Jo Jo is Five Months Old!

Clara Josephine is five months old! We are so thankful to have had five full months with our precious girl and we pray for many, many more. Clara is just lovely. I can't tell you how many people she blesses each day with her sweet smile. The grocery store people, neighbors, her Daddy when he comes home from work--she always has a smile ready for anyone who will look her way.

Clara girl is rolling everywhere! She loves playing on the floor and rolls off her play mat almost instantly. She is on the move, that's for sure! Oma and Opa brought over a bouncy chair where Clara can jump and play with toys. She.is.obsessed! Girlfriend will bounce non-stop for 45 minutes! Its the sweetest thing! She is just so active and smiley!

Our nights are still going pretty well. Most nights C goes to bed around 8pm. She usually wakes around 3 and then again around 6:30? And then she gets up for the day between 7:30-8am. Most days she wakes up super happy and spends a lot of time playing on the floor. She's usually ready for a nap around 10am and will sleep for 2ish hours.  Her second nap happens around 2 (if I'm lucky that's also when the boys are napping) and she sleeps 2ish hours then too. This month, Clara has been doing a wonderful job of going to sleep in her bed all by herself. I nurse her to get her drowsy, turn on her sound machine, and say nighty night! Usually she coos for a little while and then goes to sleep. Some days, she's not having it and will scream incessantly. On those days I just pick her up and nurse her to sleep and figure we'll try again later :)  I'm so proud of her sleeping habits so far though! Most days I feel pretty rested. However, with three little ones with various needs during the night, I still find myself up multiple times helping someone. I know this is just a season!

We had another surprise snow day this month! This has been an unusually cold winter. We were thankful to have Daddy at home with us for two extra days and enjoyed playing outside in the snow! We went on a walk in 17 degree weather (we did NOT realize it was that cold!) and Clara Jo slept the whole time in the Ergo! I guess she was bundled just right.

Clara is teething like crazy and is sticking anything and everything in her mouth! She gnaws on hands, blankets, toys, and will even try to get her mouth on the side of the table to gnaw! I think her bottom teeth are close to popping through! Keep at it, girlie!

Clara is in size three diapers and we're still squeezing into 6 month clothes. I know she could probably wear 9 month clothes, but I'm trying to hang on to these sweet little outfits as long as possible! She wears a bow every single day...and John Hudson becomes concerned if she doesn't have one. Hah, I'm teaching him well :) I bought some little hair ties and she's even had her first "top knot" a few times. I'm loving all that sweet hair! I haven't started cloth diapering Clara Jo....and honestly, I don't know if I will. Ya know, sometimes you just can't (or don't want to) add another chore to the list. Daniel is still in diapers and for now, that's enough extra laundry. And I'm still using diapers that were given as gifts when Clara was born (blessing!!!). We'll see how it goes as I start to run out of that stash...but for now I'm content using 'sposies on our girl.  This mama just has a lot on her plate right now!

The boys have not tired of having a little sister one single bit. She is the highlight of their days. Clara and I went out of town for one night a few weeks ago to attend a sweet friend's wedding.  When we came home, it was clear that the boys missed Clara way more than they missed me! Haha! Such a sweet relationship they all have. I am thankful God has chosen to give them all to each other and I pray that those friendships will continue to grow.

We've had a lot of sickness going around this winter.  Some days I feel like we've been coughing and snotting since November! Thankfully, Clara has been spared from a lot of it.  She had a bad cough and sniffles around Thanksgiving and hasn't had anything else until last week when she started coughing again. She had a runny nose and sneezes too.  One night we were at Michael's school for a basketball game and she vomited everywhere..twice! It was so pitiful and hard to watch. I found myself worrying so much and not even wanting to go to bed that night because I was afraid she would stop breathing, etc. Every new challenge is a reminder to trust the Lord with my sweet babies. I want to believe that He loves them more than I do and He is their ultimate Protector. I'm thankful she's much better now and totally back to her normal, smiley self. Thank you Lord!

Clara Josephine, We love you sweet girl! May your cheerfulness and gentleness be a testament to the Lord's redeeming work in your life as you Lord willing, trust in Jesus as your Savior and Lord!