1st Birthday

My Dearest Claire,

April 8th, 2010 was truly one of the happiest days of my life. "It's a Girl" were the most exciting three words I could ever imagine hearing. I was blessed to have yet another beautiful little girl. Beautiful doesn't even being to describe you. From the moment you were born, your dad and I have been so madly in love with you. And you, with us. Every single day with you is a joy. You couldn't be loved any more than you already are! I love every teeny, tiny little thing about you. But, the thing I love most if that you are mine. 

I am so lucky.

We love you "Claire Bear". Thank you for making our life so happy. 

Happy 1st Birthday!

Love,

Mama & Dada

Photos of My Girls

Catching Up

It is amazing how each day comes and goes so quickly. I find myself saying the same thing about every single day: "I can't believe Claire is going to be one", or "I can't believe Lilly is going to be three". Crazy! I am so over the moon to be their mom. Every day, I give thanks. I feel blessed to be the lucky one to raise them. They are funny little girls, I tell you what. Claire is a fire ball. She lets you know when she isn't a fan of what is going on...and she will let you know quickly. I love it. I think it is so funny. I probably won't be laughing when she hits the terrible two's though! eeek! Lilly is terribly funny right now. The things she says and does, kill me. I laugh at her every single day. My goal is to get more of her on video, so one day she can see how funny she was. I look forward to each day with my kiddos....even though they wear me right out!

I am trying to organize, and have all my photos printed so I can put them in an album. Big Job. HUGE JOB. I hate the fact that all my photos are only on my computer. What if my computer was stolen or something? I would loose everything. Thank heavens for Costco's photo printing. Inexpensive, and quick. Now, if only the organizing part were that easy!

My sweet sister-in-law had her baby. What a little bundle he is. We are so thrilled for them! I am headed to St. George to soak up the sun in a few weeks, and I can't wait to meet him, and hold him!

I am reading Lonesome Dove right now. I am not a quick reader. Anton makes so much fun of me. He can read three books, in the amount of time I read one. I swear. But, to my credit, by the time I lay down at night to read I am tired. One chapter is about all I can fit in. BUT, Lonesome Dove so far is so good. SO good. I keep hearing it gets better....can't wait.

We have been catching up on season six of The Office. One word: Creed. That man makes me laugh SO hard. I was laughing so hard the other night, I was crying. I love a good laugh, don't you?

I am going to say it again, how is it that this little bugger is turning one?!....

Best Friends Forever

Meet Lilly's BFF's:
Maggie, Taylor & Charlotte
Our weekly outings are not enough for Lilly. She loves these little girls so much, and talks about them all the time. I also love these little girls, and absolutely adore their mama's.

Hopefully Claire and Kate will be BFF's too. Although, the slapping of Kate's head will need to stop in order for that to work out. 

Isn't that get-up wonderful?!

Change

Change is good right? I took Lilly to go get her hair cut this morning. See, Lilly is not one who likes to have her hair done. She rips out her pig tails, won't keep a head band in, and it was getting to the point where she didn't really like me to even brush it. Which, in turn, always made her look like a lost child. Don't even get me started with Claire, and her stubbornness with her hair. Notice that you will NEVER see her with a clip or bow in. Anyway, back to Lilly. So, I took her this morning and told them what I wanted...they took a bunch more off than I wanted, so I am trying to get used to it. I am hoping in this instance, change is good!

Another change: Antons job. He gave his notice this last week at work. It is a looong story. I won't go into much detail. See, Anton is very humble and very rarely talks about his job, and will never tell about his opportunities. So, I am going to brag for him...even though he probably wouldn't want me to. Over the course of several months, Anton has had 4 job offers. So, while we were in Newport, he met with one of the companies recruiting him (BNY Mellon) . They wanted him to be the representative for their company here in Salt Lake, and in Phoenix. While he was interviewing, he had another guy back here in Salt Lake ask him to not take the job until he talked with him. So, Anton did just that...he waited to give anyone an answer until he talked with him. This guy, who Anton respects so much, offered him a job to partner up with him. It was very stressful for Anton to try and figure out what job to take. See, the job with BNY Mellon could have potentially moved us out of state, and it is a remarkable firm, so it was a really hard decision. After some restless nights, and much anxiety, Anton decided to not take the job with BNY Mellon, and is partnering up with an Investment Specialist here in Salt Lake. He will be housed in his same office, which is nice, but will be doing something different than what he is currently doing. I am SO proud of him. I recognize how blessed we are to have had these many opportunities, especially in such a down market. I know in this instance, change is very good. I am so thrilled for Anton...and so unbelievable proud of him. 

