Three Months Old!

My Clara was three months old on December 7!  (Can you tell there's a difference in my posting habits since baby #3 arrived?  There was a time when I'd have had this post up on the 7th.)

She's a sweetie.  Check out her new video.



There really couldn't be a more ideal baby.  She goes to sleep when she's supposed to and with little effort from me (hugely different from Noah and Jane as babies), eats when she's supposed to, and only cries when she needs something.  One of her cutest idiosyncrasies is that she relishes stretching when I change her diaper: she throws those arms above her head, sticks those legs straight out, pushes her chin up, and her arches back so that her round little belly sticks up.  Clara tolerates Noah and Jane's limited ideas of personal space and loves it when they play with her.  She really does just love to be engaged.  Her favorite thing on this earth right now is to chat with you, as you can see from the video.  Her face just lights up when you make eye contact with her and start talking.  Already, I can tell that she is very loving.  And terribly loveable.

Jane Quotes

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One day, Jane called me "Lauren."  As in, "Lauren, can I sit in the front seat?"

I explained that other grown-ups call me "Lauren," but since she is my little girl, she is supposed to call me "Mommy, Mom, Mama, or even Mother." 

For some reason, she really took to "Mother" for the day, and it was so dear.  "Mudder, can I have some juice?" "Watch me dance, Mudder!"  I actually really liked it.

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Me: Jane, when are you going to start using the potty?
J: On Saturday.

Well, okay then.

Beans and Greens Soup with Sweet Potatoes

Let's talk healthy.

Let's talk cleaning out the pantry.

Because those were my two goals with this soup.  And since it turned out well, I thought I'd write the recipe up right here so I can refer to it again and so you guys can have it, if you like.

Beans and Greens Soup with Sweet Potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2" cubes
1 bunch of kale, ribs removed and cut into small pieces (I used a bag of prechopped kale from Trader Joe's)
1 can cannellini beans
1/4 cup black lentils (optional)
6 cups chicken broth
1 sprig rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoons salt

In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, tomato paste, and onion.  Saute for 5 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften.  Add the garlic and sweet potatoes and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, until the sweet potatoes begin to soften.  Add the kale, cannellini beans, lentils, broth, rosemary, and bay leaves, and bring to a low boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the lentils are soft.  Add 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste.

I think this would also be good with one or two slices of bacon cooked in the pan beforehand so the veggies are cooked in the bacon fat.

Enjoy!

Don't You Love It When Your Kids Actually Show How Much They Love Each Other?

You Walk Away for Two Minutes...

You walk away for two minutes and return to see that your two year old has been "playing" with the baby.

I think she's a little nonplussed about it.

Which reminds me of another instance with another baby:

History repeats itself!
(Jane was just a little younger than Clara in this picture.)

The whole thing just cracked me up!

Two Months Old!

Little Clara Grace turned two months old!

We love her so much.  I know I have probably said this about all our kids, but she is such a sweet little girl.  We have lots of fun with her, especially now that she's smiling at us and interacting more.  She's beginning to learn how to use her hands, which means she's learning to love her play mat, and she also has a bit of a fascination with feeling Nathan's hair.  She loves to be talked to.  Also, I've never had a baby who liked the pacifier, but Clara does. And oh my goodness, it makes life so much easier.  Putting a child down to sleep has never been so quick or so quiet. 

In honor of her two month birthday, we had a little photo shoot.  Sorry, but I couldn't choose just one picture.  Because she is just too sweet.

She is an easy baby; she just rolls along with the rest of us, and doesn't mind a bit of chaos.

She smiles with her eyes first.

And she already has lots of love for her Mommy, Daddy, brother, and sister.

Now isn't that face adorable?

Clara's New Stats:

Length: 23-1/4 inches--87th percentile

Weight: 11 lbs. 1 oz.--50th percentile

Head Circumference: 15 inches--52nd percentile

Like Noah and Jane, she's long and lean.

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We love you, Clara Grace!

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This and That

I have lots of things to post and not enough time to post them!  A write-up of Clara's birth, pictures from Halloween, etc.  In the meantime, here's a bit of a potpourri of things that have been running through my head lately.

• I pulled out my sewing machine for the first time in a long time (a year?  two?) to make a dear friend a baby blanket.  I only have very basic skills--on a good day, I can sew a straight line.  But it was really pleasing and gratifying to turn out a sweet little blanket. . . .
• . . . Which sent me into a crafty turn of mind, evidently, because in the last two days, I've found myself planning all sorts of crocheting projects, looking up nice yarn stores, and joining a crocheting/knitting website called Ravelry, through which I found an Etsy shop with super cute patterns.  I think that with two little girls at home, I might have to get some of these rose patterns.  Check out how sweet they are!

 

• The other website where I've gotten some crochet patterns I've used a lot is aliciapaulson.com.  I've made Jane several sweaters and dresses from here, and there's a modified granny square afghan that I would like to make sometime, too.  Jane in the sweater I showed you the other day--->
• The biggest project I have in mind is to make all three of my kids their own afghan for Christmas next year.  I should probably start now, and they'll probably actually be done sometime around 2016. :)
• Speaking of potpourri, Nathan and I (and Clara) had a dinner out the other night (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and we ended up at a little tavern in my parents' neighborhood that turned out to have great burgers.  However, the pear cider that tasted exactly like potpourri was not such a hit.  Gross.
• Gasp-inducing discovery: It is really smart to have your kids spend the night with the grandparents when daylight savings is happening. You actually get to sleep in for that extra hour!