Claire Elizabeth

She's here!

Claire Elizabeth Machak

born November 23, 2011 2:29 p.m.

19 1/2 inches, 7 pounds, 9 ounces

We are thrilled to welcome Claire into the world. She is absolutely beautiful. She looks a lot like her brother Nicholas did when he was born, except a little smaller. Compared to our memories of bringing Nicholas home, Claire has been a breeze (knocking on some wood!). . She is nursing well, and loves to be swaddled. Mommy is doing well although not back to full strength yet. Nicholas loves his baby sister Claire, and is always asking how she is doing and if she's ok when she does cry. Moe cat is taking it all in stride. We really enjoyed having GG and Grumpa (Christy's parents), Grandma and Pap Pap (David's parents), and Christy's Uncle Gene and Aunt Joyce all visit over Thanksgiving and to meet Claire in the hospital. You'll also see a few pictures of Nicholas and David with the dinosaurs--for a family outing the day before Claire arrived, we went to the Natural History Museum to check them out.

Now that it's December its full swing into Christmas season for us--we bought a mini tree at Target so we wouldn't be without this year, and Santa has already made an appearance at the Kennedy Warren Christmas Party. Claire and Nicholas have been to the Kennedy Center for Tuba Christmas and Nicholas rode the metro to Union Station to see the Choo-Choo train exhibit. We will continue to post and share pics!

Friday night on the town--at the frozen yogurt shop.

Last outing as just the three of us--at the Natural History Museum

The morning of---ready to head to the hospital

all packed and ready to go

still waiting

She's here!

Big brother meets baby Claire!

with G.G. and Grumpa Rhodes

proud parents

with Grandma and PapPap Machak

Nicholas is checking out his new sister

first bath in the hospital

all clean

cuddle time with mommy

and daddy

my two babies

ready to go home!

car seat

finally home

meeting my family--with PapPap

cuddling with Grandma

GG and Grumpa

Great Uncle Gene and Aunt Joyce

at the park--Nicholas loves the "Choo Choo"

Nicholas wanted to carry his monkey the way mommy carries baby Claire

beautiful flowers from GG and Grumpa

putting up the Christmas tree--a Nicholas-size one, with non-breakable ornaments

sponge bath! The puppy towel was Christy's when she was a baby

out and about--Kennedy Center Tuba Christmas

tummy time!

Union Station Train Exhibit

Go Buckeyes! Football and Basketball.....

Zoo Lights



they had a Thomas model train at the Zoo! Nicholas couldn't be bothered to turn around for the picture

That's all for this mega-post; we'll try to update a little more frequently from now on! We hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far.

Happy Veteran's Day!

There's a fairly good chance that the next blog entry will be welcoming our baby girl. In the meantime, here are some pics of our last week or two in DC. Christy finished training at FSI so now we are just home enjoying time with Nicholas making last-minute preparations for baby's arrival.








I was trying to capture a picture of Nicholas's patriotic Veteran's Day outfit, but the toolbox was much more appealing....

21 gun salute at Arlington National Cemetary

Obama's motorcade was driving by on the road at the bottom of the hill, but it was hard to get a picture

it was a nice day, but chillier than it's been

flag at half-mast

JFK's grave, the eternal flame is going although you can't really see it in the picture

pretty view

Nicholas loves his new tool belt!

Christy's friend Chelsia hosted a very nice baby shower

baby shower

the playroom in our apt complex

The Spy Museum had a trabant exhibit--we couldn't pass it up!

they even had a German band!

that's a pretty good baby bump picture too.... it feels like she's coming any day now!

Daddy carved Nicholas a Mickey Mouse pumpkin! Sooo cool!!!

We're Back in DC!

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but we are back in DC! Grandma and PapPap Machak met us at the airport, and helped us settle in to our new apartment, right next to the National Zoo. We enjoyed real American breakfast, and some beautiful fall weather. After a quick trip to Ohio we are pretty much settled, and Christy is taking a course at FSI. It's quickly getting cold and we actually got snow today!

We are enjoying seeing our friends, American food, and our new technology--Christy's Ipad2 and David's new Iphone. Our camera has unfortunately gone kaputt, but here are a few pics we captured before then:

Sunday brunch at the Mariott Wardman Park

Nicholas loves the Zoo!

getting ready to head to our apartment's (indoor) pool. Nicholas insisted on wearing his new froggy rainboots

We went to Boo in the Zoo (a trick or treating event at the National Zoo) with some friends we got to know in Berlin who are now also in DC. Their daughter is a few months older than Nicholas, and dressed up as Elmo for Halloween. Nicholas loved her! He kept trying to hug her and hold "Elmo's" hand!

Birthday Bonanza and other Happenings

Wow it's been a busy month and a half. We are busy packing to come home! Meanwhile, since we've last blogged, we've had a lot to celebrate: all three of us had birthdays, David took a trip to Miami to meet up with his dad and see Ohio State play, the ladies at the embassy threw Christy a baby shower, and Christy got promoted, which she found out about on her birthday. This weekend is just relaxing and packing, although we did make it to a "rum pool party" on Friday night, at which Nicholas learned the electric slide. A snapshot of the last month or so:






Christy's baby shower:

Chattin' and Cookin':

Christy's 30th Birthday:

Nicholas's 2nd Birthday (poppy paper!):

Surprise party at Chagauramas Golf Course restaurant for David's 30th and Nicholas's 2nd:

Next post will be from DC!!!!