Baby Tour 2011

 Lindsey and I decided a few weeks ago that a trip to Chicago was in order to see some high school friends and meet their adorable kiddos!  I rarely go 'home' to Chicago since, one by one, all members of my family have moved away from the area.  And when Lindsey goes home, she usually fills her time with family.  So, although we keep up on Facebook, we thought a real playdate was in order!! 

We met at Lindsey's sister Desiree's house.  It was SO much fun!  I loved seeing everyone and letting our kids play.  I was reminded of why these girls were some of my best friends back in the day.  There's just something really special about friends who have known you since elementary school, seen you through the awkward times, and loved you anyway.  :)  I missed seeing some of the girls who weren't able to be there, but Lindsey and I are definitely going to make this a yearly tradition, right Linds?  :)

Claire and some of her new friends!

Kari and sweet Madison

The whole group!

Emma and Tommy.. one month apart!  (and their older siblings are one month apart too... soo fun!)

Claire doing a little gardening.

Claire and Jack had work to do.

Fun in the sandbox!

Thanks for hosting us, Desiree!  Although our weekend was cut short by a day due to a sick Emma, we still had so much fun!

9 months old!

Emma is 9 months old today!  This is my MOST favorite baby age, so I'm trying to soak up every minute of it.  At 9 months, Emma is:

• Napping twice a day - around 9 am and 1 pm.  She's been taking some awesome naps as of late.. I'm talking 2 1/2 hours!  Go Emma!
• Goes to bed around 6:30 pm and sleeps until about 6:30 am
• Has one little tooth on the bottom.  She is drooling like mad so I think there are more on their way.
• Eats 3 meals a day.  She loves to eat, just like her sister!  So far, there's nothing she doesn't like and she especially loves feeding herself!  She eats waffles, grilled cheese, toast, pb and j, mac n cheese, fruit, veggies, raisins, cheese, graham crackers, eggs...
• Waves 'hi' and 'bye bye'
• Loves to talk - da da, ba ba, pa pa are her favorites.
• Is moving around.  Not quite crawling yet but when I set her down in one place, I find her in another. 
• She's a mama's girl (which I love, because Claire never was).  She gets scared easily, seems to be more sensitive than Claire, and has developed a little stranger anxiety.  Nothing serious yet, but if someone else is holding her and I'm in the room, she usually is not a fan of that.
• She's a super happy baby, always smiling, loves to laugh, and brings so much joy to all of us!!

Happy 9 months, baby girl!

More from Claire...

If we are Facebook friends, you may have seen some of these on my recent statuses, but they are too cute to not share on here too!

Justin left this morning for a couple of weeks of  training for his new job.  I was feeling sad after he left this morning (and there may have even been a tear or two...) and Claire was pulling out all the stops, doing her best to comfort me.  She said things like, "You're fine, Mom." and "Do you need me to hold you?"  and "Do you need a hug?"  Sweet girl.

Yesterday, during Claire's supposed-to-be naptime, she was talking to and playing with her babies.  Justin and I were listening to her through the monitor and were being totally entertained.  My favorite quote of the day was when she said to one of her babies, "You are giant and very, very healthy."

A couple of weeks ago, Claire was sick with the stomach flu.  The first time she threw up, it was in the basement on the carpet.  I told her that if she feels like she needs to throw up again, she can do it in the potty.  (Never thinking she would actually do that!)  About an hour later, we were all sitting in the kitchen.  Claire got off her chair and left.  I went to see where she was and she had gone to the bathroom, lifted up the toilet seat, and was throwing up in the toilet!  I was totally shocked that a 2-year-old could sense that she was going to throw up and take herself to the bathroom all by herself!

Claire has some little clip-on earrings that she wears when she is playing dress up.  The other day I asked her if she wants to get her ears pierced and she said, "NO, Mom, I'm too little!"

We were listening to the worship song 'He is Exalted' this morning and after it had been playing for awhile, Claire said, "Is the King exalted on high?" 

This morning, Justin told Claire that he might just bring her home a little treat from Atlanta.  She must have been thinking about it all afternoon because she just said to me, "Daddy's gonna bring me home a baby and she's a big girl and she's 40 pounds and a half." 

Sweet family time

Most of my faithful blog readers know that my brother and his family live in Africa, but were recently home for several weeks to have sweet Evy's recurring health issues looked at.  The good news: we had lots of awesome time together (although it's never enough ;), all of Evy's tests came back negative and doctors say she is healthy enough to return to Africa!  The sad news: we had to say goodbye last week.  We miss them already!! 

Claire is totally in love with big cousin Anni.  While they were here, she took notes from Annikah and learned lots.  For example, Anni taught her to cover her mouth when she coughs (everytime she does it now, she says, 'Anni taught me that.'), how to get totally blinged out in princess gear, to watch Angelina Ballerina, how to play with Barbies, etc...  Serious girl time bonding... love it!! 

Cousin picnic!



Doctor and patient.



