Swimmin' & Playin'

High: Swim class :) AND Playdate with Poppy
Low: I got sunburn (again) :(

We started our day with swim class. Before each class I think to myself "what else could Miss Lauren possibly do with Claire?!" and every class they do something new! Today Claire swam by herself just holding onto a noodle! And she jumped in off the side all by herself. Last week she jumped in from a sitting position but this week it was from a standing position. Also, Claire fell in love with an older boy today. Mr. Matt (the new lifegaurd who is about 16) caught Claire's eye. Everything she did today, she just kept looking for him and smiling this flirty smile at him!

Here is Claire giving Mr. Matt her best flirty smile.

Here is my hot mama swimming ALL BY HERSELF!!!!!!


Claire is always helping in the yard. I am proud to say that I raked the whole front yard myself today. It was at that point that I got the terrible sunburn on my shoulders but, it was a great workout! Mark doesn't bag the grass when he cuts it and it makes me crazy. There is grass all over my house then. Soooo I decided I was gonna rake it all up after him. Yep, now my arms are sore and I am sunburned but MAN...DOES MY LAWN LOOK GREAT!!

So after Claire's nap we went to our friends Marc and Amanda's house. Amanda and I work together and our daughters are about the same age. Amanda is the one got me blogging! Anyway, the girls had a great time and the adults had fun too!

The girls had fun goin on wagon rides.

Poppy pulled Claire around for a little while.

Come on seriously...do you know two more beautiful girls?!?!?!

Poppy was very helpful in taking Claire's shoes off.

Poppy loved showing Claire how to ride her bike around.

After some serious girl time, these ladies were missin their Daddies. Here they are yelling "Dada!! Dada!!" Again, seriously..does it get any cuter than that?!?!

The girls played really nice together. Claire really likes Poppy and wanted to do EVERYTHING that Poppy did. Poppy would play with her straw, Claire would play with her straw. Poppy did got off of her chair, Claire got off of her chair. And so on and so on. Then tonight when I was putting Claire down to bed she said "Poppy go night night too?". And a few minutes after I laid her down I could hear her talking to Poppy in her crib...SOOO CUTE!!!!!

Here is the video of Claire jumping off the wall. For some reason it wouldn't let me post it earlier.

FINALLY.....

High: We finally had a nice day :)
Low: Daddy had to work today :(

Well, it finally happened. The weather finally warmed up. It got to 75 degrees today. I know, I know that really isn't that warm. But, it was soooo much better than the chilly days that we were having. Unfortunately Mark had to work today so we missed Daddy!


Claire and I started the day by grabbing our laptops and getting to work. We started by doing a little research online, checking our email, and checking out our favorite blogs. Claire talks too much though, so it is next to impossible to get anything done :). PS I fixed the comments so now you can post a comment if you would like to (thanks Amanda for letting me know it didn't work).










Then we did some much needed work in the garden. We watered the flowers and did some weeding. Claire definitely has a green thumb.

After a nice lunch and a much needed nap Claire grabbed her towel and headed to the pool!

Claire loves her pool but I am thinking this one is getting a little bit too small for her. Hmmmm...a birthday gift maybe!!

Then Nana and Poppa came over for a visit and we all went for ICE CREAM!!!

I hate this picture but I just had to post it. We all look soooo angry in this picture and I have no idea why!!!!! I am getting a good laugh over it so I just thought that I would share!

MMMMMMMMM!

Nana and Poppa enjoyed their ice cream too!

When we got home Claire rode her bike for a little bit. Then Daddy decided to make her bike fly!! She loved it! I think Daddy's arms are going to be a little sore tomorrow :)

Claire decided in the bath tub today that she wanted the jacuzzi bubbles on. It was hilarious, she LOVED the bubbles!

After our usual bazillion stories it was time to get a good night's sleep so that Claire would be in tip top shape for swim class tomorrow. She has to work on holding the noodle all by herself, we'll see how that goes. Wish us luck!

Happy Fourth Of July!

High: FIREWORKS :)
Low: It was chilly :( Sidenote: I am getting really sick of this weather!!!!

Today was a GREAT day! We didn't do much all day long! We went for our morning walk around the nieghborhood and then just hung out at home. It was great! I even snuck in a trip to the gym. After dinner Grandma and Grandpa came over and we walked up to the local parade and fireworks display.

Claire helped clean up the kitchen today. I think I may have created a little neat freak. Whenever anything is out of place she says "A MESS MAMA!" and she has to clean it up immediatley!

Claire loved to wave at all the people.

We tried to catch the flowers that people were throwing off of the floats but we missed. Then this little girl caught one and gave it to Claire...how sweet is that?!

My messy little firecracker!
Just being silly with Grandpa! They played music before the fireworks and Claire loved dancing around.
The happy family!
Claire was a little unsure about the fireworks at first. She kept saying "I like lil ones". She preferred the smaller fireworks at first.

