Snow No-Likey

Snow no-likey. I guess when both parents are brought up in the South, it's just not in the genes. She wanted nothing to do with the freezing white stuff that Mommy and Daddy were trying to sell her. Wouldn't even stand in it. Part of the problem might be the snow gear. It greatly hinders ones movement and balance and when you are new to those things anyway . . . well see for yourself. Clark looks about as thrilled as Clara.

Oh well, at least the pink leopard coat is cute, right?

Funny Face

Clara just recently added this facial expression to her repertoire; I'm not sure if she is concentrating or what but I had to get it on film.

Thanksgiving 2010

It has been over a month since my last post. Shameful; especially since I have so many pictures to post. Our Thanksgiving weekend was so much fun. We were actually home alone on Thanksgiving and so I had the chance to make my first ever Thanksgiving feast (turkey and all). Everything turned out beautiful and totally edible - delicious actually. I was so proud I took a picture . . . tilt your head because I can't figure out how to flip this thing righ-side-up. The Friday after Thanksgiving we made our way down to West Virginia to see our "Mountain Momma" and the rest of the Rogers. A nice neighbor came by and took lots of family photos.

I think my favorite series of photos was with the little girls . . . Clara is still not smiling even though Mommy is in front of her making a fool of herself.

WHACK!!!!

Sad and yet, so hilarious.

We got a nice photo of our little family - expect to see it in our Christmas card (if I ever get to Christmas cards).
Grandma bought her three granddaughters matching dresses and on Sunday we dolled-up the cousins and tried again with the pictures. There was no whacking or crying or smiling (at least from Clara) but they all looked pretty and festive in their sweet little dresses.

I just love this precious little girl!

Trick-or-Treat

We didn't take our little fairy trick-or-treating but we did have a lot of fun dressing her up for our ward Halloween party. Isn't she the prettiest little fairy you've ever seen? (Yeeeeessss!!!)

Missy also dressed up and felt completely ridiculous for two reasons:

1) Apparently Halloween, like Trix, is for kids and therefore she was one of the few adults in costume - even Clark chickened out.

2) "What are you supposed to be?" Actually most were too polite to ask, or maybe they thought my Jersey-shore, Bump-it hair was a new style I was experimenting with. Obviously, I watch too much TV. But seriously? Can you guess who I am? I'll give you a hint - my apron says PROGRESSIVE . . . ?

Flo, I'm supposed to be Flo from the Progressive car insurance commercials; ring a bell? Oh well. Next year I will probably be one of the adults NOT feeling ridiculous because I am wearing my boring, every-day clothing. We also took Clara to the Zoo. The Indianapolis Zoo has a crazy-crowded event called ZooBoo and Clark got free tickets. I did not take any animal pictures . . . which is weird . . . but here are the other pictures we took at the zoo. Clara was so cute pointing at the animals and saying "datdatdat."

I love this face.

We hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween!

And we're done with pictures.
Goblin Eggs.

Happy Birthday to Clara

It was fun celebrating Clara's birthday week. I say WEEK because we had three separate little celebrations for her. At Mimi and Granddad's house we opened a few presents. She got some pretty clothes and her first 'laptop' - why yes, she IS a computer genius; thank you for asking.

Party #2 was a small celebration with just Clara, Momma (that's me) and Daddy. I did not bake a cake but I bought little cupcakes that we found most disappointing. One taste made Clara stick out her tongue with the yucky, bitter, pink icing and cry. In fact she cried when we put on her party hat, she cried when we lit the cupcake, and she cried when we would not let her touch the flame on the lit cupcake, and lastly she cried when she tasted the cupcake. Sheesh! We were lucky to get one photo.

On to presents. Everyone likes getting presents and Clara is no exception. Ripping paper is always fun and the toys Mommy and Daddy picked out were a huge success.

Party #3 took place with the whole Rogers clan at Grandma and Papa's house. I baked Clara's first birthday cake and was very proud of myself and my Halloween decorations. We sung, opened presents and then we ate cake!

Clara was much more impressed with Mommy's cake; though, she was not a fan of the feeling of frosting between her fingers. Daddy fed her instead.

And lastly a few pictures that were taken earlier that day. Our cousin, Madison and Aunt Andria raked up a nice pile of leaves and Clara and Madison had lots of fun playing.


Won't eat pink icing cupcakes but cannot stop eating dried crunchy leaves . . . go figure.

Play

Why spend money on Fisher Price toys when your child is entertained with a straw? Clara gets a kick out of the most mundane objects; it is really cute and also really messy. She is into every cabinet and drawer within her reach.



So far her favorite drawer is the plastic bag drawer (ya, I know babies are not supposed to play with plastic bags). I pick up grocery bags all day because they make the most delightful noises.





My little black cat

Tricksey

Clara has learned several "tricks" that we would like to share. It is so fun to watch her play because we realize how much she watches and learns from everything around her. She understands much of what we say to her . . . now if we could only understand what she says. Oh well, it will come quickly enough - too quickly.



Clara has also recently mastered the stairs. She can go up and down but needs a little more encouragement when going down - I guess up is more fun? Here's Clara showing off her new skill.

Baby Steps

Clara is on the move! Before this she has required a chair or a hand or something to help her stand up. Then one day she picks up two blocks, stands up and takes two steps toward me before falling back on her padded behind. Then came the tears, not from her from me! My baby took her first steps, how did she get so big so fast? When Clark came home we caught a little bit on film.

Eleven Months

My big girl is eleven months old. Clara crawls all over the place pulling anything and everything out of drawers and cabinets. She also likes to pull herself to a standing position to cruise around the furniture. She is a little timid about walking on her own but will walk around if she's got you by one hand and can stand all by herself. The other day when Mom ran up stairs to grab her shoes she came back to a little girl who had already climbed to the 5th step (need another baby gate). She is so excited about eating table food and so far her favorite is cheese and strawberries - but mostly cheese. She can say "Mama" and "Dada" and we like to tell ourselves that she is referring to us when she says them. She gives us nice, big, wet kisses when we ask for them and sometimes initiates them on her own. A little girl at church was not quite sure what to do when Clara leaned in with her open mouth!! She can clap her hands and wave bye bye and now has four teeth.