Life as a Plowman

happy thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T08:10:00.003-07:00

I realize that I haven't blogged about September yet, but it seems too daunting to go back...I'm going to try to do it next week though!

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving planned. I asked Claire what she was grateful for and this was her list...keep in mind that this is verbatim:
~Mommy (I'll take that!)
~My buddy, Luke
~Boo (her stuffed animal from Monsters Inc)
~Movies
~God (I love that she said God, not Heavenly Father)
~That she can make Luke smile
~Cousins
~Daddy
~Pictures (so proud this made her list)

Ahhh...the simple joys.

Happy Thanksgiving!

August in Review

2010-08-31T21:14:00.000-06:00

I never got around to posting most of July's photos, oh well. Not happening now. So I thought I'd do a quick re-cap of August. When I opened up my "August" folder (I am extremely OCD when it comes to organizing my photos), there are almost 40 sub-folders containing all the events from the month, with about 2,000 pictures within all the sub-folders. Yeah, way too overwhelming. I take a lot of pictures. So I decided that I would post one picture per relevant event. Here we go...

First up, Luke's blessing. He was blessed on August 1 and Nate did an amazing job. Really cool side fact: Nate's mom saved his blessing outfit all these years, so Luke got to be blessed in it. We didn't bless him with the hood on, but I secretly love the cone head. :) We had so much support from family and friends. Thanks again for coming everyone.

Next was Luke's blessing photo shoot. This deserves its own post, so I'll post one for now, but watch for a dedicated post later.

A few months ago as I was putting a book together for Claire's birthday, I noticed that I don't have any pictures of Nate's parents alone. So when they were in town for Luke's blessing, I made them do a short photo shoot. More of these photos to come on my photography blog.

Next, a BBQ at Nate's Aunt Maurine's house. These three cousins love each other. And they love Aunt Maurine's swings.

Later on that week, we went up to Logan to visit Nate's grandpa and attend my cousin's wedding. While driving, I found this striped wall that I fell in love with. I wished I could do a full photo shoot with it right then and there, but the rain was coming. Instead, we pulled over, I grabbed Claire our of her carseat and made her do some photos.

Then spent the night at Nate's grandpa's house in Logan. Here's Luke with Great Grandpa Plowman. Luke is the first great grandson to carry on the Plowman name.

The next morning was my cousin's wedding at the Logan Temple. This was after the ceremony. Claire was hyper. Luke was starving.

I have the same problem with my parents - not enough photos of just them. So they got a few quick shots.

The next day I had my 10-year high school reunion. TEN years. Its still totally surreal to me that its been ten years since high school. But we had a fun night. I just wished more people came. I was asked to photograph the event, so there aren't very many photos of me. But here's a group shot with most of the attendees. Can you find me?

The next Monday, on 8/9/10, my nephew Dylan James was born. He's so, so sweet with tons of black hair. We are in love with him. Click here to see some shots of him from the hospital. And here's a family shot with the DJ.

My youngest brother, Brandon, is serving a mission in Lima, Peru. He sent us a package with beanies for all the grandkids. Here's the picture I sent him of Claire and Luke modeling the hats. Claire walks all around in August sporting her "Huancayo" hat.

We hit up two SL Bees games. One where it was raining and we had to stay under cover for most of the game.

And the other game had beautiful weather. Claire and Corgan had a great time!

The day after that, Claire got to sing at a rest home. She sang four songs for them (I'd upload the video, but I'm having problems with the audio). The songs were:
-The Star Spangled Banner
-How Great Thou Art
-A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
-Joseph Smith's First Prayer
Then after she went around and met them all. Yes, I cried through most of her performance.

We made chocolate cupcakes one day...

Went swimming at my sis-in-law's pool. Claire loves her cousin Annie.

We compared sizes of Luke and cousin Dylan. They are exactly three months apart.

Nate and I hit up In N Out on one of our dates. Yummmm...Double-Double.

We visited new baby Dylan and I got this shot of the four oldest grandkids (Luke and Dylan were in the house sleeping). I can't believe there are six now!

Claire loves my brother's dog, Koda. Well, more like she loves him from a distance. I wanted to get a picture of just Koda.

Claire played with her cousins a lot this month...

We found out that Luke l-o-v-e-s the exersaucer. Just look at that concentration.

I went to a taping of Good Things Utah with the Activity Day girls from our ward. The ladies were so nice. I think it was the perfect activity for these girls!

My sweet nephew Drew ended up in the ICU at Primary Children's after a severe asthma attack. He's a photo of him when he was feeling much better. I got to spend a lot of time with him there. So glad he's back to his usual self!

Most of the time when I wasn't in the hospital with Drew, I was home watching cute Annie. She and Luke loved spending time in the backyard.

Claire learned how to write her name. Its so fun to see her progress, but it ALWAYS makes me sad too. She's growing up so fast. I especially love the backwards, upside down 'e'. And her awesome bedhead.

Nate played on a county softball team with a bunch of friends. He played almost every single Friday night from the first week in May until last weekend. Here is most of the team after their last game.

The last weekend in August was our ward campout. Besides the torrential downpour and hurricane-like winds (seriously. Claire kept saying a helicopter was landing by our tent), we had a great time. I didn't want to take my camera out in that, so Nate set up the good old timer for our family shot. Just look at how drenched Nate's shirt is. It was still really fun. I look forward to it every year.

One of the last events in August was orientation for Claire's preschool. I have to say I am really excited about her teacher and the preschool. The orientation was a full-on carnival with a bounce house, duck pond, fish pond, face painting and prizes. Claire was in heaven. She especially loved the t-shirt she got with the preschool's logo on it. She keeps asking to wear it. Miss Kara seems very creative and oh-so-organized. Can't wait for Claire to start next week! Here she is taking her turn in the bounce house.

Whew. So that was most of our August. Can't wait for September!

Claire & Luke comparison

2010-08-16T11:59:00.003-06:00

I got some shots of Luke in the Bumbo around the same age as Claire. What do you think? Do they look alike?

And just because I can't stop taking photos of him and because he almost never stops smiling...

Luke at two months

2010-07-29T11:12:00.001-06:00

He turned two months a few weeks ago, so its about time I post some new photos.

Here are some fun facts about Luke:

*At his two-month doctor appointment:
11 lbs, 12 oz <--50% percentile
24.5 inches <--90% percentile

*Beginning to hold his head up like a champ and loves the Bumbo.

*This little man smiles all the time.

*He's starting having "conversations" where we coo and he coos back.

*Claire and Luke get along wonderfully. She's such a good big sister.

*Luke loved the fireworks on the 4th. He just stared at the sky.

*He started sleeping through the night (10 pm - 6 am) at 6 weeks and hasn't looked back.

*He can't help but smile even when he's sad.

*And at 10 weeks, he sleeps 12 hours with one feeding at 7 am. He loves his sleep just like his sister.

*He seems to like the shower better than the bath.

*Started wearing his first pair of shoes and kicks them off constantly, just like his socks.

*We're not sure if he's going to be a binky-lover like Claire, he's started sticking his thumb in sometimes.

*He is starting to have more time awake: usually eating for 20 minutes, staying awake for about 45 minutes, then sleeping for two hours until we start all over again.

We love our Luke-ster!

You can see more photos on my photo blog!

Luke's 4-week photo shoot

2010-07-14T17:24:00.001-06:00

I'm attempting to catch up with the month of June. You'll notice with all the posts below. So even though Luke is now two months old, I'm posting a few of the photos from his 4-week photo shoot that I never got posted. Two-month photos and stats to come soon!

He held this pose for probably three minutes straight.

Glitter Toes!

2010-07-14T16:17:00.000-06:00

Claire and I got to have our first GNO. We both went and got glitter toes. Claire loved the whole process. I loved documenting the whole process.

First you have to choose your glitter. Claire picked "Pink Cadillac" with no hesitation.

Putting on the gel...

Then the glitter...

Next, into the machine that sets the gel...

More gel...

A top coat...

And voila! Glitter toes.

A little Fro Yo afterwards and this night = the best GNO I've ever had.

Field Trip 2 - Ogden Dinosaur Park

2010-07-14T15:56:00.003-06:00

Claire's second preschool field trip was so fun! We went to the Eccles Dinosaur Park in Ogden. We'd never been before and I can't tell you how much I wish it was closer to us. We would definitely buy a pass.

Inside the museum (which is pretty tiny, but the kids still liked it)

Mike (my bro-in-law) took the kids all over and would ask them to say every dinosaur's name. Try saying Massospondylus ten times fast.

Claire and Drew at the Dinosaur Dig. They are pointing at the T-Rex.

Annie hanging out in the stroller.

Claire, me, and Luke (in the stroller) under the big dino.

Family shot of my sister's fam.

Cute Luke was happy just to be outside.

We spent the rest of the time at the fun park(s) inside the park.

Claire was loving the swings!

Bye Dinos!

Father's Day

2010-07-13T08:01:00.001-06:00

Father's Day was so great this year. We made Nate breakfast in bed (and I'm so mad - I can't find those pics), opened a few presents and then went to church. We tried to keep it pretty relaxing because Nate had run the Ragnar Relay the day before. Needless to say, he was tired. After church we went to my parent's for a BBQ. Here's our family shot that day:

When we showed up, all three boys were dressed in green-striped shirts.
Corgan, Luke and Drew.

Claire and Luke

Here's just a fun shot I got of my mom playing Ring Around the Rosies with the kids.

I have to end with father and son. Love these boys.

Nate's Ragnar Relay

2010-07-12T15:39:00.000-06:00

I'm so proud of Nate for running his first Ragnar Relay Race! The poor guy ended up with the "Ragnar Hill" which was 4.5 miles STRAIGHT uphill. He did so awesome! Here are some photos they snapped along the way to document the race.

All of Van #2 (minus Nate!)

The whole team at the finish line! (Too bad that guy stuck his elbow in the picture)

Nate, Luke and I at the finish line.

Great job babe! Up next...St George Marathon!

Swimming with cousins

2010-07-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

My sis-in-law lives in a neighborhood with a community pool. We try to make use of it a lot in the summer. Here's one of the first times we went in June.
These cousins are best buddies.

Drew shooting the water...

Corgan almost getting hit (but not caring)...

And Claire just prancing around the pool...

We love summer.

Smiles

2010-06-30T15:50:00.002-06:00

Lovin all the different smiles lately...

So glad this sweet little man is here to stay.

love.

2010-06-20T07:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Father's Day Nate. We love you more than anything.

Singing in the rain

2010-06-18T09:08:00.000-06:00

With all this rain lately, Claire has been obsessed with her umbrella and rain boots (which I could only find 4 sizes too big thanks to her tiny feet). We went out one day right before a huge downpour and took some photos.

The wind came and she didn't like it. "Wind, go away!"

Then she was happy again.

This is what she looked like when it actually started raining. She's a fan of rain accessories. But not rain.
"Mom, its time to go inside."

Preschool

2010-06-17T14:32:00.002-06:00

Claire started preschool this month! I could tell she was needing more than I was providing so I signed her up for summer preschool. I'm so glad I did. She LOVES it. I, on the other hand, did not love it. Well, at first. The night before her first day I cried and cried. Then the morning that I dropped her off I couldn't stop crying either. I'm going to blame it on post-pregnancy, but I just can't believe she's old enough for preschool! I'm so glad she loves it and we are loving Miss Amy!

Here she is on the first day with her cousin Drew.

She walked straight in and went to the computer...

Claire and Mom. I had already shed a few tears...

This is what she looked like when she got home. Seriously, she loved it.

And she was so excited to show me all the things she did and made.

And I have to share some photos from her first field trip last week. The theme for the last two weeks has been "the farm". So what place do you go for a field trip when you've been talking about farms? Wheeler Farm of course!

Looking at the cows.

Trying to see the baby goats.

Here's Drew on the wagon ride. Claire wouldn't sit by me. She wanted to sit by Miss Amy. I felt like the uncool mom until Drew asked me to sit by him. Thanks buddy!

The only photo of Luke that day. Doing what he does best.

Watching the ducks.

She's loving preschool and I'm (starting to) love the free time!

One month

2010-06-09T18:03:00.000-06:00

The Luke-ster is one month old today.

Here are some photos taken over the last few weeks and some facts about Luke:

*He still sleeps non-stop. While he's eating, I'm constantly having to tickle his feet, rub his chin, take off his clothes, etc. to keep him awake.

*No, that does not mean that he sleeps all night. Although he usually does sleep five-hour chunks of time - eating at 10 pm, 3 am and 6 am.

*At his two-week doctor appointment:
7 lbs, 13 oz <--18% percentile
22 inches <--88% percentile
Tall and skinny like his dad I guess.

*He put himself on a three-hour eating schedule at 5 days old. Awesome.

*But if he's being held, the three-hour schedule goes out the window. He loves to be held.

*He can roll over (see post below for pics).

*He's always really happy after he gets his diaper changed. During the diaper change, not so much.

