Happy Birthday Baby Gerrit!

The chefs donning the appropriate protective gear and discussing the plan of action. And singing a round of Happy Birthday to get us in the right frame of mind.

And the most important part of the recipe, tasting the final product.

Approval from big sister Avery!

Approval from ever supportive friend Bennett!

Amber and Chris welcomed their newest bundle, Gerrit Christopher, which meant we got to spend some time with Avery while the family prepares (poor guy still isn't home) to come home. Bennett had his first girlfriend sleepover - and although they wanted to sleep in the same bed and swore they'd fall asleep, it didn't end up going exactly like that (there was lots of giggling, some jumping and a few songs) so Avery got B's bed and he snuggled with us. We baked a batch of cupcakes in celebration of Gerrit's birthday and the kids were a huge "help" - Avery got to pick the frosting color and chose green for Gerrit's cupcakes. Congrats Johnstons - we are so happy for you and can't wait to spend more time with your little guy.

7 Months

Beautiful brown eyes. And two little teeth finally just popped through (thank goodness as we did a lot of extra, middle of the night snuggling, rocking and nursing to get her through that development)

Sitting pretty!

Official tummy sleeper - I am a sucker for the butt up sleeping position, I find myself sneaking in there just to get a peak at her cuteness.

This is a common sight in our house -  B has no pants on (wearing just unders makes him faster), his fire truck is no more than 6 inches away from him, and he is wearing some type of hat. He's such a crack up these days.

Christmas

Trying out the new snow (marshmallow) pants

Playing in the snow on our hunt for a tree

Christmas eve's eve clam digging

Clara stayed bundled up and protected from the elements in the Bob during the dig

Christmas Eve PJs photo

Digging into the presents - bows are just as fun!

We are so spoiled by having all of our families close to one another. Clara and Bennett were loved on by everyone!

Knowles Grandparent/Grandkids photo

Great Grammy

Cousins

Santa brought B a fire truck and a digger - they have been inseparable ever since (the fire truck sleeps next to his bed every night and comes in the car with us no matter where we are going)

An attempt at a Christmas day tree photo - reality is, B is still in his PJs (not the cute "Christmas day outfit") and she's crying because I think he's squeezing her hand really hard ("helping" her)

6 Months

Crawling attempts result in - downward dog (the above picture doesn't do this justice, but note that she's on her tippy toes) or rocking back and forth on all fours. Eventually this ends in a face plant or backwards movement - not exactly what she is hoping for.

Clara turned 6 months at the beginning of December. She continues to be such a delight - happy and easy going. She's mastered "mama" and sometimes will get out what sounds like "dada". She's still scooting backwards mostly, not quite an official crawl. She likes to eat and has tried a handful of fruits and veggies so far - she's a little pickier than B was and definitely prefers sweeter things.