Babe Eclaire and Noble Too

Hunt

2012-01-04T18:08:00.001-08:00

When we were at the Pediatrician before Christmas he asked Claire and Noble what Santa was going to bring them. Claire's response: A sewing machine and a fish. Buddy: a cupcake. Claire did in fact get a sewing machine. Which is a post in and of itself. Santa did not bring a fish. Just after Christmas Papa Frankie and Grandma JoJo came to visit and we now have a new member of the family: Hunt

Hunt (named by Claire, because he hunts) is a blue beta. Claire is in love.

Thanks Papa Frankie and Grandma JoJo!
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Muffins and Aprons

2012-01-04T18:00:00.001-08:00

Claire and Noble got some pretty awesome aprons for Christmas thanks to Aunt Katie. They wanted to wear them and make muffins today.

I'm pretty sure Claire got EVERYTHING out of the bowl!

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Dentist

2011-12-14T17:51:00.001-08:00

Claire had her first dentist appointment today. She hasn't been able to stop talking about it for the past week. She was so excited that this morning she woke me up at 6 to ask if she gets to go to the dentist today.

She did awesome! She let them clean her teeth, held impressively still for the x-rays, and loved every minute of it.

And of course she was super excited for her goody bag at the end.

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Lately

2011-12-10T23:58:00.001-08:00

We have been pretty busy around here lately and thus have failed miserably to take pictures. Here are a few of the things I managed to capture.
Some fun new foods. Hot dog octopus. (Claire and Noble have been really into animals lately)

Our tree blowing over, the 2nd this year!

Winter gear

Christmas decorations coming out

Badger graduated from puppy class.

Claire wrote her name!

Christmas crafts with Grandma Jane!

We are excited for Christmas, if only we can get everything done!

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Birthday Boy!

2011-11-25T07:05:00.001-08:00

YouTube Video

Quilts

2011-11-18T15:49:00.001-08:00

I have been quilting a lot lately, or so it seems. Today I took the kids outside and we snapped a few pictures. They are not good, but give you an idea. I wanted to remember what they looked like before they get used and used and used.

Claire's quilt

This is from all vintage floral sheets thanks to Aunt Ali. Claire loves this quilt and it is so soft!

Noble's Superhero quilt.

His was inspired by Claire's. I started collecting superhero sheets, but I had no idea how long it would take to find them. I gave up and ordered/ bought some fabric to add to the sheets.

(I have to say, Noble's quilt is one of my favorites, even though it is so busy. I kind of like that about it. And it doesn't hurt that he absolutely loves it!!!)

Kona Solids Challenge Quilt

I have been going to the Modern Quilt Guild. We had a challenge and this is the quilt I came up with. It turned out much better than I had imagined. I love it!

Here is the back

(I just used all the scraps. Claire is convinced this is the front because "Mommy, it is WAY prettier!")

You can see the quilting really well in this one too.

In the Guild we did another challenge project. It was the Jay McCarroll Habitat Line of fabric.

I was not too fond of it. So I decided to try out a quilt design I had been working on.

I guess people liked it. I got 1st place.

I have been on a geometric kick lately with my quilts. This is another pattern Amber and I have been working on.

(It is for a special friend, who gets it tomorrow morning!)

This is a close-up of the front

Here is the back. I tried a much larger scale to test it out.

Yet another of our patterns. This is one of my favorite. It is a fun one. Mike's cousin recently adopted a sweet baby boy and so this was for him.

These were all just this year. I have a couple more, but forgot about them until we were done taking pictures. Oh well, I guess another day!

Halloween

2011-11-08T18:06:00.001-08:00

Claire and Noble had their first "real" Halloween this year. They absolutely loved it! Claire was our mermaid.

It only took Noble about 2 houses when we went trick or treating to realize what was going on before he started trying to run from house to house. At the end I think I heard "just one more" about 15 times.

For the annual Davis Halloween party Mike and I went as people from Tron. They came out pretty good, seeing as we started the morning of.

All in all it was a fun Halloween, especially for the kids!

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Raspberry Jam

2011-11-08T17:57:00.001-08:00

One thing I know about Mike is that he LOVES raspberry freezer jam. For his birthday this year we got 2 flats of raspberries from Logan and made jam.

Here we are half done.

In all we got 20 containers of jam. I think we are set for awhile.

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Cousins

2011-11-08T17:52:00.001-08:00

We had our Wisconsin cousins here. It was much fun!

For days my kids ask, "where are my cousins?" we had a blast! Thanks for visiting!

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2:01 minutes at The Ranch

2011-11-04T22:42:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Norah, also known as Little Tiny, visited the salt lake branch of the family. This video shows just two minutes and one second of the visit. I'm beginning to think that we have very determined kiddos in the family.

YouTube Video

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Location:E 2980 S,Salt Lake City,United States

Do you ever wonder

2011-10-31T22:44:00.001-07:00

What is going on inside their heads? This video that i discovered on Mike's phone made me wonder. Enjoy.

YouTube Video

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Superhero quilt update

2011-09-17T06:57:00.001-07:00

It is DONE! And he LOVES it!

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Soccer Boy

2011-09-14T09:03:00.001-07:00

Every morning this week Noble has put on socks, pulled them up as high as they will go and "plays soccer"

Showing me his socks

YouTube Video

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Park

2011-09-14T09:00:00.001-07:00

The kids LOVE going to the park.

Nobes in his "Papa Jimbo" hat.

Look how big she is getting!

Noble's preferred way to swing

Claire loves to take care of Buddy boy lately.
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Superhero Quilt

2011-09-02T00:20:00.001-07:00

Allison and I worked on Noble's superhero quilt while I was down there. We got the top done.

Noble was so excited about it when I got home. He insisted on taking a nap with it, even though it is only the top.

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Baby Liam

2011-09-02T00:15:00.001-07:00

We watched baby Liam for a bit last week. Noble was so sweet with him

Noble even managed to snap one of Liam smiling in his sleep.

