The South Family

Snow Day

2011-02-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

As I sit here, I am looking out at another snow day. We have had one too many for my liking. In Alabama we may get one snow day a year and that's not even really a lot of snow. Those people up North would laugh at our "snow day". A few weeks ago we got a real snow day. Lots and lots...about 10 inches to be exact. That's a ton for Alabama. The whole city shut down for a week. We just don't have the means to clear it off the streets, so we all stay home and play and try to keep warm. Claire had a blast. I'm afraid she thinks it is "normal" for us to get this much snow. Her and Eric stayed out in it for most of the day playing with the neighbors. Colleen got out in the wagon for a few minutes and seemed to enjoy the fresh air. I'm glad that Claire hasn't started kindergarten yet! The poor big kids will be going to school way into summer due to all these days off from bad weather. They are happy about it now, but won't like it when their Mama's are laying out by the pool while they are doing spelling in class:o)

Colleen's 6 month pictures

2011-01-31T13:55:00.000-08:00

Our favorite photographer, Erin Cobb, came over last Friday to take Colleen's 6 month picture's. She really is almost 7 months, but this was the earliest we could schedule. I LOVE these picture's and can't wait to see all the rest. She did an amazing job capturing our little chunky monkey:o)

Oh, I hope she keeps those beautiful blue eyes!

Christmas 2010(in pictures)

2011-01-31T11:32:00.000-08:00

Summer in Pictures

2011-01-31T08:54:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Make sure to scroll down to see other new posts.

Fall in Pictures

2011-01-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

Colleen Gail South

2011-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

July 6, 2010

11:27am

7 lbs. 19 inches

The alarm went off at 3:30am Tuesday morning. We were scheduled for an induction at 5am, so that we could finally meet our little girl. I was ready to not be pregnant and to finally hold this baby that had been kicking me like crazy. Claire spent the night with Nanny and Papa so that Eric and I could head to the hospital without any worries. She was so excited about getting to see her baby sister and had no clue how life was going to change. The ride to the hospital was quiet. I was scared yet excited about what was to happen. Eric was calm as usual. I made sure he ate something before we left the house since he passed out when Claire was born. We made it up to Labor/Delivery and waited about 45 min. for our name to be called. We got back to our room and I was shocked when they checked me and said I was already 4cm. The day nurse(which happens to be one of our friends) came in not long after and gave me the option to get my epidural now or wait till after Dr. Miller broke my water. Of course I was going to get the epidural. I wasn't feeling any contractions, but I wasn't going to take any chances. It was about 7am when I got the epidural. Mom(Nanny) dropped Claire off at summer school and got to the hospital around 9:30. Then Dad(Papa) got there shortly after. I started feeling some pressure and when the nurse, Deanna, checked I was at 9cm. This was probably about 10:45am. So, she went ahead and called Dr. Miller. The Dr. got there within 15 minutes and I was ready to push. I really didn't feel that much pressure. I remember really having a lot of pressure with Claire. I pushed once and out came our sweet little Colleen Gail. She looked nothing like her sister, at least not what I remembered Claire looked like. Colleen was so alert looking around at the world. Nanny, Papa, LoLo, Papa, Aunt Pam, Mama Pat and Granny came in shortly after to meet the new little one. I was ready for Claire to come meet her new baby sister, so Nanny and LoLo went to pick her up. Having Claire meet Colleen was everything I had imagined. Claire was so excited and couldn't wait to hold her. Enjoy the massive amounts of pictures of our sweet Colleen.

The night before...

2010-07-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

It's the night before the big day. Our little girl(yes it's a girl for those of you who don't already know) will hopefully be here by this time tomorrow. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy flew by. Especially this past month. We have been so busy doing the fun things that are going to be difficult once the baby arrives. We've spent countless hours at the pool and have loved every minute of it. Just this morning Claire decided to swim all by herself with no floaties. I'm so proud of my big girl because she really was swimming. When did she grow up? We had an amazing week at VBS, watched tons of movies at the theatre(free movies are great!) and lots of time with friends and family. Lots of mixed feelings about this baby girl finally joining our family. It's just been the three of us for so long that I feel a bit guilty rocking Claire's world. But obviously she isn't the first kid to become a big sister and it will do her some good to not have the world revolve around her:o) Lots of praying that tomorrow's induction is safe, fast and delivers a very healthy baby!! Name and pictures will be added as soon as she is here:o)

I will leave you with a few pictures from this summer. I know that I've been awful about keeping up with the blog. So much has gone on since the last post that there is no way I can catch up. But I will do my best from now on.

It's a...

2010-03-03T14:12:00.001-08:00

...very healthy, yet modest baby. That's right folks, we have no clue what this baby is. Feet were crossed with knees pulled in tightly to the chest. To say that Im' frustrated is an understatement, but we are so very grateful that He/She is healthy. That's all that really matters. The Lord knows my weakness when it comes to patience and He just want's us to know that he has it all under control.

Princess Claire

2010-02-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

Princess Claire has an announcement...she is going to be a big sister! I am just now 21 weeks along and we find out next week if it's a boy or a girl. Of course we are all so excited, especially Claire. One minute she wants a sister and the next a brother. She will be happy either way. This time around hasn't been too different than when I was pregnant with Claire. One huge difference is that I wasn't as sick this time as I was with Claire. And I am tired all the time. I'm still waiting on the burst of energy you are suppose to get in the second trimester. I guess I'm so tired from being busy with Claire. No names picked out yet. We can't agree on a girl name and this past weekend I found out that our boy name is the same as my friend Emily. What are the odds of that? So we will be doing some more brainstorming on boy names.

Me at 21 weeks

Valentine's Party

2010-02-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are still alive. Lots going on in our lives, but for now I'm just going to share some pictures from Claire's Valentine Party at school.
Hannah-Grace(whose Daddy was my 8th grade teacher) and Claire
Brodie and Claire
More icing on the face than in her tummy

An update about what's happening in the South Family coming within the next couple of days!

More Disney Photos

2009-11-10T11:21:00.001-08:00

Here is another album from Disney. This includes the Not-So-Scary Halloween Party(the best part of the trip), dinner with Mickey and his friends and breakfast with all the Princesses(Claire's favorite). I have one more album to share, but I still haven't gotten them uploaded to snapfish yet. Who knows how long that will take me. Until then enjoy these!

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

*New post below*

Disney Photos

2009-11-10T11:15:00.001-08:00

I've gotten some grief for not posting after Disney World. It was such an amazing trip and we took so many pictures. I don't even know where to begin telling you all about it. The best I can do is post this link to our photos. Warning:there are a lot of pictures:o) I'm ready to go back to Disney today!!

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Family Vacation

2009-10-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

We are heading off on a huge family vacation tomorrow. Any guesses as to where?

That's right, Disney World! I can't wait to see Claire's face when we get there. She can't stop talking about meeting all the Princesses and Mickey Mouse. I'm most excited about the Not-S0-Scary Halloween Party we will be going to Thursday night. She will be dressing up like Ariel. Of course:o) The kids get to trick or treat all over Magic Kingdom and they have all sorts of special Halloween things for them. It's going to be great. No telling how the trip will go. I'm sure we will have a few melt downs, but that's okay. Hopefully when we get back I can do a good job of blogging about the trip, but don't hold your breath:o)

This picture is of a very mad Ariel. She was not happy that I wouldn't stop laughing. People, it was hilarious seeing her in this wig. She wore it all day, even during her nap.

Miss. Lilly

2009-09-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Claire was "Helper of the Week" last week. Not only did she get to be the special helper at school all week, but she also got to bring home the class "pet", Miss. Lilly. So, when Miss. Lilly is staying with you, you get to do whatever you want with her. Claire wanted to do everything. It was probably the busiest 2 days we have had in a long time. We played outside on our swing set, meet Bruno, worked on a Snow White puzzle, played with Claire's doll house, went to the library, did lots of puppet shows, went to church and the list goes on and on. I'll let the over load of pictures show you!

As you can tell we had a packed schedule. We had to paste pictures in the Miss. Lilly notebook and write about all the fun we had. On Thursday Claire took her back to school to share about all the fun she had. She also got to take her Fairy Barbie for show and share and Mrs. Kozar read her book she brought to class(Dumbo...we never read this book, but it was what she choose). So, you would think that she was excited about all the fun she had with Mrs. Lilly. Your wrong, she had a major melt down on the way home because she didn't go swimming with her like her friend Calli got to. We found out last night at Open House that she had a melt down at school also. Got to love this emotional child:o)

On another note...doesn't she look so grown up in this picture:o( Our little baby is turning into a little girl. She doesn't even look like a toddler anymore.

Please Pray!

