Little Girls

No matter what we do these days, it seems like we always end up with a house full of little girls! We are blessed that so many of our friends have little ones like we do and that Claire and Kate always have plenty of playmates. Tonight, our friends Goran and Victoria stopped by on their way back into Houston from Dallas and the kids had a great time playing. They have two girls as well... Sasha is 3 and Mila is almost 2. They were dressed like princesses, playing with Barbies, and watching Cinderella! And you could tell that poor little Kate wanted so badly to be right there in the mix!

Sasha & Claire (A.K.A. Cinderella & Belle)


Mila


Kate with Mr. Goran


The girls


My big girl sitting up on her own... she's doing pretty well!

Beauty and the Bee

The girls had a great time on Halloween! Claire was dressed as Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) and Kate was a bumblebee. We did a little trick-or-treating and stopped off by Granna's house to have dinner with Granna, Aunt Lindsey, and Uncle Greg. I think Claire had more fun opening the door for the trick-or-treaters and checking out their costumes than she did trick-or-treating herself!

Here are a few pictures of Beauty and the Bee!








Belle and Minnie (Emily)

The Bee and Tinkerbell (Alexandra)

Fall is Here!

Fall is finally here and we're enjoying both the cooler weather and all of the fun festivities that this time of year brings! Last week while Uncle Howard was still in town, we took the girls to the pumpkin patch at the 7 Acre Wood in Conroe. Claire had a lot of fun and got to ride a pony for the first time! Since then, she's hit two Halloween carnivals, a playgroup Halloween party, has a costume parade coming up at school on Friday, and then the Halloween "grand finale" on Saturday. In between all of that, she's had a birthday party and Granna & Grandad took her to Kemah. Not bad for a week! Needless to say, Miss Claire has a busy social schedule!

Here are a few pictures from the week...

Pumpkin Patch










On the boardwalk in Kemah

Another Fun Weekend!

October has been a busy month and this weekend was definitely no different. It was a special one though, with a visit from Uncle Howard, Emily's birthday party, and plenty of time with the family! We always look forward to Uncle Howard's visits, so we were excited to hear that he was missing "his girls" and was able to sneak in a visit this month. Claire LOVES spending time with "Unchie Howard" (because he'll do about anything she asks!) and even Kate, the sensitive Momma's girl, went right to him!

Kate has had a big month as well. The 4 month mark has brought lots of new exciting things... she's started eating cereal and baby food (and we haven't found anything she doesn't like), she's rolling all over the place, and she likes playing in her new exersaucer. At her 4 month checkup, she weighted 13 lbs. 13 oz. (50-75%) and was 25 1/2 inches (90%). Claire was 13 lbs. 3 oz. and 25 3/4 inches at the same age... so Kate's still following in her sister's footsteps. Just to look at her, you'd think Kate was much bigger though because of those cheeks! We've decided they're an optical illusion!

Claire was first in line to have her face painted

The finished product!

Butterfly princess!

My girls!

Uncle Howard and Claire

Kate and Uncle Howard

Love those chubby cheeks!

Playing Catch Up

I realize that it's been quite a while since my last posting... 3 weeks to be exact! Seems like all of my free internet time lately has been spent looking at wedding stuff and planning a bridal shower and bachelorette party. We're getting very excited about Lindsey's wedding and are enjoying all of the "festivities" that have begun, but I've been told that I need to update the blog and post some new pictures of the girls. Guess I need to play a little catch up!

Between preschool two days a week, playdates, and a few errands in between, we seem to stay on the run these days! Claire has also been busy with more than her share of birthday parties lately (I call this "birthday season") and is still loving her dance class. She got to go to her first wedding shower this weekend (Greg's family hosted a shower for them in his hometown of Temple) and had a great time. She asked beforehand if Aunt Lindsey was going to wear a dress and if there was going to be music and dancing... I think she's ready for the wedding to get here too!

Kate is 4 months old now and turning into a little chunky monkey! I think that everything she eats goes to her cheeks these days... and maybe a little to her thighs. Although I think her real favorite thing to eat these days is her hands! She's loves playing on her activity mat, grabbing at the toys and giggling and squeeling! She is such a happy baby... as long as we're at home. To put it bluntly, Kate has become a real "mommy's girl" and is definitely going to be my sensitive one. She's not very happy when mommy is not around and when almost anyone other than me, Tommy, and Claire try to talk to her, she sticks that bottom lip out and the tears start coming. Not exactly a social butterfly like her big sister. Hopefully it's just a phase and it too will pass!


My happy baby!

Reading and singing with Granna

Mommy loves matching outfits!

Kate on her activity mat

Headed to Temple for the shower

Claire and Daddy

Mommy's girl!

Big Weekend... Birthday & Baptism!

It's been an exciting weekend! Saturday was Claire's 3rd birthday party at Gymboree. Despite the rainy weather, all of her friends were able to be there and the kids all seemed to have a great time. It was a great way to wrap up Claire's week long birthday celebration! Sunday was an exciting day too... Kate was baptized at our church, St. Paul's United Methodist. We were even able to have Rev. Charles Ruehl, now a retired minister, perform the baptism which made it extra special. Charles married us, baptized Claire, baptized Kate today, and will marry Lindsey and Greg in January. Kate was a little angel during the service... we couldn't have asked for it to turn out any better!

Here are a few pics from our big weekend..

Ready for the party!

Claire and her friend Shannon

Gabby, Claire, and Lauren

Ready to blow out those candles

Sweet baby!

Charles and the girls

Our little family

Mimi, Granna & Grandad, and Aunt Lindsey & Uncle Greg were all there

Happy Birthday Claire!

My baby turned 3 today! I know it's cliche, but these years really have gone by so fast! Our birthday agenda: started the day at Chuck E Cheese (Claire's favorite... and Emily even got to come too), had lunch with the girls, a quick nap, ballet class, and then dinner at Rudy's (another favorite) with birthday cake! And that's just the beginning. Tomorrow, we'll take cookies to school to celebrate and then the party is on Saturday. The fun has just begun!

She told everyone that she saw today..."it's my birthday today! I'm three!" So excited and proud!!

My big 3 year old!

Can't you see this in about 13 years??





Kate loves her big sister!