My Little Artist

Clara takes after her Daddy - that is for sure. She absolutely loves to do anything creative - color, paint, draw, use stickers, play-doh, glue, the list could go on and on. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months:

Adam has a ton of drawings from his work and he was sorting through them one day - Clara got to enjoy coloring the discards. She also got a kick out of finding letters on the drawings, which she is also getting very good at identifying a majority of the letters.

This was from early September, I remember Clara told me it was a friendly monster. It also the first thing that I ever could really recognize that she had drawn:

This really blew my mind. This was from October, she really wanted to draw a tree. So we sat down and talked a little bit about a tree (colors, shapes) and she made a big green circle and then colored it in. Then she wanted a rectangle (for the trunk) and she couldn't figure out how to do it do I helped her a little by drawing two of the four lines and then she finished the rectangle and then she colored it in. Then she wanted a sun ("way up in the sky") and drew that all by herself along the the rays.

This is from last Thursday. She was drawing at the counter while I was cooking dinner. Look closely...she told me she was drawing a man and I (being busy cooking) said "that's nice." Well when I walked over to look, I was speechless:

Home Sweet Home

It all began with a special delivery. An enormous box arrived on our doorstep on Thursday night. The dresser we wanted for Microbrew the Second's room. A very wonderful gift from both my parents and Adam's parents. It is gorgeous and looks beautiful in his room. Thank you all!!!

Clara was very patient in waiting for Adam to set it up in the room. She even pitched in and helped put all the feet on the dresser.

Then the fun really began...

The best Daddy making the best little house he can:

This is funny...

Being amazed at the making of her castle (as she calls it):

Moving In:

Thank you Daddy!

Brick-Layin'

Adam and Clara were busy the other night building with her brick blocks. They built all sorts of things but this apparently was the most fun because she has wanted to do it everyday since. Adam would build a "castle" around her and she would wait very patiently and when he was done she would knock it down.

Clara couldn't leave her Thanksgiving Turkey out of all the fun!

(By the way, if you don't have these blocks for your kids - they are the BEST! They super tough, mine are at least six or seven years old and have been through several classes of kindergarteners and pre-kindergarteners! And, they are still going strong!)

Microbrew the Second Check-Up

We had a check-up appointment today and we were super excited about our 26 week sonogram. We were extremely surprised that we were able to get 4-D pictures as well as the 2-D. They did not have this when we had Clara's sonograms so we definitely were not expecting it! It was an incredible experience - especially so, since he was moving the entire time and I could see how he looked while I felt him move. Our doctor is great since she really spoils us with sonograms but we had over 30 minutes of time just watching him along with TONS of pictures.

He is measuring right at 2 pounds - right on target. We also got to see all of the important parts - brain, heart, kidneys, bladder, and the man goods - it all looks great. His little feet were measuring 2 inches - too tiny and sweet!

I took my homework seriously - gain weight. I did it! I gained 4 pounds - YIPPEE!!!!

Here are just a few of the pictures we came home with so enjoy!

We couldn't exactly figure out what little boy was doing here:

Is it "Gun's Up?"

Is it a Flip Off?

We finally decided that he was giving us the Peace Sign. I love it!

Baby Yoga - His foot is touching his forehead. Can you do that?

Hand in front of face:

Another picture of his hand in front of his face but this time with a little leg:

This habit must be stopped - picking the nose:

A sweet profile picture:

The next two are just perfect shots of his face and his cute little lips:

Happy Birthday Ga-Ga!

Adam's sweet Grandma turned 90 on Saturday and we went to Hideaway to help celebrate. It was such a great day since the weather was beautiful and we spent the entire day outside. There was definitely a house full of family and it was non-stop fun and catching up. Clara LOVED playing with Robert and Jessica - they probably ran 300 laps around the backyard. We were able to get some great pictures of all the fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GA-GA!

Movie Night

Nothing like snuggling and watching Dora save the Crystal Kingdom! Clara couldn't even peel her eyes off the television for a picture!

Kayla and Clara

Crystal and Kayla came over the other day. We had a blast and the girls really enjoyed playing together. I had to share this cute pictures of them playing dress-up. Kayla was especially in love with the bracelets and necklaces. Too sweet!

Cheese!

Right before Kayla was about to leave, Clara helped her put her shoes on.

Playing and Sharing with her Little Brother...

He was definitely trying to play back with some serious kicks!

Clara the Fashionista

Only a few examples of our in-house fashionista. More to come - guaranteed.

Halloween

Halloween - good times. One of my favorite holidays. Clara could not contain her excitement that day and who could blame her - she was guaranteed candy. After getting all decked out, we set out to a little church around the corner from our house that had games to play and then moved on to trick or treating. We covered a few streets before she got tuckered out and insisted on being carried. So, we headed home to eat some candy and wait for trick or treaters to come to our house. She helped hand out candy and loved seeing every one's costume. Here are a several pictures from our fun filled night with our black kitty cat.

Ol' blue eyes...

I haven't posted a picture yet of my belly - probably because we haven't taken a specific belly picture so here you go if you haven't seen me in a while...

Munching on our treats...

Checking out our glowing jack-o-lantern...

Digging in the treat bag for more candy...

Here is her favorite: a straw that she insisted wasn't a straw, but a flute she even managed to make music with it...

Month 6

Ah, Month 6. Feeling good. This boy is a complete nut - absolutely crazy and active just like his sister was in the womb. I was on the computer the other night and had the laptop in my lap - something he has always loved (even from week 16 when I first felt him move, he would always wake up when I had the laptop on my lap.) Anyway, he would kick so hard the laptop would move! It was quite funny.

Nesting is kicking in. On top of my already tidy tendencies, I am in full on nesting mode. We organized the garage yesterday (Adam didn't seem to mind too much since we have our old television hooked up for the elliptical machine so he was able to watch football as we worked.) This morning, I was reaching in the cabinet in the bathroom for a new razor to take into the shower with me, and started to clean the cabinet out. Well, an hour later I finally got around to showering.

Clara asks everyday about "my baby brother" and if he will come soon. I have to explain that he is still growing and we have to wait. This morning she asked me if I took my vitamins to make him strong. Too sweet and thoughtful!

I am still quite concerned that I won't have everything ready but I keep telling myself all he needs is diapers, something to eat and love. Maybe one day that will sink in.

No, if you are wondering, he still has no name. At least that is one thing I am not that concerned about.

We have an appointment next week, along with a sonogram so we are excited to see how he is doing. In the meantime, I am still trying to eat more calories to gain some weight. Still contemplating rocks in the pockets at the appointment.

In the meantime, I will leave you with an eggplant picture. From now until week 28, little man is approximately this size.