Where we've been part 2

As promised, pictures from our time in Moscow! The first installment being pictures of Clara meeting her extended family. They were all kind enough to drive to Moscow from Spokane to see the newest baby, even though she wasn't always on her best behavior:

She was, in fact, happy in Aunt Lynn's arms for a while, but not before I remembered to crack my camera out. Here she is with cousin Kenzie:

And with Aunt Julie (who spoke her language, apparently):

And with Gran and Papa:

 

Lucy also enjoyed seeing all of her family again, and she even snuggled up to her great-Papa for a bit:

And of course, Clara spent a lot of time with her very own Papa and Nana:

I spent three of the more difficult weeks of Clara's life up in Moscow with my parents. Her stomach seemed upset most of the time, she cried a lot, and she came down with a nasty cold. Which is why I was so grateful to be up there with my parents, who tirelessly held, bounced, rocked, and sang to the little unhappy wight in attempts to keep her happy. Or, if all she needed was her momma, they entertained Lucy so that I could focus on Clara Beth. Thanks Mom and Dad! And you'll be happy to know that her digestive system seems to have evened itself out and she is a much happier child these days.

Clara talks herself into the hiccups

While you're all waiting with bated breath for Where We've Been Part 2, here is a video of Clara Beth talking away. We love this smiley, chatty gal!

Where we've been, part 1

What happened to us, you ask? Well, first we had a baby.

Turns out she is pretty fun to have around. Even if she only naps in 30 minute increments. We forgive her because she's so cute. But it does make blogging a little more difficult. 

To get us through the end of tax season, Joel's parents came and stayed with us for three weeks. They were a huge help. Grandma Sunny perfected a method of rocking cranky Clara to sleep that we dubbed the Grandma Rock. 

But, along with the help of being extra hands to hold children and keep the house from falling apart, they also threw themselves wholeheartedly into our house renovation projects. Once we got them started they just kept going. Painting:

Installing new light fixtures:

And many more such projects. It was incredible and made a somewhat daunting list of house projects seem much less daunting. Now we have a dining room that has transformed from this:

Into this:

Along with the dining room they also painted the family room (farewell baby-poop-green walls!), the downstairs hallway, the stairway, the play room, and the guest bathroom (adios John Deere wallpaper!). I will have to get pictures at some point. But let's all pause and give them a collective round of applause.

Also, they brought with them this wonderful table that's been in the family for quite a while. It will be our dining room table at some point I imagine, but right now it looks terrific as a side table. 

So that's a quick recap of the Cohen grandparents part of our blog silence. After they left, Joel and I got the wild idea to redo our downstairs laminate. So I headed up to Moscow while he worked on that, and ended up staying for three weeks. Pictures of that trip in the next post, but meanwhile here are pictures of the new flooring. 

Isn't it beautiful? Sometimes I have to look at pictures of how the house looked when we first moved in to remind myself of how far we've gone. So here's one from last March:

And then today:

Quite the difference!