Happy Halloween!

This year I took Clara to have her pictures taken in her costume by Effie Grey Photography.  It was almost 80 degrees that day, hence the sandals.  She's the cutest little butterfly ever! We've had a lot more going on with endless Halloween festivities, so I'll be sure to post about everything when it all settles down.  In the mean time, have a Happy Halloween!  (Clara just woke up and is shouting, "Mama, where arrrrrre you!?" from her crib. Love that girl!)

52 Projects... Revisited

Remember at the beginning of the year, how I was going to do some kind of project every week all year long?  And then ideally report back on my blog?  And remember how that hasn't happened?  Well, it's not that I haven't accomplished anything this year, but probably not as much as I hoped.  But with a new baby on the way and a burst of second trimester energy, I'm hoping to really get a lot done in the next little while.  With Spencer out of town all week, Clara and I spent a good bit of time at my parents' house and were able to get a lot of projects done!  I took projects I knew we could start and finish - I needed that sense of accomplishment.  Here's what we ended up with:

6 knit newborn baby hats
3 pairs of babylegs
2 changing pad covers
2 sets of car seat strap covers
1 fleece blanket
1 flannel crib sheet
1 scallop bunting for the girls' room
1 autumn bunting for the living room
1 hooded towel for baby girl #2
1 felt Christmas tree just for Clara to decorate with 25 felt ornaments - still deciding if we'll use them advent style, or give them to her all at once to decorate and undecorate the tree at will

We also started a color book for Clara, similar to this.  All of the pages are done, except for the color words. I think the felt ornaments and the color book were my favorite projects because they allowed complete creative freedom.  Plus, with a sweet toddler as the end user, I know she'll be thrilled with whatever we've created.  Having my mom to help really sped up the projects and helped me get so much more done!

I still have a lot to do before the new baby, and I still think it would be cool to keep up with weekly projects on the blog.  So we'll see if it actually happens.  Here are a few of the things on my short list:

-clean out the garage
-make new roman shades for the girls room
-cornice boxes for the girls windows
-coordinating crib skirts for the girls
-quilt for the new baby
-mobile for baby (rain drops and clouds or owls)
-clean out storage/laundry room
-get craft area organized
-organize and consolidate all files
-rain gutter bookshelves for girls room
-hang art and shelves in the girls room
-make Clara's baby book...
-make gauze blankets for new baby
-organize girls closet and dresser - make them shared-room-friendly
-get new baby crib set up
-recover the bouncer
-set up new baby area in our room

Alright, let's see what happens in the next 14 weeks!

Clara's First Big Bug

Clara has a ridiculously strong immune system and up to this point in her life, she's only had two small colds, and one other random fever.  She's thrown up twice, but I think both were due to overeating and then being held/squeezed the wrong way - not because she was sick.

But this week, Clara got super sick and it was sad and a little scary.  With Spencer out of town, we were staying at my parents house on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning as soon as she woke up I could tell that she had a fever.  She was burning up, but otherwise seemed her happy and unaffected self.  So I really didn't think anything of it.  Then we sat down for breakfast and she only ate a few bites, refusing to touch some of her favorite foods at all.  About 30 minutes later she completely hit a wall and became really lethargic.

She only wanted to be held (by my mom) and was almost falling asleep in her arms.  Sleepiness at ten in the morning is not part of Clara's current life or personality, so I was getting a little nervous.  I ran to the store to pick up some tylenol and a thermometer.  I think I pretty much broke her little heart when I took her temp and after that she really only wanted my mom.  Her temperature was about 102.5 and when we tried to give her a little tylenol she threw up her breakfast.  Poor little thing. We stripped her down to her diaper and she made a little nest for herself on the floor while we put Sesame Street on for her.  She tucked her little legs under her tummy and fell right asleep.

I'm sure there are many times as a parent that you wish you could trade places with them, and when they are sick is definitely one of them!

Clara - 22 Months

We love our little Clara so much!  Each month just gets more and more fun (and a little more challenging in new ways).  She is so full of life and personality and definitely has strong feelings and opinons about certain things.  Here's the rundown of what Clara's up to at 22 months:

-Her vocabulary is exploding.  She is putting more and more words together everyday and picking up new words all the time.  She narrates the entire day!

-She loves identifying emotions and has strong associations with emotions she's felt in the past.  For example, she hates the vacuum, so whenever she sees one she says, "cry, sad"

-She hates the vacuum!  The only thing that can console her is me holding her, but at 25 weeks pregnant I finally decided that holding her while I vacuum the entire house is no longer a viable option. So I just let her cry and tell her that as long as I don't have to pick her up while I vacuum, she can have a cookie afterwards for being brave.  Now that has become an association too - so vacuum = "cry, sad, cookie, all clean!"

-Loves to snuggle with us on weekend mornings.  I love bringing her back into our bed for a few minutes before we all get on with the day.

-Her pretend play is expanding and so fun to watch.  She loves to mother her little baby doll and will check on her often saying, "you ok?"

-She loves to color and draw.  She can say 'crayon' and 'draw' but for some reason most of the time she wants me to color with her she asks me to "lellow" with her.

-When I don't say something to her that I usually do, she'll remind me to.  For example, if she takes a tumble and I don't ask her if she's ok, she'll look at me and say, "you ok?" then "yeah"

-Has the most serious, insistent little expressions sometimes.  Her sincere little furrowed brow cracks me up.

-Her palette seems to be ever-shrinking and her sugar-radar is ever-expanding.

-Can be so cooperative.  While we were at my parents house, if I asked her if we could change her diaper, she would lay down on the spot for a diaper change.  When I tell her we're going to put a "pretty" in her hair (a little ponytail up front) she will sit down wherever she is and let me do it.

-Still sleeping great - 12+ hours at night and 2-3 hours in the afternoon.  I love my little sleeper!

-Loves to play "boo" where we hide around a corner and scare her.

-Is obsessed with giving hugs "hugggg" and kisses "keeees" to everyone and everything - me and Spencer, all other relatives, the cat, her cup, spoon, bowl, the car, her baby, etc.

-Knows what sunny, rainy, and windy look like.  When we had our first snow of the season and we woke up to a blanket of white she looked out the window and then at me, perplexed and said, "moon?"