2009-09-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

Please pray for the Nash Family. Claire's little friend at school lost her Daddy this morning. It was very unexpected and I don't know any details. I do know that his wife and two little girls need A LOT of prayers and love sent their way. It's a very hard reminder that life is so precious and not promised to us. Pray that God gives them strength to make it through this very tough time. I don't know this family, but Claire has become good friends with his little girl. She talks about her when she comes home from school. I just saw him this morning walking both his girls into school. My heart goes out to them.

A Kentucky Wedding

2009-09-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Eric's cousin, Matt, got married last weekend up in Bowling Green, Kentucky. So we packed up the car and headed North for all the festivities. Friday night we had an amazing dinner with all the family at the Rehearsal Dinner. Claire was very well behavied and had a great time with her cousins. She even made friend's with one of Emily's bridesmaids who she informed that she was wearing TinkerBell panities. It was so loud the whole place heard her. She has no shame:o) She was so excited to see Emily because she was going to be a Princess the next day.

Claire and Daddy waiting on dinner

Evelyn, Eden and Claire still waiting on dinner, but this time they have suckers:o)

On Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast and spent the day at the pool until it was time for the wedding. Claire could not wait to see Princess Emily and Prince Matt at the church. We had been talking about this wedding for some time now to make sure she knew to be one her best behavior. So that's how the whole Prince and Princess thing came about. And boy did it work. She was amazing throughout the whole ceremony. So quiet and polite and just stared up at Matt and Emily. I was so proud of her. After the wedding it was party time. The reception was on the Western Kentucky Campus where they both attended college. Great family, food and music made the night a blast. The band was so good and Claire danced the whole night.

All the little ones dancing

Watching the Bride and Groom during their first dance

With Princess Emily!! What a beautiful Bride!

Emily with all the little cousins

Showing off her pretty dress

You have to be serious if you want to dance your best!

Dancing with Lolo and Papa

Papa and Claire

Claire's new friend that she met at the rehearsal dinner.

Sunday morning Matt's parent's(Papa's sister, Marcia) had a big breakfast for all the family and out of town guests. Claire of course had a great time with her cousins.

Caroline, Claire and Caitlyn

What a fun weekend we had. Congrats Matt and Emily!

First day of preschool

2009-08-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Claire had her first day of preschool this past Tuesday. She was so excited and she couldn't get out of the car fast enough when we pulled into the parking lot. Last Friday they had a meet and greet with her new teachers. As soon as we walked into her classroom she looked back and told me goodbye. She was pretty disappointed that I wasn't going to get to leave her. So, as you know she walked straight in on Tuesday and never looked back. I'm pretty sure that we will love her teachers, Mrs. Kozar and Mrs. Anthony. It's a lot different this year because it's actual preschool and not just mother's morning out. She learned a lot in MMO, but they really focused on a lot of playing. This year it's a little more serious. She will learn her numbers, alphabet and lot's more. I'm excited to see her write her name:o) They even have a science lesson during the week. All I remember doing when I was 3 was playing, but it's great to see her soak it all in. Another huge difference is that she get's to do carpool now. Before I had to walk her in and pick her up from her class. This year she has her carpool number(which is 25 and it's so cute to hear her say it) and sits in her spot against the wall until it's called. I pull up to the front and a teacher walks her out to the car. Only downside is that they can't buckle her in, so I have to pull to the side and do that. But it's really getting her to be more independant and she was so proud yesterday when she did it for the first time:o) I can't wait to see what all she will learn over the year!

It's been a while

2009-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, have you been worried about us? I have no good excuse for not blogging. I just really haven't been in the mood to sit down and recap what's been going on. I have lots of pictures to bring you up to date so let's just take a picture walk.

After visiting with the Koseks, Mommy realized that some things had to change.

Claire was not on her best behavior and we had been giving into her way too much. It's true when they say, "Give an inch and they will take a mile". As soon as we got home we took away both her paci and sweater. No real secret to how we did it. The sweater was simple, I just told her NO and was very firm. The paci was a little different. The fairy came to visit while she was at Nanny's and took her paci and left her a play guitar. She has been fine every since!!

Claire is a very head strong 3 year old. Whoever said that the two's were terrible hadn't been around a 3 year old:o) We have been working on following directions and listening. Who would have thought that positive reinforcement would do the trick(thanks Kim!) Along with that she has been spending a lot of time with her Daddy.

I love this picture because she saw Eric with his hat on and she ran to her room to find hers. She is turning into a little Daddy's girl:o)

We also celebrated Bruno's first birthday. Any excuse for some cake:o)

Before we started back to school(which was this past Tuesday) we met Brodie at the theater to see the Veggie Tales movie. These are the two cutest kids ever. Im a little worried that they are both already talking about marrying each other. I've been informed by my Mom that Claire has mentioned a few times that she is going to marry him. And Julie said that Brodie said that he was going to marry Claire and they would ride off in his truck.

So that's what we have been up to. She started school this week and I have lots of pictures to share. That will be another post...hopefully sooner than later.

Weekend Fun

2009-07-25T18:19:00.001-07:00

Last night we were in on a little surprise. Adrianne had no clue that all the people that care so much about her were going to be at one place to celebrate her birthday. Alyssa and Vonnie planned a great surprise party for her. It was great to see her pull up to Alyssa's house and see everyone standing in the street. She really had no clue that we would all be there. Happy Birthday A! I hope that this year brings lots of amazing things your way!

Take a look at this amazing cake! Adrianne has been working at UPS for about a year now while going back to school full time, so this was perfect for her. Mandy did an amazing job.

The fun isn't over just yet. Tomorrow Claire and I are heading down to Jackson, MS to visit our friends the Koseks. I'm so excited to meet their new addition, baby Jack. We can't wait for the slumber party to begin:o)

Claire and Kate Easter 2007

This was last year(2008) when we visited.

Beach Trip

2009-07-25T14:46:00.001-07:00

Over the 4th of July weekend we decided to take a last minute trip to the beach. This was going to be our first real family vacation with just the 3 of us. Eric and I were so excited to see Claire playing on the beach. .
She had been asking for months when we were going to take her there. So...the night before we left I was putting Claire to bed and she felt a little warm. My first thought was "Oh great, we aren't going to get to go to the beach because she is sick." We were hoping that she would wake up the next morning fine, but she ran a fever all night That morning we went to the Dr. just to make sure it wasn't anything serious. The Dr. gave us the all clear saying that it was just something viral and to take motrin and tylenol with us. So, we got home and packed up the car and headed to the beach. We got there late Thursday night and went straight to bed. Claire didn't understand that we couldn't go to the beach at 10pm. We finally got her settled down and dreaming of sand castles.
The next morning she was still running a fever, so I gave her some motrin and we were headed down to the ocean. She was so excited to finally play in the sand. She wasn't so sure about walking in it at first, but she quickly warmed up to it and pulled her wagon full of toys down to the water. It was all going great and Eric and I were so excited that she was going to like the beach. We spoke to soon...we walked by some standing water that smelt very fishy. I looked down at Claire who proceeded to tell me, "It smells nasty at the beach", and then she started gagging and threw up all over the sand. That was the end to Claire loving the beach. Her love for the beach lasted all of 3 minutes. She then wanted to be held the whole time or sit on towel. Eric was pretty disappointed because he loves the beach. But his little girl, who didn't feel good, just wasn't into the whole beach atmosphere.

We stayed down there for about 30 minutes until she begged enough times to go to the pool. The pool was where we spent 99% of our time at. We tried several more times to go to the beach, but it always ended up with us coming back to the pool.

The place that we were staying at had an amazing fireworks show for the 4th. Claire was so excited about seeing the fireworks. She got scared in the beginning, but quickly warmed up to the loud boom. Unfortunatley she was still not feeling so good, so we went to bed soon after the show.

On our last night in Perdido Beach we attempted to go eat some seafood at LuLu's. The key word is attempt. After waiting for about 20 minutes Claire started to run a temperature again. Instead of waiting another 45 minutes for a table, knowing that she wasn't feeling good, we decided just to leave. We ended up at McDonald's instead. No family trip is complete without a Happy Meal:o)

This wasn't exactly the beach trip that Eric and I had invisioned, but we had some fun moments. Definitly memories to share with her as she gets older.

While Daddy is Away

2009-07-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Eric has been in San Antonio and Peurto Rico for the past two weeks for the Army. Claire and I haven't done too much. Spent some time with Nanny and Papa, finished Summer school, went to a movie and been chased by the chicken. Nothing like being scared to death by a chicken!! As you know, we have a chicken in our backyard. Yes folks, we live inside the city limits in a neighborhood. That doesn't keep Eric from wanting a farm. While he is gone I am suppose to be feeding the chicken and the two rabbits. The rabbits Im fine with, it's the chicken that freaks me out. Most of the time it stays away from Claire and I when we are back there, but it had been a week since it had been feed so when we went out there it totally chased me across the yard. It then proceeded to hang out by the back door to attack me if I came back out. Eric finds this funny, but really Im freaked out.