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Dress Up

2011-08-17T23:12:00.001-07:00

Claire got a bunch of dress up clothes for her birthday. She was Cinderella yesterday

Buddy even joined in the fun!

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Zoo

2011-08-17T23:09:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the zoo. I don't think I have seen Noble and Claire so excited and happy.

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Kaufman color challenge

2011-08-13T22:51:00.001-07:00

Amber and I have been going to the slc modern quilt guild for about 6 months. This month we will all show a quilt/project that started with the same pack of solid fabrics. Mine is nearly done!

I'm excited to see all the different projects!
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Kitty girl

2011-08-13T22:47:00.001-07:00

Aunt amber made Claire a cute kitty towel complete with tail. Claire's no bathing rule have been pretty lenient lately.

Buddy likes his hand-me-down. If only he knew what Amber had in store for him!

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Quilts

2011-08-06T22:59:00.001-07:00

Let's be honest, who doesn't love curling up on the couch with a quilt? It just is usually a finished one. Someone is excited for their new quilt. Now making buddy's is a must!

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Daddy's Big Truck

2011-08-06T22:57:00.001-07:00

If Noble's face shows exactly how he and Claire feel about the truck.

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Ducks

2011-08-06T22:54:00.001-07:00

I had to run an errand by Sugarhouse park the other day so we stopped to feed the ducks. They were pretty friendly ducks.

The kids LOVED it. Noble kept saying "feed ducks morrow?"

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Birthday Girl

2011-08-03T07:22:00.001-07:00

Our little girl isn't so little anymore. Claire turned 3 yesterday. Her birthday was complete with two parties and very generous gifts from all. She loved every second of being the birthday girl.

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Baby Liam

2011-08-03T07:19:00.001-07:00

Claire and Noble finally have a cousin on the Shields side and one that lives in Utah!

Claire couldn't be happier. She couldn't stop talking about how tiny he was.

It took Noble a little longer to warm up, especially when Mommy was holding Liam.
Congrats Char and Vito!
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2011-07-13T19:23:00.001-07:00

CJ is sad tumbling is over, and so am I. Here is a video from the final day.

YouTube Video

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Cupcakes

2011-07-13T19:14:00.001-07:00

Claire and noble have been asking to make muffins for a few days, finally I got around to doing it today. They handed me a cake mix. So what they really wanted were cupcakes.

I think Noble approved

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Prayer

2011-07-11T23:35:00.001-07:00

(in honor of tomorrow being the last day of tumbling class, I thought I would let you enjoy her most stellar self-chosen tumbling outfit)

Claire said the family prayer tonight by herself. She has been in a phase where she is really scared of things. So we usually say a "no scaries" prayer every night. She asked "please bless that there will be no scaries, that buddy boy will sleep good...that the scaries will not pee on buddy, that we will be healthy and strong..."
I could barely contain myself when she was worried about scaries peeing on buddy. Who knew that was a problem?

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Download

2011-07-09T21:01:00.001-07:00

We finally downloaded the pictures off of our camera for the first time since the move. We came up with some awesome pictures that we had completely forgotten about, and mostly in my case, had no clue existed.

Does this even need an explanation?

This is what we came home to a couple weeks after we moved in. Mike was happy, this resulted in the purchase of a chainsaw.

Mike's one request when we were fixing up the house was the above faucet. He loves the industrial sprayer. The kids thought it was pretty cool. The day after the plumber put it on, they had to take their bath in the sink.

Easter Sunday. Thanks for the cute clothes JoJo! Claire is winking at you!

Claire has a strict No-Bathing policy lately, but she did make an exception when Mike put in the detachable shower head.

Who knew unpacking would be so much fun for a couple of toddlers?

Who doesn't love their quilts?

CJ channeling her inner Pocahontas.

Can you say, Love of my Life? How sweet is he?

Claire helping me with a quilt. She LOVES to help lately.

Our explorers. Thanks for the headlamps Aunt Ali! They are well used and well loved. (Claire shares a striking resemblance to Aunt Emmie in her SLO Beach pictures with those glasses on)

Drawing

2011-07-08T14:44:00.001-07:00

Claire has been really into drawing lately.

When asked what this picture was, Claire said matter of factly, "just nipples with scribbles all over".

I found this a few days ago all over our bench. I wasn't sure which of the kids did it until I noticed the B's carefully practiced on one of the slats.

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Sunglasses

2011-07-08T14:39:00.001-07:00

First I have to say that Target has the best kids sunglasses in the dollar spot.

CJ showing off her tatoo.

The funniest thing was this was about 8pm and Claire was wandering around the back yard complaining that it was getting SO dark, all the while wearing her sunglasses.
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CJ asleep

2011-07-08T14:35:00.001-07:00

Claire does not want to take naps lately. She tries her hardest to resist. This is what I found the other day. She fell asleep eating her fishie crackers

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Zonked

2011-07-02T07:47:00.001-07:00

This is what a day in Provo making freezer meals will do to you.

I just wished I could join them on the way home.
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Chairs

2011-06-22T22:30:00.001-07:00

The other day I pulled into the driveway and mike came up to the car asking me to go back around the corner to the garage sale where everything was now free on the curb to pick him up a few things. At this I had flashbacks to when my dad used to make my sisters go pick up "treasures" from the side if the road. I did not inherit the gene for the love of "treasures" like some of my sisters. I was always mortified when the car pulled over to a pile of junk labeled FREE. Luckily, when mike asked me to go get his stuff, my little sister Emily was in the passenger seat. She got out and loaded up mike's treasures. While we were there I noticed an office chair on wheels, but it was nude and brown and pretty warn. I just couldn't stop thinking about the chair. So, when mike went to run an errand, I asked him to pick up my "treasure", he smiled a victor's smile and left. I fixed up the chair for my sewing room, I have to say, I love my free by the side of the road chair.

