The Loves of Jenn

Happy 4th birthday Julianne!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:03:00 +0000

Dear Jules,

Four years ago today, I became a mommy. Your mommy. What a joy you have brought to our lives. I never knew how much love my heart could hold until I had you. I can't believe you are already four years old. Time is flying by and we are watching you grow into a beautiful little girl so full of life. You've experienced so much this year including starting school, moving to a new state, sleeping in a big girl bed, lots of fun trips, and many other things that have made this year so very special.

You are so incredibly smart. So smart that it is sometimes scary. You are a mini version of your daddy. You love going to school and can't wait to learn more and more. This year you have learned all your letters and can now spell lots of words. You love to count. You love to color and make crafts. You love to dance. You especially love to sing (it is by far your favorite thing to do). You can memorize a song after hearing it just a few times (a talent you get from me). Your favorite band is Lady Antebellum. You love their songs!

You love to go to church. You love to learn about Jesus and sing about him. I love watching you soak it all in. Only He loves you more than we do! I pray that you will grow up to have a heart for the Lord and serve Him!

You love having a sister and have recently been telling us that you would like a brother too (mommy is not so sure about that).

You are hysterical. You make me laugh about 500 times a day. So funny and witty you are!

You have brought so much love and joy into our lives over the last four years. We pray that you have so many more years ahead of you. Thank you for everything that you are!

Here is your slide show that mommy made for your birthday. I hope you enjoy it for years to come! All my love baby,

Mama

Happy 2nd birthday Claire!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:23:00 +0000

My dearest Claire,

You are two years old today! How can it be that my baby is 2? I now know what all these parents are talking about when they tell you to cherish each moment because time goes so fast. It does. I find myself constantly wanting to stop time so I can take it all in. Take you in. Memorize these days; what you you are doing, what you look like, what your laugh sounds like, how much you need me. I know I won't remember it all but that is alright because I will remember the joy. The joy of being your mommy. The joy you have brought into our family. The joy you bring me every single day.

10 days old....

You are so full of life. I never really understood what that expression meant until you came along. You are busy, crazy, silly, hysterical, and loving. You are either 100% happy or 100% not happy. There is no middle ground with you. You know what you want and have no problem showing us exactly what you think if you don't get it. You are passionate.

You love your sister. You try to do everything that she is doing. I love watching you play together. The communication the two of you share. The two of you rarely fight or disagree about anything. I pray that continues.

You are a mama's girl. If I am around, you rarely want anyone else. You've made great strides this year with me leaving you places and I am so thankful for that. You no longer scream when I leave you at school, or the church nursery, or with a sitter. For the most part anyway.

You love babies. You have about 100 baby dolls now and you love them all. You love to undress them, hold them, rock them, feed them, and put them to bed. I thought you would be a great big sister until I held a baby in front of you. Maybe not! We'll stick to dolls for now!

1 year old.....

You are independent. You want to do everything yourself. You want to dress yourself, walk everywhere by yourself (no hand holding allowed), feed yourself, brush your own teeth, and the list goes on and on.

You love to be naked. I don't know what this is all about but it is impossible to keep clothes on you. I turn around for a second and you have every single bit of clothing off. I redress you about 50 times a day.

You love to dance. Every time music comes on, you go for it. The other day my phone rang and you danced to the ring tone. I love that you and your sister love to dance. I love to dance and I know that is something we will always share. I love our dance parties.

2 years old...

You have taught me so much in your short two years. You've taught me patience. You have taught me that I can't control everything. You've taught me that sometimes the most wonderful moments happen when you just let go a little bit. You have taught me to laugh at myself, because nothing makes you laugh harder. You have taught me that the amount of love a heart can hold is endless....that just when I am certain I couldn't possibly love you more, you make my heart nearly explode!

Today we celebrate you, our beautiful Claire bear, on your second birthday! We love you so much and can't wait to see what the next year has in store!

Here is your second year slide show that I made for you capturing all of your most wonderful moments from the last year. I hope you cherish it as much as I cherish you! Love you sweet girl!

Always,

Mommy

Julianne is a rock star!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:15:00 +0000

I think Julianne is going to be a rock star. It's what I always wanted to be so why not? This girl loves to sing as much as I do. She's mostly like her daddy so I love that she gets this from me:

Christmas morning!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 22:16:00 +0000

Christmas morning at our house was really fun this year! Julianne woke up first and Claire was still snoozing but we let Julianne go ahead and come out so she could start enjoying what Santa brought her!

