Great Weekend but computer woes!!

We had a wonderful weekend until Saturday late night and Sunday morning. We had a bad storm and it blew my computer out yesterday morning. I hate having to start all over on a new CPU but it is MUCH better and faster. The good from the bad....ha ha. Just hated to spend funds on that right now.

Katelyn (our niece) had a birthday party Saturday at the lake. It was a fantastic time!!! The kids went nuts and even got in the water. It is very chilly!! Here are a few pics. We went on a boatride which I might add was Clara's first ever and went to the island which has a great new playground and beach area. Some of it is still muddy and being developed and the kids had a blast in it also. They also had a watergun fight and blew bubbles and we all had an all-around, great time!!

Easter and little bit of what has been going on

Sorry it has been so long. I just have not made time to update the blog. We had a great Easter at Meemaw & Pawpaw's house. We hunted eggs, played cards, and enjoyed each others' company. Clara is starting to recognize faces she sees often and those that she does not. The other day I almost felt she understood the sign for milk and calmed down crying when I made the sign. It was strange. The boys are really catching on quickly to signing. We have a Baby Einstein video from Netflix right now and started it today. Clara watches in spurts but the boys soaked it up like a sponge. It is a fun challenge for us to communicate in sign language.

I am still looking into a tutor for us (the boys) to learn Spanish also. I have tapes to start Clara on when she is 1. It is Muzzy. They are cartoons entirely in Spanish. We have been using Rosetta Stone (I have been) that is free online through our library. I would love for us all to be fluent in Spanish as it is great for the brain to learn other languages and now days it is almost a necessity. After that who knows, French for future Haitian mission trips.....The possibilities are endless. =D More later, when I am not falling asleep and babbling. By the way, Clara is sleeping through the night!! WOO HOO!! She goes to sleep around 9 and wakes between 5:30 and 7. She then has a bottle and off to sleep she goes with mommy until about 9:30 or so. GREAT stuff!!! If bedtime continues to go this smoothly Clara will be moving into her room pretty soon. Here is a clip of Easter I made. I need to start taking more pics of the other family members too...Clay, I, mom, dad, etc. The kids make center stage always!! They might wonder where we were when they start looking at pictures when they are adults.....=D

New tastes and new language

Good evening everyone. Today we had a long day of going to Academy to get Cullen some Heely wheels, going to the book store to pick up new books for Easter and then to the grocery store. We all went as a family. We usually go during the week but Clay went today too. Cullen got a Star Wars book, Christian could not decide, and Clara got Happy Baby Words. Mom got The Sign, Sing, and Play Kit. So, we are starting sign language now. We are all trying to learn so we can all communicate with Clara before she can verbally speak. I am excited to try this as I did not do it with the boys and it is supposed to make the confusion less. It is also supposed to help in long-term vocabulary and speech. I wish I really would have done it with Cullen. He would still have some speech/comprehension issues but I think they would be lessened.

Clara tried avocado today and I think she liked it. She was so tired when she tried it that sleep was interfering too. She does not like spinach too much. We will try that again later. For those of you that wanted to know how the baby food making is going....it is going. I already had a blender and I bought ice trays today to freeze them individually in. Then you place the cubes after frozen in a freezer-safe baggie. Then you can take them out individually as you need them. I made am going to make green beans and peas this week and more sweet potato. She really likes sweet potatoes.

I hope everyone has a GREAT Easter and celebrate Jesus' resurrection.

Dominican Republic

We got back Tues. morning and we had a really great time. We really missed the kids and wished they were with us. They would have loved swimming with the sharks and stingrays. Well, Cullen would have for sure. Christian and Cullen swam with stingrays on the cruise a few years back but Christian got a little freaked out part way through it. So he might have this time too. He still would have loved it though. Here is the link to the video of all our pictures and things we did. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAjC2gTpXI0 The Paradisus is the nicest all-inclusive resort we have ever been to. It still had resort food...so, so. The rest of the resort was more than a paradise. The people were absolutely wonderful.

We definitely knew we were back in the states when we landed. People were rude, lines were long, and people took for granted the jobs they had. In the Dominican people were happy to have jobs and treated you kindly. Here people take for granted the jobs they have whether it is cleaning a toilet or building a home or designing someone's home. We are too spoiled here in the U.S. and take everything for granted.

I would love to go back again!!

Clara started laughing out loud

Well, Clara finally laughed out loud for us and we got it on video. She had laughed first for Meemaw (my mom) while we were in Florida. I was so upset I missed her first laugh.....Well, last night she finally did it for us and we caught it on video. Here is a clip on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcvhDp0hxdg

We got in from Dominican Republic early Tuesday a.m. about 4:30, fell into bed and then I picked up the kids later that day. We missed them soooo much!! I am editing and getting all my pictures together so I can share with you guys. Hopefully I will have some ready later today. So much to get caught up on. More later.

So far today....

Well today is going so great!! I have been doing an Advocare 10-day detox and I am feeling fantastic. I am losing weight, but mainly I feel better. I have not had a soda going on my 7th day. For those of you that know me well, going 5 hours without a soda prior to this was a huge accomplishment for me. After the detox I will just continue to watch what I am eating, try to fit in some walking (urrrgggh). The Spark energy drink from Advocare seems to be fantastic also. I have energy and my mind seems sharper as the drink proclaims it does. =) Mind being sharper is HUGE at this point!

Clay and I are leaving for the Dominican Republic on Friday and I am looking forward to this show b/c we will have more time to spend together. Unlike the Florida show, this show is more easy going. We will snorkel together and have time during the day to enjoy each other's company. The resort is also an all-inclusive resort. We are staying at the Paradisus Palma Real Resort...check out the website at http://www.paradisuspalmareal.travel/ it looks amazing.

