Wow. It's been awhile since I've posted last.

Claire's potty training has been pushed to the back burner. We tried for 5 days, but it was an epic fail. She refused and threw fits when it came to just sitting on it. Recently she was really interested in her Once Upon a Potty video so I got out her potty chair and stuck it in the middle of the living room. I let her run around without a diaper or pants, and she went potty twice! Since then, though, she has lost all interest. It will come, I suppose. I just need to be patient and not force her into it.

Kansas Fall has been absolutely wonderful this year. The colors seem to be more vibrant than before, the smells more pungent, the weather crisper. However, it has been entirely too warm for my personal taste. I want a nip in the air! Sadly, I'm looking forward to some cooler weather.

The weather was perfect for Halloween. The weekend before Halloween we took Claire to Christ the King. She was actually old enough to enjoy some of the kid games! We had a fun, cheap night. On Halloween we went to my best-friend's parents house and hung out. We ate corn dogs, candy, and sat outside around a fire. Later that night we took Claire to my moms where Steph and Nate brought Owen and Lily over. The kids had fun Trick or Treating! Claire wouldn't knock on the doors, but she was eager to say Trick or Treat and receive her treat.

We bought a Mr. Potato Head pumpkin kit for Claire. It was absolutely age appropriate, and was way better than carving a pumpkin with a curious 2 year old. I would've been just fine carving, but it isn't James' favorite activity. Claire and James did it together, and now everytime she sees it she says "You did it with me, daddy!"

Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming upon us fast. I hope everyone is ready for the holiday season.

A tisket a tasket!

We have officially started potty training! We're on day 2, and things aren't going as well as I had hoped. I think I just expected her to learn the first day, and that would be it. Wishful thinking, I know. I made a chart for her so we can track what she does in the bathroom. Every time she completes a task (say for instance pulling her pull up down by herself) she gets a sticker to put on her chart. She has responded positively to this type of reward system, but today she only wants the stickers for herself. I'm trying not to get discouraged, and I know this will take some time. I just need to learn to be patient with her and realize that if she's not ready, she's not ready.

Somebody to Love <3

We had Claire's pictures taken for her 2nd birthday on Saturday. They turned out SOOO cute!

Sleep? What's that?

Tonight started off amazing and relaxing. I went to a wonderful $5 yoga class with Jamie, Rhonda, and Misty and worked my butt of. They had no air conditioning and radiant heat in the floor so it was stinkin' hot. It made for a great work out though.

I come home from this great stress-free workout, climb into bed, and start reading my fantastic post-WWII book. Around 11:40 Claire wakes up and is ready to come into our bed. I get her and her milk and lay her down with me. After she fell back asleep I finished my book, turned off the light, then went to bed myself. I had just started falling asleep when she woke up. She was up almost every hour sometimes sooner. Finally at 2:30 I get out of bed with her, change her diaper, try and give her some water, and tried to rock her. She just cried and cried and cried. When I finally asked if she wanted to go play she immediately stopped crying and said "Yeah!" too enthusiastically for it being almost 3 in the morning.

Now we're sitting in the living room watching Toy Story. She has taken her "pink baby" to the store and back home again. She's also eaten some chocolate Teddy Grahams, and is now playing with a toy music player. I have yet to go to bed, and am hoping that some playing will wear her out enough to go to sleep soon. I think we'll be up til at least 5am. I haven't slept a full night since before I had her. Oh sleep how I miss you.

It's been awhile!

The past couple months have turned into being a great summer! We have enjoyed the somewhat mild weather Wichita has been experiencing.

