Isabelle loves our baby!

The other day, I was upstairs putting ANOTHER load of laundry in the washer.  Isabelle was downstairs because my dad had let the dogs out after lunch and Isabelle stayed in the basement when he left.  Isabelle let out a little "roof" from the bottom of the stairs, and I figured that she realized I was upstairs and wanted to join me.  I said, "Just a minute, Isabelle, I'll be right down" because she understands English.  She roofed again, not loudly, just a "hey, lady, I'm trying to get your attention" noise.  I said, "just a minute" again.  It had been about two minutes total before I walked back down the stairs and she wasn't sitting at the bottom of the stairs like normal, she was sitting at the end of the hallway to our bedroom.  It turns out, the baby had woken up and was crying!  Isabelle was telling me to take care of her!  Right after I picked Clare up, I gave Isabelle a big scratch on her head--she's such a good dog!

One month old!

I can't believe our baby is a month old!  These last 30 days have flown by and Clare has grown exponentially.  We feel so blessed to have a baby who sleeps and eats well, is happy when she's fed and not tired and loves to snuggle.  Yup, she fits right in.  :)  Not ones to stay at home, we've already had her out on a number of adventures. 

We took her "camping" (out to Branched Oak Lake with Grammy & Granddad when they were camping)

We spent Father's Day with Tyler's mom's family.  Uncle Cameron is a pro with the pint-sized set.

We had her play in the garden...

...and meet her Uncle Andy, Aunt Betsy and Great-Grandpa Anderson.

She was baptized on Sunday, June 27th at Southwood, where we were married.

Our last supper before Tyler left was with his family, on the screened-in porch.  Note the matching shirts that Tyler didn't notice all day until someone pointed it out at supper. :)

We went to a house-warming party for Tyler's cousin Stasia, where Clare bonded with our Aunt Sally and Stasia's daughter Anna.

The next month promises to be a little bit quieter but no less fun, as we head to Minnesota for the first time!  I have mosquito netting for the baby.

Finally!

Clare Saafia Guenzel was born on Friday, June 11 at 9:19am.  We have quickly gotten used to each other and now it feels like she's been a part of our lives forever!  We didn't even realize we were missing something...  The last few days have passed by in a blur but we're trying to treasure (and document!) every single second.  Be sure to check out our Shutterfly site for the most recent pictures.  Welcome to the world, Baby!
http://tylerandlaurag.shutterfly.com/

Ready for baby and puppy love

We're just hanging out and waiting for Bambina to arrive.  Tyler figures that she's my child, so that's why she's late.  We're not surprised. 

We've had a lot of fun in the last week, doing last minute errands, spending time with our families, putting together the swing and taking a LOT of walks.  Isabelle has also LOVED having Tyler home and pretty much does not leave his side.  I could SO get used to this!

Tyler's mom's family gave us a swing a few weeks ago

that I saved for Tyler to put together.

My dad and I put the crib together a few weeks ago, now complete with toys, wall decorations and a beautiful quilt from my grandma.

On Friday night, we spent the evening with Cameron and Annie and their new puppy Daisy.  She's half golden retriever and half something else but all cute!  Cameron seems to enjoy putting her into things...

If we're this excited about a new puppy, whatever will happen with a new baby?  Stay tuned!

Shower time!

My fabulous friend Sarah came to Lincoln a couple of weeks ago with her PRECIOUS girls to throw me the best shower EVER.  Our "warm up" game was guess the famous mothers--Mother Goose, Mother Nature, etc.  Next, we played Name That Tune with a CD made by Sarah's extraordinarily talented mama, Melody, and Corrine got every answer right!  She won a darling little cupcake gift basket with a cupcake apron and cupcake mix, a cupcake tin and a gift box for sharing the completed treats.  So cute!  The last game was Guess the Baby Item in a Paper Bag, where you had to feel the item through the bag and figure out what it was.  I actually won (I've played it a lot!) but Diann was the second runner up with 11 right out of 12, so she won another cupcake gift with a cupcake cookbook, cupcake notepad and bookmark and a cupcake oven mitt.  She said that she'll share it with her granddaughter, Alyssa, who helped pick out my gift.  It was a BEAUTIFUL turtle that baby can play with in the bathtub--love it!  We ate heavenly caramel rolls prepared by my momma, Maurina's delicious fruit salad and pretty pink punch.  There were, of course, also Hershey's kisses and yummy mints that said "It's a Girl."  Twelve lovely ladies attended and gave me, I mean, Bambina, some beautiful gifts!  We had a great time and it kind of makes me sad that it's over.  Maybe when we have Baby Number Two I can have another one?