Pumpkin Time

Grandpa Charlie is visiting and brought Claire the cutest little cat ears, so, of course, I wanted to get the perfect pumpkin, Halloween picture. We don't have a costume for her other than the ears, so this is as dressed up as she'll get. Speaking of pumpkins, for those of you who are cooks out there, I've included a link for some yummy pumpkin bread. I made it once last week and have another loaf in the oven as we speak. (I made 1/2 the recipe for one normal sized loaf.)

New Mom's Group

I think I've mentioned in other blogs that I've been working on starting a group for moms who like to hike, ski, bike, so we can enjoy the outdoors with our children (and hopefully a few times leave the kids behind with the dads). I have about 10 moms who are interested, but, as you can imagine, trying to find a time when everyone can go on an outing is impossible. Nonetheless, I have been meeting some new people and getting to know other moms with young kids which is great! This is a picture from our outing yesterday. It was a gorgeous fall afternoon, almost 70 degrees, so we (Jennifer, myself, and Claire (a mom) and her daughter Jade) took advantage of it. Claire lasted almost the whole time in her backpack (except for the last 10 minutes); however, I wondered at times as we were climbing in elevation if I would make it! Whew, the thighs were burning with the pack and all 16 pounds of her weighing me down. All I can say is if we keep these up I will be one buff lady!

Six Months!!

I hate to use the old cliche, but I can't believe how time has flown. Claire had her six month check-up yesterday. Has it been half a year already??

She weighed in at nearly 16 pounds and is doing all the requisite cooing, reaching, rolling, and drooling as a baby her age should. No teeth yet, but we have started with solid foods and so far she loves everything she's tried--cereal, banana, avocado, squash, and pear. I'll try sweet potato and green beans this week. Claire is still not rolling from her stomach to her back, but she can sorta sit up and loves to be a part of the activities in the house as well as explore different places like the grocery store, doctor's office, and outside. We tried her in the backpack again this Sunday, with a little better luck. I think it would have gone fine if we weren't walking right at nap time. Tomorrow will be a big test as I have another hike set up with my moms' hiking group that requires the use of the backpack.

Six months...only a short step on the overall path of parenthood, but so far we are loving it!!

Hmm...what to post about?

Hate to say it, not too much exciting action going on around here since Grandma left last week. I'm not saying that as if it were a bad thing; we have a good routine going with school, work, and some periods of time even just for mom or dad. However, I feel like I should post SOMETHING...I'm kinda winning the battle of getting Claire to nap in her crib, though not without some crying each day. Over the past few weeks I've been working on starting an outdoor recreation group for moms and kids. Tomorrow is our first outing, and about 7-8 women have expressed interest. I'm looking forward to meeting some moms with similar interests and hopefully developing some new friendships. What else? Nate has been busy with bow hunting season in search of a big whitetail buck and elk. I guess that's it...I like this picture of Claire; I think it shows some of her personality : )

Visit from Nema Sue

We had an eventful week with Nema Sue here from Massachusetts. She arrived on Wednesday bearing many gifts for Claire and continued her granmotherly duty of spoiling her throughout the week with new toys, books, and getting her outfitted for winter hiking/skiing gear. Thanks Susan!! We had some nice days shopping in Bozeman, visiting Helena, hosting a dinner party with our friends Scott, Eileen, and Dot, and just hanging out enjoying Claire's newest antics. Nema babysat a few mornings while I went to work so she got some quality bonding time one on one with Claire too (who loved all her grandma's singing and dancing!). Since one grandparent was on hand and we had just gotten Claire's highchair, we decided to try her first bites of cereal. Claire has been very interested in watching us eat lately, and she took to eating the cereal like a pro, having it smeared all over her face in no time. She did seem to like it, though I might wait a few more weeks before making it a daily occurrence as she isn't quite 6 months yet. All in all some great memories and, of course, very difficult goodbyes!