Reading Time

We have quite an extensive collection of books! I actually started buying books for my future children when Ben & I were first married. Ben put together a bookcase in Claire's room for some of her books. They all don't fit in there! Everyday, multiple times a day, Claire pulls half of her books out of the case and looks at them! I read to her a lot and have since she was a newborn. She loves to flip the pages and loves the textured books or the ones with flaps! It's so cute to see her get so excited about books!

PLAY TIME!

I got some comments about being a blog slacker, so I took some pictures today even though we really weren't doing much! Just some cute pictures of Claire doing what she loves best... PLAYING! She is such a great little "player". She has a really long attention span and can play by herself for long periods of time, although I am usually on the ground playing with her! We have so much fun! She has become VERY active. Ben & I are amazed at how quickly she can get from point A to point B! It can be scary at times. You cannot take your eyes off her for a second! She is really close to pulling herself to a standing position, any day now I'm sure! What a fun age! So many people have told me 9 months to a year is so exciting and they are right!

This pic shows her balance. She gets that right leg up like this all the time! Watch out!

Claire's "quick crawl"... boy, is she ever fast!

Claire loves playing with my exercise ball! She pulls herself up on it and tries to eat it and bangs on it. It's quite a scene!

This is her bad habit. Claire loves to pull herself up onto the entertainment center and play with all the fun buttons!

Family Ties

Ben's Aunt Mary, her husband Fazel and their two boys Michael & Matthew came in from Washington state for Grandpa Shepherd's 80th birthday celebration in Columbus over the weekend. Afterward, they drove to Grammy & Grandpa's house and spent several days with them. We visited with them a couple times since we don't get to see them often. We keep saying when Claire is a little older we will have to make a trip out to Port Angeles, Washington to visit. They live in a beautiful house on the Pacific Ocean. Ben & I were able visit them a couple years ago and would love to go back!

Surprise Train Ride

As a special surprise Grammy arranged a train ride for Grandpa Shepherd's 80th birthday. He LOVES trains and builds model trains as a hobby. He was very surprised and a bit overwhelmed when he found out he was going on a private train ride. Normally they don't begin the rides until later in the year when it was warmer, but made an exception for Grandpa! Needless to say, he was thrilled. The Columbus Dispatch had a reporter & photographer on the train with us. There will be a write up in Tuesday's edition of The Columbus Dispatch and we are hoping one of the picture's of Claire will make it in! Here are a few pics from the train ride. I will post a picture with the whole family in front of the train when I get it!

The family on the train!

Daddy & Uncle Brad on the train.

Great-Grandpa Shepherd, Grandpa, Daddy & Claire (Claire slept most of the ride!)

Grandpa & Claire

I have to add this cute comment from one of Ben's little cousins... Casey said to me "Michele, your baby is so cute. She looks just like Uncle Tom (Grandpa). I think you can see it in this pic! She definitely is a Cutting baby!

The family about to board the train.

Grandpa Shepherd, Uncle John & one of the conductors.

Grandpa Shepherd 80th Birthday

This weekend we went to Columbus to celebrate Great-Grandpa Shepherd's 80th birthday (Ben's Grandpa). All of his children, their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there to help him celebrate! It had been a long time since the WHOLE family was together and it was the first time for a lot of Ben's family to see Claire! We had a wonderful time! Thanks to Grammy for all the time & energy organizing this special event!

Great-Grandpa Shepherd & Claire

Grammy & Claire

Aunt Beth & Claire

Uncle Brad made the long drive from Atlanta to be with us for the birthday celebration.

The hotel had an indoor pool and it was Claire's first time swimming! She loved it! She already has an excellent swimming kick and definitely has the McDowell love for swimming in her! I can't wait to teach her how to swim! Maybe she'll be like her Mommy and join the swim team when she is older!

Good Friday

Today is a such special day as we reflect on the crucifixion of Jesus. It is amazing to me that Jesus was born to die and that he died for us so that we may have to opportunity to live eternally in Heaven with the Lord. On Easter we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. HE LIVES! Isn't that awesome! I pray for all my friends and family that they know personally the depth of love that my Lord has for you. That he sent his ONLY son to die on the cross so we won't perish, but have everlasting life in heaven. It's so simple and it's a free gift. Christ paid our debt on Calvary. He would have died on that cross if you had been the only person in the world. That is hard for me to wrap my head around, but it's true! Thank you Lord for the cross and your ultimate sacrifice.

We went to the Good Friday service at church tonight and afterward Claire opened up her Easter basket from Grammy & Grandpa. We are going to be out of town this weekend so she opened it a little early!

Landon's Train & Pets

While visiting with Landon, Claire took a quick ride on his new train. She liked it for a few minutes, but we waited until the end of our visit to go on the train and Claire was tired and a little fussy. Claire also enjoyed petting Landon's three pets. Cyrus the cat, Hoppie the bunny and Brody the Scottish Terrier. I neglected to get a picture of Claire with Brody... next time though!!

Play Date

This afternoon Claire & I went over to Deanna & Landon's house to play and see Landon's new train. Our friend Elisabeth was there with her daughter Tessa! Claire had a lot of fun playing and eating Cheerios!

Thanks Landon for sharing your snack!

Hey Landon... can you come over here and play?

I said come over here!

Tessa liked Claire shoes. They have little cherries that hang off and Tessa was really interested!

Claire eating her Cheerios, Tessa eating a watch! YUMMY!

Remembering Maddie

Today, April 3rd, is the one year anniversary of Maddie's death. I know people are probably sick of my Maddie posts, but to be honest, this is more for me than anyone else. It's a sort of therapy for me I guess. This will be, however, my last post on Maddie. The past posts were mainly pics that I loved of just Maddie so this time I thought I would put up some of my favorite pics of the three of us. I miss her as much today as I did when we lost her. There will always be a piece of my heart that belongs solely to Maddie. I MISS, MISS, MISS her. Ben & I were talking last night about the one year anniversary and we were commenting on the fact you never know when one chapter of your life will end, but we are fortunate enough to start another chapter with another great dog and a beautiful daughter. We are so blessed, but it doesn't make our loss easy!

We will always love you Maddie. You will never be forgotten... you were our first baby! You taught us so much and you will be in our heart for all time! I love you baby, goodbye.