Clara gets her wings

This weekend I was accused by a beloved mission companion of having "fallen off the face of the planet."  With righteous indignation I replied that I had FB'd and blogged (since I had promised myself that I would NOT be the person who somehow disappears into the recesses of her inner sanctum once a baby comes along - I like reading regularly updated blogs as much as the next person and I will do my part to make sure that there is content for similarly minded folks out there like me.  You're welcome.)  But then I realized that it had been a FULL WEEK since I last posted, and that is borderline getting behind for me. 

So since baby-girl looks like this right now, I thought I would do some catching up:

My mom flew to Texas the day after Paul left to help me with our little Clara-belle and to keep me company until our ICPC clearance went through.  We had lots of girl time.  Clara LOVES to cuddle right up under my neck, which is maybe my favorite thing ever, even if it means taking breaks in between curling my hair in the morning.

Baby-girl looks so darling in her jim-jams.  She likes to feel her face and her hair and has been very good about not scratching herself.  This makes me happy because it means I don't have to constantly put gloves on her.

While my mom was in Dallas with us, we went with Kayli and her cousins to the 6th Floor Museum to read about the events leading up to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  The museum is on the same floor where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots that ended the President's life.  It was creepy but fascinating.  I have a picture of us in front of the grassy knoll in front of the building but it is on Paul's camera and I can't figure out how to upload it right now.

While we were eating lunch before going to the museum, I got word from our caseworker that Clara and I had been cleared to leave the state of Texas.  So we booked tickets, packed our bags, and on Thursday - exactly 2 weeks after Clara's birth - we headed to California.  It was really hard saying goodbye to Kayli and to her family.  Kayli came over Thursday morning to see us off and we hugged and cried.  We love her so much.  Then it was time to head to the airport. 

I dropped my mom off at curbside check-in with all of our luggage and Clara then returned the car to the rental place.  Then we went through security, grabbed lunch, and waited at our gate before boarding our U.S. Airways flight.  Clara was pretty excited

But she pretty much zonked out before we even took off and she slept almost the entire day.  She didn't cry once.  Seriously, she is the sweetest baby and such a good traveler.  My mom and I took turns holding her while she slept. 

Paul and my dad were waiting at the airport for us when we got off the plane.  Paul had made a cute sign that said "Welcome Home Amy & Clara!"  He took Clara from me and just held her while my mom, dad, and I got our luggage and took it out to the cars.  When we got home we discovered some beautiful gifts from friends, including this darling handmade bib from my friend Sarah, who is currently working hard to find their baby to adopt.

Clara is doing awesome and we are completely enamored with our little sweetie.  She is chunking up pretty well and we are going to her first appointment with her pediatrician today to see how much weight she has gained and whether she has grown at all.  Last night she went to sleep at about 10:00, woke up at 1:00 to eat for 15 minutes, slept until 5:00, took another 3 ounces, and has been asleep since 5:30 again (it is now 8:30).  I am fully aware that she is making the transition to parenthood really easy on us.  Thank you sweet girl, from the bottom of my heart. 

I have a couple more posts soon to come, including a quick backyard photo shoot of the three of us in our church clothes (I couldn't resist dressing Clara up even if she stayed behind with Grandma while Paul and I went to Sacrament Meeting), and a series of posts documenting Clara's adoption story from the beginning (which maybe has been told in parts here and there on the blog, but I wanted to record it for her).  Stay tuned!