A lame duck...

Well, there are certainly advantages to living in our small city. Easy to get from point a to point b, no traffic, good hospitals (of course!), some big businesses and also lots of locally owned, professional sports etc. It has a lot of amenities that a city would have, but not to the same extent. Where we live has a minor league baseball and hockey team, some parks and recreation, decent schools, a zoo...which is where this blog post begins.

We learned first hand over the weekend the zoo was not quite up to par when we took Clara this past weekend. Unknowingly, Tom and I built her excitement level up with talks of lions,tigers, giraffes, and elephants. We couldn't wait to get her in the doors to hear her squeals of delight when the animals from her books came to life in in front of her.

Too bad that never happened...the zoo was severely lacking in...animals. No lions, bears, giraffes, elephants or other giant animals. But what did we see, you ask??

There were two lathergic tigers laying around which was kind of cool. 10:30 am must be their nap time...


We saw a cage full of monkeys which was good. They were eating oranges, playing in a cardboard box, hanging on the fencing. Clara was pretty interested in those.

There were a couple peacocks wandering around.


The biggest attraction was the sea lions...although that was pretty funny too. There were two sea lions, both in their upper 20s which is pushing it for these creatures. One was completely blind and had to feel around for the fish the trainer was throwing at it. We overheard one boy enthusiastically ask one of the trainers, 'What happened to Lucy? That sea lion was really cool!!'. The trainer bluntly replied 'Oh, that one died'. The kid looked a little crushed.



The zoo does not have a lot of funding. It was evident in the lack of large scale animals, the habitats, and the donation boxes everywhere asking us to give 'anything we have'. Folks, even the petting zoo was pitiful. One chicken, a donkey, and a couple little ponies.

In the end though, Clara really didn't care or notice. She enjoyed running around, being chased by her friend Carter (six months younger and not quite able to catch her), and hanging out with mom and dad.

A Warm Day, Finally!

We had a nice warm day here...Spring is definitely here. Clara and I spent a lot of time outside playing in the driveway and the backyard. We also took a few walks around the neighborhood. Clara was one worn out little girl tonight!

Clara and I played with her 'chalks' (that's what she calls them) all over the driveway.

While we were sitting on the driveway, Clara points to this tiny piece of pink plastic and says 'Bubbles!'. Wow - so over a month or so ago I ran over her plastic bubble set while backing out of the driveway. Later that day, we cleaned up the shattered plastic and that was pretty much the end of story on the bubbles. I guess it made a bigger impression on her than I realized.

The tulips are blooming, just in time for us to list our house with a realtor and get lots of interested buyers over her ;)


Clara was in rare form tonight. I don't know if she was extra worn out from all the walks and fresh air today or just needed some people daddy/daughter time, but Clara was Daddy's little girl this evening! She curled up with Tom on the couch and just laid next to him while they chatted and listened to the helicopter overhead. They were on the couch for over 15 minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Clara does not sit still for 2 minutes, let alone 15...and as for laying down...that's just unheard of. I even managed to sneak past them and grab the camera to capture these pictures.



Clara's day ended with a bath, much needed after all the chalk and dirt of the day. She loves these Crayola tablets that change the water color...they come in red, blue, and yellow and you can mix the tablets to get green, purple, orange, green, etc. Clara gets to pick the color for her bath and tonight was green. She loves her baths!

Easter Egg Fun

Yesterday, after the excitement of the helicopter and a nice long nap by Clara, I thought it would be fun for Clara to dye Easter eggs for the first time. She is getting more coordinated and able to focus on one activity, if it moves along. Here's a breakdown of the whole experience...

I got the eggs boiled and everything set up while Clara was sleeping.


Clara woke up from her nap and was excited and eager to get going! Notice the bed head...


Clara dropped the color tablets in the water.


Waiting for the tablets to dissolve was tough for this impatient little one...


Time to drop the eggs in. It was definitely a good thing to have the towel underneath the bowls..Clara took the words 'drop the egg in' literally.

Wait and wait for the dye to cover all the eggs.


Take a big drink and wait some more...


Clara pokes her little finger in the dye and moves the egg around to get even color distribution :)

Take out the eggs and put them out to dry.

Add stickers.


Focus...

I didn't get any pictures of the final egg-celent lineup, but they were beautiful! Clara was not happy at all when I said they needed to go in the fridge and she asks about her eggs every time she passes by it. I let her have one this morning for breakfast and she seemed to like peeling and eating it. One down...eleven more to go. Um...can you say cholesterol overload??

Anyways, Happy Easter to everyone!

