Memorial Day Weekend

We spent a fun Memorial Day weekend at Justin's parents' lake house. The weather was just perfect and we enjoyed our time.

Claire got to go on a boat ride! She loved it until she decided she wanted to look over the edge at the water (maybe she even wanted to go in) but she wasn't happy when we had to pull her back from the edge.

Helping Grandpa drive the boat. Her favorite part was honking the horn! :)

Swimming in the lake with Daddy. This girl is a fish and loved every minute of it. She would lean back and lay on her back, put her head in, kick her legs, etc.. I think this was the highlight of the weekend for all of us!

Hanging out on the swing with Daddy, Uncle Andy, and cousin Georgia. (Check out Georgia's curls... soo adorable!!)

We came home on Sunday and had friends over on Memorial Day. Justin was so excited to get the smoker out! He smoked ribs and some pork. It was DELISH!!!!

Overall, a fun weekend! We were bummed to return to our normal lives on Tuesday. That extra day off was so nice for all of us!! :)

It's a record!

We have officially been living in our house for two years! This is the longest we have ever lived in one city/state/house in our almost 7 year marriage. Memorial Day weekend is usually the weekend we would choose to move, too! Its the weekend we moved from Iowa City to Chicago in 2004, the weekend we moved from Chicago to Chattanooga, TN in 2005, and the weekend we moved from Chattanooga to Atlanta, GA in 2007. I'm so thankful we aren't doing that this year (or hopefully anytime soon)!

Here's to feeling settled in one place! :)

18 month pics

Aww man

Poor Claire is sick yet again! I was JUST thinking yesterday that after a long winter of sickness, it seems like we haven't been to the doctor in awhile. Well, I definitely thought too soon! She was pretty mellow all morning and then at lunchtime, she wouldn't eat a thing, which is totally unlike her. She took a good nap but when she woke up and I picked her up, I realized she was burning up. I took her temp and sure enough, it was 101.1 - the highest fever she's ever had! I decided to take her in... good thing I did! She has a double ear infection and a throat infection. The doctor doesn't think it's strep, but she did say (and show me) that Claire has puss all over her tonsils. Poor, poor girl! The doc was shocked that Claire has been sleeping well with all of this sickness! I feel terrible that I didn't realize sooner that she was sick, but she had been acting totally normal up until yesterday so I had no idea. :(

Hopefully those antibiotics kick in soon and she'll be back to normal before we know it!

Operation: Big girl bed

So last night was the big night! We took out the crib and replaced it with Claire's big girl bed. She was very excited about the new bed, new blanket, and new pillow. We let her "help" us bring the bed in her room and put the blankets on. Here she is, showing off her new bed!



Now that she's a big girl, and since the glider will go in her sister's room, Justin read her a story in her bed instead of the chair.

Overall, it went better than I had anticipated. I thought we'd be up all night with her getting in and out of bed. In the end, she got out of bed six times in the first 45 minutes she was in bed. She would stand at her closed door, call for Mommy or Daddy, and bang on the door. After the sixth time, she finally fell asleep and didn't wake up until 7 this morning, when I heard her calling for Mommy. I expected her to climb out of bed when she woke up, but she was just sitting up, waiting for me. I can't say I'm surprised that she climbed out of bed several times but I was pleased that it wasn't worse!

She went down for her nap in the bed with no problem - she didn't get out even once! Let's hope she keeps it up!!

18 months old

Today Claire Grace is 18 months old! So hard to believe how fast she is growing. I just told Justin that Claire is 18 months old today and he said, "She does that 12 more times and she'll be 18 years old." Now THAT is a scary thought!!

At 18 months, Claire continues to amaze us with all of the new things she learns each day. Here's a glimpse at what her little life is like these days...

*She sleeps for about 12 hours each night, usually going to bed around 7 and waking up around 7 in the morning.

*She's been down to one nap since about 14 months old. Her naps are usually between 2 and 3 hours long.

*She is very verbal and loves to talk! She loves to name her friends and family members and she prays for them every night before bed. She even asks to pray at random times through out the day. :) She comes up to me, with her hands folded, and says, "Pray." We thank Jesus for all kinds of things, but her favorite is listing everyone she knows. It's precious.

*On a long car trip recently, Justin and I passed the time by making a list of all the words Claire knows. We came up with 85! She's learned some new ones since then, so she may be closer to 100 words now.

*She loves her baby dolls! They are her favorite toy. She loves to rock them and say 'Shhh' so we don't wake them up. She also likes putting them to bed, sharing her paci with them, and giving them drinks of her milk or water.

