UT Club

We have had some other fun nights with Grandma and Pops. One in particular was at the UT Club. It is great because they have great food and a great patio. So Claire (and some day Harper) can eat and then run around and play in the yard. Claire loves it out there and Harper loves being held by her Grandma. It was a bit chilly that night so Claire wore Daddy's jacket most of the time.

Rodeo and a haircut

Daddy left town for the weekend and went golfing with some buddies. So, Mommy decided to take Claire to the rodeo while Harper had a fun morning with Grandma, Pops, Christi and the boys. Unfortunately, I told Claire ahead of time we were going to the rodeo and unfortunately on Saturday we had a horrible storm, 40 degree weather and wind that made it feel like it was in the 20s. But, Claire woke up wanting to go to the "RAY-DEE-OH!!" So off we went... I was not going to disappoint her. She had a ball! She rode a horse named Apache and had no fear. In fact, she rode him two times. She's a natural! Mommy was proud. While all the other kids were crying and their parents were forcing them to ride, Claire just hopped on and off she went. We went to see all the different animals. She liked the cows the most, especially the one that was feeding her baby. We wanted to ride some rides, but due to the wind they were all shut down. So we pretended on the tractor.
And as you know, my kids are born bald and stay that way for a good solid 18 months. But Claire NEEDED a haircut. Yes, she needed a haircut. Here are the results:

I enjoyed having the girls to myself for a few days. We had a great time. We watched The Princess and the Frog, got pedicures, ate some treats, played with the boys, dressed up as princesses, had a slumber party, went to church...We just had fun! We missed Daddy and were glad to have him home, but the three of us had some good girly time.

Harper at 6 months

I am behind on my posting. I had no camera for a while. Life is busy working full time and raising two kids, but life is good. Harper was 6 months old on March 10, 2010. Harper's appointment went well. She is doing all that she should be at this point- sitting up on her own, rolling over both directions, laughing, talking, tracking with her eyes, acknowledging her name, holding on to things... She is doing great!! She is full of smiles all the time. She is such a happy, laid back little munchkin. We started her on solids and she has done really well with them. So far, she likes it all! She loves to take a bath and she is now in the big girl bathtub. No more infant tub... She loves it the most when Claire and she get to take a bath together. Harper has both of her bottom two teeth and I believe she is working on some more as we speak.

Her 6 month stats:
Weight 17 lbs. 9 oz (90th percentile)
Height 25 inches (25th percentile)

So we have a short, chunky little monkey and we love her to pieces!!!

Priceless Valentine cards

Mommy asked Claire the following questions to write in Daddy's Valentine card:

"Claire, what is your favorite thing about Daddy?"
Claire's answer: "His toes!!!"

"Claire, what do you like to do with Daddy?"
Claire's answer: She screams, "SNUGGLE!!!!"

Daddy loved his card so much that he repeated the same process for Mommy and gave me my card from the girls much later in the day. Here are Claire's answers about Mommy:

"Claire, what is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?"
Claire's answer: "play"

"Claire, what do you like to play with Mommy?"
Claire's answer: "I like to fix her hair."

"Claire, when Mommy comes in your room in the mornings, what is your favorite thing y'all do together?"
Claire's answer: "Sing lots of songs and SNUGGLE!"

Priceless...

My Harper girl cut a 2nd tooth this morning. She took a wonderful nap on Mommy today. I LOVED it! What a great Valentine gift...a baby nap!! There's nothing better. As a family, we ate breakfast, played hide and seek (Claire's favorite), took naps, played at the park, went to the grocery store, and watched The Fox and the Hound. It was a great day!!! To top it off, Christi came over to help me clean out and organize the girls' closets and cabinets. We needed it and it was an awesome gift!

Tiny Dancer

Claire started ballet class two weeks ago. The first week, our instructions were to bring her in her tutu and a t-shirt. We were to purchase her ballet clothes, shoes, and tap shoes after class. So, here is Claire before her first ballet class. She is doing very well in class. Surprisingly, she is a little shy?! I couldn't believe that, but she is slowly loosening up. She is certainly NOT shy at home, and Mommy already can't wait to see her dance recital. She cracks me up with her new moves!!!!!!

4 month stats...a little late!

We had our 4 month check up with the pediatrician a few weeks ago, and Mommy is a little behind in posting Harper's stats. Our sweet girl is doing great! She hardly flinched when she got all of her shots. She is one tough cookie!

Weight: 15 lbs. 10 oz. (90th percentile!!!!) Biggest girl...! :-)
Height: 24 inches long (50th percentile)

Overall, Miss Harper is doing all that she should be doing at 4 months old- sleeping well, eating well, turning over by herself, cooing, smiling and laughing a lot.

The latest on the girls...

