Happy Halloween!

More eating

Click here for the full album.

Trying real food for the first time

Well, it's just rice cereal, but her facial expressions were priceless. Full photo album here.

Beautiful fall day in Snohomish

Fun trip to Stocker Farms Pumpkin Festival in Snohomish (about 30 minutes north of Kirkland) with the Gill's today. Clara's looking forward to carving her pumpkins. Pictures from the trip here.

We ordered her Halloween costume this week as well. Can't wait...

Gameday with Grandpa

Grandpa Heinz came over to watch the Huskies and Notre Dame this afternoon, and of course to spend time with Clara. Thanks Grandpa and Cher for the great hat!

Pictures of the afternoon here.

Lazy Sunday

We got a new camera, so some of these photos are a little blurry as we figured out the right settings. But there are some great pictures of Clara, Beth and Lucy here.

Clara at Remlinger Farms

This weekend we took Clara to Remlinger Farms for the start of their Fall Festival. It'll be perfect for Clara in a couple years, but all three of us had a great time on the train, in the petting zoo, and just sitting on benches in the nice early fall weather.

Lots of great pictures of Clara (and mom & dad) smiling!

Click here for the full photo gallery on Kodak Picture Gallery.

Clara in September

Beth's been taking some great pictures of Clara this month. Here are a bunch together in another Kodak Photo Gallery.

Clara throughout August

Here's a handful of pictures of Clara from the past month...

Sleeping at school

Beth's getting her classroom ready today, and took the bug with her. She helped this morning, but needed a nap after lunch...

Clara in Sepia

Clara and Daddy

More pictures of Clara (and Lucy, and Poppy)

Here are several new pictures of Clara, as well as a couple of Lucy and the dearly-departed Poppy.

We got a smile!

Every once in awhile, Clara surprises us with a smile. We got a couple good ones on camera, this is one of our favorites.

Baby close-ups

Shots

Clara had her first three shots yesterday. Not a happy camper, but at least she came away with some really cool puppy band-aids.

Sleepy Bug

Matt & Clara sleeping

Still the best part of my day.

Rosabelle Sparkle wants a change

I think she got jealous of seeing Clara get so much attention on the changing table, so figured she'd just wait for the next round of excitement.

Mom & Clara sleeping

Too many errands, must sleep...

Clara with Grandpa Heinz

Megan with Clara

Aunt Megan comes to visit

Aunt Megan (Matt's sister) came to visit bearing gifts. Here's the beautiful quilt she made, as well as a shot of Clara already enjoying its warmth.

How big did she get?

The Sunday before Clara was born, I snapped this photo from my phone of Beth. It's the last decent picture we have depicting just how big her belly got.

Beth & Clara

Gorgeous weather these past few days in Seattle, so plenty of fresh air for Clara!

Grandma Meets Clara

Matt's mom came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. She cooked up a storm (we're still eating!), and had plenty of cuddle time with Clara. More photos from her visit here.

Clara's first bottle

Seamless. Unbelievable. Can't say enough about the adiri bottles.

And, yes, I was as serious, focused and nervous as the picture implies.

Clara with Uncle Zandy

Beth, Papi & Clara

Happi Papi & Clara

Clara, meet Papi

Clara's maternal grandpa has been up from Reno the past few days, and we've all enjoyed his visit thoroughly. In addition to plenty of cuddle time with Clara, he's made us some fantastic meals (and put up with some of Matt's experimental cocktail recipes).

We'll be sad to see him on a plane back home tomorrow, but know he'll be back soon.

Clara's first photo shoot

Saturday morning, we invited Susan Berman from Whimsical Photo Design to the house to take some pictures of Clara. Here are her first few photos from the shoot.

First Mother's Day

Matt and Clara took new mama to Flower World today, easily the biggest nursery Beth has ever seen. She was like a kid in a candy store. Afterward, the whole family enjoyed time in the adjoining park and animal farm, then came home to a BBQ steak dinner.

Happy Mother's Day!

How early is too early?

She may not have any idea what I'm talking about, but most days the past week Clara and I have watched baseball. I do my best to describe what's going on, which teams she's expected to root for and which she's expected to, well, not.

At a Dr. appointment earlier this week I found this hat. No-brainer.

Meeting Grandpa

Proud Grandpa Heinz came for a visit last night. Clara was quite content to nap in his arms.

More out-of-town family will be arriving later this month, we can't wait for them to meet our little girl.

The best part of my day

I could get really used to this. Usually right after she's been happily fed, Clara racks out and will sleep for at least 90 minutes. The best part of my day is having her asleep on my chest. It puts an awful lot of things in perspective.

First post-hospital doctor's visit for Clara this morning. All looks good.

First bath at home

Happy mom, unhappy kid. But her hair and skin were squeaky clean after!

Diaper-changing time has also become somewhat of a game for Clara - I swear she knows what she's doing when we get a diaper almost changed, and she decides to let go with just a little more - all over the changing table, the clothes she's wearing, whatever. It's happened enough times now I think she's testing us. Thank goodness for extra wipes!

First Weekend

More pictures. She's got to be the cutest sleeper I've ever seen, which is great because she's doing a LOT of sleeping.

More pictures from the first couple days

Here's a library of photos from the first couple days. We had many visits from friends on Thursday, and yesterday was a good day for settling in at the house.

Racked out at home

We got home around noon today, and have been settling in since. Clara is doing great - sleeping, eating, pooping, crying, then everything all over again (not necessarily in the same order).

Lucy has also been great. We've started calling her "third watch" since she gets very alert and worried when Clara cries.

We have tons more pictures from the past couple days, will get them up here soon.

Sleeping beauty

She's been sleeping most of the day today, occasionally making one of those cute baby grunts or sighs. Mom and dad have spent plenty of time just staring at her, a bit in shock that she's actually here.

Baby Doctor

Here's Clara with Dr. Sontrop, who has cared for Beth throughout her pregnancy and will be Clara's doctor now as well. She's been awesome for all three of us.

Beautiful girl

Happy Papa

Super Mom

Happy (and a little tired) mama is doing very well the morning after. Here's a quick shot of mom and Clara after another successful nursing.

Hello, world!

Meet Clara Mabelle Heinz. She was born last night at exactly 11:00 p.m. after almost 20 hours of labor. Proud mama is tired, but she and baby are doing just fine.

She's 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 19 inches long, and already starting to nurse and sleep just fine.

More pictures soon...