November 18, 2013

9 months

Everyone is telling me this sweet little 9 month old is no longer looking like a baby :(  it's so sad!  I even had to buy 12 month pajamas and at Target they are no longer in the infant section, I had to go to the toddler section.  I was not ready for that!  Regardless this girl is still as cute as ever!


I love this photo, I wish it wasn't blurry!
9 month stats:

  • Claire now knows how to clap.  It is so cute!  She claps at dinner, she claps in her bed, she claps when Dan plays the piano, she also claps when I sing "Popcorn Popping" or "Do As I'm Doing."  
  • She has discovered door stoppers and loves playing with them!  I had to remove the white end part or it'll go right in her mouth.  
  • Claire can give five.  If you hold her hand out she'll usually hit it over and over lots of times.  
  • She can pull herself to standing usually on our ottoman.  
  • Claire will use her little pointer finger to point at things, usually pictures in her book.  
  • This past month Claire suffered her 1st ear infection.  It caused a few sleepless nights for us both.  Unfortunately she currently has her 2nd ear infection.  They are rough!  
  • She has learned to army crawl and it gets her where she needs to go.  Sometimes she will get up on all 4s and attempt real crawling, but she seems mostly content with going everywhere on her belly.  
  • Claire enjoyed her first Halloween and was a cute little bumble bee.  
  • She likes to smack her lips and make funny sounds.  She also vibrates her lips (not sure of a better way to describe that).  
  • One day I was talking to my sister on the phone and she climbed right up in my face and bit my nose!  I couldn't stop laughing.  
  • She no longer smiles for strangers, she usually just stares at them.  
  • Claire loves Costco muffins!  She wants to eat every last crumb and cries when I throw the wrapper away.  
  • She is starting to eat more table foods and has become a little more picky.  She will no longer eat squash or green beans.  
  • She "sings" along to the radio and Dan playing the piano.  
  • Her cousin Calvin came for a visit (he's 6 weeks older) and they had fun grabbing each other's faces and hair and holding hands.  
  • We got a trampoline and Claire really enjoyed bouncing on it with me.  
  • For my birthday Claire got to ride the carousel.  She smiled quite a bit!  She rode it a 2nd time when Calvin was here, but was too tired to smile.  
  • She also tried some of my pumpkin birthday cake and loved it!  This girl already has a sweet tooth.  
  • Occasionally when she says "mama" or "dada" I think she is associating it with us, but still not quite sure.  The other day Dan walked in the room and she looked at him and said "dada".  But she tends to say those sounds a lot, so it's hard to know!  
  • She likes playing with this Sesame Street toy that makes sounds, she also likes her nesting cups, her toy piano, and cars.  
  • When she's not sick, she's a good sleeper.  She still takes 2 naps (totaling about 2 hrs each day) and sleeps from 7 pm to 6 am, eats, then sleeps til 8 or 8:30.  
Aside from being sick, we had a fun month!  Claire is always surprising us with her new skills!  We love her so much.  

November 5, 2013

Birthday Weekend: Sunday (My Actual Birthday)

On my actual birthday we got up and Dan made me breakfast, we then got ready for church.  After church Jannifer and Danny had lunch we us, played the new game they gave me (thanks Jannifer, Danny, Noelle & Jared), and then left for Vegas.  They also brought a present from my parents (Piano Guys 2 CD and Cold Stone gift card) and Dan got me a diamond ring for my right hand.  I was spoiled!

That evening Dan's Mom made me a yummy pizza dinner with the most delicious pumpkin birthday cake.  His parents also got me a fun cookbook.  It was a great birthday!

They got me the game, Thurns & Taxis.  We love new games!

27!

Happy Birthday to me :)

Even Claire tried some pumpkin cake!

So yummy!  Recipe found here.
Thanks to everyone who made my birthday a great one!

October 31, 2013

Just buzzing by to say...


With her buddy, Darren.

Cutest little bee I ever did see!

October 29, 2013

Birthday Weekend: Saturday

On Saturday we went to breakfast for my birthday at the Black Bear Diner.  If you are ever in town you should go there because they have the yummiest pancakes!  Plus they gave me a free birthday meal :).  Dan had this awesome surprise planned but unfortunately it didn't work out.  His gift to me this year was a glass tile back splash in our kitchen; something I have been wanting ever since we moved in.  Well he had planned to have them start to install it while we were at breakfast, then I would come home to it partially done.  Unfortunately the tile he picked had to be sent from California and took forever to get here.  He even tried to overnight it but they said no.  So... he told me about his awesome plan while at breakfast and finally a week later they are starting on our back splash.  I will post a pic once it's finished.

After breakfast we came home for the baby to nap.  That afternoon my sister, Jannifer, and her husband, Danny, stopped by on their way to Vegas.  They joined us for the rest of my birthday festivities that day.

We took Claire to the carousel for her first time:

She really did like it, even though she never smiled while Dan was taking pictures.

Jannifer is clearly having the most fun! I was just trying to make sure Claire didn't fall off the horse.
That night we went to dinner at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants while Claire stayed at Grammie & Papa Joe's house.  Thanks to them and Andrew & Jess and their kids for keeping Claire entertained!  I don't even think she noticed we were gone.

We then finished the night off with delicious Sweet Tooth Fairy cupcakes, one of my favorites!

Happy 27th to me!

Delicious and pretty!
And then of course we played games with Janni and Danny; one of our favorite things to do while guests are in town!

Birthday Weekend: Friday

On my birthday weekend we headed to a nearby pumpkin patch/farm with Dan's family.  We had a fun evening together even though we thought it cost too much :).  I told Dan we really needed to start our own Halloween attraction to compete with them because there really aren't many down here.  I'm sure we never will, but somebody should!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures with cousins, these pretty much just document Claire's experience at the pumpkin patch:

Watching the animals

Riding the tractor
Petting zoo area

On the hayride

Family photo!  I really like this picture of us especially with the beautiful red rock in the background.