Cuddling Sisters

I think it's too soon to say that Christina and Claire are bosom buddies, but at this point they are at least aware of each other.

On Christmas afternoon James was playing with all his Christmas spoils while the girls were cuddling with Brian and me on our bed. Christina was with Brian and Claire was next to me. Christina left Brian and purposefully inched her way over next Claire. It started off very sweet with the girls cuddling with their heads together. As time passed Christina got more "affectionate" with Claire, putting her hand on her face and then soon after her leg and then she tried to climb on her at which point they were separated! 

It's fun to see Christina interact affectionately with her sister. She interacts with James but in a more playful and laughing kind of way, and James is usually the instigator. So to see Christina actively interact with Claire is so sweet. I think they will be close little girls and it will be interesting to see the roles reverse as Claire grows up. For me, the hardest part about caring for Christina is that I always worry about her. It's not the long nights, or the around the clock feedings, or the constant medications. Her physical care just needs to be done, and while it can be tiring and seem difficult at times, I look at these tasks like the Nike slogan, "just do it". What really keeps me up at night (so to speak, because it is her feedings that do!) is wondering and worrying if she is happy and if she will be happy. And I often ponder how James and Claire will be with sweet little Christina when they are all grown up. At such a young age, James has already shown great kindness and patience with Christina that is beyond his years. So I hope that Christina will have forever friends in her siblings, at this point Claire and James. And seeing their kindness to her gives me hope that she will be happy and that helps me to worry less. 

Claire's Blessing Day

We blessed sweet little (actually quite chubby) Claire this past Sunday at church. Claire's blessing day was a wonderful day that we spent with Brian's parents. We tried to snap a family picture before church since we were all in our "Sunday Best" because we haven't taken a family photo with Claire yet. But oh man, they did not turn out! For starters, we are not photographers and we don't have a great camera. And then to get all five of us cooperating and looking at the camera at the same time is nearly impossible! And none of us are patient enough to get a "perfect" picture. Brian and I have only a 5 minute limit of patience and the kids only have a 4 minute limit!

This is a complete tangent and I could probably do an entire blog post on the subject, but I think people get so caught up in trying to be and appear perfect all the time (and especially in social media). People make such a fuss trying to impress others they don't even know or often even like! I'm not saying that putting your best foot forward doesn't have any merit, but all the filters, Photoshop, angles, and taking 1,000 selfies to get one photo seems so silly and self-absorbed. I say just embrace the crazy and imperfection and additionally, "Ain't nobody got time for that!" I'm thinking of just framing one of our bad pictures we snapped because that best captures our reality. Okay, ranty side-note done. If you want more on the subject just let me know!

I love this picture the best (the one above)! It just says it all. James looking at the wrong camera, mom not paying attention, Christina screaming, Brian screaming in his head but trying to smile, and Claire just sleeping through it all. This is what life is really like!

This past week Claire had her baby blessing which was given by my husband. In the Mormon Church a baby blessing is given to a new baby to announce their name and to bless them with spiritual and other temporal attributes. Brian felt especially inspired to bless her with a love of service and especially service in her own home.

As much as I could remember, this was Claire's blessing:

Our dear Heavenly Father, by the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, and in the name of Jesus Christ, we take this infant in our arms to give  her a name and blessing. The name which she will be known on the records of the church and throughout her life is Claire Eleanor Nelson. 

Claire, we bless you to understand the gospel and learn of it. We bless you to grow from your life experiences. We bless you to have the desire to covenant with our Heavenly Father. When you are able, be baptized and take Jesus's name upon you. Act as our Savior did.

We bless you to have charity and a love of service. Strive to be a righteous woman. Strive to keep the commandments and have the spirit in your life to guide you.

We bless you to seek to be like Christ which is possible through the Atonement. Strive to be like him.

We bless you to have a love of service. There will be many opportunities for service in your life. We bless you to love your siblings. You will be blessed as you serve within your own household. 

We give you this blessing, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Night Owl

Our sweet Christina is so fun between 7 pm and midnight. Our little night owl is in her element because it's finally dark. At nighttime her playful personalty really shines through! 

During the day she would be happy to just sleep most of the day in her dark and cozy crib. She certainly naps more than most toddlers do (she sleeps about as much as three week old Claire) and we don't totally fight against her natural tendency to want to roll up and nap, but we do encourage her to be awake for some of the day. She has her eating schedule that she's awake for (or at least out of bed! Sometimes she will fall asleep!) We will have cuddle and playtime during the day and then whatever outings we go on she is forced awake. 

But it is just so fun to see her interactions in the evening. She has the widest grin with double dimples that just melt your heart! And if you get her laughing you can often get her in a laugh attack where she is cackling and sometimes even snorts (like her momma!)