Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve

After much debate and discussion, we decided to spend New Year's Eve at home with our two girls.
This one is trying her best to get up on all fours and get around, and...
 this one is going through a pig-tail stage.
 They're both pretty stinkin' cute and we're looking forward to a memorable 2012 with them!
Happy New Year!!

Madison Christmas, Part 2

We celebrated Christmas with my aunts, uncles, and cousins on Monday. I We don't get to see everyone that often, so I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with them! We had a very Merry Day-After-Christmas :)

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

6 Months Old!

Clare Anne is 6 months old today!
It's hard to believe that this lil' bit is already a half of a year old.
  She is changing so much everyday, and her little personality is really developing.
Some things about Clare this month:
1. She's a really good eater. Still gets 4 bottles a day, plus a breakfast and a dinner. So far, we have tried out apples, bananas, peaches, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas and green beans. She's not a super big fan of the green veggies, but she'll eat whatever you put in front of her. She starts smacking those lips immediately!
2. She's becoming much more coordinated with her hands. She's holding her bottle a little bit, and she will pull her pacifier out of her mouth and try really hard to put it back in. She plays with lots of her toys.
3. She is the definition of a wiggle worm, as evidenced of the pictures below. She moves and wiggles ALL the time! It's nearly impossible to change her diaper, her clothes or to bathe her. She scoots on the floor some too. She is still working on sitting up and has to be set in that position. She's also started getting on her hands and knees in the crawling position ... no crawling yet please!!
 4. On a good day, she takes 3 good naps. We have a better evening if she does. :) She is a great night-time sleeper too. She goes to bed about 7:45 or 8 and sleeps till 7ish the next morning.
5. She still loves her sister, and Lila loves her. They do so well together right now, and it makes me excited to know how well they'll play together in the future. There is no sister picture this month because Clare was done with my picture taking quick today!
6. She went to the doctor last Thursday and she weighed 16.1 lbs. We go back in about a week, so we'll see how that changes.
7. Pretty sure she's teething, and I will be surely glad to see a sweet little tooth poke through! Her fingers or a toy or whatever she can get her hands on are constantly in her mouth!
8. She still likes to be held and snuggled, and I like to think she's a mama's girl. :)
9. She is a super happy baby, and I love to see her smile ... it literally lights up her entire face.
I am so loving every stage that she goes through, and it's amazing what she has added to our little family in the past six months. She's definitely a loved little girl!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas in Madison, Part 1

We arrived in Madison, and it sure was good to be home for Christmas!
The girls on Christmas Eve ... Got to get some Christmas love!
Round 3 of Christmas loot
Lila got a sleeping bag from Aunt Casey ... it had a matching one for her baby dolls. Think she's ready for some sleep overs!!
Santa was good to Josh and me too! Super excited about this!
Aunt Casey got an iPad ... she was pretty excited too :)
Christmas morning church
We were super lazy the rest of the day and did nothing but play with all of our new toys!
We had Christmas with my aunts, uncles and cousins today, but those pictures will come at the end of the week. Josh took my camera cord back to O-town with him.


Santa's Visit -- 2011

Santa was great to our girls this year! We had an absolute blast seeing their faces on Christmas morning! Lila's excitement was contagious, and the first thing she did was to check on the milk and cookies she left!
Lila's side of the tree
Notice she got the things on her list ... her make-ups was in her stocking. :)
Clare's side of the tree
Stockings
Lila checking it all out!
The girls with their Santa
Merry 1st Christmas, Clare Anne!
Getting right down to the playing!
Seeing what Santa left in the stocking
Lila was such a sweet sister .. she made sure Clare was able to open all of her gifts. ;-) She was particularly excited because this gift was for Clare from Lila. 
Granny shooting some hoops on the basketball goal from Grammy and Papa.
Don't be fooled -- Mama and Daddy got in on the fun too. We had a wonderful morning!

Preparing for Ho-Ho!

We decided to make cookies for Santa -- don't judge my baking skills, we tried, and he ate them anyway!
Mimi was on hand to help us decorate them!
She was beyond excited for Ho-Ho to come. Clarebear was long in the bed by the time we finally settled Lila down to do all this!
Lila's letter to Santa. I filled it in, but she told me what to write (except the where we live part!). Notice what she asked for ... been talking about this for a month! We keep it simple around our house.
Snuggled in (our) bed in her new sleeping bag.
 Next up ... a visit from Ho-Ho!