Vacation Bible School

Last week was Vacation Bible School at my church. I am now the director of Christian Education which means that I am responsible for VBS. Luckily Laurie has been in charge of it for the past million years and was able to help me out! It was a super long week but Clara was a trooper.

She loves her tia

Each year we have a band from Youth Encounter that does all of the music and games for VBS. This year New Vision (http://www.youthencounter.org/Default.aspx?tabid=976) was there and they were awesome! Two of the girls, Hannah and Katie stayed with us and Jacob and Fredrick stayed with Laurie and Russell. The girls absolutely loved Clara and there was no shortage of hands to hold her during their stay!

Katie and Hannah with Clarita

 We started the week out with a bang by taking the band to Kings Canyon National Park after VBS. We do this each year as many of them have never seen Giant Sequoia trees before and usually enjoy the trip. This year was no exception and the band members had a great time and enjoyed the much cooler weather. We then went to a dinner hosted by a couple from our church who live in the mountains. We had a great time and even got to do some wine tasting as they make their own wine! Clara and I were gone for 14 hours but she was so good. She slept in the car and was happy the entire day. It may have helped that we were surrounded by people (one of her favorite things) and they all held her and played with her.

New Vision

Lion King picture at Abby's request

Panoramic Point

Clara enjoyed her first VBS experience. She got passed from person to person (including La Abuelita and Tia Laurie) and I strapped her on for a nap each day. She liked the music and even "sang" along! She made a new friend, Grace, who is a year older than her and was sad when the fun had to end. I, on the other hand, was a little relieved when VBS ended and we could relax a bit. I found out that planning and running VBS is exhausting and I'm not sure how Laurie did it on her own for so many years... It was also a lot of fun and I am glad that I was able to be there the entire week, something I haven't been able to do since college! I think it also helped to prepare me for my return to work. I think work is more relaxing than VBS!

Singing with Tia Laurie

Four Months

This past month has flown by! We have been on the go more often than not and Clara has been an angel. She and I were gone for 14 hours one day and she was happy the entire day. She sleeps in the car and basically wherever she is when she gets tired. My grandmother was in the hospital for a few days and is now in a nursing home. Clara and I have been visiting her often and Clarita always has a smile for all of the residents (they love her of course). She loves visiting her GG and playing with her! 

Clara loves her GG

It's amazing how much the little Wiggle has changed this past month. She is now very aware of everything around her and will often stop nursing to look around for a noise. She loves her toys and is really into the exersaucer that my Pastor and his wife gave to us now that their daughter has outgrown it. Clara really likes that the toys on it stay put! She has started laughing which is hilarious to watch and listen to. Clarita has also started to put EVERYTHING in her mouth and chew on it. I am hoping that this is not a sign that she is teething as that sounds painful to me. Clarita has also started to become fascinated with people eating. She watches our mouths as we eat and seems to find it very interesting. She also really likes my water bottles and often tries to grab them (and put them in her mouth of course!).

She really wanted to put the beer in her mouth

A true test of her immune system, putting the HMC badge in her mouth

This baby can sleep through anything

Petting Spikey with Tia Laurie

Clarita has also grown to enjoy tummy time. Although she always tolerated it, she now likes it and will sometimes even fall asleep on her tummy. She has also started scooting on both her back and her tummy and can get pretty far. Clara still rolls over when she feels like it but not all the time. She also started sucking her thumb (her left one just like her mommy did) and while it is super cute right now, it is not a habit we want to encourage.

We are just having so much fun with Clara and enjoying her more and more every day! Even when she wakes me up before 5:00 AM as Kevin put it, "It's all worth it when she smiles at you!"

Clarita's Stats

Weight: 13 pounds 

Height: 25.5 inches 

Head Circumference: 40 centimeters

What Clara Wears

3 month outfits still fit pretty well and 3-6 month outfits are a little too big

Things Clara Loves

Mommy and Daddy, nursing, going for walks, getting undressed and having naked baby time, her "soothie" pacifiers (especially her monito and Bevo), snuggling, baths, baby exercises, the miracle swaddling blanket, car rides, the Baby Bjorn, the rain forest play mat, reading books, sitting in the Bumbo chair while mommy and daddy eat, massages, being a baby airplane, being held looking over your shoulder like a parrot, meeting new people, ceiling fans, drooling, the exersaucer, tummy time, swimming, people

Things Clara Does Not Love

Waiting, getting buckled into the car seat, being held in a cradled position (especially when she's tired)

How Clarita Sleeps

Clarita continues to sleep off and on throughout the day as she sees fit. We have been really busy this month and out and about during many days so she has been content to sleep in the car. She has been falling asleep around 8:00, waking up around 9:30 to nurse, and then going to bed between 9:30 and 10:00. She still gets swaddled at night but now gets out of the swaddle almost every night and sometimes wakes herself up flailing. She has been waking up around 5:00 the past week (sometimes 4:30) and wanting to play (we're not big fans of this).

Nicknames

Baby Butter, Clarita, Snugglepuff, Snuggles, Wiggles, Baby/Bebe, Bambina, Sapita, Munchkin Drool Monster

Monthly Exciting Events

July 15-19: First VBS

July 14, 2013: The thumb sucking begins

July 13, 2013: Clara's first baby shower

July 7, 2013: Clara's first trip to the circus!

