Our Life With Clara and Luke

A happy early Valentine's Day

2012-02-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

One of us is in the Valentine's Day spirit...

Can you tell which one it is?

Even her chocolate got a kiss...

Happy Valentine's Day from Clara and Luke!

Sick babies

2012-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

We're feeling a bit under the weather in our house. But you wouldn't be able to tell if you watched the kids playing outside yesterday...

Clara's current favorite outdoor activity: "Come here, Sophie! (or Mommy, or Lukie, or any moving target she can throw leaves on)...

This is Luke's "I-just-woke-up" face. Is it just me, or does he look so grown up?

Anyway, about my two sickies. Clara went to the doctor today due to a cough, runny nose and the fact that she coughed so hard she vomited (Luke didn't go since he's not as bad). Turns out she has a slight ear infection. Hopefully that explains her recent super-fussiness. I'm really counting on it being due to not feeling well rather than the terrible twos!

As long as I take her outside, she's happy.

Of course, then there's the dragging them back inside part.

We have a smiler

2012-01-27T15:35:00.000-08:00

The stage where she screams and cries the minute a camera comes out just might be over. Can you hear me singing for joy?

I'm not taking credit for it because I'm sure it's an age thing, but I did figure out a way to get her to smile on cue - I tell her to make a silly face! It's actually just a way to work up to her smiling (because who can make a silly face without following it up with a smile??), but some of the silly shots are pretty cute too...

Her go-to silly face seems to be the puffy cheeks...

She then usually follows up with a this (which is still such a score when I capture it - in focus - on camera)...

I never get tired of seeing that smile. Now we just have to work on Lukie...

Shots from today

2012-01-19T11:06:00.000-08:00

I am obsessed with my new lens. It's a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX. Yes, I copied and pasted that.

If I was smart, I'd read how to actually use it. Like start with the manual even. But no, that's not my style.

Although I like this lens so much, that I might actually read about it. And I might actually read the photography book that I asked Ryan to get me for Mother's Day last year.

What I know about it is that it's a low-light lens. I barely need any light at all and it still performs beautifully. That's awesome when your primary goal is taking pics of your children, who don't necessarily want to stand in front of your storm door.

These are just some shots I took today, trying to get used to it. I'm still pretty shaky on the focusing. I prefer the manual, but I can't seem to always be able to tell when it's in focus. I'm used to a video camera, which is apparently a lot easier.

Clara and Luke love their new Elmo almost as much as I love my new lens...

He gets lots of kisses...

And Clara rocked out to Elmo's beautiful music. Although her dancing seemed very serious this morning...

Lunch is no reason to put the camera down...

And Lukie's latest fat lip. This kid is always getting banged up...

Baby updates

2011-12-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

When a friend recently asked what Clara weighed at a particular month and I could quickly refer back to past posts to find out (ironically, I didn't record that weight, but still...), it made me realize I have been completely slacking off in doing the same for Luke. I have been posting monthly updates, but for some reason didn't record any weights. Which is surprising, in a way, because he had some issues with weight.

Anyway, so for my own future benefit, here is an update...

First, Luke. At his 12-month check-up, he weighed in at 19 lbs., 11.2 oz., and his length was 28 1/2 in. That puts him in the 10th percentile for both on the regular growth chart, but closer to the 25th on charts for breast-fed baby boys. Not that it really matters, but I'm going with that :)

His pediatrician says he is the most pronounced "stair-step" grower she's ever seen. His growth chart looks like just that - stairs. He gained more than three pounds since his 9-month appointment in August. That's back when we thought something might be wrong since he hadn't gained an ounce since May. He definitely made up for it this fall!

And this baby who used to look just like his mama is looking a lot more like dada these days. He's also becoming more and more like his father in personality too. For example, Ryan makes duck sounds sometimes (don't ask) and now Luke does too! I'm guessing we're going to have two partners in crime in our home eventually ;)

He's such a little boy now. He's into everything, loves riding on his little car, loves that he can now drink milk in a sippy cup (he chooses it over me all the time!), and loves his big sister with all his heart.

Speaking of breastfeeding, we're still going strong, although some days he only nurses once or twice, while other days it's as many as 6 or 7 times.

He is saying more words every day, even though they mostly come out as grunts. But we know what he means.

The other day as Clara was jumping, and saying "jump" with each jump, he started to copy her. But his baby version of jumping was crouching down and grunting "juhh!" with each "jump". It was so cute!

While he took his first steps back in September, he is walking more and crawling less each day. Right now I'd say he walks more than he crawls, but he's still pretty wobbly.

I know everyone probably says their babies, but Luke is SUCH a sweet soul. He is just incredibly loving and happy and the only time he cries is when he doesn't want to sleep. He's never in a bad mood, is never crabby or looking to get into trouble (like another adorable baby we know!).

Speaking of that other baby, Clara is a full-fledged two year old. I can't begin to cram into this update all the new stuff she is doing. We can have conversations with her, tell her to do things, she tells us what she wants, and we finally know what she's thinking. It's great! She keeps us laughing constantly, and I have to give Ryan the daily report at the end of each day of what new, unbelievable things came out of her mouth.

Again, it's something everyone probably says about their babies, but this girl is SO smart! If there were any worries about being a ten-week-premature baby affecting her development, they are long gone. It constantly amazes me how much she knows.

Her favorite things to do are count, sing the alphabet (she doesn't have it all yet, but most on a good day), jingle bells, and the Bills' Shout song. Actually, I'll often hear her singing different songs that she hears a lot. I guess it's no surprise that she gets songs in her head just like we do!

She recently developed a love of colors and coloring. I have to admit, we don't do it often because we don't really have a good place for coloring (we're working on it) and it's kind of a pain when Luke's around. But now she asks me to color, and when she does she is so into it. It's like the part of her brain that is used for art kicks into high gear and affects speech somehow. She talks a mile a minute when she's coloring!

And I almost forgot - at her two-year check-up she weighed 26 lbs., 9.6 oz. Go, Clara! That's 50th percentile! That is truly amazing for a girl who wasn't even on the growth chart for so long. Her height was 32 1/2 in., which is the 25th percentile. She's definitely a little pipsqueak still, but she's caught up so much.

Her short stature has actually been nice in that she only recently began opening doors. She was beyond thrilled when she realized she had reached this milestone and I've been finding her hiding in closets ever since. She also thinks it's hysterical to lay on our bed, and yesterday I found her in there "reading" a Twilight book! I wish I had taken a picture.

We're actually lucky it took this long, since those baby-proof door knobs are the worst. But I'm not hesitating to put them on because I know Luke will follow her anywhere, including the bathroom, which wouldn't be good. Plus, I fear little baby fingers getting caught in doors. Ouch.

Okay, I could go on and on, but I won't! This is just such an incredibly fun time with our two babies. They're both growing and changing so quickly, and are just so much fun :)

Clara in action

2011-11-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love having a video camera on my phone again. Here are a few recent videos of Clara...

First, here she is counting to ten, which is something she and her daddy have been working on whenever he changes her diaper. I can't get enough of her little voice trying to say the numbers!

Here she is dancing to her recent favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba! Or, as she likes to call it, Gabba. She's loved it ever since we saw the live show in person. (And bonus points to the person who spots the nebulizer tube being used as a toy ;) )

And here she is being woken up from her nap by her best buddy, E. Just look at how excited they both are to see each other! True baby love :)

The princess and her frog prince

2011-10-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you take one beautiful princess...

And the most adorable frog prince?

You surprisingly get two very happy, excited siblings in their Halloween costumes!

I couldn't believe they sat for 30 seconds and actually looked at the camera! With SMILES!

Okay, so she had to throw this in there...

But that's actually a happy face :)

One thing is for sure, though - I learned that I could never be a pageant mom (not that I've ever thought of it... Because I haven't... Just don't talk to my family about it because they might tell you I'm only half-kidding when I joke about it... but they'd be lying!).

I would just completely lose my patience when it came to keeping everything on and in place on a squirmy little baby. Heck, I learned this Halloween that I don't think I'm cut out to dress them in their costumes! Just too many working parts. Every time we got the tiara on, a shoe came off. Or one of Lukie's froggy wrist things. Or the wand would break.

I'm not even sure how I got these pictures. It was a Halloween miracle.

Next year they're wearing one piece. Everything attached.

Ryan and I dressed up on Saturday night too. We had a great time at a Halloween party where the theme was to dress as your favorite fictional character from a book. That's a red flag for me since I hardly ever read! But, thankfully, my most recently-read book has a main character with a very simple costume.

Any guesses??

Oh, and this is Clara on her post-party high. I've said it before and I'll say it again - our girl is a party girl. I have to take video the next time because she is out of control. And if this is how she acts as a one-year-old, I'm already nervous for her teen years.

The good old pumpkin patch

2011-10-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I probably, truthfully, drag my family to the pumpkin patch each year for the photo ops...

(But the colors are just so pretty!)

But Clara actually had fun this year!

It's amazing how different it is when your baby is almost two. She got why we were there (okay, not that we were there to take pictures, but you know what I mean.. to get an actual pumpkin) and really had fun.

And, in case I wondered, she was not there to pose with us...

Although, this one was unusually good for her lately - there was no flailing of arms and/or legs...

Here's what she was most excited about, though - the bouncy castle...

And the chickens...

All on her own she picked up that corn and said in the sweetest little voice, "Come here, chickens! Come here!" And they came.

Clara has obviously gotten to her brother, because now he's stopped posing with me too...

We had a great time, though. And the best part? It was free! Thank goodness for comp tickets from Ryan's work. Without them we probably wouldn't do half the stuff that we do!

Her first prayer

2011-10-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

Before every meal we say grace.

Bless us, oh Lord
And these, thy gifts
Which we are about to receive
From thy bounty
Through Christ, Our Lord
Amen.

And then we say...

Thank you, Jesus, for this food.
God bless Clara and Luke.

Then we list our special prayer intentions, which nearly every day since August have included my grandfather, who we call Poppa. He's been rehabbing in a nursing home following an infection in his leg, and the road to recovery has been tough.

Normally, Clara has already begun to eat long before I sit down. The second I hit the chair, though, she clasps her hands together, ready to pray (and if we forget, she's our reminder!). Yet, as soon as we start praying, she usually cries and whines throughout (not sure what that's about!).

