just some pictures

as requested!

the little muchkin played hard! shes soooo tired!

instead of just sucking her thumb, she just sticks her whole fist in. much better that way

claire bear just bumming around

santa's little helper!

hey santa

thank you kelsie and marci for the cute santa/christmas outfits! we think she is adorable. pretty much. and everyone in the line at the mall thought she was precious. there was even a little boy that wanted to hold her. AND she did really well with santa and didn't cry. what a champ!

happiness

um whose tongue did she get?

cuddle bug

just a little enjoyment

love this tub of chub

i can't get mad at this face. i'm thinking about eating her right up.

Claire Laughing

Claire was being so funny today. She has found her little laugh and we can't get enough of it. We have also found out that she is ticklish and we are having a lot of fun exploiting that new found discovery. She is getting so big and we estimate she is over 12 lbs now. She is getting nice and chunky. She has a funny sense of humor too; she likes to tease us. If one of us is holding her and the other one of us tries to give her a kiss, then she will lean back to try and avoid us. Then she'll get this little grin on her face and she thinks it's sooo funny. She's going to fit in nicely with our family. We are all little tricksters around here.

good morning sleepy head!

thats what i said to this happy, sleepy little munchkin this morning. why? because she slept for 8 hous straight last night! i'm pretty sure this isn't totally normal, but it made me happy. joe and i each woke up this morning freaking out because we had been asleep for so long without her waking up, and we each had to go check to make sure she was still breathing. the trick to getting her to sleep for this long? only taking 1/2 hour naps all day. i am convinced that she just doesn't want to ever miss out on anything, and has to know whats going on.

and she loooooves watching football with her daddy. really, she gets transfixed on the tv sometimes. future football cheerleader?

its coming....

pictures and updates are coming!

claire turned one month on wednesday- i can't figure out where the month went, but it flew by!

christmas is only 19 days away- 19 days! can you believe it? we're staying in utah for christmas this year, sad :( but it will be nice to just have some down time to oursleves and gear up for next semester. its gonna be a crazy few months while we are both in school and he is working, but we'll make it work somehow.

and i got on my wedding band today. joy in the little things!

here's a little preview

little bundle of joy!

he's got talent

he can spit pumpkin seeds really well! better than a group of eight-to-twelve year-olds anyways. most of them could only get about 8 feet. he got about 30. talent!

they grow up so fast....

she's two weeks old today! and we discovered that she is already on her way to crawling. well its more of a frog hop, but there is some forward motion going on!

you must do this now!

if you didn't see oprah today, you must go here to get a free photo book printed by snapfish from oprah! i'm trying to decide what i want to use my free photo book for.... i'm thinking a sweet book with pictures of claire. what will you use yours for??? you have to decide quick- you have until midnight on friday to order!

she's a chunker!

we took claire in for a check-up today. a little early for her two-week appointment, but we were a little worried she had some jaundice. her lab tests came back negative! the doctor and nurses were impressed though- she was a little angel baby! she was awake and alert the whole time, and hardly made a sound when they had to test her gag reflex and prick her heel. she even gave the doc a smile at one point- he was highly suprised. we keep thinking that her good behavior is too good to be true, but everyday she gets even happier.

she just sleeps and eats.....

normally babies loose a little weight after they are born. not out 'little bug'! she is 9 lbs. 5 1/2 oz now and grew to 21 1/2 inches. (we didn't measure after the cone head went away....) she can eat like its going out of style, and then some. she only wakes up a couple times in the night to eat, and then she's back down in no time.

.... and eats and sleeps! sometimes she eats a little too much....

a little cougar fan in the making

we spent the day just kinda chilling, watching football and hanging out with friends. we got this little onsie for her to wear, and i'm sure that we won because she was cheering on the team the whole time! she's doing so great still, and is a greatlittle eater- couldn't ask for better.

'oh the drama!'

update!

