4th of July and Papa Jack fun

We had an awesome 4th of July, at a celebration in my aunt's small town. Lucy took part in her first ever sack race and water balloon toss, got to ride in the parade with her decorated tricycle, and went on a fire truck ride.





Clara had a great time too.

The girls have been enjoying the new kiddie pool on our back deck. Lucy was washing Clara with a sponge here. :)

Clara is loving solid foods. So far she has had sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, avacado, peas, applesauce, peaches, and pears. She likes them all, and often it's a full body experience, as you can see below.

We've been having a great time at the local lake- Clara likes the baby swing.

And Lucy loves splashing (and climbing) in her new ballerina swimsuit from Auntie Caitlin.

Papa Jack stayed with us this past week- it was so great to be with him. He was such a big help and the girls had so much fun with him. Here are two pictures of them in his hat.

One of the highlights of Papa Jack's visit was going kayaking at the lake. Matt stayed with Clara on the shore, while Papa Jack, Lucy and I explored the lake. It was a perfect day, and Lucy loved helping to paddle.

And finally, here's a video of Lucy and Clara. Clara thinks Lucy is the funniest person, and laughs at her often, even when she's just doing something normal, like coughing.

Home again

We had a fabulous time with my parents. It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation after a challenging few months. Lots of sleep, beautiful weather, delicious food, tons of help with the kids, fun adventures. I'll post some pictures of the visit soon. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of the girls since we've been back.

Clara has gone through quite the developmental spurt over the past few weeks- she now sits up really well on her own, rolls over both ways, and has 2 new teeth! She loves her rice cereal, as well as the recent addition of sweet potatos. She is a very smiley girl and loves grinning at new friends. This is her "kung fu" pose.


Our two beautiful girls. They're getting along really well- Lucy has an amazing ability to make Clara laugh.

Lucy had her last day of preschool last week. She's growing into such a bright, motivated, creative, beautiful girl. Here is the picture from the first day of preschool in September.

And from the last day of preschool, this past week.

Fun times

We had a great time with my sister and her family these past few weeks. This is sort of a random posting of pictures, as we're about to leave in a few days to visit my folks! Here we are all together (minus Matt and John)- it's impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at once. ;)

Lucy and Sam really hit it off, and had lots of fun being silly together, pretending, and playing chase.

Clara got lots of love and attention from Sam and Jeff. Jeff especially was so excited about Clara, always exclaiming "baby!" when he saw her.

I love this picture of Jeff.


Lucy loves holding her baby- she often calls her, "you silly my little baby".

Clara is lucky to have 2 wonderful big "brothers".

Clara is such a roly-poly, happy little girl these days. She smiles and beams at us, and is very content in general. We've started her on rice cereal, which she likes- Lucy helps to feed her too. She's a big fan of the exersaucer, loves grabbing onto toys and making pterodactyl noises. It's so fun to see her exploring her world.

Lucy is often in motion these days. She loves challenging herself with new gymnastic moves she invents. Recently she's started getting ready for bed by herself- the first night she surprised me with it when I was talking to a friend. She was beaming when she came down the stairs, having brushed her teeth, gone potty, and put on her diaper and pjs.

And one last picture of little Clara.

Spring smiles

Life with two kids is busy! Sleep is still in short supply, and we're working on finding a rhythm of life with the four of us, but hopefully things will settle down sometime soon. Our two sunshines continue to bring us great delight in the midst of it all.

We had a wonderful visit with Grandma Judy last month. She helped so much, playing with Lucy, holding Clara, cooking, cleaning, etc, etc. We miss her a lot!

Matt's cousin came up for the weekend while Judy was here- it was so great to see her and to get to introduce Clara to her.

The Frank clan.

Lucy and Grandma Judy had lots of fun together.

Holding her newest grandbaby.

Here are some more recent pictures of Clara. She smiles a lot now and has even almost laughed a few times.

Clara in the bumbo chair. She can sit up with help now, and likes looking around. She's also found her hands and loves sucking on them. Special time with Great-grandma.

2 months ago

It's hard to believe Clara has already been with us for 2 months! Sleep deprivation must make time fly by- except when it doesn't.

I was looking back and found these pictures of Lucy and I making sugar cookies, just as my contractions started. They are the last pictures of Clara inside me. :)

And here's a picture I took the next morning from our friend's house as I was still laboring. Look at all that snow! Matt had to dig the car out twice- thankfully some generous neighbors helped out.

Lucy was so excited when we told her that her baby sister would be arriving soon, as shown below. She's saying, I'm so happy to see my baby sister!".



And fast forward 2 months- here's our little joy, "talking" and smiling! We love her so much.

Farewell to Mimi

We've survived our first few days without Mimi. It's been bumpy at times, but overall we're adjusting pretty well. We miss her a lot- she was such a blessing during these challenging early weeks.

Lucy had a wonderful time with Mimi. After she left Lucy said, "I'm sad- I want Mimi to come back!"

All the girls together.

Lucy and Mimi did lots of grocery shopping. Lucy unloaded all of the bags this time (and stacked them up beind her)- quite a helper!

Lucy being towed on a sled by Great-Grandma. The only way to get to the backyard hill is with skis- otherwise you sink through the 3+ feet of snow.

Here's our little sweetheart. Clara has started smiling and melts our hearts each time. She's also "talking" a lot and we had quite a nice conversation this morning.

The amazing Papa- he has been a wonderfully supportive co-pilot on this adventure.

Lucy really likes holding Clara.

I love this close-up of their hands- and of Clara's double chin. She sure is filling out. :)

A note about the tickers on the right...

Lucy just helped me pick out her new "ticker" for the sidebar- she chose the background and the girl on it. When she saw the finished product she said- "my feet will be cold". :)