Helicopter Visit

Today we took a visit out to see Tom while he was working on his LifeFlight shift. Clara can usually hear the helicopter before Tom or I and drops whatever she's doing to listen closer for the helicopter coming. We have told her about Daddy working on the helicopter and had numerous conversations about this. A funny story...the way she says 'helicopter' is pretty cute. We ask her to say it and crack up a lot and I know Clara likes the attention from it. Anyways, the other day Tom was getting on to Clara for something and kind of staring her down to show her he was serious. Clara knew she was in trouble and didn't like having her Daddy mad at her. After a few seconds of silence and a look of bewilderment, she says 'helicopter' so sweetly and cute. Tom and I both started cracking up. She knew exactly what she was doing! (For the record, there was no helicopter in the area) Anyways, all this to say, we finally took her out for a real live visit to see the helicopter up close and personal. Here are some pictures from our trip. She was in awe and a little intimidated by it's size, but she had a really good time. She kept talking about it throughout the day.

Clara Easter Pictures

I had these taken today...I had to delay Clara's nap to get an appointment and that's never a good thing. She did alright and we got a couple cute pictures. Here they are...Happy Easter!

12 Week Ultrasound - Awesome Video

I had my regular monthly checkup for baby #2 today, but got an unexpected treat when the sonogram lady said she wasn't too busy and was willing to do an ultrasound for me, if I wanted. Uh yea!! I definitely wanted to see our little baby again if possible! What is really cool about the sonogram technology at their office is that you can bring a cd and they will record all the video and pictures for you. These pictures and video are amazing...it's hard to believe that this baby is only a couple inches long, yet so completely formed already and really looks like a little baby.

Isn't he/she so cute?!? Just moving around, trying to get all comfy.

Here's a picture she took today too. The baby's right arm is reaching up, covering their ear.

Surprise!

Surprise to all my blog mama friends! Due in mid-October 2009. We can't wait!

Thanks OkC Grands!

Easter came a little early at our house this afternoon. Clara's Oklahoma City grandparents sent her a sweet and cuddly bunny named Regan Rabbit. Clara enjoyed getting the package and loving on her little bunny. Coincidentally, Regan Rabbit's outift is very similar in color to Clara's Easter dress. I'm having her picture made soon and I think it would be so cute to have her holding the bunny in the picture with her :)

Moustache March

One of the residents Tom works with started "Moustache March" last year and they had it again this year. This is where all the men throw away their razors for the month of March and grow out all the facial hair they can. Then on the last day of the month, they shave their beards into the weirdest looking moustaches possible and hope to be voted on for a prize. It costs $$ for people to vote and all the money goes to the Children's Hospital of Illinois. If it wasn't for such a good cause, I would really dislike moustache march.

Here is my handsome husband...uh..er..kind of ;)

Here is the 'before' shot.

Here is the 'after' shot...yes, he died it black.

The other doctor in this picture tried to bleach his blond, but no amount of dye would turn it any lighter. Tom and the PICU doctor thought they would pose as the Ying and Yang of Moustache March or something like that.

Way too long!

It's been a while!! I apologize to all our family who haven't got to see pictures of their granddaughter, niece, cousin, friend, etc. I know I have been holding out on you for a long time (way too long!) and honestly, I don't have a lot to show for it. Unfortunately, Clara is going on these anti-picture streaks where she won't stand still for a picture because the second I take the camera out she runs over asking to see the picture. Clara has not grasped the concept of WAITING until I actually take the picture, and then come running over to see the picture I've taken. I put up the digital camera for a few weeks and thought I would try again today. Same old story. Like Tom told me, I just need to start taking a lot of action shots.

Anyways, can you believe my baby is 21 months old now?!? What, you may wonder, is Clara up to right now? Well...she likes to color pictures, likes to play with her giant legos, loves to be read to, loves to push her stroller on walks (and throws a fit when we make her actually sit in the stroller!), and is really good about helping to clean up her toys after she's done with them.

Some of her odder and cute quirky things: she immediately tells Tom or I to 'Buckle! Buckle!' after we get in the car, has specific carts she likes in the grocery store (the blue or red ones that look like little race cars), she gets out her honey and peanut butter for me every morning to prepare her breakfast, she says 'yea church!' when we tell her we're going to church, she swings and tries to climb on the back on her high chair while saying 'Monkey! Monkey!', she carries a stool which is about half her size around the house and it's pretty heavy for her too. She'll yell out 'stool!' and sure enough comes back with it from wherever she needed it last so that she can climb up on something or see something she wants to see. There are so many funny and sweet things...she cracks us up.

Just an update on the house...no buyers yet, and honestly, not a whole lot of interest either. We are looking into getting a realtor soon. Tom has been working a TON up at his residency and doing quite a bit of moonlighting too. Tonight is his last night up at the hospital for a while and we are both so ready for us all to be back on a normal schedule.

Here are some pictures from the last month or so...