Claire's Spa Day

For Claire's third birthday, I treated her to a "spa day". Miss Whitney cut her hair and then she had a mani/pedi! She LOVED it all and sat very still for all her pampering!! Miss Whitney gives Claire a sucker before she starts cutting to keep her occupied during her haircut!

Soaking her hands before her manicure!

Anna was content to just watch! That may change soon!!!

Livin' large!!

Such a cooperative girl!

Ohh la la!! Claire got to pick out the polish color and chose a bright pink!

On to the pedicure!

Showing off her pretty nails!

Look at those cute piggies!

What a pose! I think she enjoyed her spa day!!

My Sweet Girls

I had to share these sweet pictures of my girls!! I never imagined how fun it would be to dress up TWO little girls and do their hair. I am so thankful that the Lord entrusted these girls into my care!

They really do LOVE each other... it's so sweet!

Run, Forrest, Run!!!

Claire looks like an angel!!!

Future All Star

It's so fun to watch your children grow and develop! As Anna has gotten older, Ben & I have really noticed Anna's natural love for BALLS! She has a natural athletic ability that we started noticing when she was a little baby (she started rolling over at nine weeks). She is so agile and very coordinated. We definitely observed her climbing abilities early on and her athletic talents are evident as she gets bigger! We are hoping for some sort of full ride scholarship for this little All Star!

A little golf anyone?

Pulling the flag stick for Daddy's put!

Grammy got Anna a basketball hoop and these pictures are from her first time playing some b-ball!

That's an impressive lay up, Anna!

My Dad is going to LOVE these photos! She has the McDowell b-ball skills!

Slam Dunk!

I love how you can see the smile on Anna's face! She is having FUN!!

She's a natural!

More golfing!!

I love it!

60th Birthday

On July 28th, my Mom celebrated her BIG 6-0! We all celebrated on her actual birthday by going out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. The only person we were missing was Shawn, who was out of town on business! We love you, Mom! Thank you for all you do for our family!! Happy 60th Birthday!!

The cake we had made for her... YUMMY and cute!

These two girls= T-R-O-U-B-L-E!!

Claire & Caroline with Papa!

Papa with his four oldest grandgirls!

Our big, LOUD group. Ben said he saw people asking to move to another location. Oops!!

The birthday girl with ALL seven of her grandchildren!

Catherine's 1st Birthday

My sweet little niece, Catherine, turned one on July 29th! She had a fun birthday party that I was, unfortunately, unable to attend due to the fact that I was recovering from a surgical procedure. Ben took the girls and they had a great time! Ben was able to get a few cute pictures that I wanted to share! I love the birthday girl's tutu!

Uncle Scott with two silly little girls!

Cat LOVED her cake!!

I think the highlight of the party for the kids was the pinata! Lots of yummy candy! Happy 1st Birthday, Catherine! We love you!!!

Buld-A-Bear

I knew I wanted to do something special for Claire when she successfully gave up her paci, but I didn't know exactly what to do. Well, my cousin gave me the GREAT idea to go to Build-A-Bear and have Claire put one of her pacifiers inside the bear as it was being stuffed. PERFECT! I loved the idea and Claire really enjoyed her first Build-A-Bear experience!

The Birthday Girl!

We went with Claire's Nuna and older cousins, Connor, Lauren & Jillian!

Claire holding on to her paci! (the worker was actually very nice even though it looks like she is growling at Claire!!).

Claire putting her paci in the bear and helping to stuff it!

Picking out a "heart" for her paci bear!

It was so cute... they had Claire rub the bear's heart on her heart (love), head (brains), ear (hear), elbow (funny bone), nose (make a wish) before putting it in her bear! She loved that part!

Giving her bear a bath!

We spent a lot of time bathing the bear!

Miss Anna getting in on the action!

Nuna helping Claire put the carrier on so she can carry her bear EVERYWHERE!

Claire with "Cassie" the paci bear! She came up with that name on her own... so funny that it rhymes with paci! We even got a birth certificate for Cassie!

Goodbye Paci

So... we are back up and running! I am so behind on blogging so here is the start of my blogging marathon!

Claire gave up her beloved pacifier (paci) when she turned three. We talked about it for months leading up to her birthday so she would understand that she would no longer have her paci once she was a BIG three year old girl! She did really well considering she was a huge paci girl! She was only able to use it at nap time and at night, but it was a huge source of comfort for her. It was harder than I anticipated for ME to take that comfort item away from her. I told Ben, if it was a blanky or a stuffed animal we would never think of taking it away, but we have to take her comfort item away and it seemed cruel to me. Thankfully, she has adapted very well without it. The first week she needed extra hugs, kisses and cuddle time from Mommy & Daddy, and there were tears shed (from both me & Claire), but two months later you would never even know she was a paci girl! I am constantly amazed at Claire's ability to adapt. She is very mature for her age and I am so proud of her!

Some of the pacifiers Claire rounded up in the house and put in the bag to take to the trash (we told her the trash man was going to take the paci's to little boys & girls that didn't have any!).

Claire pleaded with me to let her "put my paci in my mouth one last time". How could I say "no" to that??

I tear up when I see this picture. I will never forget this sweet paci face. I'll never see it again and I admit... it makes me SAD. My baby is growing up.

After about three minutes, Claire decided on her own to put the paci back in the bag and take it to the trash can.

I have titled this picture "The Green Mile".

Goodbye Old Friend!