"Love a Little Deeper"

A friend of mine from my Sunday School class recently gave me a piece of advice that I have treasured in my heart. She is a mom of 5 - ages 2 1/2 to 14 years. She told me to treasure every second with Claire...that it passes way to quickly. Then she said, "Rock a little longer, squeeze a little tighter and love a little deeper." What sweet advice!! I've been trying to do just that lately. The other day, it was time for Claire to take a nap. She was a little fussy, so I rocked her for a little while. She so sweetly laid her head on me and snuggled in close. And as I sat there, rocking with my precious child, I couldn't help but think that in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20+ years I would think back and remember that precious moment with her. Yes, I'll have amazing memories with her at those ages too...but I won't get many more opportunities like that...to just sit and hold my precious Gift from God. So, my laundry will wait, dinner will be pushed back and sweeping the floor just doesn't seem all that important. I will treasure this time with my baby, cause she won't be a baby for long. My friend is right...I will never regret it!

My Cutie Patootie!!

More cutie pie moments:



Trying on Daddy's shoes...oh, and she's got to be holding that bunny!


What a cute smile!


"I'm gonna get Papa's tail!"

"Daddy, can I have some coffee too?"

We've had some cooler weather here so I've been able to put Claire in some cutie fall clothes. Love these green pants!

Playing with her feet!

"Hey mom!"

I gave Claire this basket of toys to play with and she just wanted to put the basket on her head! Ha ha ha.

Claire LOVES Papa. She was playing on the couch with Bradley and managed to get to the edge so that she could touch Papa.

What a cutie in her white pants!

Penny Weight Loss Challenge aka Spandex Fitness Program

It's really sad when you get an email from a friend that invites you to be a part of a weight loss challenge. :) Ha ha... Some friends of ours put together a "Biggest Loser" type competition. Whoever loses the biggest % weight loss in 15 weeks wins. Wins what? $250!! Everyone who competes puts in $25 and whoever wins gets the pot. Bradley and his dad are competing (I'm not allowed to go on a "full blown" diet since I'm nursing...I can watch what I eat, but cannot go below a certain number of calories per day). We have had so much fun with our "friendly" competition with our friends. Who will win? Well, technically, we all will win...we're getting healthy and creating healthy eating and fitness habits that we can all hopefully continue after the challenge is over. Thanks Jen for asking us to be a part! :)


Bradley is weighing in his dad. Everett wore a big army coat to the weigh in and put hand weights in it. It added 30 extra pounds! Ha ha ha....


Gale was cracking up at Everett. She could hardly talk she was laughing so hard!


Jon's face is awesome. I love it.

Gale is trying to pick up the coat. Ha ha...

And Jen, with the coat. We had a blast!

5 months old!

I just love this sweet face! Every time I see it my heart literally melts! (By the way...I think she's starting to resemble her daddy more and more)

Claire is 5 months old tomorrow! She is really starting to explore and has become such a personable little being! Here are some of the things to note about her now:

*Roll over...but not just a simple "roll over"...a "roll over" to accomplish a task...like getting to her toy or touching the cat.

*Speaking of the cat, Claire is WAY interested in him. She stops everything that she does when he comes around and when she can, she grabs a handful of hair.

*Rocks and scoots on all 4s. Yes, she is super early in doing this and I'm afraid that I'll have a crawling baby on my hands in just a few short weeks.

*When we go outside to wave goodbye to her daddy when he leaves for work, she watches him walk to the car & watches the car as it backs out of the driveway and drives down the street. (Melts my heart everytime)

*Loves to be tossed in the air

*Loves to swing in mommy's arms

*Loves to splash in the bathtub

*Loves to hear her own voice...I think she's gonna be a talker...like her mommy. :)

*Down to 2 naps a day (for the most part...some days we still do 3) and is consistently sleeping 12 hours at night. Amazing what sleep training can do!! (Kuddos to Melissa for giving us tips)

*MAY be cutting a tooth...I'm still waiting for it, but I think it's going to pop up any day now.

