The Loves of Jenn

Happy 2nd birthday Claire!

2012-02-05T10:23:00.005-05:00

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!

2011-12-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-25T17:16:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-24T23:02:00.002-05:00

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!

2011-12-22T16:53:00.000-05:00

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

Julianne's Christmas Program

2011-12-20T16:56:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-16T16:24:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-15T15:20:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-12T12:28:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-10T23:13:00.001-05:00

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

2011-12-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-04T14:22:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-12-02T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

2011-12-01T13:29:00.000-05:00

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)

2011-11-30T12:11:00.000-05:00

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!

2011-11-28T18:11:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-11-27T17:30:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-15T11:41:00.000-05:00

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

2011-11-13T13:38:00.003-05:00

"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

2011-10-25T16:13:00.005-04:00

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!

2011-10-12T17:52:00.010-04:00

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

2011-10-04T19:53:00.008-04:00

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!

2011-09-13T17:30:00.024-04:00

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!

The best goodbye bash EVER!

2011-09-02T17:03:00.015-04:00

One of the highlights of my summer was my goodbye party with some girlfriends in Ohio. I can't even tell you what this group of friends means to me and what they have meant to me, especially over the past year. When I was pregnant with Claire, I was looking for a playgroup and things to do with Julianne. I found a group called Mothers and More on Meetup.com and decided to give it a try. I went to an outing at a park and was met with open arms. A group of moms who were facing all the same challenges I was. Real women.

I don't know about you but I occasionally run into women who are pretending that everything in their life is perfect and that raising kids is so easy and their kids are perfect, etc. I cannot be around these types of women. Raising children is the hardest thing I've ever done. My patience is tested daily. Sometimes I want to rip my hair out. Or lock myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes (which I've done). Sometimes I just need a break. This doesn't mean I am a bad mom, it means I am human. I need friends I can vent to about it, not ones that judge me. This is what I found in this group. Some of the most wonderful women I've ever met in my life. I had one of the hardest years of my life this past year and they were there for me. They knew Shaun was gone every week and were there for me with a helping hand, with meals, with bringing groceries to me if I needed them and couldn't get out, and most of all to listen and have fun with. I don't know what I would have done without this group. Without these women that are now my friends for life.

As excited as I was for Shaun to start his new job and plant some roots somewhere, I was so incredibly sad to leave my friends. We tried to decide what we should do as a last celebration. Talked about it for months. So, on July 1st, we did it up. Went to downtown Cleveland, got hotel rooms, and painted the town red. All to celebrate our friendship and to say goodbye. So bittersweet.

To make it a bit sweeter, my best good friend came too (one of the perks of having her so close this year was that we saw each other so much...oh, how I miss that)! I got to introduce her to all these wonderful women and we just had a blast!

Randi and I. The best friend a girl could ask for. She loves me for who I am. In spite of my faults. She's always there and I thank God for her every.single.day. Oh, and she does my hair for me when we go out on the town. :) All of us in the hotel lobby

Downtown Cleveland. Rock on.
After a great dinner and ready to party!

It is at this point in the post, where I need to mention that there was drinking involved on this night. I've been known to like a Bacardi and Diet coke every once in a while and there were no shortage of them on this night (moms with no kids and hotel rooms = time to unwind)!

One thing that has always been on my "bucket list" is to ride a mechanical bull. I have no idea why but it always looked like fun. As luck would have it, there was one at the Cadillac Ranch, our first stop on the party circuit. I wasn't going to do it, but what is a girl to do when all your friends want to see you do it before you move away and no longer provide them entertainment. So......I did it. I'm not one to disappoint my friends.

They were doing free rides to get the party started so I figured why not? I should have thought harder about it! Here I am climbing into the pit.

The hardest part of the whole event was getting on the bull. There were no stirrups, nothing to grab onto. And it's way taller than you are after you are sinking down in the marshmallow pit that it's in. Seriously people, so hard to get on the bull.

I didn't think I would make it up but I did. Then the guy controlling it started it before I was even all the way on and I fell right off. So, he apologized and gave me another turn. I'm only posting a few pics because I don't want to hurt your eyes too much. This is me with a good save I had. I was almost a goner but held on with all of my strength (which isn't much)

I'm not sure how many seconds I stayed on but it wasn't too impressive. I provided plenty of laughs for my friends though and for that, I'd do it again!

I asked who else was going to do it and they were all like "um, no thanks". I wasn't about to go out like that. I'm the only one who humiliates myself at my own going away party? I don't think so. Lucky for me, Nicole stepped up and did it. The only other person willing to ride it. Thank you Nicole. Love you!

Go girl!

See how much fun it is?

Everyone should do that at least once in their life. The end.

We moved on to a club because we wanted to dance! For those of you who don't know me in real life, I love to dance. I can dance all night. I don't get tired. I won't stop until every person I'm with is like "let's go Jenn....the club is closing". This will explain the pictures that follow.

I was pleasantly surprised by my friends and how much they like to dance as well. This is Anne and April.

Wooo hoo - Anne and Celena!

April having fun!

April and Rachel

April getting down (and not even realizing that the couple behind her is making out on the dance floor. Seriously. Get. a. room.)

Celena and Jen

Party circle!

Heather and Jen

Heather and I. She's looking at me like I'm crazy. I am.

Jenn and Nicole

Jenn

Jen - can you tell how much fun we were all having yet?