Claire and the broom(our only protection from the chicken in order to go feed the rabbits)

Then today Claire asked to go play on her awesome swing set. I of course said no way Im not going any where near that chicken. Claire looks out the window and promises me that it's not out there. I pull up the blinds to take a look for myself and the stinking chicken comes running across the yard straight to the window and starts clucking like crazy. Of course we didn't go outside after that. She probably would have pecked us to death. I do let Bruno go back there because he can defend himself. I really need to get a good video of the two of them chasing each other. But I do have a picture from earlier today when he chased it on the roof. Actually, I hear the chicken walking on the roof right now. Oh Boy...our neighbors must think that we are crazy!! Because I sure think that we are crazy:o)

I Love Family Visits

2009-07-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my Aunt Joyce, cousins Katie and Olya, and Aunt Cathy came for a visit. Aunt Joyce and Aunt Cathy dropped Katie off at my parents for a week and headed back over to Georgia to be with my Grandma. We love having Katie with us! She is great with the girls and I just love spending time with her. I even got to take her away from the girls and have her spend the night with us while Claire stayed with Nanny. She came to watch me try and play ultimate frisbee(and watch some old people yell at each other like its a life ending game):o)

The week went by way to fast, but we were excited for Aunt Joyce to come back with Olya. It was Olya's 13th birthday, so Katie and I baked her a basketball cake(Im really starting to like this cake making thing. Now I need to take a class to learn how to make some fancy ones.) We went out to eat at the local Fayetteville Mexican resteraunt where they sang her Happy Birthday and put ice cream in her face. It was so funny! Olya was very surprised and she could have whooped up on those guys. She is the strongest girl I've ever known. She is ripped!!

Afterwards we went back to Papa and Nanny's to hang out with the cows. I got a few pictures, but it was getting dark so it's hard to see the cows in the background.

It was fun times and we miss them so much!!

Playing Catch Up

2009-06-30T12:18:00.001-07:00

I am way far behind this month with blogging. So this post will be lots of pictures with very little words.

LoLo's birthday was about 3 weeks ago. Claire is very into birthdays, so when we told her it was her LoLo's birthday the first thing she asked was, "what kind of birthday is she having?". So of course Claire and I ended up baking her a flower cake. A purple one to be exact!(Claire's favorite color)

While we were at LoLo and Papa's Claire just had to go fishing. She was so excited about her new Barbie fishing pole that she didn't eat much of her dinner. She had to get down to the water fast:o) To our surprise she caught 2 fish and the next day she caught even more. She was a natural.

Aunt Sheila also had a birthday this month. Her and Tim went out for a birthday dinner, so Makenna and Savannah got to blow out the candles on the cake.

And after all that fun Claire got another hair cut. You're probably thinking that all I do is cut this little girl's hair:o) But in my defense her hair was major uneven after the last cut. We went in for just a trim, but ended up with the most adorable bob. Well, actually it's one of those cuts that's short in the back(stacked with lots of layers) and is longer in the front(kind of angled). It's adorable. I miss her long hair, but this hair cut fits her personality perfect. I wish that my hair was straight so that I could get this cut!

Did you notice that Kitty cat outfit? Well, not only is she wearing that silly sweater every day, she is also wearing that outfit every day. I know you are saying just put your foot down and make her wear somethng else. As much as it drives me crazy she has to become her own person sometime, right? I just make sure it's clean and not dirty:o) And trust me, when it matters I make her wear something else(like to church) it's just not worth the fight every day!

Happy Father's Day(a few days late)

2009-06-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Thank you Daddy for being the best! You were meant to have a little girl and she adores you. You can name every one of the Disney Princesses and you can play a mean game of Barbies:o) We both love you very much!!

In other news...Claire had her 3 year check up today. She is perfect in every way! Well, the doctor said average(height, weight, BMI) but I would like to think that she is above average:o) She actually did great. Im sure that the promise of ice cream was what did the trick. No shots this year(thank heavens), but next year is a big one. We won't think about that until the time comes. Surprisingly she doesn't really know her pediatrician, Dr. Stewart. She only went to the Doctor once this past year and she saw the on call Doctor. I know, we are very blessed that she is so healthy.

More VBS

2009-06-13T09:13:00.001-07:00

Welcome to "Son Rock Kids Camp". Last week at VBS was such a great experience. I got to help with the craft team and because I was one of the volunteers Claire also got to be a part of VBS. While I was busy counting out beads, cutting out stickers, and building log cabins Claire was playing with friends learning about Jesus. If you ask her what her favorite part was she would quickly respond with puppets! She was in the blue bear room and she was proud of it. I got to see her a few times walking down the hall carrying the blue bear sign. I LOVE seeing her interact with other children. She can be a little bossy at times, but every class needs a leader, right!? I am also very proud of her for using the potty all week all by herself with no help from anyone. So I am very confident that she will do great once school starts back up in August. Enjoy the pictures from parent share night and the video of "This little light of mine". It's a little rocky at some points, but it was so moving I had to share.

Willowbrook VBS 2009

2009-06-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here is just one of many videos from the parent share night from VBS this week. Claire and I had an amazing experience at VBS. God is doing great things! Claire is the last little girl on the front row on the right. I love this song!

Stay tuned for more pictures and videos.

Happy Birthday Savannah

2009-06-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

My sweet neice Savannah turned 5 years old this past Monday. I can remember so vividly the day that she was born. It is hard to believe that she will be in kindergarten this Fall. She had a very fun pool party at my parents house(Nanny and Papa) last Saturday. Of course Claire loved every minute of it. The only melt down we had was when we were leaving:o)

My favorite part of the evening was after dinner when Savannah and Claire decided to give us a little concert. It brought back so many memories of when Cristi, Breanne and I would perform for our parents. Cousins are the best!

Happy Birthday Savannah...we love you so much!

Our Sassy Three Year Old

2009-06-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Claire has gotten very sassy in her old age:o) Right around the time she turned three she started having some major attitude. Im hoping that this isn't a sign of the future. Her and I fight all the time. From the minute she wakes up in the morning to the minute she goes to bed. Now that she is three she knows what she wants and she will do anything in her power to get it. One thing that has caused many arguments in this house is a certain long sleeved sweeter. She wants to wear it ALL the time. It's 90 degrees outside and she wants to wear it. Drives me insane. I know, I shouldn't bother with it and just let her wear it, but I know she has to be hot. The last few weeks of school it was warm outside and kids were wearing shorts and tank tops. Not Claire, she would fight me tooth and nail to wear long pants and that sweater. She looked so funny among all the summer outfits. But, she is a girl who knows what she wants and with all the other things we fight about I would give in to what she wanted to wear.

Claire use to have really long hair. I loved it so much, but I was also sick of all the fighting that came with it. Our silly little girl refuses to put it in a pony tail. She has to have her hair over her ears. She will not let her ears show. I
find this so funny! I would have to fight her to pull up the front so that it wouldn't be in her face. I finally got fed up and that's why she has shorter hair. It just amazes me how a three year old can have such an opinion about what they wear. She has tons of cute clothes that have never been worn because she doesn't like them. I hope our next child is a boy so that I can dress him any way I want:o)

Of course I wouldn't change her personality in any way. As much as I dread the tantrums and fighting I love it just as much. She is strong willed and knows what she wants. I pray that she keeps that fight in her through out her life. She is most definitly not a push over and will be a leader. I don't know who she got it from, but Im pretty sure it's not me:o) One thing I can do with out is this little phrase that she tells me often, "I just want to do what I want to". The teenage years are going to be great!

Fun in the Fountains

2009-06-04T10:32:00.001-07:00

We enjoyed a morning at the Bridge Street shopping center with lots of playing in the water. We also had a little bit of rainbow space rocket ice cream(dipping dots) while we took a walk around the lake. We will definitly be spending lots of mornings there over the summer! Especially on Tuesdays when they have a free movie for the kiddos at the Monaco.

Breaking News!

