Mixed Up

Okay, this post might be a little chronologically mixed up, but it's taking me forever to get to it*....so it's just going to be what it is...
First off: Little One Year Old Girl....She's been a bit sick these last few days. Boo. Tuesday I took her to daycare and then got a call at about 10 AM- right while I was holding the hair back on a little girl who was ralphing in my classroom trashcan. Fun! So Clara's daycare lady called and said she felt warm and blah blah blah....so I went to pick her up. Her fever has been up (to 105) and down (with ibuprofen) for the last few days. Her mood has been fine, she's been busy, as depicted below. Today we went to the doctor, which we were scheduled to do anyway. Long story short: she has a mild ear infection, which probably didn't cause her fever, but probably didn't help either. So we got her a prescrip. for that. Also asked about her not walking stuff and am going to make a call to a physical therapy place.
A few nights ago....was it Sunday? Jeez. I made trout for dinner. Just felt a little proud of myself for making fish other than salmon, so here's the photo. Used the Angry Trout recipe, which Will sent me. Turned out pretty good. I'm a little embarassed by the butter on my bread in this photo. I am of German stock, but still. You have to trust me when I say that the pats of butter were not very thick. Also...this may explain why Clara giggles when she touches my tummy.
So, there was one little hiccup with the preparation. Flames may or may not have reached the cabinets above the stove. Pete thought I could use this:
Also...we had a lovely dessert! Ed, our friend from across the street (I secretly think of his as our local Don K.) brought over this still warm apple and raisin strudel. I guess it was a thank you for Pete having helped Helena do some shoveling the night before. We've had a lot of snow.
This is just a picture of Henry "helping" take the sheets off his bed last weekend.
And, going back in time to Friday night- Dad and Kathie were still in town and we all went out to Pinstripes for some bowling and dinner. Clara was in one of her cute new outfits.
Dad helped Henry do his bowling.
Clara got a little excited, and a little bossy.
Henry used the ramp for most of his turns.
Dad got a little strike-happy there at the end.
Here's a totally blurry picture, but you can see how fun it is to eat right there at your lane. Fancy-Shmancy bowling.
On Friday and Saturday there was much outdoor play to be done. Dad and Kathie stayed inside with Clara (and washed my dishes!) while Henry and I went out to play with Anna. You can see here that they hadn't even plowed the street yet, which made for much fun sled pulling.
Then we walked over to the sledding hill, and on the way back Anna and Henry plopped down on a hill for some angels. Helena took these photos and sent them to me...
On Saturday we finally remembered to get the snow igloo out. It took a little break last year- even though we had so much snow. If you'll remember there was pregnancy followed by baby, followed by pneumonia, which didn't lend itself to a lot of outdoor play.
Here is Henry introducing Anna to the igloo:
We drug it out to the front yard. Anna and I had to trek through knee-high drifts on the side of the house to bring it around.
It wasn't too cold out (yet!) so Clara came out for a little fresh air while Pete and Helena shoveled and I played with the kids.
How cute is this little snow baby? I hope this isn't the reason she has had a fever and ear infection...
Later the kids came in and played a little play-doh while Pete and Helena finished the shoveling, then we all had some chicken-spaghetti casserole. And that, in a back-and-forth way, brings us up to now. I think.

*And then, prolonging things even more, the news about that plane in the Hudson River came on while I was trying to post....

