Mama

My day has arrived. Clare has finally given me the name I have dreamed of for so long. While I’ve been her Mama since July ’09, this weekend she finally called me Mama.

When she first started calling Jeff Dada I was thrilled, it was so nice to hear her voice and see her eyes light up when he came in the room and her calling out his name. I knew in her own time I’d get the same reaction from her, she was just keeping those sweet words to herself until she was ready.

My parents swore they heard her say it; I believed them but was a little hesitant, as I didn’t hear it myself. Later she said it again; clear as day and with the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard. Since then she has been saying all the time. Each time I hear her speak those words my heart melts and I fall deeper in love with her.

Clare, you are my world and I love you more than anything. Thank you for giving me a name and letting me listen to your sweet voice.

Thanksgiving

Last week was a busy week for Clare, she hosted all of her Evans family and her first Thanksgiving.

Early Thursday morning Sarah, Paul, Maggie, Jack, Mom and Dad arrived. We all came back to the house and started eating, Jeff was wonderful and provided great food all weekend. My family is always very impressed with his cooking and loves to visit, he’s sure to impress them. Clare enjoyed playing and talking with everyone while dinner was prepared. We sat down to ‘dinner’ around 2. Jeff made Turkey breast wrapped in bacon, duck breast, smoked turkey legs, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing and pumpkin pie cake for dessert.

Clare was more interested in the bubble wrap from Tia's peanut brittle than the gift from Maggie and Jack.

A Doctor Kit!! Of course the packaging is as exciting as the toy itself. No pressure Clare, but you'd be the first Sweet MD.

Is there a Dr. in the house?? Why yes, there were 4 including Clare.

Clare and Kenny talking about their matching shirts from Glacier.

Clare liked the mashed potatoes but thought the sweet potatoes were a little chunky.

She had no problem cleaning her plate (or bowl).

Jack was a big fan of the sausage balls.

This picture just makes me laugh, he was clearly enjoying dinner.

Uncle A made her a hat.

Friday we went to the pool, Clare went under water for the first time! Maggie and Jack played for well over an hour, they had lots of energy and swimming was the perfect way to expel some of that. We also went to the open gymnastics gym for a little tumbling and running around, but both were too exhausted from swimming.

Standing all by herself!

Maggie and Jack loved the slide, especially climbing UP, good thing the Lifeguard didn't say anything!

This picture will be on my desk at work for sure. That smile melts my heart :)

Everyone was very tired and ready for a nap.

Friday afternoon while the kids napped the original Evans family did a little Black Friday shopping. I don’t know that we’ve been shopping as family in the last 20 years; it was fun. Friday evening Jeff outdid himself again and made Shepard’s pie and pickled vegetables for dinner. Who needs to go out to dinner when Jeff can cook amazing meals!!

Saturday was family pictures and football. We woke up early and dressed in our best red threads to meet Ann for a few photos. Ann is a wonderful photographer; she was able to get a bunch of great shots without too much chaos. I can’t wait to get the pictures printed and up around the house. We haven’t had a family picture taken since our wedding; it’s nice to have the entire family in one picture.

Both of Clare’s football teams played their big game on Saturday; thankfully Jeff was able to rig the TV’s so that both games could be watched in the living room. Even better was watching them both win!

Saturday evening we braved the crowds and went to the mall so that Maggie could go to the American Girl store, so many American Girl dolls in one place! Maggie has Kaya and really enjoys reading her books; Grammy bought her a new book, which she promptly got Andrew to start reading to her. I think Grammy also picked up a few things for under the Christmas tree. After American Girl we stopped in at Pottery Barn Kids where Clare got a few Christmas gifts and then Hanna Anderson where Maggie gets her favorite dresses; Clare got her first dress via the Cyber Monday deals so she can match her cousin Maggie.

