Playing with friends...

Kim had an appointment with Kaleb and needed someone to watch Baylie for a few hours. We were up for a girl's morning in, so Baylie came over to play and eventually Shannon and Sophia came to join us. The three girls played great all morning. Everyone was in good spirits, and had a great time playing dress up.

This terrible red hat was a great deal at Party City. I couldn't pass it up, but kids either love it or hate it. Baylie was thinking  she was hot stuff when Soph turned to her and said, "that's NOT cute." We all have our opinions I guess. 

While her friends were pretty princesses, Grace preferred her usual just undies look.

Eventually we will have an actual bed for Grace, but in the mean time, her full-sized mattress on the floor is a great place to bounce.

Sweet little friends.

Inside her head...

Sometimes I find things around my house that make me wonder what exactly is going on inside Grace's little 2-year-old mind.

Example A: when I saw this tower Grace has moved on to something else, so I have no idea what prompted this or what exactly she was doing with it. A pan from her kitchen, my Baja cup, and three binkies. Rest assured the binkies were washed before giving them back to Claire.

Example B: yesterday afternoon I opened my freezer to see what we should have for dinner. (In case you're wondering, we ended up eating salsa chicken - yum!) Anyway, as I was digging around there was something orange way in the back behind the ice cube trays that caught my eye. I pulled out this bag...

Two Wii-mote pieces, a syringe and an orange baboon. (Annie, now you know where Cade and Callum's missing orange baboon has been for the past four weeks). Why, oh, why did she have the thought to gather these things, place them in a bag and then stuff them as far back in the freezer as possible. The funniest part is that she must have done it on New Year's eve - when there were six adults in the room - none of whom noticed the act in progress. Too funny.

A princess party...

On Sunday we gathered at Barb's house to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby girl Arnold. It was a very low-key afternoon and evening spent with good friends, playing silly games (remote control car races), eating yummy food and talking... a lot. We really enjoy the time we spend at this house - always feeling more like family than we really are. Thank you, 'Nana', for once again opening your house to us and gathering us to celebrate the arrival of one more grand daughter.

Elijah trying to escape from the cars zooming around the floor.

Marisa making the car zoom and Sydney wanting to help.

The only shot I have showing that Amy is indeed looking pregnant. She (and her sister) look great throughout their pregnancies... I find myself a bit jealous. 

Mr. J is getting so big. It was fun to see him next to Claire since we think she's a monster.

Trying...

Claire has been loving the baby Bjorn, so Grace wanted to give it a try. Turns out that Claire is nearly half Grace's weight and it just wasn't working.

Happy birthday Mr. E...

On Saturday Elijah turned one! I can still remember visiting him at the hospital. He seemed so tiny at the time. Now he is a full-blown little boy. He is quiet, patient, sweet, calm and snuggly. It will be fun to how his little personality changes and develops this next year.

His party was a crazy adventure... With close to 40 of his friends and family members present to celebrate - it was a full house. We had a pot-luck style soup bar (perfect for a January night) followed by a fantastic ice cream sundae bar (the kiddos got cupcakes and Grace got a vegan cookie). The kids played great together all night long - hardly any tears in the five hours we were there - it was fantastic.

*click once on the collage to enlarge*

This picture was taken at the end of the night so some of the kids were already home and in bed. Left to right we have: Josiah, Sydney, Grace, Claire, Sophia, Tigist & Mihiretu. I love that Boscoe (far left corner) looks like he is smiling too.

Here's a fun comparison picture from Sydney's first birthday...

Grace, Sophia, Josiah, Sydney, Ella

All caught up...

Here's a list of updates from the past few months... all 29 of them.

From November:

• Visitors... (11/28)
• The hunt... (11/29)
• Trimming the tree... (11/29)
• Fancy Nancy... (11/30)

From December:

• Brownlee & Reguly... (12/3)
• Her serious face... (12/4)
• Packed up... (12/5)
• When daddy's gone... (12/7)
• Adventures in diapering... (12/9)
• Company... (12/11)
• Fun with Nanc... (12/16)
• Nap needed... (12/17)
• Beauty and the Beast... (12/18)
• Christmas parade... (12/19)
• And a half... (12/23)
• Home for the holidays... (12/24)
• Christmas day... (12/25)
• A very Brownlee Christmas... (12/26)
• School... (12/27)
• Zoo lights... (12/28)
• Baby Ana visits... (12/29)
• First snow... (12/30)
• Highness's... (12/30)

From January:

• New Year's weekend... (1/3)
• Visiting cousins... (1/4)
• Sisters... (1/7)
• Helping... (1/8)
• Butterfly princess... (1/9)
• Safari Sam's... (1/10)
• Her name... (1/11)
• Building Co-Co... (1/11)
• Waiting... (1/12)
• The Museum... (1/13)
• Arcade games... (1/14)
• Two months old... (1/17)

2 months old...

Today our baby is two months old. Two months!