Me. Dancing. Nuff said.Nicole and I. Love this girl. She is so special to me.

This is me taking a self portrait of myself and the stalker dude that kept trying to dance by me, behind me, in front of me. Weirdo.

Me dancing. Again.

Love the college t-shirt. Too bad I graduated college 13 years ago. Being in a club like this reminds you how old you are. :)

Julia. Ray of sunshine this girl is!

Julia and Rachel

Randi and Jenn

And again. All my friends loved Randi. Who wouldn't?

Shoes and bags on the floor! This cracks me up!

One of the last dances!

We soon realized it was after one in the morning and called it a night. We went back to the hotel and discovered the down side of wearing uncomfortable (but very fabulous) shoes and taking them off in a club.

The picture doesn't even do it justice! So gross! I had to scrub my feet for 15 minutes.

What a night! Thank you so much to all of my friends who made this happen and for coming out. What a fabulous evening it was. Moms with no kids, no responsibilities, and a hotel room to come home to makes for a great party! I love you all so much and miss you terribly!

xoxoxoxoxo!

3 months of nothing (on the blog) but everything in life!

2011-08-30T15:25:00.005-04:00

Almost three months without a blog post. Sad. Pathetic. Where I have a been you ask? Oh, nothing much has been going on (did you catch my sarcasm there?) In the last three months:

Shaun finished fellowship (happy dance)

we sold our house in Ohio (happy dance again)

we had a garage sale

we sold a bunch of stuff on Craigslist

we packed our house

we moved to Arkansas

we unpacked most of our stuff in our rental house

we moved the stuff we didn't unpack to storage

Shaun started his new job and has been working a TON.

Julianne started PreK 3 - she is going 3 days a week

Claire started Mom's day out - she is going 2 days a week

we've been looking for floor plans for our new home that we are building

we've been looking for a church to join

I started a new bible study group

I found a babysitter and the girls love her!

I did all the things you have to do when you move....new bank, change of address with about
1000 people, sent moving announcements, finding new places to shop, etc.

we took a trip to Branson, MO for a weekend.

Shaun took a business trip to Minnesota and another to California

I said goodbye to some dear friends in Ohio (insert weeping here)

We are making new friends here and have met some really great people

I did a walk for Cystic Fibrosis and raised over $1000

I joined the committee for Go Red For Women (American Heart Association)

I started working out with a personal trainer 2 days a week and by myself another 3 days

The girls are adjusting...it's been a little more difficult than I anticipated but we're getting into a routine now

Sorry I haven't been around to keep you updated on all the things going on with us. For those of you reading this, thanks for coming back. I am back now and will be posting regularly. I am going to try to post daily at least for the month of September to catch up on everything that's happened (gotta have it for the baby books). So stay tuned. Lots of fun pics and catching up to come! I've missed you all and am in the process of getting caught up on reading all of your blogs as well.

Niagara Falls and other fun happenings

2011-06-05T20:24:00.000-04:00

Shaun's parents came out for a visit at the end of May and we had a great time with them! They wanted to visit us one last time here before we moved.

Claire took immediately to her papa (this was literally about 2 minutes after they walked in the door). She doesn't do that with anyone that quickly. We were amazed. The morning after they arrived, we headed to Niagara Falls. Shaun's parents had never seen it and it was on their bucket list. It's only 3 1/2 hours from where we live now so we wanted to take advantage. The weather was beautiful!

If you've never seen the falls, go. It's something everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. So beautiful!

Shaun and I have been three times in the last couple of years and have enjoyed it every time.

The girls loved it too.

They also love hugging each other (or strangling each other in this case)

Our girls love each other and that warms my heart. It was all love that day.

After a wonderful dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse, we headed to our rooms to get some rest. The next morning, we headed down to the falls to ride the Maid of the Mist.

Water is so powerful

Here we are in our cheesy Maid of the Mist photo. You of course, have to buy the photo if you go. The girls actually looked at the camera and I'll buy any picture where that's happening!

Papa and Gramma on the boat

They don't call it the Maid of the Mist for nothing. It is very misty. Julianne was helping Claire to not get her face wet!

Julianne did not like the mist after a while

But she liked hugs from her sister

Shaun, his parents, and the girls

The four of us

We had a great time in Niagara Falls with gramma and papa. We were so happy to get to take them for their first time.

We had a nice couple of days hanging out with gramma and papa. We also got to celebrate their birthday's which were coming up in just a few days. Julianne loves birthday's so she was very excited!

Helping gramma open her present

Shaun with his dad

I'm not sure if Julianne was more excited about singing happy birthday or the cake! We were so glad to get to celebrate with Shaun's parents in person for their birthday's.

Thank you for coming Bill and Bev. We had a great time! Can't wait to see you when you come visit us at our new home!

Family Photo Shoot

2011-05-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

While in California, we had photos taken by the amazing Lorie. She has taken our pictures before, here and here. I am never disappointed with the outcome. Julianne just turned 3, Claire just turned 1, and we had never had professional pictures taken of the four of us. Three great reasons to take some.
Claire is either 100% happy or 100% mad, so we were thrilled when she was completely happy this day. Julianne was her usual sassy self. She has started doing her "pose" for pictures with a supermodel-ish type feel. Lorie's comments to me after editing our photos were that Julianne has a thousand different expressions and Claire's eyes are like big drops of chocolate. That pretty much sums it up.