Sunday was bittersweet; Sarah, Paul, Maggie and Jack had to leave so they were back in time for school on Monday. It was sad to see them leave; I wish we were able to see each other more often. Sarah was able to come out in April when Clare was born, so this was the second time she’d seen Clare, sadly it will be another few months before we will see her again. I’m thinking we’ll make the trek to Ohio in January; hopefully Clare doesn’t grow up too much before then.

It was a whirlwind 5 days, Mom and Dad left on Monday morning, but a wonderful time. Not seeing my family very often is hard; when we do get to spend time together it seems to go quickly. Living so far away is difficult, so much changes between visits, Clare will be a little girl before we know it, no longer the little baby that they saw on their most recent visit. When we do get to visit I’m reminded again of how much I love my family and love my life. I have a lot to be thankful for.

A special side note. Typically Clare doesn't nap very long on Monday's, she must like spending her time with me. Today, she has been asleep for 3 hours!!! Way to go Clare!!!

Snooze

This morning we met up with Andrew and Sabrina for brunch at Snooze. Snooze is ‘An AM Eatery’ that has multiple locations; the newest one just opened by my Rec. center and lots of people have been raving about it. Andrew and Sabrina have been before, and like it pretty well, so we all met to try it out.

Excited about going to Snooze.

The wait was over an hour, lucky for us there was a coffee shop across the way. We waited our hour while sipping tea and hot chocolate. Clare didn’t make a peep the entire time, the only one of the group that didn’t voice their dislike of the wait.

Checking out the menu, so many good things to eat!

The menu had lots of delicious sounding breakfast treats; pancakes, corned beef hash, steak and eggs, breakfast burritos, eggs benedict, and oatmeal just to name a few. Jeff selected the corned beef hash, I had the fancy steak and eggs (learned I don’t like hollandaise sauce) and Clare had her very first blueberry pancake. To say that Clare loved her pancake would be an understatement; she couldn’t get enough of it.

A pancake as big as her head!!

Practicing feeding herself, good thing there is a pocket on her bib to catch the dropped pieces.

So good!

I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did, not once did she cry, scream, throw something or make a scene. Her exceptional behavior gives me hope that we’ll be able to eat out with family this holiday season, as long as we go on her schedule that is. A number of people stopped by and commented on how cute she was and well behaved. I know we’re biased, but we too think she is the cutest little girl.

If you’re in town looking for a great breakfast place, check out Snooze, it’s worth the wait (if you have someplace to sit and drink hot chocolate and talk with family/friends). Clare gives it a thumbs up.

Snoozing on the way home.

Bananas and Laundry

But not together.

Clare offered her help with Jeff’s laundry, as you can see she did a great job!

Don't worry, they're clean!

Clare had bananas with her dinner tonight; I think she liked them. Whether she liked picking them up or eating them more I'm not sure.

7 Months

Today marks 7 months of Clare. At 11:48pm 7 months ago today my life changed forever, I fell instantly in love with someone I just met, a love that I can’t put words to. Sadly, I don’t recall the first moment I met Clare, something I will regret for the rest of my life. I recall the Dr. telling me to look at her, and their taking her over to be cleaned up. It wasn’t for another few, 10?, minutes before I was able to hold her. I do remember the first thing I noticed were her sweet little ears, slightly folded over on the top, just like mine.

Tonight, as I put her to bed, I stared at her and drank her all in. Her tiny little nose, full cheeks, thin lips, the dimple on her right cheek, the top of her ear slightly folded over. Every little bit of her is perfect and unique. People comment on how much she looks like me, which I tend to agree with. She has my fair skin and light hair. Whether she looks like me or not, she is her own perfect little self and she’ll grow up looking like Clare.

It’s getting hard to snap her picture without her moving, a good thing I suppose. I set up her chair, Truman and Chrissy this morning, now that it’s getting dark at 4:30pm I knew pictures this evening would be difficult; plus her shirt would be soaked with a days worth of drool.