This Saturday two friends from high school came to visit Miss Clara. Lori's mom made a wonderful blanket for Clara and she loves it She was just waking up from her nap in this pic. I really enjoyed Lori and Jennifer coming over and visiting. It is always nice to catch up on things. I would enjoy spending more time with them. Lori please give your mom a HUGE hug for me. The blanket is wonderful and just heavy enough that she does not kick it off as easy as the others. For her to go a whole nap with a blanket still on her is truly amazing.

Yesterday Clara had sweet potatoes for the first time. She did not miss a beat. It was as if she had been eating them from day one, no funny face, no spitting it out, nothing but give me more. She at the whole container...just like her mom, huh?? =D Next, I think we will try avacado. I am going to try and start making her baby food when we get back from our trip. I feel it will be healthier for her and I can just throw extra veggies/fruits on while cooking dinner and then freeze them after pureeing them. We will see how it goes. Maybe there is a Yahoo group for that. I will try and find out. I LOVE Yahoo groups!! I have learned so much about my baby girl's beautiful hair on these groups. I want her to be proud of every inch God blessed her with and if I don't know how to take care of it and appreciate it then she will not either.

I am going to end this post with a cute little video clip of Rustie watching over Clara as she sleeps. This dog absolutely loves her and lays right by her little legs whenever he can. He had been in the snow with us prior to this. He is not wet in this picture but looks like it b/c I had not brushed him yet. Well, Blogger, again would not let me download the video so here is the link of it on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOOPIxAcy68

It is snowing!!!

Well I have trouble downloading some videos to Blogger. I am dowloading to YouTube now. It is easier and more reliable.



Today there is SNOW and lots of it for Texas. I don't think I have ever seen such large snowflakes. The kids are having a blast!!!

This is Christian's snowman he built. It has cookie-cutter lips and rocks for buttons and eyes. He stuck a dinner knife in for the nose, poor thing. He has a rag-mop for hair. All in all I think he did fantastic!! Here is the link to the video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO_7Ov4WCcg

Clara eats cereal for the first time and gave her bed a try this week

Well a lot of big steps for Clara have gone on this week. A few nights ago she slept in her crib for the first time. She did well, but I did not. It was a lot harder to walk all the way across the house when she needed me. I ended up crawling in bed a little after 11:30 and then she woke up at 12:15 and then 1 something, then 3 something, and I then proceeded to fall asleep on her floor until 5. Then she woke not long after that and I got her and put her in bed with me. Mommy was tired!! I then gave it a try the next night but put her in bed with me at about 3:30. Last night we went back to the bassinet/playpen right next to our bed. It is so much easier to just reach a couple feet and give her her binki back. I feel better rested too. The little clip of her in bed shows you that she enjoyed her bed. The pretty little baby doll was her first baby doll every given to her by Tierra. We cherish it!

Tonight she had her first taste of cereal and she LOVED it but she just did not like the fact that it would not come constant like her milk does from the bottle. Here is a link to the video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9328Hho9k Tomorrow I am going to the grocery store and we will try apple juice for the first time too. I just cannot believe she is already old enough to eat something. She will be 4 months old this coming Monday.

This week has been going smoothly. I finally started to crack the whip so to speak with the boys again. They were taking advantage of the fact that Clara and I would sleep late and they would slack on their chores and schoolwork, dragging it out. I finally put my foot down and said they would not be doing anything if they did not complete their chore/school work sheet that I have made up for them. They should be completely done with everything if they stay on task by the time the other children get out of school. I also made me a chore chart so I could see what was and was not getting done during the day/week. It helps me not to get so overwhelmed with the housework. I have also found a great website for grocery/meal planning that my dad told me about. He had heard about it from Dave Ramsey. It is http://www.e-mealz.com/ I had cooked 7 nights in a row of healthy meals that the kids loved. Tonight was the first night we went and ate out. We went to Roadhouse and I had salmon, broccoli, and green beans. The relevance of what I ate is b/c I have started a 10-day detox. I am limiting carbs, processed foods, and sugars, etc. I am feeling better. I started Tuesday. I have not had a soda in 3 days. This is HUGE for me!!!

Our Sunday

Here is a clip of Clara trying out her new bouncy activity seat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJupLAK2sQ She really seems to like it. She christened it with a big burp a minute after trying it out. It was great....caught on video and all!! We went to church this morning and then ran to Target and picked it up. She liked the one in the nursery and did well in it so I felt it was time.

We then went to the football field and watched all the guys play flag football and walked the track with soon-to-be, sister-in-law Candy!! FINALLY!! Clara loves to be in the stroller and walk outside. Ms. Sherry came and walked her around the track too.....Sherry is determined to steal my little girl....=D It is great to see that Clara is absolutely adored by so many people. She is the light of our family. We still fight over who is going to hold her....until she is poopy and guess who gets to hold her then. Yep, that's me!! (and you know what?? I waited a long time to change those poopies and I am still happy to do it!!)

Last night was somewhat of a milestone. For a while Clara will go to sleep in her bassinet/playpen right beside our bed at about 9 or so. She will sleep until 3:30 or so then wake up and has been sleeping with me since birth until we wake up. Well, last night she decided she wanted to sleep alone. She woke at 3:30 had her bottle and would not fall asleep with me. I put her back in her bassinet and off to sleep she went until 6-ish and I had to give her binki back a couple of times but then I had to wake her up after 8 to get ready for church. I was proud. If she keeps this up she may actually use her room. Ha, Ha!! I guess that is why that crib is in there. Her bedroom is not just storage for all her stuff after all. ;)