The past two days, though, she has paid better attention. And when we get to the special intentions part, she has spoken up and said, "Boppy." She's done it at least twice now.

When she said it yesterday, I figured it was just a coincidence. Boppy - my father, her grandfather - was fresh on her mind because he and my mom visited us this past weekend, and I thought she was just randomly babbling. Still, I acted as if she meant it and said, "We pray for Nana and Boppy's safe trip home," since they were actually still making the long trek home from our house at that moment.

Then when she said it again tonight, it hit me: She has thought all along that we've been praying for Boppy when I've said "Poppa."

And the cutest part is that these past two days, she has taken it upon herself to add that intention. She thinks we pray nightly for Boppy and she didn't want us to forget. She was praying for her grandfather.

Her first prayer.

She does love her Boppy. And I guess the kids' grandparents should have be among our daily intentions anyway. Now, thanks to Clara, they will be :)

Our little oddball

2011-10-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Being a family who has adopted, I was prepared to hear some interesting comments when we are in public. I figured it was inevitable.

But what I didn't expect was the type of comments we're getting lately. Instead of hearing about our differences, the remarks are actually about our similarities.

A few days ago, all four of us were shopping when a store employee noticed the kids. "What big, brown eyes," he said of Luke.

Then Clara came bounding over. "Oh, I know where she gets it from too!" he said, looking at me. "They could be twins!"

Okay, that last line might have put it over the top (although they both do have dark eyes!), but I just had to chuckle.

Strangers just assume she takes after her Mama. And I'm flattered.

Then, yesterday, the babies and I were checking out at another store and the cashier couldn't get over Luke's hair (which is a topic for another time - people are SO excited/curious/interested in Luke's red hair!).

After asking me several questions about it for a couple of minutes, and holding up the line, she finally says (as she motions to Clara), "Well she obviously gets her hair from you, but this guy... he's the little oddball! It's good to be different, though!"

Yes, it is.

My hope and prayer is that our kids never get hung up on any of it - whether people point out our differences or our similarities. I hope they can take it all in stride. I hope we can joke about it and poke fun at ourselves. I hope Clara thinks nothing of someone saying how much Luke looks like me. And I hope Luke won't feel too left out with his red hair.

It's good to be different. And similar. And everything in between.

Our sweet little "oddball." I think we'll keep him ;)

Although if he's going to be fiery - like everyone's warning me comes with the color - then I'm in for it.

The babies in action and a few updates

2011-10-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

Luke is standing. He's been doing it here and there, three seconds at a time, five seconds at a time. But tonight he stood for like a whole minute (okay, it was probably twenty seconds, but that is a loooong time when you're rooting for your baby to stay up). I first noticed him doing it as he proudly held Clara's banana peel in the air. Taking his lead, I then enticed him to stand by giving him banana to eat, which worked beautifully. And then the ultimate... his very favorite thing... Clara's sippy cup.

Is it weird that Luke's excitement for cow's milk makes me feel like I'm being cheated on?

****

Evidence that Clara knows right from wrong (and still chooses wrong.. oh, life with an almost-two-year-old): Tonight when we were brushing teeth in the bathroom, Luke opened the sink vanity's door (no, we still haven't baby-proofed) and was met with Clara quickly moving his hand off of it and telling him, "No, no!"

Little mother-in-training.

****

Lately, especially on stressful day, I'm finding myself a bit surprised at what comes out of my mouth. Yesterday, as Clara was getting into and onto everything, I looked at her and actually said, "You are cruising for a bruising!" What?! Where did that come from? A) We don't spank, b) I wasn't about to spank her, and, c) who says that anyway?

****

Luke loves food. LOVES it. He easily eats as much as I do at meal times. He just keeps shoveling it in. We have also found that when his food is gone, he likes to let the last bite linger, apparently saving it for later, because he likes food that much. Gross, but cute.

His love for food has also lead to him quite quickly learning to sign "more." He signs it every time that last bite goes in his mouth. Clearly this child is motivated by food.

****

Clara really loves playing with my religious statues and I, a not-so-smart mother, just cannot say no. So once in a while, down come the big Our Lady and Infant of Prague from the mantel and she sets them up, kisses them, hugs them, gives them her Elmo slippers. But tonight - in a shocking development! - Our Lady toppled over and her hand broke off. I know, you didn't see that coming.

It's not the first time this has happened. A month ago she fell in love with a very small statue of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. Whenever she was in our bedroom, where I kept it, she knew she could play with it. Again, there were lots of kisses and hugs. But, alas, our little Blessed Kateri was beheaded.

You would think I would learn.

So... this leads me to a question. Do any of you know where I can find plush saint dolls? I found some very, very expensive ones online, but that's not happening. I found a less expensive one on Etsy and I am so in love with it I wish I had never seen it because it's still too much. Seriously, is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen???? Her scarf becomes a baby sling! A BABY SLING, people!!!

Anyway, I'm looking for something more in the $10-20 range. Any suggestions?

****

I'll leave you with a little taste of Clara's dancing talents. And this girl, who picked the music herself from Ryan's iPod on his phone, has some seriously good taste in music. Regulators, mount up!

10 months already

2011-09-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Luke is 10 months today! And what a month it has been.

After being labeled Failure To Thrive at his nine-month appointment, he has gained nearly a pound-and-a-half, bringing him up to 17 lbs. 13.5 oz. And that's after not gaining anything - not an ounce! - for more than three months! He is definitely a stair-step grower, if I've ever seen one.

He's getting to be more little boy, and less baby, every day. He's standing unassisted for a few seconds at a time, and will even take a few steps holding on to this dinosaur...

But that's only when I'm working with him on it. Otherwise, he loves crawling (which he does very fast!)

He also loves to put his hands in the air and say, "touchdown!"

Okay, so it's really only two syllables that sound close to tuh-duh, but we know what he means (mainly because he only does it when copying us).

In addition to saying "dada," "hi" and "cat" (and, to my dismay, only the occasional "mama"), he now also says "Clara," or rather, something more like "ah-ah." That l and r are hard!

Speaking of his sweet sister, he loves her as always.

And, together, they both love the newest addition to our family...

Ryan's new iPad! I saved and scrounged and asked his parents/in-laws to go in on it, and bought him one for his birthday. He loves it, but I think the kids love it even more.

They have a ton of their own apps, like flashcards, Elmo teaching the alphabet, and a very gassy dancing baby, just to name a few. Clara, already very adept with our iphones, can probably run it better than many adults, and I'm sure Lukie's not far behind.

(There's that face again!)

Lukie, you are getting so big so fast, and soon you'll be a year! You are one truly awesome little guy, who we like to call Bruisy Face, almost as much as your real name. I have a feeling that might stick.

My happy place

2011-09-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

My happy place is looking at photographs of precious moments in the life of my babies. Usually involving big smiles, but not always. Here are some of my recent favorites...

During Hurricane Irene. The first few minutes were fun...

This face gets me every time...

It's not just their big smiles that get me here. It's that when we start to tickle one, the other wants in on it. Clara will even put herself in position. And Luke... he doesn't just want to laugh himself. He wants to watch Clara laugh. That's love...

One of her favorite songs involves "bowing to your partner." It cracks us up every time she does it...and the fact that she's dressed as an SU cheerleader doesn't hurt either...

Luke shocked us all when just reached right in to pet the giraffe over and over. Really, Luke? I wouldn't have pegged you...

This is right before she kissed the goat...

And this is right after...

Yes, she kissed a goat. It all happened very fast.

And then there's this adorable tongue, which always seems to be escaping...

And this face...

As one friend said, happiness in a photo.

So cute, I'll show another. I could just melt...

That is pure joy.

And pure joy is what they bring me.

Nine months

2011-08-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

I truly can't believe it's been nine whole months since Luke was born. Yet it seems like he's always been here.

I know, I know. I write that every month.

This little baby has totally melted our hearts lately. He is really a little boy with his own unique personality, which seemed to come out so much in the last couple months.

He is so incredibly sweet, just nuzzles into you, smiles constantly, and talks all the time. He adores - ADORES - his big sister. He also has a thing for her sippy cup.

He's been pulling up for a while now, and cruises once in a while.

And just a couple weeks ago, he started crawling. He'd been army-crawling for a while, but now he actually crawls, which means he can get around pretty fast.

I absolutely love, love, love watching him crawl. To think that this little baby has a mind of his own and he is deciding where to go... I just can't get enough of it. So far, he mostly heads from toy to toy and spends a lot of time at the front door. And, of course, he never misses an opportunity to follow around Clara.

He has six teeth, and is working on a seventh. And this kid - at least right now - is a great teether. Thank God! We barely know he's getting a tooth sometimes, until it suddenly appears.

He loves feeding himself food - his favorites are blueberries, bananas, peaches, squash and carrots - and while he still lets me feed him pureed food, he definitely prefers to be in control. The only problem is after I cut whatever he's eating into tiny pieces, he just shoves a fistful into his mouth.

He surprised us in church a little while back by waving to the people behind us and saying, "hi!" They were pretty surprised too. I remember that's where Clara first waved and said "hi" as well, practically in the same pew!

Speaking of church, he does really well during Mass. He really is super content as long as he is in my arms. I know that won't always be the case, but I'm loving it right now. He just looks around and takes it all in. Until he decides he's hungry and then he tries to yank my shirt down until I quickly get up and avoid an embarrassing situation!

He says "dada" all the time, although I'm not sure whether he's actually directing it towards Dada just yet or if it's my imagination. He also says "cat" once in a while, or rather "dat". I can interpret it only because he's repeating after me and playing with our cat at the time.

He loves to play, and unlike Clara who is a champ at playing by herself, I am noticing he prefers Clara to be playing with (or near) him. I've noticed lately he seems much less interested in playing with his toys if she's napping. He's unsettled unless she's there. I told you he adores her.

I can't even imagine what's just around the corner for Lukie... walking?! But he's just my little baby!

We are so in love with our sweet little boy and thank God every day for him. What a blessing his life is.

Mama-in-training

2011-08-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

My daughter's current choice for a little light reading, which she drags up onto the bed with her whenever one of us is working on the computer in our bedroom...

You decide to read this now, Clara? Where were you with this about four months ago when I could have used your help?!

So I do torture my kids...

2011-08-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

I said in my last post that I wasn't actually trying to torture my kids with the mall fountains, that they did kind of like them. Well, I shouldn't imply I don't ever torture them. Because I do.

Case in point...

