Temple Square Lights

Monday night for Family Home Evening we went to see the lights at Temple Square with my sister Laci's family.  We had so much fun showing our girls the temple, the nativities, and all of the pretty Christmas lights.  The girls were really good!  All of the crowds and lights kept them very entertained. 

Lydia was so cute.  She reminded us of a little Michelin man all bundled up in her puffy coat :).

My Claire baby, always the little observer studying every detail.

The girls, probably talking about how embarrassing their moms are, always taking a million pictures.

We've planned lots of little Christmas activities as a family to count down until Christmas and this was our kick-off event.  It was a great way to reemphasize why we are really celebrating Christmas and help us feel the spirit.  After we got home we watched the video "He is the Gift".  It has such an inspiring message and helped Bryce and I come up with some ways we can "Share the Gift" this Christmas season.  If you haven't seen the video yet you really need to watch it.  

We have a few more activities planned and lots of upcoming family parties we're excited about.  Even though Claire is still super little and won't remember this Christmas, we are having so much fun getting to be parents and see Christmas through the eyes of a child again.  Now if only we could be so lucky and finally get some snow to really help bring the magic of the season!  I'm not giving up hope yet, I'll just keep singing I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas until it comes true!

Claire's First Steps

Claire has been so close to walking for a while now, and tonight she was brave enough to finally try and walk.  Here's a little video of my baby's first steps.

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 47 Weeks

Claire turned 47 weeks old yesterday.  This past week she mastered her wooden stacking toy.  She's been working on it for a while and just couldn't quite get the rings on the peg.  My mom babysat her one day and she has a big chunky plastic one that Claire played with and was able to figure out.  After that when we got home I got hers out for her and she just started stacking all of the rings on by herself.  It was so cool to see her figure it out.  Now it is her favorite thing to do, she plays with it all the time.  She loves to pull all of the rings off and stack them back on.

I took more pictures of her playing in the nursery this week, which I think is fitting since that's where we spend a lot of time during the day. Claire loves to walk along her crib and play with her baby quilt.  She is so attached to her quilt.  She loves to lay on it and bury her face in it.  She is gaining a little more confidence with walking.  She'll stand on her own for a little bit and take one or two steps and then fall on her bum.  She is getting better balance though and will walk around the house holding onto one of our hands instead of both, so I think she's getting a little closer.  She has been sooo picky with eating lately.  I'm not sure what's going on.  She used to eat pretty much anything I'd give her, but now she spits everything out and will hardly open her mouth for me to feed her any purees or anything.  It's been testing my patience.  I'm a little worried about weaning her from nursing in a month since she won't eat very much and won't drink a full serving of milk from a sippy cup either.  Hopefully she's just going through a weird phase and will start eating more before we start the weaning process!  

She learned to say Uh-Oh this past week.  It's so cute!  It's more like an Uh-Uh, but she copies my voice inflection so it sounds the same.  She also says mama & dad, but I don't think she actually knows what they mean yet.  She just tries to imitate the when we say them to her.  I'm really liking this stage and getting to watch her learn so many new things.  It definitely makes up for how fast she is growing.
These last two pictures I took when she was cuddling her blanket and then in the second one she accidentally rolled over under her crib.  I couldn't help but laugh.  She is just the cutest.

The Stockings Were Hung With Care

It isn't yet the night before Christmas, and we don't exactly have a chimney, but our new stockings have been hung with care.  We are ready for Santa to come!  I decided to do a few little updates to our stockings this year.  I made mine and Bryce's the first year we were married and I appliquéd our names on them.  Now that we are parents I wanted ours to say Mom & Dad rather than our actual names.  I wanted to make one for Rory and I also decided to make mine and Claire's match and have Bryce & Rory's match.  You can see a picture of what they originally looked like in this post.  I removed all of our names and the trees off of my old one.  Then I hand embroidered our names on them and turned Claire's old one into Rory's.  I had just enough felt left to sew a cream colored stocking for Claire.  I left the trees on Bryce's & Rory's and made felt poinsettia's for mine and Claire's.  I think they turned out pretty cute and I actually like them better now than the way they were before.  I want to eventually knit us all matching red & white striped ones but that's a project that will take me a long time because I am a very slow knitter.  Until then, I think these stockings will fit the bill.

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 46 Weeks

Claire turned 46 weeks old yesterday.  I repurposed the play gym that Bryce built for Claire into a little A-frame tent today by throwing a blanket over it, and she LOVED it.  It was so much fun!  She kept crawling in and out of it and could not stop giggling.  I would chase her until she crawled inside and then I would jump over and surprise on the other end.  I couldn't stop laughing either.  I love playing with her.  She is seriously the best.  Claire finally took a few steps on her own this week.  She did it a couple of times, but hasn't done it since.  She has been standing a lot on her own too.  She usually does it when she walks along the couch then she'll let go and stand up on her own for a good 30 seconds sometimes.  She loves the Christmas tree and her presents underneath!  She already managed to unwrap one of presents by herself.  I caught her when she was about halfway through so I let her finish unwrapping it all the way.  I figured it was good practice :).  Some new foods she loves are mac & cheese, rice & veggies, and pizza.  I know I say this every time, but I cannot believe how big she is.  My little baby is going to be a whole year old in just about a month! 

Rory and Claire

Claire has been loving Rory lately. She crawls all over her and brings her toys all day long. Rory is soooo good with her and she seems to enjoy all the attention.  She and Claire are a cute little pair!

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 45 Weeks

Claire turned 45 weeks old today.  I took her weekly picture in one of my old Christmas outfits my mom saved.  This has been a fun week for Claire.  She got to celebrate her first Thanksgiving twice!  We went to Bryce's parents on Thanksgiving and then a few days later we had a second Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Claire had tons of fun with her grandparents and cousins all weekend long.  She has started standing more, especially when she is around all her cousins and she wants to try walking, but she still hasn't taken any steps on her own.  She also finally cut her top left tooth!  Hopefully she'll have a little break from teething for a bit.  She only has two more first holidays to celebrate until her birthday, Christmas & New Years.  I can hardly wait to open presents with her on Christmas!