*Sadly, she is losing hair. I thought she wouldn't go through this phase and it would just turn colors, but my poor baby now has a mohawk (or a comb-over as Jen so nicely put it). To make matters worse for her, the new hair coming in is blond, so even though she has hair, unless you look closely, you can't see anything except for the dark mohawk. (Don't worry, baby...it'll even itself out eventually and we promise not to use these "mohawk" pics TOO many times to embarass you when you're older...)

Claire Bear...we LOVE you so, so much and are so THANKFUL that the Lord blessed us with you. You are such a joy to us and we LOVE that we are YOUR parents.

Silly Girl!

A lot of times when Claire wakes up, she's as quiet as a mouse...so I actually don't know if she's been awake for a while or not. (I know, I'm a spoiled mommy). :) Well, this week, I heard a few little peeps from her and decided to check to see if she was awake and this is what I found. She'd turned herself over, around and made her way to the other side of the bumper. All without making a sound.


"Hmm, I think I may want some of Daddy's enchiladas"


"I LOVE playing with my Daddy!!"

I love my bunny!

Cute as a button

Gone to the Beach!

This past weekend Bradley and I met Jon, Jen, Micah and Lyddie at the beach. We stayed in an awesome duplex (they had one side, we had the other and shared the deck). It was a block off of the beach too. Jen and I were able to hang out at the house with the babies and Jon and Bradley took Micah to the beach to fish and they kayaked (sp?) that afternoon. We ate great food, had great fellowship and enjoyed relaxing for the weekend. I love going to sleep at night to the sound of the ocean! Thanks Jon and Jen for a great weekend!


Micah loves to eat watermelon!


Claire and I went down to the beach on Saturday morning to visit her daddy while he was fishing. She wasn't too happy about being down there...it was hot, sunny and it was naptime! Plus it was pretty tough for me to carry a squirmy 16 lb baby a block down to the beach, walk on the VERY hot sand and then carry her all the way back (uphill). Whew...it was a workout in itself. :) On the brightside...she went RIGHT down for her nap! In fact, her eyes were closing as I was carrying her back. Yes!

A Case of the Mondays

The past two Monday morning have been quite eventful for Bradley. Both days he had to be at work early...and when I say early, I mean E-A-R-L-Y. Last week he was having breakfast at 5:30 and heard an awful shriek outside. Since it was dark, he had to grab a flashlight to see what was going on. He went to Baxter's dog pen and realized that the chihuahua from down the street had slipped underneath the fence and was hung up on our electric fence. (This is the same electric fence that has killed a squirrel and a weasel). It took him 30 minutes to get that dog out of the dog pen. He kept on backing up into the fence, then Bradley would turn off the fence, then the dog would back himself into the corner. At one point, the dog even got up on top of Baxter's dog house and was trying to jump the privacy fence! And this was all before 6:00 am!! Wow! (The dog is okay).

Well, THIS Monday, Bradley, again, had to be at work early. He left the house a little after 6:00. The phone rang at 6:08 (I looked at the clock) and he was calling to tell me to wake the baby and come and pick him up just down the road...he'd hit 2 deer and totaled his little car. We quickly got off of the phone and I got dressed and found the car keys. Then I called him back and he said that his dad was on the way to pick him up so I could hold tight and I didn't have to wake the baby. (Thank goodness....I sure do hate having to wake her!). Bradley's dad brought him back to the house and Bradley jumped in my Camry and drove to work and his mom and dad pulled the little car back over to the house. The accident was literally just down the road from our house. Wow. What a morning.

Let's hope that next Monday is just a regular Monday. And, thank you, Lord for protecting Bradley! Oh how the memories flooded back from last September when Bradley was in his motorcycle accident. The Lord has protected Bradley from serious injury in two accidents in just one year. Thank you, Lord!

I Think We Have A Problem

For years, I have had many laughs at Papa's expense. My roommates and I have put tape on his paws, put tape on his back, wrapped his body in tin foil, put him in a doggy sweater. You name it, we've done it and had so much fun laughing at my cat. And it is no different now that I have a child.



1 month old


3 months old


4 months old