Strawberries!

Wow, I have some catching up to do on this blog!!! We have all kinds of adventures to share with you...

First, Aunt Bray came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. She stopped by on her way to Colorado, where she is going to spend her summer working at a dude ranch! Claire and I were so excited to see her. She is such a special friend...

Then, later that week, Nan came to visit! Since Spencer was out of town doing his last week of clinicals, and Papa was in Boston, Nan made the trip up to spend a few days with us. We had so much fun!

That Thursday we went to pick strawberries! Here we are in the strawberry patch...

And here is Claire with our friend Amanda, who let us take a whole bowlful of her strawberries! She said we can come back and pick beans soon!

We still have lots of things to share, so stay tuned!

6 Month Photos!

I can't believe our little girl turned 6 months old last week! Time has flown by, as I knew it would, but I really think that we have enjoyed every moment of it and look forward to all the little joys that are yet to come! Here are some of my favorite things about Claire at this stage...

• She smiles with her whole face. I mean, it's like sunshine personified.
• Her sense of discovery. She is getting curious about, well, everything, and now she is figuring out how to "figure things out." Mostly, this means putting the object of curiosity in her mouth.
• She still does not meet a stranger. This is especially helpful at church, when all the older ladies look after her while I'm leading the music!
• Her voice. Everything about it...yes, even the ridiculously high-pitched screeches. She is babbling now, and I just wish I knew what she is trying to say. And of course, her laugh. That is officially my favorite sound in the world.
• When she tries a new food, she scrunches up her face like it tastes awful, yet she still opens her mouth for more.
• I love that when she is tired, she still leans her head against me. And when I sing a hymn to her before bedtime, she automatically quiets down and relaxes in my arms. Oh, and when I lay her in the bed, she grins up at me like I'm doing her the biggest favor in the world.

I decided to do a little "6 month photo shoot" today. I tried to get a little creative. First we made a "homemade" studio in the living room...

Then we tried some pictures on the bed...

And then we headed out to the college campus to do some outdoor shots!

Birthday Bash

My Grandma is turning 80 this week! We had a wonderful time this past weekend as we traveled to Alabama to help celebrate this wonderful lady! Though she is actually my mom's stepmother, I have called her "Grandma" since she married my Grandpa when I was only four or five years old. We are so blessed to have her in our lives! She is a godly woman who really displays the fruits of the Spirit. While no one can take the place of my maternal grandmother who died of cancer, the Lord blessed us greatly when he brought "Grand-Rosie" to us!

Here is the birthday girl holding her great-granddaughter...

Claire and her cousin RaeLeigh have both grown so much since they saw each other at Christmas! They were born only two weeks apart, so it is so much fun to watch them grow up together! Claire was very intrigued by RaeLeigh's shoe...

Here are some members of the family enjoying one of Grandma's favorite pasttimes...Singing! Though he is blind, Uncle Brad is a wonderfully talented musician. I know Grandma was excited to see him and his family, who travelled all the way from Texas!

If there are any dogs around, Jeni always makes friends with them!

All the excitement wore Claire out! Here she is, asleep in cousin Leah's arms...

And here are a couple of pictures of Claire with her Papa and Nan...

Happy Birthday Coach Part 2

Well, it was good to have Spencer back home last weekend. Aside from all the birthday festivities, we had a fun-filled weekend...

We went for a jog on Saturday morning. This was the first time the three of us have gotten to run together in a while!

And what would the weekend be without plenty of eating??? Claire is eating rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, and peas now. Though she hasn't "officially" started bananas yet, I did let her sneak a taste of mine one morning and she loved it! And this week, we're going to try sweet potatoes!

And to make the weekend even better, Grankay came to visit! It was a short visit, but so much fun! Claire seemed to really remember who Gran was this time!

This weekend we had more adventures, but I'll have to post about that a little later! Until then...Have a great day and "seek first the kingdom of God"!!!

Happy Birthday Coach!!!

Well, we survived the first week of Spencer's first clinical! The Coach was off on assignment this past week and so Claire and I had a girls' week. We found lots of things to do...

We went to the library and Claire got to check out her first library book!

Of course, she proceeded to eat it, but I hope that this is just the beginning of lots and lots of library trips. Maybe someday she'll actually like to read the books and look at the pictures instead of chewing them.

We practiced the piano...

We also got things ready for Spencer's birthday, April 30 - which was also the day he got to come home from his clinical. We wrapped his present...

And made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing (mmmmm.....)

And then we just waited...

"Come on already, Daddy! I'm tired of waiting!!!"


And here is Claire's face when she saw her Daddy walk through the door...Priceless.



Here is Claire helping Spencer open his birthday present...


He got a slackline! I'm sure he'll have it mastered in no time!

I'll put up more pictures of the weekend soon. For now, "happy birthday", "welcome home", and "we'll miss you again this week", Coach!!! We love you!!!