While I was working on my chair Claire and Noble insisted that their chairs HAD to be painted and get new fabric as well.
Before

After

We will see in the morning how they like them.
Up next, a coordinating chair for the sewing room. White where the wood is and yellow metal and a matching cushion.

This was a fifty cent chair from the USU surplus that mike picked up about a year ago. We'll see how it turns out.

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Millcreek gardens

2011-06-22T22:12:00.001-07:00

We went to get a few plants to finish off our garden the other day. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Garden

2011-06-16T21:43:00.001-07:00

We spent the first month and a half of owning our house working on the inside of our house and now the last two months have been spent working on the outside.

Some of grandpa lee's flowers survived! They are beautiful, if only Claire and Noble could stop picking them.

Here is our herb garden, Mike's pet project

Still lots to do, but making some progress.

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Late Night

2011-06-15T11:41:00.001-07:00

Last night Mike watched the kids so I could have a night out with Amber, and when I got home this little girl was up waiting for me.

Christmas pjs and all. Oh how I love that cute face!

And I woke up to this sweet boy this morning. What a happy day!

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Summer has Arrived!

2011-06-14T20:38:00.001-07:00

We are officially in summer. The weather has been awesome and the kids ran through the sprinklers today for the first time.

-

YouTube Video

Bring on summer! We are ready!

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Tumbling class

2011-06-14T11:39:00.001-07:00

The last few weeks Claire has been taking a tumbling class from mike's cousin Melissa. She loves it and talks about it all the time.

As requested, Here is a quick video.

YouTube Video

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Noble

2011-06-13T18:17:00.001-07:00

Our cute boy is growing up. No longer a baby:(

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Our day

2011-06-13T18:13:00.001-07:00

Today was a day for errands. Claire insisted on a couple of things.
First,

Wearing this awesome outfit shopping, with her tap shoes to complete the look.
Second, she likes to gel buddy's hair every morning.

It must have been a"really hard day" as Claire said, because this is what happened at nap time.

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Noble and the iphone

2011-06-12T20:51:00.001-07:00

Noble loves the dog breed app on mike's phone.

YouTube Video

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Sleep

2011-06-09T15:06:00.001-07:00

This is where I found Claire when I was done doing a few things on the computer this afternoon. How I didn't realize she was right under me, I don't know.

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Bathtime pictures

2011-06-08T05:52:00.001-07:00

Noble can not get enough baths lately, Claire on the other hand

isn't so interested. So this morning she took pictures while buddy was in the bath.

Funny face

Surprised face

Sad face

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Testing

2011-06-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

I just got my new iPhone(I know, a little behind the times). I am testing to see if this works. If I can do this, we should get lots more on here, isn't that always the goal? Wish me luck!

The House

2011-01-21T20:36:00.001-08:00

Many of you may know that Mike and I are in the process of buying a house. We weren't actually looking to buy right now, but Mike's grandparent's house came up on the market and we just couldn't turn it down. We love the yard and the house and the fact that it is about 3 minutes from Mike's office.
As requested, here are lots of pictures. As you can see, there is a LOT of work to do, but I guess it will just keep us busy.

Outside in the Backyard

Upstairs
The Kitchen - Please look at those cabinets!!! Oh my, lots of work coming our way.

The Living Room
The other living room

The Dining Room
The hallway
The Sewing Room
The BLUE bathroom

Master Bedroom
Master Bathroom

Bedroom #2 Can you believe the above and below pictures are the same room? There are some wild paint jobs.

The Downstairs
The Kitchen

The Living Room

Bedroom #1

Bedroom #2
The Bathroom
Laundry/Furnace Room
Storage Room

Warning...LOTS OF PICTURES

2010-11-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

Lots has happened the last little while, but most importantly, this little guy turned 1!!! We feel so lucky to have him in our family. He is such a sweetheart. He started walking at 10 months and since then we haven't been able to stop him.

He still has no hair, so hats are a must this winter. He is the cutest little lumberjack!

Noble had a great birthday. We were able to celebrate with lots of Aunts a couple uncles and three grandparents!
Here he is checking out the cowbell from Uncle Juddy. ( I have yet to find this again. Someone made it disappear)

Noble wasn't a huge fan of the cupcake, but did love the football shaped Oreo on top. Taking after his dad I guess.
Here are a few of the things Noble loves lately:
He is into everything. He can unlatch and open the dishwasher to get inside!
He loves to climb.
He LOVES to pull hair. He has taken to tackling Claire to get to her hair.
Noble loves to do anything Claire is doing. He even learned to color with the sidewalk chalk instead of eating it.

Claire is just as fun and full of life as ever.
I walked in on this the other day. She had gotten a mini baby powder open and was just shaking it everywhere.

Claire loves to organize things now. She is very good at Cleaning up her room and making her bed now.
CJ loves and I mean LOVES to pick out her own clothes. Below is a typical selection. She is adventurous, I will give her that!
Here she is modeling her new shades from Uncle Juddy. They came straight from Hawaii, Thanks Juddy!
Claire loves being with her D-Dad as she calls him. I think the feeling is mutual.
Claire loves being with her brother, most of the time. They have started playing together a lot more. I love seeing them together. Sometimes he will just walk up to her to give her a big hug.
She does, however, throw in just enough older sister bullying, as can be seen above.

Claire loves to make "Hank-you Cards" (Thank you cards) with her finger painting. This past Sunday we let them both do it. Noble loved it but got paint EVERYWHERE!!!

We had some visiters in October. My Uncle Monte and his family came to visit for a week. It was lots of fun having them here. Claire was sad for days, asking to go see Kenz and Monte.
Kenzie and Claire had lots of fun together.
Claire loved Monte. The whole time he was here she got his name confused with President Monson. By the time he left she knew he was Monte, and now she thinks that President Monson's name is Monte. She is one confused little girl.

