Happy Birthday Clara!!!

WARNING: This post is heavy on the pictures.

Clara's birthday was on June 20. I should have written this post long ago, but in my defense, Lucas was only 12 days old on Clara's birthday, so I am just proud of myself for getting her birthday done! And as for the tardiness of writing about it, better late than never!

Here are pictures from Clara's birthday photo shoot. I love her scrunched up face smile! That is what she does pretty much every time we ask her to smile.

Like any kid, Clara really enjoyed opening her presents.

We went with a summertime theme for her birthday this year, so most of her presents revolved around summer activities. She got a beach ball (thank you Grandma Muhlestein!)

She got sand and pool toys and sidewalk chalk (thank you dollar section at Target!)

She got a cool doll that has clothes that snap on, so she can change the dolls clothes all by herself and a purse to put her doll and the clothes in. (Thank you Grandma Sorensen!)

Do you think she likes it?

And for the grand finale, she got a sand box!

After presents, we went outside and enjoyed some yummy birthday cupcakes

Then the kids enjoyed the sandbox and toys.

It was a great day! We are so blessed to have Clara. She is such a good girl and has become such a good big sister! We love watching her learn new things. She has such a sweet spirit and is so kind and gentle and yet so rambunctious and ridiculous. Everyday is a new adventure with her and I am so thankful to be her mother! Happy Birthday Clara, we all love you!

Political Ad

I'm slow getting this up, but here you go:
In April, my summer job boss, Mark Weaver, called me and asked me to get as many people as possible to show up to be extras in a political ad for Ohio's Issue 1.

I called Crystal and she brought Clara, and then I called David and he brought Megan and the boys.
Here is the video. Click to see it.

Crystal and Clara are in the first shot, and then you can see them, and me, on the left side of the screen later, (when the main actor is facing the camera) and you can see David (in a suit and tie) with Harry on his shoulders on the right side.

It was fun, and the money we got paid for my birthday dinner at Benihana's.

Lots O' Lucas

This post will be heavy on the pictures to appease all of you who have been demanding new pictures! Here they are in chronological order. Hopefully you can see some growth, though I am not very consistent at taking pictures.

Sleepy Head

More Sleepy Head

And more sleepy head! That is one of his favorite past times!

One night we built a fire, roasted hot dogs and had smores. Hmm, I can't tell if Clara likes them or not, can you?

I walked into the kitchen one day and saw this. Little rascal!

This is a typical Lucas face.

And so is this

And so is this! He loves to have his arms above his head and to play with his hair.

Ooops! Forgot to turn the image! Just turn your head!

I LOVE this little outfit! Thanks again Maren! Lucas likes to put his hands up to his face when he sleeps.

Isn't he cute?

This is another outfit I absolutely love! His hair is a little curly, you can kind of see that in this picture.

And just in case you haven't seen enough, here is one more!

Clara And Lucas

These first couple of pictures are a blog post I meant to do before I had Lucas, but that didn't happen, so we will start off with those!

Clara had her first ice cream cone on Memorial Day. As you can tell by the look on her face, she loved it!

I got a kiddie pool on clearance at the end of last summer. We pulled it out for Clara and she loves it. She might as well be part fish! I am sure this little pool will be in constant use this summer.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Now onto Clara and Lucas. For the most part, Clara loves her little brother. She loves to hold him and give him hugs and kisses. She definitely has her moments when she wants things to go back to the way they were before Lucas. Those moments usually come when nap time or bedtime are approaching.

Here is Clara meeting Lucas for the first time.

Clara showing off her "Big Sister" shirt.

Right after we decided on the name Lucas, Jordan leaned over and whispered in his ear "Luke, I am your father." We have some friends, Ed and Lindsey, who love Star Wars. They got

Lucas his very own Yoda! They also got Clara an elephant. Thanks again Ed and Lindsey!

It was so nice to come home from the hospital and sleep in my own bed. Clara was also very happy to have me home. She decided to ham it up for the camera for these shots!

And she loves to give Lucas his pacifier, though we have to remind her to be gentle with him!

I can't believe this little guy is already a week old! We will try and keep the blog updated with pictures and info.

Meet Lucas.

Lucas Muhlestein was born at 8:51 p.m. June 8, 2010.
He weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces and is 21 inches long.
He is happy and healthy and so is his wonderful Momma.

I'm sure you'll hear more later, but here are some pictures.