Thanksgiving

This is all of the girls in my family! From left to right: Jennifer (my sister), me, Clara, Jess Marie (my Uncle's girlfriend), Mumzy (my mom), Diana (my brother's wife), and Nana (my grandmother) is sitting in the middle. Hudson roasting marshmallows with my brother, Michael

Thomas

making sure it is just right!

Robby, Clara, and I in front of the fire.

This is Clara's new toy! She loves it! Thanks Brakefields!!!!! We had a really great Thanksgiving this year. The last two years I have worked and Robby has sat at home by himself, so this was extra special! We spent the morning with my family and the afternoon with Robby's. It makes me so excited about Christmas! Robby and I are starting to itch to go somewhere...... we are thinking about going to the mountains in North Georgia for our 5 year anniversary.... but of course baby Clara will go too!!

Bouncy, Bouncy!

Clara loves this toy!

My life.....

She's on the move!

Seriously, can you find a happier baby!!! As you can tell by the blog, Clara is our life! We don't have many pictures of beautiful landscapes and fun road trips anymore! Instead, we have millions of pictures of Clara doing various things and some pictures of family! We are planning on going on more great adventures, but for now, Clara IS our greatest adventure!

Happy Baby!

Fun with M!

My sister made a bow for Clara. We stuck it to her head with Vaseline! Isn't it cute! Well, it WAS cute until we heard coughing sounds from the back seat and I pulled a slobbery ribbon out of her mouth....cute, but bad idea. All ready to go in Gigi's car! Everyone so calm and quite...... isn't that what usually happens before a storm?? Harrison with his train book. He loves letters.

Working hard on crafts at M's house..... Clara didn't really like having her hand painted.... M got this really great toy! Clara loves it! She jumps and smiles and laughs. She says, "M, you're the coolest"!!

Yesterday was a great day! Gigi and I took our kids to M's house and had a play day! It was so much fun, we made Thanksgiving and Christmas crafts with the kids. M is so creative and fun to be around. She and my sister always make the coolest things with the kids, I am so lucky that they just started including Clara and I in everything.

Krispy Kreme & Birthdays

Clara loves my dad. She gets so excited every time she sees him or even just hears him cough! She is so happy! Just look at that toothy grin!I love this picture.... I have always thought that my dad had the strongest hands.

So pretty!

Can you believe that this is the same sling that Clara used to LOVE to sleep in!! My baby girl has gotten so big!

Thomas, Clara, & I went to Krispy Kreme at 6:30 am on the morning of my mom's Birthday to let everyone sleep in! I thought that the picture was so bad of all three of us, it's just funny! I can't remember the last day I didn't feel tired from the lack of sleep in my life....

This is Clara and I at my mom's Birthday party.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Clara is concentrating so hard on turning this toy!

Clara's new sound!

Clara has started making new sounds and she is very proud of herself!

New high chair

Cool toys on the chair! Hi baby! Clara holding her own spoon and I love how it looks like she is about to fling some food at me!

I fed Clara for the first time this morning in her big girl high chair (thanks Katie)! She loved it! She has been doing really well with her eating. She loves avocado and pears the most of all of the foods she has tried so far! This has been really fun.

Play date

So, my sister and I had a play-date the other day... one of many actually, but this one was extra special because I sat way up front and let Thomas sit with Clara in the back-back of the car. Now, Gigi has one of those mega cars, the kind that you have to yell in order to talk to the people in the back-back! Thomas was having a great time playing with his "baby Cwarda", but after a little while she got tired of Thomas and started crying. He was clapping and singing and trying everything to make her happy, but with no success. Her cries got louder and so did his singing and clapping! Finally, this precious 4 year old boy, grabbed two hand fulls of his dark, curly hair with each hand, and with a horribly distressed look on his face yelled "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE"!!!! I laughed so hard I almost cried! Then to add to the comedy, I rushed to my baby's side, climbing over two 40 pound twins in Britax Marathons and squeezing over her car seat to sit in the middle of her and Thomas. The lady in the car behind us was laughing as well as she watched my rear! But it was all worth it when that calm "oh, there you are mommy" look came over my precious little ones face and she smiled her little smile of accomplishment. Thomas told me that Clara sure does love me...... the feeling is mutual.