Thank you so much Lorie! We love these pictures and are having a heck of a time deciding which ones to hang on our wall.

We're moving ya'll!

2011-05-16T20:36:00.001-04:00

Well, after several interviews and offers for Shaun, we decided on a place to move. The place we will raise our girls. The place where Shaun will start his career. The place we will call home and settle down. We are moving to Bentonville, Arkansas. It's a beautiful place in the northwest corner of Arkansas. A great place to raise a family. Everything just fell into place and it's a wonderful opportunity for Shaun. We are so excited for this next chapter in our lives.

I am so unbelievably proud of my husband. He has known that he has wanted to be a Dr. since he was 5 years old. The journey that he has been on to make this dream come true has been a long one. I am blessed to say that I've been there for all of it. At times it's been a struggle but I know that God brought us through those times so that we could be right here where we are. Shaun was born to do this. He has a passion for being a Dr. He cares deeply for his patients and their care. I am so honored to watch him grow in his profession and to be his partner in life.

Please say a prayer for us as we begin this new journey. We will be moving this summer and are currently trying to sell our home here in Ohio and purchase a new one in Arkansas. I have a lot of stress right now with the house on the market and keeping up with it and the girls while Shaun is still in Detroit five days a week. He is done in Detroit on June 30th (just a month and a half left)! It's a stressful time but also an exciting time full of new beginnings.

I love you so much Shaun. Words cannot express how proud I am of you and all that you have accomplished. I know there are so many exciting things to come and I'm so blessed to be standing by your side!

The best parents. Ever.

2011-05-13T15:21:00.000-04:00

This is a little post about how my parents rock. It's also a post that pretty much sums up the entire month of March. I knew that we were going to be putting our house up for sale sometime in the March/April time frame. I mentioned to my mom how much I had to do in order to get the house ready to put on the market. She then said "why don't your dad and I take the girls home with us when we come for Julianne's birthday and then you an come to California and get them"? I was all "uh, really?...both of them?" and then I was like "yes, please" and then I think I did a little happy dance! Don't get me wrong, I love my girls but I was really needing some time to myself. This year has been very hard for me for many reasons and I feel constantly overwhelmed and tired. My parents do whatever they can to make my life a little easier.

So, on March 8th, they took both of my babies home with them so I could have an entire week to myself to get the house ready to put on the market. My mom said she would only do it on one condition and that was that I would sit my butt on the couch and do nothing for one whole day while the girls were gone. Ridiculous, isn't she?

Dropping them off at the airport was not easy. I missed them within seconds of driving away. My mom immediately began sending me pictures on my phone. They hadn't even left Cleveland yet and I already missed this sweet face

Who wouldn't?

I was a little worried about my Claire bear. She is not the best at air travel.

I was probably more worried for my parents. She seemed ok though!

Julianne on the other hand is the best little air traveler there ever was. Always has been. She's never made a peep on an airplane even when she was just a wee one. Now, you just put on her cool headphones mimi got her, pop in a movie, and she is good to go.

She just loves airplanes. LOVES.

Thinking hard

Her future's so bright, she's gotta wear shades (even inside)

One thing Julianne doesn't do much of on an airplane is sleep. So, on the 2 hour drive to my parents from LA, she finally gave it up.

And then REALLY passed out.

This one did too!

The rest of the time that the girls were at my parents, I got pictures like these:

The girl is obsessed with sunglasses. Obsessed.

Everything is fun at mimi and papa's house

Baths...

Shopping...

Shopping again....

Claire thought it was fun to wear Minnie Mouse ears at 5:30am (it took her a few days to catch up on the time difference). Thank goodness she was over that by the time I got there!

Climbing in bins is fun too!

Oh, and my mom likes to dress the girls really cute.

A new pair of shades she got while there. She has 6 pairs now.

Cutie pie

Because of this outfit, she now thinks that every time she has a dress or skirt on, she's supposed to have pants on under it.

Claire got dressed up too.

Julianne is also obsessed with hats at the moment

A little spoiled maybe? Watching TV in "her room". She is now asking for a TV for her room at home. Um, no.

Julianne is really fond of these little rides that they have at malls, stores, and such. She keeps saying that she has to "save her coins for rides". Claire is not so fond of them.

I am fond of Claire's big ole baby belly!

This is where Claire was the majority of the time at my parents house. At the back door, wanting outside.

To do this....

Or this. An afternoon wagon ride in our jammies? Why not!

They had a fabulous time with my parents. I had fun at home painting cabinets in our garage, dusting baseboards, taking down family photos, patching holes, touch up painting, deep cleaning, etc. I did honor my mom's request though. Spent one whole day on the couch doing nothing except catching up on my DVR shows and taking a 3 hour nap. Heaven I tell ya. I also went out with my friends a couple of evenings and got a mani-pedi!

I made my way to California the next week and spent the next almost three weeks there. The girls and I went down south to see some friends for a weekend. I saw my cousin that I hadn't seen in about 10 years. I saw my aunt and uncle who I hadn't seen in about 6 years (and they had never met either of our girls...my aunt is now affectionately known as "aunt mimi"). Shaun came out for a long weekend to see us. I spent a few evenings with my sister in law Tami who is now affectionately known as my happy hour buddy! We caught up with family and friends, celebrated Shaun's birthday and just had a blast! I spent many of my days there helping my mom with her house. We did an office makeover, cleaned out every cabinet in the house (almost), and almost every closet as well. I love to organize and she had quite a bit of work for me. It was fun! We're getting their house ready to put on the market so that she and my dad can move to where we are moving (hopefully).

