Professional Christmas and Newborn Pictures of Grace

Last Saturday, December 5th, we went to get our Christmas pictures taken as well as some newborn pictures of Grace. We were very happy with how they turned out!

The Vandervaart Family - Christmas 2009

Claire and Grace... They wouldn't get any closer together :)

Our beautiful little Grace

She was very problematic during the photo shoot... as you can tell!

We were so happy she opened her eyes

Snug as a bug with Santa

One of our favorites

Thanksgiving and more November 2009

The rest of November proved to be a very busy one. We loving being a family of four and have had fun adjusting. Claire seems to be doing well with the changes and most of the time doesn't even care one way or the other what Grace is up to or what she is doing. Her new thing is pushing Grace in the swing or "rocking" her in her bouncy seat. Thanksgiving was wonderful and we were fortunate enough to have the Vandervaart family (minus Mike) come to Indianapolis to celebrate with my family. It was lots of fun. Here are pictures from the rest of our November....

Grace's first tub bath... not sure what to think at first

Then she let us know that she was NOT happy

Just relaxing on the couch...

Claire helping to decorate the Christmas tree

Pete and Laura... withOUT kids around??? :)

Claire giving Grace a kiss

Check out the progress! Way to go, Claire :)

Claire VERY excited after giving Grace a gentle push in her swing

Claire in her awesome new pajamas

Claire going down a slide at Monkey Joe's

Aunt Kathy reading to Claire

Aunt Kimmy and Kristen being wonderful with Claire - as always!

Aunt Beth surprised us on Thanksgiving by driving to Indy - Grace was ecstatic as you can clearly see :)

The entire gang at Thanksgiving (except Beth who had yet to surprise us)

Annual cranberry roll designed by Laura and the Wahman family...

Dad and Grace coming out of the hospital!

The first of many pictures with the girls in matching outfits :)

Claire ready to give a Hi-Five... she loves it!

Our girls are definately spoiled by their grandmas... fitting shirt for sure!

Claire squeezing in Grace's bouncy seat... don't worry... Grace is not under her at least :)

Claire's Message for Mom

Because of the H1N1 Swine Flu season, no visitors under the age of 15 were allowed in the hospital which meant I was unable to see Claire during my stay. When I realized I was going to be there a week, I asked Pete to try and get a video of Claire so that I could watch it over and over again :) Here is the PERFECT video that he was able to capture.

Claire and Grace bond

Here is Claire, just up from her nap - pushing Grace on the swing and seeming to enjoy some time with her little sis :)

Grace - 2 weeks old

Well Miss Grace is two weeks old and it has certainly been a journey. We are happy to report that after taking Grace to the doctor, she is cleared of pneumonia and appears to be back to a healthy newborn. She was 7 lbs, 10 oz and 20 inches long. Claire has adjusted pretty well, but seems to cry more and want her pacifier more which are definately natural responses. All in all, we think Claire is doing great and are proud of her. We are also proud of Miss Grace for already growing a thick skin to a few pokes and love taps from Claire :) Here are some pictures...

One of these days we'll get a family photo with BOTH girls happy :)

Pete suggested we try and put Grace in the stroller and thought Claire might nicely push it... the expression on Claire's face in this picture shows how much she did not like this idea. Needless to say it was a short experiment...

Again, once Claire cooperates... Grace is unhappy...

Not sure why Grace looks so scared... probably the bright flash... oops :)

A little snuggle time with dad

Thanks for the cute outfit, cousin Erin

Grace seeming to give the camera a mean look (?)

Claire watching TV, Grace eating her pajamas... one of the best pictures yet :)

Home Sweet Home

Since coming home, things have been going well. Karen, Pete's mom, has been here helping out with chasing Claire, cooking, cleaning... she has been a HUGE help! Claire will say "baby" and hug/kiss Grace on command but otherwise she doesn't seem too interested in her. Pete and I got Claire a few little toys to make her feel special after bringing Miss Grace home. Grace mostly sleeps, eats, and poops so aside from our lack of sleep - she is pretty low maintenance. Here are some pictures from the last few days :)

One of Claire's favorite TV shows is Backyardigans and her favorite character is Pablo (pictured above)... we found a huge Pablo balloon at a party store and bought this for her. At first, she was scared but about 12 hours later, she warmed up to the balloon.

Miss Grace peacefully sleeping

Snug as a bug in her car seat and ready to hit the town

After many attempts to get a picture of the girls in matching pajamas (and multiple failures) we had a game plan... Once Claire fell asleep, Karen, Pete, Grace and I went into the room and quickly turned Claire over, put Grace down, snapped a picture, picked Grace up and ran out. Needless to say, it worked pretty well :)

We also got Claire a little baby stroller for her plastic baby... or three of her favorite Backyardigans characters

Dad and his little girls

Grace...scared of something (?)

Claire watching Barney as we slid Grace closer for a picture... Claire's 100% attention to Barney helped us snap this picture

Mommy missed Claire SO much while she was in the hospital

Our first family photo

When Grace first got home and Claire first held her

Grace in her car seat and ready to go

Mom and Dad ready to take Grace home

The night before we left, we gave Gracie her first bath

Healthier, Happier Grace!

We are happy to report that Grace is doing much better! She still has to go to the Special Care Nursery to get antibiotics, but she is able to stay in the room with us otherwise. We have very much enjoyed snuggling and taking care of her in our room. The doctor said we can be discharged on Tuesday morning so we are very excited about that. Here are some pictures of a much healther, happier Grace Ann...

Here she is snuggling with dad

Wide awake with mom

She was wide awake for about 20 minutes after a feeding

Already praying apparently :)

Grace with Grandma V

Grace and Grandma C