Robby's Birthday party on Sunday!

Clara in the jacket Mumzy bought for her! My beautiful sister and Clara!

"Baby Cwarda" and Harrison on the slide!

Thomas and Clara on the slide

Poppie and Robby grilling for Robby's Birthday party with the Armbresters & Brakefields.

Nana & Hudson This is Clara, worn out yesterday after Robby's Birthday party at my parent's house! My whole family got together for lunch and celebrated Robby turning 27! It was great fun! I am blessed to have Robby in my life. We have been together for 9 years, married almost 5 of those. I've never been happier.............and now we have Clara!

Robby's Birthday with the Austins

So many people in the kitchen! Ryan, Rob's brother, came home from college for the weekend to celebrate Robby's birthday with all of us. He is sitting next to Audra Claire, Robby's sister. Valerie and Rhett (above) John, the newest addition to the Bailey family (below) Saturday night we went to the Bailey's farm to have an Austin/Bailey family Birthday party for Robby. It was really fun. The Bailey's recently adopted a little boy, John, from Vietnam. This was our first time to meet him. He is so sweet and very attached to his new mommy! The Baileys gave Robby some fresh eggs from their farm! I made him eggs for breakfast on his Birthday!

The mouse in Mumzy's house!

Kate, Katie's little girl with Hudson. Katie's children came over for a play date the other day. It was fun. I think Thomas and Sawyer got along really well. Clara with her favorite dragon. It was given to her by Paola (a friend of ours from Berkeley).

I am starting to realize that things will never "settle down"! I keep telling people that as soon as things settle down I will do this or that....... after weeks of waiting for that magic moment, I have given up hope!! Don't get me wrong, we are so happy, it is just a new lifestyle we are having to adjust to. Funny story: Robby helped my dad catch a mouse the other day! It was hilarious, I wish I had had a camera! I found a mouse in our pantry, screamed bloody murder, and put four traps in there to catch it with no success..... so my dad decided that it was time for him and his new bff, Robby, to take matters into their own hands. My father leaves and we all think he is going to get gloves or something to catch it with. But no, he comes back with a wet-vac! They started moving things out of the pantry and found the little thing in the bottom under some stuff. My dad sucked it up and started shaking the hose to get it to go into the bucket! Well, the little thing somehow climbed up and as my dad was shaking it, leaped from the hose onto the floor of the kitchen! My dad, who thinks anything with four legs "goes for the throat" started running around after it and handed Robby the hose! It was gut busting, tears streaming down my face, funny! Robby finally caught it after some pretty hilarious chasing! They left it in the bucket and later my dad says he took it and set it free in a field or something! I'm not so sure about that, but I know he didn't kill it, my dad can't hurt a fly! Now my nephews keep telling all of their friends and every stranger they meet about the mouse in Mumzy's house that Poppie sucked up in a vacuum!

Moss Rock Festival

My Uncle Larry working at the Moss Rock Festival. He helped children make mobiles.

Uncle Larry!

Clara is practicing sitting up! This is just one of the cool things they had at Moss Rock There were vendors everywhere. The art was really fun to look at!

Yesterday Robby, Clara, and I went to the Moss Rock Festival at the Preserve. My Uncle and Jess Marie were working there. The rest of my family went too. It was a beautiful day to be outside. We had a really great time. I love this time of year. I had forgotten how much I love the fall. In California we didn't really have seasons, it was kind of the sane outside most of the time. That can be really nice, but I love the fall leaves and the way that the air feels crisp when I go for runs in the mornings...... We will see though, something tells me I will be humming a different tune when summer comes!!!