CAPTURING CC

Friday, January 15, 2010

Las Vegas

Last weekend was one of those bittersweet moments in our lives. Claire took her first airplane ride to Las Vegas to meet her great-grandmother Ma and great-aunt Lana for the very first time. My Ma Miles has been living with my Aunt Lana for several years now and suffers from altimizer's(sp?). If you know Ma, you know she has always been a very beautiful, very put together lady....so with a knot in my throat, I guess I can say when I think of my grandmother the lady in the pictures below is not what I see in my mind. Although I will forever cherish Claire seeing and her and calling out "Ma" I know that Claire will never know "My Ma"...the lady that kept me while I had chicken pox, that took me and my sisters to McDonald's every time we wanted to go, that took us to the park all the time to feed the geese, the lady that sat next to me in church every Sunday while we lived in Newport....I can't imagine how her heart broke when her "girls" left Newport. I don't want to talk about her like she is gone...but in a way she is. I could go on and on about my grandmother and the life she lived....but I will save that for another day. I more want to rejoice in the time we had with her and my aunt this past weekend. I will say I tried not to be emotional while we were visiting but as I was saying good-bye, all my times with my Ma ran through my mind....she is so feeble and fail, and caring for her is not much different than caring for My Claire...the cycle of life. It's one of things that you don't want to say out aloud but as the memories raced through my mind I feel that was the last time I will see her, the last time I will hear her say "I love you" and the first and last time I will hear her call my daughter "precious". I love you my dear Ma and thank you for making my childhood the greatest any little girl could ask for. Godspeed Ma!!!

Arriving at the airport in freezing temperatures!

Airplane fun, Claire did great on the plane!

Reading her book

Cheese:)

Thanks for your help Auntie Liz:)

(Never fly with a baby without help!)

Taking in the Vegas Strip

Claire LOVED this Horsey!

ROAR!!! Claire loved the tiger.

Rainforest Cafe....Miss Priss wanted her nap, just as we arrived to the kid friendly restaurant.

She almost blends in with the booth:)

Check out those bar stools....Iggy and Claire!

She could have looked at the MGM Lions all day:) ROAR! ROAR!

More Lions...

She wanted to run the Vegas strip....

Giving Ma kisses...so sweet

Dad and his girls

Aunt Lana, Dad, Ma, and Claire

My Ma

Dinner shot

Then, heading to breakfast...

Aunt Lana's School has a farm and Claire had the time of her life

Aunt Lana and Claire feeding the goats

Farm Fun

Tractor! Tractor! Tractor!...no she did not want to get off the tractor.

We loved Aunt Lana's bathtub....(the guy that built her house laid the marble tile in some the casinos and had some left so why not use in his house)

Claire and Iggy...with the same hair style:)

5:00am...saying good-bye

Vegas Airport

Too Cute...Claire propped her foot up

Waiting in the security line....such a big girl...and she was so good!

We had a wonderful trip taking in the Vegas sites and spending time with the family!

Our Aunt Lana is truly an Angel on Earth for taking such good care of our Ma!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Claire the Toddler

Yesterday was Claire's First Day in the Toddler room. She did GREAT!!!! She even brought home her first refrigerator art! I LOVED seeing her art work in her bag:) The toddlers take naps on mats and not cribs and I was worried about this but the teacher said she patted Claire on the back a minute and she was out...no problem! I hope each day is as good as the first in her new room! Lots of learning and wonderful days to come as our little girl grows up!