Claire's stats on Friday, January 15

Age: (almost) 2 months

Weight: 11 pounds, 12 ounces (75th %)

Height: 24 inches (95th %)

Head Circumference: 39 cm (54%)
According to the doctor she looks great and is right on track. We can tell by looking at her that she is growing, so we weren't too worried, but it is always nice to have a professional confirm it. Developmentally she is also right on track - seeming more alert, getting stronger (neck muscles), and becoming more social every day. She got four vaccinations on Friday and took them like a champ. She was very sad at first, but once I was able to pick her up she settled down quickly. Though she is sick (again!) the doctor said she seemed just fine and isn't worried about the cough and congestion.

*click once to enlarge picture*

Left: Claire at 2 weeks. Right: Claire at 2 months

Here are a few things we want to remember about Claire at this age...

• She smiles - a lot. She is very social. She loves faces and voices. She has been smiling on purpose for over a month now, but her smiles are very regular and easy to come by now. 
• She is a happy baby. I know that most parents probably say that, or think it, but she truly is. She is mellow and easy. She loves people, being around people, being held and talked to. We are just now starting to get glimpses of her little personality... and it is great!
• She is very interested in her toys and "guys." She will sit on her play mat with her dangling toys or in her swing with "guys" spinning above her head and coo at them. She will reach for toys and grab on if it is within reach. She also loves mirrors, though we don't have one at her level so we have to hold her up to the bathroom mirrors.
• She is still an eating and sleeping champ. She currently is eating five times a day (7, 11, 3, 7 and 10:30). All of her eating changes, dropping feedings, and schedule setting has been done by her. I love that she is on a schedule, and now that we have found something that is working I haven't let her get off her schedule. I don't demand feed her, and if she does wake up in the night, I won't feed her... I know she doesn't need it and I don't want to develop any bad habits. Eventually I would like her to drop one more feeding and to sleep 12 hours, but for now we'll take the 5 feedings and 8-10 hours of sleep we get each night.
• Her day time routine is sort of all over the place still. She sleeps a lot during the day and then has a lot of awake time in the evenings. We will work on that, but again, I don't want to jeopardize our nighttime bliss. 
• She loves being swaddled - nice and tight - and sleeping at a slight incline. We started that when she was sick the first time, and she is sort of addicted to it. She naps laying down in her crib though, so I'm not too worried. 
• She is a binky girl - loves them like Grace did, but once she falls asleep she spits it out and sleeps without it.
• She has really sensitive skin. Her baby acne has come and gone (cleared up right around 6 weeks, but was totally gone by 8 weeks). She hasn't ever gotten cradle cap, but she battled diaper rashes almost constantly. We're always able to clear them up, but they will come back no matter what we do to prevent them. Grace has sensitive skin too, and I did as a child. Hopefully both girls will grow out of that soon.
• She is a big girl - wearing 3-6 month size clothing already. It was fun to get out the box of Gracie's old clothes and play dress up with Claire. I have pictures of Grace crawling and standing in some of the clothes that are fitting Claire perfectly right now. I guess it makes sense because Claire's two month stats were nearly identical to those of Grace at six months.

The museum...

Wednesday morning we spent at the Children's Museum with Kristen and her kiddos. Grace and Mihiretu love each other (literally) and Tigist loves helping them get the most out of their time there. Kristen and I kept an eye on them and checked in periodically, but mostly were able to sit and chat. It was a great morning!

Arcade games...

On Thursday night we headed back out to Safari Sam's... this time with the Diefs. Weeknights are dead there, so they have mid-week specials. Each paying child gets to choose an additional activity for free. This time, they chose mini-golf!

The big kids started in the jungle gym playing hide-and-seek/tag while Claire and uncle Scott watched.

I had to feed the baby while the others were golfing, so I don't have any pictures, but it sounds like they had a good time.

Before it was time to go we played a few games in the arcade.

The Dief kids are practically pros, but this was Gracie's first time.

She got lots of help on this stomping game (think Whack-a-mole with your feet).

It was a great night. I think we'll stick to Safari Sam's on weeknights for a while. It was much better than the middle of a Saturday.

Waiting...

My parents got home from Mexico yesterday. We wanted to see them before dad had to take off again, so we went and waited at their house after we finished at Build-a-Bear. Grace and Claire took naps and I was able to make dinner and relax a bit. When the girls were up they "played" together waiting patiently for their grandparents.

Tummy time!

Grace loves the gum ball machines.

She was hiding (I use that term loosely here) and saying, "Where did Gracie go? Can you see me?"

Of course I have no pictures from after my folks got home, but we had fun eating with them and hearing about their cruise before we headed home to see Merrick.

Building Co-co...

For Christmas Craig decided to take Grace to Build-a-Bear. Today we met him at the mall for their "date."

After looking high and low at all the animals, she picked this little brown monkey. Very cute...even when flat.

