Our Big Girl Bed

Claire's big girl bed arrived this weekend which helped marked another little milestone in her life. Once the bed was delivered and assembled, Matt and his Dad put together the trundle bed that slides underneath the bed. Thank you to Grandy for helping make this happen!!! The instructions weren't the easiest to understand....

We went ahead and put Claire down for a nap today in her crib and then we spent a little longer at bedtime this evening talking with her about her big girl bed, rocking in the wooden rocker, reading books with pictures of bunnies and girls sleeping in big beds, and then we turned off the lamp, layed her down and she went to sleep. She has currently been down for a little over an hour and hasn't moved yet. Our hope is for the bed rail to help make her feel secure in that roomy space.

She is still this tiny little person sleeping in the middle of what looks like a giant bed. It makes us reminisce about the first time we put her in her crib. We remembered saying at that time, "gosh, she just looks too small to be sleeping in there. I think we should put her back in the moses basket". It's strange to be having that thought all over again with this new sleeping arrangement. Again, I think the transition is the hardest on us!! Our fingers are crossed that this will be a smooth transition for her all together. We have decided to leave her crib set up in the middle of the room for the remainder of the week for her to nap in and to get use to her new big girl bed during the night time. If she shows complete readiness for the crib to be a thing of the past then we will take it down next weekend. Thank God for precious little girls!! I will keep you posted on how the transition goes....

Summer 2009

Summer 2009

What a whirlwind this summer has been!!! I can't believe we didn't post once over the summer months! Well, let me just fill you in the best I can on what all we've been up to over the past several months. Starting with May, we found out we are expecting another baby. We were a little surprised by the news, but so very grateful! The months of June and July completely flew by with spending most of our days playing in the backyard, wading in the pool up at Colonial, playdates with friends, and frequent trips to play with our one and only cousin Mallie.

The month of August came and went all too quickly. We took a trip to Red River at the end of the month and enjoyed some quality time just the 3 of us. We took Claire up to the top of the ski mountain where we enjoyed a hike amongst the Aspens and a picnic lunch. During our picnic lunch, Matt surprised us with a sealed envelope that revealed the gender of our baby. Claire pulled out the sonogram and we were completely shocked to see that we are expecting a baby BOY in January. Very very exciting!!! No name yet, but we will hopefully be deciding on one soon.

On a different note, we also learned of some sad news that day while we were in Red River. My brother called at the cabin early in the morning on August 31st to tell us that my grandfather had a heart attack and passed away. It was a bittersweet time while we were there as I had many childhood memories of my grandfather up in Red River. We literally spent every single summer up there while I was growing up. We will all miss him very much, but are so thankful for all of the wonderful memories we have with him. He was such an instrumental part in my upbringing and I'm so glad that Claire was able to know him. We spent a weekend out at his house back in June where I feel like Claire was able to really bond with him. They rode around the pasture on his tractor and he also pulled her around in a wagon that he had built. What a great legacy he left all of us with!!

Now that we are already into the middle of September, we are enjoying some cooler temperatures and are anxiously awaiting Fall. Now that Football season is here, I am getting lots of home projects out of the way. One of which is dragging out all of the Fall decorations. That always puts me in the spirit of embracing a new season! We are also in the process of setting up little brother's nursery and moving the office upstairs. We didn't realize just how much stuff we had accumulated in that office!!!

Miss Claire is also in the process of transitioning into her big girl room. Same room just new furniture and sleeping arrangement :) We ordered her a daybed that will be delivered next week. I also found her an armoire and some new bedding. I really hope this is not a mistake in moving her out of her crib at 19 months. eeks!! I've had mixed reviews, but she is a very solid sleeper so I'm hoping she will make the transition smoothly. I purchased the extra long and tall rail guard to go along her bed so hopefully the daybed will just feel like a roomier crib to her. I am really having mixed emotions about this and not exactly ready to see her crib leave her room. It's just so hard trying to figure out whether it will be easier now or later. I think either way the transition is going to be the hardest on me!!

Another exciting thing going on for claire right now is her new school. She attends twice a week for 3 hours at a time. She's in a class of 7 with 2 teachers that are absolutely wonderful. She's already talking about several of the kids in her class so I can tell she really enjoys getting to go. Last week when I went to pick her up, she was the last one to leave the class as she was still wanting to stay and clean the kitchen. It was really cute! Well, I guess this posting has gotten a little lengthy so I must put it to an end. My goal is to get back into the swing of posting at least once a month. That's all for now....

April 14 months / May 15 Months

One of Claire's favorite things to do is playing in bins of rice out on the driveway. She enjoys pouring it on the ground for the most part, but we are working on pouring it from one bin into the other.

As I was trying to get a quick snapshot of these floral silky shoes that Mimi had sent in the mail, Claire kept saying "flower" over and over again. The more she said it, the bigger the opening of her mouth got. She was just thrilled that her shoes had flowers on the tops of them! This picture makes me laugh as this is the face I see most often during the day. My little girl likes to say words with BIG announciations :) We are quite the communicative little being these days.

All that swimming and sunbathing sure makes a girl thirsty!

Enjoying some pool time before the Craig's wedding in Horseshoe Bay!

Today was Claire's fifteen month birthday which felt a little strange. Matt and I can't believe how big and capable she's gotten in what feels like such a short time. When I went in to get her up from her nap this afternoon, she even looked older to me! That must seem so strange, but it's crazy how quick she changes on us. She is definitely a very busy and talkative little girl. She doesn't stop moving and talking all day!!!

