A Rory Post

I haven't done a Rory post for a long time, basically since I stopped documenting her growth after she turned a year old. I thought I'd post some photos of what we've been up to with her lately and show our other child some love ;) This photo was taken a few weeks ago. My dad and brother-in-law were both sitting on the porch holding babies. Bryce felt left out so he pulled Rory up on to his lap for some cuddle time. This happens quite a bit around our house.  Whenever I lay Claire on a blanket on the floor Rory sneaks over and lays by her too.  It's pretty cute, but Rory has an ulterior motive.  As soon as I pick Claire up to go change her diaper or something, Rory sprawls out and takes over the blanket as her own.Rory just being her usual spazzy self.

I took these pictures last weekend at Bryce's parent's house.  All of the grandkids were swinging so naturally Bryce had to join in and make sure that he and Rory both got turns!  

Even though I don't post as much about our Rory girl anymore we are still crazy dog people who take our dog everywhere with us and think of her as another child in our family :).

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 23 Weeks

Claire turned 23 weeks old today.  The most eventful thing that has happened for her this past week was that she ate almost a full serving of sweet potatoes.  She LOVED them.  She is really getting the hang of solids.  I've only been feeding them to her every few days so her digestive system can slowly get accustomed.  She seems to be getting used to it so we will probably start increasing how often we feed her solids.  One of her favorite things to do lately is lay outside under the trees and look up at the leaves and branches.  She gets super excited and squeals and giggles.  It's pretty adorable.  I am so glad she is my little buddy and we get to hang out everyday!    

Freshly Bathed Baby

Is there anything better than a freshly bathed baby?  I love snuggling Claire up in her towel and letting her play around on my bed for awhile until I get her dressed in her jammies. She is always so happy & giggly.  This is the time of day when she thinks I am the funniest, and I kind of love it. 

Kami Leishman Photography

I have had a lot of people interested in having me do photos for them so I decided to finally start up a little photography side business. My website is kamileishmanphotography.blogspot.com. I took my family's pictures last night with my parents and siblings.  I had so much fun!  I was pretty focused on getting everyone else's pictures though, so the photo above is the only one that really turned out of my little family.  But that just means Bryce, Claire, Rory get to put up with me doing them another day ;)  You can see the rest of the photos here.But first, for good measure, here's one more picture of Lydia & Claire from the photoshoot :).

Daddy + Daughter

I love watching these two together.  There is nothing sweeter then a daddy & his daughter.  I am so in love with this little family of mine.

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 22 Weeks

Claire turned 22 weeks old today.  I know I am a bit biased, but gosh she is cute!  I had to take her pictures in her swimsuit this week in case she grows out of it soon.  The swimsuit was an awesome thrift find last year while I was pregnant and then I found the swim cap that matched perfectly at Target a few months ago.  I love both the swimsuit & cap so much.  I can't get over how cute she looks in them.  I have so much fun with Claire doing these weekly photos.  I hope she likes to play dress up as much as I do when she gets older ;).  I don't think there's any question that I was made to be the mother of a girl!    

Cherry Picking

Our house has a gigantic cherry tree in the yard, and this is our third summer getting to enjoy as many cherries as we can stand.  Cherry picking seemed like an appropriate activity to ring in the Summer Soltice, so yesterday we spent the evening picking (and eating) cherries until our fingers were stained red.  Claire loved being outside with us.  She laid on her blanket happily squealing and kicking her legs the whole time.  Rory was with us too but she was too busy running around trying to eat all of the stray cherries on the ground that I wasn't ever able to get a picture of her.  

We have so many cherries now, I don't know what to do with them all!  I pureed some of them into baby food & froze it for when Claire is older.  We mostly eat them raw, but I need to get creative and come up with more ways to use them!  (besides Cherry Pie, I'm not really a fan).  If you have any ideas or good recipes send them my way!   

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 5 Months

Dear Claire,

Today you turned 5 months old.  We celebrated with some pureed avocado & banana blend for you and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for me and dad (don't worry you'll be able to share the good stuff with us soon enough).  We started feeding you solids last week.  Today was the fourth time and you finally started to get the hang of it.  At first you couldn't really figure out how to swallow it so most of the food ended up on your face.  Today you probably swallowed half, and only half ended up on your face :)

You are a squirmy little girl and you roll around all day long.  You've also started arching your back and wiggling when you want to get out of your swing, stroller, or car seat.  I have to make sure you are always buckled in so you won't fall out!  You have started reaching and grabbing for things.  You especially like to grab my face and hair.  You still try to put everything in your mouth, including my hair which I'm constantly untangling from your fingers.  Between that and the postpartum hair loss, I'm really starting to see the appeal in a shorter mom haircut!We had your 4 month appointment a few weeks ago.  You were actually 4 1/2 months at the time.  You weighed 14 lb 9 oz and were almost 26 inches long; 47% for weight and 88% for height.  You are probably going to be tall and skinny just like your mom & dad.Some of your favorite things right now are your swing, this loopy/plastic toy you got from nana for Christmas, and going for walks/runs with me in your stroller.  You love to play with me and dad, and are interacting a lot more when we play with you.  You get really excited and giggle and squeal when we tickle you and blow raspberries on your tummy.

I feel like at this age everything with our routine/schedule has really clicked with you.  I am pretty strict with your schedule, but I really believe that is why you are such an easy going baby since you know what to expect everyday.  You sleep really well at night from 8pm-6am and for the most part you nap really well too.  You typically take 3 naps a day, but you just barely dropped your fourth nap. 

You are learning to sit up by yourself, and you are getting pretty good at it!  You can't quite balance unless you keep weight on your hands too, but I think you'll be strong enough to do it really soon. 

You are such a fun girl.  Even when you are grumpy you make me giggle.  It takes a lot to make you really cry, instead you do this funny sort of grunt of frustration.  I probably shouldn't find so much humor in it, but it's impossibly cute.  I can't believe in one more month you will reach your 1/2 birthday.  I love watching you grow up, even if it kind of breaks my heart at the same time.  

I love you too much!

Love,

Mom