Five Months

Happy New Year! I am a little late in getting this post up, but have lots to share.  Its been another great month. Clara continues to develop her personality.  She has a greatest gum filled smile.  We will pretty much do whatever it takes to get her to flash one.

Sleeping: Clara continues to sleep well at night, she is still getting up once a night most nights.  We have had a few other nights were she has slept through the night and then a few nights were she has been up two times a night.  We have been having lots of success with napping in the crib. Clara has been taking somewhere between a 2 to 2.5 hour nap almost every day!

Eating: We continue with breastfeeding, but are now doing two bottles a day of formula.  We have also a few food things, mainly mashed potatoes at holiday meals. No real interest yet!

Weight: We did go to the doctor on the 26th, so I can officially say that at 5 months Clara was 11 pounds 9 ounces.  She is continuing to do well with weight gain.  We were at the doctor just to make sure her cold wasn't more than a cold.  It was not and we are now all healthy again!

Clothes: We are solidly in three months clothes and quickly moving towards 3-6 months and 6 months. I love dressing her in cute outfits! I also have a small problem when it comes to shopping for her, I can't stop!

Firsts: Cutting down her first Christmas tree, first visit to Santa's Village, first visit with Santa, first Zumba class, first Christmas morning and opening presents, first trip to Chuck E Cheese's, first Christmas light display.

Likes: Taking tubbies, eating, playing (especially with all her new toy she got for Christmas), sucking on her fists, chatting.

Merry Christmas

Top: Clara with her cousins and first cousins once removed.
Bottom (L to R): Clara with her Nana, her Great Aunt Jean, and her Aunt Elizabeth

Just wanted to pop in and say Happy Holidays to you and yours!  Also wanted to share some pictures from last night at my parents Christmas Eve party!  Lots of quality family time, so much fun!

Top (L to R): Kate and Clara, Clara and her cousins Jackson, Parker and Grace
Bottom (L to R) Clara and Parker, Clara and her Pop Pop

The Dreaded First Cold

Hey All!  Happy Friday. We can't believe Christmas is almost here and thinking I should have started shopping earlier than yesterday, oh well!

Last weekend we spent some time at my parents house.  On Sunday we had a family Christmas cookie exchange and celebrated my sister-in-law, Kenlyns' birthday.  Clara helped to icing her cake!

First off, she is loving Christmas.  She loves looking at our tree and staring at the lights.  She loves the tree in her room and the nativity set that Carrie Loszewski made for her (pictured above).  She also loves Christmas music, which means I have been playing a lot of it and poor Rob has been suffering!  Oh well, he loves his girls. She also got from her Aunt Jen a basket of wrapped Christmas books to read every night that started December 1st and goes until Christmas.  Clara loves to unwrap and read them (or maybe I really love that part)!

On Tuesday, Clara and I went to my work meeting/Christmas party.  I will have to see if I can get some pictures from some of my co-workers.  It was good to see everyone. Here is a shot of myself and Clara!

When we got home she was very cranky.  She had come down with her first cold (just running nose and congestion).  The rest of Tuesday was pretty rough as Rob and I did all we could do to comfort a sick baby. Wednesday, was a little better, although she still just wanted to be held all the time.  Thursday she was a little more like her old self, however, her eyes got really gunky/crusty.  Today her eyes are looking better and she is definitely seeming to feel pretty good.  Lets hope we are on the mend.

Also wanted to update you all on our napping success!  Clara is napping in her crib everyday for somewhere between 2.5 - 3 hours.  Yay!

Sunday at Santa's

Hello All!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend.  We did. Friday night Carrie Loszewski came to visit and for dinner.  I made a broccoli and cheddar soup for us to have. On Saturday, Rob and I gave Clara a bath. Took some great pictures, will share those in another post.

On Sunday we met our friends Jayne and Mary at Santa's Village! It was a cold day, but we alternated between indoor and outdoor activities, so it didn't seem to bad.  Clara experienced her first rides - we rode Santa's Express Train around the park and then drove the antique cars.  We also took in two shows - A Tinkerdoodle Christmas and The Jingle Jamboree.

We also took a time out to enjoy some goodies - we stopped in at the Sugar n' Spice Bake shop for a gingerbread whoopie pie for Rob and a gingerbread girl cookie for me.  We also enjoyed some freshly make doughnuts from the Doe-Nut Factory.

We ended our trip with Clara's first visit with Santa Claus.

Christmas Tree and Baptism

Last Saturday, November 29th was a busy day for this family.  We started the day with my family arriving around 9:30 for breakfast.  Then we headed out to get our Christmas trees.  This has become a yearly tradition in our family.  Everyone comes to our house the weekend after Thanksgiving and we go get our trees.

The first year we did it was three years ago, and we went to Windy Ridge in North Haverhill, NH. They do a nice job!  You get a wagon ride to the trees, once you have your tree you can head back to the barn/gift shop area to warm up, enjoy a cider donut, and a hot beverage.  Its a great place to go with young children.  Last year, we went to the Rocks Estates in Bethlehem, NH.  It was a fun experience, but super busy.  This year we were back at Windy Ridge, same great experience as previously, however, new added bonus for adults of wine tasting in the winery.

After we left the Christmas tree farm, we headed back to our house for a quick bite to eat and to change for church.  We got Clara Jane baptized.

It was very nice and I was so excited that my siblings and their families could be there to help us celebrate.

Thanksgiving x2

Clara got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice her first year.  We celebrated on Sunday, November 23rd with Rob's sister, Stacey's family and then again on Thanksgiving with my family.  Unfortunately, I did not do a good job of taking pictures on the Sunday or Thanksgiving really.

On Sunday, we traveled up to Maine to have dinner with the Wheelers.   We got there for about 2 in afternoon and had a nice time visiting with everyone before the meal.  It was nice to see everyone and we got to meet our nieces and nephew significant others.  Clara had a great time visiting with them all and enjoyed getting passed around.

On Thursday we got to my parents around noon time.  I am in charge of table decorations each year.  This year we went with a turkey theme.  I made cute turkey placecard holders with everyones names.  Once again, no pictures.  Clara did very well, except for a major blowout early in the day (so much for her cute Thanksgiving jumper).  It was a pretty wild and crazy day with 19 people there for dinner.