Labor Day Weekend

We didn't have any big plans on Labor Day weekend this year, but we still managed to pack in a lot of activities!

Robert had a little work to do, so while he went into the office on Saturday morning, Claire and I went downtown to the Pearl Brewery Farmers Market. We hadn't been in several months, and wow - it has gotten popular! Claire loved watching all of the people (and their dogs), but I think her favorite part was eating a kolache and an almond croissant from the bakery stand. That might have been my favorite part, too. :) We also enjoyed walking down by the river and sampling some items from other stands. We left with some Fredericksburg peach preserves, seasoned feta cheese, and cupcakes.

Later that day we realized that our year long passes to Sea World were expiring on Sunday, and since we had a full schedule the next day we managed to squeeze in one last trip Saturday evening. We all like going to Sea World, but 2-3 hours is always plenty for us for each visit, so the timing worked out really well. We hit our usual spots, but this time Claire decided she wanted to feed the sea lions. We got a few trays of fish, and Claire laughed and got so excited about their reactions. She would point out the ones she wanted to feed while Robert threw the fish. It was precious!

On Sunday, we went to church and then over to the McCormick's to celebrate Paige's first birthday. We always have so much fun with their family! After a nap, we drove to Austin to run a couple of errands and to have dinner with Lindsay, her mom & the boys. It was so good to see her, even if it was a short visit, and Lindsay and I both loved seeing how much fun Claire and AJC had together. Her hair was a disaster after running around with him! First Pierce and now AJC - Claire loves chasing the boys and holding their hands. Should I be concerned? :)

Things slowed down on Monday, and we enjoyed family time and lunch with my cousin David. David started a new job in San Antonio the next day, and we are SO excited to have him and Penelope here in town with us!

Bubbles

One of Claire's favorite things to do is to play with bubbles. The other night as she was finishing up her dinner, I went to pull a cookbook out of the cabinet, and Claire started excitedly babbling about something. I couldn't figure out was she was saying, so I got her down out of her chair and said "Show me." She ran over to the cabinet next to the cookbooks and started pointing, and then I realized she was asking for bubbles - "Bubble! Bubble! I wan bubble!" She remembered where I stashed the bubble maker last time.

A storm was blowing in, so it had actually cooled off enough to sit outside at 5:30 without sweating, and we enjoyed our time together with the bubbles.

The last one is my favorite - I love how she gets such joy from a simple thing!

Random August Photos

Some pictures I never got around to sharing during the month:

One morning Mom & Dad got up with Claire to let us sleep in a little, and we found them out on the patio enjoying the morning. I tried to sneak around to get a photo of all 3 of them before Claire spotted me, but I wasn't sneaky enough! My lens fogged up due to the sudden temperature and humidity change when I went outside, but I still love this picture of Mom and Claire.

Later that morning I made a package of cinnamon rolls, and Claire really dug in!

Snuggling with Mommy on the couch after naps one Sunday:

"Organizing" the oatmeal packets - she loves to line things up (and check out that bed head!):

Waiting for some zucchini muffins she helped make:

Growing Up

Saturday was another busy day for our family! My parents were in town this weekend, and we spent the morning looking at mattresses and bedding for Claire's big girl bed. Claire picked out a quilt with flowers on one side and stripes on the other, and had some opinions about the sheets to match. She settled on a set of pink sheets, and we wanted to get her another set for the trundle, but it took her awhile to realize that it would be in addition to the pink sheets as she clung to them for dear life. At first, everything else got the "NO" head shake and a cry of "Not that!" Eventually she realized she could have the pink sheets PLUS another set and picked out some with colorful butterflies. Not my first choice, but she loved them. :)

After lunch, Robert, Claire and I went to Artworks Studio for another birthday party, this time for AvaLayne who was turning 3. There were several stations where the kids could do art projects, but Claire was content to stay in the play doh room with her friends Zoe and Landon until time for cake and ice cream.

As we were leaving, we walked by a hair salon for kids that was surprisingly calm for a Saturday afternoon and decided that we shouldn't pass up an opportunity for Claire to get a trim. Since growing out her bangs, Claire hadn't had a haircut and was way past due. I'd been putting it off since the last haircuts were full of crying, screaming, etc. We were thrilled that this one went so smoothly! Claire was really excited about sitting in the pink car, and managed to sit still for a few minutes while watching Elmo. The stylist was very nice and we were happy with the results - even though this place is out of the way, we will be absolutely be making a return trip!

We stopped at Costco to pick up a mattress, and Claire was so excited to try it out - and ride on it through the store. She brought smiles to a lot of faces that day!

While we were gone, Mom and Dad got her bed put together, and we kept her busy while getting the mattresses, sheets, and quilt on. Once everything was ready we let her in her room to see her new bed. She loved it, and wallowed around before posing for some pictures.

That evening she was so anxious to go to sleep in her new bed. She kept grabbing my hand and pulling me to her room, then pointing at her bed while saying "Want night night!" When it was finally time for bed, she settled in quickly.

I hope she maintains the excitement! It took us awhile to find the right bed, but it was worth all the smiles.

Hello Third Trimester!