*He's starting to like the bath. Although we've only sink-bathed him so far.

*He's always been a big smiler in his sleep. We've gotten a couple of awake-smiles, but I still don't think its a reaction or mimic. Hopefully soon because we love his smiles.

*The Baby Bjorn = his favorite invention ever. He loves being in that thing.

*He also loves his car seat. Yet hates the process of being buckled in.

*Blinds are his favorite thing to look at. He loves being put by the window and just stares.

*We're still trying to determine, but it looks like his eyes will be blue.

*He definitely has a receding hairline. Hopefully not a forecast for his older years.

*Every time Claire puts in his binky, he loves it. When I do, he spits it out. Still not sure how he knows.

*Luke is the king of yawning. When he's awake, he yawns every couple of minutes.

*He loves to sleep with his hands above his head.

He is such a good baby and we are completely in love.

To see more photos, check out my photo blog or Facebook page.

Luke rolls over...what?!

2010-06-05T23:18:00.000-06:00

So we were sitting on the couch this morning giving Luke some tummy time and all of the sudden he rolled from his stomach to his back. We were all surprised and figured it was a fluke because he's only three weeks old. But we put him on his tummy again, just to see. Right away, he rolled over again! So we tried a third time and this time he rolled over his other shoulder. I guess he's an ambi-turner (<--do you know the movie reference?).

I can't believe my tiny baby is already big enough to roll over. Claire didn't roll from stomach to back until she was about 10 weeks old. Here is the post I did back then.

So we went upstairs and documented. Here's the sequence of photos.

Starting out...

Getting his arms under...

Starting to go...

Almost there...

Made it!

Love this cute boy. He's already growing too fast.

More of Luke

2010-06-01T11:36:00.002-06:00

So I still need to post Luke's birth story, but for now, enjoy a few photos of our little guy.

I. Love. Him.

You can see more on my photo blog or Facebook page.

Baby Luke

2010-05-11T19:04:00.002-06:00

Luke Nathan Plowman
May 9, 2010 (<--Mother's Day!)
8:26 am
6 lbs, 15 oz
19 inches
Less than 5 hours from the time my water broke at home until he was born...he was good to me.

Most beautiful baby boy we've ever seen

Claire is one proud big sister. She's still getting used to calling him Luke, it's pretty much "baby brother" all the time. *Sigh*...we love him.

Birth details to come!

You know you're pregnant when...

2010-05-04T13:52:00.003-06:00

* Your nightstand has a pile of two pregnancy books, Babywise, a breastfeeding book, a child-rearing book, and a bowl from last night's late-night craving.

*You think very often about five foods:
#5 - Mambas

#4 - Wheat toast with peanut butter

#3 - Green leaf lettuce

#2 - Chinese food (particularly Panda Express' Beijing Beef)

#1 - Cherry Acai yogurt (from Smith's) with granola...I eat this almost every night.
(Also when you have at least six cartons of said yogurt downstairs, but don't want to take the time to get your camera, take a picture and upload it to the blog. So you settle for a picture of a different flavor.)

* You can only wear flip flops because no other shoe can fit on your feet.
(I will not be providing a picture.)

* You clean everything more than once and can't stand to have dishes in the sink overnight.

* You are consistently bumping your belly into people or walls because you're not used to having something protrude so far out of your body.

* When a water bottle falls on the floor in the car and you watch it roll back and forth because you cant reach it to pick it.

* You have to ask your husband to paint your toenails. Ugggh.

* You have to sticky-note everything because you can't remember what you did five minutes ago, let alone what you need to do in a week. Then you can't find said sticky note.

* You are exhausted every night from lack of sleep.

And the easiest way to know you're pregnant...
* The biggest reason you can't sleep is because you are more excited than ever to look at your sweet baby and hold him in your arms.

Sigh...11 days to go.

Claire is 3.

2010-05-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

Does every parent secretly dread their child's birthday? When anyone asks Claire how old she's going to be on her birthday, she'll reply, "I'm going to be three. It makes Mommy sad." Apparently I've told her too many times that I don't want her to grow up. But it keeps happening anyway.

Here are some of her 3(I just hate even saying it)-year photos. I sure love this girl.

To see more, check out my photography blog or my Facebook page.

Photos of her birthday party to come soon!

Swim class

2010-04-29T08:02:00.003-06:00

Over the last two years, Claire and I did five different Mom/Tot swim classes. I loved how excited she got and it was a fun thing to do with friends. Well she's officially (sniff, sniff) graduated to a swim class of her own. No more Mom/Tot. She's in the big leagues now with two kids who are a good 8-9 inches taller than her. She loves it just as much as the Mom/Tot classes, so I'm happy. Although she still hates getting her face too wet. Here she is on the first day, ecstatic about swim lessons!

"Mom, another one? Really?"

Surprisingly, we're usually the first ones at her class so she usually gets some alone time with the teacher, Steffie.

She loves a good splash.

So does Drew.

They are supposed to dive for rings at the end of class, but as I mentioned, she doesn't like getting her face wet. So she looks at the ceiling, goes as low as she can, and feels around until she grabs one.

Got it!

Still a couple of weeks left! We love swim class!

Jungle Jim's

2010-04-28T08:32:00.000-06:00

Ever been there? I hadn't until a few weeks ago. And I can't tell you why we haven't been before. Jungle Jim's = a child's heaven. Its basically a mini-amusement park for kids. Bumper cars, swings, carousel, rockets, jeeps, spinning cars, etc. And we were pretty much the only ones there the whole time. A ride operator just followed us around, taking the kids on whatever ride they wanted. Claire still talks about it all the time. You can even print 2-for-1 coupons on their website and go all day for $4.

Claire, ready to get started.

On what she refers to as the "Spinners".

Paige, Drew and Claire

Riding the swings

Bumper cars. Claire couldn't reach the pedal and wasn't too great at steering, so she got in with Drew.

This is how you'll find my niece, Annie, often. She doesn't take a binkie, just loves those two middle fingers.

Cute Jason asleep on his mom's shoulder. Just look at those lashes.

Loving the jeeps.

Not my best photography, but I laugh every time I see this picture. We were just going around from ride to ride and wanted to try this one. We'd never seen it go before. Its a lot like Musicland Express at Lagoon. I put Claire on it, not having any idea how fast it goes. Ummm...fast is an understatement. It seriously hauls. She was pretty terrified.

But she got a hug from Drew after and felt much better.

And liked it much better when she could go with Aunt Angie.

If anyone wants to go, give us a call. We're always up for a Jungle Jim's day.

Easter

2010-04-27T08:01:00.000-06:00

This Easter, Claire went on seven (count 'em - seven) Easter Egg Hunts. It just kind of worked out that way. Its so fun to watch her as she progressed from last year. Last year, we walked around with her and would have to point out eggs to pick up. This year she just ran off and grabbed.

Up first was our city's egg hunt. This was the weekend before Easter. Here are Claire, Annie and Drew ready to go.

The second hunt was an egg hunt with some friends in the neighborhood. They made cupcakes before the hunt. Here are Ashton and Claire enjoying theirs.

She loved this cow egg someone brought.

Later that day, we went to a hunt at the retirement home (where the light was gorgeous and I wished I could do an entire photo shoot with her). At this hunt there are always tons of eggs. Check out her basket and she still grabbed a few more.

The Easter Bunny was there and she remembered him from the year before. She ran right up to him and gave him a hug. Here is Corgan, Claire and Drew.

The fourth hunt was the morning before Easter at my bro and sis-in-law's city hunt. Here are Claire and Corgan all bundled up.

And they're off!

The fifth hunt was the most important, I think. The one at our house! Here she is, Easter morning.

Checking out the eggs.

Some of the loot the Easter Bunny brought her.

The sixth hunt was at my parent's later that day, where I forgot the camera. (E'Shell - if you have any pics, I'd love them.) Thanks again to my mom for putting on a fun Easter hunt and yummy dinner for everyone!

And the seventh hunt was the weekend after Easter at our church. Once again, pregnancy brain struck and although I remembered the camera this time, I forgot the memory card. So no pics from that day either.

All in all, way too much candy, but a lot of fun. We still have a large container filled with Easter candy. She doesn't love candy so I'm thinking we'll have it for a while. Here's one shot I got of her that morning. She always wants to use a prop, of which there are a plethora. L-o-v-e this girl.

Best buddies

2010-04-26T16:57:00.004-06:00

Claire and my nephew, Drew, get to spend a lot of time together. My sister and I trade babysitting once a week so I can get editing done and she can go to work. It works out really great for all of us. We get a break and the kids get to see each other a lot. A few weeks ago when I was watching the kids, we were outside playing and I snapped a few photos. These two probably fight as much as a brother and sister, but they love each other as much too. I had to document.

Ha ha ha...I just thought this one was funny.

See what I mean about arguing? I think Claire had the ball Drew wanted. :)

And again...they were mad that the other one was touching their feet. ("Don't touch my feet!" "Don't touch my feet!")

Claire giving Drew a kiss

Drew giving one back

Best buddies.

Oh, the poor neglected blog.

2010-04-26T15:49:00.002-06:00

I used to make posts twice a week and now I'm lucky if one gets done every other month. Well, today I'm going to work on a little catch up. You'll be seeing quite a few posts in the next few hours/days. I'm putting this on here to make sure I actually do it. First up...recap of February...ha ha ha. So behind. But I really want to be caught up so that when the baby comes I can start posting about him guilt-free. :) We'll see.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T00:39:00.000-06:00

Skiing!

2010-03-14T20:44:00.001-06:00

I started skiing at a young age - I think I was around age five or six. I've always loved it. My parents would take us a few times a year and even let us skip school once or twice a year to go up. Nate is also an avid skier and used to get a season pass every year until Claire came along. Well, we wanted to start the tradition with her. So we took Claire up to Alta last Friday and were so excited to see what our 2-year-old would think of it. I'm so glad that it went even better than I would have thought. She loved it!

Waiting to get on the chair lift...Claire's still deciding what she thinks.

She loved the chair lift.

At the top of the mountain! It was my nephew, Corgan's, first time skiing too. My mom also came along.

Nate and Claire going down the hill. She kept a very straight face through the whole thing, but when we asked her if she liked it, she would say, "I love skiing!" You'll see in the video below.

Corgan loved it too!

Family pic at the top of the mountain. Please don't mind my 30-week prego belly. (I had to take advantage that my mom was there to take pictures).

My turn to take Claire!

Ha ha ha...we loved her little skis. She loved that they had her name on them.

The end of the day. What a memorable day it was. I can't wait for a few more years til we can take our little guy too!

Here is a little video of both Nate and I taking Claire. Notice that at the first part of her skiing with me, she yells, "faster!"

Our February

2010-03-10T16:28:00.002-07:00

Small disclaimer: most photos were taken with my small, fits-in-my-pocket camera since my back and ribs can't take much of the weight of my huge camera. Darn pregnancy.

First up, lunch with Nate. We try to meet Nate for lunch every other week or so. He works in Sandy, so we usually end up at South Towne Mall at the food court. Oh so glamorous. But Claire loves it because we get to ride the carousel every time. Riding carousels is one of her favorite things to do.

Next, we had tickets with my family for the Jazz game and I ended up deathly sick (ok, not deathly, but you shouldn't be allowed to get the stomach flu when you're pregnant. Just sayin.) Here's a photo with my mom, Drew, Claire and Corgan.

Here's a random photo of my two favorite people.

On one somewhat-warm day in Feb, my sister and I took the kids for a walk to the park. It felt so nice to be outside!

The very next day I was watching my nephew and niece, Drew and Annie, and we took a few shots in the studio. I love this little girl. I could take photos of her smiling face all day.

Same goes for this girl...

For Valentines Day, Nate bought Claire a flower and a balloon. I think she was confused and thought she won the lottery, because that's how she acted. She would talk about her flower almost every day for weeks afterward. It was really cute.

I got tulips - my fav! (With my 28-week prego belly.)

We made pink, heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast.

Claire, mid-action.

Nate had to go out of town for a few days, so Claire and I drove up to Logan and spent some quality time with my Grandma Stevens. We love her so much. I wish she lived closer. Here she is reading Claire a bed time story...sadly, the only photo I got with her while we were there.

While in Logan, I had to take Claire up to Utah State. From the look on her face you can see how cold it was. Good old Logan.

The last event in February was a trip to the zoo. We did NOT pick the best day to go, but is there really a good day to go in February? This is what the day looked like almost the whole time we were there.

But the kids didn't care.

Not the most eventful month, but at least I got it blogged!

January Update

2010-03-03T16:52:00.000-07:00

Time for the January update. We started off 2010 with a trip to Las Vegas & St. George. As mentioned before, I was a little burned out, so the picture-taking wasn't happening. Here are the few that I got:

Car ride down. Don't mind Claire's scowl. That's how she always looks while watching movies.

Claire won some big bucks at the slots.

We stopped by to see the Las Vegas Temple. Beautiful.