2009-05-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Dare I say it...Claire is officially FULLY potty trained! She has been peeing in the potty for well over 3 months, but had no interest in pooping in the potty. We had a break through Monday and she has been doing great the past 2 days. This morning I was in our bedroom when I heard her say, "Oh no, I have to go poop". Then she went running to the bathroom and went all by herself. Folks this is huge! I was so scared that she wouldn't get to go back to school in August seeing that 3 year olds have to tend to their own "business". I can't stop smiling and thinking about all that money saved on diapers and pull-ups:o) This process started way back in November. She has been one tough cookie to get to use the potty. Lots of candy and prizes a long the way! So your wondering what was it that finally got her to poop in the potty? The threat of not getting to swim in Nanny and Papa's big pool is what did the trick! What ever works, right!?

Swing Set

2009-05-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Claire now has her very own playground! Like I said in the last post, we got her a new swing set for her birthday. She loves it! Both her and Special Agent Oso(her imaginary friend, which is a new cartoon on the Disney Channel) enjoy swinging the most. She is also pretty darn good at the monkey bars.

Daddy putting it together

He also thought that it would be a good idea to put the pool at the bottom of the slide. The first time she went down it and into the pool she about killed herself. Way to fast!!!

And here are a few pictures of her enjoying the swing set after school.

Birthday Party

2009-05-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Are you sick of all the birthday posts yet? Well, this is the last one. I promise! Claire's party was the weekend after her birthday due to Eric having drill on her actual birthday. The party was at The Little Gym where she takes gymnastics. I highly recommend it. It was a very fun party and Claire loved every minute!

Action shots of all the fun inside the gym!

Take a look at this amazing cake. My friend Julie made this princess cake for the party. Not only did it look great, it tasted great! Definitely puts my cake to shame.

Blowing out the candles!

Look at all those boys. Her Daddy is going to have a heart attack when she gets older. Good thing he can look pretty intimidating:o)

Presents!

Afterwards the family headed back to our house for pizza and to play on Claire's brand new swing set. Pretty awesome birthday present from Mommy and Daddy:o)

The Big Day

2009-05-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Claire's actual birthday was pretty low key. We woke up that morning at Nanny and Papa's and had a big pancake and strawberries breakfast. Claire's favorite! We got dressed and tried to get a few pictures of Claire with Bruno. He was not cooperating very well, but I think some of the pictures turned out cute. We then headed home to see Daddy, who had just gotten home from drill. She opened up her present from us, which she loved! She wore that Cinderella dress every day the next week:o) We then attempted to go eat pizza at Pizza Hut, but she decided to throw a huge tantrum. So, we took the pizza home instead. Her meltdown was her way of introducing us to the terrible threes:o) As much fun as she is at this age, she is also a huge handful. She knows exactly want she wants and she is going to try her hardest to get it. Happy Birthday sweet girl!! We love you!

Birthday w/ Family

2009-05-14T18:11:00.000-07:00

The Friday before Claire's birthday my parents, Claire and I traveled over to Georgia to spend some time with my Grandma, Aunts, Uncle and Cousins. Claire loves going over there and she is a great traveler. GG(Great Grandma Gorham) has never been to one of Claire's birthday parties, so we had a little party while we were there. Of course Claire loved all the attention, but she wasn't so happy about all the clothes she got:o) A little lesson to those out there...3 year olds don't get really excited about a shirt, they would much rather see a toy:o) But Mommy was sure happy to see those outfits. We don't get to see all of our Georgia family enough! We miss you already!

The cake was my first attempt at making a "real" birthday cake. I think that it turned out alright for my first try. It definitly makes me want to take those cake classes at Hobby Lobby!

Time flies...

2009-04-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

When your having fun! Claire turns 3 this Sunday, May 3. I've been looking through all our old pictures and tearing up:o) I can't believe that three years ago I was pregnant and about to meet this precious little girl. So far it has been an amazing journey and I can't wait to see what God has in store for her future.

Stay tuned for lots of birthday posts. We are heading to Georgia to see Great Grandma Gorham and have a little celebration. Her birthday party is next weekend with all her friends. She is so excited about her princess party.

Silly Girl

2009-04-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Another post about what Claire says! This was just too funny not to share. Today at school one of her friends was crying when his mother dropped him off. The little mommy that Claire is had to run over to make sure that he was okay. Ms. Lynn said that she rubbed his back and said, "Don't worry, your Mommy will be back when she is done exercising". Claire must think that all I do when Im away from her is exercise. If only that was true...I would be one skinny lady:o)

What did you say?

2009-04-19T19:39:00.000-07:00

Claire talks all the time. She is a little chatter box that says anything and everything! There are no secrets in our house, so we have to be very careful with what we say and do:o) Lot's of funny things come out of that mouth. There isn't a day that goes by that I haven't cried from laughing so hard at what she has told me. Here are just a few of my favorite's from the last few weeks.

"It's a very bad winter out there. The tomatos are coming."
(She got confused with bad weather and tornados)

"Oh...I've got to tell Mommy that I need one of those."
(When she saw her friend Tyler's new baby sister, who is a few weeks old)

"This is my lady, Adrianne."
(At ultimate this week she was telling her new friend about Adrianne)

"My hair looks rough."
(She hears me say that all the time. It's funny when she says it)

"Hi, my name is Claire. The stormmites are at my house."
(Introducing herself at gymnastics and telling everyone that the termite guy was coming that day)

"I've got a whisker on my foot."
(blister)

These are just a very small sampling of her silly words. She has grown so much in her vocabulary. Really there is nothing she doesn't say.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

What a busy day! Claire was excited to see what the Easter Bunny brought her.

She was so pretty in her new dress for church!

After church we headed to Trinity to spend the afternoon with Eric's family. Claire had a great time!

Easter w/ Nanny and Papa

2009-04-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Saturday before Easter we headed up to spend the day with Nanny, Papa, Makenna and Savannah. We started the morning off with an Easter Egg Hunt at Nanny and Papa's church. The girls had a blast. Makenna got the most eggs and got a special Easter basket full of prizes. Claire didn't do as great, but she had fun opening up each egg as she found one and seeing what was inside. She wasn't concerned about getting the most, she just wanted to eat the candy:o)

After the egg hunt we went back to the house where the girls had fun playing instead of taking a nap. They got some Easter goodies from Nanny and Papa and we ate a great dinner. After eating we tried to do another egg hunt with all the eggs that Nanny filled with candy. Claire was exhausted and showed it by having a melt down the minute she walked outside to find the eggs. Soon after we got in the car for our drive home. It was a great day with the family!

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first of many Easter Egg Hunts for Claire. Ms. Cassandra had a special Egg Hunt for her little ones at playcare. She hid tons and tons of eggs. Claire had a blast, but she wasn't at all interested in the plastic eggs. She was determined to pick up every CANDY egg she saw. You know those hard sugar eggs?...well, that's all she cared about. I think that she came home with only 8 eggs, but probably two bags worth of sugar candy eggs. I had to hide all that candy fast!!

Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-04-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

We were stuck inside on Monday because it was so cold. To pass the time we went ahead and colored our Easter Eggs. Claire had a great time. I think that she enjoyed making her cheesy face for the camera the most.

Gymnastic's

2009-04-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

Claire has been taking gymnastic's at The Little Gym for a little over a year now. She loves it, well most of it:o) Her favorite part is the dancing and running around, but she isn't so fond of the actual gymnastic stuff. This is her last semester of gymnastic's and this summer she will start taking dance. I can't wait to see her shake that booty in class. She LOVES to dance!

My baby is turning 3 in three weeks...AHHHH!!!!! Her birthday party is going to be at The Little Gym and I know she is going to have a great time. I can't believe how much she has grown up:o(

Spring Break

2009-03-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Spring break was last week and it was a very busy week for us. Claire started off the weekend getting sick. Nothing too serious, but enough to keep us in the house for 3 days. We were all going stir crazy so we decided to get out of the house and go to Big Spring Park. The weather was perfect to feed the ducks and fish. Claire had a great time and of course so did her Snow Kitty(She goes every where with us. Im going to have to buy another one just in case we lose her. The thought of it makes me cringe!!).

On Tuesday we met up with our friends Heather, Joshua and Sydney at the Botanical Gardens. Claire and Joshua are big buddies from the Wellness Center. Heather and I use to work their together. They had a Big Bug exhibit that the kids loved. The kids had a great time running around playing and enjoying the weather. Claire's favorite part was the picnic we had. Please notice that Snow Kitty was their with us also:o)

On Wednesday Nanny, Makenna and Savannah came to town and we all went to the park. The girls had a great time. Makenna and Savannah were all over the place while Claire stayed put in the swing. Whenever we go to the park all Claire wants to do is swing. Afterwards we ate lunch at Wendy's(their favorite place to eat with Nanny). Claire headed home with Nanny to spend the night with her and Papa. Eric and I didn't do much since he was sick with strep throat:o(

Claire even squeezed in a night with LoLo and Papa. No pictures from that adventure, but from what she has told me she had a lot of fun planting flowers and digging in the dirt. And of course she loved playing with Opie, Ozo and Zoe. So as you can tell we were pretty busy.