I really can't say enough about my parents. My friends are jealous. They have come out here so often this year to help me out and it has saved me. My mom is coming again in a few weeks to watch the girls for 5 days so we can go buy a house in our new home state (where you ask?..that post is coming next). I love you mom and dad! Thank you so much for all you do and for how much you love our girls!

Potty Training Success!

2011-05-11T17:18:00.003-04:00

Well, time to catch everyone up on what's been going on in our lives. I've been slacking for 2 months so there are a few posts coming to play catch up. First, I thought I would start with the best thing to happen to me since...well, pretty much ever. Julianne is potty trained. We finally had success on her 3rd birthday (the day of her birthday). As I've posted before, I was beyond frustrated that she wasn't potty trained yet. I tried 4 previous times.

The first time was right before Claire was born...Julianne was only 22 months old...this attempt is also known as what the he** was I thinking? FAIL.

The second time involved Shaun and I trying for one day and going cold turkey and just putting her in big girl panties to see how it went. This lead to Julianne peeing in about 10 pairs of panties within an hour and anytime she would get even a drop on them she would scream and say "I'm all wet". FAIL.

The third time she screamed every time I put her on the potty. FAIL

The fourth time was in December. My parents were visiting for Christmas and I thought it would be better to try when someone else was here to help out. We were making good progress because she pooped on the potty at about noon that day. Yes, that's right. I have a kid who pooped on the potty before she peed on it. She was terrified to pee on it. So much so that she held her pee all day that day and was screaming in pain by that evening because her belly was so bloated. She cried on the potty and eventually fell asleep on the potty and every time she would start to fall asleep, she would have to go potty because she was relaxing. She would then wake up and cry again. I then had a complete and total mommy breakdown because I felt like I was causing my own child pain. Why? So she would pee on the pot. Totally not worth it. FAIL.

We then decided to take a different approach. About a month before her 3rd birthday, we started telling her that when she turned 3 that meant she was going to be a big girl and she would be too big for diapers. We said things like "they don't make diapers for 3 year olds", "3 year olds go on the potty", "we're going to say bye bye to diapers when you turn 3", and many other things. Pounded it into her brain for a month. Then, the day before her birthday she woke up and said "I'm going to wear big girl panties today because I am almost 3". The rest, as they say, is history. I made her a sticker chart, gave her M&M's every time she went on the potty and it worked. She was ready. Finally. Of course, it's now 2 months later and she still wants M&M's every time she goes. Working on that. She's only had about 4 accidents in two months and I am so very proud of her. She just got it. If only I had just waited and done this approach I could have saved myself all that frustration of the previous four times. Lesson learned.

Julianne is still wearing a diaper overnight because well, the kid sleeps for 12 hours and I don't know anyone who can hold it that long. I think we'll work on that after we move this summer and she switches to her big girl bed. We were going to switch her now but the house is on the market and her room looks much bigger with a crib than a full sized bed in it! :)

So my potty training advice for anyone is this: don't force it. A kid will go on the pot when they are ready and it's not worth torturing them or yourself trying to force it before they are ready. There seems to be so much pressure today to have a kid potty trained so early (have you heard of these people who are potty training newborns? Say what?) Just know that your little one will go when they are ready. And also, it will be the happiest day of your life. Seriously.

I'd post a picture of her first poop on the potty because OMG, we were so proud, but it's kinda gross. So, I settled for sending it to several family members and my best friend after taking a picture of it with my phone. You know someone is a good friend when you send them a picture of your kids poo and they squeal with delight!

So there is your first update. Julianne is potty trained. Hallelujah and Amen!

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T19:22:00.003-04:00

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I had a fantastic day with my two favorite girls. What a blessed woman I am to have these little angels. We went to the park, went out for lunch, took naps, and then played outside for a few hours on what was a beautiful day here in Cleveland (finally no rain)! I hope that you had a great day with those that you love!

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T08:58:00.015-04:00

Better late than never, right? Here is a recap of our Easter weekend. We went to Michigan to spend the weekend with my best friend and her family. A good time was had by all. We arrived on Friday afternoon and that night, we began the Easter festivities by coloring Easter eggs. It was Julianne's first time and she had a blast!

All ready to start

Randi and her youngest Ben
getting into it

everyone was concentrating so hard they wouldn't even look up for a picture

Julianne was the most excited about her egg matching her shirt (it's all about coordination)

James and Ben

finally smiling for the camera

Just to prove that Claire is not always happy, this is how she acted when I wouldn't let her eat an egg with the shell on it. She likes to throw fits. My friends don't believe me.

creating a masterpiece

Some of our works of art

And more.....

After coloring eggs, it was time for some wrestling

This is a picture I took over 7 years ago of Abbie climbing on her uncle Shaun (Thanksgiving 2003)

What a difference 7 1/2 years makes (or not).

Uncle Shaun just seems to draw the kids in when he lays down on the floor

Claire was totally thinking about pulling Uncle James' hair

Dog pile!

Julianne was busy "doctoring"

The next morning, we enjoyed homemade cinnamon rolls (thanks Randi)!

Claire enjoyed them more than anyone. The kid got her mama's sweet tooth.

Finger lickin' good!

The mess this kid creates when she eats is astounding...