Sometimes Lukie and I go together to get Clara when she wakes up from her nap (sometimes Lukie does it alone, but he'd really rather I be there to change her diaper). And sometimes I put Luke in her crib with her.

Clara's usually not too hot on the idea...

Guess which one likes this and which one doesn't

But it always has potential for some great pictures. And isn't that what it's all about?

Clara, mid-jump

Ok, I'm free. Let me try to break you out.

With Clara's blinds up, I noticed some great light. So the quick crib shots turned into a mini-photo shoot.

You'd rather I not eat this carpet fuzz? Yum!

The many faces of Luke, aka Bruisy Face

I threw this in just to show how 99% of my photos turn out

So because the sibling crib torture wasn't enough, nor was the impromptu photo shoot (which is always a kid fave), I decide to put Clara in her hamper...

Are you serious, Mom?

What? Let this bother me? A hamper's like my second home.

Clara was unrattled. So what's a mother to do? She puts her other baby in, of course...

And it was going quite well until...

Cute, even when they're fighting

...the quarters got a bit cramped.

And on that note... we went about our business as a normal family. You know, like getting Clara that bottle she'd been asking for.

My poor kids.

Nerves

2011-08-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just when I think this child is fearless, she proves me wrong. Like today, at the water fountains at the outdoor mall.

I thought she'd love it. She loves big pools. She loves baby pools. She just mastered her baby pool slide which she climbs onto and slides down all by herself. After falling once the other day, she got right back on the horse, proclaiming, "I do!"

But not today. We're not sure if it was the shooting water, or the big kids running around (probably a combination of both), but she was a ball of nerves.

This was as close as she got for a while...

No, really Mama. I'm not scared of the fountains. I'm just very interested in this maintenance worker...

And then Lukie was even closer to the water than she was...

There was a lot of leg-hugging...

And watching safely from a distance...

And just when you might wonder why we were torturing our children with water fountains...

...she warmed up to them. She walked closer... and closer...

Until... Ahhhhh!

I'm ready to go, Mama. If you don't put me in this stroller, I'm pushing it to the car on my own!

I think we'll be sticking with the baby pool from now on :)

Pool pictures

2011-08-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

It was cool enough to go in the pool today. A mere 82 degrees! It felt like Spring.

So we did.. and my two little fish went crazy!

There was lots of sliding...

And some back-patting...

And some good-natured hair pulling...

And some... I'm not sure what was going on here...

At the time I thought she was kindly warning me that she was going in her diaper. But that wasn't it. My second guess is she was looking for her belly button. She likes to know it's still there.

We knew Clara loved the water, but we weren't sure about Luke. But he couldn't get enough! Splashing and moving all around the pool...

This kid loves his big sister. Just look at how he looks at her...

Speaking of looks...

Oh my...

Why don't we do this every day? Oh ya... because it's too hot!

My favorite things

2011-08-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

Clara's sweet hugs from behind as I'm sitting on the floor.

Waking up to Luke's face inches away from my own, smiling up at me.

Baby belly laughs.

My babies hugging, sitting together, or interacting whatsoever.

..And when I have a camera aimed at them at that particular moment.

Clara's love of singing and her sweet little voice...

Clara's "Happy Song" - an original composition which goes something like this: "Happy, happy, happy.. muah, muah.. happy, happy!" (Those would be kissing sounds)

That Luke can go from a crazy-freak-out-screaming cry to completely calm just by me picking him up.

That Luke loves me more than anyone else on the planet.

Simultaneous naps.

Sink baths...

...and red hair.

Clara's insistence on kissing us goodnight and goodbye. She chases after us yelling, "Kiss, kiss!"

Out-of-the-blue-for-no-apparent-reason hugs and kisses.

Luke's new ability to kiss, even though he so far only gives them out to other babies, including himself..

Watching my babies and their daddy.

Feast days! Clara spent her feast day today (Feast of St. Clare) at the Children's Museum...

These are a few of my favorite things.

Interaction

2011-08-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

There has been interaction between our babies ever since we first brought Luke home from the hospital. Clara took to calling him "baby" very early on (even before he was born, actually), and recently has started switching back and forth between that and "Lukie" (or, what sounds more like "yucky," although we can definitely tell it apart from the real "yucky," which she also likes to say a lot).

Clara has always kissed him and hugged him. Early on, she loved reminding herself (and mimicking me) to be careful with him by saying "gentle, gentle" while she rubbed his bald head.

And recently, she asks to have him brought to her before bedtime or upon waking up from a nap by saying, "kiss, kiss!" if I'm holding him. I lean him down to her and she plants a wet one on his cheek.

It's adorable. They have always loved each other, lighting up when the other was around (especially on Luke's part), and really getting along.

But not until recently have they really started actually playing. They have played ever since Luke could sit up, really, but not like this. It was more like Clara dropping all her toys on his lap and him playing with them, one at a time.

But now, they play together.

I can't get enough of it. I could watch them all day, Clara playing with Luke like I play with her, and Luke just cracking up.

I caught some of today's playing on video, just because I wanted to be able to listen to Luke's laugh here whenever I wanted. Of course, he wasn't laughing as hard as before I started taping, but I was able to capture some:

I'm so grateful that God chose to bless us this way, giving us two babies so close in age who will grow up to be (God willing) the best of friends. Being their mother is better than I ever imagined, even though I had a lot of time to imagine. God is so good!

Nanas

2011-08-06T14:13:00.000-07:00

Clara just loves nanas.

One Nana is one of her very favorite people. She talks to her on the phone, and Clara sometimes cries when we hang up. And she always says, "Bye, Nana!" the second after the call ends.

The other nana is one of her very favorite foods.

Not as high on the list as blueberries, but close.

And she evens holds them like a big girl.

Thank goodness for nanas!

Not ready for this

2011-08-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

The days are numbered. My time with only one mobile baby is dwindling away. I can feel it.

Luke is not crawling just yet. He finds a way to get to something across the room if he wants it badly enough, but you could stare right at him and not have any idea how he did it.

So I thought I had some time.

But then this past weekend, when we were traveling, Luke did something unexpected. He pulled himself up in his hotel crib.

Oh, dear.

And he's been doing it ever since.

The couch.

The play yard.

Toys. Very unstable toys.

We all know what this leads to. One thing. And it's no good. At least not for a mommy who would like her baby to stay a baby and have only one kid who can run around, getting into everything, terrorizing the animals and breaking through baby gates.

Thankfully, he's still extremely unstable and can barely hold himself up for two seconds before falling (should I say 'thankfully' when it involves falling?). He's not even close to standing unassisted.

And let's keep it that way, buddy.

Your sister went two months between pulling up and walking. Can we make it at least three for you?

Our happy boy

2011-07-27T17:55:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd say this, but Luke's days of not sleeping are a distant memory. He's now a sleeper, through and through (although I know that can change any day), and is such a happy boy because of it.

And that happy little boy turned eight months yesterday. It's so hard to believe he's only four months away from one year. One year!

I say this all the time to Ryan, but for the longest time I really pictured Luke as a perpetual newborn. I'm not sure why. I think it's because he's our second and it's so easy for Clara to steal the show. Luke was a little baby, just laying there, then sitting there, not really needing much, and Clara was very much in need of our attention. Luke would do something developmentally and it would be days (or weeks) before I noticed. Meanwhile, with Clara last year, we were all over her every move!

Poor Lukie! That sounds terrible when I type it out, but really it's not. He was just our sweet, sweet little baby, and his baby-ness was exaggerated by Clara quickly growing out of hers.

But that all changed the past few weeks.

Always crawling, or at least his version of it

I braced myself for his turning seven months. I knew it was a time of rapid development. Clara, despite being born ten weeks early, started doing new things every few days once she hit that milestone.

And Luke has been no different. He's no longer my newborn.

He found his voice, saying "Dadada" all the time, even yelling it out of the blue (or whispering, which I find adorable). He started rocking on all fours a few weeks ago and has been wanting to crawl so badly ever since. If you put something he wants across the room he will get to it, one way or another. And just the other day he did an army crawl for the first time.

Not exactly Clara's legendary eyelashes, but still beautiful

He's also gotten a ton of teeth lately, and has five in all. Adding in solid food (as in not baby food, but puffs and blueberries and that sort of thing) wasn't even on my radar until yesterday, when I realized maybe I should try.

There's those teeth

Oh boy, this kid probably wondered what took me so long!

Someone's pretty happy

He can't get enough of it. He loves feeding himself. He's watched his sister for so long, I think he's happy it's finally his turn.

Sharing a snack

Even though he's now eight months old, I still can't believe he's here. That I conceived a baby and he lives with us and his name is Luke.

"And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Luke 1:37

ME

2011-06-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

It is fast becoming my favorite word.

"Me."

It is a different kind of "me" mind you, because it actually doesn't have anything to do with... well.... me.

There is something special about the way Clara and Luke pick up on the things we teach them. Obviously at 1 1/2, that is more apparent in Clara right now. She picks up her toys and books when we ask or will give Luke a kiss when we tell her to. She even has learned to catch a ball and very quickly picked up going down the slide in our new kiddie pool.

Videographic evidence can be found below:

But while there is immense gratification in her learning from us, there is something even more special about her learning on her own.

That gets us back to "me".

I have never taught her what "me" means or an appropriate time to use the term. Karey does not recall a time, where she did either. But the perceptive little munchkin has figured out that "me" means.. well "me!".

So now, whenever she wants you to pick her up or let you sit in your lap she waddles over and grabs your leg and whispers, in the sweetest voice, "me". As you might imagine, it is the most compelling argument ever uttered in the history of human existence. It is impossible to resist.

Especially when coupled by this look:

Now I get that this is probably not all a good thing. It is, perhaps, encouraging a degree of selfish behavior, but in addition to her frequent "me" requests, Clara also happens to be about the most generous child on earth. She is constantly giving Luke everything, including things he doesn't really want. She hands him toys, her sippy cup, stuffed animals and from time to time the lint or fuzz she picks up from the floor.

Overall I believe it shows the depth of her curious mind, the way that she is a sponge for the world around her and in particular, the way she is processing that information and turning it into a result.

As I look back on this post, I am realizing that in the grand scheme of the world this is a rather insignificant development. It is just one word, right? But I guess on this Father's Day I am reminded about the incredible gift of parenthood.

The simple is once again really significant.