This weekend Clare and I shopped at Kohl’s, they were having a great sale and Grandma Gail and Grandpa Greg had sent her a little money for a new toy, so off we went. She picked out two new toys, Scout the dog and a book that plays nursery rhymes and plays music (sadly only a few). Scout the dog talks to Clare, and knows her name. It’s a toy that you can hook up to the computer and input info (favorite color, name, favorite foods, animals etc). Clare doesn’t have an overabundance of toys so these two were a welcome addition to the mix.

Contagious Laughter

Some people can’t seem to walk and talk at the same time; Clare can walk and laugh! I suppose it is pretty funny to be on the same level, or lower, than Kai.

When I watch this video it makes me smile, for lots of reason. Tonight it made me think about how years from now when she’s grown up I’ll be able to see her as the little girl she was; the sound of her laugh, her tiny feet and hands, her smile and overall sweetness; it’s all there for me to watch over and over again.

Her laugh is contagious :)

New Jeans

Clare wore her first pair of jeans today.

Telling Dad about her day.

How do they look??

Clare got lots of compliments on her new fleece lined jeans, Karen thought they were pretty cute. I joked that we were channeling her inner Lilly this morning when we got dressed. Lilly is her friend at Karen's that is by far the best dressed child I've seen; she is always dressed very fashionably.

I wish they made these in my size, although I'm sure they wouldn't look as good on me. Clare is lucky to have found the 'perfect' jeans.

74degrees on November 8th

These pictures don’t really need a description; her face says it all. She is the happiest baby, minus the occasional crying fits. When I look at these pictures I can’t help but smile, I love spending my time with her.

Jeff helped Clare with her standing this weekend, she’s getting pretty good. She doesn’t pull herself up, but she can stand there for a few minutes. I’m happy she has an interest in standing up, she has absolutely no interest in crawling, maybe she’ll skip crawling and just start walking. So far her bed is the only place she can really practice her standing, the coffee table is too high and there aren’t many other places for her to hang on; this all gives me a reason to go shopping, we ‘need’ a new toy for her to play with where she can stand.

Today was a beautiful day, almost hot. We started our morning early, thank you day light savings. Clare decided that nobody in the house should sleep past 8, so breakfast it was while Jeff got ready for work. We played a while, made some roasted squash, jumped in the jump-a-roo, had a short nap and then headed out to meet Sarah for lunch. After lunch we headed down to work where we took advantage of the weather and went for a long walk. The Highline trail was beautiful, lots of leaves, people to watch and sunshine. Clare enjoyed watching everything and eventually fell asleep; it was a great day for a nap in the stroller.

Daylight Savings

Like everyone else, we turned our clocks back this morning. Clare went to bed at her new regular time, 7:30-7:45 and slept well, she’s been having a few rough nights of sleep lately so this was much appreciated. I first heard from her around 4:00, thankfully she didn’t need much help getting back to sleep. 6:30 came and there was no getting her back to sleep, she was talking up a storm and ready for the day. We had some breakfast and caught up on our Tv shows. Luckily a long morning nap was in our cards and we both went back to bed for a while.

As you can tell, she was pretty happy to be up, even it was early.

I was thrilled to find this coffee, thank you for leaving it Mom :) Only took me two cups to realize it was decaf, haha.

Our morning went pretty well, and so did the afternoon. We had our usual 2 or 3 naps during the day, lots of eye rubbing and ear pulling by 6:30, bath by 7:00 and then attempt #1 for bed at 7:45. It is now 9:16pm and she’s woken up 3 times, I really hope this isn’t how the rest of the night is going to go.

This weekend Clare gave Puffs a try, Karen suggested that maybe she was ready. We bought some apple and strawberry flavored puffs and gave it a whirl. Clare seemed to enjoy them, although had a little trouble actually getting them in her mouth.

Check out that pincher grasp!

Have you seen my puff?

Can't get enough honeycrisp apples!!!!

