A Trip to Augusta

We had a somewhat unexpected trip to Augusta earlier this week - my grandmother passed away on Saturday, so we went up there on Sunday and got back home Wednesday night. She had been in poor health for a while and was in a nursing home, and she spent 2-3 weeks in very poor health before she passed away. She will be missed, but we praise God for the hope that we have through Christ, so that death is not victorious in the end.

Anyway, Clara did great on the trip - slept most of the time we were in the car (just one stop halfway through the six-hour drive for feeding) and slept just fine in the hotel's portable crib. She got to see lots of people, many of whom she'd never met before.

She finally got to meet Aunt Elease and Uncle Matt!


She also met my cousin Mike, his wife Kerry, and their daughter Serena (who turned 3 on Thursday).


She got to meet all of my aunts. I have individual pictures of Clara with each of them, but to save space, here's one of my grandmother's four daughters - Elaine, Phyllis, Becky (my mom), and Tina.


Here's one that I'm sure will embarrass Clara when she's older - her first time eating at Dairy Queen:


And one that expresses her distaste for the burp cloth that has fallen down onto her head:


When we got back to Tallahassee, we had dinner at Derek's parents' house with them, Derek's brother, and Derek's Uncle Joe & Aunt Margaret, who were in town from Indiana. Here's Clara with her great-uncle and great-aunt:


And I don't have a picture of it, but Clara was SO happy to be back home. When we got back to our house Wednesday night, she had fallen asleep in her carseat. I took her out to change her clothes & diaper, and she woke up and looked at her changing table, crib, and wall...and she just gave her room the BIGGEST smile ever. She might've just been in an "I feel like smiling" mood, but I think she recognized her room and was happy to be home. :)

Oh, and a couple of notes: I changed the name of the blog, just because I felt like doing so. I've also started using Google Reader to keep up with other people's blogs, so hopefully I will be better about commenting on your posts. :)

6 Weeks Old

Well, here's an update on Miss Clara, who turned 6 weeks old yesterday. These pictures are in no particular order, because I was trying to get Picasa's "BlogThis" feature to work for me and having difficulties. Anyway, here we go.

Clara is smiling a lot for us now! Having a baby smile at you has to be among the most wonderful things ever. Sometimes feeding her takes a little longer, because we have to pause for "smile breaks," but we don't mind those. In this video, I was trying to capture her doing another of her "tricks" - sticking out her tongue - but she decided to show off her smiles instead. :)

Since she turned 6 weeks old yesterday, she met the pediatrician's requirement for going to church! I don't know that I've ever in my life gone so long without attending a worship service; it was really good to be back in the house of the Lord with fellow believers. Here's a picture of me and Clara in the fellowship hall after the service yesterday.

On Saturday, we took Clara on her first day trip. My sister was rowing in a regatta in Jacksonville, so we headed over there for the day. The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was fun to see Clara's Papa (that'd be my dad) and her Aunt Sarah. Here's a picture of our little family by the water.

And here's something Clara seems to enjoy well enough, so far: bath time. This picture has a "what are you people doing to me" sort of look, but she really doesn't mind getting a bath - although she does shiver once she's wet!

Other news in Clara-land...she's having a lot of fun figuring out how to use her arms and legs. She'll hold onto a toy for quite a few seconds (very long in baby years) if it's put into her hand. She attended her first play (my school's production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and did very well, sleeping through the whole second act. She has grown quite a bit since she was born - was 9 lbs 7 oz and 22.5 inches at her 1-month appointment on 2/24. She's moved into some larger clothes that didn't fit her at first.

And right now, she is HUNGRY and would very much like for me to stop typing and fix her a bottle, so I'm going to do that. :)