And every significant step is leading to the incredible person Clara is and who she will eventually be.

Neat freak in training

2011-05-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I noticed Clara pick up a paper towel I had dropped and use it to wipe up some milk that had leaked from her sippy cup onto the floor.

I squealed with delight! I might have a natural-born neat freak, I thought.

Isn't it the hope of every mother who hates cleaning that she'll have a kid who loves it? Well, it's mine. I pray that one day one of my children will rather vacuum and dust than play dolls. I can dream, at least.

Shortly after the spilled-milk incident, this lovely lady posted something on Facebook about her daughter cleaning, and I decided I had waited too long to have Clara pick up after herself. Her only real experience with cleaning thus far was when we sing "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..." as we wipe her hands and face after eating. And let's just say it's not exactly her favorite time of day. There's a good chance she'd rather be water-boarded.

So I started having her pick up her books and toys and put them in their respective baskets. She took to it beautifully and now we do it every day. And for every item she places in a basket you'll hear a little baby voice say "good girl". Melts my heart.

Then today, as I was on my hands and knees wiping filth off of the kitchen floor as she sat in her high chair, it occurred to me that she could help and she might even think it's fun.

And she did.

I swear I even noticed her wiping extra hard at a little bit of dirt on the dish washer. We might have a little cleaner, after all!

She moved on to the cupboards all on her own...

I didn't tell her that soap and water doesn't work too well on windows. She was just so excited.

Even if she's not a natural-born neat freak, I can always turn her into one, right?

Okay, one more...

2011-05-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist the sewing machine that was still sitting on my kitchen table. I had to keep sewing while it was out, because who knows when I'll ever get it out again? That hall closet is a long walk.

So I took an old J. Crew tank top (our dryer ate the straps years ago) that was in my old-clothes-I-might-want-to-make-into-pillows-someday fabric stash and went to work.

Being a hoarder finally pays off!

A perfect project for a lazy/busy mother of two - half the seams were already stitched for me.

It turned out a little big, but that's actually a good thing. It's long, and stretchy (and soft and comfy!), so I think she'll be able to wear it next summer too.

NO sewing today. Maybe Sunday. But not today.

Today we are just modeling dresses for Mama's photo shoot, and playing (and cleaning up after Urine Armageddon. The babies hatched a plan to pee all over everything the last 12 hours... the crib, our bed, the floor...notice the missing couch cushion...)

Poor Luke. One second Clara's reading him a book...

And the next, she doesn't want him to touch it.

Girls are moody, little guy. It's better you learn this lesson now.

Creative burst

2011-05-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was searching the internet for a cute dress for Clara to wear to my sister's bridal shower in a couple weeks and became discouraged at the selection. So what did I do? In a move very unlike my unmotivated-self, I got my sewing machine out of the coat closet, fabric from under the guest bed, and thread from the shed (not the most well-thought-out storing of my sewing supplies, I know).

Not wanting to sew anything with buttons (I've never done it) or a zipper (I didn't want to go to the store to buy one), I came up with the idea to sew a skirt onto a onesie. Little did I know that's a popular sewing project! Oh well. It was very easy. And when I made a mistake and sewed the front of the onesie when I didn't mean to, which left a big hole, I added a ribbon to cover it up.

She was NOT getting up, so I went with it

This was pre-~~mistake~~ embellishment:

Not bad for my cell phone. Looks like a shot for the Etsy shop that I don't have.

My second attempt went a little better. I used the last of some of my favorite fabric.

Got any guesses where the only good light is in my house?

Don't you just love rick-rack? Although it needs some ironing here

So those were pretty easy and weren't very difficult to juggle with taking care of the babies. I just gave Clara some chalk (we don't have crayons, believe it or not) and put her to work in her high chair. Today was a different story.

I, again, was looking online for dresses and came across this site. Actually, I came across one of their dresses selling on ebay for $300. I can make that, I thought (right after I thought, $300??? For a baby dress??? On ebay???)

Well, I didn't exactly make that dress by any means, but I dug through my fabric, pulled out a few selections, and went to work. This time, though, it greatly disrupted the babies. It was just one of those days. I don't think I'll be doing it again for a while.

The result was worth it, though...

She was much easier to photograph in this - I think she knew she looked pretty

I had no pattern (and no cutting mat - I couldn't find it so I had to use scissors!), so I was pretty surprised to see how it turned out. I think I got lucky.

The strawberry fabric on the straps is another of my favorites. I used some of my last scraps for this

It fits her great, just a little tight going on since this too has no zipper or buttons. I'm going to alter it once it doesn't fit over her head anymore, maybe add a zipper. I have big plans.

I didn't set out to make it a halter, but that's what we ended up with

I'm spent. Even though those dresses took, maybe, a total of five hours over two days, I'm putting the sewing machine away for a while. I like being with the babies without thinking about getting back to my project. But I am super-excited Clara has a few new dresses. That last one will be making an appearance at her aunt's rehearsal dinner.

And so he doesn't feel left out (because all I make is dresses.. sorry Luke!), here's a picture of Luke in his big boy (12 month!) pj's...

No, he's not super-advanced! I just propped him up to see his pajamas better.

Has anyone seen my little, tiny baby?

Getting big

2011-04-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Throughout the past year, I've referred countless times to this blog to recall how much Clara weighed at a certain age or what she was doing developmentally. It was great having it all documented, because I was totally unable to remember any of it myself! Well, I'm not going to be able to do the same for Luke in the future if I don't get my act in gear.

So here's an update on our little guy...

Luke will be five months tomorrow.

Luke's first Easter

He's just about 16 lbs. and at every doctor's appointment, he's at the 50th percentile for weight. But boy, does he seem huge compared to our little munchkin Clara! She was just starting to wear size 3-6 months at this point, while Luke has been in 6-9 month clothes for a few weeks. I'm still squeezing him into 3-6 too, though, since we have far fewer clothes in bigger sizes.

Believe it or not, my little baby boy is sitting up.

I started to notice about two or three weeks ago that Luke wasn't happy laying down in his boppy. The slight incline was apparently not enough for him and he kept trying to sit up. So I started sitting him up with the boppy around him in case he fell. Then I moved to him sitting with pillows nearby. Now he sits for a minute or two at a time, with me always right there to catch him when he's decided he's had enough.

He's got a little way to go before he can sit up entirely by himself, or, better yet, move into a sitting up position by himself. And that's perfectly fine, because he's growing up way too fast! It seems like just yesterday that I laid eyes on him for the first time. And now he's a sitter-upper!

With his cousin and big sis, on vacation

He can also roll over both ways, although he's still not all that crazy about tummy time. He loves his exersaucer (which I love!) and he also loves his toys, including a little football and baseball. He's grabbing at everything these days, and I am just starting to realize I can't put anything near him that I don't want him knocking over!

He also apparently likes to watch sports. Ryan swears he calms down whenever it's on. Problem is we don't have cable, so sports are rarely on the few channels we get with our antenna. Do I sense a play for Ryan to get cable here??? Honestly, I just might go for it if he can prove it actually puts him to sleep. Now that would be awesome.

With his grandpa. He's smiling and laughing all the time lately

Speaking of sleep, he has yet to make the big move to his crib (technically, he spent a wonderful week in his crib a couple months ago but that was short-lived). He's sleeping in our bed with us and the only way he'll fall asleep is while nursing. He wakes up a couple times throughout the night, nurses, and falls back asleep. Other than giving me a back ache, it's working great, unless something (or someone...Clara) wakes him up prematurely. If he's not hungry, he doesn't want to nurse, which means he can't fall back asleep.

His pediatrician thinks his sleeping issues are not behavioral (i.e. anything we're doing wrong), but rather are related to his very gurgly gut. She thinks when his digestive system matures around six months, whatever is going on will hopefully right itself. We'll try sleep training again around that time, and if it doesn't work, we might have to take him to see a G.I. specialist.

If you get a chance, can you say a prayer that his tummy issues do get better on their own?

He was sort of indifferent about the pool

Because of his fussiness and inability to put himself to sleep, I decided to take his doctor's advice and start him on baby food. I figured that maybe, just maybe, it would help him to sleep better at night. Today was his first jar of baby food (pears) and he ate the entire jar in about seven minutes. This kid loves food! I had a feeling he would.

Luke's also talking up a storm lately. He's been cooing for a while now, but in the past week it seems he found his voice. He yells (I remember when Clara did this!) and just goes on and on! He also started making raspberries a couple weeks ago as well. It's funny because when Clara first did that, it was this big production that I worked with her on and got on video. But poor Lukie, the second child, mastered it himself and tried to get my attention to show me what he was doing!

We absolutely love Luke so, so much. He is such a cutie and is getting bigger, smarter and more interactive by the minute. He loves his big sister so much, and his daddy. But, let's be honest, the kid is a mama's boy. He can't get enough of me.

And I love every second of it!

Little messenger

2011-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

Luke helped me get a message across today:

He owes me after last night's scream-fest. I think he switched places with a newborn.

Luke and I feel pretty much the same way today - exhausted!

My dream date-night right now would consist of a nice long nap. I'm a very cheap date.

Luke at three months

2011-02-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

Luke is three months old!

He's getting big. He weighed in at 13 lbs. today at his three-month check up. Go Luke!

On a side note, why is it that I'm always rooting for my kids' weights to be high, like it's a test I've crammed for? I like to feed them a lot before we go and I get disappointed if I feel their diaper is heavy as I undress them for the scale. Keep that pee in! What's wrong with me?

So serious

In my defense, I'd like to think it's because Clara was born weighing three pounds and was only five pounds when we got her, and Luke's weight dropped pretty quickly after birth. I'm a mother of underweight newborns, what can I say?

His length was 23 inches, but the pediatrician thought the nurse just didn't stretch him out enough.

As for his development, he's starting to use his hands, batting at things in front of him. Lots of cooing, smiling (just not on camera!) and interaction. He LOVES his sister!

Just ahead for Lukie - introducing some solids next month, rolling over and let's hope sleeping through the night (more on that in a second)!

And the most interesting thing to come from this appointment? Perhaps that he's definitely got an outie! At least according to our doctor. I've heard they can change over time though.

We discussed Luke's sleeping - or rather lack of sleeping - habits with his doctor. He was doing great for a while, even taking naps and sleeping through the night in his crib in his nursery. But after about a week-and-a-half of that, he went back to screaming like crazy when we'd put him down and not letting up. I can tell the difference between a fussy, over-tired baby and a frantic, possibly-in-pain (probably-from-gas) baby. He's been the latter as of late.

