more bathtime.

I know there are lots of bath posts, but she is SO fun during this time of day!  Her latest trick is to bring anything and everything to her mouth.  So in the bath, we lay the washcloth on her belly to keep her warm and she gets her fist underneath it and brings it to her mouth and sucks all the soapy water out of it!  Is water bad for babies?  We hope not!  Here are a couple pics and videos of the sweet babe and her daddy!

surprise.

Well...Kurtis turns 30 on May 31!  30 years old!  The families and I knew this was big, so we decided to throw him a little surprise birthday bash!  I twisted Jeff's arm (right...) to take Kurtis fishing so he was out of my hair all day, and the moms and I (and my dad and Emily) got everything together for the party! 

The party was a Brats n' Beer Birthday Bash!  Kurtis showed up to a houseful of people and some silly decorations and LOTS of great food (thanks everyone for bringing such great chow)!  I was so happy with the turnout, and the night was fantastic!  Here's the proof!

The birthday boy...

 my dad, the chef...

 Brad n' Angie...

 The Reddens...

 Alex and his fiance Danielle...

 Uncle Brad and Clara-belle...

 Singing to Kurtis. (he hated this part)

 Make a wish...

 blow...

 Here's Avery (Mike and Molly's youngest) and Miss Clara.  Avery is obsessed with babies and loves spending time with Clara!

 Here's our little fam!

 One more!

I wish I'd have snapped pics of everyone here!  I missed lots of you - including the rest of our parents!  I need to get better about snapping more pics!  All in all, it was a fantastic evening!  Thanks everyone for coming and making Kurtis' BIG b-day spesh!

3 months old.

At three months - Clara is...

25 inches long

head - 16 inches

weight - tbd (we don't have a good scale)

Clara is a delight!  Everyone tells us what an easy baby she is.  She has a pleasant disposition, is happy almost all the time, and is meeting all the monthly milestones.  She can hold her head up well.  She is putting weight on her legs to "stand" while being held on our laps.  She continues to grow and eat well - she eats every four-ish hours during the day, and at night eats at 10:30 pm and doesn't eat again till 6 or 6:30 the next morning.  You heard me people - the girl is sleeping through the night!  Love her!

She is wearing size 3-6 month outfits, and size 6 month jammies.  She squeals in delight and laughs often.  She is always ready for someone to make eye contact with her so she can give them a smile! 

She still loves her baths.  She started taking vitamin d supplements this month - Doctor's orders to start at 2 months. 

Clara continues to do this precious little fake cough when she's about to laugh or cry. 

She is loving having books read aloud to her.  She looks at the pictures and talks to them while we read!  I hate to brag, but I think she has concepts of print down as well - she almost always looks at the left page first, and then the right!  Genius baby!

These last couple weeks, Clara has been bringing everything to her mouth to suck on.  Her dresses, burp rags, her teething toy Sophie, her binkie, her fists, and even the washcloth in the bath so she can suck the water out of it!  Crazy girl!

This month, I went back to work and Clara went to Oma and Grandma daycare.  So far - out of 15 work days, she's only had one or two fussy days.  Both Grandma and Oma report that she was a wonderful baby most days, which makes her Mom and Dad proud! 

We love Clara so much!  She is a beautiful little girl, inside and out!  It has been so fun to watch her grow this month!  Here are some pics of the baby in the Bumbo - for scale of course!

 Alert and ready for anything!

 Focusing!

 Uh oh - the head is getting a little heavy here!  But there is her favorite giraffe - Sophie!

 And my fave...the big girl doing what she does best - smiling!

the girls.

Like I said here, Katie and her daughter Rowan and Teri all came over to our house for brunch on Sunday.  We had a blast!  It was almost like old times, except now a couple of us have kids and are married/engaged, among other grown up things. 

We spent the morning eating yummy treats, drinking coffee, chatting a lot, sitting on the front porch drinking iced tea (decaf of course - we didn't need THAT much caffeine), and taking a stroll to the park.  It was so great to catch up!

Here are a couple shots of the park.

Clara - sleeping like a good baby!

 Teri!

 Teri and Katie!

 The three of us!  I can't tell you how many shots like this the three of us have!

 Another nice shot - good thing I have long arms.

 This is where Katie got her hands on the camera!  She's known for being crazy with cameras!  Oh - there are stories from our former lives as young and fun single girls out on the town, but I won't go there!

 Then I got a few shots of Rowan swinging!  Presh!

 And then, at the end of our day together, Rowan and Clara had a little visit!  I couldn't get the cutest pic to load - it is one where they are both looking into each others' eyes and Clara has a big smile on her face!  They're friends already!

Thanks for the fun day girls!  Move back to Boise Teri so we can all do it again soon!

reading books.

This last month, Clara has really enjoyed listening to books.  It has been fun to watch her learn to love reading!  Her favorite books are Hello, Animals, Happy Baby Words, You are My Sunshine, and Tubby.  Here are a few videos!

And of course, in between books we have to be entertained by Daddy!

cutest. videos. ever.

My friend Teri who lives in Colorado Springs came to town, and Clara got the chance to meet her!  Clara ended up adoring Teri and here's the proof!

Usually when she belly laughs like this, I go get the camera, and by the time I get back, she's done with the giggles.  But this time, she continued to laugh like this for a while!  We couldn't get enough of her!

We were lucky enough to have Katie and Rowan join us for brunch as well.  Another post about this to come!

more cousin pics.

Clara is an easy baby...I'm so lucky.  She sleeps well (still sleeping through the night all the time - going on week 3 of this), she eats well, she is pleasant and happy.  But there is one thing that she consistently hates - wind.  The proof is below!

 But sweet Benny doesn't mind it!

 Clara was slightly grump-ville the day Ben and Teenie left.  I think she was just sad to see them go!  Come back soon you guys, and next time...bring Steve with ya!

PS- even though Clara was madder than a hornet, we had to take pics, because do you see the dress she has on?  Isn't it presh!  Thanks Grandma Janet!

bath time.

There's nothing cuter than bath time with Clara!  She likes it when I bathe her, but she LOVES it when Kurtis performs the bath time duties!  Here they are before the water!

 And the routine begins!

 She's all smiles!

 And kicks her legs the whole time!

 Scrub the face...

 and behind the ears...

 and shampoo the hair!

 All clean!