Baby I Sonogram

This is Baby I.  He/she is actually the twin of Baby R who passed away about 6 weeks ago unknown to us.  Hang in there, Precious!  Lord Willing we get to meet you in early September!

Clara's "Fwavorites!"

Yesterday, while driving in the car, a little girl began announcing some "fwavorites".   Went something like this:

"Pink is my fwavorite."

Moment later...

"Yellow is my fwavorite."

"White is my fwavorite."

"Purple is my fwavorite."

"Not yellow."

Then today, when she had the special treat of getting to pick out some sunglasses... she said "Blue is my fwavorite."  :-) I guess it's a little girl's prerogative to change her mind... or to have many "fwavorites!"

More Fun Sayings from Clara

This is from her father:

1.  Clara praying:  "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for 'tecting us, and 'tecting kiah, and 'tecting momma, .....and .....and.....and Kevin, Jeanie, and Suzanna.  ...And save Sarah, and save Krista, and....and....*usually playing with a toy or tie laces, etc*  and.....and.....save Daddy [!].......Pray ask you, amen."

Incidently, Hil prays too.  Since he's the youngest he prays first and he puts his face in his two hands and mumbles for two seconds, and then looks up with a big smile as if he knew God just answered!

2.  Talking to her father who is looking at some king of tool (can't remember what)  "No, daddy, you can't use that here.  You need to go outside!"

3.  Momma was showing the cut she received while chopping onions, Clara pipes up from the couch:  "Momma, you need to be careful!"

4.  Clara while watching her mother eating a piece of licorice, "Little Grandpa has one of those."  Little Grandpa is her Grandpa M., and if you knew him, it would be funny that she'd remember he likes to eat licorice.  Also, if you knew Grandpa F., you would understand why he is known as Big Grandpa.

And none of this was put in her mouth!

Winter Playground

It IS possible to enjoy some playground time in the winter... even if it's 30 something degrees out and there a touch of snow still on the ground.  We had lovely sunshine here today, and managed a little playground time after nap time.  

A Conversation With My Daughter

This is Stephen and I had a conversation with Clara Belle that I would like to share.  It was last Sunday afternoon while the others were having a nap.  I was doing daddy things like trying to read something.  CB was doing some imaginary cooking.

C:  Can I make you more cakes? (For my birthday)
S:  Sure.
C:  You would like more cakes?
S:  Well, not really.  Daddy likes pies better.  Apple pie, pumpkin pie, even coconut creme pie I like.
C:  Oh, OK.....I need surgery for my baby.
S:  I'm thinking "Surgery??!!!  What's wrong?  Her baby?"
C:  Because I can't get pregnant.....but I don't need that because my husband can't get pregnant....yeah....only girls.....so I need to make more pies.
S:  *speechless*
C:  Would you like two?
S:  Yeah.  *mostly numb in the brain*
C:  And another one?
S:  Yeah.
C:  And another one?
S:  Yeah.
C:  And another one?
S:  Yes.
C:  OK.  *nod nod*

This Morning's Baking Class

Clara LOVES to pretend she's teaching a cooking class.  Sometimes she does it with make believe ingredients, and occasionally it goes along with actually helping Mommy with real food.  Helping Mommy was the case this morning.  She was squeezing fresh juice for a trial run of scones I was making.  Enjoy!  There's also a good shot of the "dishwasher" man!  Gotta love the "That's a good question."  :-)  Videos 2 and 3 maybe the best.

Work and Play

My little work crew!  I'm actually not too good at having my little people help out as much as I should.  But here's a cute shot of Clara putting away silverware.  She doesn't enjoy it, but she's good at it.  Daddy worked at teaching her to do the silverware when she was pretty young.  Last week I had Hilkiah help out with putting away dishes.  Among other things, he got to stand on the counter and put away stuff in the cupboards!  He really enjoyed it! 

Here's a shot of my little snow bunny, taken yesterday.

A Morning Smile For You!

Here's my little guy this morning!

Little Mommy

Here's little mommy, Clara, with our sweet little friend, Susannah!  Susannah was good sport!  :-)

The other day, the little mommy even managed to get Hil sitting on her lap... she wanted me to snap a picture, but I think I was in a hurry to get going and didn't take the opportunity.  

1, 2 and 3

Monday and Tuesday of this week, Stephen had to put in some late hours at work.  Thankfully, we are very blessed and that is out of the ordinary for him.  Well, Monday night, the kids had been down for some time, and Stephen still wasn't home.  Clara was having a hard time getting to sleep, probably due mostly to the fact that she had taken a nap that day.  So, she kept making noise, asking me questions, etc.  I was on the couch reading at about 10:30 when a little girl comes around the corner and asks me "Mommy, did Daddy die?"  Too precious!  You never know what's going through those little minds!  And Clara is always saying something new, funny or darling!

Kiah has been taking his time in the talking category, but is slowly adding to his word list.  One of our favorites right now is his word for Clara: "Yah-yah".   He has also been broadening his scope of foods that he'll try and that seem to strike him as edible, which is a blessing!  He loves playing with balls, tackling his sister, watching videos, and playing outside.  He'll also sit and look at books.

Clara has enjoyed doing some simple, 24 piece puzzles lately.  After doing the one pictured below several times with help, she sat down a few weeks ago and did it all by herself!  Seemed like she'd hardly started and she was done!  I don't know who was more please about it: her or Mommy!  Probably Mommy!!!  

We're sooooo blessed by our little people!  They bring us tons of smiles!  And yes, they honestly bring lots of challenges!  I thought discipline and training was going to be rather easy and straight forward... before I had kids.  I could totally see what OTHER people where doing WRONG!!!  And now... well, it's not nearly as easy as I thought!  I'm sure there are all kinds of people who can see the many things I do wrong.  May my many short comings encourage me to look to the Lord for wisdom, strength and all that is needed!  And thank You, Lord, for the MANY joys You allow to be mixed in with the challenges.

In the realm of baby number 3, Mommy has been feeling a little "blah", but the nausia has not been too bad, perhaps less then with the first two!  The other day I was sitting on the couch with Clara and we were both enjoying some hot chocolate.  I was in a slightly reclining position and sit the cup down on my stomach.  I was told "not to spill" and then was also quickly instructed "don't put it on the baby!"  :-)