As of Wednesday, I'm 28 weeks pregnant - officially in the last trimester!

For reference, here is my 28 week picture from last time: http://robertandamy.blogspot.com/2008/01/28-weeks.html

The belly has definitely grown - I've already had a couple of people say "Not much longer, huh?" and I'm a little hesitant to tell them I still have almost 3 months to go - although I'm not sure what they expect someone who is full term to look like! I'm carrying this boy lower than Claire, and it makes me look bigger, I think. At least I'm still feeling good and able to exercise comfortably - and I haven't outgrown any of my maternity clothes yet!

Little Man continues to be extremely active, and I love feeling all of his kicks and wiggles. I've already hit the point where I'll be seeing the doctor every two weeks until the end - I can't believe I'm already that far along! I'm still undecided about a repeat C-section vs. attempting a VBAC, and we've gone ahead and tenatively scheduled a C-section for about a week before my due date to go ahead and get on the calendar. Still taking a "wait and see" approach, but it's nice to have my preferred date already booked in case we decide to take that route.

We got Claire a new bed a couple of days ago and are getting ready to move the crib into the nursery. After a trip to Ikea last week, we also have a new dresser, so we are making some progress. I'm excited to start getting things pulled together and see the nursery take shape!

Friday Family Fun

Last Friday Robert's company took it's employees and their families to Fiesta Texas for the day. It was extremely hot, but we were able to enjoy a few rides before we felt like it was time to get Claire (and the pregnant lady!) out of the sun.

Claire was super excited to be wearing the same shirt as Mommy & Daddy and was prepared for the sun in her sweet pink princess shades.

Teacups with Mommy


Cars with Daddy - still to short to drive!


Swings


School bus

We had a little time to rest and clean up at home before her friend Savannah's 3rd birthday party at Gymboree. It was our first time to go there, and Claire had so much fun. It was organized so well with free playtime interspersed with structure activities for the kids - great place for a toddler party!

Tumbling in the barrel


Teeter-totter with Savannah




Bubbles!

Claire's Weekend with Pierce

Recently one of my oldest and dearest friends, Courtney, was able to bring her family to San Antonio for a weekend visit. The first time I remember meeting Courtney was in Mrs. Perry's Intermediate Accounting class at A&M. We quickly became friends, and she played a major role at many points during my life - vacations, living together in L.A. during our internships, studying for the CPA exam, moving to Dallas, first "real" jobs, weddings, pregnancy, and even watching our babies hit milestones as amazingly they were born within 3 days of each other!

One of the things we miss most about leaving Dallas is not being close to Courtney, Jared & Pierce, but we've managed to see each other several times over the past two years. It was so wonderful to be able to have them here for the weekend. We started out by meeting at the Grist Mill in Gruene for lunch, and then we went into New Braunfels so the kids could play at the Children's Museum. Claire and Pierce loved checking everything out together.

We tired them out pretty well with the Museum, and after an early dinner at a kid-friendly burger joint here in SA, we got them to bed so they could rest up - and we could visit without having to keep an eye on the 2 year olds.

Saturday morning we got an early start, and after breakfast tacos and cinnamon rolls at one of our favorite breakfast places, we went to the Botanical Gardens to let the kids run around before it got too hot to be outside. They had a blast running through the gardens and checking out the playhouses and forts that are currently on exhibit. Everyone was pretty worn out after finding all of the playhouses, and the mommies and the kids all got some good naps that afternoon.

Saturday evening, Jill and her crew came over for fajitas and more fun. Judging by all the smiles, squeals and giggles, I think taking wagon rides through our backyard was the highlight of the evening for Claire, Pierce & Kate.

Court and family had to leave fairly early on Sunday to spend time with family in Temple as they made their way back to Dallas, and we were all sad to see them go. Claire absolutely loved Pierce, and later when I asked her if she missed him, she said that she did and agreed that we need to visit them soon. Robert and I kept commenting all weekend that we'd never seen Claire have as much fun with another kid as she did with Pierce - our typically shy kid spent the whole time running around trying to keep up with him, hold his hand, give him hugs, etc. It was SO cute and just warmed my heart to see how much she enjoyed being around my sweet friend's little boy. Hopefully they'll have lots of chances in the future to develop their friendship!

Weekend "Sneak Peek"

We had a blast this past weekend with two of the "A&M Girls" and their families. I have lots of photos to go through and a longer post to write, but I wanted to go ahead and share my favorite. I think the highlight of the kids' time together was riding around our backyard in the wagon - I can't believe I managed to get a photo of all 3 two year olds smiling and looking at the camera!

Boys already?

Claire's teachers always write down a comment about her day on her Daily Activity Reports, and I love getting this little insight into how things went for her that day. Yesterday, her note said:

"Claire has a 'boyfriend' from the Parrot Room! On the playground she wouldn't let anyone else play with Brayden. They were sitting in the tree house and she would push away anyone who tried to come in. It was so funny. I said 'Claire, I know you love Brayden, but he has other friends too!!' So funny!!!"

It makes me laugh to picture my shy little girl being so possessive over a toddler boy. She's such a mess - love that kid!