Family Outing

Today we went to Columbus to see some of Ben's family from the Akron area. We met at Easton and ate lunch there and hung out with his family for awhile. We don't get to see them often so it was nice to catch up!

Grandpa & Claire

Me & Claire with Ben's Aunt Linda & Uncle Tom


Ben with cousin Kelly, Aunt Diane, Aunt Linda, cousin Ron and his wife Rachel.

Aunt Linda and cousin Kelly. Kelly lives and works as an attorney in Columbus. She is running in the Columbus marathon tomorrow! Good luck Kelly!!!

3 of the 5 Cutting siblings: Diane, Tom (Grandpa) and Linda. Their other brother Bob lives in California and sister Pat in Florida.

Diane & Claire. Claire was very interested in Diane's necklace!

15 Months!

Today Claire turned 15 months old. WOW... it really amazes me how quickly she has grown. It is almost hard to remember her as a little newborn. There is absolutely no question she is no longer a baby, but a full fledged toddler. This is by far my favorite time so far. Everyday is something new. It seems she is using a new word all the time. She has quite a vocabulary and is starting to put two words together. A few of the daily words she uses is... of course mama and dada, plus she says baby(everyone under the age of 4 or so is a baby to her) , bow (yes, meaning hair bow! Is it any wonder that bow is one of her first words!!!), bye-bye, papa (for Grandpa), cookie, thank you (doesn't quite have the "th" sound, but that's a hard one), doggie, ball, bite, more and a couple others that I can't think of right now! We went to see Dr. Denen last week for her well check and he said she is advanced with her speech. Ben commented that with a very verbal mom like me, how could she not! At her Dr. visit she weighed in at 23 pounds (50th percentile) and 32 inches long (90th percentile). She is still continuing on the long & lean side.
We are so thankful for our girl and I truly enjoy staying home with her and just being Claire's mommy right now. There is no place else I would rather be and I understand how important it is to be here for her. This precious time is fleeting and I don't want to miss a thing!

Claire has become very maternal recently and loves to feed her babies a bottle. She is always hugging & kissing her babies. It's so sweet! I hope she is this kind to her baby sister!

Claire was in a very silly mood this afternoon! I love all these pictures! What a silly goose!!!

Trip to Illinois

Yesterday we made a very quick trip to Illinois to see my brother Shawn and Kristen, Connor, Lauren and Jillian. They moved there over 2 months ago and we hadn't been out to visit and see their house. Thankfully though, they have made many return visits back to Dayton so we have been able to see them pretty frequently!

We had a great time visiting with them and they have a beautiful home. I was shocked at how quickly Kristen got the house decorated and organized. It really looked like they had been there for 2 years, not 2 months. She is great at making a house feel like a home! Thanks guys for letting us stay with you! We had a great time and can't wait to do again!

Their home!

Hanging out with my family!

Shawn & Kristen preparing dinner!

Claire reading the newspaper with Uncle Shawn!

Lauren took this cute picture of Claire!

Claire recently discovered her belly button and she was showing everyone her new found discovery!

Love My Cousins!

Some cute cousin pictures! The kids spent a lot of time playing outside and I was able to get some adorable shots of them together! Claire is definitely entertained by her older cousins antics! They are always able to get her to smile and giggle!

The girls swinging!

The girls are dancing to a Toby Mac song!

Lauren & Claire

Connor & Claire

Jillian, Claire & Ollie giving kisses!

LOVE this picture of Connor, Lauren, Jillian & Claire! We are just missing our 5th cousin Caroline to make this the perfect picture! Hopefully we can all get there at the same time for a cousin picture on the slide!

Ollie is giving Claire a wet kiss in this picture!! That Ollie!

Big Girl Swinging!

Claire wanted desperately to swing on the the kids swing set, but they don't have a baby swing so we decided to let her try the big kids swing and at first we just held onto her. She learned very quickly to grip the swing and was able to be pushed without someone holding her. She was so proud of herself and wanted to swing ALL the time. She would stand at the back door and whine until we let her out and then would run for the swings! It was so cute!! Unlike her cousin Caroline, she wasn't thrilled with the trampoline so she spent the majority of her outdoor time swinging! Ben and I both commented on what a big girl she looked like on the swing all by herself! I guess I have to come to grips with the fact that my baby is not a baby anymore!!

Not so sure what this face was all about!!

BIG GIRL!!!

Ollie the Cutie!!!

Shawn & Kristen (& the kids!), have the cutest Springer Spaniel ever! I have mentioned Oliver before, but he really is such a cute and sweet dog. He is perfect for their family and they just adore him. They adopted him as a baby from the Humane Society last year. Boy did they find a wonderful pound puppy!
I had to post some pictures so you can see for yourself how adorable he is! Claire loved playing with him and he definitely enjoyed giving Claire all sorts of puppy kisses!

Boy... this cool grass is feeling good!

I am so comfy... I may just fall asleep.

Almost asleep...

And he's down for the count! I was amazed at how quickly Ollie fell asleep. There were kids playing and screaming and I was standing there taking pictures and he was out in minutes. It was pretty funny. He's such a laid back puppy!

Tooth Fairy

As soon as we got to their house, Jillian showed me her front tooth that was literally hanging on by a thread. Kristen finally convinced Jillian that evening to yank it out and from what Jilli said it didn't hurt too bad! It bled just a little and then she was able to eat the things she wanted again! That night the tooth fairy came and left her $2 for her tooth. Shawn and I both wondered what happened to the days of getting a quarter for your tooth. I guess $2 is the going rate these days. Wow... how times have changed. I must be getting old!!!

