Going Private

I didn't really think there would come a time it felt necessary to make our blog private but I decided to check the google tracker here on blogger and found that this month I didn't recognize most of the referring URL's. I clicked the first one and it was a pornogrpahic website. The other addresses looked similar and I was so disturbed by all of these random sites we're somehow linked to and all of the weird traffic we're getting. Sorry for the inconvenience, but e-mail me at natshaw@ymail.com or leave a comment with your e-mail if you would like to be added.

Clara's 1st Birthday

 

Who knew 1 year could pass so swiftly? Clara has been such a joy in our lives. Though Mackenzie can be rough with her, she loves and protects her unconditionally. She is usually the first to bring a smile to my face every morning when she wakes up and says in her sweet voice, "hi" and she has successfully wrapped Keith around her little finger.

I attempted this 3 year layer cake I saw on pinterest. When I saw it a few months ago, I knew it was the cake I wanted to make for Clara because it was so soft and pretty. Her Birthday was a Sunday so I couldn't run to the store for powdered sugar when I needed more frosting so I just tried to make do with what I had. It wasn't quite what I had pictured, but it was fun to make and I think Clara would have enjoyed anything.

 Here she is cheering for herself. She wasn't shy at all, just excited for the attention from her family and a couple of her friends.

 Here's the doll we got her. My mom also sent some cute outfits which I don't have pictures of, just video. She wasn't really into opening gifts, I'm sure she'll have more fun at Christmas.

 Right before bedtime, I told Keith I wanted a photo with Clara and Kenzie photobombed it. Their faces and Kenzie's bday suit cracked me up when I went back through the pictures.

A little about Clara at one year:

• She loves bananas- she eats one every morning. When I get her in her high chair I ask if she wants a banana and she'll chant "nana!" over and over. When I give it to her, she gives me the best smile.
• She can say nana, mama, dada, uh-oh, hi. 
• She loves to take baths
• She is really gentle with books. I often find her flipping through them slowly, never tearing them.
• She doesn't really like milk but otherwise isn't picky with her food. She quit nursing just a few days shy of her birthday. She pretty much self-weaned which was really nice for me as she was never a gentle nurser.
• She has 7 teeth with 3 more (molars) breaking through. 
• Kenzie is her favorite person in the world
• She loves her binky, especially to go to sleep
• She likes soft things and sleeps with her stuffed lamb and cuddles her blankets
• Starting to hate her carseat, if she wasn't so small I would probably forward face her
• She is about 19 lbs and 29 1/2 inches
• She likes to snuggle:)
• She gives smiles to just about everybody
• She loves to be outside and is quite the climber! She's so much more adventurous than Mackenzie. She's mastered the little playground outside and will even climb the stairs and send herself down the tunnel slide either on her bum or belly while I wait to catch her at the bottom.
• We love her!

August

 That Utah post just overwhelms me so we'll keep putting it off for a bit:) August was a really fun month. We continued to play outside and sometimes ventured up to the pool. Kenz still isn't a fan of the water and failed miserably at taking lessons. Clara loved the water but it usually tired us all out so much that I gave up going regularly. Kenzie's a great helper and loves to share yogurt with Clara.

 Keith put the girls in this little red wagon and took them around for rides.

 

 We celebrated Keith's 29th birthday on the 9th with a few close friends and mud pie:

We renewed our zoo pass in the spring and received free tickets to their dinosaur exhibit. It was really cool. Kenzie was scared and Clara didn't know what to think of it.

I surprised Keith with tickets to a Journey concert at the KY state fair for his bday. He was really excited. Loverboy opened and then Pat Benatar sang for an hour. We sat in the very back of the stadium but had a great view of the crazy drunks in front of us acting out every song. It really was a blast.

These two can play so cute together:

 Clara was eating anything and everything. She loves to kick back in her chair and take control of mealtime

 Keith was a little annoyed when I came home with this yard sale purchase since we had just cleared off our patio but I knew Kenzie would love this easel. She loves to paint:

 Just threw these in cuz she's so pretty:

 I don't take enough sleeping pics.

 In my bed in the morning because she just can't seem to sleep through the night more than a week in a row

 Little smartie. Clara was being quiet in her room and I found her like this "painting" her toenails. For the record, I've painted her nails once  and it was several months ago so it surprised me she knew what to do with the little play nailpolish.