10 Months Old

Claire turned 10 months old on May 16th. I can't believe she is in the double digit months now and that her first birthday is just around the corner! Time has truly gone by so quickly. She has blossomed so much in the last month. She "talks" all the time, she's cruising along the furniture like a pro and is even standing by herself for short periods. She is such a sweet girl and rarely fusses. She sleeps 12-13 hours at night and takes 2-4 hours in naps a day. She is a great sleeper, but let me tell you when she's awake, she is on the move. There is no stopping Claire! She also LOVES to eat and doesn't refuse anything. I don't think she ever gets full!! We really are having so much fun with her and so thankful that she has been entrusted into our care!

She has her fingers in her mouth all the time. It's kind of a new thing. Maybe her upper teeth are coming in???

"Just let me know when you're done taking pictures mommy."

I'm starting to get this look a lot from Miss Claire.

Cousin Fun!

Last week Mommy took me over to Aunt Heather & Uncle Scott's house so I could play with my Cousin Caroline. We had so much fun and now that we are getting older you barely notice the 11 week difference. Caroline is crawling and even pulling herself up! I can't wait to spend more time with her this summer!!

Just a few new pictures of Claire. I haven't posted in a while because I haven't felt great. Claire just turned 10 months old (I will get her 10 month quilt pics up SOON!!!). She started pulling herself up and cruising around the furniture a week or so ago. She actually lets go and stays standing for several seconds. We aren't sure if she even realizes what she's doing yet! It is so cute to watch her develop and grow everyday! I don't think it will be too much longer before she's walking!

Great Grandparents

Over the weekend we went to Cedarville to visit my Grandparents (Claire's Great Grandparents). Neither one of them are doing well so every time we go I try to get pictures of them with Claire. We are so thankful to have 3 of our 4 Great Grandparents living and close by. Hopefully they will be around for a long time to come!

Happy Mother's Day To Me x2

Happy Mother's Day! I think it is the PERFECT day to announce that Ben & I have a second baby on the way! Baby Cutting is due December 29th. This was definitely a bit of surprise (yes, we do know how this happens!!), but God's timing is perfect! Claire and the baby will be about 18 months apart. We went to see my OB, Dr. Kilian, last week and I had an ultrasound and we were able to see the baby's heartbeat! Everything looks very healthy with the baby and the pregnancy. We were fortunate enough to get both sides of our family together today after church to celebrate Mother's Day and that's when we broke the good news! We gave everyone a picture of Claire wearing a onesie that said "Claire is gonna be a BIG sister!" and a picture of the ultrasound. It was so exciting!!

Please pray for God's protection over our baby. We don't care at all if it is a boy or a girl, just for a healthy baby. We are so excited to expand our family and of course can't wait to see and hold our precious baby! God has truly blessed us beyond what we could hope for and deserve!

The three of us right after we told our families we are expecting a second addition!

This is the picture we gave to our family! I had this onesie made for her on eBay (of course!!!).

I love this guy!! Here is a picture of Claire with the man that delivered her... Dr. Kilian! Claire went with us to our first appointment. We forgot to get a picture of him holding her after her birth. Better late than never, I guess!!

Furry Skurry 2007

Today we went to the Furry Skurry at Riverscape and walked 3 miles along the river! The walk benefited The Humane Society of Greater Dayton. We try to go every year to support the Humane Society... a cause very dear to my heart! I love to support any sort of animal welfare charity! TEAM Greyhound had a booth there so we were able to show off our beautiful Greyhound to lots of interested people. It was a wonderful way to get the word out about Greyhound rescue & adoption! What a pretty day for a walk and there was an excellent turn out for a great cause! We LOVE animals!!!

Sophie stopping off at one of the many cooling stations during the 3 mile walk!

Family Picture!!

Sophie cooling down after the walk in one of the baby pools! Molly is the black lab in the other pool and she belongs to Pam, a friend and co-worker in the NICU! It was nice seeing friends!

We found Sophie's long lost twin! Actually... we started talking and realized the Sophie and her look alike "Crackles" have the same father. No wonder they look so much alike! It's a small Greyhound world!

Oh my goodness... look at these sweet puppies that are up for adoption! They were SO cute. You just wanted to take them all home! Claire loved looking at all the doggies! She is definitely a dog lover like her mamma!!

Ben was able to catch up with a friend he worked with!

Daddy & his girls!

9 Month Professional Pictures

Yesterday Claire had her 9 month pictures taken by Kim McCloud! She has taken Claire's pictures in the past and always does such a great job. These are just a sneak peek of the pictures Kim took and the ones she posted on her blog ( www.kimmccloud.blogspot.com/). We went to Cox Arboretum and yesterday was a perfect day for picture taking! We couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather! I will post a link to view all the pictures when Kim is done editing!

Claire's Pillowcase Dresses

Over the last couple of months I have purchased several pillowcase dresses and other handmade clothing items on eBay (imagine that!!). I actually just happened upon the dresses when I was looking at little girl stuff on eBay and fell in love with them! I really liked them because they are unique and something not every baby girl is wearing! Now believe me... I LOVE, love Gymboree clothes and Baby Gap and The Children's Place, but it is fun to get something a little different sometimes and to be original. I also loved these dresses because they are handmade and a lot times they will monogram a name or initials on the dress which is just adorable! My mom (Nuna) said these would be very easy to make so maybe we can talk her in to making more for Claire!! My plan was to have Claire model all of the dresses, but she really didn't want anything to do with that so I just took pictures of the rest!! Aren't these dresses just too cute??? This one has her name embroidered!

This is a pillowcase top with matching capri's... one of my favorites!

This is a sweet little dress with Claire's initials monogrammed on it!

To Grandpa's Work!

Grammy & I took Claire to Grandpa's work yesterday for a carry-in lunch they were having. Grandpa was definitely looking forward to showing off "his girl" to all of his co-workers. Everyone knew all about Claire and had seen hundreds of pictures of her already!! He is very much a proud Grandpa!

Claire was able to meet several other kids while we were there!

Swim Class

Yesterday Grammy went with us to our Baby Bubblers class and was able to take some picture of me & Claire in the water together! Claire really enjoys the class and seems to be a natural in the water!