Mike had is birthday a few weeks ago. Claire was in the middle of a nap when we sang to Mike, so when she was up he blew out another donut. She did the candles, if you can't tell.

(Don't you love Noble's vintage overall outfit from Aunt Ali? He is so cute in it!!!)

Claire has been talking a lot about the Temple lately, so one Saturday afternoon a little while back we took the kids to the Mt. Timp. temple. They loved being there.
We have been spending lots of time out at the Ranch. Here is Noble with one of his favorite people!

This Summer

2010-09-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe summer is over! Here is a quick recap of some of the stuff we have done this summer. (ie I finally loaded pictures, or rather Mike did).

Claire has learned to love stickers!
We flew to Southern California to meet up with my family.
Here is Noble in the Airport, excited for his first flight.
Claire could barely contain herself in the Airport waiting to get on the Airplane.
Noble loved playing in the Sand and Peek-a-boo with the towels.
Claire loved the water and the surf boards
Noble has officially learned to open the fridge, oven and dishwasher. He is loving life!
Noble loves table food. He now refuses baby food most of the time.
Claire is potty trained! Wahoo! Only one kid in diapers. One day I heard Claire start screaming. This is what I walked in on.
Claire had a birthday!
With Puppy Cupcakes.
And Fingerpainting
And Balloons
We've had a good summer with two generally happy kids!

Grateful

2010-09-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

Today I am grateful for this sweet girl. She teaches me each day. Often I realize she was sent to me so that I can learn from her, not the other way around.

This past week Claire got sick. She woke us up in the middle of the night yelling "All wet, all wet". Mike went in to find her covered in vomit. He cleaned her up, brought her to me in our bed, where she threw up again. She spent the next several hours going back and forth to the toilet. Mike then gave her a blessing. Later this week Grandma Jane and Papa Jimbo asked her about being sick. She told them "Mine Burp Potty" (I threw up in the potty). "Daddy hands head, mine feel better". I was reminded of how simple faith is. I am so grateful for her example to me.

Busy Summer!!!

2010-08-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Cute Noble

This summer is almost over and I feel like it should just be starting. Claire is now 2 and Noble is 9 months. I don't know where the time has gone. My family was just in town and we took some much needed family pictures. Here are just a few. I haven't gotten edited ones from my dad yet, but these were just cute and I thought I would share. I have lots of pictures from this summer, but as per usual I haven't loaded them on my computer yet.

I thought this was just perfect of Claire's Personality
Me and Claire
Mike and Noble

All the boys

All the Girls
Papa Frankie with his mini-me
The proud Grandparents

Recent happenings

2010-06-21T21:15:00.001-07:00

Claire, as you can see from this shot of her bed, LOVES pillows. She steals all the pillows from our bed to put on her bed. No wonder she needed a twin bed.

Two of Claire's new loves are:
1. Her puppy suit that we purchased in St. George at the DI. Best find of the year so far!

2. Her Pimp robe from Aunt Ali. Claire likes to put this particular piece of clothing on when she watches TV.

Claire and Noble's new love (and probably only mutual love) is to take baths together. They stay in there as long as I will let them.

Noble is officially on solid food. I think food is his first love. He dive-bombs for any tiny piece of food. Cheerios are one of his very favorites. (He is growing up so fast! I can't believe how big he is!) *Note the cheerio in his mouth that he doesn't realize is there the whole time

As can be seen multiple times on the blog, Claire loves to dress herself and does it with STYLE! Here she is in all her glory the other day. This is all she wanted to wear.
Here is just a bonus of Claire dancing in her getup.

Sister Retreat

2010-06-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, my sister Allison called and wanted to just meet up in Mesquite for the weekend. She hadn't seen us since Char's wedding. So, the next day I packed up the kids, picked Charley up in Provo and we drove to meet Al. It was a lot of fun. Claire came back with a new word in her vocabulary "Shopping". Mike was thrilled, I'm sure.

Story of a Bath

2010-06-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Claire loves to take a bath in Papa Jimbo's big tub. One day about a month ago, we realized Claire was being a little too quiet in the bedroom. When we went to check on her, this is what we found.

Notice the trail of towels to the bathtub.

She was just playing in the tub with no clothes and no water.

We Moved

2010-06-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

August 2008 - Just after we moved in. Claire was 2 weeks old

May 2010 - Claire is 21 months and Noble is 6 months

Most people probably know, but we recently moved from Logan down to Murray. It was sad to leave our house, but I won't get into that because I know that I will start crying. I thought I would post pictures from the day we moved in and the day we moved out.

He's DONE!!!

2010-06-20T09:47:00.001-07:00

I know this is about a month late, but Mike graduated from USU. He was awesome while he was in school. He worked hard and finished on time. Congrats honey, we are proud of you. Here are a few pictures from graduation day.

Grandma JoJo and Papa Frankie come to visit.

2010-04-25T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here is Claire in the front yard with PaPa, blowing kisses to the camera. I sadly realized that we didn't get any pictures of Claire with JoJo. :(

Here is our cute Noble in his new church outfit from Grandma JoJo and Papa Frankie. What a Stud!
Here is Claire in her new dress from Grandma JoJo and Papa Frankie. What a sweetheart! When we say smile she just shows us her bottom teeth.

Baby Animal Day

2010-04-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the Baby Animal Day at the American West Heritage Center here in Logan. It was a lot of fun. Grandma Jane came up for the day as well as Mike's Aunt Cathie, Uncle Scott, cousins Lindsay, Joe, Melissa, Keller and their kids. It was a blast and the kids all loved the animals. Here are some pictures from our day.
The kids were really excited to get going when we got there. They immediately took off toward the animals! Claire was going full speed until the horses pulling the wagon up ahead neighed and then she stopped dead in her tracks. It was hilarious!
Playing with Harper and the goats.