See - he does smile!

So after pulling our hair out for a few days and me yelling about not wanting to ruin all the hard work I'd done getting him in his crib, I relented and decided we needed to go back to survival mode.

That's where we are now and it's fine. He sleeps in his bassinet for half the night (until waking up for his night-time feeding) and naps wherever he'll sleep (swing, carseat, bassinet).

Overall, though, he's such a happy, calm baby, which couldn't be more different from just a couple months ago! Treating his reflux has helped SO much.

Getting some fuzzy hair

Clara went along to the appointment so she could get caught up on her shots. Both of them did great in that department. Poor things!

Oh and we got some other big news today - Clara's adoption finalization court date has been set for April 15. We have a lot of paperwork, background checks, physicals and social worker visits to do before then, so we're really hoping everything gets done and submitted on time. Please pray for this process if you get a chance!

And no, we don't have to travel to Louisiana. At least as far as we've been told.

I'd LOVE to know what she's thinking about me here

Happy three months, Luke! We love you!

Taking pictures

2011-02-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

I got a new camera for Christmas.

I had wanted a digital SLR camera ever since we first brought Clara home. But, in the meantime, we were blessed to have a very good friend who had one and he quickly became Clara's "official photographer." His five-month photos of her our legendary in our family.

The first time we realized her knack for "smizing"

I couldn't be more thrilled that I have one of my own now. It's the best present I think I've ever gotten (thanks, Mom and Dad!). I use it almost every day and in any free time I get when Ryan's on baby duty, I plop myself down at our desktop and upload and edit pictures. I love it.

And that means that I've taken quite a few. 1500 to be exact. And that's only since Dec. 25! I don't even want to do that math for what that might be over the course of a year.

But how can I resist capturing every single moment? (Well, I don't capture every moment)

I waited a very long time to take these pictures and I'm going to take them. My poor kids.

So because they have to go somewhere, I'm going to start posting more photos here. After all, what illustrates our life with Clara and Luke better than pictures?

Well, maybe videos, which I need to start posting more of too.

Catching up

2011-02-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

So much has happened lately with Clara and Luke and we are way behind in updating on this blog!

Here are some of the highlights:

* After weighing 7 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, then dropping as low as 6 lbs. 9 oz. and not reaching his birth weight again until three weeks old, Luke (now 2 1/2 months old) finally had a growth spurt around Christmas-time and has been gaining ever since. He now weighs in at a whopping 12 pounds 4 ounces!

* Clara (now 14 1/2 months old) is officially walking! Although she took her first (several) steps in my hospital room after Luke was born, she started walking full-time about a month ago. She'll be running soon.

* Clara cracks us up each and every day. She already has her own unique sense of humor. She's also talking up a storm, and some of her favorite words are Daddy, Lukie, baby, Nana, banana, poop, turkey, and amen. We were very excited the other day when she rubbed her eyes and said "night-night" for the first time (she says it all the time, but this was the first time she was clearly communicating to us with words that she was tired). She also likes to say "uh oh!" at totally appropriate times, complete with a look of great concern on her face.

* Luke moved out of the alien phase a few weeks ago when we finally made contact. It's so funny how one day they're just eating, sleeping and crying and then suddenly they are little babies who want to talk and play! Unfortunately for him, I think I was so caught up in the feeding and sleeping parts that I didn't realize he was trying to communicate for a few days. We're on the same page now though :)

* Speaking of that, he loves cooing, smiling and hitting whatever is hanging in his line of sight. He also loves laying on his back on the floor and staring at his big sister. He is obsessed with Clara.

* To my complete surprise, I'm actually doing pretty well at home alone with the two babies while Ryan's at work. We have a routine down now and add in the occasional teething, colds, hysterical fits, sleep training, and some intestinal upset and we still do just fine. My guardian angel is definitely helping out! It also helps that Ryan is able to come home for dinner every night. It's nice to eat as a family and he even gets Clara ready for bed when he has time.

* A BIG part of the reason things are going smoothly is that Luke is getting much better at sleeping. He takes good naps in his crib during the day and sleeps through the night in his crib. Well, last night he happened to wake every two hours which he has down in several weeks, so I'm hoping that's not a new trend!

Of course, what's a blog post on Our Life With Clara and Luke without pictures? Here are some of my favorites from recent weeks:

One year ago today...

2011-01-06T15:45:00.000-08:00

.."Our life with Clara" began.

It would have been impossible to predict the chain of events that January 6, 2010 set off for our family, but it is safe to say we have never been more blessed. We can't imagine a world without our sweet daughter. In only one year she has made us better people, strengthened our marriage and brought our extended family together in ways we could have never imagined.

Who could believe that this tiny little creature, barely 5 pounds, could change so much and so fast? This past year feels like both the longest and the shortest period of time in our lives. That picture seems like it was taken yesterday, but Clara's presence in our family is so strong that we can't remember what it was like before she was here.

Since that special whirlwind trip to Louisiana one year ago, Clara has gained 15 pounds, a cousin and a brother! But we all feel that even though we didn't meet her until 5 weeks later, the moment she was born she had a Mom, a Dad, two sets of grandparents, 4 aunts, 4 uncles and a cousin who couldn't wait to meet her!

Happy Adoption Day, Clara Therese! Thank you for making our lives complete.

It has been a Merry Christmas for Clara and Luke

2010-12-28T08:56:00.001-08:00

Clara and Luke are quickly learning the benefits of having loving grandparents! Both sets showered them many, many presents this Christmas.

First, Grandma and Grandpa Nobles came to Richmond and got to play Santa. Clara is just starting to get the hang of tearing into wrapping paper:

Grandma and Grandpa brought Uncle Bunny with them. It was his first chance to meet Luke and he found the perfect Buffalo Bills sweatshirt for Clara.

We shuffled off to New York bright and early Christmas morning, and despite warnings from our pediatrician that the trip would take double the amount of time, the babies were so good that it only took an additional 45 minutes. Nana Kirkpatrick was pretty excited to welcome both grand kids to Fort Plain.

..and this picture pretty much speaks for itself.

And the best is yet to come.. Clara and Luke get to meet Cousin Caleigh for the first time today! More cute pictures to come.

Christmas card preview

2010-12-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

It goes without saying that we are pretty excited to send out Christmas cards this year. In past years, we have always tried to be as creative as possible with our cards and that usually meant subjecting our pets to awkward poses and lengthy photo shoots. Photo shoots, that usually left us with cat scratches up and down our arms.

Last year, we took Christmas cards "off". We were busy with a bunch of other things and honestly 2009 wasn't the best year for us, so we didn't feel like we had a ton to celebrate.

Flash forward to 2010 and things couldn't be different. We certainly don't have any additional time, but with two new babies we have a lot to celebrate and so much to share.

A must for any Christmas card that we have ever sent since we've been married is that it has to include a personal photo. Before our "real" children, that meant Sophie Belle was usually the star. One year she appeared as an angel, another with her head through a Christmas wreath. Sophie would generally be cooperative, which meant she always got in. The other pets... not so much. Like the one year when we dressed Jasper (our cat) up in this Santa outfit:

We got her in the Santa suit, but she was so angry that she scratched us, ran off and hid under the bed until the shoot was over.

Despite our difficulties, we usually end up with a pretty fun photo to share. The next issue is getting it designed and printed. A not so easy task. As we were going through the adoption process we discovered Shutterfly. It is an incredibly easy- to-use photo processing web site that can turn your simple photos into really professional cards, letters or whatever you need.

We used Shutterfly to design a photo book that gave potential birth-moms some insight into what our family was like. The result was magnificent. The web site walked us through the process step-by-step and gave us the option of editing our work as we went. For a really cheap price we ended up with something that gave us a useful tool in our search for a son or daughter. We had them ready to send to adoption agencies, private adoption attorneys and other potential leads that could help us grow our family.

As it turned out, a lead on Clara came just as the books arrived. While they didn't turn out to be necessary in our adoption process, they now are fun little storybooks that we can share with Clara and Luke about what our family was like before they became a part of it.

We have returned to Shutterfly for help with designing the most important Christmas card of yet. Just like the photo books, we were so impressed to find the myriad of design options and creative ways we can create Christmas cards. The other cool thing we discovered is that they have a wide range of birthday invitation options. That will come in handy when we are planning holidays and birthdays in the future because, Luke and Clara's birthdays are so close together and so close to Christmas and Thanksgiving. Shutterfly also seems to be a perfect place to find gift ideas for the grandparents who are already obsessed with anything that contains photos of the two.

So without further ado.. here is a preview of what to expect from the Nobles Family Christmas Card 2010. (Not the whole thing.. we don't want to spoil it!)

A pledge to post more

2010-12-11T14:20:00.001-08:00

So there is no question that Our Life With Clara has been a little neglected over the past few months, but we have several good excuses.

*We just completed a lengthy, but successful home mortgage re-finance.
*We took the truck off the road, but haven't had any luck selling it quite yet.
*We bought a pumpkin for Halloween, but honestly never got around to carving it.

..oh yeah and then there was this:

LUKE WAS BORN!

Chances are if you read this blog, you are a pretty close friend or member of our family so this isn't really "news". However, it's relevant because "Our Life With Clara" will now have "and Luke" added to the title. Karey and I are going to work at putting out regular updates on what our two munchkins are up to.

Both are already filled with plenty of personality so I am sure there will be a lot to share. Like for instance, this:

Yes.. those are Clara's first steps and yes they did happen IN the hospital the day after her baby brother was born. But don't think she has been off to the races since. While she seemed pretty excited to walk there, she still thinks crawling is a better way around.

Thanks for stopping by and check back often!

Clara at eight months

2010-08-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

Our little girl turned eight months old on August 1 and it seems like she's growing and changing every single day!

She's been sitting up for a while, calling Ryan "dada", and holding her own bottle and feeding herself (when she's in the mood). And while she's been mobile for a couple months now (back scooting, rolling across the room, and pulling herself along the floor flat on her stomach), she's now doing the "army crawl" which I've heard comes right before actual crawling. She also gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, seemingly unsure of how to actually move forward. Any day now!

Clara plays for hours on the floor every day and loves all of her toys, especially her little piano. But I spend a lot of my time pulling her back from going near everything she shouldn't! She is drawn to underneath our end tables, the brick on our fireplace, under her pack and play and just about anywhere I really don't want her to be!