Her favorite thing to do is go over all the words in her vocabulary at least 6 dozen times within a 24 hour period. She has just started talking and pointing to pictures with expression which we get a real kick out of. She calls our dog Max in the same loud voice that Matt and I use when we're trying to get him inside. She is also starting to associate sounds with objects that she hears outside. She is sure to point out when she hears the birds chirping outside the playroom window. A new favorite on her list is the trash truck. Wednesday mornings are always exciting when we hear the big truck emptying out all the bins on the street. She sticks her face up to the glass of the front door and watches so intently as the trash is picked up. I hope one day she is interested in bigger and more exciting things, but I guess this will be our weekly highlight for now.

As for appetite, we seem to have gone through a stage with a sensitive pallette. I hope that's not just another way of saying that we might have a picky eater on our hands!!! If so then we can all turn to Matt for that one! I am really hoping this stage soon passes as I know a child can't survive on a diet that conists of milk, yogurt, applesauce, and cheerios. She is turned off by meat anyway it's presented to her. I even tried disguising some shredded chicken with cheese inside a tortilla and she figured out my trick and picked the meat off. Hopefully next month we will have some more exciting items on our menu.

We have also gotten more proficient at brushing our teeth. She loves to brush her own teeth (without our helping hands interfering) and then rinsing her brush off under the running water. I'm not sure how clean they get, but I haven't noticed her having bad breath so I guess we'll call it safe :) We are looking forward to a fun filled weekend with the Carthey's for Mother's Day. More updates to come sooner than later this time......

February / March 13 months

Claire's Dedication on March 7th





















Playing with Cousin Mallie

Cruisin' with Jack in the FJ Cruiser

Heading out for her golf game

Admiring the dafodils

Constantly on the go.....

Spring time is finally here!!! We've had a busy couple of months and spending lots of time outside. Claire is now 13 1/2 months old and each day she brings something new into our lives. Each morning when she wakes up, she greets us with a "hi" and then an "up" which means she is ready to get out of her crib, a stinky diaper, the word "more" which means she is needing some warm milk, then the word "shoes" followed by the word "outside". She is ready to be on the move and outdoors right away. I'm usually lucky to get a cup of hot coffee in my hand before the back door is opened and all of the toys are being drug out onto the driveway. Lately she can be lulled back inside when she hears the tune of Sesame Street on the television. That is usually our cue for breakfast and a good 30 minutes of coffee drinking!

As for our Month of March, we had her dedicated on the 7th which was her 13 month birthday. It was a special day for all of us! We also had a fun time at Currie Howard's 2nd birthday party where Claire enjoyed climbing in tents, eating cupcake icing, playing in the sand, and getting to ride in a big boy jeep with her friend Jack. She had a blast with these older kids!!!

We are looking forward to a full summer and our Mommy and Me swim class coming up in May. Hooray!!! We are hoping that Claire enjoys pool time as much as she is enjoying bath time at the moment. We went through some rough months with the bath time, but now she loves it!!! Hopefully she willl love the pool just as much. More updates to come.....

Turning One!

Happy 1st Birthday!!!

Always on the go and loving naked baby time!

My birthday dress before I played in the dirt!

Drew, Me, Paige, and Kyle all posing for a picture for our Nanie Turner.

The new pink car I found waiting for me on the morning of my birthday!

The month of February has flown by so fast and we have some very blog worthy news to share. Miss Claire turned one on the 7th!!! It was a very special day for all of us as Matt and I reminisced about all that has happend in our life in just one short year. It's hard not to say, "This time last year, we were......"We have decided that Claire's first year of life has been the fastest year of our lives. Just about a year ago we spent our days swaddling up this tiny little infant that just starred up at us and rarely made a peep. She's now a vivacious toddler whom is constantly on the go and babbling up a storm. Her vocabulary is growing each day and her favorite words right now are: up, dog, more, bye bye, no no, ball, mama, dada, papa, and lots of other words that we haven't figured out the meanings to.

She loves playing outside, getting in and out of her toy car, going to the zoo, cleaning out the tupperware cabinet, pointing and talking to all the dogs at the park, reading books about animals, playing fetch with our dog Max, climbing up the stairs all day long, and dancing to the sounds of her musical toys.

We are looking forward to Spring time and more days of beautiful weather!

Christmas

Surprise!!! I'm now walking!

I can't wait to see what's inside this box!

Checking out Daddy's new guitar.

Cousin Mallie pretending to be a puppy.

Mimi reading me the story of Rudolph.

This past month has been a whirlwind with lots of fun things going on. We took a trip to Amarillo to have an early Christmas at Papa and Grandma Pat's house. Claire and her cousin Mallie had such a fun time chasing each other around and emptying out the tupperware cupboard. I think tupperware will be on our Wish List for next year :) Thanks Pat for allowing these two to reorganize your dishes.

We enjoyed Christmas Eve at our house with Grandpa, Gigi, Grandy, Brad, Elhahm, Cousin Mallie, Jay, Elaine, and Jonathan. Then Kelli and Drew came to town for a two day visit and we had a great time playing tennis on the Wii, visiting, shopping, eating out, and we even squeezed in a comedy club.

Our last visitors were Abbie, Wes, and Baby Natalie. We enjoyed having them come stay with us as they were making the long drive back to Tennessee. We miss our friends, the Gristy's!

On December 28th, Miss Claire took her first steps so that was very exciting. She was eager to get the remote control and took off across the living room floor. It was so cute as we were cheering her on, she would stop in between steps to applaude herself. We are thankful that we were both there to witness this new milestone.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year!

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 :)