Our Beach Princess

The Nixes took our family to Destin, Florida this past week for a wonderful vacation of clear blue water and white sands. Claire LOVED the water and she loved playing in the sand. The trip was special and fun; easy and relaxing; beautiful and nice. We had a great, great time.
Claire was the bravest in the water with her LaLa. LaLa could take her out to neck deep water, ride waves, ride floats, sing, dance, do anything and Claire had a ball with her. We got a kick out of watching them. She loves her LaLa very much!!Claire spent her shady time in the sand. She loved building castles and then smashing them the minute they were finished. One of my favorite moments on the beach is when Claire talked her Papa, Daddy and Mommy in to Ring Around the Rosy. It was a pretty funny sight and she got the biggest kick out of it.
After all that hard work in the sand and the water, her favorite place to be was snuggling with her Mimi. She loves to snuggle with Mimi. Mommy caught a few snuggles too.

A little girl who loves her Daddy...

Happy Father's Day to Daren! We had a wonderful day filled with breakfast for Daddy, a trip to church, the UT Club for brunch, a good nap, a small shopping excursion that Daddy has been wanting to take, a quick trip to the grocery store, Daddy's "dinner of choice" and good snuggle time to put Claire to bed. ;-) Now, Daddy has his feet up, is watching 24 and drinking a good glass of wine. Life doesn't get much better, huh!?
Claire is a lucky girl to have a Daddy like Daren. He is patient and kind; loving and compassionate; and fun and silly. She is blessed. I love watching the two of them and seeing their bond grow.

I am a lucky girl to have my father who fully participates in my life and Claire's and isn't afraid to be open and honest, but also to "let his hair down" and have fun. I feel blessed that the men in Claire's life play such instrumental roles. She has a Daddy, a Papa, a Pops, a Corey, etc...who all shape her and love her. She is lucky!!

La, la, la, la...Elmo's World

No matter how you slice it, Claire loves Elmo! She has an Elmo doll that laughs. She has an Elmo baby. She has an Elmo book from her LaLa that we read every day and every night. She recently discovered that Elmo is on TV. We drove to Oklahoma for Daren's grandmother's funeral. An 8 hour drive seemed a bit LONG with a 2 year old who refuses to sleep in the car anymore, so we decided to purchase some Elmo DVDs. It worked like a charm for the trip but it increased the obsession ten-fold. Anyways, Elmo is a full-fledged obsession. Grandma found this Elmo outfit and Claire had to have it!! Of course, Grandma got it for her. :-) Claire was the happiest little girl you'll ever see yesterday wearing it. She smiled the entire day and told everyone she saw that she had "Elmo shirt." LOVE THAT ELMO!!

25 weeks and growing...

This one's for the Cat...If you are embarrassed by skin, don't look at the pictures. Catherine wants to see my belly (Remember, she is in San Diego)and a sista's got to give a girl what she wants. We went to the Dr. this morning. I had to drink the nasty orange drink to check for gestational diabetes and other things. I crashed and burned after I drank it. It is a good thing Claire Bear was at school this morning because I sat down to read a book and woke up 2 hours later. :-) The Dr. told me it is the equivalent, in sugar, of 10 Snickers!!?! Can you imagine? No wonder I crashed. Anyways, I gained a pound since the last appointment on May 15 which was shocking considering my big ASS belly, but the Dr. says it is okay because...the baby is measuring big...27 weeks in size!!?? I don't know if that means I should expect another early BIG baby like Miss Claire Bear or if that just means Daren and I make big ass babies. :-) Heart beat sounded strong and solid (156 bpm). All is well in babyland. Keep praying for us...

Here I am in all my pregnant glory:

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

Happy Birthday!! I love you, Daddy. I love when we swing, but "no spin, okay?!" I love to dance in the living room with you. I love when you take me to the store. I love to go swimming with you. I love to feel your whiskers and I love when you make silly faces at me. I love when you play copycat with me at the dinner table. I love when you read me books and when we let balloons go to the sky. Thanks Daddy for being so good to me. I hope you had a special birthday. You deserve it so much. I hope you like your new driver. I am sorry it rained on our tee time. Let's plan another day to play, okay Daddy?! Mommy tells me all the time how lucky I am to have a Daddy like you and I agree. I am the luckiest girl in the world. Happy Birthday, Daddy. Mommy and I love you very much!!!

Love,
Claire Bear

PS- This is late, but if you have read the blog then you know why it is late. It took a while for the Nix family to have a computer.

Princess Claire and fingerpaint!

Claire loves to dress up like a princess! My favorite thing, though, is that she always makes me "get camera," as she puts it. She likes to look at herself dressed up. What a princess!
Claire's latest favorite outdoor activity besides swimming and the swing is to fingerpaint. Mommy found the best washable paint around and she goes to town! Sometimes she forgets the paint is on her hands, though. :-)