She's also a total daddy's girl lately. I always say her favorite things in order are 1) my iPhone, 2) the remote, 3) her daddy, 4) my flip flops, 5) Sophie, 6) Jasper, and 7) her mommy. That's okay, I know she loves me too!

We'll be celebrating her first birthday before we know it (and that means baby #2 could be here too!).

Our friend Matthew was kind enough to do a little photo shoot with Clara the other day (which she was not too thrilled about), and the photos are below.

Happy eight months, Clara!

6 months of Clara

2010-06-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe, but the little munchkin who has changed our lives is already 6 months old!

She changes by the moment and with all of the things happening in our lives, Karey thought it was a good idea to take a deep breath and look at the whirlwind that has become "Our Life With Clara".

So without further ado.. we present 6 months of Clara. Enjoy!

This is really happening

2010-05-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe I am actually typing this.

After 5-and-a-half years of trying to conceive and the adoption of Clara, I never thought I’d share the news that my wife was pregnant.

But guess what?

KAREY IS PREGNANT!!!!!

That is right. Our family, which for a long time was only made up of two people, is going to double in size in less than a year. Our new addition is growing on schedule, ready to join the world the first week in December. It will be only a few days after we celebrate Clara’s first birthday (but, of course, he/she could come early too).

If you are doing the math, that makes Karey three months pregnant and into her 2nd trimester. As you might imagine, after everything we have been through we were very guarded in releasing the news. However, we’ve had two ultrasounds and a few doctors appointments and everything is moving ahead just the way it is supposed to. That includes Karey feeling rotten for the last few months, while at the same time caring full time for a very active infant.

We are still adjusting to the fact that we are no longer an infertile couple. As hard as it has been, we would not have traded this experience for anything. This new development makes it even more clear that God had a very special plan for our lives, our marriage and our family. It was the only plan that could have connected us with Clara, and while we don’t have scientific proof, we strongly believe her arrival, and the joy that Karey experienced ever since, may have been the missing link to her finally conceiving (that, and several surgeries throughout the past five years).

It goes without saying that we feel incredibly blessed. As much as you probably think you’ve heard that once someone adopts they get pregnant right after, it is incredibly rare. We were overwhelmed with how much Clara changed our lives. And now with this new addition, we honestly can’t put it into words. I feel like I won the lottery, was elected President and discovered a buried treasure under our house.. all at the same time. It truly is an embarrassment of riches.

To answer your questions before you ask:

*We don’t know the sex yet, but we will find out in about seven weeks.
*We are pretty committed to a boy’s name, but we are still in a contentious debate over a girl’s name.
*No, we won’t tell you those names yet.
*Yes, we are considering dumping my beloved pickup truck in exchange for a minivan or something along those lines.
*YES I WILL SELL YOU MY TRUCK FOR A GOOD PRICE.
*Currently the most creative name we have for the child en utero is “Baby #2.” Any suggestions are welcome.

So check back for updates and baby bump photos!! Yes.. THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING!

Meanwhile enjoy this photo that we never thought we'd be able to post. Especially not so soon:

Cuteness

2010-05-26T20:34:00.001-07:00

I know I am running the risk that no one outside of our immediate families will find this humorous, or be able to sit through the entire thing, but as her mother, I am thoroughly amused with Clara's attempts at making a raspberry noise. The sweet little thing tries and tries, never exactly getting it just right. But she's so adorable doing it!

A favorite toy

2010-04-30T09:11:00.000-07:00

Clara turns 5 months old on May 1st. She has hit a number of critical milestones. She is almost 12 pounds, she is now eating baby food and she actually appears on the growth chart! (A big deal for a premiee).

For a human being of such a young age, Clara has accumulated a lot of "stuff". And I'm not just talking about the things you'd expect, like clothes, diapers and high chairs.

This little lady already has gear in support of her favorite athletic teams (poor thing), a television monitoring system with infrared technology and of course toys. A lot of toys. Toys, that up until yesterday she didn't seem all that interested in.

One of the many gifts that Clara received in the days after we picked her up, was a beautiful bunny, given to us by the main anchor at my TV station Gene Cox and his wife Elle. For some reason the bunny became a permanent fixture on her changing table. I'd often bop her in the nose with it, or rub its soft fabric on her skin. The gestures did not seem to matter to her one way or the other.

However, almost overnight, Clara has become very interested in the bunny. It grabs her gaze whenever you put it in front of her and when we put it in her car seat she starts to grab it, put the ears in her mouth and toss it around. When we pull the bunny away, she shoots us a look of concern, almost fright, that her new friend is being taken away.

So Clara has a favorite toy. I am sure it won't be the last. But like every milestone, this too is special.

Clara picks Pitt to win it all

2010-03-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

It is a sad day in the Nobles house. Our daughter is not even a year old, and she is already starting to question her parents' sports allegiances.

Karey and I, being rabid Syracuse Orange fans, are of the belief that this is their year. A #1 seed, a balanced attack and the best coach in NCAA basketball. There is no way this team isn't Final Four bound.

Clara doesn't agree.

This morning we gave her the chance to pick the entire 64 team field and completely on her own, she went with the Pittsburgh Panthers over our beloved Orange. Our only saving grace is that she does believe Pitt will win the entire tournament.

Here is a short video that shows how she picked her bracket. It includes the fateful pick of Pitt over SU.

For the record here is the little lady's Final Four:

Pitt over Kansas

Villanova over West Virginia

Championship: Pitt over Villanova

You can see and follow her entire bracket by clicking here.

Some other tid-bits- She likes the hometown Siena Saints to make a run to the Sweet 16 and she thinks Murray State pulls off a first round upset. Her biggest shocker, (We are calling it the Clara upset special): 15 seed UC Santa Barbara over Ohio State. (Sorry Aunt Ashley and Uncle Adam)

Post your Final Four picks in the comments so we can see where you stack up with Ms. Clara.

Three-month check up

2010-03-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

Nine-and-a-half pounds.

That's what little Miss Clara weighs these days, and it happens to be more than three times her birth weight!

She had her three month check-up yesterday (a couple weeks late) and she is doing just great. Her weight is approaching the low end of the growth chart (the regular growth chart for full-term babies) and her own curve got much steeper since her last weigh in. She just keeps gaining!

The pediatrician did think her breathing still sounded heavy, and attributed it to her likely having smaller airways. She said she should outgrow that, but most likely will have asthma. She also said that while most people can look to eating habits as a sign that something is wrong, we might not be able to do the same, since Clara always eats well. Even in the hospital! Like mother, like daughter!

Clara also impressed the doctor by locking eyes with her and even raising her eyebrows to communicate (what, I'm not sure). She said Clara seems to be doing well developmentally, and in some respects is even ahead of a full-term three-month old at this point!

She also got three vaccinations and was pretty cranky yesterday from the shots, poor thing.

The big news is that the doctor advised that we switch her over to her crib. She said since Clara is a preemie, we should be taking all precautions to avoid SIDs, which means now that she is more active, her bassinet with padded sides is not okay. So she's now in her crib in her nursery with no bumpers and no blankets. I had to buy her a "sleep sack" yesterday, which is basically a sleeper that goes over her normal pajamas and serves as her blanket.

She looks pretty lonely in there, but I think she likes it! This is how we found her at one point yesterday evening:

She, of course, started out at one end, but apparently likes to squirm! She was in a different position every time we checked on her!

We have a video monitor set up and I am just transfixed. I could watch it for hours!

Well, we have lots of Clara pics to share, and I'm behind in posting them, so I'll leave you with just a few:

Clara has a buddy these days... Jasper! I never would have guessed it. I think it's because they share a common interest - me! I'm near Clara and Jasper wants to be near me. But she is good with the baby and I am always supervising (don't worry, mom!). Here's another shot of the two girls...

Clara has a lot of hair bows so I put one on just for fun. Turns out babies can get head-band head! I had to wet down her hair for church that evening. She's also sporting her new stylish "peep-toe" shoes, the hottest trend in baby fashion this spring :)

In this shot, Clara was just transfixed on me as I was blowing my hair dry. I love it that she is focusing on us and watching us lately!

She's so smiley! And she nearly chuckles, which she is on the verge of doing here. Oh, and do you notice the hair on her head? That's right - Clara no longer has the "old-man-wrap-around" (as one nurse put it during her hospital stay)! We like her both ways, but we are glad to see it come in so soon!

I can't wait to keep meeting my daughter

2010-03-10T06:20:00.001-08:00

Clara has a new trait.

She smiles.

I know, not really earth shattering, but for Karey and me it is huge. She used to smile on occasion before, but was always assumed it was just by accident. We'd see her sort of curl up her lip and her eyes widen and we'd claim that as an expression of her happiness. We don't need to do that anymore. Now she smiles all the time and in different ways. Huge, big open mouth smiles. Little, almost mischievous closed mouth smiles. And of course my favorite, the one you see here, smiles that are sent only through her eyes.

This new phenomenon got me thinking. There is so much about Clara that we have yet to learn. I passionately looked forward to meeting my first child for a long time, but I never thought that once she came to us, that introduction process would be ongoing for the rest of our lives. 3 months ago, I knew nothing about Clara, but 2 weeks ago, I knew nothing about the Clara that smiles all of the time.

The weather has been spectacular this week in Central Virginia and whenever I feel the spring air, I almost automatically start thinking about baseball. Living in Upstate NY, the idea of getting to play baseball outside after being buried under snow for 6 months brought me such excitement. I loved when my Dad and I would find my glove buried under a pile of sporting equipment in the basement and we'd oil it up to get ready to play catch for the first time.

It won't be long before I can share that experience with Clara. I have no idea if she will have the same enjoyment that I did. As I thought about that future, my mind started racing, wondering what kind of kid Clara will be. Will she be a super girly-girl, like her mother and her Aunt Becky and I will have to beg her to come outside? Will she be a little tomboy, like Aunt Amy and be the one begging me to go outside and play catch?

But my thought process went even further.. What if she does want to play softball or baseball, what kind of player will she be? Will she want to lead-off and steal bases? Will she be a power hitter? Will she want to pitch and learn a vicious windmill that her opponents will cower in fear over? (I vote for all of the above)

The point is, I have no idea. I don't even know that girl yet. But I can't wait to meet her.