She picked a monkey noise to put in his tummy, put a heart inside his chest, and then pressed the pedal and helped fill the animal with cotton fluff.

She then ran to the animal "bath" tub...

...where she scrubbed and scrubbed her new guy. We think she just liked the air that puffed out from little jets in the "shower" heads.

After an extensive bath, Gracie and her clean monkey headed to the computers where she was able to name him and print his birth certificate. I asked her what the monkey's name was going to be and she said, "Coe." I think asked if the monkey had a last name and again she said "Coe. Her name is Co-Co." So, our new little brown monkey is Co-Co and Gracie loves her.

Thanks Uncle Craig for the fun morning!

Her name...

Recently I have had a few people ask about the meaning behind the names we chose for our second daughter. Claire, which means bright, was a name we just happened to like. We didn't know of any family history, or have any special attachment to it, we just like the way it sounds. We had a good list of baby girl names this time around, so it took some narrowing down, but we both kept coming back to Claire. It was interesting to find out after she was born that my grandpa had an aunt Clara. There was also a Grace on that same side of the family a few generations back. We didn't know about either until after our daughters were born and named. Funny coincidence I guess.

Esther means "star." We have gotten a few of the, "why Esther?" comments - in a tone of voice that make tells me it isn't their favorite name. Well, we picked Esther for a few reasons. First, I think that the historical Esther, the one with a book of the Bible named after her, was an amazing person. (If you have never read the story of Esther, you should. It will take all of 30 minutes to do so.) The second reason, it is my grandma's middle name and I like the idea of passing down family names.

We did not pick either name because of the meaning, and the fact that they sort of compliment each other is yet another funny coincidence.

So, there you have it - the short story behind our Claire Esther - our Bright Star.

Safari Sam's...

On Saturday we met the Colemans at Safari Sam's in Sherwood. We have been a bunch in the past, but it was a first for Sydney and her family. Drew didn't know what he was in for when he followed Grace, Sydney and Merrick up into the huge jungle gym.

While the big girls played and played, their younger siblings ate and slept.

If it hadn't been so packed with people, Elijah would have loved a turn to climb and bounce. Instead he sat patiently at the table with Marisa and I and watched the action.

Butterfly princess...

The box of dress-up clothes that my parents gave Grace for Christmas has turned out to be a hit. Tonight we all dressed fancy before playing a little pop-a-shot in the bonus room.

You must admit... she does make a beautiful butterfly princess.

Helping...

Anything that we will let her do, Gracie loves to help with. If it is time for a diaper change, she will come running with the necessary materials. If the baby is crying, she will make sure we hear her (she also usually interprets what Claire needs... "She's hungry," or "she needs her binky"). This picture was taken just a few days before Christmas. I was out with some girl friends and Grace had the privilege of feeding Claire her bottle. She was just thrilled!

(from 12/21/2009)

Sisters...

Well, we are nearly two months in to this adventure and Grace still very much loves her baby sister. There are times she wants so badly to show that love, and it overwhelms Claire just a bit. We've only once had to come to her rescue though because usually Grace is calm and gentle around the baby. I am so thankful for our biggest girl and how well she has adjusted to her new normal life.

New toys...

We had such a great Christmas - in every way. It was one of the best in recent years, and though I can't pin point why exactly, we have been looking back at the past few weeks knowing we will have great memories from this holiday season.

I was very spoiled this Christmas with some new fun toys. My mom and dad bought me a new sewing machine (similar to the one pictured).

Merrick and I also bought a computer for ourselves. That might not sound thrilling to the average person, but I am loving it. It is super fast and we got a really fun monitor too, so I'm enjoying sorting through pictures, blogging and blurbing to my hearts content.

My biggest issue right now is which new toy to play with first. I have many sewing and computer projects that I am looking forward to working on. I guess I'll get the blog caught up and see where to go from there. Either way one thing is certain... whichever I choose will inevitably lead to more blogging.

We're back...

The new computer is up and running, the pictures are gradually being transfered over, and the good news is that we're back in the world of blogging. Hopefully I'll now be able to find the time to sit and post as things happen.

Visiting cousins...

The Diefs moved in October and we hadn't yet seen their house. So on Sunday night we invited ourselves out to Newberg to eat dinner, see the house and play more Mario. I really liked their house. It is in a quiet cul-de-sac, not far from Fox. I think they will really like it there. Scott and Megan have been doing a lot of work on the inside - new paint, new floors, new kitchen, new bathroom. I didn't see the "before," but the after looks great!

The kids were really excited about their new video games. Kyler introduced Merrick to Lego Indiana Jones on the Wii and Ella taught me how to play Build-a-Bear.

Gracie found firemen hats for our whole family.

Claire had a nice conversation with her uncle Scott.

Ella and Grace played with Bubber (a creepy feeling playdoh/silly puddy-like molding material) and did a few art projects.

The kids had school the next morning, so we headed home at bed time. It was fun to hang out and to see the new house. Hopefully we'll be back out there again soon.