Clara LOVES being a GIRL!!

Janie caught in the act...

Spit up!!

Already such great friends!

Janie is 4 months old!!

January 20, 2011

Our sweet little "Gem" baby has been changing so much in the past few days. She is now 4 months old and has such a sweet personality. At her most recent doctor's appointment she weighed in at 14 lbs. 7.5 ounces and is 24 1/2 inches long.

We are in love with all her smirks, smiles and giggles which she shares generously. She isn't the type of kid to let herself go unnoticed by making lots of silly sounds and hollering out when she thinks we are not providing her with enough attention. A good quality for a second child who has to fight for attention with her big sister, right? In fact, one of the very first things we noticed about her when we brought her home from the hospital was all her little noises, but now her noise repertoire has expanded and gotten much LOUDER!! Sometimes she will be swinging or playing in her baby gym and holler out this way, causing us all to rush over thinking she is upset, only to be greeted with a sly little smirk.

She LOVES looking a lights, movement and even becomes captivated by the television. These distractions have become a little bit of a crutch when she gets upset, which unfortunately happen a little more often lately. We know that we lucked out so much with Janie's first 3 months when she slept so much. Now, a bit older, she has more interest in her surroundings and has figured out our routines. Like when we start to swaddle her, she seems to know we expect her to go to sleep and sometimes fights it. Another little quirk is Janie's preference for Mommy, especially at night time. It makes sense to be attached to her food source, but poor Daddy has had to witness some major fits. He is such a trooper and despite the possibility of a tough night, allows Mommy to attend Mom's Night Outs or hit the gym several evenings a week.


On Saturday, our sweet baby girl tasted her first formula from Daddy. At first she was not sure about it, but eventually she decided it was okay and slowly finished the bottle. The fact that she takes the formula will be nice if we ever get in a pinch. I had hoped to be pumping more, but with as busy as we are, it really is hard to find time to do so.

Over the weekend she also started hanging out in the exersaucer. She doesn't like to put a lot of weight on her legs, but the toys are really interesting to her so she tolerates it for 15 minutes at a time.

Janie has only rolled over one time from back to front and we have not been able to get her to do it again. She keeps trying and seems so close at time, especially rolling from being on her tummy, so it probably won't be long! Janie Bug does love playing with toys like rattles and even brings small objects to her mouth. She has even put in her own pacifier once or twice. In her baby gyms, she pulls on the handles and can pull herself up off the mat a little bit. She likes to sit up and sometimes acts like she is trying to sit herself up all on her own. The Bobby pillow and Bumbo seat really come in hand for this.

You would think that with the second child, the milestones wouldn't be quite as exciting, but that is certainly not the case in our family. We are amazed at her growth and are eager to know more about her as she develops from a baby into a child. It is so much fun and while some days juggling the two girls can present challenges, I love the sense of family having two children provides and we can't accurately express just how much we LOVE being parents to Clara and Janie!

Enjoying Our Gifts!

One of the best gifts of the holiday season was the time Kevin had off from work. Getting to just be ... as a family of four in our own home was joyful fun. Both girls had fun playing with all of their new toys. Spoiled kids there are indeed!

Clara giving Bitty Baby Greta a bath in her new dolly bathtub

Janie in a new outfit hanging in her chair from Santa!

Clara dancing and performing to her Taylor Swift CD on the new CD player from Uncle Ryan. The photo may not look like much of a dance, but if you see the video, Taylor just struts along in some scenes and that is what she is mimicking.

Using her pipes!

The big hit toys with Janie right now are the light up items. Music always captured Clara's attention early on, but Janie likes the flashing lights way more than the songs. This fun toy from Uncle Ryan seems to be an immediate favorite. It did not take her too long to figure out that if she put her arm through it and moved around a lot she could get it to flash all on her own.

Catching Up... and Looking Back

Clara & Janie in the Box

I know, I am a little behind on posts, but I really wanted to share these fun photos from the holidays:

Growing up my family made a lot of fun (and sometimes quirky) traditions. These traditions have meant a lot to me and so we have tried to find ways to carry them on in our own family. One of my favorite traditions is "The Box." On my first Christmas, being right around Janie's age and unable to sit up on my own for a photo, my mom and grandmother placed me in a wrapped box for a photo. Okay, that is cute! But is not where it ended... I had my picture taken in this box each year until I was at least 16 years old and it turned into a joke. For Clara's first Christmas, I decided to make her a box of her own. Then last year, Grandma Wanda gave us THE box filled with fun ornaments for Clara's own tree, but we still took photos in both boxes. This year, to keep with TRADITION, we also took photos in both boxes.

Miss Janie - 2010

Erin's first Christmas - 1979

Erin's Second Christmas - 1980


Erin's 3rd Christmas - 1981

Clara in her box for her 3rd Christmas


Another silly tradition we have started is putting the girls in outfits that I wore as a child. It is wonderful that my mom (and Auntie Pat) saved these pieces for so long. This year, each girl got to wear a Christmas outfit that I had worn. Janie got the Santa PJ's from my first Christmas (Clara wore them on her first Christmas too) and Clara wore a special dress Grandma Wanda made and I wore when I was four. Fortunately, since we FINALLY got a new scanner, I drug out those photos too.

Janie Baby


Baby Erin with my Mommy & Daddy on my first Christmas.

Mommy & Janie

Ryan (left) and Matthew (right) even had their own pairs of the same Santa Pj's. Little Janie looks a lot like her uncles at this age! And in this photo I see a lot of Clara in me, especially through the eyes.

Daddy with his girls

Erin & Santa - 1983

Clara in "the box" wearing Mommy's dress

Our Happiness!

So, I am way behind with blog posts because we have had some computer "quirks" lately and although they are now resolved, I am posting out of chronological order to share what is going on at my house right now! The snow is coming down outside and inside the Michael house it is PLAYTIME!!!

The girls double teaming Daddy!

Christmas 2010 with the Michael Family

What a busy holiday season this year turned out to be! The whole month of December flew by and it seemed that each day we had something going on from play dates, holiday parties and visits from friends and family to delivering toys from Hope on the Hill Guild to Seattle Children's Hospital. All of the sudden it was the week of Christmas...

On Thursday, we met up with Kevin's family at his Aunt Emily's house for a holiday meal and gingerbread house making for the kiddos. Clara had a lot of fun with her cousins and second cousins and was on a big sugar high from all of the C-A-N-D-Y. (We have resorted to the spelling game in order to have conversations in front of her, and it did not take her long to figure this one out!)

On Christmas Eve, we hosted a Christmas with the Stevens side of the family. Chef Kevin worked hard preparing a nice prime rib and we had a nice opportunity to exchange gifts and enjoy the little ones.

Scrapbooking design made with Smilebox

After such a exciting day, our sweet girls did a nice job of sleeping in on Christmas morning. When Clara did wake up, she wasn't as excited about Santa's visit at first. It was so nice to have the calm morning with just our little family (and Grandma & Grandmpa Grandpa Stevens) and we hope to make it a tradition for future years.

Free scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Once some presents were opened, we loaded up and made the trek to Kevin's parents new condo in Quincy where we celebrated with the Michael side of the family. The drive was easy, there was snow once we got over the pass, Janie slept the whole way and Clara was occupied with some of her goodies from Santa - she loved her new pink phone and purse with all the accessories!

Create a scrapbook design

Despite staying busy we really enjoyed our Holiday. We made some great memories for our sweet little family and loved getting to see both of our special extended family. Kevin had a lot of time off (way to go getting your hours done this year, Sweetie) so it made it even better to have a few days after to unwind and just enjoy playing with our girls.