Where we've been part 3

Here is my last little bit of playing catch-up on where we've been. Maybe then I'll get around to posting pictures of what we're doing now. Depends on how the littlest member of our family naps. Fingers crossed.

We have a lot of friends back in Moscow, and, as it happens, our friends have kids Lucy's age. Which makes get-togethers so much fun. Here is a shot of Lucy with some of her friends. I'm not sure what they're all looking at. Certainly not yours truly the photographer who was shouting "Look at me kids! Look at me!! Say CHEEEESE!" The things we do to make our kids smile.  

And here is another photo from that same shoot that sends me into fits of giggles every time I see it. Lucy was apparently fed up with the photo session. I can't get over the look of abject boredom on her face. And the hands. It's just too much, really.

She wasn't bored often on our trip, though. Especially since the weather was just incredible. She spent a lot of time playing in the field next to my parent's house:

And swinging at the park ("Papa will push me," she would always tell me confidently. And he always did.)

And there were several play dates at her friend Lucy's house. 

She even calls her "my friend Lucy". Perhaps so she doesn't confuse herself. I think it's adorable. And I love that they are as good of friends as their mothers (although Morgan and I are a bit better, I suppose. We don't dissolve into hitting matches when a coveted toy is taken from us) :

And here she is (in that signature Minnie Mouse dress) eating ice cream wit her friends on their back porch. Summer at its best.

She made muffins with Nana:

And visited Moscow's Renaissance Fair.

Clara was with us on all of these adventures as well, but usually in the front pack which makes it hard to take her picture. So here she is testing her neck strength in Nana's exersaucer.

And giving Papa advice on road travel for their upcoming Europe trip:

So there you have it! The last of our Moscow trip. It was so fun. Lucy still reminds me of it, saying fondly: "Remember when we went on that BIG LONG trip to see Nana and Papa?" 

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!

Newborn comparisons

Today Clara is a week and a day old. I started looking back through pictures of Lucy to see if I could spot resemblances. I think they're definitely quite similar, even if Clara is a whole pound smaller! So here are a few newborn comparison shots:

Clara Awake:

Lucy awake: (I was going to do Clara Bath and Lucy Bath, but considering the screaming, flailing, and panic that occurred when mom and I gave Clara her first bath, there were no pictures taken. Next time maybe!)

Clara asleep:

Lucy asleep:

Clara grin:

Lucy grin: 

Today also happens to be my birthday (25!) I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters. So today I am grateful for shiny newborn eyes:

baby toes: 

Big girl hair: 

And beautiful blue eyes:

Clara Beth

Announcing the arrival of our second daughter: Clara Beth, born March 13th at 11:24am and weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces and 20 inches long: 

I was induced with Lucy and we went ahead and induced with Clara as well when I was several days over due. Being induced didn't really speed the process up much with Lucy, so we were definitely not prepared for Clara's speedy arrival!

I think her goal was to arrive before the doctor did, but thankfully she stayed put for a few minutes so that the doctor could catch her and not Joel (who actually thought he might have to for a minute, poor guy):

Lucy is very intrigued by baby sister, although I think a little disappointed that she doesn't talk more. :) 

Here I am with day old Clara, getting ready to leave the hospital. Since everything went so smoothly and Clara is so healthy they let us leave when she was 24 hours old. It's wonderful to be home and resting and admiring our new little girl. 

We love you little Clara!

The Waiting Game

Yikes, it's been almost a month since I posted on our blog, whoops! Well it probably comes as no surprise that what's been occupying our minds the most recently is wondering when our little daughter is planning on making her arrival. Here is a shot of me at 39 weeks.

And then at almost 40 weeks: 

We're coming up on 41 weeks pretty soon but I haven't gotten around to taking that picture yet!

In the meantime, here are some of the things we've been up to while we're waiting. In early February Lucy and I took a trip up to Moscow to visit my parents while Joel had a particularly intense week of work. Lucy redeemed the time by working on her ballet moves: 

Lucy has also started showing an interest in learning how to write her letters so we've been doing that as well. Here she is working away and being very cute in the process: 

We've spent a lot of time at the park this past week because the weather has been in the 50s and sunny (or, at least, not rainy which is the same thing as sunny around here). 

And of course Lucy (and we) are soaking up this last little unique time when she's our only child. Few things are better than just-woken-up-from-a-nap snuggles.