Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Family Reunion 2009




























































































































Another wonderful trip to the Jersey Shore has come and gone. We had such a great time seeing relatives and introducing Claire to them for the first time. Where to start...? Let's see, I threw up before we left for the airport on Sat. morning. It was storming so our flight was delayed, then we had to sit on the runway for an hour to wait our turn to take off. Claire was an angel on the plane. She fell asleep as soon as we took off and watched her DVD player most of the rest of the time. We didn't buy her a seat so she sat on our laps...and my arm fell asleep at one point, but we made it! Then we picked up our rental car and headed to Sea Isle City! We shared a beautiful 3 story beach house with my parents, brother and sister. Claire loved waking up every morning and seeing everyone. On Sunday we walked one block up to the beach and showed Claire the ocean for the first time. She LOVES the beach and that makes me so happy. She liked the sand so much that she would lay in it and make sand angels. The water was freezing but she didn't care. She loved jumping the waves with Daddy. On Monday we went to the boardwalk to eat pizza and take her on some rides. Again, she had a blast. Tuesday was more beach, family and fun. On Wed. some of the family went crabbing (I opted out of that one) and that night my parents watched Claire while Brad and I went to dinner! Thursday was a little rainy, but we still went putt-putt golfing and then headed to Atlantic City! here is my Atlantic City story: We went to the Borgata hotel/casino and my sister and I went straight to the slot machines. We sat down at the 50 cent Wheel of Fortune machine. I inserted a $20, hit the button and instantly made $168!!!! It was so much fun!!! I did lose some other money but I ended up leaving ahead! Friday we rented bikes and rode on the boardwalk and Friday night was awards (yes we give out awards at our family reunion! On Sat we drove back to Philly to spend the day with my Dad's side of the family. I got to meet my cousin's baby Cale! Let me just say how generous and loving all of my family is...they love Claire so much and showered her with gifts (thanks Aunt Judy!) Claire also turned 1 1/2 on vacation. She is so smart and talked the whole trip! My batteries are recharged from this vacation and i can't wait until the next one!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Brad's Race





"Go Daddy!"





Hippie!

















Dancing to the pre-race music!


































It's been awhile since my last post. I have been feeling pretty crappy for a few weeks now and haven't felt like doing much of anything (you should see my house...it's a MESS). I am so ready for the constant feeling of nausea to be over. Anyways, I did manage to drag myself and Claire to Brad's triathlon on Sunday. We had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get to Denton by his 7:00 start time. Claire was a trooper...I kept her in her pj's and gave her breakfast in the car and she was fine! We met Jodie and Carter there since Brian was in the race as well so we were so lucky to have fun friends to hang out with in between cheering for Daddy! Talk about a trooper...Jodie is 38 weeks pregnant, so whenever I felt like complaining about all of the walking, or the heat, I would just look over at her belly ;) Brad and Brian did great! We were able to watch them start and then we let the kids play in the lake. Claire loved it and now I am even more certain she is going to love the beach! We saw the guys run to the bike transition and Claire clapped and cheered for her Daddy. We played some more and then the guys came in from the bike and began the run. Brad finished in 1 hr 43 mins....great job!!! It was a long morning but he has been training hard so we wanted to be there to cheer him on!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

I'm Pregnant!!!!



We are so excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2!!!! My family and Brad's family were together this 4th of July weekend in Longview so we decided to make the big announcement then. I bought Claire a shirt that says "I'm Going to be a Big Sister" and as you can see in the video, it didn't take long for everyone to figure it out! I am due Feb. 20th...which is funny because Claire and I both celebrate our birthdays in February...throw in Valentine's Day and Brad will have his hands full! We will find out the sex of the baby again... Brad is hoping for a boy, I want another girl! Claire and this baby will be almost exactly 2 years apart. We will see...of course as long as the baby is healthy we are thrilled!!! I am seven weeks along and already feeling really nauseous and tired. My sonogram is on the 15th so hopefully I can get some meds to help with that. We will keep you posted on all the baby news! We are so thankful to have such a great family and friends around us to share our great news!!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Evil Eye







For a while now Claire has made this "evil" face at us. I could be making lunch, packing a bag, or reading a book and when I look up she is giving me this hard look. It's enough to make you wonder if your hair is crazy or you said something stupid. It is totally random and she usually laughs afterwards, but she has the ability to make you feel insecure. Good thing she's cute 98% of the time! These pictures don't really capture the moment...but you get the idea.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Lunch with Daddy
















Today I took Claire up to Brad's new office in Dallas so we could look around and meet his new co-workers. Everyone loved Claire (even though her hair was CRAZY! It started off in pigtails and ended up looking like John Candy's hair in Spaceballs. Then we went to lunch. It was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day Brad!
















Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy!!!! Claire loves you SO much!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Pig Tails
















Claire's hair is finally long enough for me to "fix" it! She sits very still for me while I pull and tug at her fine, straight hair.