Sorry that I haven't posted anything in a while. I have a broken camera. :-( So I haven't taken any new pictures. Since I have no new pictures, I haven't had much inspiration.

Update on Harper:
After a long week of sickness, Harper is doing much better! She is so mellow. Even when she is sick, she is calm and serene and happy. It was a long week, though. She sleeps well. She laughs a lot! She LOVES her exersaucer and she loves to look at the animals on her activity mat. She hates to be in her car seat unless the car is moving?! She will be happy as a clam but if we stop at a red light, she lets me know. She coos and it sounds like a really loud pteradactyl (not that I know what one sounds like, but I am imagining it is a similar sound?!) She is a chatterbox. I love it! She rolls front to back now and also back to front. Most mornings, I find her asleep on her tummy which freaks me out but she loves to be on her stomach. She is working on sitting up on her own but still falls sideways if I let her go. She is a strong little thing! :-) She is growing up so fast!

Update on Claire:
Claire is a sweet big sister. She is more and more helpful as time passes. She loves to lay on the activity mat with Harper and she loves to cheer Harper on as she is working on rolling over. She is very sweet with Harper, but for the most part, she is still pretty oblivious. Claire is easygoing and full of bull. She loves to play outside. We spend lots of time at the park down the street. She is learning to ride her bike and is doing well with it. Claire is in Sportball at school and she is also taking ballet. She loves to wear her tutu. She knows all the words to "Hibiscus Hula" and dances along with it. She knows every word to her favorite books. She can tell you the stories of Mouse Went Out to Get a Snack and Where's Spot? She is usually not on the right page as she is telling the story, but she has memorized every single word. She saw her first movie in the theater with Grandma, Christi and the boys. She saw "The Princess and the Frog" and now she wants to be Princess Tiana. She loves to carry her "beauty bags" around and she loves to fix my hair.

So there you go... Sorry there are no pictures. I will have to start carrying around the big camera until I get my little one fixed. But, the girls are doing great!!! They are constantly growing and changing. I am so thankful for my two little blessings.

Christmas festivities began as we went on Christmas Eve to a candlelight service at our church. Claire and Harper both did very well at church and they looked so pretty in their Christmas dresses. Claire spent most of the service taking turns in Cat, Pops or Grandma's laps. We then went to our house for a homemade Tex Mex meal. The boys and Claire had so much fun playing. Harper was fast asleep soon into the night. Cat read books to Charlie and Claire and they loved it. Chris was probably sitting on the floor right behind them playing with Camille's lamps. :-) On Christmas Day, my little family opened our presents together and then headed to Grandma's to begin presents all over again. The boys were still in their pjs so Claire quickly decided she wanted to wear Spiderman pjs with them. We spent the day playing with the boys, Christi, Cat, Pops and Grandma. Unfortunately for Harper, we went to Urgent Care with a high fever followed by a double ear infection. After some doses of antibiotics, she was good as new. :-) She is such a tough, sweet little baby girl. She works hard to keep up with her older cousins and her older sister.The boys loved their Batman cave and we played with it A LOT! Charlie and Chris decided too that they wanted to be Bumblebee and Ironman. It has been really fun to watch Chris, Charlie and Claire bond even closer as they grow up. This is one of the very tender moments that Charlie and Claire shared without any coercion. This was one of many picture attempts of my parents with their grandkids. Harper was sleeping and it isn't the best picture, but it was the best of the millions we took.
This was a great one of my girls with my parents. Overall, our Christmas was a wonderful one with my family. We are all very blessed to love and care for each other. And, we have a blast hanging out with each other.
That night, the kids begged to spend the night together so off we went to our house with all the kids and Cat to help. They were so excited!! They played and talked late in to the night. Finally at about 11, we separated them after Chris told me that "Charlie and Claire were bothering him and that he wanted to go to sleep." So, I slept in Claire's bed with Chris. Cat slept with Charlie in our guest room. Claire slept with Daddy in our bed. It was a really fun night and the kids enjoyed it very much. So did we. :-) We look forward to many more slumber parties.

One of my favorites of Harper girl...
On the 26th, we headed to "Rockin' with Mickey and Friends." Claire has a LARGE obsession with Minnie Mouse. She had so much fun at the show, and we had so much fun watching her scream "Hi Minnie" throughout the entire show. Harper did a great job and loved just looking at the lights.
On the night of the 26th, the Nixes headed in to town and stayed with us to begin our Christmas festivities with them. We had a really fun and special 2 days with them. We always enjoy each other's company and Claire always has a blast with them. It was a special time.We had a great time and here is one of the best pictures of the entire Christmastime. The girls love their LaLa and here is a great picture of them with her.