But then Claire decided she loved the big ones. "I eat de big ones!!" she yelled over and over. For some reason she wanted to catch them like snowflakes on her tongue.

We hope that everyone had a safe and happy fourth of July!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

High: TODAY IS CLAIRE'S BIRTHDAY! :) AND We got to see baby Owen! :)
Low: Yet again, the weather was chilly and rainy :(

Today is my baby's 2nd birthday! I cannot believe that she is 2 already. The last two years have been filled with laughter, happiness, and exhaustion!!! It has really been the most amazing two years of my life. I can honestly say that her birthday is my favorite day. Because that is the day Claire made our family complete!

We started the day with a chilly walk around the neighborhood.

Claire helped Daddy with some fix it projects in the garage.

Then we played a little bit.

Ahhhhhh!! Time to relax!

After a nice lunch and a good nap it was time to head to Rochester to see baby Owen (and Brian and Erin - Claire's godparents). This was the first time that Claire was going to meet baby Owen and we were a little nervous that she would get jealous. Well....SHE LOVED HIM! She didn't get jealous at all. If Owen fussed or cried Claire would get very concerned and say "I hold baby Owen."













Claire loved holding Owen!

Did I mention that Owen is SUPER ADORABLE?!?!?!?!

Proud daddies.

Uncle Brian and Aunt Erin had a birthday celebration for Claire. We had cake with Claire's favorite BLUEBERRIES on it!!!!
Even Baxter joined in the party.
Claire loved her party :)
Didn't take long before Claire was passed out from all that partying!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE!!!!!

Happy Birthday Eve!!!!!!

High: Claire's Birthday Party at School :)
Low: I cut my finger cutting apples for Claire and now it is super hard to type :( AND Mark took Claire to see The Boys of Summer but I had a hair appointment so I couldn't go :(

Let me start by explaining how important birthdays are for me. You know what, there are not enough words to explain it!! I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY! I get a week long celebration for my birthday. Therefore I see its only right that Claire does the same. That being said, today is Claire's birthday eve! It also a Thursday which means that Claire goes to school. I got a great idea from my girlfriend (thanks Jacqie) to get plain cupcakes, frosting, and sprinkles and bring them into Claire's class and have the kids decorate their own cupcakes. IT WAS ADORABLE! Most of the kids just ate the frosting but it was super cute. I didn't feel right posting pictures of the kids without parents' permission so I will just share the pics of Claire.

Needless to say Claire LOVED hers:) She wouldn't pick it up for some reason, she would just bend down and eat it!!

Daddy had fun at the party too!

So Mark and his mom walked Claire up to see the Boys of the Summer Band. I am so sad that I missed it (but my hair looks great :)). They had a blast!! Claire loved dancing the music. My girl likes to party!!! I told her the whole concert was for her Birthday Eve (hee hee)!

Claire LOVES dancing with her Daddy!!!!

Tomorrow we are going to visit my brand new nephew so that he can join in the Birthday celebration!!! Sorry, I couldn't get the other swim class video to post :( but, I am sure that you can just imagine how awesome Claire did. She would just jump in and the yell "I got the water on my face!!". I love that kid!!!

Is It Love?

High: Swim Class :) AND Playdate with Chase :)
Low: Yucky weather kept us inside most of the day :(

Swim class went very well today. Claire is still the only one in the class so it is kind of neat. It would be nice to have other kids to play games with buuuuuuttttttt the one on one lessons are nice. Today Claire worked on pushing off the side of the pool and jumping off the side. She did excellent with both. Miss Lauren said the only thing keeping Claire back from the next level is her age. When she told us that I got "that feeling", you moms know the one. Where you just want to jump and down and scream "MY KID IS SOOOO AWESOME....I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!"

After mastering the "kick off" we moved on to Claire jumping off the side of the pool into Mark's arms. I tried to post a video of that but it wasn't working. So, I will post that video tomorrow.

After swim class we relaxed at home and laid around. Then, we had our playdate with friends of ours. I really think that it was love at first sight. Chase and Claire played together soooo well. At one point the adults sat around and the kids played in Chase's room and all we could hear was a fit of loud giggles! It was adorable!

Chase loved driving Claire around on his bike.


Then they took a nice drive around the yard. I think Chase may be a future race car driver. For being so young he really knows how to drive!!
Claire is such a girl. She had to check herself out in the side mirror!

Isn't Chase adorable?! I think we found a love match :)
Chase tried to teach Claire to drive.

But she wasn't very good at it. So Chase drove his girlfriend around!!!
Our friends are the proud owners of Pete's brother Rocky. Here is Rocky. Claire kept calling him Pete it was really cute!

It was yet another great day. I wish the weather would get nicer but, I am still enjoying just being home and hangin' with my family!!!