Sneak Peek

I have not received the photos from Clara's mini photo shoot last week, but the photographer had this one up on her facebook page today! Isn't it a sweet shot of our little gal!?!

Photograph by Baby Dream Photography

Playgroup Easter Party

On Thursday we celebrated Easter with our Highlands playgroup. We have had a lot of celebrations in the past few months which has been great for the kiddos: Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Holi, St. Patrick's Day, Passover, and now Easter. It is wonderful that our community is influenced by so many different cultures and the parties have been a hit with the kids! For our Easter party, we supplied the kids with cookies and supplies to decorate them with. Clara spent almost 40 minutes decorating and tasting her cookies!

Clara-buns!

Decorating with LOTS of frosting and SPRINKLES!!

Working on her Easter card masterpiece!

After having such unseasonably nice weather for the previous weeks, this week it rained quite a bit. We had several Easter themed playdates we planned to attend which were cancelled due to the weather. We are looking forward to seeing how Clara approached the Easter Egg Hunt in the neighborhood this Saturday.

Good Friends!

On Tueday we hosted a photo playdate at our home for our playgroup and friends. A photographer set up a little studio upstairs and kiddos came thoughout the morning to play and have their photos taken. It was awesome for Scout to see so many of her pals through the day. Davis, Hayden and Logan stayed after for a while to play and we tried to capture a few shots of them all togeher. Such sweeties!

Witch Obsession!

With Scout, so far we have been able to avoid any princess obsession. In fact, her obsession quite the opposite as Clara gets obsessed with the villains! She has read a lot of the Disney books and watched several of the movies and instead of talking about the protagonist of the story, she is typically far more interested in discussing the antagonists, which are most often some type of witch.

Last weekend Daddy overheard Clara reading and talking to herself about the story. She said something along the lines of "I am a witch" and when he asked her "Clara, are you a witch?" she replied "Not yet." We both got a great chuckle out of this!

Recently, Miss Scout has been making great strides with potty training. She was doing great with #1, but we were not having any luck getting her to do #2. My friend Christy suggested doing a grab bag prize as a reward and this has provided her with plenty of motivation to "perform." One of her special prizes ended up being this witch costume I picked up for 90% off after Halloween and she loves wearing it! She sure makes a darling lil' witch!

Clara & Her Little Lamb

It is funny how kids are attracted to certain items over others. As hard as you may try to persuade them in one direction they still have items that they gravitate to on their own. Clara's item is her Little Lamb. This stuffed lamb is special because it was a gift from her Auntie and cousins when she was born. It matched her bedding and therefore it was in her crib back in the days when she was swaddled and didn't move around and get into crazy positions when she slept. If Scout had her way, she'd like to take Little Lamb around with us all the time, but we have made a deal that if she leaves her (Clara insists lamb is a girl) in her crib during the day, then she will be waiting for her each night. Plus, she will be "safe" from Davis or other pals that Clara is forced to share toys with from time to time. Because of this rule I have very few photos with Clara and her special snugly friend. She was in an extra cuddly mood the other day so I was quick to snap a few shots of her loving on Little Lamb!

2nd Haircut & Grandma's Visit

This past weekend Grandma Jan had an extra day off from work and so she decided to come up and spend some time with us! Clara was so happy to have her "GaGa," which she sometimes shortens to "Gog," come visit. We had beautiful weather and spent a lot of time outside at the park together. Scout's new favorite thing in the park is to find a flat surface and play kitchen with the wood chips. Last Friday she met up with her friend Christoph in the park and together (more parallel play they interactive) they made soup, carrots, cookies, ice cream and tea. Then Saturday, at a park in Bellevue she bee-lined past the swings (her previous favorite) right to the little counter area and picked up the with same game. Mom, Dad & Grandma all took our turn pretending that the wood chips she gave us were delicious culinary creations!

With Grandma in town and pictures a round of photos a week away, we decided it was time for a haircut. Clara's first haircut was just a trim at the end of the summer, but this time we decided to try a new style. Quite honestly, Mommy was more reluctant than I ever expected myself to be because hair cuts always make kiddos look so much older, but Grandma did a great job and while Clara does seem a little older with her new doo, it is pretty cute!

Scout looking so grown up!

Grandma & Clara showing off the new style!

Little Husky Fan

Clara in one of her MANY Husky outfits from Auntie Michele! She has so much fun watching us get excited watching UW sports and gets right in on the cheering!

We are one happy UW family as we watch UW advance in the tournament!