Watching big sis



Where'd Claire Go?

Here she comes!!!

HAHA! So funny!

This is a pretty typical play by play of Paige watching Claire run around the house. It always makes Paige laugh and the anticipation just gets her every time. Claire runs from the living room into the kitchen and jumps right in front of her highchair. It's fun to see them interact especially when it involves giggles. A lot of times Claire is pretty rough on her lil sis and Paige gets very fussy when she is around because she is anticipating the worst to happen (and usually it does). Sisters....a work in progress!

One Year Old

Birthday banner I made for Paige with all her monthly onsie stickers. I LOVE IT!

Paige LOVED the cards

Paige's first little cake. I have been making one for Claire every year. It's our tradition.

Swinging at the park on her birthday.

Happiest Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday Paige! What a wonderful year it has been too. She completed our family in a way I never knew could be possible. It sounds cliche but it's very true. We celebrated with the Cox family Saturday with a taco bar dinner at our house. Lots of margaritas and of course some time around the fire pit after the kids went to bed! Monday (her actual bday), we had a picnic at the park and just chilled all day. Since it was a holiday we were all home together. I still can't believe it's been a year. I opened up my email Monday morning and Baby Center had sent me my weekly email about Paige except now it was titled, "Your Toddler This Week". WHAT?! Not yet. It did say that some people mark the 1st birthday as becoming a toddler and others say when your baby walks they become a toddler. I think I'll wait until she starts to walk. She is still my sweet baby!

Random Claireness

Just up from a nap and still in her jammies.

Chilling under a tree at Freestone park.

Who is under that big ole tree??

Hanging with Dad on some bricks in the backyard. STILL in her jammies.

This girl is getting bigger and more mature every day! It's crazy. She is so smart, articulate, and meticulous. She is amazing. She can be amazingly challenging too. I truly don't know anyone like her in my life. She is going to do amazing things in her lifetime. I just know it.

Random Paigeness



Even baby likes the iPad!!

The girls at Freestone park before the 2nd wave of sickness hit us.

Paige playing...poor sick girl still has a smile.

Working those legs!

This girl is about to be ONE YEAR OLD on Monday. I feel terribly emotional about this too. It almost breaks my heart but we also have a long way to go before Paige is an upright toddler. We still are working on pulling up and from there we will work on cruising/walking. The doc thinks she will be just fine. We will talk more about her progress at her 12 month checkup which is being postponed for a few weeks to make sure she is 100% well. Poor girl picked up her big sister's RSV and ended up with a double ear infection and one ruptured ear drum. :( It was not fun for her. It's been an interesting few weeks at our house. Normally we are a healthy bunch and when Claire gets sick it isn't usually too bad. That all changed when Claire got a stomach bug followed by RSV/bronchiolitis. Oy vey. What a hot mess it has been around here. To top it off our cat, Pacey, was sick too and even had surgery. When it rains it pours. We are all on the mend and looking forward to celebrating Paige's first birthday this weekend with the family.

And she's off

We had a slow start but Paige is a crawler now!!! 2 days before her 11 month birthday. We had a visit to the doc the other day (i thought she had an ear infection but it's just crazy teething) and he gave us the warning that if she couldn't crawl in 4 weeks and 3 days (her first birthday) then she would need physical therapy. It was a combination of reasons....she doesn't pull up yet either or show signs that she is maybe one of those kids who never really crawls but just goes into cruising/walking. She was showing small progress in the past 3 weeks by learning to sit up from laying down and rocking on all fours and that was a good feeling. Although I was concerned I knew she could do it! The light bulb went off in her head and she connected the movements. I cried and cheered all at once. GO PAIGE!! It's your world now. You are off!!

Claire knows her states

Thanks to an iPad game called Stack the States, Claire is completely crazy about the USA! She has since moved on to Stack the Countries and is pretty crazy about the whole world too!!! This is what Claire considers "fun" and don't forget about "fun" math games too. I feel like I am the one getting an education around here. Boy have I forgotten a lot.

Happy New Year 2012

 Happy 2012!!! We had our annual stay home, cook dinner, and tuck in safely New Year's Eve. No, it's not the most exciting night but it is special. Ever since Claire was a baby we have been playing this zydeco music CD and dancing around the kitchen. She was getting her boogie on this year and danced with her Dad til she dropped. We even got her sparkling cider to toast with and the cutest little cake that Eric had made at Walmart. The sparklers were the hit of the evening. (fyi...all this toasting, dancing, cake eating, sparkler fun all happened between the hours of 5-7pm. PARTY!). Paige missed all the real fun. It's hard being a baby and going to bed early. Next year I am sure she will be dancing in the kitchen with us!

HAPPY 2012 NEW YEAR!

ps~Claire specifically told me after she got dressed in something "fancy" (she is wearing a sequin skirt) that she wanted to do "absolutely nothing" with her hair. "I repeat, nothing!".