I don't love posting pregnancy shots, but Nate makes me take them. Here I am at 21 weeks.

Riding the carousel at the Outlet Mall in LV.

On the strip, waiting for the Treasure Island show. It was freezing!

Driving back to SG. Claire was over riding in the car.

The St. George Temple.

Claire climbed the stairs over and over. She was just so glad to be out of the car.

I'm not sure why, but I just love this picture. I think it is a good example of how Nate and Claire are together. He's so loving and patient with her and she loves having his full attention.

Ready to get back in the car for the long ride home.

I didn't get any pictures of the amazing pool and hot tub at our hotel, but we definitely made use of them. It was a great little getaway.

Next up was a huge highlight for our January, of which I already posted. IT'S A BOY!

Random shots of Claire:

My adorable niece, Annika, at 4 months.

Next we went to the Aquarium in Sandy. You can walk through the entire thing in about 10 minutes, its so small. But the kids didn't care. Here we are waiting for our friends to pick us up.

Claire loved this wheel. She kept saying that she was on "Price Is Right", spinning the wheel.

She found Nemo.

Claire and her friend, Addy, listening to storytime.

Walking out together. Girls are so cute.

Nate and I took a day and went skiing. We're attempting to take Claire next week - should be interesting!

I am 25 weeks here.

Claire loves bathtime and can't get enough pictures! They are some of my favorite to take.

Finally, I have been doing some product photography for a few Etsy shops. Here are a couple of the shots...

My cute nephews...

Claire had to jump in too.

Next up...February update!

December Recap

2010-02-28T06:48:00.001-07:00

Can you say blog-slacker? Blogging used to be one of my favorite things to do, but other things have taken its place (namely a 2-year-old, photography, being pregnant, etc). But I had to get a little caught up. Over the next few days, I'm going to post pics from Dec, Jan and Feb in hopes of keeping some kind of family journal/scrapbook.

So here comes December...

We started off the season with Drew (my nephew), making ornaments for the grandparents and Nursery teachers.

Then Claire got to sit on Santa's lap. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "a candy cane." Easily satisfied.

Ready to go to another Christmas party!

We made gingerbread houses at my family's Christmas party (and Nate was in charge of the camera that night...hence...one picture).

I had a great GNO with some high school friends (thanks again Dede for hosting!).

My family decided to check out the "Larry H Miller Christmas Singalong" at EnergySolutions Arena this year. It was actually a lot of fun!
Claire, Ry, Livi, Corgan

My dad, Claire, my mom, Corgan

Then we rode Trax up to Temple Square for some light action.

Claire, Drew, & Corgan...freezing cold.

Group shot at the lights.

Family shot

Random temple shots I got that night.

During the day on Christmas Eve, we did a little sledding.
Corgan, E'Shell, Claire, me

Self-portrait family shot

The only group shot of the day: Brad and Nate watching the kids sled down the hill, Claire and Corgan sledding, E'Shell and I taking pictures. So typical.

On Christmas Eve, we got together with my family at Brad and E'Shell's house. When we were little, we used to have this tradition of making a "Jesus Cake" on Christmas Eve. I think my mom did it to remind us that we are celebrating Christ's birth. We thought we'd let the grandkids try out this tradition as well. They were supposed to decorate the cake, but 95% of the candy went into their mouths, not the cake.

Great Grandma Stevens was there too.

Claire loves her Grandma Stevens.

Group shot (we're only missing my brother, Brandon, who is on a mission in Peru - miss you B!)

Christmas morning! The thing Claire got the most excited about: fruit snacks. Should have just bought a few boxes of them and called it good.

Pretty much everything in her stocking got the biggest reaction. Look at those eyes. If only I could get her that excited about eating every day.

She did love her new easel too.

Opening presents with Dad.

Christmas is so much better with kids!

Christmas morning family shot (we try to get this shot every year - thank you self-timer).

My niece, Annika, was blessed a few days after Christmas. I love this little girl!

Claire and Drew sang "I am a Child of God" for everyone at Annika's blessing. So cute. (Should I be in trouble for taking pictures at the church?)

And that's about it for the month of December. It was an insane month for me (photography-wise), and I was a little burned out on the picture-taking. So I didn't as many as I would have like. :( But January is coming up next...lots to share from that month!

Love.

2010-02-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

{I promise to do a post soon with an update on us....SO BEHIND!}

Big news...

2010-01-08T17:25:00.000-07:00

We are so excited!

Nate and I decided that it might be fun this time around to find out the sex of the baby with the family. So we went to the ultrasound and saw the baby, but told the doctor we didn't want to know the sex yet. When she was checking out "down there", she just told us and we looked away. I had printed two signs - one that said "It's a girl" and one that said "It's a boy". So after the ultrasound was over, the doctor went into a back room and placed the correct one in two manila envelopes (so I couldn't see through - Nate's idea). Then Nate took it back to work with him so I couldn't cheat (another one of his ideas). :)

This was right after we got the envelope. It was a LONG day waiting to open it.

{Side note: I have a funny, well funny now, story about why I'm wearing my glasses. I normally always wear contacts, but the day before I had been chopping jalapeños. Have you ever chopped jalapeños? I made the mistake of itching my eye right after I cut them. I have never been burned on my eye, but this felt exactly like I had. I immediately turned on the water to flush my eye and thought "I better take my contact out." Umm....mistake. Putting both fingers directly on my eye felt like I had poured gasoline and lit a match on it. It hurt so BAD! And apparently, the juices stay on your hands for a few days, no matter how many times you wash them. Hence, the glasses and inability to put my contacts in. Just know that if you plan on chopping jalapeños, you have been warned.}

That night my family came over and we opened the envelope. We wrote down everyone's guesses.

Had to have pink and blue cookies...

Here we are, DYING to open it.

Claire did the honors...

She was really surprised. But her first words were, "I wanted a sister." Nice.

We were so excited!!

Me pointing out to Nate that yes, its definitely a boy.

All the grandkids on my side, there will be five soon!

So far, the Chinese Calendar and the Pencil Test have predicted the sex of my babies correctly. We'll see if they can keep it up...

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T17:18:00.001-07:00

I think almost everyone who was sent one of our Christmas cards has them by now, so I can post it. Back story: I can never decide what design to do on my own Christmas card. I design cards for tons of people and I'm always jealous of how decisive they are! This year, I designed five different cards, got them printed and then had Nate vote on his favorite. His favorite was probably my least favorite, so I took them to my parents and grandma for a vote. The vote was unanimous among the five designs. They all voted for Nate's favorite. :( I still couldn't let go of my fav, so we printed both. Here they are:

Nate's fav

My fav

They are double-sided with pictures of Claire (of course) on the back.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Number Two

2009-12-14T18:13:00.003-07:00

For those who haven't heard - we're expecting Baby #2!

{Ultrasound at 12 weeks.}

It took a little longer than expected, but we couldn't be more excited!

Part of Your World

2009-11-02T13:09:00.001-07:00

Claire loves the Little Mermaid...you'll see the devotion on this video...
(and of course she doesn't go anywhere without her new favorite doll, Jessie. Thanks again Lauren!)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T19:34:00.000-06:00

From Jessie the Cowgirl

One sweet Labor Day weekend

2009-09-08T14:58:00.001-06:00

Labor Day ROCKED this year. It started bright and early Friday morning at Swiss Days. We were not the only ones thinking that...it was a zoo!

The scones were SO good. I will be going every year to at least get a scone.

It was hot, but so worth it!

{I - gasp! - forgot my camera...so thanks, April, for remembering!}

That night we got to meet our friend's new addition, Rocky Charles, at the hospital. He was born at almost nine pounds...way to go Danielle! Such a cute, chubby little guy.

Claire just loved him.

Saturday thru Monday we went camping with the fam. Claire and Corgan loved jumping on the air mattress.

We were right next to this little river. The kids entertained themselves by throwing pine cones in.

Nate and me

Action shot of Nate chopping the wood.

My cousin Nancy brought bubbles and they were a hit!

My brother, Ryan, and his cute girlfriend Olivia.

Group shot, with a few people missing who had already left. This was taken on our last morning after cleaning up the campground...so we all look really awesome.

Finally, on the evening of Labor Day, we went to a luau at Thanksgiving Point. YUM, I love luau food! Here's everyone waiting on the grass for the show to begin.

All the girls (minus the moms)

These kids love playing together!

Family shot

Claire got to go up on stage and learn the hula. She was front and center and loved every second of it. I've got to get her in a dance class.

I've decided that we need to petition that it be Labor Week, not Labor Day.

What? August is over?

2009-08-31T20:58:00.007-06:00

I looked on the calendar today and stopped drinking mid-drink. Its August 31? August is almost officially over? The end of summer is upon us? Noooooo. Seeing as how I have only blogged once this once (well, on my family blog at least) I figured I better do a quick catch up for posterity sake.

Here's our August in a nutshell...

On the first day of August we went to Lagoon with some of our dearest friends, the Carlsons. Here is Soren, Kai, Nate and Claire in their shades...

Claire and Kai were best buddies. Seriously, they never fought once = minor miracle.

Lindsay and me with our girls, just after we got soaked by the fountains.

Claire and Nate riding the Sea Odyssey.

We dropped the kiddies off and went back for some more fun that night. We got a self-portrait on the Sky Ride.

A few days later we went to the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake. We weren't sure if Claire would like it, but she had a great time! Nate kept showing Claire the frogs and she loved it.

Claire showing us that she's two or doing a peace sign. I'm not sure which one.

Nate and Claire spinning outside.

Next up was a Bees game with my family. Claire fell in love with the Bee and wouldn't stop hugging it. It even hit her with his stinger a few times because she kept following him around. Here she is mid-action, with her cousin Bryton.

Family pic.

One with Nate and Claire...she's really into putting her arm around everyone's shoulders lately.

And Claire and me.

Next, we went swimming with cousins Drew and Corgan. Here they are ganging up on her.

My mom with Claire and Corgan.

Claire and me.

Next was our big trip to Cali. We drove and spent the night in Las Vegas. I found my new favorite/affordable hotel - South Point. We loved the pools.

I love this shot of Claire's little bum and then her huge belly.

And the breakfast buffet in the morning was awesome.

Claire especially loved that she could have ice cream in the morning.

We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain on our first day in Cali. I love that place! There are tons of huge thrill rides! Thanks to Nate's parents for watching Claire all day for us. Here's a group shot - minus me of course.

Nate and I waiting in line for an awesome ride - Tatsu.

The next day we drove down to San Diego to see the BEST musical ever...

LOVED IT and love Nate for the idea.

We even got a chance to stop at the San Diego Temple. It was beautiful.

The main reason we went to LA was to celebrate Nate's grandparent's birthdays. His grandpa turned 90 and his grandma turned 75.

Claire and her cousin, Maddison, at the party.

We had almost everyone there!

I had to get one of Claire and her great-grandparents.

And I love this four-generation one.

What a great trip!

In the middle of the month, I caught this cute one of Claire and her cousin Drew. My sister calls it their "prom pic." He he he...what can I say? They posed themselves.

Next we went to Claire's cousin Sierra's second birthday party. They were loving all the sweets!

She loved the cupcakes.

Sierra and her cute parents, Cliff and Jess, blowing out the candles.

Claire got to go to the zoo with "Grandma Sheri" (Nate's mom).

She got to ride "Melman the Giraffe" from the movie "Madagascar" on the carousel.

Grandma Sheri even bought her the most prized possession she owns - a "Gloria the Hippo" stuffed animal (also from "Madagascar").

We got to go to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved the water feature.

Claire striking a pose in front of Jaws.

I love this one of Claire, Corgan, and Drew checking out the dinosaur's feet.

Out front. Notice the line? It was around the building the whole time we were there. I guess that's what you get when you go on $2 Tuesdays.

Claire, Mason, and Drew playing around afterwards.

Chillin on the bench.

I thought this one was funny. Mason looks like he's a little jealous... :)

They loved swinging on this bench!

My family got together to celebrate my bro-in-law's birthday.

We got together with Nate's family yesterday for his cousin's mission homecoming. Its great to get a group picture every now and then, even if everyone is not there.

And finally, poor Claire had some allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. Its made her entire forehead and eye swell up!

Just look at the forehead. Poor girl.

If you made it this far, I am seriously impressed. I can't believe we did all that in one month.

July Roundup

2009-08-07T09:21:00.003-06:00

Here are some random things we did in July...

Had some family time at Liberty Park

{BTW-Claire's hair looks so long to me in this pic! Finally - its growing!}

Blew some bubbles (pretty much every time we are outside)

Claire dressed herself and we decided she's got some style

Painted our nails

Went to the movies with Claire's cousin, Drew (every week for the kid's movie)

Claire took her first picture with the camera...

Claire decided she loves sunglasses. Every time we go outside now - "Its bright out here. You forgot my sunglasses."

