Just Us Girls

Claire and I had a wonderful long weekend at the lake house a couple weeks ago....just us girls!!! We met my mom and Claire's aunts (my sisters). We went to the pool, the lake, went shopping, went to local fish hatchery, and just played and relaxed. The lake house is one of my most favorite places in the world. My grandparents bought it when I was Claire's age and I have so many memories growing up here....and I can't wait to make so many more memories there with Claire. We love you Mimi, Emme, and Biz!!! Oh, so special!

Claire's Video

My sister, Elizabeth, made this video last year for my Christmas present...it could have not been more perfect or more special...it is one of my priceless possessions, so I thought I would share!....I can't wait for my present this year...I have hinted pretty heavily that I would LOVE Claire 2010!

Lately, Summer & School

Movin on up...that's right, Miss Claire is officially in the Toddler II room. Her new teacher has been the teacher aide in Toddler I so we already know her and love her!

Welcome to Ms. Misha's Gumball Room!

Nick's Grandma...who Claire has renamed "Ganma" recently suffered a slight stroke so for the time being she (and her dog) are living with Nene and Pep paw.

Claire has found a new reading partner and LOVES her, plus reading these books is helping Ganma with her therapy.

Our little cook....working on some chicken and dumplings

Drawing with Pep paw...

Nene painting her toe nails

Cousin Gavin, Claire, Claire's pound puppy, Granma, and Sugar having a party....

Just playin with her toys

The BIG slide...all by herself!!

She is getting so big...and oh, so brave!

This is what I mean by BRAVE......

Nick has a friend that has some chickens and baby wild hogs....

Miss Claire had no fear!!! "Cock, cock"

Petting a chicken and feeding the little pigs

She loved throwing the corn....she kept trying to walk all around the pin.

Petting a wild baby pig...did not hesitate or think twice about it!

Finally, jumping on the trampoline with Sweet Kendall!

Claire would thrive as true Country girl...her love for animals, being outside, playing in the dirt...she loved every minute!!!

I wish I had taken some pictures of her swimming this past weekend...she has mastered jumping from the driving board!!!...like I said she has No Fear, which is a little scary for this Momma!

2 Months Away from 2

claire claire on hanny manny
full speed ahead with the wind in her hair:)

...or you could say 22 months! That's right, she crossed this mark this past weekend. Which completely blows my mind! I cannot believe I am in the planning stages of Miss Claire's 2nd Birthday Party. I love planning her birthday and looking forward to the fall!.. her birthday month, football season, Halloween, nice weather and all the other holidays that follow shortly thereafter!!! Each month birthday is so bittersweet...now when people ask how old Claire is, I say 22 months, but soon its going to be 2...not 25 months, not 28 months....but 2 years old. It is funny to me that when you are pregnant your time is weekly...12 weeks pregnant, 20 weeks pregnant, 40 weeks pregnant...then out comes baby that soon becomes...3 months old, 6 months old, 18 months old...so I guess we are about to enter the next stage...years! Oh my!!! But for right now, I will focus on the now and savor my little girl being 22 months old!

Which means Miss Claire is:

-Refers to herself as "claire claire"
-Beginning to talk in sentences...putting 5 & 6 words together

-Wears a size 6 shoe

-Goes Potty in the potty every morning

-Wears a size 4 diaper and is working on potty training (have not pushed the issue yet)

-Weighs 26 pounds, 33 inches tall

-Wears 18 months, 24 months, and some 2T clothes

-Loves, Loves books

-Wants to"read" her Bible every night

-Says her prays

-Brushes her teeth

-Loves swimming and swims by herself with her floaties on

-Has an excellent memory; she remembers names, places, etc.

-Runs, skips, sings, and rides "Hanny Manny" everywhere (I know its really Handy Manny)

-Her favorite movies right now are "Hanny Manny" "Ariel" "Toy Story"

-Goes to time out when she is not nice - when time out is over I always say "let's talk" about what she did, well now I put her and time out and she sits there for a couple seconds and then says "Momma, let talk"...time out always ends with "Sorry, wuv you" and a hug and kiss from Claire...it's hard to keep a straight face sometimes

-Favorite Foods: Ice Cream, Pizza, "Moo Cow"-hamburger, cheese, mac mac cheese, apple juice, sprite, water, milk, green peas, strawberries, bacon, french toast, popcorn.

-loves Dora and Mickey Mouse

-loves going to the deer camp...every time we pass a thicket of trees she says "deer camp"

-still addicted to her "pap pap's" - pacifiers

-loves school and church

-just a few of my favorite things!!!

Not just another fall...

