Cereal...it's what's for dinner

The new bibs Susie made for Clara arrived just in time for her first crack at cereal.
Here she is sporting the bib and checking out the bowl.
"Hmmm...this is interesting."

The first taste. Not quite sure.

But, back for more!

A little competition between the hand and the spoon.

Adam was very interested in the whole process.

The "after" shot.

Adam and "Clue"

Adam has been taking an increasing interest in his sister.
I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing for Clara...

Clara definitely loves Adam, too. Adam calls her "Clue" and it's so sweet to hear him say "Nye Nye, Clue" every night as he walks up to bed.

He will also say "Clue, kay" (Clara, it's OK) when she's crying.

A kiss for "Clue."

And a hug. He is saying "Awwww" in this picture.

Five Months for the Little Miss

Here she is at five months old already!

This month has brought some huge developments for Clara. She continues to be happy as a clam (most of the time), and is a very content baby. She now rolls over in both directions and seems pretty proud of herself when she does so. She also continues to love her brother, which honestly surprises me a bit since Adam continues to poke and pounce. Clara takes it all in stride and watches everything he does.

She has been loving both the Bumbo and the exersaucer and really anything that lets her look around and see all the action. She gets upset whenever she can't see at least someone in her family.

She has discovered her feet and finds them fascinating.

She also had her first rice cereal this month (just a few days ago). I used the fact that she liked chewing on the spoon to my advantage. She was receptive to the idea, but not completely sold, yet. A good start, though.
This is my best attempt so far at capturing her smile. I pretty much have to just shoot whatever is in the window before she starts examining the camera (sans smile). So, part of her head is cut off, but you get to see her happiness.
Cereal face.

I totally forgot to mention the bibs in my last post. Susie included matching bibs as a special surprise in Clara's package. So cute and very well made. They've already seen a lot of use.
Lovin' life.

We are lovin' our girl!

A Perfect Fit

Susie MADE this outfit for Clara and I just had to share it with you. Isn't it adorable? (The outfit and the model.)

You can read about how she made it here. Her photos of the outfit are also much better than mine, but at least here you can see the gift AND the happy recipient.

Ok, I love this photo, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to make it turn. I've tried lots of things. Boo. So, you'll just have to crane your neck a bit to enjoy this cuteness. Thanks.

Thank you, Susie, for this beautiful gift! It's a perfect fit!

New Camera Lens - Yay!

Phil got me a new lens for my camera........back at Christmastime!!! Sheesh. I kept saying I wanted to learn how to use it before I started really using it. Well with all the free time I don't have, it just wasn't happening. After six months, I finally just said screw it and started shooting with it. I haven't figured out everything yet, but I'm loving the super sharp images and the increased blurring of the background. Here are my first attempts - just fooling around taking pictures of the kids. Feel free to give me pointers. I feel bad, but there are way more pictures of Clara with the new lens because it's better for taking portraits and let's face it, Adam just doesn't hold still very often :)

I did manage to get a few of him while he was watching Thomas.

The eyes.

Clara always has this serious or dazed look on her face since she is absolutely fascinated by the camera. I can seriously have her laughing away and then as soon as I bring my eye up to the camera the smile vanishes.

Managed to catch a little smile!

Still can't believe I have a blue-eyed baby.

This is my favorite one.

Family, Friends, and A Really Big Fish

We were so thankful for some time with Grandpa and Grandma Swenson while we were in MN. Not only did Adam have a blast with all the yard space to run in and animals to look at, Grandma and Grandpa made it possible for me to attend all my rehearsals and the concert - a win for everyone! Since I was at St. Olaf a lot during our stay in Albert Lea, I didn't get many pictures of the fun being had, but I heard there was a lot of it going on. Adam got to go help stock the food shelf with Grandpa and he had great fun playing this game in the front yard...

It may look like soccer, and it may have actually started off as soccer, too. However, Adam started changing the rules and it soon began to resemble dodgeball. I don't know if anyone but Adam really knew what was going on.

On to the "Friends" part of the post. Unfortunately, my mom and I both got really sick while we were up in Burnsville, which severely limited the number of friends we got to see. BOO! We did get to see Kitty and Eleanor, though. I was really glad, especially since we missed them at Christmas. I feel like this picture is a flash into the future. Old couple just sitting in their recliners...

Clara got to meet Marla and they really hit it off. I'm glad she already seems to easily make friends :)

I know what you're thinking. Right about now you're thinking, "Wait a minute, I was promised a Really Big Fish in this post." Well, here it is.

Courtesy of the Minnesota Zoo.