6 Months (of this little crazy)

Oh, this little girl. She is so funny and I am so in love!

She's grown up so much in the last couple of weeks. She's mobile!!!!! Clara rolls everywhere all day long. She has no interest whatsoever in sitting.  Not by herself and not in the bumbo. She just wants to play on the floor. 

She's eating some. We've tried peas, carrots, and applesauce. It's been slow, but just tonight she actually liked her peas! She doesn't have near the appetite my other babies did. And the only way to feed this wild one is to sit her on my lap and strap her arms down with one of mine. On Friday she launched herself out of the bumbo while being fed. 

She sleeps WAY worse at night now than when she was a newborn. As a 3 week old she was sleeping 6 an 7 hour stretches at night. Those days are over. But, she's so sweet and happy that I can't hardly care. For now.

She will lay her head on my shoulder when I sing to her. It's the only time she is still.

She is just the happiest little girl and we love her so much!

Holidays 2013 Highlights

1. Madeline was given full reign of our Christmas tree this year. It's just a silly little 4 foot tree that we bought in school. We already have our upgrade for next year.  This girl LOVES to decorate so this little idea was pretty much a dream come true to her. She was sure we didn't have enough ornaments and no tree topper, so our tree was filled with paper pictures attached with blue painters tape. Classy, I know. I loved not having to keep the kids from touching the tree. Hands on at our house this year.

2. We discovered a peppermint bark popcorn recipe and made batches and batches of it to give away, and batches and batches for us to devour.

3. We gave gifts to some people in need, and this is what always fills my heart with the most joy at Christmas.

4. We spent a nice little Christmas Eve at our home with our in-laws.  Soup, gifts, laughter, new pajamas. It was lovely.

5. Somehow I found the time to make stockings for each member of our family. They were finished just in the nick of time.

6. Santa came to our house for the first time ever. Since we've had kids, we have always been at one of our parents' homes on Christmas. It was fun to do it all alone for the first time.

7. A few days after Christmas we drove to Logan to celebrate with my family. It was the first time we've all been together for the holidays since I was pregnant with Madeline. It's a completely different experience now - my parents moved across the country and now there are 6 grandchildren. It was so fun to be all together in the same house for a few days.

Now the decorations are all down and we are left with good memories and Benson's nightly rendition of Silent Night. He just can't quite give Christmas up. I don't blame him.