Baby gets new shoes...

Janie's cute lil' yellow shoes Grandma Jan bought her at the Tea for Hope auction almost a year ago are fitting... and she loves them.  They match great with this sweet hand-me-down sundress from cousin Taylor Alain.  Janie, who is all over and into everything is pretty fond of her pretty new shoes, too!  This day "shoe" seemed to be her favorite word! 

Something about a sleeping BABY...

Not much about our sweet little Janie Bug resembles a baby any more, but there is something about a sleeping child, where you can still notice and appreciate how little they still really are.  So completely precious!

Scout's First Day of Preschool!

September 1, 2011

Our sweet first little baby attended preschool today!  We know she is absolutely ready for all that the year of preschool has in store for her, but it is somehow a little bittersweet realizing that this day is already here!

At three and a half, Clara is a super-friendly kid.  She is always initiating interaction with other children in whatever setting we are in, even in crazy places like public restrooms.  She has a wild imagination and over and over we are amazed at what she will come up with, yet somehow, she always finds a way to loop whatever she is playing or pretending around to her favorite activities of princesses (really anything she thinks is girly) or play food/kitchen.  We eat so much pretend culinary creations from Clara, that Janie already knows the drill and will pretend to take something off a plate-like surface, pretend to eat it and say, "Yum!" 

 Clara showing how excited she is for preschool!

Proud Mama!

Walking up to school

She had no fear or reservations about going inside.

First project: Decorating their name tag.

Looking like a pre-schooler already!

During their free play, she loved checking out this play school house, served lots of play food and enjoyed the neat doll house. 

Clara and her teachers for the year, Ms. Joanne and Mrs. Mac

Look what Daddy brought home...

All of Daddy's girls missed him SO MUCH during the week he was away in London and we knew he was missing us too!  He brought the girls home the cutest gifts.  Love Janie's onesie, finger puppets and big red bus from Harrod's.  And Clara is over the moon with her new princess gown and book of games from The Tower of London. 

Summer arrives... In late August!?!

Summer finally is showing its face this year in the Pacific Northwest!  It took till late August to pull out some of our water toys and enjoy the weather in our lil' backyard.  Grandma Jan was in town this week to help Mommy out while Daddy was in London. Together we tried to take advantage of the end of summer and by keeping busy with outdoor activities.  We spent lots of times in the parks, attended a Caspar Babypants outdoor concert and played in the fountains at Redmond Towne Center.  We stayed busy enough that my camera didn't make it out/along as often as I had hoped and I got very few photos from the week.

At first, Janie was not too sure about the sprinkler mat.  It felt cold and with Clara splashing around, she couldn't quite figure it out, but after a while she warmed up to the idea.  She was interested in the squirting water and before long she crawled right in. 

Clara required very little warming up this time as she got wet right away and kept wanting me to turn up the water pressure to make the sprinkler go higher. 

Jane Bug getting snuggles from Grandma Jan!

Scout turning the spray mat into a water slide!  Fun, Fun, Fun! 

Beachy Bathtime Fun!

We have been meaning to redecorate an upstairs bathroom for the girls for a while now and Daddy found some time in his busy schedule to paint the bathroom, so we finally got it put together. Clara once saw a Little Mermaid shower curtain at Target and NEVER forgot about it. Every time I asked her imput about a cute bathroom set, she would say, "I want an Under the Sea bathroom." And while I have come a long way in accepting my daughter's love of all things princesses, I was not about to devote an entire room in our home to the theme. When I found this, I felt it was a good compromise, beachy, yet not too Disney.

The girls have so much fun during bathtime!

What's been happening at our house...

Somehow it has been a busy summer! Despite not having big travel plans and not all that much summer weather, we have managed to keep really busy and this mama is a little behind on the blogging. It has become important to me to keep up with since I am not putting a whole lot of time into baby books, organizing photos or scrapbooks, so this little blog has somehow become a record of the happenings of our household. Here are some fun photos of our sweethearts!

Janie is getting into everything she can. She loves to take all of the contents out of a bin or drawer, looking at each item. While we have lots of toys strewn about, we are loving the curiosity.Fashionista Clara dressing up in the Nordstrom delivery, shirt for her and Mommy's boots!

Janie is loving all of the toddler toys of Clara's. She's always backing into everything in the Cozy Coupe and so badly wants to make the horn sound, but has yet to push it firmly enough on her own. Clara and Davis are still great pals, although now that he is in school, we see less of the little dude! This playdate they were having fun driving in their "car".

Janie pulling herself up in her crib!

Parallel Play! Clara has a renewed interest in all of the baby toys and Janie is content for long stretches of time as long as Clara is playing nearby.