Loves of my Life...

My mom snapped this photo of my perfect little family dancing at Kelly and Drew's wedding last weekend...

Bud told Claire that her first dance had to be with him, and we decided it would be even better if it was all three of us. :)

I adore them.

9 Months Old!!!

Our sweet baby girl is 9 months old! We had to do a two part photo shoot to get this picture...she just was NOT having it the first time we tried! She has been kinda cranky lately...hoping that doesn't follow through to our road trip next week!

Anyway, here is the best one we got of our princess on her 9 month birthday.

Another reason for the difficulty in getting Claire's photo would be this black and white thing we call Lacey. :) She INSISTED on being in between me and Claire while I tried to take the picture. The dog is ridiculous...but we still love her. Claire and Lacey have really started playing with each other within the last couple of weeks...I am going to try to get a video to share...it is so sweet!
On Saturday we took our friends Trenton and Jaci down to Wilmington to show them around a little bit. They have a 2 year old, so we added the Children's Museum to our tour. You know you are parents when you spend your Saturday afternoon at a Children's Museum having FUN! :) There was a toddler room that was padded for the little to crawl and fall...it was great! Claire had a lot of fun...and also found a penny that found it's way into her mouth...

Claire and I playing on a boat at the Children's Museum. :) I love her!

Fun with Daddy!

Bud's dad brought down the go kart when he came (which Bud has been begging for since we bought our house...) and he reallllly wanted to take Claire on a ride. He promised to go SUPER slow, and she loved it! Plus, the ride was worth it just for this adorable picture that I got!!

House Projects

Bud and I were so thankful to have his dad and brothers come to town last week...we got a few projects done that we couldn't quite do on our own!


The first big project was our storm door--not very useful now but will be SO nice to have in the fall/winter months! It has a built in screen, and full glass windows. Lacey loves to sit and watch and bark at ANYTHING that feels the need to come close to our yard. :)

Our new porch!! Storm door, planters hung and rockers! Our dream porch has become a reality!

Next is a project I accomplished before they came...our bedroom. Like I posted earlier, I was looking for new bedding so I could paint our room. I finally found pillow cases, and built the room around it. I am thrilled with the outcome, and so is the dog, apparently. :)

The pictures above our bed (in case you wanted to know...) are an evolution of our family...we plan to add until our family is complete. #1 is at our wedding, #2 is Bud, Lacey and I while I was pregnant, #3 is our first picture of the 4 of us. I would love to see these pictures some day take up an entire wall in our house!

Videos!

Here are a few videos of Claire from the last month or so....two of her walking with her walker and then one of her play and just being a goof ball. :)

8 Months Old!

Our baby girl isn't such a baby anymore! She is now crawling like a mad woman, pulling up on anything and everything, standing on her own for a couple seconds at a time, and has quite the opinion on most things, and is very willing to share it with you! :)

She makes the craziest faces, and constantly claps for herself. :) She loves to give kisses and sometimes hugs, and is really a genuinely sweet baby. We adore her and can't get enough of her.

This month, my main goal is to get Claire on a real schedule. Her days are pretty much the same, but between trips home to MN and other stuff going on here, it has been almost impossible to do it until now. We will be home from now until the very end of July, so I have about 6 weeks to work on this. Wish me luck. :)

Dad's Day

Claire and I are pretty lucky girls--we have some amazing men in our lives.

This is the first picture of Bud with Claire the night she was born. I love how tiny she looked in his arms. :) From that moment on, Bud has been an amazing dad. I knew he would be, but every time I watch him play with Claire or read to her, I just smile. My favorite moments are when I can hear them playing in Claire's room with out me...listening to the two of them play makes anything bad fly out the window. I can't wait to watch him teach her while she grows, she is going to admire him so much!

Our dad's are pretty amazing guys too. My dad is about the best dad two little girls could have ever hoped for. Watching him with Claire is an amazing experience for me--it makes me realize why it is that I love him so much. If he was half as wonderful to me while I was little, no wonder he is one of my favorite people!

Grandpa Dave came to FL for Claire's first Thanksgiving! Claire has loved him so much since that first meeting...she gave him some of her very first big smiles!!

Bud's dad is nothing like my dad...he raised 3 boys, so of course! However, when Claire and I enter the room, he turns into a different guy. Claire has all the men in that house completely wrapped around her little finger. :) I'm really excited to see the things Tim will show and teach Claire...I'm sure she will come home knowing some crazy stuff after spending days with Grandpa Tim!

Since work was so crazy, Grandpa Tim wasn't able to meet Claire until we went home to MN for Christmas! He could hardly wait to get his hands on her...everyone else was warned to not even attempt to hold her before he could!

Both Bud and I grew up with out grandfathers in our lives, and we feel that Claire is so incredibly blessed to have two amazing men that will love her and teach her so much!