I honestly get excited when I think of every single one of those possibilities unfolding, and this is just one tiny example of the thousands of new Claras we are going to meet in the future.

Over the course of my life, I don't feel really like I have changed all that much. But this new revelation has made me realize that my parents are meeting new versions of me all the time. Even though I am a full grown adult, they are still meeting the new me, even today.

They have waited a long time to meet their son as a father.

Clara visits NY

2010-03-08T13:19:00.000-08:00

We're back from Clara's first visit to my hometown. The reason for our trip - Clara and I had a baby shower! It was so much fun. I highly recommend having one if you are adopting. It was a great way for everyone to meet little Clara, and after hearing our story, so many people couldn't wait to see her. And how much more fun is a shower when the baby is in attendance?!

We got lots of great stuff, and I am constantly reminded just how incredibly generous people are. Some people have given two and three gifts at this point! We are so blessed. And we truly have everything we need, especially in the clothing department. This little girl is one well-dressed infant! One of these days I really need to take a picture of her closet. It is jammed packed!

I don't have many pictures of the actual shower just yet (I didn't really have a chance to use my camera in between eating the awesome food and opening presents), but I do have some shots from the overall trip to my parents:

My mom, me and Clara at the shower

Clara LOVES her grandfather. She smiles every time he talks to her!

She got to meet her great-grandpa

That smile melts my heart!!

Clara turned three months old last week. And as you can see in the pictures, she also entered a new phase - she smiles! I couldn't wait for this milestone to arrive. She used to smile once in a while, but now she's smiling at appropriate times, and much more often.

She's also getting so big. She hasn't been weighed in a couple weeks, but we estimate that she weighs between 8 1/2 and 9 pounds. For the first time over the weekend, my arm and back was sore from holding her. Apparently that's what most mothers experience from the start! Our little peanut was light as a feather for the first three months!

She's now fitting into 0-3 month clothes, and while newborn stuff does still fit her, it's getting tighter every day.

She is also sleeping longer. Sometimes she goes four hours between feedings. She does have some acid reflux, so we had to start adding rice cereal to her formula, as well as reduce the amount of formula (which she hasn't been too happy about). The pediatrician also switched her reflux medication and so far the changes have all seemed to work. I hate when I can tell she's in pain, so we're thankful that is happening far less than it used to.

I will update with more shower pictures when I get them. But in the meantime, a big "thank you" to all who were in attendance on Saturday! I am so glad you all got to meet Clara!

New Clara pics

2010-02-23T18:18:00.001-08:00

Clara is doing great, praise God! Thank you so much for all of your prayers.

We are truly so blessed that she pulled through like she did. She didn't have pneumonia when they first said she did. She didn't get worse when they said she would. And, so far, she hasn't had the cough they said would linger for up to two weeks. She is a little fighter, and you all stormed heaven on her behalf. What a great combination!

I am WAY behind in posting pictures, so that's what this post will be. I'll put the most recent first, then the older ones at the end, in case you notice her getting smaller (by the way, she is now 7 lbs. 11.2 oz! She actually gained weight in the hospital! Oh, and she's 12 weeks today).

She was feeling better today and seemed really happy, so I decided to ~~torture her~~ have her model some new outfits she got in the mail yesterday from Grandma:

The rest of these are pre-RSV, and she's probably a pound lighter:

Aunt Carol couldn't get enough of her

Jordan did a lot of holding and feeding Clara during his visit, not to mention pushing the stroller around Short Pump!

Aunt Caitie with her little niece

Barb and Whitey stopped to see her on their way south

I can already tell a difference between her size in these pictures. We can't believe how big she's getting. She's almost in size 0-3! Time to go feed her right now, actually!

She's home

2010-02-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

Clara officially broke out of the hospital at around 6:30pm Saturday. She was only there for a little more than 48 hours. We are told that is good for RSV patients. There is a chance that her multiple vaccines played a big role in her not getting as serious of a case as she could have.

Thank you so much for your kind words, prayers, notes of encouragement and just general support. We heard from so many people with kids that went through the same scare. Some not as bad, some much worse. It made these past few days so much easier to hear stories from other parents who had already been through this and made it out unscathed.

In case you haven't spent that much time in the hospital, it sucks. And being sick is only about 10% of why it sucks. You are constantly being, poked, prodded and bothered. I have had surgery twice. It was miserable and I couldn't imagine a more awful experience. Then I sat through three different surgeries with Karey. That was way worse. It is so hard to see someone you love go through that mess. Once again, I couldn't imagine a more awful experience. Then I witnessed my DAUGHTER get admitted to the hospital. That just sucked. (I was in search of more artful language, but sucks just seems to fit.)

The hospital staff was truly incredible. They did everything they could to keep her comfortable, but there is only so much you can do when they are sticking needles in your arm, shoving industrial suckers up your nose and shoving medicated steam in your mouth. Despite this experience, our tough little baby actually gained 3 ounces! She is well on her way back to perfect health. We feel so fortunate.

But.. just in case you don't believe it was an awful experience, here is some video evidence. This was at the end of her stay, when she was feeling the best.

We are so glad she is home.

Clara's scare

2010-02-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

After waiting five plus years to become parents, Karey and I really thought we were prepared for anything. In the early days of our time with our new miracle, nothing has phased us. We fly out of bed at 3:30 a.m. for middle of the night feedings with bright smiles and we feel privileged to wade through smelly diapers.

Yes it has been early, but while many parents are surprised and even a little naive to the responsibility, we are as capable as old pros. Nothing could possibly shake our resolve.
Nothing of course, except for these eight words:

"We are going to have to admit her."

That is right. Just a little more than a month and we have already been brought to our knees. Our little baby is in the hospital. I won't make you wade through the entire post to let you know that she is going to be okay. The little trooper is as tough as nails. We hope to have her home in the next couple of days.

Our non-parental friends (a world we were a part of just a few weeks ago), have probably never heard of this ugly baby sickness called "RSV". RSV is an acronym for a much too long name of this awful respiratory virus that hits children and only children. It is a version of the adult flu, but it attacks the young with much more vigor and it is more difficult for their little bodies to fight off.

On December 1, the day Clara was born, the term "RSV" was nowhere near my universe. However, a little more than a month later, once we picked her up, it was all I heard. "Be careful she doesn't get RSV," "my nephew got RSV, it is terrible," "has she gotten her RSV shot yet?" RSV became like the smoke monster in LOST. It may never be a problem, but you walk around at all times wondering when it is going to come up from behind and carry you off.

To answer your question - YES she got the RSV shot. In fact she got two of them. It's not really called the RSV shot, it has another, more unnecessarily complicated name, but she was "vaccinated." A development that would give me a false sense of confidence.

For the last few weeks, Clara has labored with every breath that she takes. She always seemed plugged up and just uncomfortable. Karey would stick this tiny turkey baster suction cup thing up her nose from time to time and pull out snot, but it never really seemed to make her feel any better. We took her to the pediatrician who diagnosed her with acid reflux. The baby equivalent of Mylanta made her feel better for a few days, but she still wasn't right. You have to understand that when we first brought her home, she was the picture of perfection. She hardly ever cried. She ate and slept like a champ. Recently that disposition had clearly changed. I shook it off as just normal growing pains (remember, she was "vaccinated"). Karey, however, just said over and over, "she has RSV, I know it."

There were a couple of times that Karey's worries would grow and we would get into little snits over how serious the issue was. Finally, Karey looked me right in the eye and said, "we are not going to do this! She is sick, I know it and you are just going to have to accept that this is mother's intuition."

That stopped me in my tracks. I will be honest, the adoption process is a bumpy road. It's not like traditional parenthood where your baby is born and there is no question that he or she is yours. With Clara, every new experience brings us a bit closer to her in a unique way. A way that isn't just given to you. A way you have to work for. Karey has somehow built up her mother's intuition and, it turns out, we better never mess with it again.

On Thursday, Clara and Karey ventured to the pediatrician to see if they could figure out this issue with her breathing. I wasn't there. I had worked two incredibly long days, and needed to get some stuff done around the house. I wasn't all that concerned. I thought maybe they would put her on a baby medication and give us some techniques to help with the breathing and that would be that.

Then I started getting the text messages:

"Clara might have RSV, might have asthma. Dr. said it might be a rough six months."

WHAT?? RSV!! But she got vaccinated!!

It turns out that the RSV test at the Doctor's office was negative, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing because at least then they'd know the course of treatment.

At that point my heart started racing and I was so angry I wasn't there. Karey later relayed how our wonderful pediatrician gently sat her down and told her that she was going to give her a "pep talk" and that she needed to drive straight to the hospital, and not even stop for gas.

I met Karey at the emergency room and stayed with her as they used an industrial sucker to pull the mucus and phlem out of Clara's little nose. She hated it, but started breathing better right away. I decided to run to work to get a project done and said we would reassess later.

I was at work when Karey called to break the news: "They are admitting her." She did indeed have RSV and on top of it, there was even a chance of pneumonia. I left work to meet up with them and eventually we got her up into her room and met with the doctor and the nurse who asked 50 million questions. Questions, I might add, I did not know one answer to, but Karey knew immediately.

During this whirlwind of activity, I had this uncomfortable feeling in my gut. I just could not get a read on just how bad this whole thing was. Finally the doctor asked us, "do you have any questions?"

"Ya," I said. "Just how worried should we be?"

For the first time during this tumultuous five hours I was able to relax when the nurse shook her head and said, "not at all."

So now we just wait this thing out. It is a virus so they have to let it run its course. Clara, being a preemie, needs to be in the hospital, just to be safe. They had her hooked up to oxygen and are carefully monitoring her breathing, her heart rate, and how many breaths she takes per minute. She can come home when she is off the oxygen for 24 hours. Our tough girl started breathing all by herself at a comfortable rate this afternoon.

If there was any doubt how important this child has become to us, it has all been erased by this experience. My incredible mother dropped everything she had to rush to be by our side (that is saying a lot, because she watches our nephew Jonathan every day and my sister and her family had to do quite a bit to accommodate her leaving. We are so thankful to have such an understanding family.)

When I called my mother to fill her in on what was happening, I did my best to be tough and act like we could handle this. But I felt the tears come rushing when I said, "I have to admit, I am really scared." She then told me the story of the time 30 years ago when she was in a very similar experience, rushing to the hosptial with her first-born. A story that has a happy ending, because I am still here. (Well.. that may be debatable depending on your perspective.)