Sophie was tired so she caught some zzz

Our beautiful eggs

Saturday, Randi and I got an all day pass while the guys watched the kids. We went shopping, did some more shopping, ate dinner, and then shopped some more. I have no pictures of it because we were too busy shopping!

The kids were so excited Easter morning. They came down the stairs hand in hand to see what the Easter bunny had brought them.

Loot!

Julianne didn't know quite what to think

Claire knew what to think which was "how fast can I eat these Peeps?"

Her mama's sweet tooth I tell ya, she didn't care about anything but the Peeps!

Julianne liked her new microphone

Again, still eating Peeps

Checking everything out....very carefully. I've never seen a kid go through an Easter basket slower. She enjoys everything!

Julianne enjoyed a Peep too but she ain't got nothin' on Claire.

Ben was diggin into his candy also...

Julianne loved her new harmonica. She's become quite good at playing it.

Let the egg hunt begin. Jammies still on, jackets on, ready to go.

Julianne was so excited!

down the stairs to find the rest of the eggs..

This one is my kid too. She didn't want to get the one in the bush because "it was in the dirt". SO MY KID. I hate dirt.

Claire found one!

She was so happy. She just stood there shaking it (it had money in it)

I think she thought Julianne was going to take her egg

Claire liked the gnome more than the eggs

Claire found her golden egg!

Group shot (Julianne not paying attention)

Group shot (almost everyone looking at the camera)

Group shot (Claire is a thief and Abbie is on to her)

Group shot (Drew now realizes Claire is a thief)

Ben promptly put his money in his piggy bank

Claire had some one on one time with her buddy Sophie

They love each other.

We sat out on the patio because Easter was a spectacular day in Michigan! The sun came out, finally!

James and Abbie

Abbie is so good with the littles. Claire loves her.

Love this girl!

Randi was hard at work cooking so I figured the least I could do was keep the kids busy. We had a patio party.

Julianne and I did "cheers" while we were still shouting "party" so now everytime I pour a sippy of milk for Jules she clinks my glass and says "party!" Sweet.

It was a great patio party

The kids table!

Dessert...chocolate bunnies all around!

Even Claire got some chocolate!

What was I thinking?

Messiest eater ever.

After that mess, it was bath time!

Ben has the best mohawk hair, hands down!

After baths, it was time to party. We got to experience Just Dance on the Wii. So much fun! Jules and I showed off our moves!

She is so her mother's daughter when it comes to dancing. The girl loves to dance.

Abbie gave me a run for my money. She is quite the little dancer.

Abbie and Drew going head to head

We had the best weekend! We always have so much fun with them! We are so glad that we get to live this close to each other, even if only for a few short months. We are cherishing every moment of it! Thanks guys for an awesome Easter weekend! We love you!

I'm still here

2011-04-22T10:40:00.003-04:00

Over a month with no blog post. It's official. I suck as a blogger. Life is so crazy right now and I've been so busy. Two birthday party's in 4 weeks. Getting the house ready to put up for sell. Looking for a new house in our new location. Taking care of two girls while Shaun is still in Detroit Monday-Friday (only 2 1/2 months to go). An almost 3 week trip to California. Cleaning non-stop for the 19 showings we've had in 35 days on our house. Getting the girls out of the house every time someone wants to show it. A Beth Moore 13 week bible study at church that was amazing. Finding a new preschool for Julianne in our new location (she got a spot!). Finding new doctors. Taking the girls for their check-ups and getting records transferred. Thinking about starting to pack. Exhaustion. Stress. Life.

This has been my life for the last two months. So many changes on the horizon. Excitement about things to come. We are still here but oh so busy. I have about 10 blog posts in the works. So much to update you on. Where we are moving, our family photo shoot, Easter parties and bunny pictures, and much more.

But for now, I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy Easter. I just packed up the car and the girls and I are heading to Michigan to spend Easter with my best friend and her family. Shaun will meet us there later today. Julianne is so excited. She has asked me about 98 times this morning if it is time to go yet. So we are off. Now I get to hear "are we there yet" about 500 times on the way. Good times! We wish you and yours the happiest of Easters. Let's remember what Easter is all about and be thankful for the many blessings in our lives. God bless you and yours!

Julianne's birthday party!

2011-03-14T17:08:00.017-04:00

I really don't know what I was thinking having kids with birthday's that are 4 weeks apart. It makes for a stressful January/February. It also makes for a lot of fun in the span of one month. Julianne was so excited for her party this year. We had it at Pump It Up and for weeks she was saying "we're gonna pump up my party!" I found this hilarious because she had never even been to Pump It Up so she didn't even know what it was.

We got to have her party on her actual birthday this year since it was on a Saturday. We gathered along with 25 of her little friends to celebrate. 25 kids is a lot. Mayhem I tell you but oh what fun they had!

Here is the birthday girl!

We told her to pose...this is what she did
Then this....

Here is my mom with Jules, Claire and my BFF's kids. They came again from Michigan - yay!

Claire was working the room and saying hi to everyone

Abbie having fun on the slide

Ben going down the slide. I think he did it about 100 times.

Julianne preferred to go down on her belly. She turned over. Every time.

Mommy with her birthday girl

Giving herself a birthday hug

Claire bear loves her Aunt Randi

See?

Protective eye wear for the ball shooter.

Julianne stayed in there for about 20 minutes. Apparently she likes to shoot things.

Claire wasn't sure what to think about the slide.

