More smiles, all the time

We just can't get enough of Claire's smiles -she gives them freely, as you can see from this picture where she is smiling at her toy on the swing, one of our favorite baby inventions. She likes to sleep in it for most of her naps and sometimes I will catch her just smiling away at this little zebra.

I love how her eyes get all crinkly, and sometimes one eye goes first into full smile mode. She is our little pirate sometimes. Thanks Michelle for this cute outfit!

This girl will have more pictures of her taken in her first three months than my entire childhood. The beauty of digital!

First Meetings

Claire met many new people over the Thanksgiving holiday - her Uncle Matty, Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, and honorary Aunt Becky Baird. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and blessed Claire this past Sunday. I still need to take a photo of just her in her dress, but you can see it in the group shot. I wanted Claire to be able to see all the love and support she has from her family and friends - we are so greateful to all of you who came, some from great distances. Matt gave her a wonderful blessing - I love how spiritual he is. I know this blessing was on his mind for quite some time, and he wanted it to be perfect. Well, it was. Anyway, here are some new pics - enjoy!

Britain's Got Talent

So maybe it's all the hormones still racing around inside of me, but I totally cried while watching this amazing performance on the show Britain's Got Talent. You will be amazed how fast Simon's face changes when this salesman starts singing:

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

Check it out - it makes you feel like anyone can do anything!!!

Back to Work

I officially go back to work tomorrow, and I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I get to still spend most of my time working from home. I will go into the office or to client locations for meetings, and I will attend my board meetings and networking events, since my job focuses on business development. Typically, the holiday months are slow PR months, so I asked to stay home during these next two months. But starting in January, I will be spending more time in the office and will have to find a more permanent childcare solution.

For now, Matt is going to help out playing Mr. Mom when I have meetings (so long as it's not during his classes), and then I will need to find babysitters for the other odd times when our schedules don't work out.

I guess this is baby steps back to work, so hopefully I don't lose it this week being away from Claire...

Smile Fest!

"Babies are such a nice way to start people."

Sorry CS Lewis....

So, Claire was a Lion, I was a Witch, so we decided Matt had to be a Wardrobe... this inspiration came a bit too late, so I was out shopping at 4 pm when we had a 6 pm Halloween party to go to at church. So, how do you make a Wardrobe costume? Matt came up with a clever idea - he could wear a robe, and then at our church party, he could wear a "Pinnacle Ward" sign... get it... ward-robe... yeah, it was a stretch. But we had fun. I realized too late that we never got a picture of the whole family, so you'll just have to see how cute Claire was as a little lion. She was very snug in her costume, but did not like keeping her paws on.

Smiles!

It is so fun to see Claire smile, and know that it isn't gas :) She is actually recognizing us, which is so fun! She flashes a really big smile, but my camera is too slow to catch it most of the time, so here are a few glimpses of her grin.