. All in all it went well and it was nice to sleep and have time to get things done, but WOW I missed her! Honey and Poppy were tired when they returned her to us, but they said they would do it again in a heartbeat! I think they had a great time and thankfully she slept VERY well for them, only getting up once! They need to build up to an entire weekend they say, but know they can handle one night - ha! May be a while though before I can handle it again -ha!