Walking out to see what Santa left!

Checking out her stuff
Looking pretty excited!

Happy girl!

She loves this Ariel doll that Santa brought her! Ariel is her favorite thing right now!

Daddy and Julianne

Holding up her goods to show them off!

Loves this Mickey Christmas movie!

playing her new alien game

Riding her bike that Aunt Mimi and Uncle Todd got her! She was so excited!

Claire woke up (complete with bed head) and decided to join the party!

New rocking chair from mimi and papa!

New vacuum. Obsessed with vacuums this kid is.

Diggin' into her stocking!

Their first Lego's!

Bottles for all of her new baby doll's!

We had a great Christmas and we hope all of you did too! Is everyone as tired as I am. Christmas is exhausting! But so much fun!!!!

Christmas Eve

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:02:00 +0000

We spent Christmas Eve opening gifts, baking cookies for Santa and bouncing off the walls! We decided to let the girls open their gifts from all their aunts and uncles on Christmas Eve so they weren't so overwhelmed on Christmas morning. Good call! The girls were so excited to open all the gifts that had come in the mail over the previous weeks.

First up were the gifts from Uncle Jason and Aunt Tonja. Julianne got an Ariel costume and you would have thought it was the real live Ariel standing in our living room. Greatest reaction to a present ever. She doesn't normally get really excited about gifts but this one did it!

She was quite proud of it!
On to the next present....

Four pairs of princess shoes for dress-up! She is so into everything princess right now!

Claire got into opening gifts too!

She loved her dolly and microphone!

She thought the doll's paci was for her.

Now it was on to gifts from Aunt Randi and Uncle James. Look at those big ole bags! They liked the bags as much as the presents!

Claire got a Cabbage Patch doll and Julianne got a cash register. Then they got a joint gift:

A spiro bouncer! They were excited!

We took a break from gifts for a while to make some cookies for Santa.

Julianne did a great job rolling the dough and Claire did a great job eating it!

rolling the dough in the Cinnamon sugar was Julianne's favorite part!

On to more presents. Aunt Tami and Uncle Bill sent a pretty dress for Julianne. She was in heaven!

Showing it off!

Claire got a baby doll that looks so real it freaks me out a little.

Again, she thought the paci was for her and she couldn't even wait to get the baby out of the box before stealing it from her.

Posing for a picture with the cookies and milk we left for Santa.

And off to bed they went so Santa could come!

Merry Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:53:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Blessings to you all!

Julianne's Christmas Program

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Julianne had her Christmas program at school this week. So much fun! She loves to sing and we could hear her over everyone singing her little heart out. Adorable I tell ya.

Here is the whole group. Jules is in the front row on the far left.

A bunch of 3 and four year olds singing = cute!
So proud of my girl!

Daddy got to sneak away from work for a few minutes to come. She was so happy!

Shaun and I with our little star. Love this girl!

Here is a video of the first few minutes of the program if you want to see some cuteness (and Julianne waving to us). Enjoy!

Santa photo 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:44:00 +0000

Look what we got this year! A Santa picture with two happy girls who weren't afraid of Santa, happy to see him, and even smiled for the picture! Yay! 100% better than our dry run last year!
And way better than our second attempt last year too!

Claire hated Santa last year. She was so scared of him. Not anymore! The crying pictures are kind of funny but I love how this year's turned out even more. Two happy girls! Woo hoo!

Christmas parade!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:24:00 +0000

We headed to Bentonville on Saturday for the Christmas parade. We thought the girls would enjoy it. They got all dressed up and posed for some pictures before we left.

Claire loves taking pictures. Julianne does not.

But then Julianne tries to get in front of Claire for the pictures...
And then Claire pushes her

Fun times. The drama with girls never ceases to amaze us.

Ready to walk to the parade!

And they're off!

Claire and I snuggled up. It was quite cold because the wind was blowing hard this day and it was raining a little. Claire does not like wind.

The Energizer bunny. I took a picture because it's actually my friend's husband in the bunny costume. He works for Energizer and got talked into being the bunny this year!

Julianne was "cold" but she hung in there to see Santa at the end

And the best part was all the candy people were handing out which she enjoyed while watching the parade! Anything for candy!