*be sure to keep scrolling down for pictures!*

sorry this has taken sooooo long. i've been enjoying spending time with the newest love of my life! its incredible to think that i already love her so much, when she's only four days old! she is the sweetest thing, and she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger already!

i'm recovering pretty well! keeping busy with a newborn makes you forget about all the hard work that went in to getting her here! one of the few things that i remember really well from the delivery was the strange sensation of having a baby kicking around inside, and then the next minute she's in my arms. so wierd, but amazing all at the same time.
i'm sure there will be plenty more where this came from! be sure to check out my sister lindsay's blog and my mom's blog for more pictures and updates!

since we've been home

a couple pics since we've gotten home....

playing dress up!

she loves her accessories! or maybe lindsay just likes treating her like a barbie doll..... kidding!

all wrapped up in the blankie her ya-ya made her! she loves it!
she actually doesn't mind bath time too much! just the cold after she is done. but then she loves the attention she gets from everyone because we all LOVE the smell of a newborn freshly bathed!

some hospital pictures!

all out of order..... too lazy to fix that.

she loves sleeping like this. i hope it lasts a while! and this is such a sick picture of me, but she's beautiful and thats all that matters.

in the nursery getting all cleaned up! still had a cone head....

such a proud grandma!

this was funny- so we woke up wednesday to a snowstorm. great. so mom brought in her big coat/bag so she would be warm, and the hospital has to check to make sure that we have a suitable carseat and that she gets strapped in correctly. there was so much fluff she almost couldn't get strapped in!

she loves her aunt lindsay!

sucking away!

she has arrived! cone head and all.....

how did she all fit in there?

my doc- richard holmes. love the man. amazing.

she made it safely here!

we got the call for the induction at 5 in the morning on monday saying we needed to bere there at six. we (joe, my mom and i) jumped into action and made it over to the hospital, and got all checked in. then the waiting game began. it took a while to get things going, and the pain meds are probably to thank for that, but i am so greatful for them! i was 'flying high' on the epidural but it felt great so no complaining here. mom and joe were great coaches the whole time, and lindsay was a great support to have there too! almost 18 hours after getting to the hospital and just minutes before midnight claire elizabeth brewer made her entrance into this world!

i am the lucky wife of a guy who was 12 lbs at birth, and i was 9 lbs 10 oz, and generally you pass those traits on. i knew this was gonna be a big baby, but i somehow hid the weight really well. they thought that claire would only be about 7 1/2 pounds, and the hospital won't let you be induced unless you are a week past your due date, so there was no getting her out earlier. they had to use the vacuum to get her out, and in the end had we known she would be this big the doctor would most likely have done a c-section, because she was not wanting to come out on her own!

she is truly a little angel, and barely made a peep when she came out. all she would do at first is whimper a little and give up. even after smacking her heel while the nurses were checking her out almost didn't get anything out of her! she has since changed her tune a little, but she is still a calm and peaceful little bundle of joy. she is also a great little eater- she came out and started sucking on both her hands almost immediately! what a blessing that has been.

t minus 48 hours!

lucky for me (right?) i am still 'prego' and huge! but by monday night- hopefully- it will all be over.... or just beginning? we are 'scheduled' for an induction on monday, and it couldn't come sooner! i use scheduled hesitantly because there is not a set time, i just have to wait til they call me and say there is a bed available. which could be any time of the day..... which also means she may not be here til tuesday.

and so you know.... i have tried basically everything anyone has suggested, and still no luck. walking the aisles of every store i can think of, different foods, physical activities, more walking, a pedicure, cleaning the floors, even hiking the Y for crying out loud. but no such luck. it must be really comfortable in there!

next post will hopefully have pictures! i might post one last 'prego' pic, but if not we'll see ya on the flip side! my mom will keep her blog updated, so check here on monday! also.... before monday you should click over to my mom's blog and leave a comment with a guess of how much she weighs, and you might win a prize!

oh and don't worry- we went in for a non-stress test at the hospital on wednesday and they did a quick ultrasound and confirmed that yes, we are still having a girl. :)

mamma bear is here!

i love my mammacita!

we've been having a grand time ever since she got here two weeks ago! she came for the birth of her first grandchild, but since that hasn't happened yet, we've had to keep ourselves busy with..... well lots of things.

mostly its been getting everything ready for the baby- going shopping for supplies, and getting the nursery ready! last night we declared the room 'done' so hopefully this baby will get the hint and get here soon! we- well mostly mom, okay so all mom- have been doing some sewing and quilting, and visited tons of family and friends.

a couple days ago (on my due date!) mom decided it would be a great idea if we took matters into our own hands to get this baby out on her due date, and we got up on an absolutely gorgeous day and hiked the Y!

a great workout, we even passed a family on the way up, but to no avail- the baby is still in there kicking away! every time i look outside and see the Y now i think to myself- i climbed that when i was nine months pregnant! but i am not sure which is harder- doing that hike when it was 3 in the afternoon and over 100 degrees outside or being full term.... we did it in the same amount of time so i just don't know!

