random

random claire pictures. i dont think words are necessary. these are the loves of her life. elmo. eating. pointing. babies. eating. and bags/purses.

remembering my dad

the end of june was the one year anniversary of my dad passing away. it was definitely an odd thing, the marking of a whole year passing. we have went through all the birthdays and holidays and everyday occurrences without him. we all wore our red shoes in honor of him. i think claires red shoes were the most popular though.

our immediate family and some close family friends all went to the cemetery and told a few stories of him and what a difference he made in so many peoples lives. after the stories, we released balloons that said TODAY IS A GIFT. my dads motto.

after the cemetery, we went back to my moms house and had a spaghetti supper with my dads homemade spaghetti sauce he used to make and we also enjoyed his favorite candy.

even though a year has past it still doesnt seem that long. there are definitely difficult moments when we all wish he were still here but i guess we are all working on finding a new normal. whatever that may entail. 

lake

claire got to go "swimming" in her first lake the other weekend. she loves the water & loves to splash. actually, even though she enjoys the water what she REALLY likes to do is lick the water off her hands.

we were even joined by my family and daves brother & sister in law & their 2 kids. emma really fell in love with si and both her and miles enjoyed feeding him.

claire enjoyed her first popsicle. id even venture to say she liked it. a little.

365

365 days.
8,765 hours.
525,949 minutes.

one year.
crazy.

reading & pacifer

on a trip up to my parents house claire got to spend some time reading with uncle kyle and cousin si. we were all surprised she got that close to si! but every few pages she would turn to see if si was still there or if he was movin closer to her.

somehow my mom came across this huge stuffed bear, claire loved it! however she did not like it when the bear took her beloved pacifier.

such a happy girl now that shes got her pacifier!

11 months

well seeing as someones birthday is coming up in less than a week, i suppose i should post her 11 month info huh?

she has 8 teeth. 4 on top & 4 on bottom. and still loves to eat pretty much anything and everything. right now she likes pears and berries. and the little itsy bitsy bites of sweets we give her now and then. (just like her mama)

she loves the water. bath time = splash time. and we just recently found out she likes the pool too. which is exciting. 

and pointing. man oh man does she wear out that pointer finger. she points at EVERYTHING. and loves to point at our fridge and our frame wall to see all the pictures. especially the pictures of family. (mainly miles and emma) 

the biggest change by far is walking. yup she is walking on her own. shes a bit too fast for her own good but she loves to walk. she started about a week after she turned 11 months old. and its been fun but really odd at the same time. she seems a lot older now that shes walking. almost like a toddler (gasp)

she also loves to fake laugh. randomly and at herself. its pretty cute. 

bubbles and daddy

oh claire. how she is growing and changing so fast. she loves bubbles and gets REALLY excited over them. we got a bubble machine and man does this thing crank out the bubbles. seriously its kinda overwhelming for me let alone claire but she enjoys it. every once and a while. 

and she is always on the move. always. and it seems to always be where we are. especially when we are in the kitchen. she wiggles her way into the smallest of openings...or whines until we make room for her.

and im about 99.9% sure shes a hard core daddys girl. which i like. (and so does the hubs!)

birthday and baseball.

we went to visit good ole wisconsin again...to celebrate some more birthdays. claire loved all the hugs and kisses she got (mainly from her cousins) and had lots of fun playing and seeing everyone again.

miles was helping uncle dave fix a headboard. 

and then at the birthday party all the young ones celebrated in the bounce house. even uncle dave was jealous and wanted a turn too! and then miles showed off his new hairstyle! (which he did all by himself!)

we even caught some baseball games too. of course i think dave & andrew were the only ones really able to watch, shannon & i were busy corralling the kids. i love these 2 pictures. showing off how claire LOVES to point at everything and is so interested in her older cousin emma.

miles showin claire some love. 

and auntie shannon. spending some quality time with claire and yet keeping emma entertained at the same time. now thats a good mama!