Kara's First Birthday Shoot

I had a really hard time settling on something to do for Kara's first birthday photo shoot. Finally I decided to go with the obvious Supergirl theme with some spring flowers! Finding a nice little place with flowers in bloom this year was pretty tough. These pictures are from Meson Sabika. I'm not crazy about her hair in these pictures, but what can you do? Wind will be wind.

I can't believe how big she's getting!

She's making all sorts of funny faces now. She's very expressive. Cracks me up.

This is what she wanted to be doing the entire time. She wasn't interested in sitting and smiling for me. I guess I can't blame her.

Can't believe she's one!

Kara at 11 months (April)

Kara was SUPER crabby for her 11 month pictures. I was so glad to have Clark home to help entertain her and get her to give me a little less of a sad face. Kara's moving like crazy now and nodding her head all the time. She loves kids. She loves bread. Her knees are always dirty. She's mostly a happy kid though. She is an awesome sleeper. She loves playing with balls just like Kent.

Maybe the only half-smile!

Kara at 10 Months (March)

Life moves pretty fast sometimes. Kara turned 10 months in March and with it she started pulling herself up, signing "all done," and giving five. She loves being tossed in the air and tickled. She is such a fun part of our family. Everyone just lights up when they see her. I love watching the boys with her and how they want to talk to her all the time.

Starting her young on the classics

And also torture by headband...you can hear the scream can't you?!

Zoo Time

We had a day off back in March and decided to spend it at the zoo. The weather was sort of cooperating and the kids loved being outside. We met up with the Phillips which was really fun. It was fun to hang out with Michele again. 

Poor Kara - she just gets propped up wherever we can put her. Then she gets mauled by her brothers.

We stopped at the bison to take our souvenir photo. I was having a bit of trouble getting the focus right, so I stopped some old men with big cameras. They basically told me that I wouldn't be able to do it with my camera. I told them I'd just photoshop it and they were very enthusiastic that it would work best that way. So here is my photoshopped version! When I got home, I found an app on my phone that will take the picture exactly the way I want it. Go figure. Next time.

With Clark's science fair on the brain, we had to make a stop at the swamp and check out the poisonous snakes. The boys are a little obsessed with poisonous snakes just like their dad.

Kara at 9 Months (February)

Back in February little Kara turned 9 months old. Back then she was just starting to wave. I was finally able to get her hair put up in piggies and ponies. And she got her first big boo-boo. You can see it on her eye. For the life of me I can't remember how it happened. I think she hit her head on the table but I can't be sure. If any of you remember...let me know! Oh the sadness of being the third child...

Kara is crawling around now and loving that she's mobile. She's such a happy little thing.

I thought I would mix things up a bit with her anywhere chair and her superbear.

So cute!

Kara at 8 months

8 months old and we still think we'd like to keep Kara around. She's such a delight. This last month she began making a funny noise that she now does all the time. It's almost like a hissing noise, but happier and with more spit. She is so much better at rolling over and sitting up. She has brought herself up on her knees like she wants to crawl a few times, but we just push her back down. Just kidding. She's almost decided on a sleep schedule. Almost. This month she has tried only two new foods carrots and green beans (and loved them both!). It was a busy month so I just used what I had already made earlier for the rest of the meals. She also flaps her arms and legs wildly when she likes something. 

Here's a little recap of her first year so far...

and now at 8 months!

Blurry, but cute! Love all her little expressions!

And let's talk for a minute about how adorable a baby mullet is. I need some reassurance that it is going to grow out. Sometimes I just get such a strong urge to cut it off! Jason says I should braid it. Not helpful.

I took a little video of her too.

7 Months Old

Way back in December Kara turned 7 months old! I can't believe how big she's getting. She's had a major growth spurt it seems. This past month she's been giving really great kisses and trying all sorts of new foods. She's had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, avocado, mangoes, sweet potatoes and pears. She loves the mangoes, sweet potatoes, pears and oatmeal. The rest she could do without. She's much better at sitting up and is rolling over a little bit more too.

