Christmas 2012

Clara playing with her xylophone. She loves that thing!

Clara and her friend Emma on Emma's new present.

Our little fam after church on Christmas morning!

She loves the swing at Nana & Grandpa's house.

Happy Christmas girl.

On the go with her new baby and stroller.

Pre-Christmas

This used to be my nightgown!!

Clara loves her toy.

Childhood friends last forever sometimes, when you're lucky.

Clara at church.

Clara and her friend Sophia having fun.

Sophia is so cute!!

Noah, friend from the park, Clara, and Sophia

11 months

It is so hard to keep up with all of the changes our baby girl has gone through in the recent months. From day to day, things seem to stay the same, but when I look back, she is a completely different baby from even two months ago! Some of the latest fun things about Clara: -She makes animal noises when she sees pictures of the animals in her books. Her favorite sound to make by far is "moo." - She has TWO teeth now! On the bottom. - She has stood by herself for a few seconds several times, and walked holding our hands. - She loves playing ball with our dog Stanley and feeding him food she doesn't want. - She consistently says "more" and "done" with the baby signs and her voice when she is eating. - She loves to go to the park and play on the swings, and crawls over to the stroller when she wants to go. She is still the snuggliest, most loving little baby and I love to hear her say "Mama" or "meal meal" when she wants to nurse. But it is hard to deny that she is well on her way to becoming a toddler. How did it happen so fast??

Germany with a Baby!

How crazy is it to take a very active, crawling baby to a foreign country? We decided to find out this July! :-) It was mainly a trip to see family, but we got a couple of tourist moments in there, too. We found out that the airlines can give you an upgrade where there are bassinettes available - they stick to the wall and provide hours of enjoyment!

IKEA, IKEA, we love you so

One of the prettiest homes!

Fun at the toy store! She is getting so big!!

The city church at the 850-year celebration of Schwaebish Gmuend

On top of Burg Herzberg, our favorite Schloss :-)

Oma picking cherries

Clara with cousins!

Happy 4th of July!! Oma and Opa humored me by wearing red white and blue.

Us with Aunt Elisabeth

Mama and Clara by the cherry tree

Wedding and 8 Months

My cousin, Emily, got married last weekend in Texas. We stayed with my cousin Lora and her family for 5 nights. It was the first flight I have ever taken with Clara by myself. It went ok but boy did it make me grateful for Charlie! Flying with baby is exhausting! And people do not always give you enough elbow room to nurse on the plane. Enough said. On this trip, Clara also turned 8 months old! She started saying "dog" and making the "g" and "l" sounds. Just in time to say "dog" to each dog she met at our family's houses. Just yesterday, she started clicking her tongue. It is truly amazing how fast she develops!

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And not to be forgotten, my BFF Melissa was in town and we headed out to a delicious winecafe, Postino's in Gilbert. She is so good with baby Clara!!

Mother's Day

We had Mother's Day lunch over at our house with both sets of grandparents. I led the children's choir at both services at church and then we had lots of delicious food. It was a good first Mother's Day.

7 Months

Who would have known all the changes that little Clara's 7-month mark would bring? Crawling backwards, saying "mama," "dada," "baba," and lots of "f" and "v" sounds, pulling up to the edge of her crib with both hands, eating so many new foods including strawberries (the all-time fave), big-girl carseats, NO teeth :-), and sadly, some major stranger-danger fears. Loving every minute of our precious girl and can't wait to see whar next month will bring.

Happy Easter!

5 1/2 months

4 1/2 months

She loves this little car walker!

Christmas faves

now she is 3 months!!!