Can it be?

Can it really be true that in ONE MONTH, Claire will turn One? I can't stand it. A couple of months ago, I was shopping in the newborn section, frustrated that I couldn't find any of Claire's sizes. Duh, what was I thinking? She wasn't a newborn anymore. It was honestly sad for me when she grew out of that section. I swear she has grown in a blink of an eye. This last month especially. 

To name a few of her latest accomplishments:

*She grew four more teeth. We are up to 8 now. Funny!

*She has learned to crawl, and is in to everything. EVERYTHING! Guess it is time to put the plants up where she can't get them. Those seem to be the favorite.

*She went from being Lilly's enemy, to Lilly's favorite thing. Once Claire started crawling, and somewhat playing, Lilly has become quite the fan of Claire. And this has all taken place within the last week or so.

*She mimics, and loves to show off her tricks. Her latest trick: giving Kisses when you ask for them. Open mouth, slobbery kisses of course!

I can't stand that she is soon turning one. 

She is like sunshine to us. She brightens our day...every single day.

Love her, adore her, can't get enough of her.

Love you Claire Bear.

California 2011

We are home from our two week "Woodward Family" vacation. I am not going to lie, it has been a little bit of a let down leaving beautiful Newport Beach, and coming home to bare trees and ugly brown grass everywhere. I am wishing I was still there! We stopped in St. George on our way there, and on our way home, and it was so nice to have a break between drives. And, of course, Lilly loved being able to see her Grandma and her cousins. My mother-in-law would take Lilly in the afternoons, and it was so nice for me to have a little break from her. She is a busy one I tell you!

Anton and I mentioned last night that after being on vacation with the kids, we need a vacation! Lilly struggled on the trip a little bit because I think she was a little overwhelmed with everything going on. It was crazy with all the cousins around, she was off her schedule, and not sleeping terrible well. So, it took her a couple of days to kind of adjust. Claire on the other hand, couldn't have been better. She was a dream. One of the days we decided to head down to Long Beach and see the aquarium, while the rest of the family was at Disneyland. Right as we were arriving, Lilly says, "Mom, I don't feel good...", then proceeded to you-know-what. All over. It was sad. We hemmed and hawed about what to do, but once she threw up, she seemed to feel so much better, so we decided to just take of her shirt and go after all. So, while she was at the aquarium, she was rocking a giant sweatshirt from the gift shop that we bought on our way in. Of course, I just happened to take out the change of clothes I had in the diaper bag, RIGHT before we left. Good times!

Disneyland was not the best experience I have had there. I have never had it be as busy as it was. Lilly wasn't a big fan of the crowds. But, there were three things that she LOVED, and talks about every night before going to bed. I bet you can guess....

1. The Haunted Mansion. Her favorite thing of the whole trip. Go figure.

2. Pirates. She keeps making me sing the song over, and over, and over.

3. The princesses. We had early admission, so we ran (my sister-in-law actually did the running) and waited in line before it got too busy (the day before it was an hour, twenty minutes. No thanks). We scored! She got to meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and her favorite...Snow White. It made me emotional to see her get so excited. She really thought that they were the real deal. It was so sweet. Even though the crowds were hard, it was still so fun to take her. Seeing her meet the princesses is a moment I will never, ever forget. It was priceless. That made the whole chaotic day at Disneyland worth it!

Two of the days we went to the beach. The first time, she didn't realize that the waves could knock her down. She went running out there, fully dressed, and low and behold a wave got her. It was SO funny. I thought for sure it was going to scare her, but no, she loved it. The next time we went she was in heaven running around and making sand castles with her daddy. Claire was just Claire...happy as a clam just sitting there with everyone. She is a hard baby, let me tell you :) Honestly one of the cutest things that day was I pulled my camera out to take a picture of Lilly and Anton, and right when I snapped it, she turned and planted a kiss right on Antons cheek. She didn't even know I was going to take a picture. So sweet.

So, there you have it....a two week vacation in a nut shell! It was such a great trip! Sad to be home, but so happy that spring seems to be right around the corner! It was a fun surprise to come home and see our tulips popping out of the ground. Yay!