She's still a very happy little girl. She isn't napping too well, but we hope know this is just a phase. She's so lucky to have such loving brothers. They are the best and love to play with her and see if they can calm her down when she's fussy. Her favorite toys are sweatshirt strings and rattles. Love this gal!

#miracleon75thst

My mom and I were in charge of decorations for the Ward Christmas Party this year. Everything looked really festive. Our favorite part was the photo booth. Clark had such a fun time making the props with us.

Some favorite photo booth shots...love Kent's "American Gothic" pose in the first one.

The kids also sang Christmas songs during the program. Here for your viewing pleasure...

First up, Clark singing.

Next is Kent not singing.

Half a Year

This sweet little thing just makes us all smile. She is such a wonderful part of our family. This month Kara is starting to sit up on her own. She can roll over but she doesn't do it too often. She's ticklish right above her knee. She loves to be with people but doesn't mind hanging in her crib with her taggies zebra either. She's constantly getting scratches on her face even though I am constantly trimming her nails. She loves laughing and sticks her tongue out all the time!

6 months of the Eames rocker

And I can't pass up a good eyelash pic!

And a quick recap of how she got to 6 months...

In case you're interested in the other Eames rocker pics: 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months

5 Months Already?!

Kara celebrated her 5 month birthday with us last week. I can hardly believe it. We sure do love having her as part of our family. Whenever anyone is in a bad mood, we just have them go play with Kara and they can't be in a bad mood for long. That means Kent plays with Kara A LOT! haha!

Someone said, "Boo!" This is her Halloween face!

This is more of her everyday face. Kara is a little chatterbox (because we needed another one of those in our house!). She squeals with delight, giggles, babbles and even mumbles.

Oh...and she makes bubbles!

Here's a little spread of her Eames Rocker photo series. It seems like she changes so much in a month but then it seems like she's not so different!

Football Fanatics

I'm thinking of changing the title of the blog to Clark's Football Games or something much more clever. Football is three days a week, so it's no wonder I have all of these posts about it.

Clark got his football pics this week! He actually managed a real smile. Hooray! I'm sure it was the hours of practice that we did. Let's hope his school picture looks as natural as this one too.

This was another good game. We played the Vikings again and I'm pretty sure we won. I can never really tell or remember the scores anymore. The kids are practicing their snaps (do I sound like I know what I'm talking about?). I love how they add new skills as the season goes on. At the beginning of the season they would hand the ball to the quarterback. Now they snap it!

Worst part of the game...all those darned bees!

4 Months

Here she is at 4 months! I can't believe Kara is four months already! At her most recent doctor's appointment she weighed in at 12 lbs. 4 oz. She is still super tiny but holds a huge place in our hearts. Kara is such a mild mannered little girl. She is patient, laid back and quick to smile. I hope we can still say that when she's 14, haha! She is cooing a lot more and loves to talk with me when it's quiet at night after the boys are in bed. She loves her brothers and how they always want to make her smile.

Cutie pie!

To see her three month pictures (and a recap from 1 week, 1 month, and 2 months) click here.

Dolphin Trainer for a Day

I know what you've been thinking..."Boy, Mary hasn't taken her kids to the zoo lately." I know! Don't worry. All is right with the world again as we spent a nice long day checking out the dolphins, cats, bears, dinosaurs, and so much more!

On this occasion Gigi decided to come with us to the zoo. That's always a treat! We decided to do something a little different and see the dolphin show.

And wouldn't you know it...they called Clark up so that he could "train" the dolphin! What luck! He told the dolphin to say hello, to turn around, and to wave goodbye.

Gigi and Kent getting ready for the dolphin show.

We also went to the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit which is always a lot of fun. It was nice that Clark had his camera. He even took some pictures of me at the exhibit to show that I was there! The "Shopasaurus" at the end had some fun baby sunglasses. Kara looks oh so stylish, ha!

My brother shared a link on facebook of this photographer who adds funny souvenirs into their photos of famous places and landmarks. I thought it would be fun to give it a try so we bought a wax mold and took it to the Great Bear Wilderness!

Kara with all her spoils.

Fun photo strip with Gigi!

I've missed you zoo. I promise we won't stay away so long next time!