With Grandma Jane and the ducklings.
Claire's first pony ride!
Petting the piglet.
Claire peeking through the fence at the calf with Harper.
Petting the lamb with Daddy.
Claire chasing the pig with Izaiah.
Claire watching the peacock.

One of Claire's favorite things was the "Choo-choo". We rode on it a few times.Even Noble had a great day! He hung out on the train and in his stroller. Still as happy as can be!

We had a fantastic day!

Daddy "watches" the Kids

2010-04-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

Mike was watching the kids a few mornings ago while I did some stuff and this is what I found.

These are Claire's "Sleepy Eyes". Claire likes to do Tummy Time with Noble. This is the face she makes every time. Notice how she has to share the Jungle Mat with Noble.

Noble Lee is getting so big!

2010-03-23T22:00:00.000-07:00

Noble loves to be in the front pack, especially with daddy.

He loves to grab at and pull toys down,

Roll over from front to back and back to front,

And loves to watch everything that is going on while on Tummy Time.

Sunglasses

2010-03-23T21:47:00.000-07:00

Claire LOVES her new sunglasses. Thanks to Grandma Jane Claire has been outfitted with some sweet shades. She thinks that any time I am wearing my glasses she must also wear hers. My favorite was when sh ran into the door because she HAD to wear her sunglasses right before bed.

She is also loving her popcorn while watching "Memo" (Nemo).

For Grandma

2010-03-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

Grandma JoJoJo as Claire would say, sent Claire a package a few weeks ago, as requested, here is the video of her opening it.

This is just a bonus of Noble "talking".

Lately...

2010-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

We have been having fun around our house lately. With the cold weather we have had to stay inside most of the time. Claire goes a little crazy, so she has been lucky enough to receive a few packages and has taken a liking to picking out her own clothes. I think we are in trouble. She is already VERY opinionated about what she wears!
Here are a couple dresses Claire got in the mail from Aunt Ali. Ali made/designed them. They are some of her favorites!

Here Claire is in her new favorite spot, the closet. She not only picks out her clothes, but Noble's as well.
Here is her best pick from the last couple of weeks. What you cannot see is that she has a blue undershirt and a Batman shirt under her green monkey jacket.
We were able to go down to Saratoga a couple weeks ago and Grandma Jane was nice enough to buy Claire these awesome sunglasses. She wouldn't take them off, as can be seen above. (she is currently asleep with the glasses on in this picture.)
2 more of Claire's favorites are: Sitting watching her "MoMo Show Pea" (Elmo show please) and wearing her Princess dress from Grandma Jane. My favorite part is that she insists on her animals watching too and having her treats available for consumption.

Now, we get to little Noble. I know this post is very Claire heavy, but we don't forget about our sweet little boy. He is constantly smiling and watching everything his big sister is doing. They get along great lately.
He is our big boy. He now wears mostly 9 month clothes! Yes, that is right 9 month and he is barely 4 months. He goes in this week for a check up, but we know he is already 16 lbs! We love having him around. He makes life happy for all of us!

Our Sunday

2010-01-31T18:44:00.000-08:00

Today was Claire's first day of Nursery. She LOVED it, but this is what happened when we got home. She was out, cold!
After church and her nap, she wanted to be naked. So then Mike told her she had to be "Modest Girl". Apparently this is what he thinks is modest.
Do you like her "modest" workout outfit?

Our January happenings

2010-01-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

Noble, I decided is one of the happiest babies ever! He is always smiling and cooing! I just can't picture life without our little guy. (Look at his chubby belly, I love it!)

Claire as always is doing new things everyday. She still loves to cook, especially making her "Ba-bo" which in her mind translates to Popcorn. She loves the air popper. We make popcorn EVERY day. (I liked this picture because of the way her hair looked after her nap)

Playing with cousins (Lexi). She and Lexi gave each other hugs and kisses, it was really cute!

Use Daddy's gloves to mimic oven mitts.

Wear her new Batman shirt from Aunt Ali and her shoes from Uncle Juddy!

And last but DEFINITELY not least.... Claire went poop on the potty!!!! She was showing us that she was "so big" after going on the potty. Now she is obsessed with everything and everyone going poo poo. We now have to change all of her dolls and stuffed animals because they went poo poo.

Claire loves to help buddy do lots of things...

Tummy Time, where she joins in. It was cute the other day I saw her on the floor with Noble calling "No-me" which translates to "Noby"(a nickname of Noble), encouraging him to look up at her during Tummy Time.
Sit on the Couch. He is enjoying it much more now that she has learned to not choke him in the process.
Bounce in his chair. We are still working on bouncing SOFTLY!

Our little Chef, our little smiley man and other random but cute happenings

2010-01-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

Claire has recently started LOVING to help cook. As can be seen below, she is quite fond of her apron and licking the spoon.

Note: The 2 pictures above are separate occasions

Noble's latest development is that he is CONSTANTLY smiling. The cutest is that he looks at Claire like is he totally in love and gives her the best smiles.

I know he isn't smiling, but I liked this pic of our little Buddy. It is a very Shields look in my opinion

Claire has also started being nice to Noble, which is a change from previous behavior. We are all happy about that around here.

This is the first time she ever wanted to hold him for more than 5 seconds. Don't worry, she only choked him a little.

She loves to give him kisses.

Claire has also started copying everything I do with Noble. I had him in the front pack so she stuffed her doll down her shirt to create the same results.

Last but not least, over Christmas we were doing the Wii Fit. After we came home Claire kept getting our Frisbee out and standing on it. Finally I realized she was copying the Wii board.

Christmas Break

2010-01-09T15:56:00.000-08:00

We had an eventful Christmas break. I am sorry to say, we didn't capture much of actual Christmas on camera. We will have to get pictures from everyone else. Here are some of our adventures. Here is Claire getting ready to leave Logan for a Saratoga Christmas.

We blessed Noble on December 19th. It was a very nice occasion.