Tomorrow we have no exciting plans, hanging around home and going to work in the afternoon. We’ll take advantage of the warmer weather and go for a walk while we can, they say it could snow later in the week. I don’t mind the weather turning cooler; it is November after all. I’m ready for the cooler weather, minus the snow shoveling.

CowMOOflage

Clare received a package in the mail on Monday, her new car seat! I’ve been eyeing Britax car seats for a while and knew it was what I wanted for her, they have great reviews and those that I know who have them love them. She hasn’t outgrown her carrier, far from it in fact, but I’m getting to the point where it is really heavy and hard to carry. I figure we’ll see how this goes and if it’s more difficult then I can always switch back to the carrier.

I installed it in the red car tonight; she’ll have her maiden voyage tomorrow on the way to Karen’s. She seemed to like it OK but how exciting can a car seat be? Jeff thinks maybe she needs a cow hat rather than a bunny hat. We also laughed about how we should get her a Chick-Fil-A ‘Eat More Chicken’ sign.

'What, you don't want me chewing on this strap?'

I know I'm biased, but she is darn cute :)

We’re looking forward to Thanksgiving when Jack will get to ride in Clare’s Cowmooflage seat

Another Monday

Those that know me well know I have a thing for cleaning and cleanliness. I had a panic attack this weekend when I discovered we were completely out of Clorox wipes, how could I possibly be out of my favorite go-to cleaning supply!?! The need to go to Sam’s is now much greater, I’m hoping we can go some evening this week, not sure I can make it thru the week without them! For those that are wondering, no, Jeff does not share in this need for clean; he does however ‘help’ me in my cleaning by staying out of the way and lifting his feet as the Dyson comes by. I do think that he secretly enjoys my cleaning, who wouldn’t like a clean house when you don’t have to do the work?

I did my best to carry on without my staple cleaning supply and cleaned the bathroom; the bathtub was overdue for a good scrubbing. I personally don’t use the bathtub but Clare does so it needs to be clean. Clare played on the bed while I spent a few minutes on the tub. I used a new product this time, Soft Scrub gel with bleach, safe to say it passes my test; the tub and shower look great!

The rest of our day was spent holding each other and watching daytime TV. Clare has been a bit clingy lately, not sure why but neither Jeff nor I are objecting, we love the extra snuggles.

Karen has commented on what a great napper Clare is, sometimes taking a 3 hour nap after lunch. I find this curious; she never naps that long at home! Last week I asked Karen what the routine was so that I could try and replicate it at home. Apparently lunch is around 11 or 11:15, after lunch everyone gets changed and then it’s naptime usually by 12noonish. Clare supposedly will go to sleep on her own, while sharing a room with the other kids, without a peep, no crying, no fussing. Well, it’s a good thing the other kids weren’t in her room this afternoon!

We had lunch and she was showing her normal tired signs, rubbing her eyes and pulling at her ears. I turned the light off, turned on her sound machine and rocked her, our normal bedtime routine. I thought she was drowsy so I put her down, no luck. I held her some more and tried again, this time I set a 15-minute limit for myself. She screamed the ENTIRE time. Third times a charm, right? I picked her up and helped her calm down, we both had tears at this point. We agreed that ‘Cry It Out’ wasn’t for us. She finally fell asleep and I got her into her bed, where she napped for an hour and a half – sweet success!!

Before you call CPS on me, she was breathing the whole time and she usually doesn't have this blanket in the crib with her.

See, her face wasn't covered.

So, what did I learn/realize today?

1. I can survive without my Clorox wipes.
2. I still love the feeling of a clean house, can’t wait to shower in my nice clean shower tomorrow :)
3. Cry It Out isn’t for us.
4. I’m not Karen. Clare knows I’m her Mama and that Karen is Karen, I can’t expect her to act the same for both of us, nor do I want her to.
5. I love Monday’s with my little girl, even if all we do is hold each other.