We decided to take Claire to the park tonight. We have an AMAZING park here in town and we do not use it enough. Claire had so much fun playing on the slides and merry-go-round and swings. A huge portion of the park is a giant castle made of wood and she loved climbing through it! It was a great night of family fun! (All of these pictures were taken with my phone - which doesn't take great pictures...sorry for the blurriness of most!)
Daddy and Claire on the balance beam...
When we tried to get Claire to walk across it she sat down and began to swing instead!
These are her first official pair of real tennis shoes! What a big girl!
My sweet sweet Claire bear you are now 17 months old!!! Today I put a dress on you that I bought in March, and it was so short it could have been a shirt!!! You have grown 3 inches since your first birthday!!! And I think that they have all happened in the past month :) You started a new daycare! You are now in, in home care with two lovely ladies that love you SO much - Mrs. Shauna, and Ms. Laura! You are so blessed to have them love on you all day long! This is the first time that you are are LOVING childcare and I truly believe it is because of these 2 ladies! You have had wonderful care givers in the past - but these ladies have stolen your heart! What are you up to?
You are talking pretty much nonstop! You are learning new words each and every day! You can say: cow, dog, puppy, kitty, duck, moo, woof, meow, quack, nose, eyes, mouth, ears, head, hair, foot, toes, shoes, diaper, belly, me, mine, yes, no, thank you, please, more, all done, where'd he go? did you see it? oh no! look at that! uh oh! If I say 1 you will say 2, you say - really? nice! sweet! no no no! go! and many other words!
You will stop on the spot when I say the word "stop!"
You love to hold our hands when we are walking.
You are getting really good at steps - although it still scares mommy to death!
You love brushing your teeth
You love to color
You love, love, love to read books!
You love to clean up your toys - must be your daddy in you!
You also hate having dirt on your hands - also your daddy!
You give amazing hugs and kisses!
You have started patting us on the back
You love to swing
You love to swim - our last water park day you decided that you would stick your head under water, over and over again!
Claire, we love you more and more with each passing moment! You bring joy to our hearts!
While cleaning out my storage building a few months ago I came across all my pictures from junior high and high school. It made me realize how much I missed the girls that I spent all my time with for over half my life! So I contacted them and we all got together today for a mini reunion! We all have children now so it was fun to see all the moms in action! Jenny - Jenny and I have known each other since 3rd grade. We were cheerleaders together, went to church together, took trips together, spent many nights at each others houses. Natalie came into my life in 5th grade through church. We went on a lot of trips together, we were in choir together, and again many nights were spent sleepimg in her floor! Candy came into the group in 6th grade. She just fit into our group! She was in choir with us and she too went with us to Hawaii when we were in high school. These girls were a HUGE part of my life in junior high and high school and I call them my forever friends! Ladies it was so nice to get to catch up with you and see your beautiful boys!!! I love you girls so much!
From left to right: Jenny and Rylan, Natalie and Eli, D'Ann and Claire, Candy and William
Our 4 sweet kids!!
Eli
William
Rylan (He was so happy until we decided to take pictures)
Claire loves to brush her (5) teeth! Michael or I will start the brushing to make sure we get the teeth clean and then we hand her the tooth brush and let her go at it! As you can tell she really enjoys cleaning her teeth!!
My grandpa is home from the hospital!!! Apparently meds from his cardiologist were the cause of all his problems. He is off those meds and all of his levels are back to normal! We are praising God for a quick recovery!!! Thank you for praying!
Today has been a crazy day for us. We have 3 prayer requests that we would like to ask you to join us in lifting up to the Father. First my grandpa, Jim, was taken to the ER for dizzy spells this afternoon. They discovered that his electrolytes were all messed up and have admitted him to the hospital for 48 to 72 hours. They are not sure what is causing all of this as of yet. Please pray for wisdom for the doctors as they work to figure out what is going on. Second, for the family of David Hogan. David was an officer on the Cleburne Police Dept. This morning on his way home from work he was in an accident involving an 18 wheeler. The doctors worked long and hard and around 8pm tonight he passed away. Please pray for his family, his wife and two teenage sons as they grieve the loss of their husband and dad. Please also pray for the Cleburne PD as the grieve the loss of a family member also. And finally please pray for my dad. Pray that he would have the strength to minister to the Hogan family and his fellow officers. Pray that he would show them the hope and peace that can only come from Christ. Please also pray for my dad as he figures out what he needs to do in the situation with my grandpa. Pray that God would give him the energy he needs in these next few days to make it through. Thank you so much for praying for these requests! D'Ann, Michael, and Claire
A couple of days last week Claire didn't take her morning naps. Instead she would bang on her wall, or talk to her stuffed animals, or move the video monitor camera around, or just stand and sing at the top of her lungs. She was never crying, she just wasn't sleeping :)
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Swinging with daddy)
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About to come down the tunnel slide!)
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