Noble met his Grandpa Frank for the first time. They look alike...
in lots of ways
Noble got to play with his christmas gift... until Claire stole it away and claimed it for her own.
Claire got to play in the snow for the first time.
Here she is all ready to go outside, she loves those mittens!
Sledding in the back yard with Daddy
Sledding with Uncle Juddy who Claire affectionately calls "Dud"
She wasn't too sure of the whole snow thing. Every step she took you had to brush the snow off of her boots.
Lastly, Noble decided Christmas time was the perfect excuse to pack on the pounds. About 2 weeks ago he weighed in at a hefty 13lbs 3 oz. He goes in for his checkup on Monday, we will see what damage he has done since then.

2 Kids = No time to Blog

2009-12-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

We welcomed our newest little Blakesley into our family on November 3, 2009. He was 7 lb 5 oz and 20 in. We named him Noble Lee Blakesley. He is such a sweet little boy. Perfect in every way. Claire has been fairly welcoming to our new addition, well until this week that is. Now the jealousy has set in, so wish us luck. Here are a few pictures from the past month or so. It has been an adventure, but fun to say the least.

While Mike and I were occupied, Claire decided to start a load of wash. (Note the 2 jars of peanut butter that Mike and I heard tumbling in the washing machine)

Claire loves the computer and "helping" while I do the bills.

Logan has gotten really cold lately. Claire loves when we put on "Buddy's" Coat.
Claire has a new affinity for boots. She insists on wearing these boots at all times, including over her PJs to bed.
She had lots of fun with Grandma Jo here for 2 weeks. Claire got to dress up lots!

Lastly, this is pretty much what a day at our house does to you.

Pumpkin Picking

2009-10-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Lately Mike and I have been switching off planning our weekly dates. It was my turn this week. My friend Christina told me about the Paradise Valley Orchards, so seeing as Claire was joining us this week (like most other weeks), I thought it would be fun. It was a very cute place. Any pumpkin, any size is only $2.00.
Claire loved that they gave you a wagon to go get your pumpkins.

Note the apple in her hand

I think what Claire loved the very most was the small apple she found in the wagon. She wouldn't hold still to take the next picture because she wanted to pick all the apples. I think next year we will have to go back and do the U-pick apples.

We decided that we will have to bring Grandma Jane to pick her McIntosh apples next year.

Claire loved walking around with her daddy looking at all the pumpkins.
Note Claire's new hairdo, the pigtails, while posing with her handsome dah-ee (daddy). We decided that her "fountain" aka the top of the head ponytail was no longer working. It was about 3 inches tall and stuck straight up.
We had lots of fun at the pumpkin patch, even though it was a bit cold (note Claire's new winter coat). We will definitely return next year!

When we got back Claire and I decided to warm back up on the couch while doing some light reading.

This past week....

2009-10-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

Has been a very eventful one in the life of Claire.

First, she experienced her first Aggie Homecoming. Mike insisted that she needed a game-day shirt, which he then insisted be turned into a dress. Also note the Aggie bull tattoo on her cheek that Mike purchased for her to wear to compliment her new outfit.

Second, Claire loves "helping" daddy use his tools.

Third, Claire got her new toddler bed set up. She thinks its pretty awesome.

Fourth, she has learned to climb up on our chairs, which has presented a few problems for Mike and I.
Exhibit A - She can now access the computer when the chair is left away from the desk. (Now, this is what I discovered after leaving the room for approx. 30 seconds)

Exhibit B - She gets stuck under the desk when the chair is pushed in.

Fifth, She has a new love of buckets. She carries them around, filling them with various items, only to discard those items in random places when more desirable items are discovered. Occasionally she likes to sit in the bucket.

Sixth, she discovered oven mitts. She did so during dinner and insisted on finishing her dinner with her arm in the above position.

Finally, Claire learned that Logan is COLD. This week our weather went from 80s to 50s in one day.

Fall is on it's way

2009-09-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

We just returned from spending a week in Southern California. It was a fantastic trip! Pictures will follow soon. We returned home to Logan to find cool weather and signs that fall is on its way in. Here is Miss Claire, walking and all!

Since learning how to walk, Claire consistently looks like a zombie. Almost all of the pictures of her are zombie-esque.

PS Claire LOVES her smoothies and insists on having her own cup and straw.

Claire's Summer Adventures

2009-09-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

Claire learned many, and may I stress MANY things this summer.
She started the summer with Aunt Allison teaching her about swimming pools during our last minute trip to California in June.

She learned that Papa Jimbo has lots of fun flowers in his garden.

Feeding the dogs turned into a daily activity. (The result of which is that Claire now loves to "feed the floor" at home)

Eating "Real People Food" is WAY better than baby food, especially when it is Spaghetti.
She even mastered the art of noodle sucking.

Sunglasses are make me look cool!

You can climb into the drawers/baskets where the toys are kept. Why play outside the drawer when you can sit WITH the toys? (Thanks Judd)

Climbing ladders open up a whole new world, even in your own house.

When you yell into a cup, it sounds really cool. (Notice my teeth that finally came in)

Daddy's tools are awesome.

It is fun when Grandma Jo and Grandpa Frank come to visit.

They bring fun toys that play music and have a monkey inside!

When you get big enough Daddy lets you ride on his shoulders. The best is when he lets you use his ears as handles/a steering wheel.
Cameras are really cool close up.
Playing in the dirt is awesome. It is fun and it insures that mom will give me an extra bath, a win-win!
When you get older your hair gets long and crazy!

We had a pretty great summer. Claire has been learning tons this summer and we have been loving it. We can't believe we have a 1 year old now!

My Adventures this Summer

2009-09-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

This summer was definitely busy. Here are just a few of the things that made it busy, but fun!

Wedding cake - My good friend Shari got married in July, and this is the cake I made from her.

Crafting - Mike and I discovered the USU Surplus store where we purchased these lovely napkin holders, which were originally chrome and black, but we painted them with the help of Amber. I think they turned out cute.

