1st Camping Trip

Labor Day weekend we took Claire on her first camping trip. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd take her camping when she was so young, but she did really well! And, when I say camping, I don't mean the tent kind. Ha ha ha...we took Bradley's parents camper. I've never camped like that before! We had a bathroom and everything. Wow. Awesome. Claire loved the outdoors. She listened to the birds sing. She watched the kids play. And she loves the wind on her face. Here are some pics of our time.

Claire and her Granddaddy went walking a lot.

Bradley went fishing for a few minutes.

Happy girl, playing outside.

Bradley is cooking us some breakfast!

While Bradley was cooking breakfast, Claire was eating hers.

Eating Solids!

Last week, Claire started to eat rice cereal and, of course, we captured it all on camera.


Claire thought that the spoon was a toy and tried to grab it the entire time we were feeding her.


She just wouldn't let go of that spoon. She did really well, though. Better than I thought! She's now eating rice cereal twice a day and will move up to peas and carrots later on this week! My precious baby is growing up!!

"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!