Love of a Family makes life Beautiful: May 2009

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

This is the park we "live" at. We spend all our mornings there. I LOVE it and it is so pretty. We walk around the trail twice and then I let Claire get out and run around. We had a really relaxed weekend. It was just nice to have Brian home and to be able to get some things done.

Just waking up from a nap.

Being silly after church

Please disregard my messy house. It was a long weekend.

Blowing on the whistle

Tickle Tickle

This was my project on Monday. I made them to take to Brian's home teaching families and the people I visit teach. It was fun and not too hard. You can see them HERE

Anyway, it was fun. Two more weeks till Seminary is OVER and we get to go to Illinois!!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Not much happening

We are just hanging out, waiting for seminary to end and June to get here. We spend almost all of our morning playing at the park. We go walking with my friend and her little baby and then Claire plays on the playground. We come home and eat and Claire 'usually' goes down for a nap and I Wii Fit it up. Claire wakes up, we play, Brian comes home and then he watches her while I exercise. (5 more lbs! Come on!) We make dinner, Brian does his seminary, and then we go to bed. Doesn't sound like much when I write it all down but thats okay. I love watching Claire play and learn. She is getting so silly. And big! She is learning so many signs. She also gets in to EVERYTHING. Oh my goodness. She can make the biggest mess in the shortest amount of time. Still cant get her to eat. Time to go try though :)

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Claire Bday part 2

We had "Cafe Rio" for lunch. Yum. Then Claire opened presents.

Then she really failed at the eating the cupcake game. The blue on her mouth was put there by us. She didn't eat any of it. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HER EATING!!!!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Scrap box and a Thought

Okay, this is pretty cool. Think of all the space you could save! It would be so nice to be so organized and to have a little desk to work that doesn't take up room either. It would be easier to baby proof this than the rubbermaid containers or whatever it is that I have. Just looking at this makes my fingers tingle with the urge to go organize my stuff and makes me want to do some crafts! Too bad that it is WAYYYYYYYY out of my price range. **Sigh** maybe someday! If you want to take a look at it go to

The Original ScrapBox

Also, I found this quote randomly and thought it was very good. I don't know who the lady is but I got all teary eyed thinking about it.

Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn't know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget. She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I like my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, "Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?" Of course my answer was no.

She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away last September, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I now take photos of myself with my children....double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all."

I'm going to do it.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Doctor and Chicken fight

Claire had her 1 year appointment today. I LOVE the doctor she sees. She is the nicest lady ever. Claire absolutly LOATHES anything to do with the doctor. She hates every part of it. It is not fun. She is 30 inches and weighs 18 lb 15 oz. So, thats 76% for height and about 25% for weight. The doctor said she can eat whatever now (not that she will) and she can have milk now. Claire looked so good that I don't need to take her to her15 month appt. We will go back at 18 months. She was estatic that I am still nursing. Claire got 3 shots...poor thing. I could have done MMR and chicken pox but I think I will do MMR next time. The verdict is out on chicken pox. I don't think there has been enough research showing that the vaccine will last into adulthood. It would suck to get the chicken pox as an adult. I can do it anytime though so I think I will wait a few years and see if Claire gets the chicken pox sometime.

The next videos are the epic fight at the game farm

In other news, I am obsessed with LOTR again.....seriously, who can resist a dirty, greasy Viggo Mortenson. :)

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Claire's Birthday Part 1

We started the day by going to the Olympic Penisula Game Farm, otherwise known as the Redneck Safari. We went when Brian's mom came last August but Claire didn't really care. Since we are stranded on the Penisula for the next 6 weeks, the zoo was out of the question. We had fun!

Can you see the two bears?

I didn't know that bears tunnel

And I'm tired of this post so I will do more later...

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Happy Mothers Day!!

I just want to give a quick (I haven't done my lesson yet, lol) shoutout to my amazing mother and my amazing mother-in-law. We couldn't have asked for better mothers. We love you both so much and can't wait to see you again!!

Also, happy mother's day to a brand new mom!! Brian's brother and sister-in-law had their baby yesterday! A little girl, 20.5 inches and 7.5 lbs. Congrats Mike and Lea!! We are so excited for you and can't wait to hear more about her :)

Yay for being an aunt and uncle for the first time :) Claire is going to have so much fun having a cousin so close to her age.