Went to the Ogden Temple

Tried to use the self-timer

Had our six-year anniversary. Celebrated at a great steakhouse in Ogden. Love you babe.

Got surprised with Wicked tickets in San Diego!

July was pretty good to us. Bring on August!

Giant grasshopper, more camping + Bear Lake

2009-07-15T12:17:00.000-06:00

Another big update!

While I was weeding a flower bed, I was almost accosted by a giant grosshopper...I mean grasshopper. I'm not a fan of bugs and went running for Nate in the house. He came out and was also surprised by its size. This is not the best angle, but it was actually a little bit longer than his chapstick!

Ewww.

So he picked it up and Claire said, "I wanna hold the grasshopper." She's definitely not my daughter when it comes to bugs. She squishes ants in her hand, loves to hold potato bugs, and now grasshoppers. So he handed it to her.

She was all about it until it clawed into her arm.

A close-up just because it grosses me out so much.

Ewww. I had to share that little story because I'm so glad Claire has not developed arachnophobia like her mom.

Next up, we went camping again last weekend. This time with my family. We camped right by Tony Grove in Logan Canyon. It is beautiful up there. I have many fond memories of camping there as a kid.

We started off with a great breakfast by my dad. He's an amazing chef in the mountains.

While breakfast was being made, the kids watched Claire's favorite, "Elmo's Potty Time." (If you're looking for an entertaining/very descriptive show to watch, rent this.)

After breakfast Claire and my nephew, Corgan, were playing in the tent. It all of the sudden got quiet. You know what that means. Corgan came out of the tent with what looked like black marker all over his hand. We ran into the tent, thinking the worst, and found this.

Claire's first run-in with mascara. But I have to give her credit for her aim...she didn't get it on anything but her face and Corgan's arm. I owe my sister-in-law a new tube.

Then we hiked all around Tony Grove Lake. The sky was an unbelievable blue.

My mom and Claire.

This was the view we had of Claire and Corgan most of the time.

This overflow was one of my favorite things when I was young. You could run back and forth and up and down the walls. I was easily entertained I guess. The kids (and my dad) loved playing on it too.

Then we stopped to take some family pics. We decided to add Claire to my brother's family.

Then added Corgan to ours.

Claire loved carrying these wildflowers the whole time.

A cute one of my parents and Claire.

Lastly, we went over for the day to Bear Lake for a reunion on my mom's side of the family. I think everyone else had the same idea...it was a little crowded to say the least.

This is the only kind-of group shot I got. I was adding it up and there are almost 90 people in this family now, including great grandkids. Yeah, I come from a big family. So I guess this wasn't even close to a group shot...

My mom brought up her little kid pool and we filled it up. It was pretty overcast all day and kind of cold, so this kept the water a little warmer.

I thought I'd end with the cutest picture of the bunch. Claire and Corgan enjoying some kind of inside joke.

I have to say it once again, I LOVE summer!

Reunion

2009-07-09T09:53:00.001-06:00

We had a great time at the Plowman Family Reunion! We spent five days camping just outside of Stanley, Idaho. When I say camping, I mean in-a-tent-no-showers-outhouse-kind of camping. Nate and I have never gone camping like this with Claire and wondered how she'd do. We shouldn't have. She was in heaven. She was so happy all week and kept saying, "I wanna go to my tent." She was obsessed with the tent. She also loved playing with the cousins her age and being the center of attention with the older cousins. Here's the chronicle of our trip:

The six-hour drive was beautiful! Because of all the rain we've had lately, everything was a gorgeous green.

View from Nate's eyes

Setting up the tent with Nate and his dad. Claire was a huge help.

Then cute Sierra wanted to come and help.

Sierra had already been there a few days...Claire's face got this dirty shortly. :)

Seriously, she was in her element.

The second day, we took a gorgeous hike.

We didn't have a back pack to put Claire in and it was an almost 10-mile hike. She got to ride on Grandpa and Dad's shoulders a lot.

We had to cross a few streams that were ICE COLD. My feet felt numb for a while after. But Nate's dad crossed three times. Once to get Claire and his gear over, another to take his wife on this back (wish I'd gotten a pic of that), and a third time to take his 80-year-old dad over. That's the kind of awesome guy he is.

You never heard Grandpa Plowman complain once. Here he is, 80 years old, and can out-hike any of us. We finally got a break near the top.

I'm sure Nate's back and arms enjoyed putting Claire down for a bit.

Claire loved balancing on logs.

And she loved the attention she got from cousins Cindy and Emmy.

They loved going down to the "beach" and throwing rocks. The first time Claire went she was asking everyone where the whales and dolphins were.

The men cooking dinner.

Seriously, the Plowmans do not mess around when it comes to food. We ate fabulously the whole trip.

Claire carried this chair around everywhere. She'd roll it up, then unroll it over and over.

The morning of the 4th of July, Nate's aunt's family brought up a flag and flagpole. We had a great raising of the flag ceremony. Claire got to be part of the Color Guard.

Then everyone sang patriotic songs (while Japanese tourists took pictures of us...seriously.).

Claire loves spending time with her Grandpa and I think he feels the same way. They spent hours going on "adventures" together. Every time I'd say to Nate, "do you know where Claire is?" He'd say, "with my dad."

On the way home from another hike (that we ended up getting hailed on and had to end early), we found a flock of sheep. There were literally hundreds of sheep everywhere.

Cousins Josh and Corey playing what I think was called "Ninja Destruction". Uncle Ken taught everyone and they spent a lot of time playing it.

The last night we roasted hot dogs, ate smores and played many games of Mafia.

What a fun trip. I love spending time with this family!

{More to come of our camping adventures...we're going again this weekend.}

BBQs, Bees and Bathing Suits

2009-06-30T14:14:00.001-06:00

Summer ROCKS.

We had a great neighborhood block party last weekend. We ate, talked, watched fireworks, and had a great time.
Here is everyone getting ready for the fireworks to begin...

I'm pretty sure all Claire ate the whole night were Doritos.

Family pic (thanks again Jamie!)

These kids were so cute! They loved watching all the fireworks!

After dark, Nate and I had some fun with the sparklers. I'm impressed with his ability to write backwards.

We also took in a Bees game...well, sort of.

This was how the game started...

After three short innings, it turned into this...

We hung out under the eaves for about 45 minutes while it poured.

It finally cleared up, and we got to see this beautiful double rainbow.

And Claire got to puddle jump.

We started swim class (again) at the beginning of this month. Tomorrow is our last day and I'm so sad. I'm pretty sure I like the class more than Claire does. This time, we took it with my nephews, sister, and sis-in-law. Its so fun hanging out with these guys!

Brad subbed for E'Shell one day, so he could give it a try and she could take pics. The kids all loved having Uncle Brad there.

She always runs to get her towel, usually with purple lips and goosebumps.

Why can't life always be like this? I heart summer.

The B-man

2009-06-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

My little brother, Brandon (or as anyone who knows him, calls him B-man), is leaving for an LDS mission to Lima, Peru tomorrow. He'll be gone for two years. I hate even typing that. He is one of my very best friends. For the last couple weeks if Nate or anyone else even brought him up, I'd start crying. Claire said something about him last night, the tears started coming and she said, "You missin B-man? Don't be sad. Be happy." Anyone who reads my blog regularly, knows I love the B-man. So I thought I'd give him a little shout-out before he goes.
Here they are - the top ten things I'm going to miss about B-man:

#10 - His goofy sense of humor.

#9 - He loves his family.

#8 - He's an amazing uncle to Claire.

#7 - He's athletic and fun to play sports with - whether its snowboarding, lacrosse, ping pong, bowling, frisbee, jumping off high dives, etc.

#6 - He loves to flash gang signs in almost every picture I take of him.

#5 - He's really random.

{Yes, one of his presents for her second birthday was a chocolate Crucifix.)

#4 - He's one of Nate's best friends too.

#3 - Did I mention he's an amazing uncle?

#2 - He's the best youngest brother a girl could ask for.

And #1 - He's going to be an amazing missionary.

I'm going to miss him SO much. But I couldn't be prouder of everything he's accomplished and has yet to accomplish. I love you so much B! The people of Peru are lucky to have you!

I love having a girl

2009-06-11T18:30:00.000-06:00

{In preparation for Nate's brother's wedding tomorrow.}

Of course, the moment was gone when she did this two minutes later.

*Sigh.*

I heart her

2009-06-06T15:29:00.002-06:00

{and my new backdrop!}

The Big Apple

2009-06-02T16:17:00.005-06:00

I just got back from a trip to New York with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law. We had a BLAST! We actually had amazing luck too. You'll see why below. And to give fair warning...this post is huge. 42 pictures. Not even 1/10th of the pictures I took.

Day 1: Flew to New York

Day 2:
Arrived at 6:30 am, took the subway to the hotel, and left 15 minutes later. We went to the Today Show to see Kris Allen and Adam Lambert from American Idol, but we didn't get there in time. They had just left. So we decided to get in the Standby line at The View. A cop gives us horrible directions, and we went to the opposite end of town. Its ok though, because we ran into Tommy Hilfiger. (See celebrity sightings below for pics). Right after that we came across The Early Show and Kris Allen was there! We watched him perform. He was great. Once he finished, we decided to try again to find The View. Along the way, we found the Manhattan LDS Temple.

It was beautiful and so different from any other temple I'd been to. The Regis and Kelly show is filmed in the building next door.

We finally found The View and waited in line for almost an hour, and we got in! We were literally the last people to be let in. All five ladies were there and the guest was Kara DioGuardi from American Idol. (Again, see celebrity pics below.)

We were literally on the top row. But you can see Barbara and Whoopi behind us.

That night we just walked around Times Square. It was a little crowded.

We also entered the lottery for Wicked tickets. For those of you who don't know (and I didn't), they have a lottery for Wicked because its sold out for months. So you go to the theater at 5:30 and put your name in and at 6:00 they call out 13 names. Each person gets two tickets for $26/each and they are usually great seats. The problem is, there is usually about 300 people there.

We did this constantly. Waited (forever) for the subway.

Day 3:
The next morning we got up early for the Today show. Taylor Swift was performing. I never realized how tall she is! She was great to watch live. There were people who had been waiting since 7 am the day before, so we were way in the back. This was our view most of the time.

Then we headed to Canal Street for some great knock-off shopping. Let's just say we did some damage.

That night was got tickets for Mary Poppins on Broadway and it was fantastic!

We also put our names in the lottery for Wicked and didn't win. Again.

Day 4:
We slept in and then went down to Times Square.

We waited in the half-price ticket line to see what other Broadway show we could see.

We ended getting tickets for an off-Broadway musical called "The Marvelous Wonderettes". It was great, but not my favorite. This was definitely one you'd go see with the girls. Nate would have poked his eyes out.

Then we went to 5th Ave for some more shopping. We hit up my favorite store.

I must say I was a little disappointed in it. The one in Vegas was bigger and better.

Then we went to the Wicked lottery for our last chance at getting tickets. Guess what? WE WON! Not two tickets, but FOUR! My sister, Angie, and sister-in-law, E'Shell both won! The odds of two from our group winning when only 13 names are called out of over 300 people are incredible. We were beyond ecstatic!

But we were more ecstatic when we walked into the theater. Our tickets said row BB, so we thought we'd maybe in on the second row of the second level.
NO!
Row BB was THE FRONT ROW! Not only that, but our seats were directly in the middle. It was unbelieveable!

The show was so incredible. We could see every facial expression of the actors (even when they spit on each other). I think I have a new favorite musical.

Day 5:
We hit up a street fair on our way to church to get some yummy breakfast...apple crepes. Yum.

Church was great.

Then we walked over to Central Park and stopped at Tavern on the Green (where Nick Lachey proposed to Jessica Simpson).

That afternoon we took the subway to Ground Zero, where you couldn't see anything but cranes.

We relaxed the rest of the night. We needed it.

Day 6:
For our last day, my mom and I decided we wanted to wait in the Standby line for Regis and Kelly. Once again, we got in! And once again, we were almost the last people to be let in and sat on the back row. Regis wasn't there, so I was sad. I really wanted to see him. Pat Sajak was filling in. Pat Sajak, really?

He actually did a really good job. But my favorite was Kelly. She was so great with the audience. During every comercial break, she'd come out and take pictures, sign autographs, and tell us stories about her kids. The guests were John Goodman and Jillian Harris from The Bachelorette. John Goodman was weird. I loved Jillian.

My mom, Angie and I then met at Central Park (E'Shell had already gone home). We decided to rent bikes and ride them around the park. It was tougher than we thought. There are a lot of hills, but it was still fun.

Angie is in her third trimester and totally kept up with us!

Finally, we ended the day by walking over to FAO Schwartz to get something for the kids. Claire loves this picture of me and the soldiers.

CELEBRITY SIGHTINGS!
We had twenty-three and a half (count 'em - 23.5) celebrity sightings! Here they are (in order of appearance), at least the ones I could get pics of:

1. Tommy Hilfiger - he was standing outside of the Plaza Hotel talking on his phone. I had total eye contact with him and said, "That's Tommy Hilfiger!" Like an idiot. He kept watching us and by the time I talked my mom into taking his picture, he was walking across the street.

