New Spice

If you went to BYU (even for one semester) you have to watch this- and if you didn't, you will still find it funny even though it isn't your college library. This is funny!

Claire Turns One!

Last Friday- while in Logan- Claire turned ONE! She didn't seem to notice, though, which was good because we didn't really celebrate her actual Birthday.

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Before we left for Logan, we got together with Ben's family (my parents and siblings were invited, but none of them came- I'm not sure why...) to celebrate.

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We went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner- one we had never been to before. It was pretty good, and we had a great time.

After dinner, we went back to our place for cake and presents.

I made the same cake I made for Audra- a homemade carrot cake with lots of healthy ingredients like wheat germ and sunflower seeds. Audra LOVED her cake, but Claire- not so much. Basically she just tore it apart and threw it on the floor. Oh, well.

At the restaurant, Claire just wanted to walk around. She is REALLY getting around now! She started walking a little later than Audra, but she got proficient at walking MUCH faster. It's so funny, because everytime I see her walking I think, "but you're too LITTLE to be walking!" All goes back to her being so dang cute.

Now for her stats:

Height: 30.5 inches, 62%

Head Circumference (who REALLY cares about this stat???): 17.5, 31%

Weight: 17 lbs 10.5 oz, 5%

Umm...did you notice that weight percentage??? You read that right- FIFTH percentile! She has been around 40% or something, so I was like- WHAT?!? But, the doctor was not overly concerned-she said it is very common for babies' weight to drop when they start walking and simply said we just need to give her more calories each day. She said everything we are doing is perfect, so we are going to add one or two more snacks throughout the day and try to give her more dairy (because she is only nursing once a day but does not yet want a bottle of regular milk- the doctor wasn't even concerned about that, though, since I give her lots of yogurt and cheese to make up for it). At any rate, she is healthy and happy, so I won't stress too much over it since the doctor isn't at all worried. I do need to take her back in three months just to make sure she is gaining. I can't very well get her to stop walking, though, so I guess we just need to pump her with healthy but calorie filled food!

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She can now say "Audra"- much to the delight of her older sister! Audra LOVES Claire so incredibly much. Claire will sit on Audra's head, pull her hair, lay down on top of her, and Audra just laughs and laughs and laughs. It is really cute.

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I am trying to think of new things to add about Claire, but she is doing great in everything and there isn't anything new to report since I pretty much put everything on this blog anyway. We sure are grateful to have Claire in our lives, though!!! We love her soooooooo much!!!!!

Girls Weekend. With kids. And some husbands. So not really a girls weekend, but still a lot of fun.

Last Thursday I took on a suicide mission.
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I decided to drive to Logan, UT with Claire by myself. What was I thinking, you ask? Good question.
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I was thinking I need to take advantage of the opportunitites I have to see old friends- especially ones who have had such an important and life-changing impact on my life. The opportunities are so rare, I know I need to take them when I can. So when my college roommates decided it was time for us to get together again, I decided to go- regardless of the cost.
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And it was well worth it! There were 6 of us who lived together in college for 3 or 4 years, but established a bond that I am certain will last forever. It is harder with kids, but that's just the way life goes. And none of us would have it any other way.
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Claire was actually incredibly good for the drive. It is about 9 hours with the stops we took to Logan. She cried for about 2 hours off and on, but nothing uncontrollable. I purposely left incredibly early (5 AM) in the hopes she would sleep for a little longer. It worked on the way to Logan.
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Anyway, as usual- it was wonderful being with my old roommates. They are awesome! Plus, I got to meet their kids. They all have 1, all about age 2. I have 2 kids, with Claire being 1 (her Birthday was on Friday- what could be better than spending it on a roadtrip with strangers?). Claire was the youngest of the kiddo group.
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Claire was pretty much petrified the entire time. She has Ben's personality- she is overly shy and overwhelmed and completely out of sorts around strangers. She has a hard time warming up to them. Whereas Audra would have been perfectly fine after 15 minutes, Claire was whiny and ill-at-ease the entire 3 days.
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But, the trip was about me being able to see my old friends, and in that respect it was absolutely wonderful. Most of the activities revolved around activities for the kids and lots of catching up. It is so cool to see where all of us have come! Before we were just young kids trying to get through college- now we're mommies trying to get through life. I love these women- and I miss the ones who were unable to come!
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We are trying to get together every 2 years. I am incredibly grateful for that, just wishing it could be even more often.
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On Friday night we left the sleeping kiddos with the husbands and went and got "fu'zookies". They were delicious, and kept us gabbing until the very late hours. I was tired the next day, but it was worth it.