Happy First Birthday Caroline!

Last Saturday we went to my niece Caroline's first birthday party! She turned one on October 1st. It is so hard to believe she is a year old! She is such a sweetie and is learning and doing something new everyday! It has been fun to watch her progress from a helpless newborn to a busy toddler! We love her so much and are so thankful she is apart of our family! Happy 1st Birthday Caroline! Your party was a lot of fun and we LOVED the pink poodle theme. Your Mommy did a great job planning your party!! We can't wait to celebrate many, many more birthday's with you!!!

"I Am"

I recently purchased Nichole Nordeman's greatest hits CD and came upon a song I hadn't heard in quite a while. You know how songs just move you at different times in your life? I always really liked this song and thought it was beautiful, but this time it just really touched my heart. I felt very connected to it. The name of the song is called "I Am". It just talks about how the Lord is there for you through every stage of your life. From a little child until death, He is always there in different forms. As a child He is your superhero, as a teenager your best friend, as a stressed out parent or career person He is a shepherd and at the end of life a comforter. How reassuring to know that no matter what you need the Lord is there.

I had the privilege to see Nichole sing at The Women of Faith conference several years ago in Columbus. She is an amazingly talented singer/songwriter/pianist. Her music always inspires and encourages me! If you want to hear the song you can click on the link below. The video is kind of cheesy, but you can just listen!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieVIW_NQoH0

Here are the lyrics...

Pencil marks on a wall, I wasn't always this tall

You scattered some monsters from beneath my bed

You watched my team win

You watched my team lose

Watched when my bicycle went down again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said, Elbow Healer, Superhero

Come if You can

You said, I Am

Only sixteen, life is so mean

What kind of curfew is at 10pm?

You saw my mistakes

And watched my heart break

Heard when I swore I'd never love again

And when I was weak, unable to speak

Still I could call You by name

And I said Heartache Healer, Secret Keeper

Be my best friend

And you said, I Am

You saw me wear white by pale candlelight

I said forever to what lies ahead

Two kids and a dream, with kids that can scream

Too much it might seem when it is 2am

And when I am weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Shepherd, Savior, Pasture Maker

Hold onto my hand

You say, I Am

The winds of change and circumstance blow in and all around us

So we find a foothold that's familiar

And bless the moments that we feel You nearer

When life had begun, I was woven and spun

You let the angels dance around the throne

And who can say when, but they'll dance again

When I am free and finally headed home

I will be weak, unable to speak

Still I will call You by name

Creator, Maker, Life Sustainer

Comforter, Healer, my Redeemer

Lord and King, Beginning and the End

I Am

Yes, I Am

Boonshoft Get Together

Friday I got a little group together to go to the Boonshoft Museum. We are so fortunate to have such a great kid's museum in our area! I was so impressed with the exhibits and activities available to the kids. Caroline (my niece), Landon , Anna and Claire had a great time playing and exploring! Their Mommies had fun hanging out and watching the kids interact. We will definitely be making a return visit soon!

I was shocked that Claire went through this long, winding tunnel! At one point in the middle she kind of screamed out, but I called her name and she came crawling through! It was so cute!

The museum had an animal exhibit called "Wild Ohio" and had all the native Ohio animals. It was really nice! Claire was most enamored with the Coyote. I'm sure because he looks like a dog! The other kids were on to the next animal and Claire was still looking at the Coyote. I literally had to carry her away!

Oh... and she liked the little black fox as well. I wonder why?!?!

My favorite was the Otter exhibit! Boonshoft has two ADORABLE Otters and I mean adorable. They are so cute. We all commented on how much we wanted to take them home! It was about feeding time for them so they were right by the window ready to eat! As you can see Claire & Caroline were very interested in the cute creatures!

Landon & Claire hugging!

The crew "digging for fossils"!

Claire is pointing to Landon's nose in this picture. She is learning all the parts of the face so she is constantly pointing to people's nose, eyes, lips, teeth...

I love this picture of Claire, Landon, Anna and Caroline peeking through the back of the truck! So cute!

After Boonshoft, Heather and I took the girls to my parents house to visit and my Dad made his famous pizza for dinner! I think this picture of Claire and Papa is so sweet! Claire loves to say "Papa" now. It's her new favorite word!

It's a GIRL!

Today I had my 4D ultrasound and we were keeping our fingers crossed that our baby would be a little less modest so we could find out if we were going to have a little boy or girl. Well, we got our wish because as soon as the tech started scanning me she said "Oh, this is DEFINITELY a girl!". I really thought she was still getting things calibrated on her computer when she announced the news. I was shocked she could tell so quickly, but the tech said the baby had her legs wide open. The funny thing is she kept her little knees together for the rest of the ultrasound so we caught her right in the nick of time!! We had a great time getting a sneak peak of our girl. My parents, Ben's parents and my nieces Lauren & Jillian went with us and then we went out to eat to MiMi's Cafe afterward. It's so nice just knowing so we can really start planning and getting things prepared! We didn't care one way or the other... just praying for a healthy, happy baby! So far she looks very healthy!!!

Our family at the restaurant after the ultrasound! I am holding a picture of our newest girl and a onesie from Grammy that says "Little Sister"!

How cute am I???

Look at her little hand by her face! So sweet!

Maybe if I hide they will go away?

These people don't give up easily! I guess I'll give them a cute shot of me!!! (Her little lips are purced and mouth open!)