Brodie's Birthday Party

2009-03-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago was Brodie's birthday. His party was at Pump it up and the kids had a great time. Claire especially loved it. She only came out with a few bruises:o) Claire is not much of a dare devil. She talks tough, but that's about it. So I was very shocked that she went down the huge slide. It took a little bit of persuading and for me to go down it once with her. After that there was no stopping her. Julie, Brodie's Mom, made the cake. She is so talented! She even offered to make Claire's princess cake for her birthday. I can't wait. Seeing her cakes makes me wish that I could do it. She took the cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby. Im hoping to get signed up this summer! Enjoy the pictures.

Fun at the Park

2009-03-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Potty Training

2009-03-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

This process has been going on since Thanksgiving. Claire has gone from being interested in the potty to kicking and screaming while trying to get her to wear panties. I don't want to jinx it, but she has been doing great this past week. Im not going to say much because Im afraid if I do she will wake up tomorrow and refuse to use the potty. We have found that using a Dora potty chart and prizes after using the potty so many times works best. She loves picking out which sticker she wants after each time she goes pee pee, but her favorite part is when she finally gets a prize. She runs into the living room, covers up her eyes and starts to giggle uncontrolably. Claire now has a pretty big collection of Care Bears. I've gotten every little Care Bear they have a Walgreen's, so we have now moved onto Care Bear cousins. Whatever works!!

SNOW!!!

2009-03-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

It actually snowed. Who would have thought that the weatherman was going to be right this time? It wasn't much, just about an inch or so, but Claire really enjoyed it. So much that we had to fight her to come back inside. We built(actually Mommy built) a little snowman and Claire loved sliding down our front yard with Daddy. The only thing we had to slide on was the top of a garbage can and it wasn't working, so Eric ended up just pulling her down. I was feeling a little guilty for skipping church in order to play in the snow, but it was all melted by 1pm. Good thing we enjoyed it while we had the chance. So sad:o(

Our little snowman

All smiles until it was time to go inside!

Sliding down the hill with Daddy

Her favorite thing to do was make snow angels. If it weren't for "Max and Ruby" she wouldn't have known what snow angles were!

Best Friends

2009-02-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

This is Brodie, Claire's best friend from school. She talks about him all the time! It is so funny to watch these two together. The first time Julie, Brodie's Mom, and I got together to have them play outside of school I realized how bossy my child is. It shocks me that Brodie puts up with it:o) He is the shy and quiet type and Claire is the loud and out going type. Their personalities are so different, but somehow it works for them. Could he be our future son-in-law? Im glad Julie and I get a long so well, but I don't think that Eric likes the fact that they are Alabama fans:o) Only the future will tell!

Happy Birthday Makenna

2009-02-16T10:20:00.000-08:00

Makenna's actual birthday was last Thursday. Since Eric was out of town, I decided that Claire and I would go to Fayetteville and spend the night. We had such a great time celebrating Makenna's birthday. I'm still having a hard time believing that she is 7. Time sure does fly!We ate dinner at the local Mexican restaurant and we embarrassed her by having them sing to her:o) Afterwards we went back to their house for her to open presents. Claire loves being at her Sissy's house. I believe that it is her most favorite place to be. It's always a struggle to get her to leave.

Another exciting thing that happened last week is our new couch! I picked it out on Friday and it should be here in about 4 weeks. No more nasty college furniture!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T10:30:00.001-08:00

What a Morning

2009-02-07T11:50:00.001-08:00

This morning has been non stop. It started off with a sick little girl:o( Claire wasn't feeling very well last night and she woke up even worse. I was thinking that it was just a cold, but she screamed the whole time she was in the bathtub last night. It got me to thinking that it might be an ear infection. So...we started the day off going to the Doctor. Turns out that she has a really bad sinus infection. Who knew that 2 year olds could get sinus infections...definitly not me. The Doctor also gave us something to help with Claire's constipation. Yep, that's right, this little girl has been holding it for some time now. She has been doing great with potty training when it comes to peeing, but she has gotten so afraid to poop in the potty that she holds it. I know, pretty disgusting, but I was starting to really worry about her. She has no clue what's going to hit her:o)

There is never a good time to get sick, but this really was a bad time. Today was Makenna's(my niece) birthday party. Claire and I have been looking forward to this for a week now. She has been asking me every day when she was going to get to eat Sissy's(Makenna) birthday cake. After finding out that what Claire had wasn't contagious I decided that we would go ahead and go to the party. It was a skating party. I use to love skating! I went almost every Friday and Saturday night between the years of 4th and 6th grade. So I was excited to see if I still had my mad skills. I was also curious to see how Claire would do in the little fisher price skates that my Mom got. Turns out that Im not as good as I use to be, but Claire did really great. We are going to have to start going to the Tiny Tot Skating. We had a great time until Claire just had enough. She wasn't feeling well and needed to just go to sleep. So here we are, Claire asleep in her big girl bed and me updating the blog. Im praying that she wakes up feeling much better and much happier!

Early Works Museum

2009-02-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

We took a little family outing to the Early Works Museum. Claire enjoyed every minute of it. There are tons of things for the little ones to get into. The only bad part was trying to get her to leave:o)

Christmas

2008-12-30T07:21:00.000-08:00

Since it was brought to my attention that I do have a few people that actually keep up with this blog, I thought that I should bring it up to date. So much went on this past month that I just got overwhelmed with the amount of blogging I needed to do. Instead of separate blogs, Im just putting all the pictures into a huge slide show. You will get to see a little bit of everything. Our trip to Santa's Village, various encounters with Santa Claus(in which Claire made no eye contact with Santa), our trip to Indiana, decorating Christmas cookies with Nanny, Christmas with Lolo and Papa, Christmas with Granny, Christmas with Mama Pat, Christmas with Nanny and Papa, and last but not least Christmas morning. See, I told you it was a hectic December:o) Claire got a little overwhelmed at times and had a few melt downs. Im pretty sure it stressed me out more than it did anyone else. Overall it was a very blessed Holiday Season. I can't wait until next year when Claire is older and can start understanding the true meaning of Christmas. Maybe then she won't get so mad that her cousin got the Tinkerbell toy instead of her!

School Christmas Program

2008-12-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Claire was in her first school program this past week. All the kids at WEE sang Christmas songs in front of the parents. I was so nervous, you would have thought it was me having to perform. Her class sang Jingle Bells. To no surprise Claire sang as loud as she could and shook her bells and stomped her feet. She was the only kid up there that was singing. Im a very proud Mommy:o) I have video of the adorable performance, but it has taken forever to download. Maybe sometime soon I will get it up so everyone can see. But here are a few pictures in the mean time.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-07T11:29:00.001-08:00

I know it's a little late, but here are a few pictures from our busy Thanksgiving. We were all over the place. From Leighton to Fayetteville to Trinity and back home. Over the Thanksgiving week we lost Eric's Great Grandfather, Daddy George. He was a sweet man and lived a long and happy 96 years. He and his wife, Mama Lillian, were married for 76 years. They are an amazing example of love and marriage to us all. He will be dearly missed!

Eggs

2008-11-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

Organic free-range eggs fresh from the farm.

Yee Haw

2008-11-06T11:24:00.001-08:00

Claire was a cowgirl for Halloween. She wasn't into the whole dressing up thing, so I was lucky to get her to wear anything. The shirt Claire wore was made by her Great Great Grandmother. Grandma Bower made it for my brother when he was little. She loves her red boots and wore them all day. She even wore them in our family pictures that we got taken that morning with LoLo and Papa. This little girl hates to change her clothes. So the photo shoot didn't go as planned:o) Back to Halloween, we started off trick-or-treating at LoLo and Papa's and then headed over to Eric's Grannies house. It was a very busy morning! She took her nap in the car while we drove back to Huntsville so we could go to the church fall festival. She loved the trunk-or-treating and seeing all the other kids dressed up. She got to bounce, ride a train and a little roller coaster. It was definitly a fun filled day! Much better than last year. Saturday we went up to Nanny and Papa's so that she could trick-or-treat at their house. They decided to dress up too and it gave Claire a fright. She is still talking about Papa scaring her and how he is a "silly goose".

The picture's are not in order of what we did, but oh well. Im sure you get the point.

Pumpkins

2008-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

We have been surrounded by pumpkins this week trying to get ready for Halloween. On Tuesday Claire stayed home from school because she wasn't feeling all that well. She only had a cold, but I was taking no chances since she was sick last Halloween. (You know, the most awful Halloween ever, where she had an ear infection and got her finger shut in the front door. We ended up spending the night in the hospital so they could stitch the top of her left pinky back on) Back to the story at hand, to make our day at home fun we made some pumpkin cookies. Nothing special, just the pillsbury doughboy kind that already have the picture in the middle of the sugar cookie. Claire enjoyed it very much!

