Florida

We had a great time in Florida this past week. It was Klara's first official trip to the beach. She loved every minute of it! She got to visit with her Grammy, Gramps, and Great-Mima from Guatemala. She has not seen them since last June. We did a lot while we were there! We of course went to the beach four days, went shopping with the family, and drove Patsy and Mima to the Miami airport. If you want to visit another country but do not want to leave our country, I would suggest going to the Miami airport or Miami in general. It is a world of its own!

Klara loved the beach! She sat in the sand for hours just throwing it everywhere and picking up shells. She even made a little friend on Thursday (Mikayla) who played with Klara all day long. My camera battery died that day so I do not have any pictures of them playing together. Klara was a little unsure about the waves and water until Mikayla got in. Then of course Klara wanted to do what Mikayla was doing! Alex played with her in the water for a little while. Klara's favorite thing at the beach was all the birds! She loved watching the birds and trying to chase them when they would get close to her. At one point an older couple sitting to our left started feeding the birds and about 100 birds showed up. Klara had a field day! The birds got a little too close to my baby for my comfort, but of course they did not bother her! Overall it was a great trip, and we look forward to returning to the Florida house in June! Yippee!


I love the beach!

Okay birds, back away from my baby!
Thank you Jeremiah for my beautiful pink bathing suit and my hat!
Daddy and Klara I am up to something sneaky! I am gonna get you, little birdie! I am just too cute!
Check out my beach hair!
I could sit here for hours! Hmm, I don't like the water yet! searching for Easter eggs
Grammy and Gramps! My Great-Mima

Baby Blues

My poor Klara has had the worst few days! It started out Friday around 10:30 when I noticed she had a slight fever. By 6:00 that evening her fever was at 102.5. Now I know doctors say not to worry over a 102 temperature, but I was about to freak out. I called every friend I had in the medical profession (thanks Karrie, Hollie, and Jennifer)! By 7:00 Klara was throwing up and having diarrhea (spelling?). Her fever would not go down, so we kept her in bed with us because I was afraid that she may be prone to febrile seizures like my sister's little girl. Luckily that did not occur. The next day she quit throwing up but the diarrhea and fever persisted. Her fever went up and down all day long and she just wanted to sit in my lap and suck her fingers. By Sunday her fever was still there, but it went down to about 99. So we took advantage of that and went outside for a few minutes. While we were outside, Klara fell down on the sidewalk and scraped her nose, forehead, and the underneath of her left eye. My poor baby! Plus she is teething!!!!!! Oh the pain! Then, to top things off, she woke up with a rash this morning (Tuesday) all over her stomach, back, and neck. We let her try a strawberry yesterday, so I am pretty sure this is what caused the rash. I just pray that the rest of the week is uneventful in the health department. At least her fever is finally gone!

Klara's 1st Birthday!!!!!!

March 18, 2009 was a terrific day! My baby turned 1. I cannot believe how the time has flown by! It just seems like yesterday that Alex was driving me to the hospital getting ready to start the biggest adventure of our lives! What a blessing our little Klara is! We started out her birthday by giving her the presents we bought for her. We bought her a push and ride toy and a ball with kittens (only because she would not leave the ball box at Toys R Us without one!). She played with those toys all morning long as Alex and I prepared the decorations and cupcakes for her party. Then at 5:30 her guests began arriving! She was a great little hostess and met them at the door! We had quite a crowd! Klara's guests included Mimi, Papaw, Uncle Wade and Ashley, Jennifer and Chad, Hollie/Casey/Sadie Gallaher, Jenn and Grace Custer, Ashley/Cole/Jeremiah Strong, and Janet and Gene. The babies all enjoyed playing on the floor while the adults ate and chatted. Finally the big moment came! We sang happy birthday to Klara and gave her the cupcake of her dreams! She loved it! She put the entire cupcake up to her face and ate every bit of it! My baby is a good eater. She then opened all her wonderful presents! Her friends are all very thoughtful! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! After everyone left, Klara played in the bathtub with some of her new toys. I could tell she was exhausted so we cut bathtime a little short, put on pjs, and went to bed. She fell fast asleep. What a big day for the little birthday girl! Thank you Jesus for such a blessed year! May we have soooooo many more to come!

I love my new toy!

I am dancing with excitement over my birthday!

My mommy loves me soooo much!
My daddy loves me soooooo much!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me......

Mommy made me delicious cupcakes!

Yummy! This is fun!

Opening my gifts

Playing with Sadie, Jeremiah, and Grace

Fun Days!

Klara has had several special and fun days over the past few weeks that I have not written about yet. She went to her very first birthday party for her little friend Andrew. He was born exactly a week before Klara. I was unable to attend due to an unfortunate meeting with the stomach bug, but Alex took Klara for a father/daughter day. After the birthday party they went to Chattanooga where Klara proceded to push her own stroller around Hamilton Place. Alex said it was the cutest thing ever! Klara also got to spend some time playing outside last week on the pretty days. It was the first time that she got to walk down the road all by herself. She had a blast pushing her little push-toy. She doesn't know yet, but she is getting a new one for her birthday!!!!! We bought it for Klara during her first of many adventures to Toys R Us. She loved that place! She walked up and down the isles touching toys and pulling books off the bookshelves. She also pushed her own buggy. She was a joy to watch! I cannot believe my little baby will be one year old on Wednesday! What a blessing this year has been!

Klara enjoys the books at Toys R Us

Klara pushes her own buggy!playing outside

walking with daddy

playing with Jeremiah and Grace at Andew's party

Walking in Memphis....Again

As most of you know, babies come when they are ready and not necessarily when we plan for them to arrive. This was the case this past Monday with my sister's newborn baby, Mara Ellen King. My mom, dad, Klara, and I were planning on leaving for Memphis Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning to arrive in time for Karrie's c-section on Wednesday. However, the little gal decided she wanted to be born early. Karrie called mom and dad around 2:00 am Monday morning and we were on the road to Memphis by 3:30 am. We knew that we did not stand a chance of getting to Memphis before the baby arrived, and we were correct. Karrie's doctors delivered Mara by c-section around 4:00 am (central time). We arrived in Memphis around 10:30 (eastern time) so we were a few hours late! Mara weighed 6lbs 8ozs. She is so little! Perhaps that is a normal weight for a baby, but compared to Klara's 8lbs 7 ozs Mara seems so tiny! Karrie is doing well, and they are all back at home. Klara, dad, and I drove back on Wednesday because Klara started getting a runny nose and I did not want to expose the baby to any additional germs when she came home. I wish I could have stayed longer, but you don't always get what you want. Here are some pictures of my beautiful niece!

Klara meets Mara

Macy and Klara playing after a day at the hospital

Mara Ellen King

Karrie and Mara

Auntie Kattie and Mara

Walking in Memphis

This past week Klara, my mom, and I went to Memphis to visit my sister Karrie before she has baby #2 in a few weeks. The trip up was quite miserable towards the end because Klara SCREAMED the last hour. However, the trip back to Cleveland was very nice and Klara did not fuss one bit. Klara had tons of fun playing with her big cousin Macy. They looked adorable wearing their footy pajamas following each other everywhere. We also stopped and visited some of my mom's family in Tuscumbia and Florence (Alabama). While we were visiting my Uncle Bobby, Klara took her first steps! We were all so excited!!!!!! She started standing up by herself on January 29th, so I thought it would be a while before she actually walked. However, she surprised us and took her first step on February 7th. My little baby is growing up!

Christmas 2008

Our Christmas was wonderful this year! Since pictures can say a thousand words, I will let them do the talking.