Destruction - Claire's new love has been what has kept me the busiest, but I wouldn't trade it!

And its a ...

2009-06-30T20:35:00.001-07:00

BOY

Claire is going to have a little brother in November!
We had our ultrasound today and we are excited to have a little boy this time. It will be a big change, but we are very excited. Everything is great with our little one. We couldn't be happier!

Warning

2009-05-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

It has been quite a while since I have last posted, therefore, I have marathon posted to catch up. First, here are a few cute pictures that Aunt Charley took of Claire.

Claire Bear

2009-05-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Mike and I occasionally like to go to Yard Sales. We decided a couple weeks ago to try our luck. All in all, most would say that coming away with a .50 cent stuffed bear is a fairly unproductive hour of time, but after we realized what we had, we know it was well worth our time.

As showcased above, Claire loves her new bear. We fondly call it her "Claire Bear". You can just ask her where Claire Bear is and she will search until she finds it. "She" as Mike insists, is the only thing that calms Claire down when she is irrational. She absolutely loves Claire Bear. By far our best purchase of the year so far!

Bath Time is still a favorite

2009-05-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

(Bath Time with Grandma Jane)

She may be in the 20th percentile in weight...

2009-05-28T14:09:00.001-07:00

(Check out how big she opens)

But boy does she know how to eat! Claire has been eating a BIG bowl of cereal and a container of baby food about 4-5 times a day lately, with cheerios in between. You would think she would be a bit higher on the charts. She is still trying to get back to her 6 month weight! Every since she started crawling she has lost weight, now we are at least maintaining.

When Daddy Dresses Me...

2009-05-28T14:02:00.001-07:00

I look Like a Rockstar!

We missed Daddy

2009-04-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

Mike spent last week in Tempe, AZ for the National Collegiate Racquetball Tournament. (In which he did quite well, I must say) Claire and I missed him a lot! When Mike got back, Claire got to do a few of her favorite things with Daddy again.

1. Claire-a-flying

2. Napping with Daddy

3. Reading Winnie the Pooh

Bath Time with Bath Buddies

2009-04-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

Claire now loves her daily baths. She will play for 15-20 minutes with her "bath buddies" as Mike likes to call them.

Naked Baby

2009-04-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Claire has officially started crawling away from us when we are changing her diaper. Gone are the days when she stayed still...

CIF Exchange

2009-04-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

So, I will be the proud recipient of a Craft via Alison , So I must also offer free crafts.

Craft it Forward Exchange.... (1st 3 people to respond)Craft It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the CIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and sent out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive!

What you need to do in return, is craft it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'CRAFT IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL CRAFT IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Craft It Forward recipients. Come and join me who doesn't love a gift or giving gifts???This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!2- What I create will be just for you.3- It'll be done this year.4- You have no clue what it's going to be or when.5- The catch is that you must post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. also If I don't know your address you have to email it to me. THANKS.

A Few of Our NEW Favorite Things...

2009-03-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

1. Riding in our new "big girl" car seat.
Claire was getting very close to the cut off for length on her infant seat, so a couple weeks ago she got a new car seat.

2. Wearing our hair in a ponytail!

3. Playing in the mirror.
4. Standing up in her crib.

5. Getting into anything within reach.
She even learned how to get herself high enough to reach the next shelf (Note: Claire is standing on the yoga mat to boost her another 3 inches).

6. Lounging with my fingers in my mouth. She has officially learned to suck her thumb and only her thumb.

Belated Birthday Present

2009-03-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

This year for my birthday Mike made me a quilt rack for the wall in our living room. We finally got it up a couple weeks ago and I love having our wedding quilt up to look at! Thanks Mikey!

Last But not Least... Two of our new favorite activites

2009-02-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

1. Sleep on our stomach. Now I know that it is kosher to put your child on their back to sleep, but what do you do when they roll into this position on their own every time you put them on their back. My vote, leave her.

2. Play on the computer. Now, this is not necessarily a new favorite activity, but it is new and improved for Claire. Ususally Claire has been limited to only a few seconds of keyboard activity, seeing as it messes everything up that I am trying to do, but now that we got Claire her very own keyboard to play with (for only $1.00 compliments of the USU surplus store). She can type away and we are both happy. (Can't you see the happy face of a content child? Worth every penny of that dollar!)

Story of a sick baby

2009-02-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

Wipe snotty nose...

Play with book...

Wipe snotty nose on book.
(Now, Emily, she absolutely loves this book, she only snotted her very favorite toys!)

So, Claire turned 6 months old a few days ago, thus she had her 6 month check up at the doctor. She had to get the usual immunizations, but in addition, they gave her the flu shot. Now, I was all for this, seeing as I did not want a sick baby, but I think that I was deceived. A couple of days after she got the flu shot, she got sick, correlation? I think so.

COLD COLD COLD

2009-02-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

If Logan is one thing, it is COLD! However, Claire doesn't seem to mind much.

Babysitter?

2009-02-07T18:55:00.001-08:00

I typically do not have Claire in the kitchen with me when I start the laundry, but maybe I should have all along. What do you think, a good babysitter?

On the Move...

2009-02-07T18:52:00.001-08:00

(This is how we found Claire after her nap about a month ago)

Claire is on the move now. As mentioned in a much earlier post, we tore apart Claire's room. Thus, she had her mattress on the floor, which was fine and dandy, until she started rolling/crawling. Needless to say, she now has her crib set up in our very crowded room. (Side note: as we speak Michael is priming the walls in Claire's room. Our goal to finish Claire's room this by this weekend is starting to materialize!!!)

They Joys of Budgeting

2009-02-07T18:31:00.000-08:00

With Mike being in school and me at home with Claire, we have first hand been learning the joys of budgeting. Thus here is our new meal chart, designed by Michael. It is awesome, except when Mike decides he wants something else after I have gone to the grocery store and spent the weekly food budget. (This is mostly so that my mom can see the new chart).