Turning over to go down

My parents with the birthday girl

My parents and their girls

Mommy and daddy with their 3 year old. She's 3! I can't believe it.

This is Steven, Hazel, Jayden and Erin. They were walking around holding hands.

Little ones can have fun too when they have daddy to swing them!

Doing her "pump it up" move

dancing. There was fun music playing.

This is most of the kids. It's always fun trying to get the group photo!

This is Julianne and Ben. Ben is her friend from school. He moved classes this semester and she keeps asking me where Ben is. Ben thinks Julianne is "beautiful". The first thing he said when he arrived at the party was "mommy, Julianne is so beautiful, can I kiss her?"

So I told him he could give her a kiss on the cheek. He got a huge smile on his face and then did this:

And Julianne did this:

Priceless. It was so cute, and sweet and funny. If only I had had my video camera going.

These are Ben's 2 ladies. Rebecca is Julianne's best friend at school. In a class of 15 these three just clicked somehow and became like the 3 musketeers. Adorable I tell you.

The cake. Minnie Mouse as requested by the birthday girl.

The birthday girl in her birthday chair!

She saw her cake and said "is that myyyyy cake mommy?" She loved it!

She then kept pointing at it and saying "that's my birthday cake!"

Getting sung to. She also sang to herself along with us.

Blowing out the candles!

PIZZA!

Stuffing her mouth full of cake!

These are Julianne's three friends that she's been having play dates with almost since she was born. I met all of their mom's at a new mom support group and they've been playing together ever since. Fun!

Trying out some party favors

Thirsty!

New shades.

wearing her Minnie Mouse ears

posing for some pics by her balloons

Her favorite balloon that's bigger than she is.

Holding up how many fingers she is!

We opened presents at home after the party because we ran out of time at the party. Julianne had a little helper and wasn't very thrilled about it. She kept saying "no Claire, it's my birthday", "Claire already had her birthday!" Claire didn't seem to care. She just wanted to eat paper.

opening presents

She loved the cards!

New Mickey Mouse outfit from gramma and papa. She loved it!

Such a big girl

And still adorable!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who came to celebrate with our girl. Thanks to those of you who called, sent gifts and cards, and e-mailed us wishing our girl a happy birthday. We feel so thankful to have so many people who love our girls.

Happy Birthday Jules! You are such a special little girl and daddy and I are so blessed to call you ours. Now stop growing up so fast! We love you!

Happy 3rd Birthday Julianne!

2011-03-05T16:55:00.000-05:00

You are 3 today! I can't believe it's been three years since I became a mommy. My life changed for the better that day. Being your mommy is the biggest blessing I have ever known. I thank God every day for the gift of my little girls. You and Claire bring me so much happiness! I can't describe it. My cup runneth over.

You are so full of life. You really went from a baby to a little girl this year. The transformation is unbelievable. You are talking like crazy. Full sentences and lots of questions. You probably ask me about 1000 questions a day. You are a curious little girl. You always want to know how things work or what things are. You're favorite saying is "it's kind of like a ......" Whenever you see something, you compare it to something else. For instance, when you see a square you'll say it's a square and then you'll say "it's kind of like a rectangle". Your mind is extremely analytical. You are smart. I know all parents say that but we really do think you are smart. You are always amazing us with what you say and understand. I think you got your daddy's smarts.

You love school. You've learned quite a bit this year in your two year old class. You are always excited to go and you have no problem with me leaving you. You say "mommy always comes back" almost every time I drop you off. You have made a few friends at school but your favorite is Rebecca. You are pals. You like your teachers (Miss Beth, Miss Kim, and Miss Sandra) and they love you too. Miss Sandra told me the other day that you are a perfect child. Not quite, but close.

You hate it when other kids cry or scream. If that happens, you start crying. You are sensitive and don't like to see other people upset. You have a tender heart and I love that about you.

You really know how to smooth things over. If you get in trouble and I get on to you, you will say "I'm sorry mommy" and then you will say "oh mommy, I looooove you!" It's hard not to laugh.

You don't get in trouble very often. Lately, you've been arguing a lot with us. If we say the sky is blue, you'll say it's green, just to argue. So, our new saying around here is "no more arguing" and if I sense that you are starting to argue with me I'll say "Julianne, are you arguing with mommy?" and you'll say "no." and stop. You are fairly easy to punish. Time outs work pretty well with you and just talking to you usually solves the problem. You rarely throw fits.

You love to do everything yourself. You undress yourself, dress yourself, put your shoes on, get everything out of your drawers that you need, etc. If I try to help you with anything you say "I think I've got it". If you do need help you say "I think I need some help...this is kinda hard for me".

You are a daddy's girl. You have really been missing daddy while he's gone during the week and he misses you a ton! You always ask on Monday mornings if he went to work and when he'll be back. You get so excited when he comes home and during the weekend's you don't leave his sight for too long.

You love to sing. Love it! We got you a microphone for Christmas and you aren't afraid to use it. We sing together in the car and I love that! You seem to have inherited my love of music, singing and dancing and that makes me very happy!

You love Claire. Every morning when you see her you say "Good morning Claire....how are you...did you have a good nap?" It's adorable. I love seeing you two play together. You mostly have fun but sometimes there are territorial issues with toys. We're working on that and trying to learn that all of our toys are for both of you.

Everyone who spends more than 10 minutes with you always says what an awesome kid you are. They are right. You are. You're just awesome. That's all there is to it.

