This morning we had Janie's first photos taken and we have already received some proofs from the session - they are so precious! Aileen and Julie with Baby Dream Photography are amazing with babies. Janie slept through the whole session, even a poo! Thank goodness the photographers were experienced and were able to keep right on working. 
We are just getting settled in at home and I haven't had much time to go through all of the photos, but here are a few of sweet little Janie's first few hours. She really is a fun baby. She makes many different adorable newborn sounds, has a quiet little cry, is a champion nurser and seems to really enjoy being snuggled. The more we get to know about her, the more we feel that she is the perfect addition to our family. 
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Our precious lil' "Gem".jpg)
Aileen from Baby Dream Photography is so fun to work with and she captures such special moments!
After taking some of the family shots, we let Aileen get creative. I left the photo session feeling really beautiful and maternal, which isn't something that I have felt too often this late in the pregnancy..jpg)
It seems that we have been in potty training mode forever! And it really has been a long time since Clara first started showing a lot of interest last November. Her interest has waxed and waned quite a bit and we have tried to just go with the flow. At first we rewarded her with a silly song and dance, then we used various types of candy to keep her interested (m&m's, gummies, marshmallows, jelly beans and of course lollipops for #2), and now have moved on to a sticker chart. In all, the methods were fairly effective while we were at home, but whenever we left the house or had guests over, the overall effectiveness dropped significantly. In addition, through the various stages of my pregnancy, I wasn't as willing to go without pull-ups and accept that I would just need to clean up accidents for a few weeks. Then there was our trip to London and some of our smaller getaways over the summer that seemed to derail her for a while. Looking back, I think we started a little too soon and am sure that we could have gotten to the end result faster if we ourselves had been more disciplined, but we by doing it this way, we saved quite a few diapers and now, many months in, I am proud to say that Miss Clara is a BIG GIRL in the potty arena. In the past two weeks there has been an accident or two, typically while she is sleeping, but we are so proud of how she has learned to tell us she has to go even when we are on an outing. She is so adorably proud of her pretty panties too! All these pieces have seem to come together right as baby sister is set to arrive and therefore we will undoubtedly experience some regression, but nonetheless, it is one more sign of how our sweet, sweet Clara is no longer a baby!
There is also some progress on the arrival of baby "Gem"!! Today at my appointment with Dr. Haines, we learned that I have begun to dilate (2 cm) which he feels is good progress. We also set up an induction for the morning Monday, September 20th, which means that our sweetie pie may share a birthday with pal Logan, if she does not decide to come sooner. In the Michael household we are all thrilled to know that meeting our newest family member is less than a week away! 
With my due date only 2 weeks away, for the second year in a row we decided to stay close to home for Labor Day weekend. With the down time we were able to get a lot done around the house, managed a few outings and had some fun with good friends.
The next day, after Mommy enjoyed sleeping in, Daddy decided that we would make a long-overdue trip to Red Mill Burgers. This was our first trip which is shameful since we have been living in the Seattle area for over 12 years! When I was pregnant with Clara, I told Kevin that I wanted to have one before I popped and we never made it to get one. A few months ago, I reminded him of this and he was bound and determined to make it happen this time. Like it is ever really a fight to get Kevin on board for a bacon burger and onion rings!
We waited a while for our food, and were both a little worried that it wouldn't measure up to the hype, but were all pretty impressed with our grub. Clara was most taken with the blackberry milkshake!
Mama & her well earned burger - Documentation for when I start to question why "Gem" outweighs Clara's 10 lb. birth weight!
Then we headed to Fremont to check out the JP Patches statue (she just got to see him at the SWW Fair) and check out the infamous troll! Clara has the book Larry Lost in Seattle and has made it to most of the sites in the book. Also, Papa Mark has been reading her about the Three Billy Goats Gruff which has increased her curiosity about trolls. She was a little hesitant at first to get out of the car and check out the Fremont Troll, but has been gabbing about visiting it all week!
Next stop was Gasworks Park! As far as we can remember, this is Scout's first trip to Gasworks and she enjoyed looking at all of the machinery and doing some climbing.
Daddy had to do all of the climbing with her as Mommy doesn't trust her balance at this point!
Mommy and Gem (38 weeks)
Miss Scout has a new found love for country music! "My songs" have replaced Caspar Babypants as her current favorite. It started with her singing along to Lady Antebellum cds in the car with me. Her favorites songs are "Run to you" and "American Honey" and it is adorable to hear her sing them. Then we introduced her to music videos when we found that the cable offered certain videos, including many of her favorites, on demand. She instantly loved them so much we started using a music video as a reward! 
It is so stinkin' cute to watch her get into the music! We have made several attempts to video her but our hysterical laughter typically impacts the video quality. 
A friend of mine gave me the great idea of finger painting in the bathtub and with all of the crummy weather we have been having, we haven't been painting all that much. This situation worked out great for Clara. She started out using her fingers...
Then she asked to use a brush "like Mommy uses."
Check out her masterpiece!
By the end, we were encouraging our girl to make a mess with the washable paints (hopefully this suggestion doesn't backfire later on ). The best part was that we didn't even have to take her out of the tub for clean up! 
We received this peek at the maternity session we had done two weeks ago. I love working with photographer because as big as I am she made me feel beautiful and Clara loved getting to play dress up as well! I can't wait to see the rest of them!
On August 31st my Grandma Wanda gathered the special ladies in my family for a little "Sprinkle" in honor of our precious "Gem." We enjoyed a lovely lunch with my favorite cuisine (Chinese), delicious cake and wine (well, everyone but Clara and I). It was a fun opportunity to get together and celebrate our new little girl, plus it made this Mama feel very special and celebrated! It feels amazing to know that you are bringing a child into the world when they are already loved by so many people!
Clara and Mommy surrounded by a bounty of beautiful gifts. We do still have a lot Clara's beautiful clothes and baby accessories, but it is nice to know "Gem" will have some of her own new things as well.
It is almost unbelievable how tiny the newborn clothes are! They feel even smaller this time around because I am used to Scout-sized things (she is already wearing a 4T and size 8 shoe)!
Clara, Julie, Auntie Pat, Auntie Dianne and Grandma Wanda!
Clara liked being a part of a "big girl" event and kept a close eye on the cake all of the afternoon. We couldn't get her to look at the camera for this picture, but her face is priceless!
Big Sister-to-Be
Grandma Wanda, Mom and I (with baby Gem) - I value everything I have learned from these exceptional women!
