Happy 1st Birthday Baby Claire!

A Year of Firsts

A Year of Fun

Our little doll is turning 1!!

Last weekend we celebrated Claire's 1st Birthday! It is hard to believe that a whole year has already gone by! Even more amazing is how, in only one short year, this little person grew from the precious, helpless, tiny infant to a beautiful, walking, talking, singing and giggling love bug; so full of life and personality! She is such a blessing in our little family and we have loved every moment of her first year of life.  

 She is an amazing little girl.  She has music in her soul and a song in her heart. She will literally dance and sway and sing if she hears any music at all. She is so funny and makes faces- because she knows it's funny and adorable!  She is rapidly expanding her vocabulary and it is so fun when she says real words out of the blue! She says Dada, Mama, cheese, yesh (yes), uh oh!, baby, Bubba (for Jack), hi, bye bye, up, Bumpa (for Grampa- whom she adores!) Mimi (for my mom), cheese, bottle and many more! She is such a delicate, tiny little thing, yet she is fearless, spunky and determined. She gives love to Jack all the time, adores him really.  Her favorite thing to do is whatever he is doing. She wants to be wherever he is and even if its something to hard for her- she will try until she is doing it too.  Jack loves her to pieces too.  He of course gets annoyed with her when she messes up his line of cars, or changes the channel when he is watching Kratt Brothers, but he will out of the blue tell me, "I love ClaireBear so much!" and I know he means it. Their relationship is precious, and I pray they will always be close.

 I am excited to continue to watch her grow and blossom.  And most importantly, I pray that her sweet and tender heart will always be drawn to the One who created her so lovingly and so intricately.  She is a precious "sweet little heart" as Jack called her.

Happy 1st Birthday Claire Bear!!

She is my little doll, and I had so much fun dressing her in outfits that were mine when I was a baby! It was fitting since I planned her little party to have a 
"Vintage Baby" theme.

I made sugar cookies, lemon bars, and raspberry filled cupcakes with raspberry butter cream frosting and lemon filled cupcakes with regular butter cream frosting. It was my first time doing the filled cupcakes, but they turned out really yummy! I had so much fun collecting little vintage items like the baby planter (bottom left photo), the vintage lamb planter (bottom right photo), and the vintage rocking horse, and vintage "first year" frame (in the drink station photo)! I made all the cupcake toppers (with Sean's help...he's the graphic designer), the tissue poms, "Claire's 1st Year" banner and photo banner, the little high chair tutu, and the #1 piñata!

"Claire's 1st Year" in photos

Drink station with pink lemonade and strawberry milk for the kids (not pictured)

I think she was overwhelmed by all of the people and the attention, so she fell asleep, safe and comfy in Mimi's arms (for like 45 minutes!- which is crazy for this little one who never naps!!)

I planned two little old-fashion(ish) games for the bigger kids; Pin the Bow Tie on the Ducky, and the Pinata. Claire slept through this part, but oh well!

Finally awake! and ready for her party!

Cupcake time!

Opening presents with Mommy 

these are my people :-) can you tell we are all related?

Claire with Grandma and Grandpa!

Just in case you were wondering what the boys were doing amidst all the pink and tulle...

We had Shirley Temple music playing in the background, and this little doll couldn't help but dance! It was so cute! Don't you love those little legs? 

It was such a fun day and Claire is so blessed to have so many people that love her! Thank you to all our family and friends who came to celebrate her!

xo

Baby Doll {7 months}

Seriously, where is the time going? Claire Bear is already 7 months! She is such a little doll and I love how her personality is just blossoming now! She just started crawling (last week) and she waves hi too :-) It is really so cute.  On Monday we saw her standing up in her crib! I couldn't believe it. We immediately went in and grabbed her, and then Sean went to work to lower her crib. No babies falling overboard in this house! 

little morning buddies

She has been teething now for 3 months and still those little toofers haven't cut through. She is having trouble sleeping...so subsequently, all of the household is sleep-deprived. Jack comes walking into our room in the middle of the night with his hands covering his ears when she is crying. But when her gums aren't hurting...she is the happiest little thing in the world. She loves Jack and literally lights up when he appears on the scene. He loves her too and is always entertaining her. Her laugh might be one of my most favorite sounds in the world. It is so pure, so cute, and so contagious! Jack calls her, "my sweet little heart" and "precious little one" because he hears Daddy call her his "little sweetheart." Both my boys are so tender and so loving. I love watching both of them with her. 

She is still Mama's girl, and literally I'm the only one she wants most of the time....which I love. 

She is my sweet little heart too.

