the kaufmans do boise.

We were lucky to have Teenie and Steve and Ben make a quick stop in Boise on their way home from their marathon roadtrip to the midwest!  They were only here for about 16 hours, but we made the best of it!  Ben swam in the pool with his parents, and we had lots of photo ops outside because the weather was beautiful!

Warning: this post contains TONS of pictures!

Here is the big boy in his swim suit, aviators, and hat!

 He's a total ham for the camera!  Love it!

 Clara and I outside!  Love this pic!  I'm loving that we can get Clara to smile on command now!  I'm totally framing this one!

 My mom and I bought two of these speedo floaties for the babes at a consignment sale in Boise.  Too bad they're both pink!  But hey - Ben can totally pull it off!

 Auntie Em and Clara!

 How cute is this little man!  he has the best hair and eyelashes!  Boys always seem to get blessed with those!

 We had to get some pics of Oma and her two grand-babes!  We started out on the swing facing the sun, not great exposure, but I had to include them in this post 'cause there are some great ones!

 Next we moved to the loveseat on my parents' patio!  Much better!  I love this pic...Ben is very interested in Clara's clippy, and Clara doesn't look too happy about it!

 Ben and his dad, Steve!  A great pic of the two of them!

 The Kaufmans.  Yes - Teenie is wearing a swim suit, it is just strapless!

 Kisses!

 Two sisters and their babies!

 Fantastic pic!

 Em had to get in on the action!

 After the Kaufmans hit to road for home, Oma and Clara were exhausted!  They had to take a quick snooze together!

Thanks for stopping in guys!  It was so fun to spend some time with you!

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1 year old.

I can't believe that our nephew Ben is a year old! 

Benny boy - it has been so fun watching you grow!  You are an absolute joy to be around, and everyone who meets you falls in love with you!  I love to watch you and baby Clara interact, and am excited to watch you two grow up together! 

 Here is Ben during the first week of his life.

And here he is this week!  Joe Cool in his baby aviators!

For the big birthday, Kurtis and Clara and I made Ben a little growth chart!  It is an important gift for the kid because he is growing like crazy!  Now, the Kaufmans can keep track of how he grows!

Our little message to Ben on the back!

 Here is the top...no the s isn't upside down, it is the font I used!

 and the bottom...

 and the whole thing!  (sorry for the nast view of the cleaning supplies next to the mud sink in the garage!)

It was fun to whip out my Cricket and do a project!  It had been quite a while!  Now I've got the crafting itch.  I think I'll sew Clara a little pillowcase dress next!

Happy first birthday Baby Ben!  We love you!

new trick.

So in yesterday's post, I told you all that Clara had learned a really great new trick!  For two nights now, Clara Ann has slept in her big girl crib in her room all by herself!  I was worried at first.  I waited until I was done with work for the summer to transition her to the crib.  She's been in the bassinet next to our bed until now, even though she's been sleeping through the night for over four weeks.  I think part of me wanted her to sleep in our room forever.  I knew I'd miss those cute nighttime noises, the grunts and sleepy yawns.  I also thought, "What will happen if she needs her bink in the middle of the night?  I'll have to get out of bed!"  But I only had to get out of bed once the first night at around 3:30am, and I didn't get up at all last night!  I'm telling you, the girl is an absolute trooper!

Here are some pics of the girl in her big crib!  She looks so itty bitty in it!

Just a happy camper this morning when I went in to get her!

 I love when her limbs are blurry - that means she's moving like crazy!

 Here's a pic of the whole crib for scale!

 What a girl!

blowing bubbles.

Here are a couple videos of Clara's newest trick!   She is blowing bubbles like crazy these days!  She thinks it is funny and always has a cute little smirk while bubbling!  I think it is hilarious too!

Clara's other new tricks include bringing EVERYTHING to her mouth.  At first it was accidental, but she's becoming more intentional everyday!  Lately, she's even shocked us by taking out her binkie, holding it for a minute or two, and then working it back into her mouth without any help!  She's pretty amazing!

I'm planning on blogging tomorrow about her greatest new trick, so check back!

birthday 3.

You guessed it!  We celebrated Kurtis' birthday a third time, this time with my side of the fam.  We didn't really think we needed another celebration, we just NEEDED to get rid of some food!  So on his actual birth date, we ate more leftovers, played more redneck golf, and lounged around in the backyard!  Here are some pics!

Our little family.

 Oma, Opa, and baby Clara.

 Auntie Em and Clara.

 I love this one!

 And here, Clara is giving the goofiest face!  So much fun to see her personality more and more these days!

 Her eyes are getting so dark!  I'm not sure if you can tell in the pic, but they have a steel blue rim around the outer edge, and are brownish in the middle.  They are pretty!  I love dark eyes!  And those cheeks are still as kissable as ever!

birthday 2.

So Monday night, the eve of Kurtis' b-day, we had the Brooks side over to eat leftovers from his surprise party!  I meant to snap pics of Brad and Angie with Clara, but never got around to it!  However, we did get a great shot of Clara with Kurtis' parents, Jeff and Janet.

 Here is a cute one of Grandpa Brooks and Clara.  Clara's showing off her CRAZY eyes!

 Janet snapped these next two pics with her camera, and they were so fantastic that I had her and Jeff e-mail them to me!  I love Clara's face in this first one!

Can you see that game in the grass in the background of these pics?  It is called ladder golf, or redneck golf, and we enjoyed a few games of it in the gorgeous sunshine during b-day 2!  We were able to eat our dinner on the back patio and relax outdoors all evening!  It was a great second birthday celebration for Kurtis' big 3-0!.