The last weekend of June we went on vacation to beautiful Denver, Colorado for James' cousin's wedding. The ceremony was at Red Rocks which was absolutely gorgeous. We got some really pretty family pictures with some of the rocks in the background. The reception was at the Mariott, and was a lot of fun! Claire made some friends and danced the entire time! She was so cute and the talk of everyone. Saturday, the 27th, we relaxed and spent time with James' family. Sunday afternoon we took Claire to the Denver Aquarium which she absolutely loved. We said goodbye to James' parents and sisters and drove to Ft. Collins later that afternoon. When we got to Colorado we went to see my great grandpa then had dinner at my Uncle Tom's house. We had a great evening with my family. Monday we got up fairly early, and drove into Poudre Valley with my cousin Jenni and her kids. We stopped at Vern's and got cinnamon rolls (delish!), and had a great morning in the mountains. Claire loved playing in the water, and finding rocks to throw into the river. We went back to my Uncles for lunch, saw my grandpa, then spent the rest of the afternoon in downtown Ft. Collins shopping. We had ice cream at Walrus and walked around. Before heading to Jenni's to eat dinner we stopped back by my great grandpa's nursing home to see him. It was emotional because I knew it would probably be the last time I would see him. After dinner we left to drive back to Denver to spend a few days as a little family before heading back home. We took Claire to the Denver Children's Museum, and drove to Castle Rock to do some shopping in the outlet mall. We had a fantastic vacation and were very thankful we could do it. The only bad thing about our vacation was Claire's purple blanket (that was my baby blanket) was lost, and none of the hotels we stayed at have found it. I called them all again today so hopefully I find out something tomorrow.

Since we had just gotten back from vacation for the 4th of July we relaxed at home and tried to get back into our routine. That night we went to the Morgan's and watched their neighborhood fireworks. It was really fun and laid back. Just the kind of holiday we needed.

Claire's birthday is in a week from Friday. I cannot believe she'll be 2 years old! Time has gone by soooo fast. Her vocabulary continues to grow everyday. She is talking completely. There isn't anything she doesn't say. She voices her opinion, and is turning into a little diva. Some days are better than others, but most of the time she is an angel. I love my little girl! For her birthday this year we are doing a Nemo theme. I made her invitations using really bright colors, and a print out of a picture of Nemo. They turned out really cute. Next week I need to run all the necessary errands to get everything done. It's a busy busy weekend that week!

I start my last and final semester of college a week from Saturday. I'm taking 10 hours! I'm taking Medical Terminology, Intro to Astronomy, a Photoshop workshop, and Personal Finance. I'm really excited about the classes I'm taking, but my opinion may change after I'm well into the semester.

Candice and the kids are in town so yesterday Claire and I went over to my aunt's house and had an impromptu pool party. The kids had a blast. Owen and Chellee were running and jumping into the pool and splashing the water everywhere. Claire and Rory were content with just sitting in the water. Steph, Candice, and I sat on the porch and enjoyed the weather. It was relatively nice for being the middle of August!
Claire has been really good today. Except for this afternoon she kind of went into meltdown mode and started crying for no reason. We spent the entire day at home so I could get all of our laundry done. James and I bought new towels over the weekend, so I had to get the old ones washed and put away for a future garage sale. Its been a relaxing day at home. I love days like this.

This Little Light of Mine!

Wow. It's been awhile since I've posted last.

I was laying in bed last night thinking about how when I get frustrated I always pray to God and ask for patience. One of my cousins pointed out that when you ask for patience it's usually taught by giving you challenges and obstacles to overcome. I came to the realization that that is completely true. All the times I've been asking for patience everything has already been set in place for me to LEARN patience. God works in mysterious ways thats for sure.

One of those obstacles has been Claire's sleeping pattern/schedule. The past couple nights have been absolutely horrible. For two nights straight she woke up at 2:30 crying and completely freaked out. She would stay awake for hours, and even when she would finally fall back asleep it was restless and fitful. Last night was somewhat of a relief. She did wake up around 2, but promptly fell back asleep. However, she was up every 2 hours. I'd rather have 2 hour blocks of sleep than 3 or 4 hours of nonstop crying and wakefulness. I just hope Claire falls asleep one night and sleeps through the night the rest of her life. I long for the days where I can sleep a full straight 8 hours.

