We had an eventful break. It started with Dad and Al here for the weekend as I posted already. Throughout the week Clara and I went to the beach for lunch with Lisa, Gabby, and Mimi. We spent a day with the Feger boys since Tiffany was working Thursday. I don't know how Tiffany does it. She has baby #4 on the way and her hands are already so full. They are such good boys, which helps! Tyler amazes me. I've never seen a toddler so involved with a baby. He is Clara's guardian. He calls her Clara Beara which I love. He tends to her when she is sad, tired or spitting up. If I'm not on it, he is. He'll say, "Hers is spitting. Clara Beara...why do you eat too much? Hers is not sleeping Bawbie." He is the cutest. The older boys play and do their own thing and he doesn't require much attention at all, however you can't help but give him all of your attention he's so cute. He just hangs out. He was asleep when I got to Tiffany's and when he got up Dylan ran to the kitchen to get him a vitamin. Then at Lisa's Isaac got him more food when he was done with what I got him and shared his chocolate covered strawberries and had him share a seat with him. Makes me look forward to one day having sibling(s) for Clara. It's a bond that everyone should have the chance to enjoy. Yes they can be fighting and annoyed at one another but when it comes down to it, the love is undeniable. We went to Lisa's house planning on hitting up the beach but our weather was not good all week. It was cloudy, windy, rainy, and just plain yucky. Clara and I went for walks anyway. On Wednesday we went out to lunch with daddy after picking tile out for the pool. While Clara slept I cleaned house and got all kind of chores done. It wasn't a restful spring break. I find that anytime I spend that's not a work week I stay up later than I should since I'm on "vacation" but that little girl is still up all throughout the night and bright and early too. I find I'm most rested while working when we don't break routine. Friday Andre and I watched a movie until 11:30. Then it took me a while to fall asleep. Clara is up at 6, not to mention her needs throughout the night. I'm averaging about 5 hours, not enough for me! Saturday we went to our friends Voula and Brain's house to visit. They had a baby boy, Andru, a month after I had Clara. They also have, Athena, who is 3 and adorable. Voula is Greek and there is no denying that when looking at their cuties! I have to do school work today, of course I saved it for the last day. However, I did take Clara into work on Monday to get a few things done in the classroom. My boss said joking, I'll be here Monday if anyone needs to come work. I think he thinks I'm crazy when I show up with Clara and my "luggage" to try and get things done. She was such a good girl. She played on her belly for the first bit, then I fed her and she pooped and continued to poop on my desk and hand when I changed her and then napped for the last hour and a half so I could be very productive! I have to leave each day at 3 to get her so there are many things that need to get done that I can't bring home. It'll be nice going back to a classroom that's ready for me Monday morning, it will take some of the anxiety about going back away.
I love spending every moment with Clara. She is always a delight to be around. She is good natured and so silly and entertaining. She is trying to sit up on her own. She hates being put on her back. Her core is quite strong and she can pull her head many inches off the ground, not all the way up yet. She loves to sit and stand, all she needs is balance and she's got it. We watched some educational videos. Spanish videos for us both to learn and sign language. They say starting at 6 months with sign language is an appropriate time. I can tell she has a lot to say, especially when she wants something and I'd love to know what it is sometimes. Thankfully the only time she cries is when she is tired or hungry so it's pretty easy to figure her out. However I'm still anxious to communicate with her.
Andre has been hard at work outside. He is fixing the ceiling out above our "patio" deck area. We had a leak a while back that did some damage and he figured while the rest of the deck and pool area was a disaster he may as well fix that up. We're a week away from Tiffany's baby shower we're hosting here and this is what it looks like out back. I'm not quite sure how we're going to pull this one off. We usually seem to when Andre and I are both hard at work but I'm unable to help since I have to attend to Clara and this rain has set Andre and our pool people back. I'm just crossing my fingers. It may have to be held inside if things don't get wrapped up.
Some sad news. Ollie (Oliver Burt) the Burt family's dog died this past week. He was like the girls' little brother and Doug and Julie's youngest baby. He was only 10. He started having seizures. My heart goes out to them all. They lost Doug's dad, Julie's Dad and now Ollie all in the last half year or so. Too much loss, that's for sure.
Suz & Ollie - RIP puppy :(
Ollie and the canoe that I believe Doug built.
Clara being a good girl in the classroom so I can get a few things done.
Love Tyler's pj's
Fun at Lisa's house
Clara's Easter pic - 1$ bin at Target - we didn't even buy it, just snapped a shot.
Our butterfly garden. Andre put crushed shell down instead of mulch this year. I love it.Clara is touching, looking and smelling her surroundings.
Zoned into a sign language DVD
I might say she looks more and more like her mama.
She fell asleep on me. Gosh I miss those days already. She is so big now she is lopping off the side.
I couldn't love anyone more.
Dada snapped this. I love her morning face.
This is the second attempt at cement. The big huge step and the dry small steps on the right were their first attempt. Andre and I wanted bigger steps and wanted the entire pool more shallow. Hopefully this helps.
This doesn't happen much anymore. It used to about 5 times a day.
She looks so big in her car seat these days!
Isaac up to no good first thing in the morning after candy. I forgot to ask Tiffany what her rules were. I stopped him after a box of tic-tacs and a sucker. He was nice and shared some with his brothers and was kind enough to get them suckers too.
Dylan caught a lizard and they created a home for it out of a broken coconut and other random pieces. There were always holes for it to escape. They worked on it for about 15 minutes until they made sure it couldn't escape.
A video game while I was feeding Clara before I convinced them to go outside in the cold and rain on their spring break to catch lizards.
Sweet Tyler.
Mimi & Lisa, with Clara - Like mother, like daughter, beauties!
Let's start the fun!
Tyler and I played "connect four" while the boys played a charades game.
Chocolate covered everything...Lisa knows how to make a rainy day on spring break! Notice Tyler. Isaac got him more of everything he wanted and then had him sit with him. Brotherly love. Priceless.
Sweet, innocent, and goofy. Love these boys!
Yummy lunch.
Lisa's cousin's daughter, her name is escaping me...she was so sweet and colored with Tyler and drew pictures to teach him things. I colored pictures with Tyler for mom and dad to let them know we missed them.
Content Clara
Happy 31st Miss Rebecca. I took her to dinner for her bday out in Tampa. I nice restaurant by the water, great food. I love you my darling!
haha. Pretty soon those hands are going to grab all that fur. Yikes.
I cannot get over the cute factor Tyler possesses. This is a picture from a trip to Ft. Lauderdale they took over spring break to visit the Temple there. What a cool dude. The hair, the lips, he couldn't possibly be cuter...yet he always finds a way.
Proud mommy to be. What will a girl do with these boys?!!? I think she'll be glad to have Clara! Tiffany is a perfect pregnant person. No wonder she is on number four.
Out to lunch with Lisa, Gabby and Mimi. It was such a nice day, such a relaxing lunch. Thank you Lisa!
My favorite job I miss each day I leave for work.
My favorite face. Always making mommy smile!
