one year!

On December 17th we celebrated Claire's 1st birthday! While this year has been a whirlwind, Claire's consistent joyful spirit and laid back personality have been a blessing. I am thankful each day as I look into her blue eyes that they remind me of her sweet Auntie Lanny. I am thankful for friendship I see developing each day between Claire and Mollie. Sisters are the best!! While we don't know what this next year holds, I am thankful for Claire and the joy she brings to our lives. We love you Claire!!

She wasn't sure what to think of the Happy Birthday song.

   

 Claire enjoyed playing with her cake :)

   

 Her favorite gifts were a water bottle just like Mollie's

   

 And her baby doll!

   

 Happy Birthday sweet girl!

eleven

Where does the time go?!?! It seems like yesterday that Claire was just a teeny, tiny baby and now she is almost one! We have been relishing every single second of our "baby" Claire. Claire is busy getting in to EVERYTHING!

Claire is currently loving:
-Bath time (seeing how far she can splash water!)
-Eating any and every food
-Getting in to Leo and Mollie's business :)
-Climbing up the stairs, especially when no one is watching
-Dancing
-Pulling ornaments off the Christmas tree
-Unloading the tupperware cabinet
-Chewing on shoes and the handle of the refrigerator
-Sleeping

Claire has not been the biggest fan of teething lately. She has one tooth that has taken almost an entire month to come in. No fun!

And now for some pics!

 

 

   

 P.S. Stay tuned for this little ladies 1st birthday post later this week!

ten

It has been a crazy month and a half for us! We packed up our life in Iowa, said goodbye for now to dear friends who are like family, and moved to MN. Bret started a new job, we are looking for a house, and some where in the middle of all that sweet Claire turned 10 months old!

While we were a little stressed out with packing, selling a house, goodbyes, finding a new church, house hunting, and all other activities associated with moving, Claire has been busy loving life!

She is still as easy going as ever!
She is still taking two awesome naps a day and sleeping 12 hours at night.
She LOVES veggies, meat, and carbs.
She pulls up to stand on everything.
She can clap.
She loves to find Leo and get into whatever he is playing with.
She likes to chew on shoes.
She has 3 teeth.
She LOVES to climb the stairs.
And she loves the new toys at Grammie's house!

 

   

 I cannot believe she will be one soon! Time goes much faster with baby #2. So thankful for the opportunity to raise two girlies!!!

Nine

Claire is 9 months old today!!!! She is still an incredibly easy and happy baby.

I don't have any stats because her 9 month check up is next week. But I do know that she is one petite lady who eats each meal like it is her last.

9 fun facts about Claire:

1. She has one tooth
2. Her favorite things to chew on are shoes and the legs of tables/stools
3. Loud noises are one of the only things that make her cry
4. She spends a lot of her time in her favorite yoga position ... downward facing dog
5. She loves her pacifier
6. Still taking 2 long naps each day and sleeps for about 12 hours straight each night
7. Loves doing big girl things with Mollie

 

8. Claire is an army crawler extraordinaire
9. She LOVES to play with the toilet ...

   

We are crazy about you Claire! Your joyful and content spirit bring so much joy to us!

Seven & Eight

I am sorry Claire. Your sister got a designated monthly post. I had nothing better to do with my time. Now I have more kids and less time. But I wouldn't have it any other way :)

You are eight and a half months old now.

You are still a delight! Such a happy baby. You are still a wonderful sleeper and eater. You only have one tooth. You are an army crawling machine! You love to crawl where ever Mollie is. You love laughing. You love your sister. You love laughing at your sister. And you really love your momma!

And now the best part of any blog ... pics!

   

 We love you Claire! The blessing of your sweet spirit and laid back demeanor is not lost on us. And we are crazy about your baby blue eyes :)

Twins!

Ok, they are not really twins at all.

One has brown eyes, the other blue. One has dark hair, the other light. One is very spicy and strong willed, the other VERY laid back. One LOVED baby food at this age, the other cannot stand it. One wore an undershirt onesie for way tooooooo long, the other just wears one onesie because this mommy is too lazy to do that much laundry.

But I do love when Claire does something that Mollie used to love doing :) I am not sure what it is about this chair ....

  

But both of my girls have spent significant amounts of time under the chair trying to figure out how to get out :)

Happy 4th!