2. Kris Allen (winner of American Idol)

3. Maggie Rodriguez (host of The Early Show)

4. Jim Cantiello (MTV News reporter)

5. Barbara Walters
6. Elisabeth Hasselbeck
7. Sherri Shepherd
8. Joy Behar
9. Whoopi Goldberg

10. Kara DioGuardi (judge from American Idol)

11. Alicia Minshew ("Kendall" from All My Children)
12. Alexander Cambias, Jr ("Zach Slater" from All My Children)
13. Cameron Mathis (from All My Children and Dancing With the Stars)
14. Al Roker
15. Matt Lauer
16. Natalie Morales

17. Meredith Vieira
18. Taylor Swift

19. Michael Gelman (from Regis and Kelly)

20. Pat Sajak

21. Kelly Ripa

22. John Goodman

23. Jillian Harris (the Bachelorette!)

23.5. Nathaniel Marshall (who made it to the top 36 on American Idol, that's why he's only a 1/2 celebrity)

What an unforgettable trip! Can we please make this girls trip a yearly tradition?

Carousel

2009-05-27T19:48:00.002-06:00

We love meeting Nate for lunch. Its something we try to do on a regular basis. Last week we met him at the South Towne Mall and Claire got to ride the carousel. She's talked about "Marty the Zebra" every day since.

Totally blurry, but I just love how much fun she's having...

This is definitely not the last time we'll go there.

pot of gold?

2009-05-20T14:21:00.002-06:00

I'm really wishing there was a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow...seeing as it ended at my house yesterday.

The party

2009-05-15T08:19:00.004-06:00

The invite.

The cupcakes.

The cake. Sadly, this did not turn out like the picture. Half of my family couldn't even tell what it is. Any guesses?

The presents.

Opening the presents.

The infamous Cookie Monster toy that I referred to in the post below. Still the most annoying toy ever. But how could i begrudge her of it? She loves this thing.

Cutest umbrella from Brad and E'Shell. Claire walks around the house with it singing, "Its raining, its pouring, the old Claire is snoring." Oh, and am I the only to NOT know that its bad luck to open an umbrella indoors? I was made fun of at the party for not knowing this.

The big present that she was dying to open all day.

Getting a little help opening said present.

Blowing out the candles.

One down and the determined look that the second won't be far behind.

Mission accomplished.

Eating the cake.

Happy birthday Claire!

Oh, and this blog turned two along with Claire...so happy birthday to my blog!

Two? Really?

2009-05-07T23:17:00.003-06:00

How did it happen? I'll never know. Claire turned two last Saturday.

Random facts/bragfest about Claire:

*Weighs 24 pounds - 28th percentile.
*32 inches tall - 17th percentile.
*Still wears 18-month clothes. In fact, she still has a 6-month jacket she wears. Good thing I bought a bunch of 2T summer clothes.

*Loves to sing and can memorize songs faster than I can.
*A few of the songs she knows: ABCs, Glad When Daddy Comes Home, A Child of God, Elmo's Song, Star Shining Brightly, Twinkle, Twinkle, Book of Mormon Stories, etc.

*Favorite time of day is morning. She'll say the craziest/funniest things when she's alone in her bedroom. (Example: "Mom, do you know what a cockroach is?" She knows this from Wall-E.)
*Favorite foods: cereal. Baby food green beans. And more cereal.
*Said her first sentence at 17 months: "Where did Daddy go?"

*Bathtime = Claire at her squealiest.
*Still a champion sleeper.
*Newest skill: opening doors. (Read: problem. At her birthday party we found her in the front yard by herself.)

*Favorite movie: its a tie between Finding Nemo/Wall-E/Signing Time.
*About a week ago she decided to give up the binkie. She just said "No binkie." I said, "Should we throw it away?" She said, "Yeah. Throw it in garbage." And she did. Hallelujah.

*Been on an airplane five times...with two more trips coming this summer.
*Been in ten states besides Utah: CA, ID, WY, MA, RI, WA, OR, OH, MI, HI.
*Favorite toy: Talking Cookie Monster from Grandma and Grandpa. Most likely the most annoying toy ever. Thanks again Mom.

*I love this girl more than I ever though possible. *Sigh.* Please don't grow any faster.

Pics from her Aloha birthday party to come soon...

iFlied!

2009-04-28T11:45:00.000-06:00

My good friend Joe called me up and told me his was surprising his wife on her birthday with a flight at the iFly wind tunnel in Ogden. (Click here for more info on iFly.) Its basically a simulation of skydiving. I thought it'd be fun to go watch her, so Claire and I tagged along. I got peer pressured into doing it within five minutes of being there. So Joe watched Claire, and Marie, her 4-year-old daughter Olivia and I iFlied. Nate has wanted to do it for a long time so I felt a little guilty doing it without him but I guess its a great excuse to go with him and fly again, right? (Thanks again to Joe for taking the pics and watching Claire!)

Full body shot

Best shot we got of Marie

Look at Livvy, she was in heaven.

My attempt at a backflip. How about that form, huh?

If you can see my face, you'll see the silly grin...I was told I never stopped smiling the whole time.

It was really fun to share this experience with Marie. We've been best friends for a long time and don't get to see each other as often as I would like. (Hint, hint Marie...move closer!) I definitely recommend this for anyone who would never dare jump out of plane. :) It was amazing!

Claire's 15 minutes

2009-04-24T18:33:00.001-06:00

Notice the little girl in the white shirt and pink pants...

Yesterday

2009-04-18T07:47:00.007-06:00

Cost of gas to drive to Park City: $5.31

Lunch for two at Panda Express: $14.65

Last day skiing with my little brother before he leaves for two years: Priceless

Easter Activities

2009-04-12T22:57:00.000-06:00

This year was really the first year Claire got into the idea of Easter egg hunts. And being a first-time mom, I had to be sure she got her fill of egg hunts. We started off last Monday at Family Night with an easter egg hunt and some egg dyeing.

The stickers didn't really go where they were intended...

Next up was an egg hunt on Thursday at a retirement center. Cousins Drew and Corgan joined us for this one. Don't they all look excited?

I was suprised how much Claire loved the Easter Bunny. She ran right up to him and kept hugging him. After the hunt, she just followed him around, trying to get him to give her "five" again. Poor Drew obviously didn't want to get near the Bunny, but mean Uncle Nate made him. :)

"Look what I got!"

Tuckered out!

The next hunt was at our city's annual egg hunt. There were two huge fields full of eggs, but they were all cleared within about 30 seconds. The kids had a great time again. Here they are, patiently waiting for it to start.

"I want easter eggs Mommy."

And we're off!

She made out pretty well for how many kids there were. And she got a #5 in one of her eggs and when we went up front, it was one of the grand prizes! A huge Easter basket full of (even more) candy, bubbles, and a giant ball.

That afternoon we went out to Wheeler Farm for a carnival. The kids rode the big slide,

watched the ducks,

and I crammed two of them into what is supposed to be a single-stroller.

Finally, Easter day was here! Claire checking out her loot.

The dress! Thanks again to Grandma Plowman for the beautiful dress!

Then, off to see what the Easter Bunny brought in the backyard.

Ending with the final egg hung (with a total of five this year) at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The neighbors brought over their real bunny and the kids loved it!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

{Gotta love an overly-commercialized Easter, right?}

Hawaii!

2009-04-07T21:21:00.001-06:00

I'm seriously (once again) behind in the blogging. We got to spend eleven fun-filled days in Hawaii in March! We went with my entire family - 13 of us, three grandkids included. Here's a quick re-cap:

Day 1: Traveled to Honolulu. Claire did really great on the airplane, thanks to a few tips from some friends. Read: candy. View from our hotel.

Day 2: Toured Pearl Harbor,

went to the Dole Plantation (Claire kept asking, "What's this Mama?"),

got Matsumoto Shave Ice (so delish!),

hung out at Waimea Bay Beach,

and finished off the day with a tour of the Laie Hawaii temple. Whew - long day!

Day 3: My brother Ryan was already in Oahu for work (lucky guy-seriously, who travels to Hawaii for work?) so he wanted us to hike up to these waterfalls with him. He told us it took about 20 minutes to get up there and it was "kind of" muddy. Twenty minutes turned into 1.5 hours in mud so thick and sticky that you'd loose your foot in it! My sister's flip flops broke and I couldn't walk in mine, so we ended up going barefoot most of the way. And Claire and Drew couldn't walk in it so we had to carry them the whole way. I'm still not sure if it was worth it, but it was beautiful.

Nate and the other guys got to do some cliff jumping. I got to take pictures. Claire and Drew got passed from person to person. We all loved it.

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon at Kaulua Beach.

Day 4: Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay - gorgeous fish, but freezing water! I had goosebumps the whole time.

Then we hung out on Waikiki Beach and did some shopping.

We left that night for Maui. I wish all flights could be 35 minutes.

Day 5: Went to church,

went on a drive to the North Shore - SO beautiful!

Then hung out on Front Street in Lahaina.

Day 6: Beached it for most of the day at DT Fleming Beach...known for its big waves. My parents had brought their boogie boards so we had a blast! That is, once I got in the cold water. Seriously - am I the only one that thinks Hawaii's water should be warmer?!

Claire's heaven - playing with Grandma all week.

Day 7: we hung out at the condo and swam, then went to Napili Bay Beach.

My mom brought the kids a little pool and that was about the extent of Claire's ocean-touching. She's like her Mom - too cold! (PS-I just love how Nate is striking a pose and my brother Ryan makes a weird, different face in every picture I take of him.)

Claire loved the sand. At every beach she'd run, chase birds, roll around, twirl until she fell, and ate at least a gallon of it.

Ended the day in the hot tub with a sand bottom (which - side note - I thought was really creepy. The sand was probably over 5 inches deep, so you couldn't feel the bottom, I had to keep my legs on top of Nate's the whole time. Ewwww.).

Day 8: Rode a catamaran out to Molokini Crater for some snorkeling, then went to Turtle Town to swim with sea turtles - it was amazing. Didn't get any pics in our snorkel gear. But my mom did bring an underwater camera - can't wait to see how those turn out!

Then drove around the ocean looking for whales and dolphins. We ended up seeing a lot of both!

That afternoon we went to Fleming Beach again for some big waves. My brothers and Nate rented a surfboard. Yeah, it didn't go so well for any of them. At least Ry and B got up for a bit (sorry Nate). Next time we'll go for some official lessons.

Day 9: Hung out at the beach again in the morning,

Seriously, she ate the sand everywhere we went.

then went to a great Laua that night. Claire, Drew, and Corgan went up on stage to learn the hula. It was so cute! Claire actually got into it and was dancing around. I'm not going to lie - I teared up watching her up there. She's just getting so big.

We even managed to get a few photos on the beach.

The whole clan.

Day 10: Biked 28 miles down Haleakala Crater. Loved this.

Then went to the park so the kids could get some energy out.

That night we did my brother's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. It was so cool - how many kids can say they had their Court of Honor in Hawaii? We're so proud of B for accomplishing this - it was a lot of work!

Day 11: Said bye to the condo...Claire loved the fish pond.

Drove along the coast on the Road to Hana. It was gorgeous...much better than I remembered it. We found this peninsula where the huge waves were crashing over black rocks. Here's my bro-in-law Mike, getting a little wet.

And my brother Brad...

It was nice to have someone there so we could actually get some shots of the three of us!

We left that night at 9 pm, had a layover in LA and finally got home the next morning at 9 am! Claire slept for pretty much the next three days.

What an amazing vacation with memories we'll never forget. (To see even more pics, look on my Facebook page!)

"Spin the wheel?"

2009-03-24T15:56:00.000-06:00

Claire's favorite new phrase. A little background - she usually wakes up between 9-9:30am each morning and we head down to breakfast. She always needs a few things before she's settled and will ask for them each morning.

-her Tinkerbell bowl
-if that's dirty, her Minnie Mouse bowl (it must be one of these)
-a new spoon (she calls all of her spoons this)
-milk-y
-cereal (usually Cheerios)
-Mommy's cereal (Cinnamon Life)
-hippopotamus cereal (Golden Smacks-she only gets a few of these)
-sometimes yogurt
-sometimes toast-y (she's been adding a "ee" sound to the end of most words. Still want to know who taught her this.)

Then she's set.

Oh, and one more thing is always requested:

"Price is right?"

weekend getaway

2009-03-19T17:13:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I got to have an all-girls weekend! In high school, I used to go down to St. George with my friends every spring break. We decided that it was time to do it again. (Minus a few things we did when single.) ;) So seven of us packed up into one car and were off!

