The Gaylord Texan

On Sat. Brad and I took Claire to the Gaylord Texan hotel. They had an ice sculpture exhibit that was amazing...and freezing! It was 9 degrees in there and they even handed out parkas for us before we went in. I had to bundle Claire up pretty good so her little face wouldn't freeze off. She enjoyed the exhibit...it was snowing and there was music and even an ice slide! We have it all on video. The hotel had the best Santa (outside of the ice sculpture exhibit) so we let Claire sit on his lap!!! We got the cutest picture of her. She was a little nervous, but had the most precious expression on her face. A classic first Christmas with Santa picture. They also had real reindeer, men dressed as toy soldiers on stilts and there was even a wedding reception going on while we where there. We got some gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate and just enjoyed the atmosphere of the beautiful hotel. I think the highlight for Claire was when we let her crawl on the soft carpet. There was so much space for her to explore...she was in heaven. She put on a show for everyone of course. It was another great weekend with the family!

We Can Dance!!!

My sister made this for us...click on the link below...I laughed so hard I cried!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/GaEbdd3PbYeH2beW

Ft. Worth Zoo

Today we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo! It was Claire's first time so we were pretty excited to see what she thought of all the animals. It was really cold and windy, so although the zoo wasn't crowded...a lot of the animals stayed inside. We have been practicing the sound that a monkey makes and she never got to see any. We do have video of Claire making monkey sounds (coming soon). Anyways, other than not seeing any monkeys we did get to show Claire plenty of other animals. I'll admit she was a little more interested in the people walking around, but she was able to focus on a few of her favorites. We had a great time and she was in a great mood the whole day. I can't wait to go again when she is a little older and it's a little warmer!

Owl Hat

I got bored this afternoon...so what did I do? Play dress up with Claire of course! Aunt Alli gave Claire this owl hat and I think it's so cute!

Baby Signs

Yesterday Claire and I began a six week baby sign language class! The instructor and five of our friends and their babies came over to our house for the first lesson. The instructor used a big stuffed bear named Beebo to demonstrate the signs by sitting behind it and putting her arms through the bear's t-shirt so that it looked like Beebo was doing the signing. It worked like magic because all of the kids were paying very close attention...either that or they were scared, it was kinda hard to tell the difference. Actually, Claire loved the bear and kept going up to Beebo and resting her head on him. Of course, my daughter the ham crawled right up to the instructor, sat in front of her and began doing all of her "tricks" (clapping, waving, the sign for touchdown which Brad and I taught her awhile ago in preparation for Tech games). After I called her a show-off we were able to begin. This class was themed around eating. We learned the sign for eat, drink, bib, cereal, milk, all done, more, please, thank you, play, happy and Daddy. I have been working really hard with Claire on these signs and I can't wait for her to be able to communicate in a whole new way with us! As soon as she starts using some signs I'll try to get some pictures!

Surprise Video!!!

Surprise Visit!

We had a great Halloween weekend! Brad took half a day off Friday so that we could drive down to Houston and surprise my parents by taking Claire trick-or-treating at their house. I had Alli's help to make sure they would be there this weekend. Sure enough, Mom screamed and cried when she saw us (video coming soon)! My Nanny is visiting them so we also got to see her! On Sat. night we watched the Tech/UT football game. There is a little in-home rivalry since Alli went to UT and we went to Tech. One of the best games I've ever seen...go Tech!!! Brad and I also went downtown to see Alli's loft...it is awesome! On our way home Sunday we stopped in College Station to visit Brad's Grandmother. It was a great trip and we are so lucky to have so many people that love us!!!