Claire 9 months

Happy 9 months!!!

Playing on her musical toolbench

Go Red Raiders!!!

Little cubs on Halloween

Family pic in Aspen

We are now three months shy of Claire's one year birthday. It's crazy just how much they grow in such a short amount of time. This past month has been very busy as she does not stay in the same place for very long. She's cruising around furniture, chasing max on her hands and knees, dancing to anything with a beat, emptying the pantry, walking while pushing her musical walker, and cutting teeth like crazy. These pictures are a recap of what we've been up to this past month. We took our first little mini family vacation up to Colorado for a few days and had a wonderful time walking, eating, and relaxing. Claire got to see it snow for the first time while we were there. We are looking forward to the holidays which are right around the corner.

8 months

Daddy, why do you put my stockings on my head?

















Thank you Gigi for the cute outfit!






















Here we are at the zoo! It was a little sunny that afternoon.

Here's my pumpkin that I picked out at the Farmer's Market. However, we had to replace it since it disappeared off our porch :)

Not sure how we would get this pumpkin home.

Hooray Fall is finally here!!! We have been enjoying this cooler weather and being outside. We have visited the zoo this past week, picked out a pumpkin at the Farmer's Market, and also took a trip to the State Fair. Claire loves being outside and with large crowds of people so we really enjoy getting out with her.

Now that she's 8 months old, she has completely mastered the art of crawling and is now interested in learning to climb. We are really having to watch her closer than ever. Gigi and Grandy came in town for a visit and stayed three days with Claire while Matt and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend getaway in Arizona with his company. It was a much needed vacation and Claire had such a good time spending time with her grandparents. Gigi introduced her to teething biscuits while we were away and now she looks forward to afternoon snacks. She has also developed a love for cheerios, baby mum mums, dried peas, and sweet potato puffs. She has really changed into a little toddler this month and it's so much fun to see the daily changes in her!

Happy 7 Month Birthday!

Oops, I almost forgot! Today was Claire's 7 month birthday. Here she is with all smiles and no nap :)

Mobility is Official!

Well we can officially say that mobility has begun! Claire is now practicing pulling up on things, rolling around the room, and "trying" to master the art of crawling. She has also learned how to go to the sitting up positioin from laying on her back and tummy. This is a huge bonus as she no longer feels the need to let out a cry for help each time she's fallen over. Way to go Claire, we knew you could one day do it! Her favorite friend is our dog Max and he is now learning of her new found ability of movement. He is now more than ever on the look out!

Claire's Painting

I wanted to post this painting of Claire as it has become my most favorite thing! We worked with Lindsay Groce in Fort Worth and she did a wonderful job on it. She was also so much fun to work with! If you come across this blog then please feel free to message me and I will pass along her contact information to you. I will also post the original photograph of Claire to give you an idea of how she made the picture come to life. Thank you Lindsay for this beautiful gift of our favorite little girl!

Claire at 6 months

We must say that Claire's six month of life has been by far the most enjoyable to watch. She turned 6 months on August 7th and it seemed like so many changes took place in her just overnight. One afternoon Matt stopped by between meetings and saw Claire sitting on the floor playing with all of her toys. He was like, "I can't believe she's just sitting there like that and playing all by herself". She's all of a sudden like this little person! It's pretty neat to watch her autonomy taking place and to see her little personality already starting to develop.

She babbles all day long and definitely lets us know when a toy is no longer interesting to play with or a tag that she wants is no longer within reach. As you can see from the picture, she's covered in drool most of the time and is so proud of her first tooth. As far as her diet is concerned, she has completely lost interest in anything that is given to her with a spoon. She is very happy and content with the bottle now so we are just going to wait until she shows interest in eating something else. As for her sleeping schedule, she has finally decided that sleeping twelve hours at night makes her feel good so we are keeping our fingers crossed it lasts!! Our little angel is a six to six kind of girl which makes Daddy sad as he's very seldom able to make it home from work in time before she's turned in for the night. We've tried everything known to man in order to keep this little girl up later in the evening so we can have family time, but Claire is just not up for it yet. It makes no difference whether she's taken 3 hours worth of naps that day, taken an evening power nap, etc. She's completely wiped out by 6:00 and ready for her bed.

Trip to Santa Fe

Here we are on the square in Santa Fe. Sarah and Cate joined us on our mini vacation. I loved looking at all of the fun jewelry that the Native Americans had made.

