More of cute little Claire Bear

It is so fun to dress her up every Sunday for church. I like coming home and snapping a few pictures before changing her. She is so much fun!

Later on Sunday, enjoying time cooing with daddy
I know this might be embarrassing to Tyler, but he is good at getting babies to coo at him because he speaks their language! Something about the way he learned to speak in Mongolia makes the 'throaty' sounds come easily to him. Plus, we'll do anything for a smile and a 'coo'! ;)

A guessing game

I wanted to share an amazing conversation that I had with Jake in the car after I picked him up from playgroup today.

me: "so, what did you eat for lunch?"
jake: "we had a picnic at the park."
"what food did you eat?"
"chicken nuggets and water. And what are those green things that I love??"
"grapes?"
" No. The round ones."
" Grapes are round."
" I mean circle ones. Grapes are oval."
" Hum... I don't know. Kiwi?"
"KIWI?! No! They have those little seeds in them..."
" Apples?"
" NO. They aren't big, they're medium!"
"Medium, like this?? (I hold my fingers in a circle about the size of a golf ball).
" Yes. But they have the brown and green stuff on the edges."
" Hum.... (I can tell this is getting painful for him because he desperately wants to be reminded of the name of his favorite green round food!). Honey, I don't know. It wasn't grapes?! Maybe when we get to the store you can find one in the fruit section and show me."
" No. It was... it was... it looks like a pickle!!!"
" A CUCUMBER?!?!"
"YES!!!! A cucumber!!" (huge smile comes across his face)
" oh! You do love cucumbers! And they do look like pickles! Because pickles are made out of cucumbers! Good clue!"
" ...Yeah. Pickles are cucumbers that live in a jar."

Adorable.

Cookies for Sale!

Girl Scout cookies for Sale! Ashley is a daisy scout and is doing her first cookie sale! She and I knocked on a few neighbors' doors yesterday and worked on speaking loudly, providing the information and collecting their orders - it was fun! The sale goes through the end of January with delivery Feb 13th (pay then) if you want any!

Pinewood Derby

Luke's car 'firecracker' did great in our first pinewood derby! ;) It was a fun production including race decorations, pit passes, an electronic track, lots of bells and whistles. It was fun to see all the different designs the boys came up with, too. Luke was nervous at first but his car held its own and he ended up taking 3rd in his wolf den. A medal! Luke and Daddy did a good job building it! We were grateful to have the support of grandma and Shelly and a nice friend, Bub, who helped us tweak the wheels and weights at the last minute! whew!

Whats going on

I haven't made a post in a while because I haven't taken many pictures and life seems to be rolling on by. I am happy to say that things feel much more normal again since having the little one - we are back on track before school in the mornings (mom is out of bed at a decent hour) and getting important and fun stuff done. Here's a few of the things on our plate:

1- Tonight is Luke's first pinewood derby! We (ty, luke and I collectively) have been working on his car for the last week, making sure it looks cool and rides fast. We are hoping for a successful night tonight, which doesn't necessarily mean a win - just a smile on Luke's face when it's all said and done.

2- Starting 1/1/11 the Hillstead Family began The Biggest Loser competition. 11 of us who opted in put $50 in the pot - all up for grabs at the final weigh-in in June. I figure I have 20 lbs to lose between now and then so I think I've got a shot at some prize money if I can make it happen!! I have been working out with friends a lot at the gym, walking the neighborhood and riding bikes on this new trail we found. It's been fun. I also borrowed a "body bug" from a friend of mine (its that black band people wear around their arm or calf to count their calories burned). I used it for a week and it was fascinating! It showed that I burn about 2500-2700 cals a day with a workout and showed minute by minute when I was burning the most. Like in the middle of the night you could see on the print out a flat line while I slept then a sharp increase when I got up with the baby for a few minutes. Or when I worked out it would be steep for as long as I was working. A good lesson in just being active! (so now I am trying to eat 2,000 cals a day which should set me up for a loss of a pound a week).

3- Luke and Ashley are happy at school. They both ride off on their bikes together in the morning and it'a great. We got some walkie-talkies for Christmas so Luke has been taking one in his backpack and we planned to turn them on each day at 3:50 when school lets out. He thinks it's great, "mom, are you there?" "Yes son, you on your way home now?" "YES!" "See you soon!" It's like a 2nd grade cell phone. :)

4- Jake is awesome. He got to go to his BFs b-day party to ride on the carousel and eat at chick-fila at the mall. He's so easy to have around and fun. As I write this I am reminded of something funny he did. We went to see Shrek the musical last Saturday night and of course Shrek tooted a couple times (better out than in!) which the kids thought was hilarious. The next morning Jake climbed in bed with Ty and I for a few minutes and we were snuggling him and rubbing his back and he tooted on purpose. I was disgusted and said "JAKE! gross!" and he said, "what mom? I toot everyday. All the days!" It was lovely.

5- Ty has been busy at work closing up the 2010 books. He's amazing getting up in the dark each morning and heading off for a long day. We appreciate him so much for providing for us and letting me stay home with the kids. He absolutely adores his family and we adore him!

If you're still reading at this point, you've realized that I am basically making a journal entry here this morning... but I'll end now. Life is good, back in balance and happy. Now here are a few pictures from the last two weeks.

Ty and Drew racing their cars
Jake and Hannah
Daddy and Claire each night about 10pm
Cutie pie

Two months old

Our sweet baby is eight weeks old now. It's incredible how quickly they grow! We went to Utah for Christmas when she was exactly 6 weeks old. I had my share of concerns about the long drive and cold weather before we went but thankfully everything went well! In fact, Claire hit three milestones while we were away: 1- she began smiling at us! 2- her clogged tear ducts cleared up overnight and her eyes became less watery! and 3- she started sleeping in her own bed! It was a big week for her! Plus, we could literally see chub chub developing under her chin and along her thighs. Love it!

At two months old we Claire is quite content and continues to eat well, burp well and sleep well. She is sleeping all alone in her big girl bedroom, which in the layout of our house is pretty far from our room - but she does great! Typically up now once between 2-4am. I can do that. At the doctor yesterday she weighed 11 lbs 1 oz, a 4 pound weight gain in 6 weeks!! She is 22 3/4 inches long and her head is 15 inches around.

Her little hands are open more, she is starting to grab onto things and I love feeling her hands roll along my side as she nurses. She looks around to find our faces and is starting to kick her little legs when she gets excited. She enjoys showering with us, having her diaper changed, going on walks and being in the car. She is a good girl.