Swing Set - Day 1

The Hochberg swingset arrived today, and Mike couldn't help himself and got right to work. What an amazing guy, patient with the process, patient with a nagging impatient wife, and building the swing set with all the care in the world for his little girl. Is there a better Daddy out there, Claire doesn't think so?!! Claire and I are both lucky to have such great dad's! Here's the progress after a couple of hours with lots of interruptions!

Lots of Little Thoughts....

I have lots of disjointed thoughts and blogger is not good at formatting, so here they go, good luck following me! Mommy's little helper What a little helper I have. Yesterday I got home while Mike was gone picking up Claire and I decided to take the opportunity to try to quickly get my annuals put in the ground that we bought the day before. The get home, she runs over sits down next to me, picks up the hand rake and starts helping. Tonight we watered all my annuals. On Sunday she was Grandma's helper and dusted and put away silverware! Madi and Taylor Claire has seen Madison and Taylor on a pretty regular basis, and like all other people she knows well, she has started saying their names, at least for a day or so after we see them. Sunday she did spend some time with them, and we were practicing saying "Madi and Taylor" in the car. Sunday came and went, and then yesterday I didn't hear their namese all day until we were saying bedtime prayers. After I got through the list of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, Claire looks at me and says "Madi and Taylor". So cute that she included them in prayers too, obviously they are special to her. Breakfast time When Claire wakes up a bit early before I have eaten breakfast on weekday mornings, I usually give her a few cheerios to nibble on while I eat breakfast, as she eats breakfast with her friends at Kim's house and I don't want to give her two full meals. Well this has been happening more and more and I have started to use this time to practice sitting on a booster chair not strapped in vs. her high chair. This morning was one of those mornings, and I just looked over at her, thought to myself how big she has gotten and more importantly she is feels like my friend, someone I can talk to, be with, and someone who get me. The Mother/Daughter relationship is an amazing one. Blessed to have both my mom and my daughter as best friends! Rain, Rain Go Away This weekend was rather rainy and cold which meant much more inside time and even a bit more TV for Claire. We had an episode of Dora the Explorer on in the background and Dora was singing rain, rain go away with hand gestures. Being very relevant for us, I joined in and helped Claire with the gestures. We really have very little Dora in our house, but after dinner she had some Dora stickers, and our potty seat happens to have Dora on it, and both times she broke out her new song and dance of Rain, Rain Go Away!

Bye Bye....

Bye Bye..we hear it 100 times a day. Claire always wants to go somewhere, mostly just outside. On Monday she kept telling Sharon, our parent educator, to go bye bye. She wakes up and says bye bye, I believe asking if she is going to Kim's that day. We have been working on saying "bye bye Cali" every morning, the closest she has gotten is bye bye.... (long pause)....cali. This morning Bye Bye Cali rolled off her tongue as she was running down the hall...amazing what they can learn in their sleep in one night! : ) We had a better week, although I still think about Anna all the time. Other things that Claire has graced us with this week include; taking her pants off repeatedly, using the potty like a big girl, lots of hugging her moms and dads legs while saying hiiiiiii....., tucking Cali into bed, putting a significant portion of her dinner including her fork and spoon down her shirt,temper tantrum when we left the swing set warehouse (thank goodness we ordered one), getting in and out of her car for 30 minutes straight saying hi and bye each time, and the list goes on. What a fun age this is she brings such joy to us! Here are few pics from the last several weeks. A special thanks to Uncle Dave and Aunt Kathy who gave Claire her apron and have influenced her cooking "naked"! : )

Morgan is our Angel....

This was a really tough week. My good friend from college, Anna and her husband lost their precious little girl after a 8 month battle with Leukemia. Miss Morgan would have turned 2 on May 29th. Although I know Morgan is a much better place an no longer has to fight that horrible disease, my heart aches more than I can describe for Anna. Morgan was an amazing little girl full of spunk and happiness. The last time I saw her was in December and all though in remission at the time she was still being treated for chemo just in case. I visited her and Anna at the hospital and you would not have known she was sick, in fact I noted to myself at the time that Claire who was at the time teething was much whinier than Morgan. She was happy, smiling, and playing games in her nightgown and ugg boots. She showed me her "tubbies" the ports that were coming out of her chest where they administered her meds and chemo. I was only there 30 minutes or so but left feeling so inspired by a little girl who was in the middle of a week long chemo treatment. Not only did Morgan touch my life, but her story gives me perspective. Life is precious and we must appreciate it. She has taught me to have more patience with Claire, she has taught me to focus on what is important in life and not the trivial things. Now on to Anna, nothing other to say she is an amazing woman, mother and wife. Her strength, perspective and reliance on her faith through this all have given me examples to model my life after. If you want to read her story visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/Morganknoblock/journal

It's been awhile....

....since I have posted anything, but we have been busy! Had a good trip to Virginia over Easter weekend, flew home mid week, and have had a short week at home. Although we had a good trip, Claire is so happy to be home, and back into her routine. She is a super Happy girl and is sleeping like a champ! Kim even commented on how happy she was this week, just running around and bouncing on furniture! On a separate note, it's official Claire is bedding obsessed just like her mom. I noticed a couple of months ago that Claire often stands next to our bed and lays her head agaist our down comforter. As she has essentially outgrown the blankets in her bed, I decided to order a toddler size down comforter. Well we got it and it was scratchy fabric (I told you I was a bedding snob), so I have since been obsessed with finding a discontinued PB Kids duvet cover. I finally found a brand new one on Ebay, it arrived this week and Claire loves it. When we put Claire in bed, she pats the comforter and then lays down, wanting to be covered up. She rubs her face against, it, etc...she loves it! I guess there are worse things to be obsessed over. Can you blame her, who doesn't want to be comfy and cozy! We have a weekend full of outdoor projects ahead of us and I am looking forward to being outside. Claire's grandma and grandpa gave her garden tools, a watering can and a bucket for easter, and since then "digging" and putting dirt and rocks in her bucket have become favorite outdoor activities. In addition she helped her Nana water the plants on the deck and so she "waters" my tulips several times a day with her watering can. I am just glad she is not dirt and grass phobic like I was when I was little! Here are some photos from our trip....