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas tree farm experience

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:20:00 +0000

We usually put up our fake Christmas tree....I know, I know, fake. Well, after this year, I will continue to put up a fake Christmas tree. Why? Because they are perfect. They are easier to decorate, pre-lit, much more stable, don't require a stand, able to hold more, and the list goes on and on. I didn't want to drag my tree out of storage this year (because it weighs a lot and I almost threw my back out getting it into the storage locker). So, we decided to get a smaller real tree and give the girls the experience of going on the hunt for a tree. I decided that it would be a great idea to go to a Christmas tree farm. The only problem was that there is only one anywhere near where we live and it took an hour to get there. No problem! Let's go. So off to the Lollis Christmas tree farm we went. It was a pretty drive but once we got there, we discovered they only had one type of tree and the type that they had, I didn't really care for. Oh well, we came all this way, we'll get one. Ready to hunt for our tree! daddy with the stick to measure our tree

The girls were excited....at first.

Then we started walking all over the place looking for a "perfect" tree. Claire was over it in about 5 minutes.

After walking around for almost an hour, we stumbled on this one and basically were so tired of looking that we were like "that'll do". We waved our stick for the man to come chop it down.

And presto!

They tied it to our roof for us

And the girls were thrilled that we were done looking

So was daddy...

If you sense a sarcastic tone to this post, you are right. What a waste of time. Later the same night, Shaun and I went to wal mart and there was a great looking real tree right at the entrance for half the price we paid but a better kind of tree. Oh well, at least we got the experience, right? Right. Don't even get me started about how frail this tree was, how I couldn't get the lights on it right, how the limbs drooped with every ornament I tried to hang, and how many thousands of needles I vacuumed up. Next year you will see my fake tree back up in all it's glory! Hallelujah and amen!

Thanksgiving at Lake of the Ozarks

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

It was just the four of us for Thanksgiving and Shaun got a few days off so we decided to go on a little trip. We headed to Lake of The Ozarks, Missouri for a couple of days. We stayed at a resort and ate Thanksgiving dinner, relaxed, did a little shopping, and just had fun spending some time together as a family. The weather was nice, the resort was quiet, and we had a great time!

Daddy and Julianne

Daddy and Claire
Claire cheesing it up!

Claire is miss independent so she no longer wants to ride in a stroller, hold your hand, or have help in any way. She decided to walk by herself when we went for a stroll around the resort.

Cheese!

She made several stops along the way for rocks and leaves

The great thing about kids is how they find wonder in the smallest little things (like leaves)

Sharing a leaf with sissy

On our way home, we did the best thing on the whole trip. We stopped at Bridal Cave and went on a tour of it. So cool!

None of us had ever been in a cave before so we really enjoyed it! We had a tour guide who told us all about the history of this cave and we got to walk into it and explore!

Julianne loved it!

Reaching down to give sissy a hug!

And the best thing according to the girls.....

Making pillow beds on the floor of the hotel room! They love hotels!

Family Photo Shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 04:13:00 +0000

We had some family photos taken at the end of November. We tried out a new photographer here and really like the photos she took. It was cold and the girls were not on their best behavior and I'm surprised we got any good ones but here they are! Enjoy!

One of my favorites!

My favorite of Claire bear!

My favorite of Jules!

Peek-a-boo!

Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:28:00 +0000

The girls had a great time with Halloween this year. Julianne thought long and hard about who she wanted to dress up as. Jessie from Toy Story 2&3 it was! She is obsessed with these movies. Well, what is it that Jessie needs the most? Her horse of course! Claire makes a great horse, don't you think?
Unfortunately, Jessie's horse was too busy eating and drinking to be interested in taking photos

Here is Jessie!

She loved the hat....and the shiny red boots!

We went over to our friends house who lives in the neighborhood we are building our home in. We got a chance to meet some neighbors and we are really looking forward to moving into this neighborhood. The girls had a blast trick or treating!

Claire did great for her first go around. She went last year but couldn't walk or speak yet so she got to really enjoy it this year!

Julianne actually said "trick or treat" this year too. She was too shy last year. Progress people!

Daddy got to come trick or treating too!

Big girls!

We hope you and yours had a Happy Halloween! It's a favorite 'round these parts!

