Claire Elise - 5 Months

5 months have come and gone since this sweet baby entered our lives... she's laughing, rolling, eating, and puking just like a real baby now. We're entering what is one of my many favorite ages - where the newborn suddenly becomes a cute roly poly human being - complete with personality and charm. Claire has a sweet temperament, and has been quite the chatter box for some time now. I'm guessing she will be a little more outgoing - and although we are praying against it - possibly more of a dare devil than her big sister. She loves watching her big sister - hates being alone - jumps so much in her Jumperoo we're sure she's going to break it - and rarely fails to give you a smile when you need one.

This past Sunday we had Claire dedicated at church.

My pretty French dress. Thanks Aunt Susie!

Tired of Dedication Day...

And because I love to see how much they look (or don't look) alike... here's a 5 month comparison shot!

Claire

Ella

Jumping Naps

2010 So Far...

We are having so much fun watching the relationship between Ella and Claire develop. Ella really adores her little sister - for now. She now asks to "have her" on a regular basis... and Claire seems to tolerate the awkward attempt her sister makes at holding her. This morning Ella heard Claire cry out on the monitor and immediately headed for the stairs announcing, "I'll get her"! And last week, when I brought Claire downstairs to where Ella was playing with Daddy... she happily greeted her with, "Good Morning Sister"!! I have no doubt one day there will be much screaming and yelling over toys and maybe even boyfriends... but for now... they are simply adorable.

Bonding over Baby Einstein... already. (I'm not ashamed).

Pooped herself out on the jumperoo! Poor thing!

Too cute.

Whasssthat???

Ewwwww... GROSS!!!

No WAY are you touching me after that display!!

It's Time

I've been debating for quite some time now about whether or not Ricky's website should remain up and running. I'll be honest, even though my posts and updates on it have grown fewer and farther between, I just haven't been able to bring myself to stop payments and let it go. Just last week however, I found out that they now can convert your website into book form...

...and that was all I needed to hear.

Every journal entry I made... every comment left... every picture posted... I can have in print - to keep forever. And now I'm very much at peace with taking it all down. My thoughts and memories of him will inevitably be strewn all over this blog from time to time, so it in no way means that I am ending my ability to reflect "out loud". I'm simply accepting the reality that a chapter has closed. I'm going to leave it up for one last week - so if you would like to leave a final comment or maybe just click through one last time, feel free. What a treasure it was, and will always be to me...

You can click on the website link underneath his picture to the right, or just below here. The "littlemanricky" domain no longer exists.

http://www.babyjellybeans.com/web/do/site/home?ID=40560

Christmas - 2009

Winter is Here!

Christmas is coming fast and furious, and we've gotten some good snow lately to go right along with it! In between baking and shopping we managed to find some time to see what this white stuff is all about. Ella seems to like it... for a little while anyway. She and Daddy attempted to build a snowman yesterday... things started out great, but 5 minutes later Daddy was on his own and Ella had had enough! It was all worth it in the end... she even insisted on having her high chair in plain sight of our little "man" out in the backyard for breakfast this morning. A couple days ago we went to Christmas at the Trader's Point Creamery!!! A little cold - but a visit with REAL Reindeer made it ALL worth it!!

Yikes!
"A ball made out of SNOW??!!"

Like it...Like it...

Hate it!... Hate it!...

The finished masterpiece!

Santa 2009

She's apparently still not a big fan... For Claire however, the jury is still out.

Santa 2008

Sisters

These two are really starting to notice each other, and it's pretty stinkin' cute!

3 Months Already!

They say it goes fast... turns out it goes even faster with the second! Claire is 3 months old today and I figured I better blog about since I'm failing at documenting everything else in her life!! Her sweet personality is slowly coming out - even got a couple little giggles out of her yesterday! She's not quite as independent and content as her big sister... basically wants nothing to do with hanging out by herself during her waking hours. But I figure that's because she somehow knows that if I could get away with plopping her in a swing for 3 hours at a stretch - sadly, I probably would! No... little Claire knows that she must take advantage of bonding with Mommy while she can... Thankfully, she is a great sleeper. She's napping in the morning for a couple hours... again in the afternoon for 4-4 1/2 hours!!! And sleeping through the night as well. Such a good girl. No wonder she insists on one on one time when she is awake!!

I wanted to look back and remember what Ella looked like at 3 months... and discovered that was when I snapped some cute shots of her wearing a handmade hat from a dear friend, and laying on the matching blanket she crocheted. Since that same special friend made a hat and blanket for Claire as well... only made sense to do a second photo shoot!! Turns out these two look a LITTLE bit more alike than I thought!

This one is Ella:

The Now

There really is nothing more precious than being able to slow down... take a step back and just realize where God has you in this moment in time. Funny how it's hard to remember how exactly we got here. But I have to say, I'm overwhelmingly thankful, and I like it - a lot.