*This girl loves her paci! She would have it all day long if I let her! We only let her have it at nap time, bed time, and in the car. (Every once in awhile I give in to her uber crabbiness and let her have it during the day.. oops!)

*Thankfully, she continues to be a pretty good eater. Her favorites as of late are string cheese, hot dogs, blueberries, waffles, bagels, tomatoes, grilled cheese, strawberries, yogurt, and anything that is a snack. She asks for snacks multiple times a day.. sometimes right after we finish a meal! Don't worry - just because she asks doesn't mean she's getting it, although she definitely tries! :)

*She is still sleeping in her crib as of today, but after this weekend (when we will have family in town), she will be moving into her big girl bed. I have very low expectations about how this will go. Knowing Claire, I am not very optimistic about her actually staying in the bed, but we'll see!

*Claire has really started to perfect the tantrum and show us her independent side! This is when the REAL job of parenting begins! My mom recently said, "It's one thing to have and care for a baby, but it's another thing to raise kids." I think she's right! :) We would love your prayers! :)

*She has her first favorite TV show -- Elmo's World! She sits in her Claire-sized rocking chair and just watches the whole thing. Grammy recently gave her a stuffed Elmo and Claire was very happy about that!

I think that pretty well sums up Claire's life at 18 months old. Tantrums and all, she's an absolute joy and makes this mama's heart full. :)

Saturday Family Fun

We had such a fun AND productive day yesterday! It started with cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast. Then we loaded up and headed to six garage sales, where we found some awesome deals.

We got:

-3 outfits for the new baby

-a bed rail for when Claire moves into her "big girl bed" - which is coming sooner than later!!

-a pink Bundle Me (car seat cover for winter which I had been TOTALLY wanting/needing/looking for! We borrowed one with Claire so definitely need one for this baby.)

-a doll for Claire (the lady actually gave it to her for free, since Claire had picked it up and was playing with it while we shopped.)

-a drill press (don't ask me.. some tool that Justin was super excited about..)

-a bouncy seat

...all for a grand total of $15!

After finding all of those good deals, we headed to the farmers' market and bought all of the plants for our vegetable garden - roma and grape tomatoes, sweet peppers, jalapeno peppers, onions, and basil.

We then walked over to the park so Claire could play on the "lide" (slide), her most favorite activity that she asks to do at least three times a day!

Came home, ate lunch, and Claire went down for a 3 hour nap! While she was napping, Justin and I dug up some nasty hostas in our backyard that were overgrown and totally out of control. We weeded and mulched and then planted our vegetable garden in these nice little garden boxes Justin built. This should hopefully prevent our major weed problem we had when we tried to plant a garden in the plot of land the former owners of our home used for a garden. Man, did we get in over our heads that summer! Hopefully these nice little garden boxes will be more manageable. :)

Claire woke up and she and I played outside while Justin mowed the lawn. Then we took a family trip to Hy-Vee for a few things. Claire got to drive the car cart, so she was thrilled about that!

After dinner and more playtime, Claire went to bed. Justin and I made homemade calzones for dinner and watched a movie. What a great day!!

The dreaded tantrum

Let me just start by asking... does it REALLY get worse than this?! My, oh my, does my daughter know how to throw one serious tantrum! This is a girl who knows what she wants, can usually even verbalize it, but can't seem to accept a 'no.' Since these intense tantrums (over any and every thing!) have started, she's been taking longer naps, so that is one plus! I guess screaming, crying, and throwing oneself against the ground is extra tiring.

Mother's Day!

I had the best mother's day! It was absolutely perfect and I enjoyed every part of it. After church (where Claire colored me an 'I Love Mommy' picture!), my parents and sister's family all came over to celebrate. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our lunch outside on the deck. We took the kids to a park, too, which was a fun highlight. My parents brought chicken, my sister brought a cake, and Justin made all of the side dishes to go with the meal. So I didn't have to do a thing! What a lucky girl I am! :)

Claire and Mommy

What a blessing and joy it is to be this girl's mama!

Hugs and kisses for her sister

Our family

Claire with some of her fave boys!!

Nana & Papa

We had fun last weekend spending time at Nana and Papa's house. Claire had a blast, playing with all of their fun toys and getting lots of love and attention! She loved this darling dollhouse they have. I'm sure this will be something she'll enjoy playing with for many more years when she visits Nana and Papa!

Daddy took Claire in the hot tub and our little fish loved it! Even though the jets are kind of loud and I'm sure scare some kids, she wasn't even fazed when we turned them on. Justin is doing everything he can to turn this little lady into a swimmer! :)

Thanks for a fun weekend, Nana and Papa! :)