Farmland Adventures

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:22:00 +0000

We found a great little farm down the road about 20 minutes where we took the girls the week before Halloween. They loved it! They had animals, pony rides, corn maze, corn box, and hay stacks to climb on! My mom was here so she got to join us and we all had a blast!

Daddy and his girls

Taking it all in
The most interesting thing we saw. Half zebra, half donkey. All weird!

Petting the cow

Trying to get a better look

Likes the goats!

Not sure about getting any closer

Feeding the goats

Feeding the goats some grass

Showing Claire how to feed the goats

The things I do for these girls. Feeding goats with my hand. Gross!

Look mama!

Checking out the baby pigs

A big ole cheese face!

Talking with the donkeys

Getting ready to conquer the corn maze!

Mommy and Claire. She refused to look at the camera because she was too busy looking at the pony ride!

I want to ride a pony!

Waiting patiently for her pony ride

Riding their ponies

Such a big girl!

Daddy and Claire

Loved the pony ride! We did it about 5 times!

Daddy admiring his girl!

Daddy and his mini-me

Climbing on hay

Not quite sure about the corn box

Claire was really sure about it. Sure she wanted to make a big mess!

And eat it

Love these pictures of the girls because it shows how different they are. Julianne is happily placing corn in a cup (neatly by the way) and Claire was throwing it, eating it by the handful, and laughing!

Julianne braved the tunnel. First she looked in it and said "mommy can you get the grass out of there?" I told her no and she went anyway even though she "got dirty".

Braving the grass but taking it easy. Notice the strategic hand placement to avoid the grass

Claire had fun in the tunnel too!

And went through it about 10 times!

My favorite picture from the day. Our little family (and everyone is smiling)!

This was the funniest thing we saw all day and Julianne had some questions. Yes, that cow is doing what you think it is doing to the other cow. It went on for quite some time and I couldn't stop laughing.

And everyone's faces looked like this:

It was quite a trip to Farmland Adventures. We'll definitely go back next year!

AWANA fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:05:00 +0000

Julianne started AWANA here in September and loves it! We love that we have found a church to take the girls too and that they are learning about Jesus! AWANA is every Wednesday night and it is the thing Julianne looks forward to the most every week. Claire isn't quite old enough yet but she will be next fall. This is Julianne saying the four verses she learned in week one of AWANA. So proud of our girl! She is doing awesome at memorizing her verses and doing her lessons!

Julianne's first public performance

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:29:00 +0000

Julianne had a performance at the church where she goes to preschool. They did a special service at the church where they highlighted the preschool, the kids that attend there and the teachers. It was nice. We love this preschool so much. It has been a big blessing to be able to send her to a Christian preschool. She loves it and hasn't missed one day since she started!

This is the kids walking in. Julianne was taking it all in.

Here she is acting all shy. She likes to act shy in big groups.
Here they are getting ready to sing.

Here they are singing and some were doing hand motions. It was a little out of sync but very cute!

Julianne added a few of her little dance moves to the performance.

She loves to sing and had a blast. She can't wait for her Christmas program at school. Should be fun!

Pumpkin Patch Fun (and tantrums)

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:11:00 +0000

My friend Kristin came to visit with her cute little boys in October! We love that we only live 5 hours away from them now. While they were here, we took a trip to a little pumpkin patch to let the kids pull wagons and pick out pumpkins. We went for cute pictures too but well, that didn't turn out great. My oldest was in rare form and did not want her picture taken. It didn't start off well but after I threatened her, we had a great time! Ha!

Jackson and Julianne picking out the wagons they wanted (um, kids...they are all the same)

Claire picked hers out too!
Sometimes the cuteness is just too much!

And, here we go

This is my stubborn child saying "I don't want you to take my picture" and "I don't want to smile".

Apparently, Claire didn't want to smile either. She wanted to scream. Again, it didn't start off well.

After having a calm, rational conversation with Julianne (yeah right, I said something like "we just drove 30 minutes to get here. You WILL let mommy take your picture and you WILL smile. If you don't, no pumpkins and no candy!" Mature, right? I should teach parenting 101.

I should also teach a miss manners class because look how politely my 3 year old sits. Such a lady!

After I talked calmly to her (not), she started to smile. Threats work people.

Here is my pumpkin picking out her pumpkin

goofball.

She looks so sweet and innocent doesn't she?

Look at my big girl pulling her wagon all by herself.

It's official. Baby stage is gone. This one's a big girl now!