Sidewalk chalk...  (they spent the ENTIRE day in princess dresses!)

On their last day in Iowa, we went to the zoo and had a great time being together! 

Foot massages!

Smelling the tulips!

Claire couldn't get enough!

Love you, Jason, Rox, Anni, and Evy!!  :)

We have a tooth!

This little beauty has her first tooth!!  I felt it just poking through her bottom gums for the first time today.  One more first... it's all happening so fast. 

Shameless plug

Just for fun we entered Emma into the Parents Magazine Cover Contest.  If you think she's cute, you can vote for her here once a day until Sunday.  :)

A Day For Mamas

As usual, my hubby did a great job making me feel loved and appreciated on this special day set aside for Mamas! 

My day started with these, my absolute favorite flowers!!

We had the most delicious breakfast in Amana.  If you've never been to the Colony Inn, do yourself a favor and try it.  I can't even begin to describe the delicious-ness.  Claire has been several times before and always devours everything but it was fun to have Emma with us this time.  She was loving everything too!  We were fortunate to have Nana with us!  She stopped through on her way home from a trip with her sister. 



The two little ladies who make me a mama!

After naps, some girlfriends and I were given an afternoon off by our hubbies.  They kept the kiddos and sent us to the most adorable and delicious cafe for some a-ma-zing crepes.  It was so fun to have some time as women, moms, and friends, without the distraction of our lovely children.   :)

Mine had strawberries and Nutella.. yum!

We ended the day by grilling out with some friends in the perfect weather!  Claire and her one of her favorite little buddies, Micah, had so much fun playing and exploring in our backyard (which may or may not have included burying Claire's brand new baby from Nana in the dirt... Don't worry, Nana... after washing her off, Brianna is as good as new :))  Needless to say, the night ended in bathtime for both kiddos.. and the doll! :) 

What a perfect day.  Thanks babe!!  You definitely know how to make this mama feel loved! :)

Story Telling

Claire opened her children's bible this afternoon and told me the following story:

"Once upon a time, Jesus was dead and he had to go to a thing and (with expression) JESUS WAS ALIVE!"

Vacation!

We just returned from a super fun family vacay to Branson, MO!  My parents rented a really nice, BIG condo and invited us to come along.  I wasn't sure what to expect, with two small children, but the trip ended up being so fun!  I really had no expectations going in, which helped, but the girls were honestly perfect (which is totally NOT the norm for them! :)  I think part of it was having Grammy and Babu around 24/7.  Claire was l-o-v-i-n it!

The first day was rainy and cold but we took a little trip out to a fish hatchery to see some... fish.  :)  I'm not so much into fish but Claire thought it was fun.  Score!

A scary snapping turtle!

She was a little unsure about these big fish, so she insisted that Babu hold her.

Braving the cold and wet!

Checking out some river flooding that is going on there.

Babu introduced Claire to Peeps... she's sold!

The next day was sunny and beautiful, in the high 60's!  We headed to Silver Dollar City for some amusement park fun.  I had no idea what Claire would think of everything and honestly thought she might be a little apprehensive but I think she got her Daddy's dare devil side.... she loved it!

First ride of the day! 

Emma just hanging with Grammy.

All by herself!

Claire loved the mariachi band!  She got out of her stroller and started her own little dance party.

Some other little girls eventually joined in.

This girl loves being with her Babu.

Emma was perfect all day... hardly cried, napped in her stroller, and loved taking in all of the sights.

After our fun an full day, we can home and Justin and I got ready for date night!  HUGE plus to going on vacation with the grandparents! :)

Before our date!

 We went to a fabulous Mexican restaurant and had THE best guacamole, made fresh for us at our table.  Mmmm!!  Then we walked around a cute pedestrian mall area and ended up at a dualing piano bar, where I sipped on a chocolate martini, (Justin got a beer), listened to the music, and savored some time as a couple.  PERFECT. 

The next day didn't go quite as well...  Emma ended up getting a stomach bug somewhere and spent the morning throwing up.  (Claire and I both ended up getting it a couple days later too.)  So, mama stayed home with Emma while the rest of the crew went back to Silver Dollar City for more fun.  We had a buy one day, get one free pass, so it worked out great. 

By early afternoon, Emma seemed better so we met up for dinner with some friends who live near Branson.  Dave and Hannah were some of our very best friends when we all lived in Chattanooga.  They have since moved to Missouri and we hadn't seen each other in 3 years. 

We laughed when we realized we needed a table for TEN!  Hard to believe that when we met, neither of us had any kids!

Our HUGE group!

Catching up!

The girls playing ring around the rosy!

After being together just a few minutes, it felt like no time had passed since we last saw each other.  I love friends like that... you just pick up right where you left off.  We miss them so much but were sooo glad we had time to catch up!!

It was a great trip!  We're thankful Grammy and Babu let us tag along! 

My first time

Today was the first time my little 2-year-old sweetheart brought me 'flowers.'  I love them. And her.