First Fruits

make that first foods...rice cereal to be specific.

And she loved it. She was so proud of herself. 

Oh how I love her expressive little face.

Every little milestone is a reminder of how quickly time passes.

How quickly they turn from tiny to toddler. 

{tear}

As parents we have precious little time to pour into these ones. 

It is vitally important to give them healthy food to nourish their little growing bodies, but what we feed their spirits is of even greater importance. 

I pray the Lord will give us the wisdom, strength, and grace to raise these babies to know Him,

to know how precious and dearly loved they are [by Him & us],

and to honor and obey Him.

In the midst of a society that will want to feed them lies and convince them that worldly gain and pleasure is all that matters; 

We must show them the light, the freedom, the joy, 

the peace, 

and the life

that comes from walking in obedience to God.  

It is a lofty responsibility we parents have.  These are lives being molded, minds being shaped, and ultimately, futures being determined, one lesson after another.

Be mindful of what you are feeding your little ones.

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Trendy lil Toddler (& Baby): Star Spangled Edition part 1

Claire: Ciao Bella by Gymboree (top and bloomers)

 Headband by Blossom&Vine 

Jack: Fore!! Axel&Hudson (again) shirt and shorts 

[I can't help it]

:-)

Claire Marie: 3 months old!

My little Claire Bear is already 3 months old!! She turned over yesterday from her tummy to her back for the first time! yay! I love the little milestones! I took her to the Dr. for a check up a couple weeks ago and she was 12 lbs and 24 inches long! She is long and thin! She is also already teething.  Her two little bottom teeth are about to break through. Poor baby. But she still smiles and laughs all the time and she already adores her brother! He LOVES her too.  Always wants to kiss her and talk to her and hold her! They are the most precious treasures in the world.

{sidenote: here is where my indecision rears its ugly head. so many pics to choose from...I had a hard time here people! So instead of being decisive...Im just going to post a million pics. 

You don't mind right? }

Oh this little girl and her laugh! I. Love. It. She giggles and smiles and sticks out that little tongue! So much cuteness in one little person!

I totally realize this last frame is very brady-bunch-esque, but like I said, I take a million pictures and then have a *really* hard time editing down to a few favorites.  We all have our weaknesses I guess.  

Speaking of weaknesses, lets talk parenting for a quick second.  I have a weakness when it comes to my 2 year old wanting to come into our bed in the middle of the night.  It has only just started happening lately, and I think it is because he is having dreams that wake him up.  The other day after his nap he was convinced that his friend Reesey had fallen down the crack of his big boy bed. He made me come look for her. I of course was reassuring him that it was just a dream.  Another time he literally came *running* out of his room because the lions were in his room and were going to get him.  Isn't that sad? So now in the middle of the night he *yells* for Daddy and he cries if we don't go in right away.  He was never in the habit of sleeping with us, so for the first few days he would ask us to sleep in there with him, but when we would leave, he would wake up a little bit later and we'd start the little cycle over again. 

So out of our own need to sleep, we just brought him into our bed.

  Neither of us mind it [too much] and actually we have both commented that we actually love having him close to us, but we don't want him just waking up out of habit now expecting to come sleep with us. I would never tell him he is not allowed to come into our bed because that seems horrible- especially if he was scared or sick.  I wouldn't want him laying there being scared and feel like he couldn't call out to us.  I know this is somewhat of a hot topic, with people on both extremes of co-sleeping/family bed status and  those who never co-sleep.  We are just not either of those.  How do you help a 2 year old know they can come if they need to, but not if there is no reason? hmm. 

linking up for virtual coffee here

We are Siamese if you please

We are Siamese if you don't please.

Jackson & Wallace

Photo Credit

My brother Christian (one of my favorite people in this world) recently adopted two baby Siamese kittens!  I took Jack to meet his kitty cousins, Jackson and Wallace.  They are so adorable and whimsical and let me be frank- I'm not a cat lover. sorry. mostly because I am highly allergic. I'm talking- if I look at a cat, my nose itches, my eyes water, the sneezing ensues, and I become desperate for some benadryl.  That being said, these little fury brothers won me over.  They remind me of meerkats, how they stand on their hind legs to peak out the door, or little foxes, with their pointed ears and faces 

:-) I love my little cat nephews, and so does Jack! 

Run Wallace!  Run!

They love Coco!

The kittens are 1 month older than Claire!

Mia and my lil kitten

Jackson and Wallace are much more cuddly than most cats and if I wasn't so allergic, I might even want one [or two] of my own!
And now for your viewing pleasure....

[sidenote: Jackson and Wallace are much sweeter than those two]