The Nixes gave Claire a Dora bike. She was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get out on the track down the street and ride it. Off we went...
As you can see, she loves riding it. She has not mastered it yet and is a little timid to pedal on her own, but in no time, she will be off and rolling.Overall, it was a fun and special holiday season with both sides of the family. Daren and I continuously feel blessed to be surrounded by such good people who love and care so much for us and for our children. It was a fun week filled with lots of memories to last a lifetime.

Claire's Christmas List

Mommy: "Claire, what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?"
Claire: "Tape"
Mommy: "Tape? Like this kind?" (and I proceed to show her a roll of Scotch tape)
Claire: "Yes, tape."

Hmmm...

Christmas Party and rollovers

Mommy and sweet, sweet Harper girl working on our rollovers...Claire's Christmas party at school was lots of fun! Each kid drew another's name and they exchanged books. It was a great idea and Claire loves the book that Luca got her. Claire drew Rumi's name and gave him Where the Wild Things Are and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. :-)
Grandma, Daddy, Mommy and Claire enjoyed cupcakes, fruit and other treats. We feel so blessed that Claire is at such a great little school with such cute little friends.

Making faces at each other!

It's a giggle!

Harper Ann...

Harper is 3 months old today!!! She is a true joy. She is calm and chill. She is the sweetest little girl. She has been so easy. Poor thing has had very different circumstances than Claire had as an infant. Harper has to keep up with Claire's schedule which means she gets carted all over the place. Harper is a trooper and does so well for us. I don't know what we did to deserve two sweet, easy girls, but we are lucky. She is truly the sweetest baby!

Here's what she is up to at 3 months old:
Harper sleeps through the night. She eats well. She poops well. She holds her head up. Harper loves tummy time and she loves her baths. She coos and makes fun noises. She smiles. She has a great little dimple in her cheeks when she smiles. She has a great laugh- it is very throaty and deep. She loves when Daddy plays with her hands and when Mommy puts my hair on her face. She has recently discovered her hands and loves to look at them in action.

This picture is of Mommy making Harper girl giggle. It was one of the first times we heard a deep, good, real belly laugh!

Big 32!

We celebrated my 32nd birthday! It was really special. On Friday night, Daren and I went to my favorite restaurant, North, for dinner and then we went out for drinks afterwards. Grandma, Pops and Christi watched the girls so we could enjoy a nice dinner out.

On my actual birthday, Daren cooked me dinner and the girls got me a cookie cake! After we got Harper settled and ready for bed, my family came over for presents and MORE cake!! My 32nd was a great day!

For this, I am thankful...

I have a great life. I have the most wonderful husband a girl could ever ask for. He is a great father, friend, and all the other things every girl dreams of having in a partner. I love Daren more now than I ever have loved him. When I dreamed up all the things I wanted in a partner, Daren surpasses all hopes and dreams I had. Our love for each other has gifted us with two beautiful girls who are happy, healthy and full of life. I feel so blessed and honored to be their mother. My love for my new, little family can be overwhelming at times. My cup runneth over for them. I try so hard to step back and thank God because I am so blessed to have my sweet, sweet Daren, my Claire bear and my Harper girl. For this, I am thankful.

I have two amazing parents who have modeled unconditional love and who also have taught me integrity and respect. They have loved us (my sisters and I) through whatever it may be that we are going through, and my parents love like very few others that I know. In addition, my parents have a love for each other that is rare after 40 years of marriage. They are still full of passion, compassion, and love for each other that inspires me. They are incredible grandparents to my children. They provide a fun, safe environment that both of my girls will treasure for a lifetime. Both of my girls will love and cherish their Grandma and Pops forever. For this, I am thankful.

I have great friends to surround me as I journey through life. I am grateful to all of my girl friends who listen, who let me vent, who make me laugh, and who provide me fun times. I have two amazing sisters whose strength inspires me. We have so much fun together. I am so thankful for the love they have for my children and for the love my children have for them. My girls love my sisters so much! And, I am so thankful that they are two of my best friends in addition to being my sisters. I have two beautifully smart and fun nephews who light me up when they get excited to see me and be with me. I love them as if they were my own. They melt me. I have a sister-in-law who is a close friend, who understands me, who is a confidante and who is not afraid to get real with me. My daughters adore her and think she is the most special thing in the world. (and she is!) I am blessed to have two wonderful "in-law" parents who makes me feel like I am "in" the family rather than the outlaw that most in-laws seems to establish with each other. They are amazing grandparents to my children and wonderful people. My daughters enjoy every special moment they have with them and they treasure every chance they have to be with their Mimi and Papa. For this, I am thankful.

I am thankful to all the people who touch my life in any way. I am thankful for stability, creativity, and peace. I feel surrounded by love, by hope, by gifts and by gratitude. I just wanted to take the time to count my blessings because I have a full life. I am blessed. For this, I am thankful.