Happy Birthday Ryan!

I found this baby picture of Ryan and couldn't resist posting it. How cute was he??? I am not sure how old he was in it, but I think Claire kind of looks like him! Happy 29th birthday Ryan!! We love you!

Happy Birthday Claire!

Abby and Claire the day she was born.


Claire at 6 weeks.

Claire at 1 year.


Our Claire Bear turns 2 today. It is hard to imagine life without Claire and it seems like she has been around longer than 2 years. It is funny because Abby now has hardly any memory without her being in it. Claire was a very difficult baby and infant. It seems like it has been a long road with her to get to where we are now. But, she brings so much joy into our lives!! I thought I would give you some little known facts about her...
~Claire talks from sun up to sun down (and sometimes in her sleep)~ She loves music and I couldn't even count the number of songs she knows.~Her favorite food is spaghetti.~Her favorite movie is Alvin and the Chipmunks.~ She is strong willed.~She can count to 17.~ She can frequently be found telling Abby what to do.~ She does not have a shy bone in her body. ~She loves to play with play dough.~ She can converse with you like an adult.~She knows most of her shapes. ~She loves her grandparents! ~She told Abby yesterday that she was being rude. ~She loves puzzles ~She is learning her colors. ~She sleeps with her lamb (snuggles) EVERY night. ~She is a sugar addict.~ She usually sleeps 15 hours a day. ~She makes me laugh all day, every day! ~ She frequently throws tantrums to get what she wants. ~ She is lost without her sissy. ~ I often wonder what crazy thing she will say or do next. ~ She loves to snuggle with her mommy!

Florida

The girls and I spent last week in Sarasota Florida with my Dad and Grandma. Ryan could not take the week off work, so it was just us girls. I was a little nervous about taking them all by myself, mainly because my children do not sleep well anywhere but their own bed. But temperatures in the 70's outweighed my fears. The flight is only 2 hours and they did very well (with the help of a dvd player). The weather was georgous all week except a couple of days was mid 60's. We took advantage of it and were outside the entire week. We went to the beach everyday and in spite of cold water temps, Abby jumped right in. Claire was content as usual to sit on the beach and play in the sand. Abby really got into collecting shells and we ended up with bags full (most stayed in Florida) We also went to an aquarium. They rescue injured sea animals and bring them back to make them better then release them. It was very cool and Claire and Abby still talk about it constantly. By far, the biggest hit was the gigantic sea turtles. It was so nice to simply be outside walking and get my daily dose of vitamin D!! Hopefully this will make the winter seem a little more tolerable and faster. Poor Ryan got a little stir crazy being by himself all week. Luckily he had work to keep him out of trouble. Don't worry, in spite of his boredom, you will not see any crazy videos pop up on the blog!

Winter fun!

At the first sight of snowfall this year, I promised Abby we could go outside and play in it. She was DYING to go outside and play. I bundled the girls up in their snowsuits and off we went. Here is Abby making a snow angel.


Claire was not into it as much as Abby was. She was having fun for about 15 minutes and then stood in the garage and cried the rest of the time.

This picture of Claire cracks me up. Her snow suit was absolutely hilarious. The picture does not fully do it justice. She looked like a sumo wrestler.