Rolling over, mini vacation, etc...

Clara is starting to rollover. I finallly got it on video. She does not get down much as we all still like to hold her. If she is down then she is usually in her bouncy seat. Today she started playing on a blanket on the floor with her toys. She enjoys it much longer than she used to. I hope you enjoy the clip of her rolling over and also adding a good puke at the end of it. ;)

Friday we were able to go on a mini vacation with my brother (Matt) and my mom and dad to Hot Springs Village. It was too short but a good time. We always went once a summer growing up and the tradition has continued and we try to make it at least once a year. The men LOVE the golf and then we love walking the nature trails and exploring and swimming. We did not swim yet this season as it was chilly and Arkansas has had a tremendous amount of rain. It was Clara's first trip to Hot Springs and I think she enjoyed herself as we all did. We stayed in a very nice home on the lake. The view was just FANTASTIC. It was high up on the hill. The walk down to the lake was pretty steep and a hike back up but well worth it.

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