Last night we carved/painted our pumpkins. There was no way I was going to let Claire use a knife, so the next best thing was a paint brush. She loves to paint, so that kept her occupied while I carved the big pumpkin. I thought that she would have fun helping me get the seeds out, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She is definitly our little princess:o) Daddy kept Bruno away from the action and had fun watching us. I think that he was traumatized growing up, because he hates Halloween. Im determined that this Halloween will be 100 times better than last year. We will be staying away from the house by going over to Muscle Shoals and then coming home to spend the evening at the Church Fall Festival. Stay tuned for some cute pictures of Claire all dressed up:o)

The Big 28

2008-10-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

I have the best family I could have ever imagined and I love them so much! The Lord has truly blessed me these past 28 years. I can't wait to see what else is in store for my life!

Disney On Ice

2008-10-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Last week was very busy for us. Not only did we go see Veggie Tales, but we also went to see Disney On Ice. Claire was very excited to go to Mickey and Minnie's house. At least that's where she thought she was going. Once we walked into the VBC there were vendors everywhere. It definitly gave us a glimpse into what Disney World is going to be like. Claire wanted everything she saw. Daddy didn't think she needed anything, but Mommy talked him into an Ariel doll:o) The show was great and Claire really enjoyed it. Her favorite was of course Mickey and Minnie. She also liked Peter Pan and the Pirates. She hasn't stopped talking about the big alligator that got Captain Hook. I love that she has gotten to an age where we can take her to fun things like this. I can't wait until it's actually Disney World. I get excited just thinking about it!

Veggie Tales

2008-10-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

The minute I heard that Veggie Tales would be coming into town I called and got tickets. I knew Claire would have a blast seeing that she loves Bob and Larry so much. Eric is out of town, so unfortunately it was just Claire and Mommy. We did meet up with some of Claire's friends from the Wellness Center. We went to dinner with Joshua, Sydney, and their Mommy and Daddy(Heather and James). Ms. Cassandra also came with her niece, Shala. The show was great! Claire couldn't stop dancing and for some reason she found an interest in going to the potty. Some of you may know how uninterested she has been in potty training. Well, she saw Joshua and Shala asking to go potty so she had to go too. So how can I complain? Im hoping that this interest will continue:o) My pictures aren't all that great and by no means show how much fun we had, but they will give you some idea. I think that we will be hearing about the Veggie Tale show for a long time.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon my sister-in-law, Sheila, and I loaded up the kids and went to the Lyon's family pumpkin patch. I was excited because I knew just how fun Claire was going to have. There was so much to see and do she didn't know which way to run. She first got her face painted. There are moments when I realize how grown up she is getting and this was one of them. A couple of months ago there was no way she would have sat down to let someone paint on her face. After she got her pumpkin on her face we headed to the "Playground". At least that's what Claire called it. There were swings, slides, corn to play in, cow train's, petting zoo, corn maze, big blow ups slides, and even a little blow up bouncy slide for the little ones. Claire was in heaven. We played for about an hour and then took a hay ride out to pick our pumpkin. Claire is all about "the biggest ____ ever". Every thing she sees is the biggest ever. So you can imagine how she was determined to find the biggest pumpkin ever. It took a while, but she found the perfect one for her. It was just her size so she was able to carry it and in her mind it was "the biggest pumpkin ever". Sheila's brother's family also came with us. Their son is Thomas and he is the same age as my niece Makenna. Claire loved him. She followed him around the whole time and when she couldn't see him she would ask me, "Where Thomas go?" I really think that we are going to be in trouble with the boys as she gets older. Her teachers at school say that she is a little flirt. Last week they said she threw herself on the ground in front of her friend Brodie and said, "Help me Brodie, I can't get up". It's a good thing her Daddy is a big intimidating guy:o) The afternoon was great and I couldn't have asked for her to be any better. It was definitly memorable!

Picnic

2008-10-11T19:48:00.000-07:00

Claire has been obsessed with picnic's ever since we had one at the zoo. The weather has been great, so how could I say no when she asks about having a picnic. This afternoon we decided to have a picnic in our back yard and watch Bruno run wild. It was fun just to get out of the house and of course Claire loved every minute. After she is done eating she loves to run backwards and have Bruno chase her. I love hearing her yell, "Come get me Bruno". It's so cute!

Bird House

2008-10-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Claire and I went up to Nanny and Papa's this past Wednesday. It has been fall break, so Makenna and Savannah were staying with Nanny. Nanny thought that it would be fun to let the girls paint a bird house. They definitly enjoyed it. Claire was determined to paint it "All myself". She loves spending time with her Nanny and cousins!

Introducing Bruno

2008-10-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

I would like for everyone to meet our puppy Bruno. He is a miniature schnauzer and just too cute. Claire loves dogs so it was only a matter of time before we gave in and got a puppy. Claire stayed with her LoLo and Papa yesterday while we went to look at some puppies. We had decided on getting a miniature schnauzer back at the beginning of summer. We have heard nothing but good things about them and they don't shed very much. Which is good for me and my allergies. Claire has been in heaven the minute she laid eyes on him. Today we have spent pretty much every minute in the back yard playing. She loves it when Bruno gets fiesty and starts to chase her. It is so funny to watch Claire try and whistle for him and yell, "come here boy, good dog". He is also such a good dog. I was expecting to have a very long night last night listening to whinning, but we never heard a sound. He slept until 5am, when Eric got up for work, and then went back to sleep until Claire woke up. And there has been no accidents, not even the 2 hours we were at the Wellness Center!(Knock on wood) Bruno is a great addition to our family!

Farmer Eric

2008-09-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Im not sure what goes on in Eric's head. He can come up with some of the craziest ideas. Like having chickens and rabbits in the backyard when you live in Huntsville. Yep, that's right...we have chickens and rabbits. I'm not so happy about this, especially the chickens. It's just weird. I even think that it's against the law, but Eric won't listen to me. Plus they are just nasty. They are in a pen, but last weekend they have found a way to get out. They stay around the backyard, but it really freaks me out when I go outside. His intentions were for the chickens to lay eggs, but that still hasn't happened. He says that he will be getting rid of them soon, but he has been saying that for a couple of months now.

Last week he decided to get some rabbits. Which I guess that isn't so bad. They are much better than the chickens. He went after work to go pick them up and came home with a huge pen along with some ugly rabbits. I was thinking that he would get a cute little bunny. But these rabbits are just not that attractive. Claire loves them. Her and Eric go back there at night to feed them and let them out to hop around. I think that it's Claire's favorite part of the day. It will definitly be memories for her. I just wish Eric would come up with an idea like getting a dog or cat. Something normal! I mean really...who has chickens in their backyard? Im just praying he doesn't come home with goats:o)

As you can see one rabbit is white and the other one is white with some brown. Claire calls them the clean rabbit and messy rabbit. So we have named them Clean and Messy.

Baby Andrew

2008-09-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we met up with a few of my friends for lunch. It's the girls from high school that are still living here in the great city of Huntsville. Meghan and Allison ended up having to work, but Adrianne, Kristen, Andrew, Claire and I were still able to see each other. The high light was getting to meet baby Andrew(Kristen's precious 2 month old baby boy). He really is the most adorable thing. And he has black hair that sticks straight up making him even cuter. In the car before we got there I tried to prepare Claire for how to be with a baby. I told her to be gentle and you couldn't yell because that might scare him. She just told me that "baby will need a bottle". After seeing him it makes me want to have a little baby around. But then I realized that I would have a toddler and a baby so I think Im happy the way things are:o)

I was able to get a couple of pictures, but Claire wasn't cooperating for the camera so they aren't that great.

Happy Fall Y'all

2008-09-15T06:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon we went up to my parents(Nanny and Papa's) house. Mom was having a Southern Living party. While we were there we took some pictures of the girls in front of Nanny's fall set up. I love this time of year and I think Claire is going to be the same way. She loves her new Halloween tshirt that Papa and Nanny got her. She refused to take it off and ended up sleeping in it last night. She is also practicing her "Trick or Treat". Right now Claire is asleep because she woke up sick last night. Poor thing, hopefully she will be feeling better soon. Enjoy the pictures of Claire and her cousins, Makenna and Savannah.

We Survived!