We did a lot of this:

A little of this:

Got these:

A lot of this:

Probably ate too much (yumm...Pizza Factory breadsticks):

And a whole lot of other stuff I'm not allowed to post on my blog! I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't pull my camera out nearly as much as I usually do. But on the last day, I made all my friends so a quick photo shoot. I won't embarrass them with their modeling headshots (he, he), but here's the group shot, minus Jami who had just left with her husband.

Cute Foster came along and I dare say he is the best baby on the planet! He was so quiet and content, we hardly even knew he was there!

On the way home...

What a blast! Thanks to all our husbands for watching the kids. We're definitely making this a yearly tradition.

best. husband. ever.

2009-03-17T07:32:00.002-06:00

Could I have married a better guy? I think not.

I just sent him a text letting him know that our in-flight movie (on a flight we are taking in the near future) is:
{Yahoo!}

And this is the text I get back from him:

Best. Husband. Ever.

Playing at the park

2009-03-16T10:46:00.003-06:00

The weather was so great yesterday! We had to take a little walk to the park. Nate handed Claire her sunglasses (which she will never wear) on the way out the door. Once we got outside she kept saying "Bright, its bright." So we told her to put her sunglasses on and this is how she did it.

{Check out my reflection in the glasses!}

Anyone?

2009-03-11T13:03:00.000-06:00

Anyone up for doing the Race for the Cure this year? I did it last year and had a great time. Definitely needs to be a yearly tradition. Its so crowded, you can't really race, more like a nice 5K walk. Claire loved just sitting in the stroller and watching everyone. Let me know if you want to sign up with me!

Now I know my ABCs...

2009-03-10T20:16:00.001-06:00

giveaway

2009-03-09T16:46:00.000-06:00

Check out my photo blog for a little giveaway....

Happenings

2009-03-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm always back-blogging lately, but here are the latest happenings at our house last month. One day I'll be a good blogger again. ;)

Whenever I open the garage, Claire bolts out of there and runs toward the park. I caught her (camera in hand) before she got too far and told her to smile. Her version of "smile" - obviously I'm not very good at imitating it.

We took Claire to her first movie at a theater. We decided to go to the dollar theater so that if she didn't last, we wouldn't feel bad about leaving. We saw "Madagascar 2" and loved it! She just sat there eating her popcorn and every once in a while would call out "Lion...rrrrr" or "Birdie...tweet, tweet, tweet" or "Zebra". It was so fun. We'll definitely try it again soon.

I've been really into self-portraits lately because I decided that I'm sick of never being in pictures. So you'll be seeing a lot more of these babies...

Claire and I visited her Uncle RyRy at his condo and she loved it. He's a great uncle!

Making use of the good weather and playing outside with friends.

These are the beautiful daughters of one of my best friends, Marie. Claire always talks about Libby (Livvy) and Baby Alli.

We've gone to the Rec Center quite a few times lately. This time it was for my sis-in-law's birthday. We have so much fun every time we go...got to get a annual pass one of these days. Anyone have one and want to go?

Another self-portrait - the reason Claire looks so awesome is one of my brothers yelled "Do the face!" to Claire right before I took this.

Happy Birthday E'Shell! We have a blast celebrating with you! (Don't mind the gang sign in the corner.)

Claire and Grandma, or "Maka" as Claire calls her.

Claire and Drew are the best of buddies.

Obviously the grandkids did NOT want to be held.

My youngest brother turned 19 in February! He got his mission call last week to the Peru Lima mission and we couldn't be prouder. He's going to be such an AWESOME missionary (if his companion can get him out of bed, right Mom?) :)

I love this cute moment with my parents reading through his mission papers. We were all so happy for him.

More to come...

Wishing you a great VDay!

2009-02-13T07:51:00.004-07:00

Yeah...

2009-02-05T21:43:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty sure we've got to work on Claire's hide and seek skills...

The Zoo, the potty and one cute little girl

2009-01-28T11:49:00.003-07:00

We went to Kangaroo Zoo (again) on Monday, this time with cousins Drew and Corgan in tow.

Claire figured out how to climb up the biggest slide by herself.

And then go down by herself. I found myself a little choked up realizing that she's big enough to do that herself. Seriously. Stop growing.

Then we got to see the actual Kangaroo from Kangaroo Zoo. You would have thought we were meeting Elvis or something. She ran right over to him, then the second he put his hand out for a high five, she ran away screaming and crying. I had to force her to get anywhere near him after that.

For the past little while, Claire has seemed to want to start potty training. She tells me before (and after) she "goes" and always wants to sit on the toilet. So I got her a little seat to go on the toilet and she loves to sit on her "Elmo Potty". Here she is, sitting on her potty, watching "Baby Signing Time", and holding the treat she gets if she goes. So far, its been working.

Finally, I got a new camera lens yesterday and wanted to test it out. Claire always gets to be my guinea pig...

Since she was a baby, she loves to stick that tongue out.

"Ready, set..."

A very confused "Touchdown".

Top Ten

2009-01-22T14:52:00.006-07:00

I've gotten so behind on blogging that I've decided to just do a Top Ten of our last few weeks to catch myself up!

TOP TEN (in order of occurrence)

#10 - Christmas

#9 - Plowman family coming to visit over the holidays (for more pics on this, see my photo blog tomorrow)

#8 - Sledding

#7 - Nephews and a niece

#6 Claire's new hula outfit from Uncle Ry

#5 - Kangaroo Zoo (of course)

#4 - My Claire bug

#3 What Claire looks like when Nate dresses her (seriously)

#2 Watching my nephew, Drew, every Wednesday...Claire's favorite day of the week.

#1 Hanging out with my best little friend everyday...and wishing my other best friend didn't have to work

ANNOUNCEMENT!

2009-01-08T14:56:00.002-07:00

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself...the Melissa Sue Photography website is up and running!! I have been working to get this up for months. I would work on it a little here and there, but it always felt so overwhelming and life was just too busy. Finally over the holidays, I sat down and finished it. You can check it out here:

For anyone whose photos I have taken, you will especially want to check it out...as you'll most likely make a cameo. :)

{merry christmas}

2008-12-24T12:01:00.002-07:00

Hope you all have a fantastic holiday!

Catching up on December

2008-12-24T08:02:00.007-07:00

A breakdown of our fun December so far...
(In my attempts to not post a ton of pictures, I made a few collages...I can't ever choose just one pic!)

Family Christmas Party with my Dad's side of the family

The gift exchange...always an interesting event...

Claire loves playing with her soccer (socka) ball, so before it got really cold we played outside.

A few nights later we had dinner at Nate's cousin's house. Thanks again Katie! Nate's other cousin, Cliff, was home from Afganistan for two weeks, so we needed to get together.
These girls are going to have so much fun with each other when they grow up!
Pearl-5 months, Claire-18 months, Sierra-15 months.

The cousins with their girls
Katie & Pearl, Nate & Claire, Cliff & Sierra

Random pics of Claire when it first snowed

We went bowling one night for family night and before we everyone got there, we played around in the arcade. I'm guessing this was the highlight of Claire's night.

Yeah, my dad rocked everyone's world...

Claire and Drew also got to do a little bowling...

Then Nate's sister and kids came to town from Boston for a few days. We got to play in the snow, just after a huge blizzard.

Then of course it was time for a bath...

Good times at the Plowman household! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Catching up on November

2008-12-01T07:52:00.001-07:00

I have to do a little recap of last month because I wasn't so good about blogging about it. Our month in review (minus Claire turning 18 months and Nate's birthday - both of which have gotten much blog-face-time):

We voted!

We spent a week in Park City at the Canyons with my family. The only decent pictures I got while up there was our first attempt at taking Claire and my nephew, Corgan, sledding...

Getting ready for the inaugural run (the hill was a non-threatening ten feet)

Directly after

Then I gave it a try with her

Directly after

Finally, we made the poor girl do it herself

Directly after

Then E'Shell took Corgan

Directly after

Give him the bink and he's much better

Claire when we told her we were leaving

We might wait a while before we try sledding again.

Up next in our month...we went to a bounce place called BounceU in Sandy...FYI - Kangaroo Zoo is WAY better.

I'm pretty sure Nate and I have as much fun as Claire does. We love having the excuse that she can't climb up by herself...so we have to take her.

Peek-a-boo!

A couple days later Claire got to play with her friend Emily. Even though neither of them look happy, they usually have fun together. :)

Up next...not the most flattering picture of her, but I had to post this one. Claire is obsessed with "Daddy's truck". She'll walk around all day saying, "Where did Daddy's truck go?" Then she'll answer her own question, "Work." (Because Daddy goes to work...everything goes to work...Grandma, Drew, Corgan, her milk, her necklace, etc.) We're not sure why she loves the truck so much. The only reason I can come up with is that she sits up high in her car seat and can see everything better than my car.

Finally, we had Drew stay with us late one night and they got to take a bath together...one of their favorite activities

Splashing is a requirement in a bath with these two

Ready to get lotion-ed up

Then they got to play blast-off with Daddy/Uncle Nate

Finally, a bedtime story with Mommy/Aunt Lis

We had a fun night

So that's our month-in-review. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did posting it!

Surprise!

2008-11-25T14:12:00.004-07:00

Nate turned the big 3-0 a few weeks ago and I threw him a surprise party. I still can't believe I pulled it all off...he had no idea! Here were the invites I made for the par-tay:

So I got him out of the house by asking him to run a few errands for me that would take a couple hours to do. Then he stopped by my brother and sister-in-law's house to "help them plan the building of their garage shelves". (Thanks again E'Shell!) She kept him there until I texted her and said we were ready. Then I disabled the garage door (by pressing the "lock" button), so he had to come in the front door. We crammed over 30 people in our front room and waited for him to walk in. Funny thing was, I always have the front door locked, so he didn't even try to open it. He knocked, Claire knocked, they rang the doorbell...so finally we just opened the door, turned on the lights and yelled "Surprise!" He was shocked! Here's the sequence of pics (take note of Claire's face - she seems so confused and slowly starts to catch on to what's happening)...

This is the only pic I got of the party...its hard being hostess and photographer at the same time...

Thanks again to everyone who came! We have such wonderful friends.

Happy birthday Nate...I hope it was a memorable one!

Love and Logic

2008-11-23T13:53:00.003-07:00

I keep meaning to write a post about the Love and Logic parenting class I took. It has truly changed the way Nate and I parent. We took the class from a girl in our neighborhood who is a certified Love and Logic instructor. She is amazing! She is so patient and is an excellent teacher. Before we started the class, we were kind of unsure if we were taking it too soon. Claire was only 16 months at the time. I cannot tell you how glad we are that we did. Now we have a parenting style we are both comfortable with, just in time for when we need to start giving Claire real boundaries. I learned so much about having empathy for Claire and giving choices. I've also learned to give away some of the control...at least when its on small decisions! :) I definitely feel more confident as a parent.

If you can't tell, I loved this class. If you live in this area, I highly recommend taking it! Click here to see Angie's Love and Logic blog.

3AM

2008-11-21T11:53:00.002-07:00

...the time I got home last night. Probably the time most women got home last night. Twilight was awesome (even for the second time!).

Went to dinner first at the SkyBox where we had our own room...

Some of us in the theater...

Becky and I with our "Bitten" shirts

Then I just had to share this picture of when my mom, Claire and I waited in the line for the premiere...for 3.5 hours. Can you tell Claire was ready to go?

I'm off to take a nap!

Ahhhh...Edward

2008-11-19T13:13:00.004-07:00

I went with my mom and sisters to

PREMIERE of
TWILIGHT

last night!! Just know that it DOES NOT disappoint. You will be more in love with Edward that you ever have been before. I can't wait for tomorrow to go with my girls to the midnight showing! Woo hoo!

"More more movie Claire?"

2008-11-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

This is what I hear at least 15 times a day, every day. "More, more movie Claire?" She loves to watch home videos of herself, so we'll pull up the blog a couple times a day and watch her videos. I once asked her if she wanted to watch a movie of Claire and that's how it started. Well, to keep my sanity, I'm posting another "movie" so that we can have something new to watch.
Here is Claire, reading her favorite book, "Jesus book".

She has four books like this and has to read at least one a night.

Also, here are some more of her 18-month photos:

He he he...the face she makes when you tell her to smile.

Eighteen months

2008-11-02T16:41:00.006-07:00

No way. I am once again dumbfounded by the speed at which time passes. Why is it that when you are younger all you want is for time to pass quickly so you can be older? Then once you are older, you want time to stop. Claire is officially 18 months old. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I'm attempting to come to grips with it.

I'm hoping to do her official photo shoot tomorrow (puh-lease...no snow!), so I'll post those pics soon. For now, here are some snap shots in the front yard.

And here's my little ladybug. We went trick or treating at a rehabilitation center just up the street and by the time we finished that, Claire had a ton of candy and was exhausted! So we changed her into her PJs and she helped pass out candy the rest of the night.

Pumpkin, pumpkin, who's got the pumpkin?