here's the latest pic- pretty much all belly, and a lot of swelling. don't judge!

so what have we been up to?

its been a while.... here's what we've been up to!

i hate to admit this: a few weeks ago joe won the first four seasons of the office at a work party. and we've been watching it ever since. we are almost done- a new episode tonight!

i've been told that the things i have occupied myself with lately is a serious case of 'nesting'. what exactly does this mean?

v. intr.
To build or occupy a nest.
To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
To fit together in a stack.

v. tr.
To place in or as if in a nest.
To put snugly together or inside one another: to nest boxes.

i guess if a severe cleaning, organizing, rearranging, decorating, painting, shopping, dusting, scrubbing, scrapbooking, planning, cooking, etc etc. falls into that description, then thats what i've been doing. it's been fun, but sometimes i do miss school.... just kidding its been fabulous to have a break from school and work, but i know that the hardest work is on its way, so i'm sleeping and resting as much as possible!

joe has been busy with school.... and he's doing so great! this is one of his best semesters so far, and i am so proud of him! hope he can keep it up!

a couple weeks ago some friends threw a baby shower and it was so fun! we didn't get any pictures, (i know, lame!) but a big shout-out to katie and jessie hosting and throwing it! this baby will seriously have one of the best wardrobes out there! thanks to everyone there!

last weekend was conference weekend and it was crazy but so much fun! chris drove out from california, marshall came over, and the four of us siblings plus joe and chris's girlfriend made for quite the party! it was great for all of us to get together, and we really missed sarah! can't wait to see you guys again over thanksgiving!

and i've been growing. exponentially. i've got a squishy basketball attatched to my belly that gets in the way and kicks whenever she wants. i promise i'm nine months pregnant- the scale confirms this, the million trips to the bathroom remind me, and the contractions that leave me sore for several hours won't let me forget.


but we are happy, healthy, and cheering on our byu cougars this weekend- top ten baby!

thank you jim-

for proposing finally! we were cheering for you guys!

for those farther away!

just wanted to share what i'm lookin' like these days for those that can't come see!

black and white cookie disaster!

yesterday linds was craving cookies. so we decided to try out a recipe for the famed "black and white cookies" found only in NYC. her roomie carly came over and we got to work like the gourmet chefs we are, and slaved for three hours to make these cookies. and three hours later, none of us could finish a single cookie. they were straight sugar! we didn't realize the frosting would be so thick! we used about twice as much as we should have..... haha at least we had a good time doing it, right? now i'm sure these cookies are really good- so i'll give you the recipe. BUT with this caution- make the frosting thinner than you think you should, and don't put too much on! if it starts to get too thick, reheat it and add some more water. (if you REALLY want to know, ask lindsay where the recipe came from....)

Black and White CookiesAdapted from a bunch of places, but mostly Zabar’s
Traditional black and white cookies are BIG and LOUD, not unlike the New Yorkers that made them famous. Preferring everything on the daintier side, I’ve made them very small before, but this time went for a nice medium size.
Yield: About 2 dozen very large cookies, 60 medium (I used a scoop 1 3/4 inches in diameter that yielded 3-inch cookies) or so many cookies that you might lose your mind frosting them if you go tinier. I’m just saying.
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature4 large eggs1 1/2 cups milk1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/4 teaspoon lemon extract2 1/2 cups cake flour2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/2 teaspoon baking powder1/2 teaspoon salt4 cups confectioners’ sugar1/3 to 1/2 cup water3 ounces very bitter or unsweetened chocolate1 teaspoon light corn syrup.1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 baking sheets with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter. Mix by machine or hand until fluffy. Add eggs, milk and vanilla and lemon extracts, and mix until smooth.
3. In medium bowl, combine cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt. Stir until mixed. Add dry mixture to the wet in batches, stirring well after each addition. Using a soup spoon, place heaping spoonfuls of the dough 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake until edges begin to brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool completely.
4. Boil a cup or so of water in a small pot. Place confectioners’ sugar in large, heat-safe mixing bowl. Gradually stir in enough boiling water to the sugar to make a thick, spreadable mixture. Err on the side of caution because a too-thin frosting is hard to undo. Leave remaing boiling water on the stove.
5. Spread frosting on half of the flat side of each cookie. Once all cookie halves have been frosted, place the bowl of the remaining frosting over the hot water and bring it back to a simmer (creating a double-boiler). Stir in the bitter or unsweetened chocolate until melted, as well as the light corn syrup. At this point, depending on the chocolate you used and your preferences, you might find the chocolate color to be a little lighter than the “black” of a black-and-white cookie. If so, I find that a tablespoon or so of cocoa mixed in darkens the color nicely.
6. Ice the remaining half of the cookies with the chocolate frosting. I find that the chocolate–especially with cocoa in it–is especially prone to getting too dry, so don’t worry about whisking in an extra teaspoon of that hot water from time to smooth it back into a shiny frosting.
7. Let the frosting set. Store in an airtight container. These cookies keep for a few days, but I think they’re best on the first or second. Because of the cake nature of the bases, they can get stale quickly. However, this is really a non-issue as I have yet to make a batch that didn’t get polished off in no time