So Clara is going to be okay and we are a little stronger surviving our first scare. I am sure it won't be the last, but seeing my daughter already starting to feel better has filled me with an incredible rush of thanksgiving for God's grace.

We are so lucky to be blessed by this child.

Okay.... enough mushy stuff. Here are some cute pictures, which is probably the only reason you log onto this blog:

Karey has a technique to capture every smile on camera. Even with the O2 hooked up.

Grandma got a firm grip from Clara during one of her many breathing treatments.

We got to spend the morning together, just the two of us. I am pretty sure she knows I am her daddy.

Still growing!

2010-02-02T12:02:00.001-08:00

Clara now weighs 6 lbs. 8 oz.!

She is still growing at the rate of half a pound a week. Amazing! I told my mom today that if this doesn't slow down eventually, we're going to be on Dr. Phil for having an enormous baby!!

Seriously, though, she is doing so well and I'm so thankful to God that she is thriving like she is. What a miracle.

In other health news, the sniffles that she had when we first got her never went away and this past week it seemed to get a little worse. We're not sure if it was due to her getting a few vaccinations, or that we started using a humidifier, or that we switched her formula to powder. All three things happened at the beginning of last week, so it could be any of them, a combination, or none. Either way, I spoke with a nurse at our pediatrician's office yesterday and she said to stop the humidifier, which we had already done. They're supposed to help, but in Clara's case it seemed to be hurting. And she has seemed to be better since stopping it, so that's good. She never got too sick, her temperature has been fine and she's eating and sleeping okay, so it's not a big deal. And she's growing like a weed so she's obviously healthy!

Clara is having some visitors this week and we are just so excited we can't even contain ourselves! Tomorrow our friends N, D and baby L are stopping by. Then on Thursday, Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe are flying in. We can't wait!!

Here are some more pictures to leave you with:

Two peas in a pod.

This is the digital image I chose from Clara's free photo shoot. She slept for about an hour while a very lovely and talented photographer took some pictures, and now we have this adorable image. Good deal!

More baby pics

2010-01-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

So some of you are asking - even coming close to threatening - me for more pictures. I want to keep you all happy, so I am going to give you what you want. In fact, I went above and beyond today, and spent a few hours this afternoon conducting an actual photo shoot of little Clara (who has now officially outgrown her preemie clothes, I might add. She's wearing newborn!).

My friend, L, and her little one, E, came over and we took tons of photos of both babies. Unfortunately my camera battery died before I could upload most of them, including some good ones of E, but here are a few for now. Wait until you see the last one!

We did not make them do that! Okay, well we put E's arm behind C, but that is it. I swear. He grabbed her hand and held it all by himself. What a little sweetheart!

Getting bigger!

2010-01-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Clara weighs six pounds!

She had her second pediatrician's appointment today (since she's been with us) and she, once again, was perfectly healthy. Along with her great weight gain (she was 5 lbs. 2 oz. two weeks ago), she was also 18 inches long. If I remember correctly, that's up a 1/4 of an inch from her last check.

We are just thrilled that she is getting so much bigger! The doctor said that on a baby growth chart, her improvements are right in line with normal babies. Well, she doesn't even register on the actual chart, of course, but way down below in preemie land, she is growing at the perfect rate.

The doctor is also referring us to a well-baby clinic at a local hospital simply because she was a preemie (he said many of the babies they deal with aren't nearly as healthy as she is) and an opthamologist. She's also getting a cranial ultrasound done tomorrow.

All of these things are exactly what she would have been doing if she had stayed in Louisiana, or if she had been born locally, since she was premature. Because she moved to another state things got a little delayed, but we're on the right track now (and, I should add, she already had one cranial ultrasound and saw an opthamologist before she was with us, and both checks were normal). I'm really looking forward to the well-baby clinic and learning what I can be doing to help her along developmentally.

She also got some shots today, including one for RSV (respiratory syncytial virus, which can send little babies to the hospital in the winter months), and she did great. She cried a little right after, but hasn't been fussy since.

It was a beautiful day today so when we got home, Clara and I went for a little walk outside, and I discovered that I'm going to have to sneak out for walks from now on. Sophie can't handle it! She heard me say to Clara that we were going for a walk, and the poor thing lost it. She cried when she realized we were going without her! Walking is her favorite thing to do in the world and now I'm doing it with the baby and not her?! I can see why she's upset!

I'll leave you with a picture of Clara watching her favorite t.v. show, First at 4! Ryan interviewed Governor McDonnell today, live, and Clara was home watching:

Clara meets new friends

2010-01-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

First of all, you guys are amazing!! We reached our goal of 100 comments on Clara's photographs by Saturday morning. And the photographer had actually given us a deadline of next Saturday, believe it or not! So thank you!

Today, Clara got to meet two of our dear friends who came all the way down from Maryland to see her, and also to meet baby E, our other friends' little one, as well. We had such a great time! And Clara also visited NBC12 for the very first time, and even got a couple photos on the set.

G's got her hands full with E and Clara!

After brunch at our new favorite brunch spot (if you are visiting us in the near future on the weekend we'll probably be taking you here!)

T and G, dueling weatherpeople!

Clara got to see where her daddy reads a prompter and looks pretty

Surprisingly, we don't have a lot of shots of the three of us and I love this one! (and if you're paying close attention, yes, I wear this sweater a lot lately. What can I say, it's comfy! Thanks, mom!)

Tomorrow is a big day because Clara has her next pediatrician appointment. We can't wait to find out what she weighs and how much longer she has grown. We have started to notice in the past couple days that her preemie clothes are getting a little smaller on her. Our little baby is growing up so fast! She might be in newborn clothes soon! Haha!

Help Clara get a free image

2010-01-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Okay everyone, we need your help! Thanks to all the comments that have been posted on the pictures of Clara from her photo shoot the other day, the generous photographer is now presenting us with an additional challenge - she will give us a free 16x20 image if we can make it to 100 comments. So if you haven't commented already (you know who you are), we would be so appreciative if you headed over there now and left one!

Here's the link again: www.fireflyphotographyva.blogspot.com. So pop on over there, leave a quick comment, and then come back here and finish reading. Thank you!

In other news, there has been a new development in the World of Clara - she is playing! I discovered a couple days ago that she really responds to a developmental toy that she was given (thanks, Joan!). I put her down on it just to see and I couldn't believe how much she came to life! I know I am biased, but I just really think she is doing great for being born so early. Here she is in action (sorry for the poor quality... despite having a professional video camera, I shot this on my cell phone):

And thanks again for commenting (click here if you haven't left one yet). We'll be sure to let you know if we make it to 100!

Clara's photo shoot

2010-01-21T09:50:00.000-08:00

Before we get to the photo shoot, I just wanted to share a quick picture. Yesterday was Clara's first visit to the adoration chapel:

I hope it's not sacrilegious to take a picture of this, but I really wanted to capture what will hopefully be the first of many visits to the Blessed Sacrament throughout her life. We prayed for her here, and at the chapel in Utica, for many years, so it was wonderful to be able to bring her with us for the first time.

It was also in this very chapel that Ryan first came up with the name Clare. He was reading Raymond Arroyo's book about Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare, when he looked up at me and asked, "What about Clare?" I was like, "What about Clare?" He then told me he was drawn to the name Clare while reading the book, which talked a lot about St. Clare, and wanted to consider naming a daughter after her. I responded, "I don't know about Clare, but I'd go for Clara," even though I felt like we would first get a baby boy. Little did we know that that conversation was laying the ground work for a quick decision we'd have to make six months later!

Yesterday was also her first photo shoot and she did amazing! A wonderful and very talented local photographer was looking for newborns to take part in a free mini-session, so she could use the images on her website. While Clara is not newborn, she is still smaller than most of them, so she qualified. The photographer is like a baby whisperer, because she got Clara to pose in several adorable positions, all while staying sound asleep! She just posted a sneak peak on her blog of two images, and before I give you the link (because then you'll go there and never come back here!), I want to ask you to please leave a comment on the pictures of Clara. If we get ten comments, we get a free mini-album, so please comment!

Okay, here's the link: www.fireflyphotographyva.blogspot.com

New baby, new blog

2010-01-19T18:29:00.001-08:00

Since we are starting a new chapter in our lives - and because our friends and family aren't too happy with the slow pace of our picture posting on Karey's other blog - we figured it was time to start a new blog entirely devoted to everything Clara.

So what better way to start off than to give you what you are demanding - baby pictures!

Clara, wearing a hat Karey's mom knitted for her.

A better view of the hat, which is supposed to be like neapolitan ice cream, with cherries on top!

Sophie rarely acknowledges Clara, so this was a rare moment.

We got two deliveries in the mail today for the nursery - new drapes (clearance at Pottery Barn Teen) and rug (Karey is obsessed with the rug!)

Clara is now eating 3-4 ounces at a time, up from two ounces just last week. She is definitely growing!

Clara turned seven weeks today. Doctors believe that she was eight weeks early, so that means next week she would have been due to be born! It's amazing to think that she should still be in the womb. She is doing incredibly well and, really, it seems like her size is the only indication of how early she was. She is completely healthy. What a miracle!

Everyone comments how much bigger she has gotten since we first met her. She is now fitting nicely into her preemie clothes, which were big on her last week. She was five pounds two ounces at her doctor's appointment eight days ago, so it's entirely possibly that she could be six pounds by her next appointment on the 25th.

We just had a great visit with Karey's parents, who were so excited to meet little Clara. Ryan's family visited when we first got home (and set up the nursery, I might add!) and then Ryan's mom stayed on to help out Karey. We can't wait for everyone else to meet her! We are so excited for everyone who is coming very soon - our friends Gina and Troy, Aunt Amy and Uncle Joe, Aunt Caitlin and Jordan, Karey's Aunt Carol and Uncle Dan, Barb and Whitey are stopping on their way south, Uncle Ronnie might be planning a trip... anyone I forgot? Oh ya...Nicole, D (who she has already met once), and baby L. Everyone is welcome!

We also want to thank all of you who have helped us out in so many ways. So many of you have sent beautiful gifts (if we had started this blog sooner, we could have posted pics of everything we got, but things have long since been laundered and put away), and others have donated so generously to our adoption fund. And our families - we don't even know what to say! You have all made this possible and to say we are eternally grateful is an understatement. Thank you!