Toy Story on Ice

Claire and I went to Disney on Ice last Saturday with Emily and Ellen. Considering her double ear infection, she had a pretty good time. She really doesn't know the characters that well, so she definitely was not squealing every time a new one came out like Ellen was, but had fun. Highlights for her included the yellow water bottle I bought her, the bag of popcorm that the 4 of us shared (and she ate half of), the pink barbies (not to be confused with the yellow or green ones) and dancing with Ellen.

Mike's # 34

Mike celebrated his 34th birthday last week. Claire and I decorated the mantle with a home made sign and very specific balloon colors of her choosing in the morning and talked quite a bit about remembering to tell Daddy "Happy Birthday" when he picked her up from school. Guess what, she remembered! Mike got a big Happy Birthday once they were in the car headed home!

Miss Smiles

Grace is 11 weeks old now and is just a baby full of smiles and even some laughs. She has really turned into a fun little baby vs a newborn blob. Unfortunately I can't seem to capture this with a photo as she gets very "serious" and intriguied when I hold the camera up. She is also really doing a good job with her hands and can hit and grab her toys on her carseat and play mat, usually followed by a smile and a laugh...what a happy girl, it's so fun to be her mom!

Grace's Baptism

We had a very special day on the 20th of March, the first day of spring, Grace became a Christian through the sacrament of Baptism. She was very well behaved (on the other hand Claire's behavior was questionable) and she looked just adorable in her gown. Like Claire and her cousins, Maggie and Ellen, Grace wore the gown my mom made out of her wedding dress. Father Anthony managed to get holy oil on it though, so any future kiddos that need to wear it might just have a stained gown! After the baptism, we had a great lunch to celebrate. Grace's godparents are her Uncle Jake and my cousin Megan Allam, we are so thankful to have them as a special part of her life. Here are some pictures from the day!

Two G's...

Graeme and Grace...what sweetie pie's!

"Kayla"

Claire calls her cousin Mikaela, "Kayla", and it is pretty cute. They are two peas in a pod. Not sure if it is because their daddy's are twins or they just have similar demeanor, but they bonded instantly. They couldn't be more different in some ways, but they like the same toys and just speak the same language. Here are a few pics from the weekend they spent together!

Attractive...that is all I have to say about this one

Happy St. Patty's Day

The Hochberg's were festive in their green this year. Claire also enjoyed a green lunch at school due to the creativity of the school cook!

Dance Class

Claire had her first dance class last night...Tiny Two's at Leigh's School of Dance. She said she had lots of fun, but didn't get too far away from mom. The teacher was able to entice her a couple of times with sparkles on her arms and marching with glittery batons! She also loves her "dance dress"!

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

We had some pretty wet weather in March, the only good that came out of it was that Claire got to wear her raincoat and hood which she LOVED!

Pink, Pink, Pink!!!

Claire has gotten a bit easier to dress, she doesn't object so much. But certain days she does like to dictate colors that we all need to wear. More days than not it is her favorite color...PINK!

Who's Bumbo is it anyway???

Grace - 2 months old

Grace's 2 month "birthday" has come and gone, but still wanted to capture it! She shared this special day with her aunt Emily's birthday. Grace continues to grow and grow and grow and had a good 2 month check up. She was 11 lbs and 7 ounces and 22 inches long. She is doing a good job holding up her head and makes you work hard to get a smile out of her. She loves her bath time and sitting up (with help of course) to check things out and has even rolled over a few times. Here are a few pics of Grace at 2 months!

Just for Fun...

I am way behind on blog posts and have every intention of catching up, just not tonight! In the mean time, the warmer weather has caused me to dig out some of Claire's clothing when she was a baby for Grace. It's been fun to think back when Claire wore the clothing. I was comparing pictures tonight and thought I would share. Here they both are in the same dress...I think about the same age.

Claire Spelling

We have been working on writing and spelling Claire's name, usually then followed by writing other names at her command. Here I caught her doing it on her own. I will translate as this was when she was sick last week and SO CONGESTED and coughing. Those she is "spelling", clearly in order of importantce....Sasha (jake's dog), Great Grandma, Aunt Emily, Uncle Brett, Mommy and Daddy. Before I got the camera I think she had already rolled through a few others!

Coming soon to a TV near you...

We are so proud that Mike will be in Ryan's new TV spot, not to mention all those really green lawns are his customers too! What a true testament to how successful he is even though he would never admit it!

