These girls have SO much fun together! Clara's love for Taylor Alain is almost obsessive! Clara recently got to stay with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens for a few days and was so excited to spend time with Taylor. Together the girls got go to the Hand On Museum, a Caspar Babypants concert, several trips to G.G. & Papa Bob's and lots of fun play at Grandma Jan's house. How neat to have a cousin so close in age to make so many wonderful memories with! Lucky girls, the both of them!
10 MONTHS, Oh My!!! Our cutie patootie is changing so much every day! The past month has been incredibly fun. It feels like every day she shows us a new skill she has picked up or starts using a new word. The little baby phase is gone and now she is an interactive kiddo. So very bittersweet for Daddy & Mommy!
While coming so darn close, Janie is not quite crawling. She often gets up in the crawling position, even makes a wobbly stride or two forward before going down to her tummy. She has mastered getting around with her rolls and small scoots from her touche. Janie is a little resistant to turning her leg straight (like above) when she gets on all fours, and it seems that she uses this as her safety net and will just quickly rock back to sitting on her bottom when she feels unsure. Just recently she seems to start being discontent with this type of mobility and has made more attempts at crawling. I have a feeling that she'll be on the go in a few days time!
Ten months is such a fun age! We enjoyed it with Clara and are loving the experience all over again with our Janie Caroline. Recently, Clara spent some time with Grandma & Grandpa Stevens, allowing Mommy & Daddy to enjoy one-on-one time with Jane Bug - what a treat! This kid LOVES to play and seems so coach-able with new activities. We would model an activity (like putting blocks in and out of a sorting container) and within no time she would be doing it independently. Such a reminder of how incredible their little brains are!Our time with just our Janie felt so calm, quiet and easy after trying to entertain and care for both kids. Janie is a pretty flexible kiddo when it comes to being on the go. She does well in a restaurant, likes going shopping or riding in a stroller, so we took advantage of this a few days and also spent a few days just laying on the floor playing with her all evening. {{Taking in all of the sweet baby-ness - AHHHH!}} So often with 2 kids, we have to tag-team the girls in order to get through our feeding/bath/bedtime routines and our little Bug has had much less undivided attention from both parents at once that Clara. Lil' Gem ate it up and it was great to be able to give her a good dose of it!
Janie is such a lovey child. If she had it her way, she would be held all day long. She likes to play from our lap or directly in front of us, and if we have to step away, it won't take her long to start making her calling sounds to call us back.
Janie has made some big strides with the bottle (taking at least one a day (of formula!!)) and with sleep. She has gotten so much easier to get to go to sleep. She rarely fights going down, especially for her naps. Having her binkie and her soft blanket have become key and we can put her down awake and she'll be asleep in minutes. For a few days, this new routine was not working, but it ended up that sweet Janie caught a cold that seemed to make it tough for her to sleep on her back. We figured out that sleeping in her swing or car seat worked best and once she got the rest, our little gal really was a trooper, sharing many runny-nose and weepy eyed smiles. Janie still like to nurse at night and we tried some sleep training (so hard to hear her cry) while Clara was at Grandma's. She sleeps through the night more frequently now, but we are still not at 100% success.
Our little gal seems to always wake up happy. After waking, she calls our a few times and waits. We can hear her pushing buttons on her Lights and Sounds toy or bouncing/rolling around. When we walk in she often shrieks in delight or seems to say "Hi!" Now at this point, if we have to walk away, or don't immediately pick her up, the happiness shifts to anger quite quickly. She responds similarly, if she thinks she is going to eat and then mom has to grab something and makes her wait just a few more seconds... Oh boy, we are in for it!!!
Janie loves to feed herself. She has just the one tooth, but it has come in quite a bit and looks absolutely adorable in her little grin. We have added lots of new foods this month in itty-bitty tiny pieces on her high chair tray and all of them, with the exception of those that get smashed in her hair, hang of her face or find their way down the side of her high chair, get eaten. Different colors or textures, this kid seems to like it all! Let' s hope it stays that way!
