3 Months

Whew. I made it. I'm getting Claire's three month photo up before she turns four months. I had a hard time posing her this month mostly because she's found her fingers and like her big sister she believes that fingers are for sucking. At this rate I'd better just start saving up for braces for both girls because I don't think I will be able to break them of the habit before it ruins their mouths. Oh well.

Claire is such a talker and it has only become more common the older she gets. She's rolled over from her tummy to her back. She loves her big sister. Yesterday when we went to Target I had Claire in the Ergo baby and Lilybelle was running wild. I picked up Lilybelle and when she was eye level to Claire, Claire got so happy and couldn't stop smiling. Lilybelle can make Claire laugh or smile just by looking at her. Lilybelle loves Claire too, and makes sure that I know when she is crying by saying, "baby crying" as if I can't hear it in our approximately 750 sq foot house. I seriously think we need to upgrade, but with housing prices rising I don't see it happening any time soon. Plus a two year old can't get far in a small house.

I can't wait to see all her monthly pictures together to see how she has grown. I guess I better get working on her year one photo book now. And the family photo book too for that matter.

Happy Birthday Lilybelle

For Lilybelle's birthday this year we had an Elmo themed birthday lunch. A few months ago she become obsessed with Elmo. From her diapers. Yes, her diapers. She asked who was on her diaper one day and I said "Elmo." It went downhill from there. While I was on maternity leave, we must have watched I think six seasons of Sesame Street in the span of twelve weeks. I used to think I wasn't going to let my children watch that much tv, but having two kids under two cured me of that notion. But I digress. This post is supposed to be about her birthday.

She had a lot a fun and especially loved her Elmo balloon that she and Tim picked up the day of her birthday lunch. I got a lot of good pictures and planned on editing them before putting them on the blog, but our computer died before I got around to it. Hence the reason I'm just now posting. It was great to see Lilybelle enjoy her lunch, cupcakes, and all her presents. We decided to keep it low key this year and just had a birthday lunch for her and just keep it small. I made an Elmo face out of fruit, and then made us a rice, chicken, and black bean dish that was super yummy. After lunch, she blew out her candles on her Elmo cupcake, and then opened her presents. It was neat to see how much she has grown since her first birthday. She's gotten so independent. I can't wait to see her grow.

Two months

Monday Claire was officially two months and we celebrated it by getting her two month vaccinations. Pretty exciting huh? She was all smiley and cute right after so I thought I had dogged the cranky bullet. No such luck. But in the grand scheme of it all it wasn't too bad. 

She's growing so much. She is developing this great personality. She sits on the couch and coos and laughs at us. It's great. I love taking her monthly pictures. Getting her all dressed up and posed. Since Tim got me my camera for my birthday, I've had more fun taking pictures. Below her two month photo is a photo shoot that I did just for fun.

Sunday night Lilybelle got her finger smashed in a door. It was a sad sight to see. She saw the doctor for it Monday morning and then got an X-ray to see if it was a compound fracture. Luckily it wasn't. Whew. But I tell you, getting shots and x-rays all in one day made for a pretty eventful day. 

How Does Your Garden Grow

After many years of discussing a garden, Tim and I finally got around to planting three tomato plants. I didn't figure that we would get too many tomatoes but I was wrong. Over the weekend Tim picked and brought in over thirty tomatoes! How on earth were we going to eat all these tomatoes?! Thankfully I consulted Pinterest and figured it out. From those tomatoes I made salsa, stewed tomatoes, and fire roasted tomatoes. I froze the stewed tomatoes and fired roasted tomatoes to use for later. Below are the fruits of my labor. I'm glad that none of those tomatoes went go waste and can't wait to have fresh tomatoes in the winter. 

Staying home with the girls on my maternity leave has been great and crazy at the same time. Below are some of those ahh moments brought to you by Lilybelle and Claire. 

The Mundane

We've all settled into a daily routine around here. I'm enjoying my time with the two girls just doing the daily mundane tasks. Weather permitting we go for a walk and I try to take them to the museum once a week. We also clean the house and do a load or two of the never ending laundry. 

 We've had some colds in the family lately so it's changed our routine a little. On Friday Lilybelle and I built a fort using boxes and a sheet. It was a lot of fun. 

We've also been looking for a minivan for about a month. We realized after Claire was born that two kids and all their stuff don't fit too well in a compact car which is what Tim and I both have. So after looking at a lot of minivans we bought one today. Tim did a pretty good job negotiating for it. I can't wait to really get to use it. 

A Day at the Discovery and 1 Month Old

Today I summoned up my courage and took Lilybelle and Claire to the Discovery Museum. It went better than I expected. We might even do it again.

This week is bubble week at the museum and since Lilybelle is obsessed with bubbles right now I figured we had to go. It was pretty cool. We made a bubble snake and watched ivory soap turn into foam in the microwave. We also played in the river exhibit, went down the slide, played with the foam coal, and generally ran amok (and by we I mean Lilybelle, Claire and I just followed her). Claire was a perfect angel who slept in her baby bjorn the whole time. 

Today also marks Claire turning one month old. Below is her one month photo. I can't believe it has already been one month. Time flew. So I guess that means I must be having fun. :)

Aunt Shana comes to visit

My sister Shana just spent a week out with us. It was a fun week. We hung out, visited with family, and did some shopping. While she was out here we also blessed Claire. She looked so precious in her blessing gown. Originally she was going to wear the same gown as Lilybelle but at the eleventh hour I found my blessing gown. I had been looking for it off and on for the past few years with no luck. But the night before I decided to look in a container I thought I had looked in before. I must not have been very thorough because I found it!

But let me back up. A few days after Shana arrived, we drove down to our parents' house and spent the day with our Mom and little sister. Lilybelle even tried out Minden's sunglasses. 

She looks so good in the sunglasses but I can't get her to wear sunglasses her size. Ugh. 

On Shana's last day we went out to Legends for a little shopping, water, and lunch. I wanted to buy the girls matching dresses but Carter's was having a good sale so we went a little crazy. Let's just say that there is more than one matching outfit. 

While I fed Claire, Shana and Lilybelle played in the water. It was so cute.