I finally graduated. I guess that's something to fuss about. I'm glad I did it, but it really was not that big of a deal. I went through the motions, but I'm not even done until December. And even then I'm taking classes in the Spring to use up $2600 of a Pell Grant that I will never again receive in my life. I guess the important part is that I'm almost completely done with Friends, although it is sad to think about. I just have those few last minute electives to take before I have my degree in hand.
I'm also applying for an internship with Tiger Financial. They own and operate the Speedy Cash stores. I would be a Marketing Coordinator intern, and I would work closely with a girl I've gotten to know pretty well through my Degree Completion Program. I sent my resume in today, and talked to him on the phone yesterday. I really hope it pans out. It would give me great experience, and look awesome on my resume. I'll know in the next couple of weeks.

Claire is growing, growing, growing. She's starting to look less like a baby and more and more like a little girl. I can't believe she'll be 2 in 2 months!!! She says every word imaginable, and can repeat anything you ask her to say. She loves Blues Clues, Sesame Street, but most importantly Finding Nemo. We watch it at least twice a day. She also has to watch it at naptime to fall asleep. Anything Nemo we come across she gets super excited, and just absolutely loves it. I'm thinking of doing a Nemo theme for her birthday. We haven't "offically" started potty training, but she knows all about the potty and her parts and what to say when she does certain things. She has started telling me to change her diaper, and always comes to me when shes in the process of pooping, or has pooped. She also sits on her potty chair a few times a day with and without her diaper on. I think closer to her second birthday we'll get really serious about it.

It's turning out to be a beautiful summer in Kansas, and we're looking forward to swimming, going to the zoo, and vacation!

April showers bring May flowers

It's officially Spring! The weather has been absolutely gorgeous!

A Tiger, a Dog, a Cow, a Horse!

It has been so crazy the past few weeks.

My Great Great Aunt Callie, who just recently moved back to Kansas, died on the 12th of this month. It was very sad to see her go, but she is in a much better place now. The viewing was on Sunday the 15th and the funeral was Monday the 16th. I can't believe it's already been a week since her funeral. I think its so strange how fast time seems to go when death is present.

Claire came down with a virus 2 weeks ago. She was running a fever and was extremely cranky. I thought it might have been an ear infection, but when I took her to the doctor both of her ears were fine! As soon as Claire was feeling better, however, James caught a stomach bug. It seemed to have spread throughout the house. Thankfully though I didn't catch anything! I can't afford to be sick right now!

Claire had her 18 month check up today, and everything went swimmingly. Except for her screaming as loud as she possibly could during the entire visit. She weights 21 1/2 pounds and is almost 32 inches tall. The doctor said she is beautiful and to keep up the good work. She has also started breaking more teeth in! FINALLY! She went months and months of only have 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Now she has 2 top molars, 2 bottom molars and the 2 teeth on either side of the 2 bottom teeth. More is coming... oh joy. Teething is definately not fun!

On top of all this craziness I had all 3 of my telecourse classes sneak up on me. I have stayed up til 1am almost every night for the past week. I'm sooo exhausted! After the test I have on Saturday everything should wind down. This should teach me to not procrasinate! The end is near though. May 9, 2009 is my graduation, June 18, 2009 is the last class of the program, and December 2009 is when I should receive my degree. Backwards? Yes...

Hopefully I'll get some pictures up! I know reading is not always the fun part of a blog. Now if only I can find my camera charger....

Superbowl Sunday

We had a very busy week! James' grandparents were going out of town and needed someone to watch Olivia and Mackenzie. We picked them up from school on Wednesday and had them until last night. They are extremely busy girls, and I'm sure James is exhausted from running them around everywhere. I hope they had fun! I tried to make it exciting and different than the everyday norm, but with limited resources it's kinda hard.