July 4, 2013: First application of sunscreen

July 3, 2013: Clara's first time in the pool (she loved it)/first fireworks

July 1, 2013:  Clara starts laughing (not sure of the exact date)
June 29, 2013: Clara's first real hike (to Weaver Lake)

June 22, 2013: The lip sucking commences

June 21, 2013: Clara's first full day away from Mama (she had so much fun with Dada she didn't even notice)

Monthly Pictures

With Dada's sunflower

It's perfect that I have a licky baby

A Circus, A Baby Shower, and a Retirement Party

We have been busy! On Sunday, July 7, we took Clara to her first circus. I absolutely LOVE the circus and have gone every year (except when we lived in Honduras) since high school. Kevin has grown to share my love of the circus and even took me after he proposed eight years ago. Laurie also loves the circus and she and Russell normally accompany us. This year the four of us took Clara thinking that she would either sleep through it or not even notice that it was going on...WRONG! She woke up right as the first act started and was mesmerized by all of the lights. Clarita watched the entire first act in awe and only cried when someone was shot out of a cannon and the boom scared her. She fell asleep at intermission and slept through the second act, but I think that her first trip to the circus was a success!

This is her excited face...

Last Saturday Clara and I attended a baby shower for my friends Lindsay and Emily. They are sisters and Emily has a son five weeks younger than Clara and Lindsay is due in September. Emily just moved back from Louisiana and the two had a joint baby shower. Clara got to meet Emily's son Parker (future boyfriend?) as well as my friend Trisha's son Elliot who is a month old. It was a fun time and Clara was very good, sleeping through the first half and flirting through the second half. It's getting so fun as more and more of my friends have babies. I can't wait to watch all of them grow up together!

Clara can't wait to meet Carver!

Saturday evening Laurie and I threw a retirement party for our mom. It was a fun night complete with our own photo booth (luckily we have a lot of costumes) and some great Mexican food. Clara even used some props for the photo booth! We had a great time with all of the people who came out to celebrate with my mom and Clara got in lots of snuggles and got to meet lots of new people. Although she had a super long day, Clarita was a trooper and very well behaved. She slept in different people's arms and smiled at everyone!

So excited for La Abuelita to take care of her now that she's retired!

Sleeping with Donna

Happy retirement Mom/Abuelita!

The compound

Clara's First Fourth of July

When we lived next door to Laurie and Russell we called ourselves the “compound”. When Russell bought a house and moved, our friend Jon said that we were now the compound fracture. For the last few years we have been having Fourth of July parties with Laurie and Russell. This year we had a “fractured” party. The party started on Wednesday at Parkinson Place. We swam, ate, and watched the fireworks at the high school. The high school is at the end of our block and by sitting on the side of the street we had a great view. Clara went swimming for the first time and definitely loved it! She started out in her floaty but it’s still too big for her so Kevin and I took turns holding her. Kevin even treaded water all the way across the width of the deep end holding Clara up. Luckily he is a good swimmer because I would have dropped her for sure.

The Nasalroads

Her floaty even has a beer holder!

Treading water 

Our friend Darren stopped to stay with us on his way from LA to Berkley and got to meet Clara. He was in Peace Corps in the group ahead of us and was in Olancho with us. She liked him of course and it was great catching up with him since we hadn’t seen him in three years since he finished Peace Corps. Clarita was honored to be the first baby that Daren had ever held (and glad that he didn’t drop her)!

Darren and Clara

The fireworks did not bother Clarita. She sat in Kevin’s lap and watched the first 15 minutes or so. Then she fell asleep and did not seem to notice the super loud booming all around her. She woke up when the fireworks ended and played while we cleaned up. Maybe next year she’ll stay awake and watch the show!

Outfit number one (the wet spot is from my swimsuit)

On Thursday we headed to Suemoto Spot for more swimming, eating, and fireworks. Clara “swam” for a good 45 minutes and enjoyed kicking her legs. She even let me float her on her back and didn’t seem to mind. All that swimming wore her out so she took a nap and then came out to play and flirt with everyone. At one point Kevin and Alyssa were standing next to each other holding the babies and Clara and Teagan reached out their arms and held hands for a little bit. Then Clara tried to eat Teagan’s hand and the fun ended. Sadly I missed this and nobody got a picture.

Butter and Bubbles

Clara's all ready to swim

We have a Fourth of July tradition of having a slip ‘n slide (aka plastic that they use to cover grape vines) and this year was no exception. I really wanted to slide Clara down it, but refrained. It was fun to watch Tristan and Reedcito slide down it. Good to know that the next generation likes slip ‘n sliding as much as us! Clarita will definitely be on it next year!

Reedcito

Tristan

Chelsea

Shannon

We set off fireworks and Chinese lanterns once it got dark. Clara once again stayed awake for the first few minutes and then fell asleep on Kevin’s lap. She did get to witness her first sparklers as we both held them while we held her. She woke up at the end of the show, ate, and was wide awake for the trip home. I think her first Fourth of July was a success complete with not one, but three super cute outfits!

Costume change (the first one got all wet)

Sparklers!

Sleeping on Dada

Deer and Racoons and Bears Oh My!

Last weekend we went to the cabin to escape the 110 degree heat in the valley. It was only in the 80s up there and felt so nice! Clara had a great time of course. We decided to take her on her first real hike. We went to Weaver Lake since it is a short, easy hike. Kevin, Fafa (Tristan's name for Kevin's dad), Clarita, and I went. I carried Clara since Kevin gets so hot and sweaty when he has her. She was awake for half of the trip up and then fell asleep. She woke up when we got to the lake and "played", ate, and watched Dada swim. We even did a diaper change on the pine needle covered ground (with a changing pad of course)! We hung out at the lake for a while and then headed back down. Clara immediately fell asleep and slept the entire hike down. She woke up when we put her in the car and then fell back asleep until we got back to the cabin. I guess all the hiking wore her out! She did great and we're hoping to be able to go on longer hikes with her soon.

The weekend was also a great time for animal spottings. While hanging out on the cabin deck we saw deer, raccoons, and even a bear (the first I have ever seen up there). It was pretty exciting although Clara didn't really pay much attention to any of them. Hopefully she'll be able to see many more animals in the years to come!