Christmas and such...

2009-01-06T06:25:00.001-08:00

1. Claire is growing up. Here she is all dolled up for family pictures with my family. She was loving having everyone trying to make her smile.
2. Claire's first Christmas was spent in California with my family. She got a bit spoiled with her Aunt Ali getting her 17 outfits from various thrift stores.

3. Claire being held by my cousin Cameron. He really liked Claire. My mom overheard him telling Claire that she might be on the bad list, but that he thinks that she was probably on the good list.

4. Mike crocheted this beanie for Claire. She loves wearing it, which is a feat because most hats only last about 5 minutes.

5. One of my new favorites of Claire's toys. Her walker. Contrary to what this picture may have you believe, Claire absolutely loves this thing. She entertains herself for long periods of time. And no, she can't even touch the floor yet.
6. My mom and sisters had fun dressing Claire up in various outfits.
6. Claire was the recipient of the Christmas bows from opening gifts.

7. Claire has a new favorite toy. The keyboard. Watch out if you get her near one! Can't you just see her eying it?
8. Last but not least, Claire enjoyed being with her aunts! Here she is after Aunt Emily and Aunt Charley put her hair in a ponytail.

SONIC???

2008-12-07T16:13:00.001-08:00

So, it has been about a week or so since Claire's hair has begun to lay flat (well, sort of flat), which has been sad for both Mike and I. We actually kind of miss the mohawk. I have actually caught Mike combing her hair into a mohawk when he gets her ready in the morning. In honor of the retirement of the mohawk I thought I would post her last mohawk photo. After looking at her hair, mike and I decided that she resembled Sonic the Hedgehog, what do you think?

Mike's new favorite activity is to dress Claire while I am in the shower. He likes to "spice" things up. Note the mismatched socks and summer outfit.

In our attempts today to get ready for our Christmas trip, we went through Claire's closet and tried to figure out what clothes fit and which she has outgrown. We found this hat that my Mom got Claire. She looked like she was ready to go on safari. My favorite part was that it accentuate her chubby cheeks!

Update...lots to catch up on!

2008-11-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

1. Grandma Jo came to visit for a week! We were so lucky to have my mom come and visit us. Claire absolutely loved having her Grandma here! Grandma also got some great pictures of Claire (see below)

2. My mom got us fabric for curtains for our living room while she was here. We were so happy. We had awful verticle blinds that wouldn't open. Here is the finished product!
3. Saturday Mike and I worked on various projects around the house. My favorite one that we completed was my sewing cabinet. Mike built the bookshelves this summer and we have had them painted for awhile, but we finally put the finishing touches on. One of my favorite things that he did was made me sliding shelves that hold spools of thread and bobbins! It is awesome!!! The best part is that it all closes up so that when Claire becomes mobile she can't get into anything!

Outside when it is all closed up decorated with old pattern envelopes from the 70s.

The inside where all of my sewing/craft supplies now resideThread/Bobbin shelves

4. Claire has been so much fun these past couple of weeks. She smiles constantly and babbles to us. It was funny, there is this older woman in our ward named Chloe, who just loves Claire. She was holding her in Relief Society on Sunday and Claire started talking and talking during the Opening hymn and Chloe just looked at me and said, "Oh, she is singing with me!". Gotta love it!

Claire on her quilt Mike made her with her new favorite toy - Measuring Spoons, go figure!

5. Mike and I had a new successful recipe!! One of our favorite things to get when we go out to eat are the Southwest Eggrolls from Chili's. We decided to try to find the recipe on the internet and make them on Sunday. Our efforts were a great success!!! We loved them and the best part was that they were really easy!

Cowlick

2008-11-04T13:03:00.001-08:00

I just thought that I would show off Claire's awesome cowlick.
We thought that her hair would start to lay down flat when it got longer but we realized that she just has a natural mohawk due to her awesome cowlick. Enjoy!

Mohawk at 3 weeks

Mohawk at 3 months

P.S. I think the flash still freaks her out a bit.

A Few of My Favorite Things

2008-11-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

1. Playing with Daddy when he comes home (This looks like a yawn but don't be deceived, she is smiling at Mike)

2. Tummy Time
3. Sleeping (This is her all-time favorite position to sleep in)
4. Sucking (On anything she can get into her mouth)

5. Daddy Dressing me while Mommy takes a nap.

Finished...Finally!!!

2008-11-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

This has been about 4 months in the making. Thanks to Grandma Jane's help it turned out beautiful!!!

Close view

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was pretty quiet, well, at least as far as Trick-or-Treaters went. Mike and Claire both dressed up.
Mike was a Luchedor and Claire a pumpkin!
We had fun. Mike taught his classes in his costume, the kids loved it. It was funny to see all the looks he got from people on campus.

Note: Claire trying to suck on her costume

"Milk Belly"

2008-10-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, Claire now officially has a "Milk Belly" as Mike likes to say. When she sits her belly hangs over her pants a little. It is funny, we're getting a chubby little girl.
Claire also has a new favorite activity to pass the time. She pulls anything that makes its way into her hand, into her mouth and begins to suck. She also likes to suck on her fist. It's funny to watch her. This morning when we took Mike to school she was trying desperately to reach her blanket with her mouth so she could suck on it. Too bad she was strapped in so tight!

I mostly just liked this picture, it doesn't relate to anything

Sneak Preview

2008-10-26T18:06:00.001-07:00

So, as mentioned in a previous post we are gutting Claire's room. Mike and Judd worked on it this weekend. Here is just a little peak at their work. Hopefully you will be impressed by the transformation, if/when we ever finish.

Tummy Time

2008-10-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Claire has been getting a lot better at tummy time.She used to scream after about 10 seconds but now she can stay for awhile. When I mentioned Tummy Time to Mike he thought that was the coolest name. He asked me if I made it up. I should have let him think that I did, he would have remained impressed with me.