Six Months

I can't believe my baby is six months old. It is so much fun watching her grow and learn. She is sitting up almost entirely by herself. I'm told that once they can sit up, crawling is not far away; time to baby proof. She is kind of a CHUNK. At her last doctor's appointment she was 78th percentile in height and 84th percentile in weight. She has become so playful and is amused by some really random things. For example, once Mommy told her to put her arms up (so that I could remove her shirt and get her in her PJs) and demonstrated by straightening my arms and lifting my hands above my head. She thought that was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen. Needless to say, Mommy spent the next ten minutes throwing her hands up in the air just to hear the sweet sounds of Clara's laughter. She has also learned to press her lips together and make motor-boat noises (I think Mamaw taught her that). It is pretty funny to watch and Clara really likes it when someone does it back to her . . . I need to get that one on video tape.Still no teeth

House Hunting

This post is about three weeks overdue. We are buying a house!!! The second week of April we took a girls trip (My mother, Clara, and myself) to Indianapolis to begin the search. I was set up with a realtor who I really like and who seems to really know his stuff; he is also an expert in purchasing HUD homes (homes that have been forclosed on). We looked at homes for two full days; poor Clara was so good. I was so grateful to have Mamaw there to help with her, otherwise I'm not sure what I would have done! Anyway I found a few that I liked and placed bids and one was accepted! We are still waiting for HUD to sign their portion of the contract - why is everything government-run (with a few exceptions) so inefficient?! - but as soon as they do we will be on our way. Here is a picture of Mamaw and Clara playing in the mirror of our hotel room - Clara likes mirrors. By the end of this trip these two were best buddies.

Happy Easter

On this beautiful Easter Sunday, my heart is filled with gratitude for the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I think of how dearly I love my sweet daughter, I understand better (though not fully) how dearly our Heavenly Father and Savior love us . . . love me. I am grateful for the special experiences, such as parenthood, that make up mortality and the promise that those family bonds can continue beyond the grave. I know that this plan of salvation is made possible through the atoning sacrifice and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Happy Easter.Again, some of my favorite pictures are the ones that didn't quite turn out the way you intended . . .

Grease Lightning

Last week I noticed that Clara's cradle cap had returned (cradle cap = really bad baby dandruff). She hasn't had it since she was two months old but it came back worse than before. As an inexperienced mommy I went online to see what I should do for it and read that putting olive or vegetable oil on the scalp for a few minutes will loosen the flakes. In my "wisdom" I decided to use baby oil instead. I use it after every shower for my own skin. However the baby oil I have isn't really baby oil it is baby oil GEL (so it doesn't run all over the place) and it contains aloe and vitamin E.

"That's a brilliant idea, it should really moisturize her scalp," I thought.

What it actually did was really GOOP up her hair. These pictures were taken after TWO shampoos; her hair is completely dry.

The gunk came out of her hair after two more shampoos, one of which was with dish soap (yes, really!!). By shampoo number four Clara was pretty ticked off - we all know how long it took her to warm up to baths - but luckily that was the last one.

The good news: no more cradle cap!

Toe Jam

Clara proves to me everyday that she is her father's daughter (not that there was EVER any question to begin with). Her latest manifestation - chewing on her toes. Of course Clark doesn't do that anymore, but when he was little . . .

Hungry Hippo

Hmmmm . . . mmmm! Oatmeal and green beans; a winning combination. Quaker Oats should totally make that flavor, it sounds way better than peaches and cream, don't you think? In this video Clark is feeding Clara and she is a mess but doesn't care; she is HUNGRY. She likes the new flavors we are slowly adding to her diet and so far I think her favorite is green beans (we haven't introduced fruit yet). Her first time trying peas didn't go so well, she made faces that said "this is awful" while sticking her tongue out and making "uhck" noises. Now she will eat them but . . . definately not her favorite.

Grandparents

We love Grandma! Two weeks ago we drove to Cameron, Missouri to see Grandma Rogers and Great Grandma and Grandad Hart. We were able to show them Clara's pretty Sunday clothes and what a good little eater she is becoming (we recently started solid foods). It is amazing how much Clara has changed since Grandma saw her at Thanksgiving. Plus, how neat is it to have pictures with your great grandparents? I suppose I have pictures with my great grandmothers but I don't think I've even seen pictures of my great-grandfathers . . . kind of odd.

Don't be alarmed by the large tarantula on Clara's head, his name is Beau and he is very tame. Oh wait, that is another one of our ridiculously large bows . . . oops.Great-Grandad Hart and miss Clara. We are going to have to teach her the "Mr. Johnny Rebeck" song.Great-Grandma Hart and Clara-bear (oh, and mommy).On our way to church (or maybe just home from there, I forget).