2008-09-13T20:29:00.001-07:00

We just made it home from a very long day in Nashville. Eric, Claire and I had a very fun filled day of lots of activity. The day started off with a trip to the Nashville Zoo. I really don't think that Claire understood when we were telling her where we were going, but she was very excited. We got a little turned around and pulled off at the wrong exit and while we were turning around in an apt. complex she started yelling "the zoo, the zoo!!". So that was proof that she had no clue what she was in store for. We had a picnic lunch by the car before we went in. I remember doing that when I was little before we went into things like the zoo or amusement parks. Claire enjoyed it. While in the zoo we got to see tons of animals.
The monkeys were one of the favorites that we saw. Unfortunately a lot of the animals were sleeping while we were there so we didn't get a good look. The big animals like the Lions, Tigers, Cougers, Giraffes and Elephants were not cooperating. Claire really liked the alligators. She had to show them her alligator stamp that she got on her paper. She also loved the carousel. The minute we got there she saw it on the map and kept telling us that we need to go find it. She was very concerned that we wouldn't get to ride..
But that little stinker wouldn't even ride on one of the animals that went up and down. We had to ride the bench, and all that did was make me dizzy:o) You would think that we had enough after the zoo, but the plan after that was to go to the Vanderbelt football game. Eric got season tickets so that we could go to the Auburn game. Two season tickets to Vandy is cheaper than one game at Auburn. We had a little time to spare before the game so we went to the mall so that Claire could play at the indoor play area. I think that this was her favorite part of the trip. We were there for about an hour. It's fun to watch your kids interact with other kids.
Claire loved a little baby that was there. It was very sweet. She even found time to say a little prayer(I love watching her say her prayers). So, now it was time for the football game. This was the part of the day that I was dreading. I had no clue how Claire would act and Eric had to understand that when it was time to go then we needed to leave. Claire surprised us and did great. She loved watching the band and the "Boy". The "Boy" was their mascot, the Commodore, that was a guy in a blown up suit. She was so fascinated by him. Im glad that we took her, but I don't think we will be taking her to another game any time soon...definitly not an Auburn game! Our very last stop was for ice cream at Ben and Jerrys...Yummy! The day turned out great. She never took a nap so there were a few melt downs, but nothing we couldn't handle. I know that she will be talking about this for a long time. I love my family!!

Play Time

2008-09-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of the day is when Claire has play time in her room. It's great to have a little time to get things done, but that's not the reason why I enjoy it. I love to sneak and watch her play by herself. It is just too cute. At the moment she loves her "Little People". She has the farm, zoo and bus. It's just funny to hear her say some of the things that Mommy and Daddy tells her. She also loves her backpack, teddy bears and books. She is growing up too fast!

Tea Party

2008-09-09T12:20:00.001-07:00

Every little girl loves having a tea party with her Daddy...

Happy Birthday Papa

2008-09-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was Papa's 55th Birthday. After Claire went to school that morning we headed up to spend the night with Nanny and Papa to celebrate. We got to go see cousin Savannah(Sissy) play in her very first soccer game. She was so cute! She was not hesitant at all to get right in the middle of the action. She wasn't too into kicking the ball, but she loved running in and jabbing some elbows. She is definitly her Aunt Tracy's niece:o) Makenna(Sissy) and Claire had fun playing with each other on the sidelines. Claire loved kicking the soccer ball so Im hoping that she will play soccer just like her Mommy did! That is if she doesn't do something with dance or music(she loves that sort of stuff). After the game we all went to eat dinner at Nanny and Papa's and we also got to eat Birthday cake and ice cream. Claire gets so excited when she eats Birthday cake. She ended up blowing out the candles for Papa before we even finished singing "Happy Birthday". We all pitched in and got Papa a shuffle board for his Birthday. He was very surprised. He had no idea that we were going to get him one. Great idea from Nanny:o) The girls had a great time helping him put it together. I think Papa got a little frustrated, but the girls sure did have fun.

Claire got into some of Savannah's play makeup and got it all over her face. You can tell in some of the picture's at the house:o)

We spent the night with Nanny and Papa so that we could spend Friday with Nanny and Savannah. Savannah was out of school that week so we decided to make Friday a fun day. Unfortunatly Makenna had to go to school(since she is in "real" school, 1st grade). Claire and Savannah had a blast together playing up at Nanny's house. Mom and I decided to go look at furniture, since Eric has said that I can do some redecorating. The girls decided to wear their princess dress up clothes. They were so cute running around the furniture store. Afterwards we went to eat lunch at Shoney's and to the park to feed the fish. It was a busy day, but I know Claire had fun. We love being up at Nanny and Papa's house. She is already asking when we are going back.

Back to School

2008-08-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year where the kiddos start back to school. In this house hold Claire is starting back to Mother's Morning Out. This past Tuesday we went to meet her new teachers at WEE(Willowbrook Early Education). She was so excited to see Ms. Amy and Ms. Lynn. Ms. Amy was the music teacher last year and Claire remembered her right away. It took no time for Claire to start singing:o) As much as I know she is going to love them she has continued to call them Ms. Melanie and Ms. Susan(last years teachers). This morning was a much anticipated day by both Mommy and Claire. She has been asking me about school every since summer started. I couldn't wait to get her out of bed this morning and tell her where she was going. She cheered and ran straight to her table to eat breakfast.

After I took a few picture's of her in the kitchen it was time to go. I had no worries about Claire crying about me leaving her. I knew that she would walk straight in without looking back. My only worry was the tennis shoes! Claire loves shoes, but she only loves her boots and flip flops. She hates wearing socks and tennis shoes. Last night I decided to put her socks on while she was asleep hoping that when she woke up she would keep them on and there wouldn't be a fight. I was mistaken because I was woken up to Claire yelling, "Don't want socks! No socks Mommy". When I walked into her room they were on the floor. So I knew that it was going to be a fight to get thos shoes on. I tried putting them on at home and that wasn't working. Plan B was to wait until we got to school and maybe she would be so excited about going in, she wouldn't care if I slipped her tennis shoes on. She cried all the way to school telling both Mommy and Daddy that she didn't want to wear her tennis shoes. To my surprise when we got to school she put her shoes on with no fight. She was still upset and walked in with her paci and blanky, but gave both those up quickly after walking in the door.

Claire knew exactly where her room was and we followed her there. She waited at the door patiently for Ms. Amy to let her in. We took a quick picture of her playing with her new friends and headed out of there before she could see us. 4 hours really goes by fast when you don't have a toddler around. I went running, did some cleaning, went to Verizon to get our phone fixed and got Eric some new work shirts. I would say that I was pretty productive. I was very excited to go see what Claire had been up to. She was all smiles when she saw me and told her teachers good bye and was ready to leave. They said that she was so fun to be around and wanted to keep her all week. I guess that's a good sign. They mentioned that she had seen Ms. Susan, her teacher from last year, and Claire began to tell her that she was to be in her classroom not any where else. She can be bossy that way:o) I just think she misses Ms. Melanie and Ms. Susan.

She has already asked me about going back to school. It is going to be a great year. I love Willowbrook so much and couldn't be happier with what they are doing with all the kids there. It is the best place. Did I mention that Claire is in a class full of boys with only one other little girl. And guess what her name is...it's Claire also. I was so disappointed to hear that. So she is now Claire S. not just Claire:o( But I am happy that she finally has a little girl to play with. Also...she got home from school and didn't want to take her shoes off. She now loves her tennis shoes, that little stinker:o)

The Ultimate Mommy

2008-08-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

For the past 4 months I have been playing Ultimate Frisbee in the HUSL(Huntsville Ultimate Summer League). It was my way of getting out once a week for a little break and doing something active. This past weekend was the EOS tournament. Lots of events took place. Friday night Eric, Claire and I headed over to a team dinner. Claire had a blast showing off. She enjoyed the swing set in the backyard and Mark's(the captain of my team) two puppies. After dinner the guys were playing Wii in the living room while Claire decided to put on a show. She is all about singing and made sure everyone stopped to clap and cheer when she was done. And she ended with the cutest little curtsey. We think she got it from watching the Little Einsteins. Saturday morning Daddy drove Claire over to Decatur to meet LoLo and Papa for lunch. After lunch Claire headed over to Muscle Shoals to spend the night with them. While Eric was off with his parents I was at the fields playing Ultimate. Im so glad that Adrianne got me to play last year because I love it! It's just fun to be a part of a team again. We actually played Adrianne's team first. It was a close game, but they beat us. They were really good and made it to the finals. Unfortunately they lost in a really close game.