hopefully someone can do this faster than the three hours it took us!

what joy can be found in utah

this is a list of things that i came up with last night about why i am glad we are back in utah. i couldn't sleep- i was dreading it because i knew that i would be getting up in a couple hours to head to the bathroom anyways, and was just waiting for it. and i took a nap at 830 pm. yay for being pregnant!

1. family

lindsay- shouldn't you be looking where you are driving?

2. friends

friends i miss you!

3. mountains

these make it sooo much easier to know where i am going! anyone who doesn't like mountains is crazy!

4. my home.
home is currently under construction. will post later!

5. byu football

59-0. need i say more???? (i will say that joe thought i was going to go into labor during the first game against washington, thats how excited, tense, nervous, etc. i was! i really love cougar football!)

6. things you can only get in utah

rhode's frozen rolls- cinnamon rolls, orange rolls, dinner rolls, caramel rolls.......

7. no traffic

you have to understand what the traffic is like in our nation's capital. i will never again complain about the traffic in utah! it is NOTHING compared to what you will find in dc. the only time it is ever bearable is maybe 11 pm. even then, you have to plan out your route pretty carefully because of construction.

really, these are just a few of the things that i have missed. now there are plenty of things that i didn't miss- but this is a happy post so i will leave it at that. oh utah, how i have missed you! now all you have to do is keep up the weather pattern that we have enjoyed since getting back here and you will be perfect.

we made it!

we are still settling in a bit, and getting ready for this baby to come, but we made it back safely to utah! lets back it up a bit and update where we left off- the week before we left dc:

we celebrated our one-year anniversary by making a quick little trip down to williamsburg, va for a day of sight-seeing! it was so nice to get away from work and just be with each other, especially because we would be separated later on that week....

governor's palace

in the stocks!

later that week i flew to st. louis a few days before joseph was done working to go see my family before we have baby claire. again- so nice to not be working and just relax! i was feeling guilty the whole time because he was still working like crazy.... while i was there some friends from my family's home ward got together and threw me a fun shower! it was sooo nice of them and we had tons of fun! thanks again heather and kirstin!

these girls know how to party :)

we then had a crazy couple days scrambling to get back to utah before school started last tuesday. i had tried to clean our apartment and pack as much as possible, but i had some stuff at work that HAD to be done before i left that i wasn't expecting to do, so after a loooong day of work he cleaned and stuffed the car-literally- and got to st. louis as quickly as the speed limit would allow. we decided he was too tired to drive straight through, and i would need to stop halfway between st. louis and utah, so we took our time. we left that monday morning, and it was a pretty long drive but we made it as interesting as possible. we had some friends that were taking the same route as us, and we met up with them every so often when we filled up with gas and stopped for food. we also made this quick little detour through liberty, missouri. joe had never seen the 'seashell' temple of the church of Christ. i decided he needed to see it so we stopped, used the LDS visitor's center bathroom, took a a picture and left. we then spent the next part of the drive discussing whether or not the spiral had stairs He would walk down or if He was supposed to slide.....

we rolled into town last tuesday night and have been moving ever since. joe started school right away, got all settled into his classes, and i've been putting the house back together and getting a nursery ready! i decided i needed to be more 'domestic' again- i had zero time to do that this summer, and have been making every meal and trying to develop some 'skills' in the sewing deparment by crocheting burp cloths and a blanket. so far so good! my mom is so talented with sewing, and i just did not inherit that gene, so i have to work extra hard. ask my sister lindsay- my hands just have a hard time with that stuff. anyways... we are getting ready to paint a few walls, etc. pictures to come!