9th Anniversary

On Wednesday, July 25th, Ben and I celebrated our 9th anniversary. In a lot of ways it seems like we have been married longer than 9 years. We started dating when we were 16 years old so we have been together almost half of our lives. I can't remember life before Ben was in it! We were fortunate enough to find each other at a young age and we are an example of a "high school sweetheart" success story! Ben is such a wonderful and attentive husband and father. I couldn't ask for a better partner to have in life. He takes great care of his family and anyone that knows him, knows he is a hard worker and excellent at what he does! Thanks babe, for 9 years of fun, traveling, just being together and the most recent (& best) chapter in our life... parenthood! I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else! I love you, Happy Anniversary!!

Prom 1994
Look at that hair! That is some BIG hair & I have braces. Look at how skinny Ben is in this picture, he almost looks sick! It is amazing what 13 years can do!


This is the Christmas after we got engaged. Ben proposed on September 5, 1997 in Cincinnati on a horse drawn carriage ride! A lot less hair for me (and the only time in my life when I had bangs... not good!) and Ben has definitely gained a few pounds!

Our wedding day... July 25, 1998 at the Dayton Art Institute. It was a beautiful July day, mid 70's with big, billowing clouds and just perfect!


Tonight we celebrated our anniversary by going to the new steakhouse, Flemings, at The Greene. It was DELICIOUS and we highly recommend it! This picture was taken before we left for dinner.


Our family!!!

Butterfly Festival

Saturday we went to the Butterfly Festival at Cox Arboretum. Claire is still a little young to really understand and appreciate the butterflies, but it was such a pretty day we wanted to spend some time outside! It was nice to get out and enjoy the beauty of nature!!

Daddy & Claire playing at a park near the festival!

Whooo... down the slide we go!

After the festival we ate at Bravo. Claire LOVED the food, especially the spaghetti! Sorry, the pictures are a little out of order!

They had mounted police at the festival and Claire had her first up close encounter with a horse! One of the police officers was nice enough to let her sit on the horse with him. She was definitely a bit more leery of the officer than the horse!

We ran in to some friends of ours at the festival. Miranda's daddy, Kelly, worked with Ben at Arthur Andersen back in the day! I had a hard time getting the girls to look at the camera!

Daddy & Claire inside the butterfly house!

One of the pretty Monarch butterflies in the house.

One Year Pictures

I took a bazillion pictures of Claire in her birthday outfit yesterday (yes... another birthday outfit!!). I didn't have enough room in the last post for all the pictures I liked! So here they are...

Always exploring! Claire really enjoys being outdoors. She picks up every leaf, stick, piece of mulch, rock, etc; that she can find! Usually she is pretty good about not putting things in her mouth! She does, however, love the apples that fall from our apple tree. She especially likes them if a squirrel has already taken a few bites... YUCK!

Hey, look Ma, I'm lookin' pretty cool in your sunglasses!

My two favorite girls in the whole world!!

Another picture of Claire with her "baby"!!

12 Month Quilt Pictures

It is so hard for me to believe that our baby is a year old now. Claire turned one on July 16th. As cliche as I know it sounds, the time has flown by. I really think this past year has been the quickest year of my life. I know when we have our second baby in several months the time will go even faster!
I took Claire to the doctor on her birthday for her 12 month well check! Once again, we have only great news to report. The doctor said she has been one of the healthiest one year olds he has seen. No visits to him except her well checks. We are SO thankful for a year of great health. We pray for continued health and protection for our girl. Claire weighed in at 21.8 lbs (60th percentile), 30.25 inches long (85th percentile) and she fell into the 80th percentile for her head circumference. She is definitely continuing on the path of being long & lean. The doctor said she is ahead of the game developmentally since she began walking at 11 months and some of the other activities she does is slightly advanced. She is such a sweet girl! She still eats and sleeps like a champ. She is very easy to discipline, responding well to verbal correction. I thought she was going to be a strong-willed child, but she seems to be very laid back and tenderhearted! I love staying at home with her and just being her mommy! She is a constant source of love, joy and entertainment!

This is the last month for quilt pictures! I will post a collage of every month since her newborn picture to show how much she has grown!!

A few pics from her 1 year check-up!

" Hey mom... what is this thing?? Looks very interesting. Maybe someday I will be in the medical profession like you!"

Claire walking around the waiting room... always on the move now!

Just Claire!

Some cute birthday shots of Claire over the last few days!

Claire in her birthday dress! She wore it to her party on Saturday and then to church the next morning. I'm trying to get my money's worth!!

Claire carrying around her new gift... her baby!

(Can I just add that Daddy was taking care of Claire while I was at work yesterday evening, which would explain the dirty shirt and no pants. Enough said...)

I used huge Care Bear balloons to decorate for her party! I saved one for her to play with afterward. You can see how big it is compared to Claire. She wasn't too sure...

Claire walks all the time now. She never crawls anymore. I can't believe how quickly she progressed. She is so steady now and rarely falls!

Of course, she pulled her birthday bow out!

Mommy, Daddy & Claire

Our little family....