Here I am wearing my new dress that Mimi bought me during our shopping trip.

This past week we flew to Santa Fe, NM for a mini vacation and to visit my mom. Claire slept on the plane and enjoyed watching all of the people at the airport. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go again one day soon.

Dressing Up for Mommy

I have such a fun time putting funny hats and bows on Claire and taking pictures of her. I'm enjoying it while I can as I'm afraid once she gets a little older that she won't let me do it anymore. We are enjoying each new day as Miss Claire's personality is really starting to develop. Her new favorite thing is playing peek a boo with her blanket. She is now 5 1/2 months old and she's showing us something new each day.

Five Months

Happy Five Months Birthday Miss Claire, we love you!

Here I am playing with my blue octopus on my five month birthday!




















































I love it when Dad gives me a bath!

Here I am on the fourth of July in the pool with Daddy. I think his hair tastes good.

We cannot believe that our little girl just turned 5 months old yesterday. She has accomplished a lot of things this past month. One of her highlights is that she now drinks a full 6 ounces from a bottle. As many of you know, we've had a difficult time getting her to take a bottle when I leave. With a little practice from Dad, she now loves her bottle. Another one of her highlights is that she started sitting up this month. She has also developed a little more personality and loves carrying on conversations with anyone who will listen. Sometimes her conversations go on until the weeeee hours of the morning.

Burger Night at the Collins

Standing in the baby pool with Campbell and Carter. Not sure whether I should laugh or cry!












Holding hands with Carter over at the Colllins house.












We enjoyed going over to the Collins house this past weekend to cook burgers and play in their backyard baby pool. The babies weren't too sure about their pool experience, but we all had a great time watching them and making funny faces so they would smile and look at the camera. However, as you can see we were a little reluctant.

Eating Cereal

She likes to eat her hands and her cereal at the same time!


















Eating in Mimi's red wagon out at the farm in Amarillo.

Now that Claire is 4 1/2 months old, she is excited for her diet to consist of something other than breastmilk! She loves the taste and texture of rice cereal. We were very surprised that she didn't spit it out the first time we gave it to her. She actually loves it and gets super excited every time she sees the bowl and spoon coming her way. I don't think we are going to have any problem getting our little one to eat. She is now weighing 15 pounds and growing rounder and rounder...... We love her little rolls and chubby cheeks!

First Father's Day

Claire and Matt at the Ranch in Lubbock.

All three of us getting a picture made before we opt to go to the car to cool off.

This past weekend we enjoyed celebrating Matt's first Father's Day in Lubbock. I must say that Claire is a lucky girl to have a father that loves her more than life itself. Claire woke Matt up around 7:00 on Sunday morning as she didn't want to waste one minute of their special day.

Claire Ryan at 4 months

Here's Claire trying out her exersaucer for the first time. She wasn't sure about it at first, but now she loves it.

Claire and Carter are two weeks apart so we think they are going to have a lot of fun together in the years to come. Right now they just enjoy strolling together.

Memorial Day Weekend

We enjoyed this past weekend at the Turners Lake House in Possum Kingdom. Claire was such a happy lake baby! She loved her new turquoise bikini that Gigi gave her. We took the top off though as it was a little binding. Daddy and Uncle Neil decided that Claire would be ready to ski behind the boat next summer on dumbo skiis. I decided that we could just wait until next summer to have that discussion :)

One day old

I found this picture of Claire lastnight. It's hard to believe she was this tiny just 3 months ago. She has changed so much!

Mother's Day

Yesterday was a wonderful day. It was my very First Mother's Day and I got to spend it with my two most favorite people. We enjoyed going to church together, picking up Rico salads from Mi Cocina, and enjoyed a picnic out at the Botanic Gardens. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We went for a stroll around the rose garden and visited the gazebo where Matt proposed to me. It was the perfect day!

Hanging out on the picnic blanket out at the Botanic Gardens










Here is the gazebo where Matt proposed to me. It was really special to go back there with Claire and to also see it in the Spring Time. I cannot believe we are about to celebrate our four year wedding anniversary.

Our Little Family

Matt and I are so excited to finally have our blog site up and running. Thanks to my sweet friend, Jenifer Payne, we now have a lovely banner on our page. As you all know, Baby Claire entered our world on February 7th of this year. We feel so blessed to have her in our life. Now that we have her here, we can't imagine spending one day without her. This blog site was set up to capture all of her little milestones and for all of you to share in our joy.