Fall.

Clara's first major outing was to the Atlanta History Center, so that she could experience a rare fall day here in Atlanta. We had a hellish summer, and then it got cold quickly, so we didn't want to miss our tiny window of opportunity to be outside without choking on smog, sweating to death, or getting frostbite.  Yay, climate change!

Bethany, being our child, loves the History Center.  She is now old enough to get a kick out of the little playhouse (see above).  It is approximately the size of our actual house, but the ceilings are lower, and we have heat and air conditioning.  Otherwise, it feels just like home.

One of Lindsey's friends nicknamed BEB "nature girl," and it continues to be true.  She LOVES being outside, regardless of how uncomfortable the temperate or precipitation may be.  One of her favorite things this summer was to ask to go outside and catch rain in her hands.  Keep in mind that it only rained about five times all summer, so most of this asking was happening when the sun was blazing.  Go, imagination!

This was how Clara visited the History Center - snuggled up to Daddy in the Ergo.  We LOVE that thing - best money ever spent.  Anyway, she did get hungry, and I did have to nurse her on a bench shortly before a whole tour group came by.  We could call that lactivism, but really, it was more like poor planning.  :)  Otherwise, she pretty much missed out on the whole experience.  We did learn that she likes to be outside, so I'm thinking we have TWO nature girls at our house.

                                

As part of my ongoing quest to win mother of the year, I bought this child's Halloween costume at Target.  Lindsey helped me realize that my homemade bee suit was not a reality for people having intense procrastination issues and a baby due in mid-October.  We settled for this, which Bethany loved, and was very easy to deal with when she didn't want to be a bee anymore.  She is, though, very good at buzzing. This is all part of my master plan to send her to Georgia Tech.  Mwhahaha.

Yup, Clara has a bee suit, too!  Love the consignment sale bargains.  Mostly, I bought it for the ridiculous hat.  She looks a bit more like the Hamburglar than a bee, but whatever.  It's not like she went trick or treating.  :)

The newest member of the family.

 Clara Lydia Brown was born on October 15, at 3:53 a.m.  She weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.  In our family, that is a TINY baby.  Fear not, though - at her one week check up, she weighed just shy of 9 pounds.  :)  We'll see if that continues.  We arrived at the hospital at about 2:30 a.m., got into our room just before 3:00, and I pushed for less than ten minutes.  Let's all pause for a prayer of thanksgiving that this baby wasn't born on the highway. 

Bethany is thrilled to be a big sister.  She wants to hold, kiss, and hug Clara all the time.  She also likes to decorate her with stickers.  Mama is not such a huge fan of that last thing.  Unlike Bethany, Clara does not view sleep as a mortal enemy.  I think she is within the "normal" range - nothing freaky like sleeping through the night - but a far cry from big sis.  Or, rather, just a lot LESS crying than big sis.  Life with newborn and toddler is interesting, but we are taking it one day at a time.  Some days are just a lot easier than others!

 

Here are Mom, Dad, & Clara just before leaving the hospital.  We'll see if I can remember to get these pictures every month.  No promises...

Oh - and if you visit the MonkeyBean Photos website, you can see Miss Clara's amazing newborn portraits.  She already doesn't look like that anymore.  Crazy.

More Singing.

When I was tiny, my dad created a new version of a familiar tune.  My brother and I both loved this "game," and now Bethany loves it, too.  This was about two days before Clara was born - but I was already having contractions.  In fact, I'm having one at the end of this.  If you look carefully, you can watch me turn bright red.  Fun times!