Toddlers fall and bump their heads that is just part of being a toddler. Well, I get a call from Claire's school around 9:30 that she fell off a stool and I could come check on her if I wanted to but she had already calmed down and stopped crying. Given that her school is 2 blocks from my work (this is one of the reason's I love living in a small town) I head out the door to go check on her. She hit the back of her head but there was no huge knot or bump. She just kept saying "Mommy bump head", I was going to run to the pharmacy (again around the corner) get some Tylenol and bring it back...well she would not have it, she would not let me put her down. So, plan B...I am going to take her to our house, give her some Tylenol and bring her back. Let me just say she did not look right...as a mother you know what I mean, her coloring was off, she could not hold her eyes open and about half way home she threw up everywhere....Plan C, straight to the doctor (I have always heard if you can't keep them awake or they threw up after they hit there head...go to the doctor). By this time, I am having to sing and talk to keep her from shutting her eyes. The doctor gets Claire right in. Her balance is a little off and just seems sick...the kind of sick where they won't move, they just want you to hold them. Through all this I am trying to stay very calm...and I think I did a pretty good job, then came the words cat scan and Children's...what??? The doctor called our local hospital had a cat scan ordered and pending the results would make the decision of whether or not the send us to Children's. I immediately, start talking to God about this!!! Praying for everything to be ok...we get to the hospital (again around the corner) and as we are waiting she eyes a puzzle, so she and Nick go play with the puzzle...within minutes she is acting like the normal Claire. They call us back for the cat scan in which, I let her Daddy do the honors of holding her still, while I waited in the hall....or should I say paced the halls, praying for the scan to come back normal...over and over and over. This was the same hall I paced the night she went to the ER because she could not breath. God and I have had some serious talks in this hall....I don't want us to ever meet there again. The results came back and everything was normal!!! Praise Jesus!! The scan was clear!! However, some times head injuries won't show up on a cat scan for 5-6 hours after the injury...it had only been 2 hours since the fall. So, we had to be on watch for any unusual behavior, waking her up every hour....but I can handle that. Claire has been doing great since the turning point. All I know is she went from very sick to very normal....It's just one of those times where God stepped in.

Thank you Lord for watching over Claire and making sure she was healed. Thank you for allowing us to play with her at our house, give her a bath in our bathroom, read her a book in our bed instead of pacing the halls of Children's hospital!!!

More of the Firefighter...

More pictures from Ryan's graduation at the fire academy...

Insisted eating lunch with her foot on the table...she keeping us laughing:)

Firewoman

Guess who got to drive a fire truck??? Miss Claire was one excited little girl!...We now have an obsession with fire trucks and guess what color they are?? PINK!!! Gotta love her!

For Granted

My sister recently wrote a post about taking something for granted. I think we all do this in some form or fashion, it is simply our nature. For the most part we have all grown up in America where this is the only life we know. We have no earthly idea what it would be like to sleep on dirt floors, have to walk 5 miles to the closest market, to put our babies in their bed for hours on end while we go to work, to be able to only talk to God in our minds for the fear if anyone heard us say "God Bless" or "May the Lord be with you" we would be beaten or jailed....like I said most of us cannot comprehend this life.....we are free and I mean really free....it is so hard to believe there are people out there that are not free and their daily lives amount to how many of us might imagine Hell.

So about those things we take for granted; those days playing around the house with no agenda, the wonders in your our backyard, friendships, family, hearing your baby say a new word, ......just being silly, putting up a tent in the living room....

...just another day playing at the pool...
...and the smiles it brings...

....swimming all by yourself...Do you remember when you felt so small in the swimming pool? Trying to touch? Afraid to jump off the diving board?....

....simply spending time with family and friends.... Call your friend you haven't talked to lately, know need to take that relationship for granted....

....do the Hokie Pokie with your child....chances are they won't want to spend 10 minutes with us in about 10 years....

...remember wanting to move away from that small town...boy, did I ever take my hometown for granted....this weekend alone we enjoyed things I have done 100 times but it was so nice to feel at home....a feeling many of us take for granted...

....swimming in the lake...swimming areas everywhere..

...collecting rocks....sound familiar?...

...fishing off the bank with the smell of hamburgers cooking from the nearby pavilion...none other than a family reunion...laughs, kids running around, walking down memory lane, good food...

take that for granted?

... catching that tiny fish...but it was sooo big to my little girl...

...how many fish have you caught with your children?....pull out your fishing pole and go out to the lake this evening...it might be in your our backyard...

...digging in the dirt...of course she needed my help...trying to help and letting her grow, a process I am trying not to take for granted....

...spending time my husband doing what he loves...watching him fish with our little girl...

...Claire discovering the tube of crickets...do you remember playing with crickets?...

...still fascinated... before she drops the tube....

...and crickets go everywhere...its hard to get mad at that one in Barbie life jacket....one of those moment you can't help but laugh.... look at those boys "cricket hunting"...

...playing at camp meeting...a week long camp out that is surrounded by friends and worship...this something I took for granted that was in my our backyard...I wish I would have spent countless hours at camp meeting during my younger years...

...there are so many places and things I took for granted at "home"...I would love to have all those things back...and there is so many more to "want back"...time, family, friends...

I think the important thing is we try and savor the things that are important to us, even if they are daily routine...think of 5 things you think you might take for granted, they can be small or they can be huge...

1. Lakes and Rivers...I grew up on, I wish they were in my backyard now

2. Old Friends...the "ones" that will always be there...I need to call them more often

3.Changing my daughters diaper...this season of my life with her will soon be over, not sure if I am ready?

4. My pay check...I am grateful to have a job during this economic crisis

5. We no longer have 2 mortgages...need to continue praising the Lord for answering our prayers. When we sold our NWA house I told Nick I wanted to shout from the roof tops "Praise the Lord, Thank you Lord" he responded "There is a ladder in the garage"....I should have taken that as a moment of opportunity to shout "Praise the Lord" for the world to hear.

Has God answered your prayers??? Do you still praise Him? Let's all remember the good times He has shown up...taking Him for granted?

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord."

Psalm 40: 1-3

I might just go get that ladder and shout from the roof tops!!!