2008-10-24T09:43:00.002-06:00

We headed up to Pack's Pumpkin Patch in Farmington this week. Of course, we chose the coldest day of the week to go. I only brought a light jacket for Claire and the poor girl was freezing. Nonetheless, a good time was had. Here she is being ever so careful, as always, not to fall.

Can you see the purple lips?? Bad mom.

Claire's cute friend Chloe (Ashlee wins the most prepared mom award...love the jester hat!)

Claire and me

One of my new favorite pictures ever. Boys tend to be more reckless than girls, don't they?

Drew after the fall

They loved being pushed around in the cart.

We had to get this picture. Props to Angie for keeping them both in place behind there!

We definitely need to make this a yearly tradition.

All right...

2008-10-11T08:33:00.002-06:00

So a few weeks ago when Claire was eating breakfast I said, "All right Claire!" and she loved it. She kept saying, "more, more" and made me say it over and over. Well, ever since that day, Claire says "all right" to everything. "All right Daddy!" (her favorite), "All right toast!", "All right bow!", "All right bye bye!". Everything is preceded with "all right". I had to document...

Oh yeah...

2008-10-09T22:26:00.000-06:00

If this doesn't make you all tingly with excitement to see the Twilight movie, I don't know what will...

Woah.
I CANNOT WAIT FOR NOVEMBER 21!!

Who doesn't love a carnival?

2008-10-01T10:45:00.005-06:00

A couple weeks ago we went to this really great carnival at Wheeler Farm. It had everything a kid dreams of...tons of blow-up slides and toys, a train, cotton candy, face painting, etc. A kid's own personal heaven.

Claire and Drew waiting in line...

Jumping in the Bouncing Room. I never got a photo of her on the big slide, but she loved it.

I attempted to get a pic of the star on her cheek and butterfly on her arm, but this was a good as it got.

Here is Claire waiting for the train ride to begin. It was so funny to see her sitting in her own little car, all grown up...she looks a little confused.

She giggled and smiled for the first half of the ride, but then somehow managed to push the little bar away from her body and started to fall. Luckily, the conductor saw too and let me jump in with her. Then she liked it again.

I try to do a photo shoot with Claire once a month...here are a few of my favorites from her 16-month shoot.

She was trying to be funny in this one...

Love this one. On her toes. Always on her toes.

Bean Town

2008-09-14T20:20:00.004-06:00

We went to Boston for a week to visit Nate's sister, Brianne, and family. It was such a fun trip! Her husband is attending Harvard Dental School (I know, he's ridiculously smart) and has three years left until graduation. I don't think I've ever been on a vacation that was more jam-packed with things to do...and I think we did about every one of those things. Here's the run-down: (beware: this is possibly my longest post ever. There are 41 photos...which really isn't that bad considering I took over 1,300.)

Saturday: Arrive in Providence, RI and drive the 60 miles to Boston. As soon as we get to Nate's sister's house, leave for Fenway Park. Red Sox vs. White Sox.

We actually got pretty decent seats, right behind home place, about 20 rows back. (Thanks to Craigslist!) That meant we could get some close-ups of the players, including Ken Griffey Jr...one of Nate's faves.

Sunday: Go to church, recover from yesterday's travels, play with the kids in the backyard.

Claire and Marcus

Miss Brooklyn, climbing up the slide. The girl won't walk, but she'll climb like a monkey.

Attempt #1 at getting a shot of all three grandkids:

Monday: Marblehead Beach, MA and then over to Salem, MA where all the Witch Trials happened. Nate described this city perfectly as, "commercialized witchcraft". When we left I felt like I knew nothing more than before I went.

Claire loves the beach. Wish we had one.

Claire and Brooklyn loved the buckets and shovels.

Marcus enjoying the water.

So the water was freezing cold. And I'm not just being a wimp. It must have been 50 degrees. I didn't want to go out, but Nate dared me. I hate it when I get dared. So much harder to say no. So I made a deal with him...if I got out far enough to get my waist wet, then he had to swim 20 strokes out. It seemed like a fair bet to me and he went for it. So here I am with Brianne, keeping up my end of the bargain.

And here's Nate and Aaron keeping up their end...

Definitely a fair bet.

Cute shot of Aaron and Brianne

We buried Brooklyn and Marcus. Claire, of course, wouldn't even think of being buried...she's much too busy for that.

Group shot

Tuesday: Boston Public Gardens and Boston Commons. Then over to Downtown Crossing for a little shopping.

Taking a ride on the Swan Boats.

Attempt #14 at getting a shot of all three grandkids:

Walked across the street to see the Cheers bar.

We stopped at an awesome park in the middle of Boston Commons and Claire found a splash pad. She loves to get wet!

Wednesday: Boston Temple and Harvard Square.
The temple was gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better.

Family shot

Attempt #26 at getting a shot of all three grandkids:

Sitting on the steps of one of the libraries at Harvard Square. Claire was very enthusiatic about it.

Attempt #39 at getting a shot of all three grandkids (possibly the best one from the trip):

Thursday: Boston Children's Museum, then the Boston Aquarium, then over to some giant water fountains for the kids to play. That night we went Candlepin Bowling.

Claire climbing up a crazy maze...Marcus made it all the way to the top!

I loved these smocks the kids wore while playing in the water zone.

Claire and I wearing our engineer hard hats like Nate ~~has~~ gets to wear when he goes to Rawlins.

At the aquarium...where Claire pulled my earring out, making it fall into the penguin cage, causing Nate to have to go ask an employee to swim over and retrieve it. Retrieve it they did. What a great husband I have.

Playing in the water fountains...they were a little too big for Claire. She would get close, but when the water turned on she would run away crying. So I had to hold her so she could touch it. But Marcus was all about it, as you can see.

That night we went Candlepin Bowling. Apparently it is very popular on the east coast. Its basically the same thing as bowling, but the pins are tall cylinders, making them much harder to hit down. The five of us played two games and the highest score among us was 75 (which happened to be my score, not to rub it in Nate). I think I'll stick to regular bowling, but we still had a great time.

Friday: Freedom Trail. Whew. That's a long walk and we didn't even do the whole thing. That night we hit up the Italian District in the north end of Boston.

Paul Revere's house...surprisingly ordinary.

Statue of Paul Revere and right behind us is the Old North Church where he hung the lanterns.

What she does when you say, "Claire-do the face." Still not sure where she learned this, but I'm pretty sure one of my brothers had something to do with it.

That night we went to the North End and ate at a restaurant called "Villa Francesca". Yum.

Capped off the night at Mike's Pastry where the line was out the door. The cannoli was well worth the wait.

Saturday: Photo shoot with Brianne's family on the Harvard campus. See my photo site for pics on that. Leave for home that afternoon.

What an amazing trip. We felt a little bad for the kids because every day we would come home, they would have dinner and go to bed at 7pm because they were so exhausted. Claire was getting 14 hours of sleep a night.

Thanks again so much to Brianne and fam...you guys couldn't have been better hosts! Thanks for all the meals, picnics, entertainment, and for kicking your kids out of their room! And another big thanks to my dear friend, Kristy, for sending me a list of "must-dos" in Boston! Can't wait to do it again!

Now I know my ABCs...

2008-09-07T22:46:00.001-06:00

Note that the only place I can get her to sit still is on the bathroom counter...so please enjoy the beautiful backdrop.

Random August fun

2008-08-29T04:35:00.003-06:00

How is it possible that August is almost over? Summer is basically over. Sad. Here are a few photos to chronicle our second half of August...

Claire's first time ever rockin the piggies...finally, I can do something new with her hair...

Playing at a local park one day. All she wanted to do was climb up and down this ramp.

She would climb up it...

Then run down giggling to herself and sit in the middle. Of course, she would never look at me when she was giggling so I could capture the moment. Instead, this is how she looked after I said her name about ten times and she finally decided to grace me with a quick glance before getting up again.

This is a few days later swimming with her cousin, Drew, in her new pool. Poor Drew didn't have a hat, so he got to wear one of Claire's. I think he can pull it off.

She loves to "splash, splash, splash" or as she says it, "spaa, spaa, spaa."

I've finally gotten a picture of how Claire sleeps. Almost every time I sneak into her room during her nap, this is what she looks like. Bum up.
Looks comfy, huh?

Good times. Yes, Nate and I still exist even though I haven't gotten any photos of us lately.

PS-We're headed to Boston for a fun-filled week with Nate's sister and fam. Woo hoo! Can't wait to see my nephew and niece again!

PPS-Lately my body has decided that sleep is not necessary and that's why this post was written at 4 AM. :(

Squawk, squawk, squawk

2008-08-19T17:03:00.003-06:00

Claire loves to talk. Most of the time, it means nothing to people who speak English, but nonetheless, she loves to make sounds. Here are a few of her words:

Five Years

2008-08-07T11:35:00.013-06:00

Yep, we are officially old. Nate and I just celebrated our five-year anniversary! It feels like I've always known him, yet sometimes it seems like we haven't been married long at all. Its been an awesome five years. Here's a little look back...

July 31, 2003...married in the Bountiful Temple. Open House in Seattle. Move into the most ghetto apartment in Logan.

2004...living in Logan, going to Utah State. Nate graduates. Live in Seattle for the summer. Back to Logan for Melissa to finish school.

2005...Melissa graduates. Move to Murray. Both get real jobs. Go on our favorite vacation yet...cruise in the Carribean.

2006...Buy our first house. Melissa gets her first digital SLR. Go on some great camping trips. Golf a lot. Melissa gets pregnant.

2007...Claire is born. She pretty much takes over our lives.

2008...Still figuring out how to be parents. Melissa quits working. Travel a lot. Still more traveling to come.

We celebrated by going to Park City for a few days. It was a much needed vacation. The first night we had dinner at my now favorite place to eat dinner, Ruth's Chris.

Nate discovered the best cheesecake of his life. Seriously. Blows Cheesecake Factory out of the water.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast at the yummy Eating Establishment, did a little shopping, golfed 18 holes at Wasatch Golf Course, (where, by the way, I got the first real birdie of my life...on a Par 5 no less) and had dinner at the world-famous Dairy Keen in Heber.

That night we did something we hadn't done since Claire was born...we went to a movie. In a theater.

The next morning we had breakfast at Morning Ray Cafe. YUM. My UW peeps-you know what I'm talking about.

Then took in the Park City Arts Festival.

What a great vacay. It was so fun to spend time just us. I love this guy! Here's to five million more years.

High School Musical!

2008-07-30T23:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the awesome blog, Your Heart Out, I won tickets to see "High School Muscial on Tour". Woo hoo! It was so much fun! This was the conversation I had with Nate when I told him I won:

Me: "Nate, I just won tickets to High School Muscial!"

Nate: "Cool."

Me: "Aren't you excited?"

Nate: "Sure. Who are you going with while I watch Claire?"

Obviously he has no interests in the fine arts. So I took my friend Katie along and we had a great time! Her dad is even in HSM 3! He got to shake Zac Efron's hand and everything! How cool huh?

This was the opening scene. They did an amazing job with all the backdrops and props.

Katie and me during intermission.

Great play + Great friend = GREAT night

Bear Lake

2008-07-26T17:45:00.002-06:00

We went up to Bear Lake last weekend for the annual family reunion on my mom's side. It was so fun, as usual. I wondered what Claire would think of the sand and water, but I didn't need to. Within minutes of being there, she looked like this...

She loved feeling the sand on her belly.

She held still for about three seconds so we could get this pic.

My cousins would say to her, "Claire, where's your nose? Where's your mouth?" and she would eat the sand and everyone would laugh. She thought she was hilarious.

I love this picture because it is SO Claire. Miss Independent, off doing her own thing, not looking back to see who's watching.

Nate and my brother Brandon playing frisbee.

Could I love this hot guy any more? I think not.

Then Claire's cousin Corgan came out to play.

My bro, Ryan, playing with Corgan.

Isn't he adorable?

"What's that on your face?"

Then Claire found this tube and that was it. No more playing in the sand. She just had to push this around everywhere.

A family photo right before we left. What a perfect day!

Swimming adventures

2008-07-24T23:17:00.001-06:00

It seems like lately we've been swimming almost every day! That's what summer is all about I guess. (And yet another reason I'm glad I decided to quit my job...what's better than sitting by the pool everyday?) Claire and I just finished our third session of swim lessons and I'm kind of ready for a break. It'll be kind of nice not to have to go every Tues and Thurs...but I'm sure we'll miss it too.

Here are a few pics when we went swimming at my mom's neighbor's pool with Drew.

Love that belly.

Drew kept trying to kiss Claire and she did not like it. Finally, she caved.

Grandma and the kiddies.

The next day, we went swimming at my sis-in-law's house. They have a pool in their community that just opened up...so much fun! These are my nephews, Corgan and Drew, and Claire.

Then a few days later, I went swimming at my good friend, Katie's, parent's house. There were a bunch of my friends from high school there and it was a blast! Here are all the kiddos...

I've been watching Drew for a few days while his parents are out of town. So he came along and they were loving the pretzels.

