Cute pictures

Just wanted to show off a few random pictures that I've taken recently of the kiddos.  It amazes me how much Clara grows and changes on a daily basis.  It's like she learns something new or adds a little bit more to her personality each day.  We are still working on the BUMBO chair.  She sits in it for a few minutes at a time but has yet to fully appreciate it's value.

Emma and Samantha are such wonderful helpers!  They love to sit and rock with Clara and play with her and make her happy.

I can tell how much Clara loves her big sisters.  When they leave for school in the morning, she almost looks sad to see them walk out the door.  When they come home in the afternoon, she brightens right up and knows that she is going to get some play time with her sissies.

This past weekend we had our first real snow storm of the season.  We didn't get a lot, just enough to cover the ground and make some snow angels.  Emma and Samantha loved throwing snowballs at their Dad!

Emma has been helping with Clara's feedings for a couple of weeks now and just yesterday Samantha started.  They show lots of responsibility when they are helping to take care of their little sister and Samantha was quite proud of herself!

I sure am grateful for my happy family!

First Shooting Experience!

One of the hobbies Mark has is heading to the local shooting range to fire off his guns.  He also has to certify every few months for his work with law enforcement so he has enjoyed his gun club membership.  We have a very nice range outside of town and he decided he wanted to take the girls with him to start learning how to shoot and about gun safety.

Both girls shot Mark's .22 rifle since it is quiet and doesn't have very much kick. 

After a few tries, they each hit the target all by themselves!

Emma and Samantha were very proud of themselves...and so was Daddy!  I'm sure they will be heading out again soon!

Happy Girl!

Yesterday was kind of a long day with Miss Clara.  Although we could tell she was very tired, she was unwilling to nap throughout the day.  This made her pretty fussy and hard to please!  Thankfully - around bedtime, she suddenly became a very happy little girl and was full of smiles and laughter.  I quick grabbed the camera and took a few shots.  Too cute!  The good news is....she slept peacefully through the night!

Happy Halloween!!!

It's hard to believe that Halloween has arrived once again!  Emma and Samantha have been not-so-patiently waiting for it to arrive and they have had their costumes planned out for several weeks now.  Of course, you can't celebrate Halloween without carving the pumpkin.  Thanks to Daddy for doing such a good job on the carving!

At first it was decided that we were going to have a "scary" face on the jack-o-lantern.  I guess we'll just settle for the girls posing with scary faces.

As you can see, Samantha went as a cheerleader this year.  Here she is posing in her classroom before the school costume parade. 

Emma was a sneaky cat.  I wasn't able to make it to her classroom before the parade started so I caught this picture of her in the school gym.

We headed to the church for the annual "Trunk-or-Treat."  Samantha was dancing around in her costume all day.  I'm sure that she now has a new goal in life and that is to become a cheerleader for reals!!!

A friend of mine let us borrow a costume for Clara - it is a little pink monster and it was adorable on her and she seemed to like it when we first put it on her but after about five minutes she wanted out of it!  At least we got a picture of her wearing a costume for her first Halloween.

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with Halloween, but she was taking a little nap in her swing this afternoon and she was really snuggling with her blanket.  It was too precious not to share.

This year I made a deal with the girls that I would buy their candy from them for $5 so we could donate it somewhere.  We don't need the extra sugar!  They accepted my deal (I still can't believe it) so now we are left with a VERY large bag of candy.  Hopefully I'll find a nice place to donate it to before Daddy finds the stash!

Cold and Flu Season

The past couple of weeks have seen our family catch the dreaded cold and flu bug that has been going around.  Samantha had it first, then Emma, then me.  Unfortunately, Clara picked it up and since she is only three months old it hit her the hardest.  She had horrible congestion, a terrible cough, fever, and she lost her voice.  Our little sweetie has been so miserable!  Knowing that because of her premature arrival she is at a higher risk for RSV, we quickly made an appointment with the pediatrician.  Dr. Lim gave us a nebulizer and a prescription for albuterol but unfortunately there isn't much else you can for an infant this young.  This is a picture of Clara receiving her first breathing treatment.  You can see in her eyes just how sick she feels. :(

She finally fell asleep after her treatment.

We also got out the humidifier to help moisten up her nasal passages but the moist air didn't seem to reach her very well.  So....

....we made a little fort to keep the steam near her where it would be more beneficial.  It was her own personal spa!

She is breathing and sleeping so much better after several days of the breathing treatments and the humidifier.

Of course, Emma had been so anxious to hold her sister since we didn't allow the girls near Clara because of extra germs.  We finally let them play together a little bit this weekend.  Two happy girls!

Clara still has a raspy voice and a bad cough, but we're working through it and she is on the road to recovery.  Hopefully this isn't a sign of a very long cold and flu season for our family!

More of Clara

It's been nearly two months since my last blog post and I feel terrible about it!  I thought I would have lots and lots of time during my days to take care of things like this but of course, the days get filled up with all of the other things that I have to do.  So.... I wanted to take a few minutes and post some recent pictures of little Clara.  She is growing so fast and I wish that I could "pause" time to keep her little.   About a month ago we switched her over to soy formula and she is a much more pleasant baby.  She sleeps really well at night - six to seven hour stretches a few days a week.  We feel very blessed!

Here she is in her swing.  At first she was a big fan of it but now she would much rather just be in her bouncer.  We still keep it around though for the rare moments where she enjoys herself in it.

We took this picture for Grampa since we know he is so good at napping!

Here she is looking over Daddy's shoulder while he is on the computer.

Of course her big sisters love holding her and playing with her.  They are such good helpers!

We have been trying out the Bumbo seat - her neck still isn't quite strong enough to sit more than a couple of minutes but we're getting there.  She usually just curls herself down to a comfy position.

Clara really enjoys stretching out under her little gym.  I play with her legs and do tummy time with her.  She's starting to grab at the toys that hang down.

This is such a precious picture - she was sleeping so soundly.

As you can see Clara has grown a lot in the past while.  She's starting to smile more and coo at us.  Sometimes I feel as if we are having actual conversations. :)  Emma and Samantha feel like she is finally starting to recognize them and that makes them very happy!  We are loving every minute of our baby girl!

Clara's Blessing Day!

Last Sunday we were able to bless Clara in Sacrament Meeting.  It was certainly a special day for us and we were so thankful that lots of family were able to participate with us.  Clara was blessed by her daddy and he was joined by Grampa Edwards, Uncle Jon, and Uncle Silila.  Of course the cousins were all happy to see each other again.  This picture shows Miss Lillian who is almost two and gets cuter and cuter each day.  Emma adores her little cousin so much!

 Here is Clara with her Uncle Jonathan.  This was his first time meeting her!

Aunt Natalie wanted a turn holding her and Eliza was very intrigued by the new baby.

Jon and Natalie welcomed their special little guy - Hinkley back in June.  He is so big!  We decided to match up Hinkley and Clara to compare their sizes.  You can't really tell from the picture, but Clara was so teeny in comparison. :)

Aunt Stephanie spent lots of time holding her and Clara was very content with her.  Aunt Steph has the magic touch - maybe it's because she has five kids of her own!

Here she is in her blessing dress and pretty bow.  She sure didn't want to cooperate with the camera very well - at least she cooperated during her blessing and slept right through.

Emma and Sam were super excited for their sister!

We missed having Luke and Kate here with us but we are excited to see them next month when they come for a visit!  Karlie and Lillie had to leave for home before we took the cousin picture but they were there with us, too.

We had a really wonderful day with everyone and had so much fun visiting with friends and family!  We were sad to see them all leave and look forward to when we can all be together again!