Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Full Term

Babe #2 is 37 weeks today and we are thankful to reach this "full term" milestone. Who knows when we'll get to meet him or her! Clara was born right at 37 weeks, so some days I think I will deliver early and sometimes I think I will be pregnant forever. :)

We are pretty prepared at the Strouse house - at least as prepared as you can be for a newborn! We took advantage of the ice day on Sunday to deep clean a lot of our house and make some meals for the freezer. It feels good to have a few of those things done.

Clara has been helping to make sure our car seat is safe for the new baby - it's her new favorite toy. We spend some time every night putting her baby in the seat, buckling her in and covering her up so she is cozy. Clara also makes sure to take her turn in the seat - too bad she doesn't go so willingly into her actual car seat!!


We can't wait to meet our new little one!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

A Year and a Half

For some reason, 18 months seems like a big milestone – Clara is close to 2!  


It’s amazing how often we say to ourselves “she is so much fun right now!” Clara spends her evenings and weekends reading books, dancing to any tune she can find, playing peek-a-boo with the curtains and blankets and running around in the basement with her 30 second attention span. She got a tent for Christmas and she insists we all sit in it together. She loves her tea set and her legos. If you could make a living identifying animals and making animal noises Clara would be set for life! We have a built in check on our phone and computer usage because Clara spots us immediately and demands “up, up, up” like a maniac because she LOVES to look at the photos and videos.




It’s been a big month for Clara. She moved from her nursery to a “big girl room”. Don’t worry – she’s still in her crib. It’s amazing to watch her strategize to get her pacifiers out of her crib (which she “knows” are only for bedtime). She’s generally a really good sleeper which we are still very thankful for. I’m not messing with that! Let’s hope that continues as we re-enter the newborn stage with her little brother or sister in a few weeks! She knows her old room is the baby room and loves to go find the little toys and other baby gear we have in there. We hope that letting her play with those things now will help get it out of her system for when the baby is actually here. 

 
Clara will give lots of hugs and kisses these days. Melts our hearts every time. She also loves to give high-fives and say hi! and bye! with great enthusiasm. She’s talking more every day. Some of her favorite words are “more”, “dad”, “ball”, “up!” and “book”. I’m hearing more and more “mom”. Magically, she still says “yes” more than “no”! It seems to us that she understands almost everything we say to her. It’s fun to watch her learn to communicate. 





Daycare tells us she’s the most active kid they’ve ever seen. We try and take it as a compliment! She is definitely full of energy and opinions, but we are blessed by her cheerful disposition. She almost always has a smile on her face and generally listens to us pretty well. It’s really a fun part of parenting to learn about your kids’ personalities. 



We’re so excited to see Clara as a big sister. She loves other kiddos – let’s hope she loves the one living at her house!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas this year - lots of time with family spread out over the long weekend!  


We started with our own little family Christmas on Sunday morning. Clara was so much fun. We got her just a few things and it was perfect - she loved opening the three gifts she got, but I don't think she would of had the attention span for much more! It was amazing to see her delight in a few new books and some jumbo crayons. I want her to always be like that! We loved the slow morning at home to be together as a family. 





Christmas Eve we spent with Brad's family. We all went to church early in the afternoon so the little kids could take a nap before the evening festivities. We were pretty sad when Clara woke up from her nap with a pretty high fever. We should have known something was up when she sat quietly with us at church. We thought Clara and I were going to have to stay home, but after a dose of Tylenol (magical!) she was running around in a hour and we joined everyone. Clara loved seeing her cousin and they had a blast diving on their new giant pillows!



Christmas morning we woke up to head over to spend time with the Daniels side. We ate lots of good food and had a day of being together. I love when holidays can be a lot of fun but also a day of rest. 




Over New Year's weekend we saw some extended family. Clara came away with the sweetest present of all. What girl doesn't need a John Deere gator? :) 


Christmas always reminds me that we have a lot to be thankful for!