You make me laugh a million times a day. You say really funny things like "awe, come on...you're ridiculous." You recently started saying "hellllloooooo!" if someone doesn't answer you right away. These things are funny to me because 99% of them you get from me or daddy. It really reminds us to watch what we say around you. Your mind is a steel trap!

What else can I say about you Jules? You are just the biggest blessing to daddy and I, the rest of our family, and pretty much anyone who has the privilege to know you. You are beautiful inside and out, sassy, smart, joyful, and loving. Just when we think we can't love you more, we do.

I made this slide show for your third year and I hope you enjoy it for year's to come. I love looking back at this year and all you're becoming. We're so proud of you!

Julianne's 3rd birthday slide show! from Jennifer S. on Vimeo.

We love you Jules! Happy 3rd Birthday!!!!

5 kids, a bungee, and a train.

2011-03-01T08:08:00.009-05:00

When my best friend and her family came for Claire's birthday, we finally got to celebrate Christmas with them. Christmas in February? Why not? Apparently, some of our neighbors are still celebrating because they still have decorations out which is a huge pet peeve of mine but I digress. The kids got to open their presents that had been waiting for them for 2 months! We wanted to do it in person.

Abbie, Drew, Ben and Julianne (Claire is missing because she slept in until almost 10 the day after her party...it's hard work being the birthday girl)

What is Julianne doing?
tearing into them!

Julianne took her sweet time and untied the bow very carefully. She is so my kid.

We got Ben a mini Dyson vacuum (the dude loves vacuum's), Abbie got the Just Dance Wii game, and Drew got a Star Wars Lego set. They were all very happy!

Julianne got roller skates (with a helmet and knee pads thank goodness) and Claire got a ride on toy. They got a Sit and Spin to share. Awesome! I didn't even know they still made those.

After presents and breakfast, we wanted to take the kids to do something fun so we took them to the mall. I know that doesn't sound like fun for kids but they have this at our mall:

Abbie went first.

She is a gymnast so she did flips and everything on it.

That's the smile of a girl who is having fun!

Drew was next.

His face was somewhere between having a great time and whoa, this is scary!

He laughed a lot

and did some funky moves....

OK Jules, your turn. My mom took her to do this last month so she was all ready to go again!

She didn't even care that she was so high. My daughter, the dare devil!

She tried to copy Abbie and do some flips but couldn't quite get over

Weeeee!

Last but not least, Ben!

At first we couldn't tell if he liked it or not

he said he had fun!

As if the bungee wasn't exciting enough, we also went on a train ride around the mall. This is me and my best good friend (and Claire of course)

The bigger kids went in their own car. A fun time was had by all.

We are so thankful that we are only two and a half hours away from them right now. We used to only see them maybe twice a year and now, this coming weekend will make 3 times in a month. They are coming for Julianne's birthday this weekend and we just got back from spending a long weekend at their house in Michigan. We are making the most of the time we have with them since we will be moving in just a few months. I love Randi and her family so much and I love that our kids have such a blast playing together! Thanks for coming guys, we'll see you again this weekend!!!

Visit with Shaun's family

2011-02-22T15:49:00.011-05:00

I'm a little behind....excuse me while I play catch-up. I've had a sinus infection for almost two weeks and today is the first day that I haven't had a sinus headache. Amen and hallelujah! Shaun wrote me a prescription on Saturday and I think it's finally working. Anyway.....

We went to Washington a few weeks ago to visit Shaun's family. His parents live there as well as his younger sister and her family. They let us drop the girls off with them and then Shaun and I headed to Reno for a job interview for him and then we came back and spent the rest of the week with his family. It was great to see them and the girls had a blast!

Claire and gramma

Julianne and her cousin Luke had so much fun playing together. They are just 3 months apart in age. He taught her all kinds of fun stuff like how to jump off the coffee table. Oh, and he taught her to love the Wiggles. Seriously, the girl loves them!

Gramma and Julianne

They had a little birthday celebration for Claire while we were there (just a few days before her birthday). Julianne and Luke apparently thought they were her present.

What's more fun than playing in a Dora bag?

Peek-a-boo

They got her a cake but I think you can tell from the picture who was really looking forward to it. The 2 year old's know what cake is!

We sang Happy Birthday and she looked at us like we were nuts.

She had no problem digging right in. The girl loves cake.

Yummy!

Auntie Tiff got her this musical light up seahorse and she loves it! It is her new favorite toy!

Auntie Tiff, Uncle Chris, Luke and Claire

I think Claire needs a haircut. She looks like Justin Bieber in this picture.

Papa and Claire

A rare picture of the four of us!

Claire showed off her mad walking skills for everyone

And their was a lot of crazy time with the cousins. And A LOT of singing.

Shaun and I went to Reno for 3 days and what did we do? Well, Shaun spent a day interviewing and after that, we pretty much slept the whole time and it was AH-MAZING. Sleeping in until 10, then taking a nap, and going to bed at about 9. We partied like rock stars I tell ya. We did manage to make it up to Tahoe and had lunch by the lake. It's so beautiful there. I miss mountains.

A huge thank you to Shaun's family for taking care of the girls for us so we could get away. We have the most amazing families who are so helpful and love our girls so much. These last few months of interviews and deciding where to live and what job for Shaun to take has been a very stressful time. We've decided where we are going but I can't share it until the contract is signed (which should be very soon). I'll share it with ya'll as soon as I can (that was a hint by the way)! :)

Claire's 1st Birthday Party!!!!

