The Neverending Post

I've been slacking the blog in a major way lately. We've been keeping busy around here. Last week, Claira turned 6 months old sometime between Wednesday and Thursday because there's not a 31st day of April. I'm amazed at how big she's getting, already pretty comfortable in the 6-12 month rompers I've been buying her for summer. So, I've actually purchased a couple of things in size 12-18 months in case she needs them before summer ends. Right now, she loves chewing on teethers, laying in Mommy's arms and staring at the light from the window that reflects across the ceiling, and jumping. She LOVES to jump. She jumps when she's not in her jumper. When she's nursing, she jumps against my legs. Jumping even calms her cries. Sometimes, it's the ONLY thing that calms her cries.






She's had a couple of firsts this past week. She tried out a sippy cup for the first time. I was amazed that she picked it up and stuck it right in her mouth. I guess she's been watching and learning from her big sister for the past 6 months. Anyway, she sucked on it happily, gave a big grin when she got a taste of the water, and then let out a shriek as she tossed it to the floor. Of course, I picked it up, but she didn't want any more to do with it.



Last night, she tried some rice cereal for the first time, and she did great. It was so adorable to watch her suck on the spoon as though she were nursing.



On Friday, Elsie helped Daddy mow our backyard. Jason had to move Elsie's little slide/playhouse to mow underneath it, and he found a Robin's nest underneath. He was careful not to hit it while he mowed, but we don't think mama bird has been back since the slide was moved. Speaking of birds...the geese are gone. I'm really quite sad that I missed the baby geese or goose...we only saw one egg in the nest, and one day last week I walked over there because I hadn't seen the mama goose in a couple of days. I found an empty nest and an egg shell on the ground so perhaps she had only one baby. Apparently, geese are not gracious guests since I would've liked to see the baby paraded around the parking lot for a few days in exchange for lodging!



We hosted small group at our house after church yesterday, and I dare say it was the most people I've ever had in my house at one time. It was a gorgeous day. Jason fired up the grill, the kids ran in and out of the house two or three at a time, and we had a nice afternoon of friends, food, and chatter. I love the summer months. It makes just hanging out an event to look forward to.

Well, I've got about a dozen pictures to insert into this post. I actually started writing this post last night, but blogger won't let me add photos...I don't know what's wrong. So, I'm posting this now and I'll try to add photos again later.