Finally, that day Claire had the biggest meltdown in the history of Claire Meltdowns. She was obsessed with carrying this green chair everywhere with her. Well, someone tried to take it from her (me) and she freaked out and cried like this until we left. So, being the loving and caring mother I am, I had to document the tantrum.

Of course, within two minutes of being in the car, she was asleep.

Discovery Gateway

2008-07-21T13:59:00.007-06:00

Have you been there? If you haven't, it is time for you to go. We went with some friends last week and had a blast! Claire loved playing with the water and balls.

Josiah was loving it too!

They went up and down this slide so many times. Hours of entertainment just from this slide.

We took a fun music class while we were there. Claire only stayed with the group for part of the time. The rest of the time she was obsessed with the magnet board.

In fact, we had so much fun that we took Nate back later that night!

Now I want to get a pass there! How great would that be during the winter when we can't go outside?

The Emerald City

2008-07-20T23:36:00.000-06:00

I'm finally getting around to blogging about our 4th of July trip to Seattle! That's where Nate grew up and his parents still live there. We love it and almost moved there, (we both got job offers there after college) but just couldn't afford the cost of living. :( So we try to visit Nate's parents a few times a year. We had another great trip!

We arrived on the afternoon of the 4th and we straight over to a great park by Nate's parent's house.

This was the day Claire figured out how to walk up the stairs instead of crawl up them...hmmm....still not sure how I feel about this.

Nate showing off his awesome climbing skills.

Nate's brother, Chris, proving he's got muscles too.

Nate's dad is just so cute with Claire! The whole trip she would sign and say "bampa" over and over.

That night we had some family over for a BBQ. Claire decided she wanted to "bump, bump" (jump on the trampoline), and she was the center of attention as usual.

Having fun with Uncle Chris

We went over to some friend's house for fireworks over the lake, and I'm not sure how this happened, but I didn't take any pictures.

The next morning, Grandpa take Claire how to play the piano.

Then we drove over to Snoqualmie Falls. Of course, it started pouring the second we got out of the car. So we ran for cover and only got to spend about 20 minutes there.

Saturday night we played a rousing game of Turbo Cranium...let's just say it got a little late and Mehren and Sheri (Nate's sister and mom) got a little giggly.

After church the next day, we went to the Washington Park Arboretum to take a walk. It is a huge botanical garden and it's beautiful! Claire got to ride on Grandpa's shoulders.

But she did not want me to hold her.

Ahhh...I love these two.

Group shot, minus Chris.

Family photo, thanks to Nate's dad.

On Monday, we "bumped, bumped" in the morning...Claire's hair got a little static-y.

Went to the beach in the afternoon.

And had a picnic at another park for dinner.

Claire mastered the bridge.

Tuesday, our last day, we went to a city farm. Claire loved the horses and kept signing all the animals.

With Aunt Mehren

What a great trip! We did so many fun things and Claire loved spending time with "Bampa, Gama, Uncle Cis, and Aunt Mera." :)

Gone Country

2008-07-12T23:12:00.001-06:00

If you can't tell from my major lack of posts, we've been out of town for the past three weeks. We were in Cali (see post below), then in Wyoming (oh joy of joys), and then Seattle. The best part about summer is traveling right? Well, this post will be dedicated to our Wyoming trip.

Ahhhh....Rawlins, Wyoming. Never did I dream that I would get another fun-filled week in Rawlins. But oh boy, my dream did come true. Nate had to spend THREE weeks there, working seven days a week, twelve hours a day. Claire and I joined him his last week there. This was the most entertaining part about the drive...the windmills!

We did a little exploring the first day there and found a state park called Seminoe. It had these white sandy beaches that made you feel like you were in the Carribean. It was crazy to find a place like that in Wyoming!

Claire was having an awesome hair day.

Pretty much the rest of the trip consisted of this...

this...

and this...

The only two eventful things that happened were when Claire and I got to meet the Rawlins Fire Chief while in line at the post office. We had a good 10-minute conversation about the tricks to fighting fires in Wyoming and his seven granddaughters. Then one night at dinner we met a nice couple from Tulsa and after about five minutes of talking, they had given us their home address, home and cell phone numbers so we could stay with them the next time we're in Tulsa. We're supposed to remind them how we know them when we call. Apparently, they give this information out to a lot of people.

Finally, Claire and I did an impromtu photo shoot in an alley behind the town furniture store.

Claire on the way home. She kept demanding, "ip, ip". She loves the Sun Chips like her Mom.

I think we really did have as good a time as you can in Rawlins. It was just good to finally be with Nate - we missed you babe!

Are you going to San-Fran-Cisco?

2008-06-26T20:29:00.025-06:00

We just did! Here's a pic of Claire and me leaving for our first trip without Nate! (He's out of town for work. :( ) Let's just say it will be a while before I vacation with Claire without him.

We had a bit of a family reunion. You see, my grandma grew up on Alcatraz. The prison. I know, sounds a little crazy. Her dad was a guard there and she lived there for seven years, ages 3-10. She would have to ride the ferry everyday to get to school and back. Well, for her 76th birthday, she decided it was time to visit again. She rounded up her three siblings and about 30 members of our family to come along. It was an awesome experience! We got an incredible private tour from three of the guides. We even had a San Francisco news crew covering the story. KSL also ran a story, which you can see here. (Watch for me pushing Claire in the stroller!) So fun!

Here we are listening to my grandma tell stories of growing up in an apartment just like this one.

Grandma with her eight kids (my mom is in the front with the pink jacket).

Group shot

Grandma and her four siblings: Uncle Leo, Aunt Priss and Uncle Bob. They are standing in front of the fireplace of their actual apartment.

We found this picture on the wall during the tour. You can see my great grandpa!

After the Alcatraz tour, we did a little sightseeing. Have any of you ever been to Lombard Street? It's this crazy switchback road that is lined with beautiful flowers. We saw a huge Suburban driving down it! Crazy!

The next day, we headed up to Muir Woods to see the Redwoods. The trees were gigantic! Claire was finally able to just run around and I let her get as dirty as she wanted.

My sister, Angie, and her son Drew, Claire and me in front of a tree that is over 1,000 years old.

Claire telling Drew that he couldn't go behind the fence.

Me and my little girl

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

Claire and Drew while we were crossing the Golden Gate Bridge

Claire and Drew got to bathe together every night and I swear it was their highlight of the days. Claire would kick her feet and splash and Drew thought it was the most hilarious thing ever.

On our last day, we drove down to Monterey and went to this amazing aquarium. I wish they had something like that here! Claire was entranced by the fish!

They loved feeling the starfish.

Claire kept trying to touch Dory from Finding Nemo.

We officially found one of Claire's favorite places on earth at this aquarium. It was this little walled-in area that had a big water bed-type play area. She could run all over, fall down and never get hurt. Once we had to leave, she pretty much cried the rest of the time because she wanted to go back so bad.

What a fun and memorable trip! I'm so grateful I got to learn a little more about my family histroy!

And don't worry - we're headed to Rawlins, WY again next week to visit Nate, so I'm sure I'll have some fun stories to tell. Hopefully I won't saunter into another AA meeting...we'll see...

Swim class 2.0

2008-06-21T21:51:00.008-06:00

Swim class seriously rocks. But what rocks even more is taking swim class for the second time. Claire loves it, I get to socialize with friends and she gets so exhausted from it that she usually takes a 3.5 hour nap afterwards. It's great! Here's a group shot:

I just love Claire's awesome belly in this pic!

If she's not laughing or squealing, Claire is usually saying "Woah, woah..." all during class. That's exactly what she's doing here.

We're doing another session next month! We're obsessed!

To quit or not to quit

2008-06-19T21:18:00.000-06:00

That was my question. In fact, it had been my question for the past few months. Since my photography business has really geared up, I have been far too busy. Too busy to cook dinner more than once or twice a week. Too busy to take Claire to the park as often as she'd like. Too busy to respond to emails and voicemails in a timely matter. Too busy to ever just sit down and relax with my husband. A couple of weeks ago, Nate and I watched a 48 Hours investigation on polygamy and when it was over I turned to him and said, "When was the last time we just sat down and watched a TV show together?" The truth was, it had been months. Too busy.

So I made the decision that even though my budding business was just starting to gain momentum, I would cut back a little. I would limit the number of photo shoots I did per week. It was starting to work, but it was not what I wanted. I needed to cut something else in my life.

Here enters my job at a local non-profit. I have worked there for over three years and have truly loved (almost) every minute. Once Claire was born, I cut my time back to 12 hours in the office a week. It's been perfect. Claire has been able to have weekly playdates with her cousin and it’s given me some time for myself. And if any of you have ever heard me talk about my job, you know that the people I work with are awesome. Really, there isn't a better bunch of co-workers to have. It's like The Office reincarnated.

But, something had to go, or we might never have a home-cooked meal again. All these questions started coming to me like: will I feel self-fulfilled? will I still have an identity? now instead of being too busy, will I be bored to death all day everyday? am I selfish for wanting to work? what about all those suit jackets and black pin-striped pants I own? will they ever be worn again? when will I ever work in a professional environment again?

Now, in steps my insightful and supportive husband. He says: of course you will work again; no, you are not selfish; you will still have many identities; you still have photography to keep you plenty busy; we can go out on date nights and you can wear your pin-striped pants; just think of all the time you can spend with Claire, just playing and doing nothing. That was the clincher. He always makes things all better. That's why he's the best husband ever.

So, after many hours of deliberation and prayer, the decision had been made. My last day is tomorrow. Wish me luck.

"Boon"

2008-06-11T20:22:00.004-06:00

The last few weeks, Claire has been obsessed with "boons" or as the rest of us like to call them, balloons. Every grocery store we go into she will point at them and say "boon". So the other day Claire and I went to a baby shower at my work and there were tons of pink and yellow balloons. During the clean-up, one of my sweet co-workers gathered all the "boons" together and brought them over to Claire. We ended up stuffing as many as possible in the trunk and taking them home. This was Claire for the next few days...

She would get all tangled around the string and stuck in them. She kept saying "oh, oh." Her hair was sticking up in every direction. She was in heaven!

Fun at the park

2008-06-04T14:00:00.006-06:00

My sister and I met at Liberty Park last week so the kids could play. It was a gorgeous day! We had fun feeding the ducks...or should I say Angie, Drew and I had fun feeding the ducks? Poor Claire had a Cheerio in her hand when a duck came up and BIT her hand trying to get the Cheerio! She looked up at me like, "Why did I deserve that?" and then proceeded to cry for about 5 minutes. I feel even worse because it struck me so funny that I couldn't stop laughing! I had tears streaming down my face! :)

Then we headed over to the water park and I'll let the pictures tell the story of Claire and Drew's first fountain experience...

Bubbles

2008-05-30T08:39:00.002-06:00

I was one proud mama yesterday. Nate and I were sitting on Claire's bedroom floor, just watching her destroy everything in her room, when she eyed the bubbles on her nightstand. She walked right over and picked up the bottle. She turned around, held it out to us and said, "bub-bal?"

One proud mama.

Memorial Day Fun

2008-05-28T17:05:00.002-06:00

Were we the only ones who had all these grand plans for Memorial Day only to have them crushed by "isolated thunderstorms" all day?? We were going to work in the yard in the morning and then go to the park and play the rest of the day. But nooooo. Mother Nature had other plans. Oh well! We can always find something fun to do! Nate had the brillant idea to go bowling. A few other people had that same idea, so we had about a 30 minute wait once we got there. They had an arcade, so we introduced Claire to the world of Skeeball.

The guys played pool

And my nephew Corgan was content to just stare at the crazy carpet.

We finally got our lanes and had some great fun! Here are my two younger brothers. The machines would tell you how fast you threw the ball down the lane. Needless to say, they were seeing who could throw it down the lane the fastest.

My mom and older brother, Brad...he's got a look of determination.

Nate and me, showing our awesome form.

Claire even got to try...although her first attempt at bowling was not very successful.

I never got an action shot with E'Shell, but here she is keeping Claire occupied for us!

B, Claire and the Nate Dogg

Afterwards, we went to Appollo Burger and if you've never there, you should try it. It's definitely ghetto and a total grease-fest, but the fry sauce is awesome! Here are Claire and Corgan sitting in their high chairs.

FUN TIMES!

Forward facing

2008-05-22T19:22:00.004-06:00

I never knew two words would make such a difference in Claire's life. And in my life for that matter. She has officially graduated from a rear-facing car seat to a forward-facing one! {Meaning she is over one year old and weighs more than 20 pounds.} She absolutely loves it! I don't blame her. She can now see out the windows and isn't so bored staring at the back of the car all the time. That girl is riding in style. It looks so comfortable, I wish I had my own! When we first started driving today Claire kept saying, "Ha! Ha!" Then she was talking up a storm the rest of the ride..."da, da, da, lo, lo, looka, looka, looka..." (<--My interpretation of Claire's babbling.)

Oh, the simple things.