For Superbowl Sunday we went over to my dad's. We got there around 3:30 or 4 and ate hamburgers, hotdogs, stuffed mushrooms, potatoes that were to die for, and all sorts of other goodies. Claire was really good while we watched the game. It was nice to sit down with my family and watch football. At half time Cindy had meatballs, wings, pigs 'n a blanket, and more goodies! I ate entirely way too much. Sam had a few friends over and that made the night very entertaining. It's so funny to sit back and see how highschool students act and wonder if you acted that same way when you were that age. We left right as Arizona got a touchdown before the end of the game. James was very excited and hoped for a win from the Cardinals. Every team he picks for the Superbowl always ends up losing. I must say I was extremely disappointed with the commercials this year. I did like the Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head one, but no other one stuck out to me. Stupid Janet Jackson... the Superbowl has never been the same.

Claire has 2 molars coming in. She has been a complete bear to deal with. She has been irritable, and cranky, and down right mean. I hope they come in soon so she's back to her sweet, cuddly self. She had a horrible night last night. She woke up screaming at two in the morning as if she were being stabbed. I finally had to break and let her come into bed with us, but then she wasn't happy with me because I wouldn't let her nurse. Hopefully today and the rest of this week goes by fast... and hopefully those teeth come through!

Elmo in Grouchland

It's a coooold Sunday morning, and Claire and I are just hanging out downstairs. She's watching her favorite movie Elmo in Grouchland. James and I bought it for her for Christmas and she always comes up to me and says "Elmo!" I've seen this movie maybe 100 times and have yet to see the ending. Ahh the joys of being a mother! James is gone working out. He usually takes Sunday's off, but he had to watch Claire from 8:30am until 3:00pm yesterday so he didn't get the chance to go. I was gone so long because I started my classes at WSU. I'm still attending and graduating from Friends (May 9!), but I have 22 credit hours on top of the DCP to complete before I actually receive my degree.

Friday was a gorgeous day! Sunshine and 60 degree weather. Rare for Kansas in the middle of January. We enjoyed it none the less. Claire wanted to go outside after she woke up from her nap, but she wasn't having too much fun in the backyard. So I decided to take her to Sedgwick County Park. They updated an entire playground with all new equipment and squishy rubber grounds. It's a really fun park and Claire had a blast!

Welcome to BlogSpot!

I actually started a blog! I hope I remember to update this as often as I possibly can. I start school at WSU on Saturday on top of my degree completion program so if it's not updated frequently please forgive me. Well this is me! James and I have been together since June 2004 and married since May 2008. We have a gorgeous little girl, Claire. James graduated from WSU with a degree in Accounting in December 2006, and I am currently finishing my degree in Business Management at Friends. I graduate this coming May!! I'm a stay-at-home mom and absolutely looooove being at home with Claire. I am eternally grateful to my husband for allowing this situation :)

Since this is the first post maybe I should tell the story of when Claire was born. It's nothing exciting just to warn you. Everything went as normal as possible. I started noticing a difference in the way I was feeling 2 days before she was born. It was James' sister Andrea's birthday and we went to church then out to eat. I was absolutely miserable. I was having contractions but they weren't close enough together for me to go into the hospital. The next morning, however, they were getting more painful. I called my mom and had her come over. She made me an appointment to get adjusted to see if it would help with my labor. I was scared because my cousin (my chiropractor) told me that it could stop my labor or increase it. Fortunately, it in increased my labor. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and Target to walk around and while we were in Target my contractions were starting to be 5 minutes apart so we rushed home. I called James to let him know I needed to go to the hospital, and he made great timing getting me there. After 14 hours of active labor Claire Elise was born at 3:34am on August 21, 2007.

Now Claire is almost 17 months old! Time has flown by sooo fast! She walks and runs all over the place, loves to read books, loves Sesame Street, loves her Baby and her Bunny, and loves her Mommy. She's Little Miss Personality and a joy to have around. My days are filled with new and exciting adventures! You wouldn't believe the vocabulary that little girl has! I need to start making a list of all the words she says.