On Sunday Eric and I went over to meet LoLo and Papa at Mama Pat's house. I was excited to see Claire. She always makes me smile. Of course she had to show off a little bit. She enjoyed playing Mama Pat's piano. I think that she is going to be artistic as she gets older. She loves to dance, sing, color and play music. After an afternoon of fun with the family we headed home to check out Daddy's tomatos. Eric has planted 6 huge tomato plants around the house. And they have finally started to get red. Claire enjoyed picking some off and digging in the dirt. Now that the busy weekend is over Claire has decided to get sick. I think that it is just her getting her 2 year molars. Im hoping that she is back to her old self by Thursday, because that is when school starts!

ROAR!!

2008-08-07T19:23:00.001-07:00

Gymnastics

2008-08-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

Claire's gymnastics class started back up today. I was a little unsure because as some of you already know, she was wild last semester. I never knew if she was going to be happy or throw a tantrum. But today was great. The whole time I was thinking, "Is this child really mine?" She knew exactly what to do and was excited to move on to the next activity. She sang every song and danced like a mad woman. When it was all over she ran out to get her stamp, put on her shoes and told the teacher "Bye Bye", as she walked out to the car. In the past month I can really tell how much she has matured. I am loving this stage in her life! Because she was doing so good I forgot to take pictures. I was only able to get one good one of her swinging on the bar.

Georgia on my Mind

2008-08-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Katie, Olya, Claire and Caitlyn

The girls going "Night Night"

While Eric was away at drill this weekend, Claire and I decided to head over to Athens, GA for a visit with the family. It was about time we went over to see my Grandma(Claires Great Grandma/GG). I was not looking forward to the 5 hour drive. This would be the first time I have ever driven that far by myself with Claire. But she did GREAT! I couldn't have asked for a better little traveler. We left early Friday morning and for about 2 hours we sang "The Wheels on the Bus", "Old McDonald" and "Happy Birthday" over and over again. She watched Dora the Explorer for an hour before we stopped for lunch. I don't know how our parents traveled with us without the portable DVD. It is a life saver on long trips! We made it through Atlanta with no problems, but I do have to tell all those stupid Georgia drivers that if you see the state trooper it's too late to slam on your brakes. They have already caught you so don't cause a wreck by slamming on your brakes!! So annoying! Friday night the whole family got together at Aunt Fran's(my Dad's sister) house. It was so great to see all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins that we haven't seen in forever. Claire had a blast. My cousins Caitlyn, Olya and Katie walked in the door and Claire never left their side until they left. She loved them. She really thought that she was 12 not 2.

Future Cheerleader?

Wait..she is two right?

On Saturday Aunt Fran and Susan watched Claire so that I could go shopping with my cousins Cristi and Caitlyn. After going into shops like Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister I realized that Im old and no longer 17. Caitlyn is 13 and just getting into those fun teenage years that we all loved. When we walked into AandF the music was so loud that I couldn't think and the shorts and skirts were so short your butt hangs out. I mean really girls, do we have to show it all for the boys to like us? I had to bite my tongue when Caitlyn picked up this awfully short skirt and bought it. The whole time I was thinking, "There is no way I would let Claire wear these clothes" I just found it funny yet sad that Im no longer cool:o)

We got to spend some quality time with GG Saturday afternoon. Claire loved showing her the new farm set that Susan and Aunt Fran got her. And she even let GG read her some books. That evening we went out to eat with GG, Uncle Mark, Aunt Denise, Maran and Kelsey. These days you never know what Claire is going to start singing because she loves to sing. In the middle of dinner at a restaraunt right next to the University of Georgia she decided to sing, "War Eagle, give em hell....etc...". There were so many UGA students around that turned to see who was singing that song. At first I was a little embarrassed, but it didn't take me too long to feel proud of my little Auburn fan. I know that her Daddy is very proud of her.

GG and Claire

This morning we woke up, ate breakfast and got on the road to come home. Again, Claire traveled great. We only stopped once for lunch and we did a little shopping at Carter's. I do have to say this about Parent's and their kids in play areas at McDonald's....Watch your kid's otherwise a mean Mom like me might tell your kids to settle down. 7 year old boys don't need to be running over a 2 year old, seriously stop sitting in the corner and stuffing your face!!

It was a great trip with lots of memories, but of course it is always great to be home.

No Real Purpose

2008-07-31T11:46:00.001-07:00

Wearing Daddy's shoes(I still can't get over how long her hair is getting)

Swimming in her pool(She is too cute!)

Watering the flowers

Doing her own make up

There really isn't a purpose to this post. I just wanted to share a few cute pictures of Claire that I have taken in the past few weeks. She has grown up so much in the past month. She can say anything and understands everything. She is just a little person. Claire is no longer my baby and it makes me sad. But I am so excited about getting to do all the fun things that toddlers can do. School starts back up in a week and a half. She hasn't stopped talking about it since the year ended in May. She is always talking about Ms. Melanie and Ms. Susan. I don't have the heart to tell her that they won't be her teachers this year. Next week her gymnastics start back up. She was just getting the hang of it when it ended, so Im excited to see how she does this semester. Hopefully no huge tantrums when it's time to leave:o) Enjoy the pictures!

Fun Weekend

2008-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

This weekend was filled with wedding fun. My good friend, Allison Ivey, got married this past weekend to her hubby, David Whitener. They are such a sweet couple and it's so obvious how much they love each other. Friday night Claire and I headed over to the church for some Rehearsal Dinner activity. There was great times to be had. We visited with friends, listened to some great music(played by Allison's brother, Stuart, and some of his Auburn band friends) and jumped on the moonbounce. Claire's favorite part was the music. I just mentioned that Stuart and his friends were the entertainment. Stuart is one of the drum majors for Auburn University's band. So it was great getting to see his talent. Claire danced like a mad woman and loved all the attention. She even threw in some loud, "War Eagles". It was a blast.

Dancing to the band

A little side story....My friend Adrianne was there and Claire just loves her to death! She gets so excited when she sees her. A few months back the three of us took a trip down to Jackson, MS to visit our good friends Kim, Kevin and Kate Kosek. For some reason Claire has connected Adrianne with Kate. When we first got back from Jackson, Claire was calling Adrianne, Kate. I thought she finally figured out that her name is Adrianne, not Kate, because we have seen her several times since then. But Friday night she went back to calling her Kate. Oh well...either way she loves Adrianne:o)

Adrianne(Kate) and Claire

Claire spent Saturday night with the Grandparents so that Eric and I could go to the wedding. I absolutely loved this wedding. The church was gorgeous, the music was amazing and of course we got to see a loving couple get married. I don't think they ever stopped smiling the whole night:o) We also had a great time and the Reception. This was the first wedding of one of my friends that Eric has gone to in the 5 years of us being married. He is always out of town for Army stuff when all my high school friends are getting together. So there were some people he has never met. I think Eric had just as much fun as I did. They had a great band that I think everybody loved. Lots of dancing and my feet are still sore. All in all this was a great weekend. But Im glad it's Monday so that we can get back into routine.

The Whitener's during their first dance

A not so good picture of all the girls

Off to their honeymoon

Shhhh...

2008-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Claire reading her library books

So, I have been taking Claire to the library for story time for over a month now. She gets so excited when I tell her that we are leaving for the library. They sing songs, dance, read books, do puzzles and finish with a craft. I think that I enjoy it just as much as she does. Well...if you have been around Claire you know that she is not a quiet child. And I have the hardest time getting her to sit still and listen while we are there. Over and over I am whispering in her ear, "Shhhh...you need to sit and be quiet". Today didn't go so well. We made it through story time and it was time for the craft of the day. The past few weeks there has been glueing involved using a glue stick, but today it was just coloring. She did not like the idea of that and was going to let everyone know it. As much as I told her to stop, it only got worse. Don't you just love those moments in public when everyone is staring at you thinking that you have the worse kid ever and your the worse mom. This was that exact moment. The only thing to stop it was to leave. We left with her kicking, throwing arms and yelling. I thought I was going to lose it. We made it home where she sat in time out and when she got up it was like nothing ever happened. Why do these moments happen in public?...especially to me:o)

This Is Us

2008-07-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I love keeping up with other people and their blogs so I thought that it was about time I started one for our little family. Eric and I have been married for almost 5 years and we have the most precious little girl, Claire. She is now 2 years old and is learning new things everyday. She is determined to do everything she can on her own. Just last night she had to zip up her pajamas with no help, and it took about 20 minutes longer than it would have for me to do it:o) She loves singing her ABC's and counting to 14. She also loves to dance and it makes us laugh to see how into the dancing she gets. We are a very busy family. Eric just got back from spending 4 months in Iraq. I still don't know how Claire and I made it without him. I'm back in school to get certified to teach PE. I love the thought of running around with kids and being active. Who wouldn't want to do that as a job?! But until then Im staying home with Claire and loving every minute! Eric is an accountant and is also in the Army Reserves.