November December 2013

Life has been pretty great at the Clark home. My parents were able to come for two weeks over Thanksgiving. Jane was spoiled to pieces and loved having her grandma and grandpa here. 

We had our ward Christmas party and Jane was terrified of Santa. It wasn't much of a surprise since nursery has been unsuccessful so far. Stranger danger is at its high.

We've been getting a lot of snow the past few days and Jane loves it! At least for a few minutes. Then she climbs the stairs to the front door and waits for us.

While my mom was here we finished decorating Jane's room. My mom is a great seamstress and made her curtains and a crib skirt. 

The gallery wall is filled with photographs and pictures I drew of dogs and bunnies (Jane's favorite). Usually after a nap Jane insists on visiting the pictures and identify the dogs by pointing and panting. Then she holds her bunny up to the pictures of the bunnies and makes them kiss.

While I still have to finish painting her dresser and have plans for another photo collage, I'll call it good for now.

These pictures sum up the last couple months here at our house. 

Jane loves to stand on her head, color with her crayons, use her four new teeth, play in her tutu and princess dress, and scatter her Halloween candy all throughout the house. She has turned into a little tornado. She has recently learned to express her feelings of frustrations very forcefully. It's hard to believe there is so much sass in such a sweet little girl. Jeff has been busy with his rotations and writing his first app. I've been working on my art and launched my new website. Jeff's parents came to visit for a few days and Jane loved all the extra attention.

Jane is constantly surprising us with how much she is actually understanding. Jeff and I have started spelling things, but it's only a matter of time until she starts to understand those few words like B-A-T-H and W-A-L-K. No, she is not a dog. She is also quite the chatterbox and loves to talk on her phone. I just hope that's not how I sound when I'm on the phone. I'm sure it's not as cute as that. 

Washington Trip

Jane and I flew out to Washington for a week. We had so much fun spending time with my parents, Jessica, and her kids. Jane hasn't had a lot of cousin time and loved every minute! 

I was nervous to fly on my own with Jane, but she did great! 

Eating "nack, nacks" as Macsen calls them. 

Watching puppy videos. 

Amelia happened to be in town the same week! It was so fun to catch up and have the babes meet.

We went on lots of walks to feed the horses.

But since Jeff has a severe allergy to horses (like almost dying) I wouldn't let Jane touch them yet.

The weather finally cleared up the last couples days and we spent lots of time outside. Jane discovered her two new favorite things, sidewalk chalk and trampolines. 

After watching her cousin Macsen run around the house for a few days, Jane decided it was time to start walking. 

Funniest story of the trip: My dad brought Jane and Macsen out to jump on the trampoline. He was holding onto Jane's hands and jumping while Macsen ran circles around them. It was after a nap and Jane had a very full diaper. With one big jump Jane's poopy diaper fell off and and her feet landed in it. My dad very carefully carried her off the trampoline by dangling her by her hands. Meanwhile Macsen continued to dangerously run circles around the poopy diaper. My mom hurried outside to try and stop the disaster ahead. When she tried to talk him down from the trampoline, he picked up the diaper and threw it right at her! Luckily she ducked just in time.

Baby Dance Moves

Jane has some serious dance moves and can't contain herself when she hears a beat. At first we thought she was just performing for attention. But I often walk in on her dancing alone with a noisy baby toy in hand. She'll push the music button, dance until the song is done, and push it again for the next tune. She has very particular taste though and doesn't hesitate to skip the songs she doesn't like.

Crawling!

Good news! Jane finally figured out how to crawl. No big deal or anything... it only took her 14 months. Although she still prefers scaling the walls or walking with backup. She lacks the confidence to walk on her own unless she is walking to me or Jeff. 

Jane also has a favorite toy that keeps her company while she sleeps. It's too cute how much she loves her bunny. 

It is unfortunate she choose a white stuffed animal as her comfort toy. Let's just say it's not going to be white for long. 

Celebrate!

Today is worthy of celebration. First off, it's our five year anniversary! 

We celebrated a couple weeks ago at an in-house charcuterie restaurant called Cure in Pittsburgh. Our first date without Jane. :)

Jeff successfully defended his thesis this morning and passed! All that hard work paid off. And to top it all off we bought a new/used car! I'm so excited since it's going to be the one I drive. The best part is it has automatic locks so I don't have to unlock three doors by hand every time I take Jane somewhere. 

In other news, we moved back to Cleveland last Saturday for Jeff to finish his last two years of medical school. We even got to move back into our old apartment, which I love! It's been so convenient because I already know where everything goes. 

We are so happy to see so many of our old friends and for everyone to meet baby Jane!

Just Hanging Out

Found this gem today. Thanks Google+!

Jane's Birthday

Jeff had some meetings in D.C. the week before Jane's birthday so we decided to make a trip out of it. We were able to stay with Jeff's sister and her family for a few days. By chance, Jeff's other sister and family were flying in from Utah to visit the same week. Jane LOVED seeing her cousins. The best game they played was probably taking turns pushing Jane and her eight-month old cousin, Evan, in a doll stroller. Jane even got in on the fun and pushed Evan around. 

We decided to celebrate Jane's birthday a week early and she didn't object. I've always loved the cake smash tradition on a baby's first birthday and I couldn't wait to see what Jane would do. Everything she does is so dainty and delicate even when she's making a mess. 

 

We went to Moira's Kindergarten "Barnyard Moosical." 

Nicole was nice enough to give haircuts even on her vacation. She cut my hair (a whole seven inches!) and gave Jane her first hair cut. I was a little sad to see her baby hair go, but I LOVE how it turned out. 

Jane tasting the cupcake she decorated for me for Mother's Day.

Before we left to drive back to Pittsburgh, we had to get a cousins picture.