Aunt Mere-Mere Visit

Aunt Mere came all the way from Vermont to meet Miss Clara.


I'm curious what this conversation was about. I can imagine Clara asking,
"You really knew Mommy way back then?!"



She's pretty irresistible, huh Mere?



"Momma, is all that true??"



"Aunt Mere is funny!"


"I love you Mere."



Meredith took care of Clara while Stephanie ran some errands.

Thanks for visiting!!

Jack's Day!

Do you remember that really warm spell we had toward the end of January? On January 27, the weather was gorgeous and we decided it was time to reward Jackson for all he's endured welcoming Clara into his home. So, we made a trip to his favorite park, Fort Hunt (or Ft. Jack as always call it). Steph, Clara, and I all enjoyed our trip to the park as well but as you can see from the pictures, it was clearly Jack's day. (Shhhh, don't tell the park rangers that he was off leash!)




"I'm coming Dad!"



"Where's that Squirrel?"

"What was I chasing?"

"I don't remember, oh well it's just fun to run!"

"Come on Dad!!"

"Let's go get Mom and Clara!"


"Did ya see how fast I was running, Mom...did ya see, huh?"

Uncle Dale Surprise Visit!

Uncle Dale surprised us with a visit this Saturday afternoon.
He was taking advantage of our unseasonably warm January weather and walking the Jingle.

Not sure if Aunt Vera was happy he stopped to see Baby Clara without her!

Later in the day, Clara modeled her silly hat!

Clara tries the Baby Bjorn

Pictures from January 24, 2007.


Clara's first ride in the baby Bjorn!


"I'm not so sure about this Mommy...it might be ok."

"This is actually pretty warm and snuggley." (Nana is wearing it in this photo.)

Sunday Brunch Visitors

On Sunday January 21st, the Ramirez family brought us a nice brunch and visited with us for a while.

Miss Christine visiting with our Clara girl.

Laney was very good with Clara.

Laney was making sure that Clara knew about her fishes on the bouncey seat. Laney is a very sweet girl.

Visitors...and Assorted Cute Pictures!

We are still getting caught up with posting all the pictures we've taken in the past several weeks. Most of these pictures are from the end of December and the beginning of January. Miss Clara has had a lot of visitors and lots of cute pictures have been taken.


Steph's brother Ethan and his girlfriend Marisol came down to admire the little one. They were a big help and even let us sleep for a full night!



"I liked showing them all my faces."



Uncle Ethan is so silly!



Ethan and Marisol's dog Emma was a big Clara fan.


Marisol and Emma watch Miss Clara as she sleeps.


Emma couldn't get enough of Clara, but Tiffany kept a bit more distance.



"I love you, Momma!...now I'm hungry."



"Nana came for a visit and gave me a bath. I loved it!"



"Thanks Nana...I was starting to smell a little!"


Granddad came for a visit too and got to see bathtime. "Thanks for taking the great bath pictures, Granddad!"


That's some set of lips!



Nana managed to coax quite a few smiles and laughs out of Miss Clara. Clara seems to smile the most for her two grandmothers.


"That's funny!"



"Hi Daddy!"


Clara continues to melt my heart...she knows how to wrap me around her finger!

Dining Out

We've been venturing out more and more recently. If we time it correctly, we can eat a whole meal in a restaurant and Miss Clara will sleep through it.

Here Clara rests quietly as we dine at "Evening Star" restaurant, which is across the street from our house.


Sushi Again! Recently, Steph got to enjoy sushi for the first time since she first got pregnant. We offerred some to Clara, but decided that she'd just stick with milk for now.

Grammy and Grand Dad Surprise Visit

On January 20th, Grammy and Grand Daddy called us and asked if they could stop by. It turns out that they were right down the street from us seeing watching Clara's cousin John play basketball. Of course, had we known John was playing basketball at our neighborhood school we would have loved to watch. Oh well, I'm sure we'll see plenty of his basketball games over the next several years.

She's pretty sweet, huh Grand Dad?

Grand Dad trying to coax a smile.

Clara, are you giving Grand Dad kisses?

There's our sweet girl smiling.

After visiting for a bit, we order dinner from the Thai Restaruant down the street. Grammy found out that she's a big fan of Pad Thai!

Manning Family Christmas

The Manning family traditionally celebrates our whole family Christmas the Saturday after Christmas Day.

Grammy enjoyed holding and staring at her 11th grandchild. Asked what she thought of Miss Clara, Grammy replied, "I just love her."



Uncle Doug took his first turn holding our little Christmas angel. Can you see any family resemblance?



Everyone thought she looked little in my arms, check her out in Uncle Doug's!



Cousin Jamie finally gets hold Miss Clara! I have a feeling our little Clara is going to really look up to her Cousin Jamie in a few years!

Miss Clara sleeps as her Aunt Donna snuggles her.



Aunt Vera sneaking a peek at Miss Clara as Aunt Donna holds her.
Aunt Dawn and Cousin Jamie enjoy looking at Miss Clara, while Cousin Ben acts like he's not interested ... but we know better!

Miss Clara is now big enough that Aunt Suzanne will take a turn holding her. Suzanne is more comfortable with bigger babies!
Aunt Vera's mother is visiting from Indonesia and couldn't resist holding our Miss Clara.