Baptism Weekend

Clarissa was finally baptized on Sunday at the same church we got married in. It was a nice ceremony. She only cried when the water was poured on her head! Here is Clarissa and her Godparents - my brother, sister-in-law, and Todd's sisterAnd, of course she cries when her parents have her! She's finally looking at people and being more alert - it's really cool to see!We even took her swimming in a pool for the first time! Don't you love her swimsuit?!? She liked it for the most part. I had to hold her against my chest, otherwise she wasn't happy, but seemed to like it. Hopefully she'll be a water baby by summer!

Babies

In case you didn't know, we have two babies at our house. One is just bigger than the other. And has more hair.

Christmas Bear

Great Grandma Marilyn gave Clarissa a Christmas Bear for her first Christmas. Aren't they cute together?
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Cabin Weekend

This past weekend, we headed up to the cabin to spend time with my family. It was a great time - even if the weather wasn't that great. I got out on Sunday to take a couple of pictures. Here's one of the cabin from the lake.Here is Todd and Jack ice fishing with Ava, Rusty and Orion supervising.Here is the snowman Jack, Ava, and Alicia made. Rusty is supervising on this one too!
And here's Claire hanging out inside. She had her 2 month Dr. appointment today. She was 10lbs, 2 oz and 22 inches long. All 50 percentile. We have ourselves an average baby!
Tomorrow I go back to work. It's been a great 2 months off, but it will be nice to get back to a schedule.

Bath Time

On Sunday, Todd and I gave Clarissa her first real bath. Usually, I just fill up a cup, pour in some baby shampoo, and bathe her out of that with a wash cloth. I really thought she'd like a regular bath. I've always liked the water and love to swim. Maybe I didn't at two months old. As you can tell from the pictures, I don't think Clarissa was liking it too much. She had this face on her the whole time. We'll have to try it again in the future, but I think her next bath will be out of the cup!

4 Generations

Four Generations - Great Grandma Marilyn Rose, Grandma Sue, Daddy Todd, and Baby Claire. From Christmas Day.

My Crazy Husband

This photo is from Christmas Day. My crazy husband went out in a t-shirt, shorts, and sorel boots to check the depth of the snow. It was 8 inches. Yes, the rule is still sitting on the table measuring the snow. We're down to 7 inches now on the table.

Happy New Year!

Happy birthday today to my wonderful husband. Can't imagine doing this without you! Here's our little family at Christmas. Some of us are happier than others! At least we got to celebrate Christmas with everyone this year - I was very happy about that! We even got to celebrate with some of Todd's family from Ohio. Too bad we don't live closer to make that an every year thing.

I hope that everyone's Christmas and New Years was good. Here's to a great 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our elf to you!

Our house!

10 years ago today - we purchased our house. Still love it!

Meeting more Family

Clarissa got to meet her Great Grandma Marilyn Rose last Tuesday. She is her first great grandchild. They also share a middle name!


Clarissa also met her Great Uncle Gary.
She was happy they had come all the way from Ohio to meet her!

Skol Vikings!

Clarissa and her dad like watching Vikings games together - especially when they win!!
Even the dogs get in on the lazy Sunday afternoon!!

A Week With Grandma

My Mom has been here all week helping me out. It's been so nice to have someone to cook, clean, and help out so much. We're going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow! As you can see, everyone likes her - Just a cozy spot on the couch!

I also took this cute picture of Clarissa. She always puts her arms in such cute positions when she sleeps! I do need to get more awake pictures of her, but it's so fun to talk to her at that point, that I don't want to pick up the camera!
We've been huddled inside all week since it's been so cold. Not that Claire can really go out and play, but it's hard to even take her to her Dr appointments when it's this cold out! Hopefully it'll warm up a little soon.

Attempts at a Christmas Card

Sunday, Auntie Breanne and I tried to get a good Christmas picture out of Claire. Unfortunately, she wasn't awake for it, unless we were changing her, and then she was awake but unhappy!!

Here's the first outfit, kind of a Christmas elf look. And a close up - That was cute, but I didn't like that it covered her head. This one was okay, but not quite right.I tried one with the dogs, but she just ended up leaning one way,And then the other way. I think even the dogs didn't like that one! So, what did I use? You'll just have to check your mailbox in a week or so. Or whenever those cards come!

Family

My family came over on Saturday to see Clarissa. My parents always have a picture in their Christmas card with the grandchildren, so this year, Clarissa got to be a part of it! Here's one of the outtakes. It's hard to get a 6, 3 and 1.5 week old to all look the same way, but we tried!
Here's one of just the grandchildren.
My grandma Alpha also came over to meet her 14th great grandchild.
This is our niece Ava holding Claire. Her mom said she used this as a bribe all week - if she wasn't good, she couldn't hold the baby. Ava also said that Claire was smaller than some of her Odies (that's what she calls all of her dolls). Here's my mom with her 3rd grand child. She's here this week helping me out and said she'd be lucky to get great grand children, let alone 14 like her mother! Here's my brother with Claire. He couldn't believe how small she was! It was great to see all of them and have everyone meet Clarissa.

Photo Shoot

I tried taking a couple of pictures of Clarissa today by herself. She wasn't really happy about that. Getting a little fussy...

Now Baron has to see what's going on...

And then Dad had to take a picture of his little girl today in the most lady-like position. I guess she wasn't that happy with him!

Sorry - not about Claire!

In addition to having a baby, we've been putting in a bathroom on our 3rd level. Okay, "we" really means Todd! It's looking really cool - so much so that I'd like to redo our bathroom upstairs! It's not quite finished, note there is no ceiling yet, but here's what it looks like so far.

It'll be so nice to have two bathrooms. I'm excited to have it done!

A couple of Pictures

Just some pictures from this week.


Finally a picture of Dad with Claire. Claire in her swing with her eyes open.
Claire taking some lip from Mom.
Baron finally getting close to the baby.
An adorable hat I got from this Etsy shop.
Oh, and for those of you wondering, she goes by Clarissa or Claire.