Claire picking out her gourd and carrying it like a purse

She wanted a gourd instead of a pumpkin. I think it was just because it was easier to carry.

Cutie pie in the chair I wanted to steal.

Thanks for coming to visit Kristin, Jackson and Sam! We can't wait to come see you!

Hog fans!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:11:00 +0000

Guess who is a Hog fan after only a few months living in Arkansas?

This girl.....
She's even learned to call the Hogs! Woooo Pig Sooie!

Julianne's first dance class!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 22:30:00 +0000

Look who is big enough to go to dance class now! She's been an amateur since she was about 5 months old, now she'll be a pro! Ha! She was so excited to start a dance class this fall. She had her first class back in September (still trying to catch up) and was thrilled to go! She's come a long way in just the first couple of months of class and they are now practicing for their dance recital in June! Can't wait. Here are some pics of her first day! stretching
checking herself out in the mirror (she does this a lot)

Ballet

learning the pose

in action

The best part was daddy being able to sneak away from work for a few minutes and come watch her class. She was so excited that he came!

Posing with daddy

My pretty ballerina

Claire's school pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:41:00 +0000

Julianne is not the only one going to school this year. Claire started a mom's day out program at our church. She goes 2 days a week and loves it! She didn't love me leaving her at first but after a couple of weeks she goes right in and runs to her teacher. It's been great for her! She had school pictures taken a few weeks ago. They turned out so cute. She is quickly turning from our little baby into a big girl. These are your first ever school pictures Claire bear!

First day of Pre-K 3

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:38:00 +0000

"How am I just growing up so fast?" You ask me this at least once a day. My answer: I have no idea. How did you get this big? You were just our tiny baby and now look at you. Off to your first day at Pre-K 3. Mommy bought you a special outfit and then we went backpack shopping together, after dinner at Taco Bell of course. The backpack is almost bigger than you. It is pink (duh!) and sparkly! You were so excited for your first day!
You felt like such a big girl

You were so anxious to meet your teacher and your new friends!

Then we got there and you weren't as excited. I think you were thinking please don't leave me.

You cried on the first day and I was surprised because you usually have no problem with me leaving you anywhere. I think the move, a new house, new friends and now a new school finally caught up with you. You cried for about the first 3 times I dropped you off but now you run down the hall to get there and count the days until you have school again. You have learned so much already and it is so fun to see you learn new things. You go to school three days a week right now and tell me that you would like to go every day but mommy is not ready for that yet. I love our days together. You are such a special little girl. Although these "first" moments are fun, each one is hard because it means that you are getting older. These are the bittersweet moments of parenting. I am trying to cherish every single one.

Claire - 18 months

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:13:00 +0000

Well, this post is two months late but we will just pretend it's still August 5th.

18 months old. Time is flying. You are growing. Way too quickly.

What a blessing you have been to our little family. You have added fun, laughter, love, and a lot of noise! You are so FULL of personality! You are constantly moving, climbing, running, jumping and I wish I had 10% of your energy. You are passionate. You know exactly what you want and you get really upset if we can't figure out what it is. You are addicted to your pacifier and your pink fuzzy blanket. You are an awesome sleeper (thank you Jesus)! You love your sister and try to keep up with whatever she is doing. You are a mama's girl. You love to have your picture taken and say "cheeeeeeezzzzeeee" every time I get the camera out. You eat pretty much anything and have a big sweet tooth! You look like mommy. You love to take your clothes (and diaper) off. You are obsessed with shoes. You are very particular about doing things yourself. You hate shopping carts and will only ride in the big part. You laugh really loud. You love to dance even more than your sister does and that's saying a lot! You are completely adorable!

Here you are in one of your cheese poses!

Dancing your booty off. Get it girl!
Loving on Sophie. You love dogs, especially ours.

You will finally wear bows in your hair although you rip them out a lot.

You find so much joy in such simple things. Like water.

You think you are bigger than you are

You love mac and cheese!

You are the messiest kid. Ever.

You love baby doll's. You are so sweet with them and rock them, wrap them in blankets, put them to bed, put diapers on them, and hug and kiss them. It's really sweet. You love real life babies too!

What can I say Claire bear? You have given us 18 months of sweetness! We love you so much and are so glad you are ours!