It doesn't seem like it could be possible, but Mommy started getting some of our girls baby clothes organized for a garage sale and Daddy took apart the bassinet for storage (it had become a storage place for baby stuff in our bedroom for the past few months). We are even getting ready to move her out into a bigger car seat. These tasks seem even harder the second time around. It is a good thing that these happy smiles and sweet giggles are the best medicine for those tough moments!
Sometime priceless happy moments can come out of tough times! This past year Grandpa Murray has had some scary health concerns which has ended up as cancer in his kidney. While a little bit of an emotional roller coaster for those of us who love him, we have enjoyed our extra trips to Quincy to visit him and the rest of the family.
This trip, our little Gem was not as enthusiastic about being in the water as she had previously been, but Clara Natalie enjoyed riding on this floaty and having her sweet cousins pull her around. She had so much fun and can't wait to go back. 
This year, with the opening of the new Swedish hospital right in our neighborhood, our quaint little Highlands Day, usual headed up by the church that meets in our community center and a few local vendors had a completely different feel. We took a shuttle bus from the elementary school and got stuck in a mini traffic jam on Highlands Drive. They estimated that over 22,000 people attended to check out the beautiful, almost a little too resort feeling, hospital and the little street fair in the parking lot. We intended to go for just a little bit, but ended up getting Janie to take a nap in the stroller and enjoyed a nice day in our community. 
Later on in the tour, when we were in the ER, they had several rooms devoted to health care for the stuffed friends all the kids brought along. Fun! This little dog wasn't the only stuffed toy our Scout toted home. Kids were given a passport as we entered the hospital to get stamped in 12 locations taking us on a tour of the entire 5 floors. When they turned it in, they received a small sized Build-a-Bear in a Swedish t-shirt. 
Craftin'
The day with filled with tons of activities for Clara! It was such a whirlwind, I don't think she could keep it all straight!
After our LONG tour we headed outside for some lunch on the lawn from our local restaurants. Janie enjoyed her cracker! 
Snow Cones!
Mommy's treat was getting to meet her all-time favorite Mariner, John Olerud!
Outside there were bounce houses, carnival games and prizes all over. A hay day for Clara. She tried her hand at Operation for the first time.
And she was quick to spot a lollipop at one of the booths. 
BELLE
This 4th of July we stayed home and enjoyed the fun festivities in our own community. We started the day at the parade downtown Issaquah.
Clara loved watching the kids and running to get the candy.
Daddy & his patriotic sweeties!
Adorable
Clara with her friend, Kylie
After the parade we enjoyed the community activities. Heck with the pony rides, face painting and bounce houses, Clara was most interested in the ones that involved eating
She enjoyed running into her pals (above with Amelia)
Hugging on Ava
Before we left we hit up the playground and watched part of a reptile show.
Janie's first 4th of July!
We spent the afternoon in Dahlia Park with a few neighbors. The kids ran off their Popsicles together - We feel so lucky to live in such a great neighborhood. That evening we listened to the nearby fireworks and enjoyed a great BBQ dinner. A nice relaxing evening! We may just have to make sticking around town for the 4th of July a family tradition. 
Patriotic Darlings
We were lucky enough to be invited to go for an electric boat ride with our friends Peter, Christina and Jackson the day before the 4th of July. Following suit with the rest of this crazy Washington summer, it wasn't a warm July day, but the sun peeked out a few times and we had a great time!
All the kiddos on the boat
After our fun in the boat, we headed to Ivar's for a yummy lunch.
And Kevin & I took the group to a nearby park that we would picnic at during our college years. 
Daddy & Clara playing in the water
Happy Kiddo!
Jackson & Janie
What a cute little guy he is! And what a great way to spend the day!
We have had a wonderful year with the Highlands Playgroup. Clara and I have been attending since she was 81/2 months old and Janie started coming when she was around 4 weeks old. We have met so many wonderful friends and had a lot of great opportunities through this group. To celebrate the end of the year, some of the moms organized this wonderful carnival. So much fun!!
Clara with our wonderful friend and playgroup organizer, Alicia
Enjoying some treats with pals
Pin the tail on the monkey
Parachute
Clara & Nico
Popcorn and Playgroup Highlight Video
Sweet sisters!
We were thrilled to learn that the group decided to change dates, so it will no longer conflict with Scout's preschool in the fall and we can continue to be a part of the group! 
