Our little Tink

Claire got his little Tinkerbell costume form her Aunt Hiromi a while ago. We were getting something out of her closet the other day and she pointed to it so of course I had to put it on her. She is a lot like Tinkerbell. Into mischief a lot of the time... and pretty darn cute.

Favorite song (today)

I've been listening to this song for over a year since I got the album for my birthday -(thanks Marlene and Emron). I put in on Claire's "softies mix" on our Ipod to get her to sleep when she was a newborn. Anyway I've been listening to the album its on quite a bit lately. I never knew the words well enough to tell what it was about. Today I was paying attention and it made me tear up a bit. So I looked up the lyrics to get a clearer picture. So sad... Does anyone know if this is based on a real experience?

Click here to view a video of the song (what's with the costumes?)

Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Title: Casimir Pulaski Day
Album: Come on Feel the Illinoise

Golden rod and the 4-H stone
The things I brought you
When I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone
And he drove his car to the Navy yard
Just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning through the window shade
When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade
I could see what you were reading

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications you could do without
When I kissed you on the mouth

Tuesday night at the bible study
We lift our hands and pray over your body
But nothing ever happens

I remember at Michael's house
In the living room when you kissed my neck
And I almost touched your blouse

In the morning at the top of the stairs
When your father found out what we did that night
And you told me you were scared

Oh the glory when you ran outside
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied
And you told me not to follow you

Sunday night when I cleaned the house
I find the card where you wrote it out
With the pictures of your mother

On the floor at the great divide
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied
I am crying in the bathroom

In the morning when you finally go
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low
And the cardinal hits the window

In the morning in the winter shade
On the first of March on the holiday
I thought I saw you breathing

Oh the glory that the lord has made
And the complications when I see his face
In the morning in the window

Oh the glory when he took our place
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face
And he takes and he takes and he takes

Messy meals

This was breakfast a few days ago. Claire has been feeding herself lately and doing a pretty nice job of it don't you think?

The problem is that they don't make bibs that cover her body well enough to keep us from having to give her a bath after almost every meal!

Today after lunch she was so messy - she enjoyed her lunch immensely as you can see - it was time for yet another bath. I've started just undressing her for every meal.

Bathtime in the sink this time.

After dinner tonight we went downtown to watch the Redbull Flugtag competition. Here are Claire and Daddy posing for the camera.

It was so crowded I couldn't get many pictures, but I found this one on the internet. Flugtag is a competition of people who build contraptions that they try to fly off a ramp built over water. Most crash. They do silly dances before getting into their creations and run off the ramp into the water. It's pretty much hilarious.

Here is my lousy attempt at a picture. The ramp is in the middle and this guy built an orange airplane. He did not make it even into the air - just straight down into the water. We had a hard time finding a good view, but we had fun and watched some pretty funny jumps on a big screen T.V. that they had set up.

Sundays...just the two of us

Aaron has been put on a shift at work that includes all Sundays for the next three months. So Claire and I spend every Sunday just the two of us. She really is a good little girl, but now that she is walking I am chasing her up and down the isles during Sacrament meeting the whole hour. I feel for single parents. I don't know how they do it. And I only have one child so far!

Claire's First Steps

As promised, here is Claire's walking debut!

Claire's first steps

Claire just keeps getting cuter and cuter. We keep getting comments like, "she's a total Gerber baby!"

Claire is taking steps by herself, but our camera has a bad delay and I always miss it. I just catch her falling down. There were about 5 other pictures just like this one on our memory card. We'll keep you posted. I should be able to get a movie going soon of her first stable steps.

Daddy is doing storytime tonight. This is one of my favorite books from when I was a little girl. This is an abridged board book version, but Claire loves it just the same.

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SAHM

Claire is playing peek-a-boo with me with the Laundry.

Life as a Stay-at-Home-Mom is good for the most part. Sometimes its hard to keep up with Claire and the cleaning and cooking. It's not that its physically hard, but I have a hard time not wanting to go shopping everyday or wanting to turn on the TV. But I choose this life over my life as a Working Mom. When I think back to getting up everyday and leaving my baby behind at home, it makes me sad. I missed a lot of my baby's first year. I didn't have a much of a choice since we needed health insurance and Aaron was still in school. But Aaron enjoyed the time he got to be with her before he went to work. He is working long hours now and he misses her.
One really nice thing about Texas is that there are swimming pools everywhere. There are lots of things to do so Claire and I stay pretty active. I've lost weight. I don't know how much, but I've gone down two sizes since we've moved here. I am almost back to where I was before I was pregnant with Claire. It may be time for another baby soon. Claire is so cute, but I miss being able to hold her close. She isn't so much into being hugged and held anymore. I'm beginning to want a little one again. Last year, I didn't think I would want another one so fast, but I can't help it.