Our weekend in Branson!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Just a week after moving here, we ventured to Branson, Missouri for the weekend. It's just a short hour and a half from where we live now. Branson used to be a place for old people to go. Now it's a big family destination with a lot of things to do with the kids. My parents and I took the girls and Shaun met us the next day. My Aunt and Uncle also came and joined us and we had a blast! It was HOT! Like 110 hot. HOT! We were going to do Silver Dollar City (the big amusement park there) but it was just too hot. We settled for a day of shopping and messing around and then a day at the water park. Fun!

When we got there, my parents and I took the girls shopping down for a bit. We had to go to the Bass Pro Shop because it's super cool. The girls could have been entertained in there all day.

Claire loved the bear that welcomed us into the store. She kissed him. Julianne loved getting on every.single.four wheeler/tractor/boat in the place

There is a huge aquarium in there and the girls loved it!
Julianne did a bit of boat shopping. My parents are going to buy a boat when they move here so she was helping them pick one out.

Watching the fountain show outside of our hotel

Posing with the bear outside of a restaurant. While taking these pictures of Julianne I was hearing "mommy, look...I'm posing". She gave me several poses and tossed her hair. We're in trouble.

Jules loves rides like this. Claire does not.

They both like the train though

They went for a ride around the shopping center with mimi.

The next day it was water park time. Hallelujah! It felt so good to be in the water all day because of the heat.

My aunt with Claire (she is now affectionately known as "Aunt mimi"

Claire loves water. She played in the fountain area forever.

How cute are they in their matching bikinis?

Claire did not love the life vest that she had to wear to go into the lazy river

She also did not love the lazy river. She wanted to walk in the lazy river. We tried to tell her that that totally defeats the purpose of a lazy river but she insisted.

Daddy and Claire

Julianne (on the right) going down a water slide all by herself for the first time ever. Big girl!

She was "a little cold" even though it was 110 out.

Mimi and Claire

Mommy and Claire

Papa and Julianne hanging out. They are best buds. For real. No one else exists when papa is around.

Cruisin' down the lazy river with papa

Love the finger hold.

More fountain fun!

She totally rocks that bikini. Belly and all.

Sisters.

Cuteness.

After the water park, we went out to dinner to celebrate mimi's birthday. It was a great weekend and the girls can't wait to go back! Next time we'll go when it's not so hot so we can check out Silver Dollar City. Have you ever been to Branson? What are your favorite things to do there?

The Empty House

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:53:00 +0000

The rest of our July was spent packing, selling our house (thank you God!), and saying a lot of goodbyes. My parents took the girls for 2 weeks so that Shaun and I could go through all of our stuff, pack what we wanted and sell what we didn't. It was sad to pack up this house. I loved our house in Ohio. I miss it so. It is the house we brought our girls home to. It's the house where we made so many memories and where so many new friendships were formed. When it was empty, I cried.

The kitchen where I cooked an infinite number of meals, baked Christmas treats for our neighbors, and fed my babies.

The pantry (Claire's favorite place to play)
Oh, how I miss my french door fridge.

The dining room where we had holiday meals, had great friends over for dinner, and wonderful conversations.

The formal living room that we barely stepped foot in...but it was pretty.

The media area where we snuggled up for movies, watched hours and hours of football, and also where Julianne took her first steps.

The playroom where the girls spent countless hours and the host of many a playdate.

My craft room that I didn't get near enough time to use.

The guest room where numerous family and friends visited.

Claire's room. Sigh.

Julianne's room. This was probably the hardest room for us to pack. I had visions of painting that room, months before she was to arrive, eagerly awaiting her arrival. I was so happy to be decorating a baby room after trying for so long for a baby. The fact that she was a girl and I got to decorate the pinkest room ever was just icing on the cake. Love that room.

Our room. Our sanctuary.

The closet Shaun built me. He is amazing!

The empty ice cream containers from the best ice cream place in Cleveland (our last meal in this house).

The last picture we took of ourselves in the house when it was empty. We took this photo about a minute before we walked out of the house for the last time and began our new journey. To Arkansas.

We are so thankful for the memories we have in Cleveland. I made friends that will be friends for life. We love and miss all of you so much. Thank you for making our time in Cleveland so fantastic! XOXO!

