Close Quarters

Clara seems to have a penchant for getting into tight spots. As soon as she started crawling, we would find her here:



Then she discovered the kitchen cabinets.


Then there was the visit to Renee's house in Dallas.
Today I found Clara in here!




This little girl cracks me up!!

Summer's Winding Down

We have been lucky here the past week or so. The weather has been unseasonably warm with no humidity and sunny, blue skies. Clara has taken advantage of this and has been wanting to go outside a lot. It doesn't hurt that she has a new toy that has peaked her interest. Our kind and generous neighbors gave us a hand-me-down from their daughter, Maggie. Clara is the new owner of a Radio Flyer tricycle!

She quickly figured out how to climb up onto the seat and how to get me to push her around.



I think it will be a while before she can reach the pedals.

She also loves her swingset and usually once or five times a day we go out and swing and slide. Today, Dad put her in the tree to hang out.



Fall is coming!

15 Months

I was looking back at pictures from our visit to OKC and remembered some similar pictures of Clara taken around New Years. Looking back at those pictures made me laugh! I got a kick out of Clara's cheeks! I remember them being big at the time, but good lord - what was she storing in there? Giant marshmallows?!?

January 2008
Clara loved that walker in January and still loved it last week. This time she could climb into it without any help, although sometimes she ended up facing herself the wrong way (see below).

September 2008

Which brings me to the fact that our little girl is growing up and is now 15 months old. This past month we did a lot of traveling. Clara went on 12 airplane rides, visited 6 states, and saw every immediate family member of both Tom and my family, not to mention all of her great-grandparents. Wow!

Clara's vocabulary is increasing and the baby talk is in full gear. Her favorite toys include the rocking horse, her toy vacuum, and the swing set in the backyard. She is a sponge right now, learning new things all the time. She understands many things I say and can follow simple instructions easily and willingly. She is becoming more wary of strangers and prefers me to just about anyone. The separation anxiety is in full swing these days which makes a trip to the church nursery almost unbearable for both of us. When she doesn't get her way, she let's us know! Of course, we wouldn't trade her for the world and are so blessed to have Clara in our life. We love her so much and look forward to what the next month brings!

Eating, Riding, and Singing

Clara has shown interest in feeding herself and her coordination is improving, so I let her feed herself applesauce yesterday morning. She covered her face nicely and some ended up in her mouth.




When all else fails, just drink it!


While cleaning up breakfast, I hear Clara laughing in the family room. I come in to see this...



Clara and I went to a garage sale later on and found some great deals on toys. This is definitely a new favorite around here. Hopefully this will give Chelsea a reprieve for a while.


Last night I went out with a girlfriend to the Rascal Flatts/Taylor Swift concert. We had a blast hearing some big hits and singing along. Taylor Swift is only 18, writes her own songs, has a ton of energy and a great voice.
Her songs are youthful and light hearted. Love this girl!

Rascal Flatts was awesome. They put on a good show and sang most of their old and new hits. I like a lot of their songs. This is one of my favorites.


We had pretty good seats, but my pictures didn't turn out so great.

Trip to OKC

We are back home, again, with NO more trips in the near future! Yea! It's good to be home and return to a more normal schedule. Tom, Clara and I just got back from a trip to Oklahoma City which we coupled with another job interview in Fort Smith, Arkansas. We had a great time with Tom's family in OKC. We stayed at his parents house and both of his sisters and their families came over to visit. Clara and her cousin Paityn were born one month apart so it is so fun to see them growing together. They still engage in more parallel play rather than interactive play, but we caught a few pictures of them together




Clara LOVED playing in Paityn's walker.

Grandpa Trent and Clara played the guitar together.

Grandma Trent showing Clara her garden and smelling the sweet basil leaves.


We visited Tom's Grandma also. Clara had so much fun riding around on her walker.

Clara's looking older isn't she? Her hair is growing longer and getting thicker.

The interviews in Fort Smith went well and we were treated so kindly by the hospital staff. We had a very nice dinner over at the ER director's house and we (Clara included) got to take a four-wheeler ride through the forest, over some streams, and to a fast rolling river. It was a little nerve wracking with Clara not buckled and bouncing around on her Dad's lap, however, she seemed to enjoy the ride. I wish I had some pictures, but I didn't think about bringing the camera that night.
We are home again and life is getting back to normal. I will be blogging more often so check back with me soon!

Cutie Pie

A few cute pictures of Clara playing around yesterday.

Mommy's Helper

Clara has been doing a little work around the house. I guess she feels like it's time to pull her weight around this place :)

I think she's worked hard enough to earn some new pajamas - ones that actually fit.