Grace - 7 weeks old

Grace continues to change and grow. She is strong and holds her head well and enjoys pushing her self upright during tummy time. She has rolled over from her tummy to her back a couple of times, and Daddy likes to work on "her crawling". : ) She has blessed her mom with the gift of night time sleep for the past couple of weeks, many times not waking up until 3 or 4am for a feeding. All that night time sleep has caused her to struggle to take naps, but we are "working on it" everyday with the goal to make sure she gets enough sleep so she is not so cranky in the evenings. She smiles at us and has a few favorite toys. She also thinks her big sister Claire is pretty great, she just watches her whenever Claire sits still long enough to make it possible! Grace loves to sit up, and most bouncers are not upright enough to her liking so we dug out this chair to be her new hangout during dinner time, etc... Today, Claire decided she wanted to sit next to Grace...see below!

Thanks Nana and Grandad!

Claire loves her new robe!

Go Cats!

Grace sportin' her wildcats gear the day after the big win over KU!

Twinkle Twinkle...I wanna see!

Good Thing Claire was born in the age of digital cameras, she likes the instant gratification of seeing her picture as soon as you take it, " I wanna see!!". It has made taking videos quite a challenge though. We have been trying to capture her singing (including hand motions) Twinkle, Twinkle little star for about a week now...this is the best we have!

Grace 5 weeks old!

Here is a video of Grace at 5 weeks talking up a storm!

I think I figured out videos...

I think I figured out how to post videos....try this. This is one I would have posted a couple of weeks ago. It is through You Tube, so just ignore the stuff that comes up at the end of the video, their recommended other videos aren't ours! : )

Claire's headband

Claire is very proud of her new headband so I had to share this photo...by the way, what happened to my baby, she looks so grown up!

Grace - 5 weeks old!

My little angel is 5 weeks old and you can tell! She is sleeping long stretches at night (thank you reflux meds and the nap nanny), smiling and talking, and is a lot more alert and active during the day and likes to play. She still loves to snuggle and has chubby cheeks that I can't resist kissing all day long. At her 1 month doctor appointment she weighed in at 10 lbs, 1 oz and is 21 inches long, growing like a weed! Here are some pics!

Fun at G&G's

Claire and Ellen had a blast playing at Grandma's, maybe we should all spend some time rolling around and squealing in a pile of stuffed animals, it looks like fun! I have a video of this event, but I think blogger no lnger allows video posts...hmmmmmm.

Baby Hochberg

Here are pictures of both Claire and Grace in the "baby hochberg" onsie, do you know which one is which??

Prince of Peace EEC School Carnival

Claire had lots of fun at her first school carnival...Pizza + popcorn, lots of games and prizes and face painting! Mom and Dad had fun too!

Like Mother like Daughter

Claire is taking after her mom....girly girl who LOVES sports, time will tell if she is an athlete or not! Check out the fairy dress up outfit + Football combination.

The Big Dig

For the 2nd year in a row, KC got dumped on with snow. As the newscasters over dramatize it, they are calling it the Blizzard of 2011. Here is Mike digging us out, his snow piles from shoveling are shoulder high and have some pretty impressive drifts around the house! Our little family has had two snow days at home together this week!

Happy Half Birthday Claire

Claire turned two and a half this week, we made cupcakes to celebrate!

Sisters

Claire and Grace hanging out in jammies!

Grace's First Month

We are almost there, Grace will be one month on Friday! We have been a busy family over the last month and have loved watching Grace grow and do new things every day. She has met her Nana, Granddad and Aunt Beth and has "bonded" with her sister Claire, or should we say Claire has "bonded" with Grace. She continues to be a good baby and sleeper which her mom appreciates. Sure, she has the normal bad nights and goes a little nuts in the evenings but overall we can't complain. She still grunts in her sleep, sometimes for hours but we have gotten used to that. She really likes her tummy time and I think would prefer to sleep that way if we let her. She grunts and moves so much in her sleep she is already getting all over her crib! Grace is also growing like a week, having outgrown all her newborn clothes that were too big on her only 3 weeks ago! She likes her toys and the mobiles over her pack and play and in the play gym. Here are some pics from the last few weeks..... Grace - 3 Week "birthday"

Lovin Tummy time

Playing with her toys, she gets pretty excited and "talks" to them!