Lightning

Watching a fabulous lightning storm from our porch with my love.

12 month and 2 year well-child stats

For Miss Clara, at 12 months:

your child is 20.0625 pounds, and that is
at the 29th percentile for weight.

your child is 28 inches, and that is
at the 13th percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 18.5 inches, and that is
at the 91th percentile for head circumference.

BWAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  Awesome.

For Mr. Andrew, at 26 months:

your child is 31.0625 pounds, and that is
at the 77th percentile for weight.

your child is 35.75 inches, and that is
at the 66th percentile for height.

your child has a head circumference of 20 inches, and that is
at the 90th percentile for head circumference.

Andrew was such a big boy at the doctor today.  He peed in a cup like a pro.  He listened carefully to everything the doctor and nurses said and followed instructions very well.  And he barely even flinched when he got his shot.  No big deal at all!

I love my growing kids!

Bears

Just spotted one of the two bear cubs that's been hanging out in our neighborhood for the past couple of weeks - down on Deer Creek Canyon, not near our house, really. No sign of mama bear. Cute as a button, but....

Clara's First Birthday Party

Today (yes, today!) was Clara's first birthday party!  We had a watermelon theme for the decorations and also OD'd on watermelon punch and salsa and slices.  We had a few wonderful friends over for playtime and good food.

Totally Classy

Monthly picture display

Into the watermelon and the chips

Miss Maggie with her kids

"Mr. Trey come outside?"

Little Miss Claire

 The cake smash was much more satisfying than Andrew's was - I let her have the full sugar, full butter awesome cake!

I'm sitting here typing this after Clara's post-party coma nap, and she's playing with a birthday balloon that I tied to her foot.  I'm suddenly amazed at the curious, determined, adventurous, hilarious little lady in front of me.  I'm so blessed that I get to know her and be her mama.

Happy Birthday, Miss Clara!  And a self-congratulatory pat-on-the-back to Mama and Daddy -- we survived again!  That's no joke!

Overheard in the Kitchen

Mama: Look out for Clara.
Andrew: Oh!  I like Clara!

Tyler and Monique's Wedding

We are so happy to be able to welcome a new sister and aunt into our family!  Uncle Tyler married Aunt Monique and the family gathered in Las Vegas to celebrate.  

We actually flew into Phoenix, along with Nana and Papa, due to much better airfare for both parties and mileage-runnability for us.  Then we rented a mini-van and made the 5 hr drive up to LV - an experience made infinitely easier (and that's NOT an exaggeration) by having Nana and Papa to entertain the wee ones. We only made one stop at In-n-Out in Kingman!

Happily "Aunt" Maggie lives in Las Vegas, and she generously opened her home to us.  Unfortunately she had to take a training course back east during this time, so we didn't actually get to see her in person.  Nana and Papa stayed with us as well, and we had a lot of fun enjoying Aunt Maggie's pool.  Andrew has officially graduated from the float ring to water wings.  He's becoming more and more comfortable in the water on his own!  He enjoyed jumping off the pool's edge with Papa and by himself.  Clara preferred to play on the pool deck and watch the action, although she got some swimming in herself.

The wedding was lovely, held at the church of some of Monique's family members.  The bride was radiant, the groom dashing, and Uncle Devin the groomsman very dapper, indeed.  In a last minute development, our own sweet Andrew carried the rings down the aisle as ring bearer, accompanied by the bride's baby brother.    During the rest of the ceremony, we were able to hang out in a relatively sound-proof cry-room at the back of the sanctuary along with my cousins, Michael and Heather, and their small kids.

We headed off to the reception hall to enjoy the company of family.  Shortly after we arrived, a mariachi band came into play!  Andrew was mesmerized, as I believe it was the first time he's seen a trumpet played in person, and he loves them!  Unfortunately, Clara seemed pretty sensitive to the loud sound in the small space.  We didn't realize it then, but she was starting to come down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus and wasn't feeling well.  After some realization that the bridal party wasn't going to arrive for awhile and the party was only going to get more awesome (aka louder), we thought it best for the kids if we took off and had some more low-key pool time back at the house.

Mariachi-ing with Aunt Kathleen

Making faces with Uncle Brad

We made the (again, pretty easy) trek back to Phoenix.  Clara developed a fever along the way.  This made her sleepy, and the travel went quickly and painlessly, in spite of her getting sick.  At LAX we enjoyed views of one of United's newly-cleared 787s.

Welcome to the family, Aunt Monique!  We love you!