8 Months

Little Miss Clara is 8 months old!  She had a wonderful month.  A high was Clara's first Christmas.  A definite low has been our first teething battle.  Any and all suggestions are welcome.  Here are some other tidbits about our sweet girl.

 

--Did pretty well on her flights to and from Boise. This is a shot of Clara mid-travel

I like this one because it looks like a selfie.  Really she was just reaching for my phone.  She wanted an iphone for Christmas, but we didn't get her one.

--Got professional pictures done in Boise.  The whole first photo shoot all she would do was suck her toes.  It sounds cute, but it was infuriating.  On a side note, if anyone in Boise is looking for a photographer, I super-recommend Carrie Rainey.  She is the best. 

 --Is very curious.  She wants to put her hands (and mouth) all over everything and will stretch and squirm when you hold her until you take her to what she wants to see.

--Loves to watch football with her Daddy.  Go Seahawks!

....but sometimes it gets boring

--Has two brand new teeth.  It was not a fun process to get them, and it has royally messed up her sleep schedule.  We are all a little loopy.

--Can army crawl.  She's not up on her knees, but she's getting faster and faster every day

When I was getting her dressed the other day I heard my phone ringing in my bedroom.  I left the nursery for 30 seconds to grab it and by the time I got back Clara had shuffled all the way across the room to her toy basket and pulled it over.

--Eats lots of veggies and a couple of fruits.  Her favorite food is corn.  We just got her a high chair.

Please excuse the garbage can in the background

--Loves to arch her back and flop backwards.  She did that while making her debut as Baby Jesus and thought she was hilarious

--Weighs 16.5 lbs

--Enjoys reading stories

I like this picture because it looks like she fell asleep reading

-- Has been working very hard on baby signs.  The only one she knows is "puppy".  I have no idea how I birthed a daughter who loves puppies

--Can sit up really solidly now, so she's been coming in the shower with me.  She loves it and sounds like a little seal puppy every time she hears the water start.

She continues to love technology.  She army crawled a really long way to get to this laptop, and it didn't help that I kept shifting it

--Wears size 6-9 month clothes and 9 month clothes, and size 2 diapers

This curled-lip smile is new.  I think it's a response to her new teeth

 Even though we're all a little sleep deprived, we continue to enjoy Clara.  It's fun to see her little personality come out more and more each month and to watch her learn things. 

2013 Year in Review

Year in Review-2013

What an amazing year we have had!  I can easily say it has been one of the best years of my life.  It can pretty much be summed up with this girl.  

January

·         I turned 23.  Erik and  I had a fun day painting the nursery and going out to dinner and falling asleep instead of going to the movies liked we’d planned

February

·         I tried unsuccessfully to give up whining for lent, and we tried out a new Thai restaurant for our 4^th Valentine’s Day together

March

·         The cheerleaders traveled across the state for the state basketball tournament and I got to go with.  They looked fantastic and we had a great time

April

·         The month of  baby showers!  I am seriously the most spoiled person I know.   I had a great trip to Boise/Logan to see my family and my friends threw me a beautiful shower at home

May

·         My friends Chris and Beez came to visit the week before Clara was born.  Chris thought it would be cool if I had the baby while they were there, so he kept trying to scare me until Beez reminded him that surprise was for getting rid of the hiccups, not inducing labor.

·         Clara Jaye was born on May 15^th weighing 6 lbs  6oz.  It was a fairly easy birth.  I was induced at midnight and in labor for about 11 hours.  Erik, my mom, and my mother-in-law were all with me.

·         My mom stayed for two weeks to help us adjust to life as parents.  We watched a ton of Downton Abbey while we were up with Clara during the night.  It was a really special time that I will always remember

·         My sweet Grandma Rhea passed away just a few days after Clara was born.  I would always call my grandma when I needed a pick-me-up because she was so supportive and encouraging and made me feel like a rock star.  She made me feel like I was capable of anything, which is exactly how grandmas should make you feel.  She was the perfect blend of tough and sweet and we miss her very much

 June
We learned how to be parents to a baby.  There was a lot of strange sleeping patterns and spit-up.

 

·       July

·         Nina came and stayed with us for 3.5 weeks.  It was SO much fun.  She is the best ever.

We had an awesome 4^th of July at the lake house with Erik’s family 

   My family came to visit for Clara’s baby blessing.  My dad and I spruced up the garage door and Clara and my mom got lots of snuggle time. 

·      

·         Erik, Clara, Nina, and I travelled to Banff with Erik’s parents for a 20-group meeting.  It was beautiful and so much fun.  Clara did great on the road trip.

August

Clara learned to roll over and visited Boise for the first time.  We had a great time going swimming and seeing my brother Alex and his cute wife, Emily.

September

·         Our friends Zach and Emily visited from Utah.  Erik had his most successful month ever at work.  Piano and cheerleading started up again.

October

·         My mom came to visit just for a few days.  Having a baby definitely upped our family time this year.

·         Clara was a football for Halloween

November

·         My family visited for a few days.  My dad hung crown molding in Clara’s nursery and Nina came to winter season cheer try-outs.  I would have put her on the team if it weren’t for the whole living in Idaho thing.  We had a great Thanksgiving with Erik’s family

December

·         My piano students did great at their Christmas recital.  As always, Debbie made it look like a wedding reception in the Primary room.  She is so helpful with my recitals

·         We   spent Christmas in Boise where Clara made her debut as Baby Jesus

·        

 We went to bed at 9:30 on New Year’s Eve.  Happy 2014 everybody!