My Big Birthday Girl

It's hard to believe my little girl is such a big girl!! We've had a few emotional moments over the last few days as I've felt the urge to tell her her birth story at bedtime and whatnot.
Here's the big girl in the bath this morning. Will asked why you can't see her whole face...I just like the shot.
Here she is post-bath.
For her birthday I dressed her in a little shirt/dress that used to be mine. My Grandma Honora made this outfit for me when I was a wee one. It has matching pants, which were a bit more worn, and also which made my eyes feel a little overloaded with pattern. I love this photo because she's doing so big/so silly.
And then she turned around and gave me a cute smile.
Clara took a morning nap of about 2 hours, and then wouldn't nap this afternoon. I was worried about how she would be, since she was clearly tired, but she did okay. This is us pre-party. Note her cute cowgirl-ish dress and all the pink decor.
I started something new with Clara, which I'll also start with Henry at his next birthday. This is her Birthday Book. I'll pull it out each birthday and have her guests sign it. There's also room to stick cards and photos. Henry is signing it here. He also made Clara a Shrinky Dink and created a card for her.
We tried to space out the present opening, as it becomes overwhelming for a one-year-old. Here she is opening her present from Pete and I. It's a 3 Little Pigs story retelling set. We knew Henry would be excited about it, since he loves that story...and we thought it would encourage them to play together. Aren't we clever?
This is not a great shot of Clara, but her little friend Sebastien is very handsome. It used to be that Sebby would smack Clara every chance he got, and she started to cry when she saw him. He seems to have turned a corner in the last few weeks and now he's all huggy with her. It's adorable. I wish I had gotten to the camera in time!
Bampa tried to help Clara get her boots on....but her little ankles might be a bit too chubby. The party was themed around the boots none-the-less.
Here's Auntie Liz playing with Clara. Dad made Clara a sorting/lacing blocks toy. It's very cute. I think he colored them with food coloring.
This is Henry and Anna sitting at the kid's table. Henry loves black olives, and he had asked for one so I offered one to Anna as well....she may have thought I was offering her a grape, because the next time I turned around the poor little girl was trying to spit it out, but clearly didn't quite know what she should do...until I let her spit it out in my hand. She'll think twice before taking food from me again!
I had to include this photo of Bampa in the cowboy hat.
Here's Clara opening another gift...this one was a little duckie plate and utensil set from Grammie.
And, just when my camera decided it would have a full memory card, here's Clara with her birthday cake. She poked at it a few tentative times, and when I told her to blow out the candle she tried to blow a kiss at it, but then she went at her own piece with some gusto! Hopefully grandparents will share their photos with me so I can share some better ones...
Finally, here's a close-up of the cake. I think it may be my first angel food made entirely by myself. It turned out pretty well. Will wanted to know why there were gaps in the frosting (No, he wasn't here-I was chatting with him earlier and sent him some photos.) I tried to explain that that was the artful dripping effect.
Happy First Birthday to my sweet girl!!!!

Did I mention I got a new camera for Christmas?

Well, I did.
So here's a photo review of our last week...starting with some of the first photos off my new camera taken Christmas night...Clara awaking from her nap:
Henry lounging in his new robe:
On the 26th we headed down to Burlington (the drive was slow due to lots of fog) and saw Katie...
And spent time with Joyce...
And smiled...
Henry showed Sam his new Automoblox:
Clara had a bath:
On the 28th (delayed an extra day due to ice) we headed up to ICIA. We had a brief visit with Aaron, Emily and their two kids Jake and Devin, but did not have the camera along. Blast. First time I've seen them in 4 years and no evidence.
Then we got to see Anders. I call this picture A Study In Stripes And Plaid:
Anders was very happy to see me.
Henry and Clara have a new hugging game they play.
I made Eleanor a hat for Christmas. It's the same style I made Anders when he was born. I liked the gnomey look of it, so I made Eleanor's in green. Here she is trying it on.
We had some Christmas celebrating with Dad and Kathie. Henry made ornaments for all of his sets of grandparents. He was pretty proud to deliver them.
Here's a cute picture that wouldn't have looked quite as good with my old camera.
At first I thought this photo demonstrated Sandy's ability to knit while nursing. It actually demonstrates her ability to scratch lotto tickets while nursing.
Henry finally got his crane.
This was taken the next day...Clara was having fun with her sippy cup.
And later Rob showed the guys some old Electric Company Spiderman episode off YouTube. Franklin was thoroughly entertained.
Here's a cute diaper change on Grammie's bed.
This must have been New Year's Eve. Note Pete's new slippers....Joyce knitted some for all of us, in different color combinations.
I was trying out different camera settings....here's the dining room table before dinner. Carrie's slaving away in the kitchen while Oscar waits for her to drop something.
This is just proof that I exist. Clara was trying to climb my legs. No, she's not crawling yet, nor is she pulling herself up or even really standing. Yes, she will be one in a week. No, I'm not especially worried.
Grammie and Lucy and Clara playing on New Year's Eve:
Rob and Carrie looking cute at dinner.
Will and Sandy looking cute at dinner...well, Sandy looks cute anyway.
Us, trying to figure out which camera to look at. I think Clara was still playing on the floor....or perhaps she had gone to bed.
Henry and Grammie.
Henry was allowed to stay up....but he still crashed on the couch before midnight. He didn't miss much. The "countdown" we saw on CNN was about the lamest I've seen ever. (Carrie or Rob, if you can find a clip, I'd love to post it.)
Happy New Year!! Here are the three oldest cuties eating O's and pomegranate and hot cocoa.
And I couldn't resist a photo of mom in her Santa Lobster jammies. I know she'll be delighted that I posted this!
Finally, we tried to get some pictures of the four cousins....I'm ashamed that my two did not have proper Hawkeye attire for the bowl game!!!
Eleanor didn't want to sit still for the photo session.
And here's a pretty cute shot of just the dudes.
I know we said it several times already, but we really hope the kids didn't share their colds with all of you! Sorry Will....I know you've already got it. Thanks for letting us be around, despite their runny noses and eye gunk. It's always a little hard to come back home, even though we were probably all ready to return to our normal lives. Too bad "normal" can't include being closer to each other.