The best fourth of July EVER!

noreply@blogger.com (Jenn@the loves of jenn) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:30:00 +0000

I'm getting caught up, slowly but surely. Next up, our fourth of July weekend. It was a great weekend with a lot of celebrating. My BFF and her family came for the weekend and the day they arrived was also Shaun's last day of fellowship. I can't put into words what a milestone this was. Shaun has been training for seven years which was preceded by five years of med school (he did 5 years because he also got a masters degree while in med school). Factor in undergrad and you've got 16 years of education and training. It's been a long road people. He's worked incredibly hard. I never imagined how challenging it would be for both of us. But it's over. OVER! Hallelujah, praise the Lord and AMEN! I am beyond proud and so blessed to be married to a man who is so passionate about helping people. He is doing so well in his practice here and his patients love him (more on that to come).

The celebration began about 5 minutes after Shaun got home and the kids immediately used him as a jungle gym as usual.

Shaun is laying on the dog and the kids are laying on him. Actually, they were more tackling him.
Julianne thought the occasion called for a concert

Abbie joined her

Claire didn't want to miss out either

Apparently Claire got her holidays mixed up!

The congratulations cake I made for Shaun. That's peanut butter frosting with Reese's peanut butter cups on it. Yum!

It was a great night of celebrating with our friends. Randi and James have been such a support for Shaun and I over the years. They know what it's taken to get to where we are now and have been there for us through the good, bad, and the ugly! I am eternally grateful for their friendship!

The next day was my going away bash with my girlfriends (if you didn't read about that, it's the post below this one). The next day the guys watched the kids all day so that Randi and I could go shopping. Such an awesome day!

The next day, we watched the kids so the guys could go golfing. We went to a local shopping center where they had all kinds of 4th of July activities! It was HOT so we didn't stay that long but the kids loved their balloon animals!

The golfing must have worn them out

We spent the late afternoon and evening enjoying the outdoors and celebrating the 4th on the 3rd because they had to go home the morning of the 4th. The kids had a blast playing in the backyard!

Bubbles, always a hit!

Hot dogs!!!

Ben

Claire taking bubbles right to the face!

A human tunnel to slide down!

Shoulder ride!

Don't worry...she got a haircut shortly after this.

Stinker!

Abbie wasn't having any fun at all!

Can't get more American than this!

Our big girl!

James wanted to try out our lawn mower before we moved. He and Ben had a blast!

The fireworks portion of our evening started with snap-it's. Uncle James taught Julianne how to do it. She loved them!

Nice follow through Jules!

Claire is never one to miss out on anything...

Next up....exploding streamers

Let me preface these next pictures by saying that fireworks in Ohio are illegal. All you can buy are these smoke bomb things. So, that's what we had. Lame. But we had to do something.

They smoked well though!

The guys thought it would be a bit more exciting if we lit a bunch at once. The kids liked it.

Julianne spiced up the show by dancing for us

No music needed

The view from the other side. Kids all in a row.

Claire wasn't sure what to think

This is the most spark we got!

James did a little show for us. That definitely made it more entertaining.

Sparkler time!

Julianne loved the sparklers!

Ha!

Drew liked the sparklers too!

Ben being very careful - such a big boy!

Abbie doubled up!

A great evening with our best friends!

Thanks for coming guys! We had so much fun!

Fourth of July evening, we went to our neighbors to hang out with all of our friends from the neighborhood. So hard to say goodbye to all of them. Best neighborhood ever. We miss it so much.

Claire all dolled up!

Daddy and his girls

Me with my girls

Julianne is too cool and has to wear her shades inside

This picture cracks me up. She just went over there and sat like that watching the volleyball game. Could she be any more of a diva?

A happy diva

We found out that Claire loves watermelon!

Big girl who got on the swing all by herself!

Hi mommy!

Cutie pie

Claire was getting down

Say what?

Get it girl!

She loves to dance even more than Julianne does. Love it!

Cheese!

Still wearing the glasses. It was pitch black outside!

Sitting with daddy

We had a great time with our friends and watching the kids play. When I went through our pictures from this day and saw this one all I could think of is how big she is now.

Climbing rock walls, going UP a slide, getting on the swing by herself and venturing away to play with other kids. This whole parenthood thing is bittersweet I tell ya. You want them to grow up, become more independent, but then you look back and cry at how big your baby got.

last year - 2010

2009

2008

Seriously, where is my chubby baby? Loved those rolls. I better stop looking back at their baby photos or I'll get crazy and have another one! :) We hope you and yours had a wonderful 4th!