2011-02-21T20:10:00.020-05:00

We had Claire's birthday party on her actual birthday (both of the girls are lucky enough to have their birthday's on Saturday this year). We had her party at Little Gym and it was a great time! Where else can kids run around like crazy in the middle of winter? The birthday girl got all dressed up and was ready to party: I was dying over how cute she looked. I mean seriously...what is cuter than that? I ordered her outfit on Etsy (I love Etsy!!!!)

Some of the decorations:

We went for a monkey theme because well, that's what she is...our little monkey! How cute is this cake? I have the greatest cake lady. She's done several cakes for me and they always turn out so great!

The smash cake. More on that to come. The birthday girl did not disappoint.

I don't know if I've mentioned on here but my BFF and her family just moved near us. They live in Michigan now and are only 2 1/2 hours away. Which means that they get to come to stuff like this now and we get to see them a lot more. We are thrilled! This is Claire with Abbie, my BFF's oldest.

I can't get enough of that tutu!

Parachute time! Claire with her buddy Reed (they are only 13 days apart)

getting warmed up

Claire thinks those bells are pretty awesome. She loved them so much that they gave them to her to take home (AKA...she threw a FIT when I took them from her so they told me we could have them)

She's practically running now. Busy, busy girl.

Mommy and the birthday girl

She was having FUN!

Abbie and Julianne (they are BFF's now)

See? BFF's I tell ya. Julianne has not stopped talking about Abbie since they left.

Even the adults had fun. This is James (my BFF's husband) with Ben (their youngest)

Weeeeee

My parents were here for the occasion. This is Claire with my dad.

helpers

Birthday girl on the big donut!

The only picture we got of them together. Not the greatest but I'll take it!

The air track was a big hit

This is what it looked like outside while the party was going on. It started snowing about an hour before the party started.

Every single person still came even though the roads were terrible. We have awesome friends. Claire enjoyed watching them plow the parking lot!

Turning 1 is hard work!

Time for the cake festivities!

She started digging in before we were even done singing!

Go for it girl!

Julianne and the rest of the kids were patiently waiting for their cake!

MMMM

Maybe I'll just take a big ole bite out of it!

She was all delicate at first but that didn't last long.

A little on the eye to start

Hat had to come off because she started to get icing all over it

very happy about eating cake!

And it only got worse from here.....

She looks like she took a mud bath!

Thank God I took her outfit off!

She's pretty much the messiest eater I've ever seen!

But boy did she have fun!

We rounded up all the kids for a group shot....always a fun adventure!

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate Claire's 1st birthday! It was a blast!

Love Day

2011-02-14T20:47:00.003-05:00

Happy Love Day everyone! I am missing my valentine tonight. He is working and I am at home recovering from yet another cold (it's been a revolving door of sickness at our house this winter). Even though he is not here, I am thinking of him this evening. This is the man I have loved for almost 20 years now. He is my partner and my friend. He is a wonderful father to our girls. I love him now even more than I did this day: almost 12 years ago when we said I do. It's nice to know not just today, but everyday, how much I am loved. He loves me even with all of my faults and that is a wonderful thing.

He also gave me these two valentine's of mine:

How could I not love him even more for that?

I love you and this wonderful life we've created together! Thank you for being my valentine every day of the year!

Happy 1st Birthday Claire!

2011-02-05T23:36:00.008-05:00

My dearest Claire,

You are one year old today. I simply can't believe it. Seems like just weeks ago that I was holding my newborn baby girl. What a wonderful day on February 5, 2010, when you entered the world and changed our lives. You have been the sweetest and happiest baby from the moment you arrived. I treasured those first few days in the hospital, just you and me, getting to know each other. I felt like the most blessed woman in the world. Another precious daughter to love. God gave you to us and nothing could be better.

You were such a good baby. You had terrible reflux but you never let it get you too upset. You would spit up and just kept on smiling. You started smiling at around 4 weeks of age and haven't stopped. I've never seen a baby who smiles so much. Your joy is contagious. Going through your photos from the past year, it was hard to find one without you smiling.

We marvel at your every change. Your first steps, your first words. Your funny shrieks and your staccato belly laugh. Your toothy smile. How you feed yourself. How you can climb the stairs in a flash. You are in such a hurry to do everything. Crawling at 5 months, walking at 10 months, climbing anything you can. It is a challenge to keep up with you and you have hurt yourself more times than mommy cares to remember.

I look forward to watching you grow and change from the sweet baby in my arms into a thoughtful, intelligent woman. I have no wish for this change to happen quickly. A year has already passed too quickly though it has been the most wonderful, fun, and crazy year of my life. The days fly by, one mixing with the next. Each night, when I put you to sleep, I wish I could relive the day again, spend it with you once more.

I wish the time would not go so fast, that I could live in slow motion. I am keenly aware that very soon you will be heading to school with your little backpack, waving to me as you head out to learn and explore. But until that day, I feel fortunate to spend these years in your company, loving you and helping you learn, helping you to be a good person. Just as you have done for me.

It is incredible how much we love you. Our lives have not been the same since you arrived. We are not the same people. We are better because you are here. Your daddy, sister and I love you more than you could ever know.

Happy first birthday Claire bear!

Claire's 1st year slideshow from Jennifer S. on Vimeo.