In January, Leanne had asked if she, Ryan, and Leo could come visit us for the 4th of July. Well, Leanne obviously wasn't able to join us, but Ryan and Leo still came! We had a blast together! After a late night arrival for Ryan and Leo, we started our trip with a yummy 4th of July breakfast with some festive hats and glasses :)

   

We also went to the parade downtown. It was BEAUTIFUL outside! The perfect afternoon for a parade!

   

Leo had lots of fun on Mollie's tractor!

   

Leo even got a haircut from Uncle Bret ... while watching Mighty Machines :)

   

We went to Pizza Ranch, swam at the pool, ate donuts as a treat, played for hours outside, went to church, and ate LOTS of yummy food together. We had the best time together and missed Leanne like crazy.

Five & Six

Well, a lot has happened in our lives over the past month and a half. We traveled to the farm for a visit in mid May and left suddenly to head to MN to say bye to our sweet Auntie Lanny who went to heaven on May 20th. Our hearts are broken and left longing for heaven.

While in Atlantic we celebrated Claire being 5 months old and celebrated Claire being 6 months old in MN.

Just in case you are wondering, Claire is still the dreamiest baby :) She cried a total of 4 times in MN! God knew we were going to need a peaceful, content, and deliriously smiley baby during a time like this!!

We had her 6 month check up this week. She is 15lbs and 15oz and is 26 inches long. Here are some pics to share ...

 

 

She still has those dreamy blue eyes just like her Auntie Lanny. She loves rolling EVERYWHERE! She loves chewing on everything she can get her hands on. Her favorite entertainer is still Mollie. She is still sleeping for 12 hours at night and 3 naps during the day.

We finally found one thing she does not like ... food! Oatmeal, sweet potatoes, avocado, applesauce, peaches, and bananas have all been met with a disgusted face :) But I will keep trying!

We love you like crazy Claire. The blessing of your sweet spirit is a joy to us that we thank God for daily! Until next month!

Gardeners!

Over the past few years, our garden has expanded exponentially. Bret has always talked about how he could not wait for Mollie to help him with the garden. Well, the time has come!!! So far they have planted herbs, carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, spinach, and made sure our strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and rhubarb are all growing nicely!

   

 I love those two!!!

Four

 

Our sweet, little lady turned 4 months old last week while we were spending some time up in MN. That is why this blog post is a little over due :)

Claire is deliriously happy most of the time. During the entire week we spent in MN, she literally cried fussed once. Seriously, so stinking happy! She is still a great sleeper and eater. The only thing that has made her the tiniest bit cranky this week was an ear infection. Which I might have never known about had we not gone to the Dr. for her 4 month well check!

4 month stats:
Weight: 13lbs 6 oz
Height: 25 inches

Likes:

• Eating
• Sleeping
• Playing on her playmat
• FaceTiming with family 
• Rolling around
• Her pacifier
• Sucking on her hands
• Laughing at Mollie
• Chewing on toys

Dislikes:

• Ear infections

We love you Claire!!!

Happy Easter!

I have two cute girls who want to wish you a Happy Easter! Thanks Grandma for the cute sweaters and outfits!!

 

 

 May you be blessed to spend this Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Savior with those you love!

The moon and stars they wept

The morning sun was dead

The Savior of the world was fallen

His body on the cross

His blood poured out for us

The weight of every curse was broken

One final breath He gave

As Heaven looked away

The Son of God was laid in darkness

A battle in the grave

The war on death was waged

The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake

The stone was rolled away

His perfect love could not be overcome

Now death where is your sting

Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated

Forever, He is glorified

Forever, He is lifted high

Forever, He is risen

He is alive

He is alive!

"Forever" by Kari Jobe

From my phone ...

With two little kiddos, personal time has become a precious and rare commodity. I know it is just a short phase of my life as a mommy, so I want to spend as much time soaking up my girls as I can. There will be lots of time in the future for long blog posts, but for now this will have to do. I will let my phone recap our last few weeks.

A few weeks ago, there was a day nice enough to take my girls on a walk. We are still waiting for another nice day ...

   

See those bangs? My sweet daughter gave herself a haircut. I didn't know whether to cry, scream, or laugh so I just sent her to her room until Dad got home.

   

Our wonderful friends, the Williams, are moving :( So, we have been spending as much time together as possible. We went to Luke's Special Olympics State Basketball Game.

   

Mustache March!

   

We celebrated World Down Syndrome Day together!

   

 Luke is seriously in love with Claire :)

   

I love these two

   

In protest of the longest winter in history, we spent the morning pretending we were at the pool.

   

We'll be back soon!