These are picture of Claire on Friday, her actual Birthday. We went to a little park with a zoo and then let the kids splash in the pool. Again she was shy, but she looked so dang cute!

Thanks for the fantastic weekend ladies- I can't wait for the next one!

I LOVE Being a MOM!!!!

I LOVE staying at home with my kids. I know some women do not, but I do!!!!! I love being able to see the little things that they do everyday. I love being the one to kiss their boo-boos. I love having them help me cook. I love teaching them to fold laundry (does that make me a mean mommy?). I love going to the park with them every day. I just LOVE being with them!!!

Granted, not every moment is rosy. Far from it! But, I love those moments as well because then I am the one who teaches them discipline. Or how to share. Or how to play nice. The worst day of being a mom, is, for me, still WAY better than the best day I ever had at work. I just LOVE it!

I was reminded of that today when I captured this video. I had to sneak so they wouldn't notice me, so you can't see Claire, but you can hear her. Make sure you turn the volume up so you can hear it.

It is so sweet because yesterday as we were driving to Daddy's soccer game, I said to Claire, "Say Mama!" and Audra yelled, "NO! Don't say mama! I don't want Claire to say 'Mama'!"

So to hear Audra teaching Claire to say Mama today just stole my heart. I am so glad I was home to hear it!

Milestones

I am going to count Monday June 28th as Claire's official start of walking. This is the day where instead of taking 1-2 steps once a day, she really started walking again, and again, and again. Even though it was still just a few steps here and there, it was continuous throughout the day, so that's why I will count it as her first official day of officially walking.

Unfortunately, getting video of her walking was incredibly difficult. She would see the camera and just want that and lose her focus. But, I tried. The above video was taken on the 28th.

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The below video was taken on the 29th. She is very whiny in the video- it's because she wanted the camera, but I wanted her to walk. I am such a mean mommy, I know.

Then, I finally got around to getting Audra her 3-year check up last week. She weighs 31 lbs. and is in the 51st percentile. She is 37 inches tall and in the 61st percentile for height. Tall and skinny, that's both our girls. She got 3 more shots, but didn't mind because she got hot pink band-aids and a sticker.

Great Deal This Week

I got all this...

for .99! I'm a stay-at-home-mom, guys- sometimes

I have to brag about the small stuff! Some peoples' thrills come from

dining with royalty or earning huge bonus' at work,

but not me- mine come from getting a bargain!

CSA

Some of you have asked about our CSA, so I thought I would put a little information about ours on here.
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Basically, a CSA is a local farm which you invest in and reap the benefits of. Whatever is grown, you get a portion of. Everything is organic and local- thus making for healthier food and a better situation for the environment.
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We decided to join because we wanted to support our local farms and economy, not get our produce from Mexico or Chile or somewhere else where there are no regulations in regards to pesticides, and we loved the idea of being invested in local produce. Cost-wise it is about the same as what I am currently spending- maybe 2 or 3 dollars more a week, but not much at all.
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The food is delivered to one central neighborhood area each week. You simply go and pick up the food and enjoy the benefits of the whatever the crop has yielded!
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It is also nice because they send out a weekly e-mail giving updates on what is happening on the farm, as well as recipes for how to use the food they gave you that week. You can go and visit the farm if you want, though it is located a couple hours away from us so we probably won't this year. It is very family friendly.
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Here is part of an e-mail they just sent out:
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Every member of a veggie share is equal to about HALF a pallet of veggies being taken off the road annually from being sent out of state, and instead have placed them into your homes for you, your friends and family. You have been responsible for keeping Colorado produce in Colorado. Too many Colorado farms have to look outside of their home state to find homes for their hard work, due to so much produce coming in daily from California and Mexico. The survival of all farms is to rethink our buying habits as a whole, to sever the cord to grocery stores and the consolidation it promotes and look directly to the farm and the people actually growing the food we eat.

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Anyway, if you are interested in joining, click HERE for more information. Or, you can e-mail me:)