Real Food, Cousin Emerald & is it really Winter?

Wow... long time no post blog fans. Sorry about that.. I can't believe the month of November is almost gone and that Christmas is only a few weeks away.. wow. CRAZY

Time flies when all is good and fun.

As the title indicates Claire has embarked on real food. There was a bit of a rice cereal shortage in the Seattle Metro area for a week or so there so we got a little later start than we had anticipated. It was funny to get weekly updates from our Peps group on where people were finding rice cereal and where they were not.. it was quite the adventure. But after securing some rice cereal we gave it a good try!

Claire really took to the highchair and loved having such a large play field out in front of her to smack toys and food around on. Our little bear looks super tiny in her big high chair... but with the ways things are going she'll fill it out in no time. At the last Dr's visit this past week she was at 16 lbs 7oz a whole 8 oz more than at her 4 month visit.

We've moved on to avocado and peas now too! This next week will bring the introduction of banana's and pears! Good times in the Herrman house.

We had the fun fortune of another BEAUTIFUL Seattle day today. Its been just absolutely gorgeous weather wise. Its hard to imagine that a year ago this time we were getting settled in and the rain seem to be non stop. We drove over to the West Seattle lookout on our routine weekend drive adventures through new neighborhoods of Seattle and took the picture above.

Yesterday also marked the 101st Washington State Apple Cup game. If you have to ask what that is.. well that's just too bad. Claire suited up early on game day and sent a picture of her school spirit to all of her family Cougar fans. I am so excited to announce that through a double OT the cougars game out victors (for my employer not the best outcome but for my family a great one..)

The Badgers just barely pulled out a win at home over Cal Poly (ridiculous - but a win all the same) and Colorado is up against Nebraska next weekend - Go BUFFS!

My best friend in High school Becky Morgan flew out this weekend/week from Fairbanks, Alaska to make the rounds to friends and family. She had her daughter Emerald just about 6 weeks before Claire was born - Becky & I are almost exactly a month apart in age so it was special to be pregnant and having girls at the same time. Its incredible how life plays out. I'm hoping we can see each other regularly enough in our girls lives to keep up on fun stories and ideas of what is in store for us in the not so distant future. Here is Claire sharing her foot with Emerald. Emerald is a champ at sitting up and so close to crawling! It was great to get a sneak preview of what may just be a few weeks off!
It was moving day for cousin Olivia yesterday -moving up in the world so to speak from the ground floor to the 7th. After the dog park we headed over to help on moving day. Claire and I didn't really do much to help out moving... but we cheered family on as Dad helped carry the heavy stuff. It is always good to see Olivia, Chris and Cassandra and we hope we can see much more of them over the weeks to come. It was great to see Sue and Jack too! Everyone was such a good sport about the outcome of the game.. a fitting end to a long long season (well almost end)

Claire's first flight is coming up.. with much anticipation. Out to Wisconsin to see family and friends in the Midwest. Good stories I'm sure to share when we return.

Happy Thanksgiving blog fans. We give thanks for your love and support this holiday season - may our paths cross in the near future.