Directions Please!

I have often wondered why children don't come with a manual. I know God did that on purpose, because there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to raising kids. Claire is a blessing every second of every day, and I love her more than anything. I felt so bad last week because I needed directions! She turned one, and I made it through that fine! Then, Chad took her in for her 12 month well check. No problems there. Then, the rest of the week it felt like we had a "kick me" sign hanging up, because one thing after another seemed to happen. I am sure, completely positive, it could have been much worse. BUT, when Claire hasn't been sick at all her whole first year, it seemed like it got stacked on her this time. So, appointment was Monday. She had 3 shots. Tuesday evening she developed a fever, which we assumed was related to the shots. In the middle of the night, she actually threw up and her fever got worse. Thankfully, after getting a little sleep, the next day her temp was much lower, still a fever, but it had gone down. By Thursday her fever was gone and we were glad! Well, then Thursday night we realized Claire has a tooth coming through! Finally! :) We then wondered if the fever was related to that. Who knows...Friday comes around, and low and behold, she has a rash all over her belly. After it spread to her back, I called our pediatrician. The nurse said she probably had a viral infection, which is what the fever was from, and then the rash. Ok, as long as she'll be fine, we're ok. The nurse said she would be fine, but if it got worse, we should go in. Well, don't you know, it got worse! It went to her hands, face and part of her legs. I took her to Urgent Care because at this point, I didn't know what it was, if it was contagious, etc. Meanwhile, Claire is mostly happy and acting her normal self. Ok, come to find out, it was viral and would clear up on its own. Unfortunately, the doc also realized Claire had an ear infection! She is on antibiotics and seems to be getting better. I just feel HORRIBLE! I can't believe all this hit at once, but thankfully Claire is doing fine. I am ready for her to be back at 100% though and stay healthy!
Funny thing is, in all this, I am playing the role of worrying Mom. I teach preschool at my church and our verse for the month is "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid." I guess the verse is for me too!

Oh Happy Day!!!

We celebrated Claire's 1st birthday yesterday and had such a blast! I must say...she did GREAT! She was calm, playful, cute, sweet, and I could go on. I know I am a proud Mommy, but I really was impressed with her! We had quite the group of family and friends, so I am glad she didn't get overwhelmed with the people. We had some games outside for the kids to play. The younger kids could play with toys inside. It was great watching Claire dig into her cake. She figured there was no need for fingers when she could just stick her face in, so that's what she did! She got a lot of cute clothes, cool toys and fun books. We had a great time....



I think Claire loved her gifts, but for now she was happy eating the cards! :)

Girly Girl...

Claire has been so fun! She is somewhat temperamental when it comes to wearing her bows and such. However, when I put them on her lately, she kind of smiles and has this look like, "Am I the most beautiful or what?" It is adorable!! We have this headband thing that has a huge flower on it. She is so funny when I put it on, because she will crawl around with it on her head! Oh, and anything that can go around her neck, she puts in on like a necklace. Accessories...She is a girly girl!

Claire's Dedication

Last weekend at church, we finally got to have Claire dedicated. We wanted to do it earlier, but the last time Chad was working. It was really special and sometimes funny! Claire did great through the beginning of the service. Then, of course, right before we were going up, she got fussy and very wiggly!! Thankfully we were up there with quite a few other families. She kept wanting me to set her on the stage. I did at one point and she almost crawled away! Silly girl...

Getting Into Things

Now that Claire has discovered she can stand herself up, she pulls on just about anything to do it! One day, she was in her bedroom and had pulled herself up by her bookshelf. I guess she never found the book she wanted, because we ended up with a huge pile on the floor!! She is so fun! Love you, Sweet Girl!

School Days

So, I wondered how I would feel not going back to work this year. I wondered if I would experience that nostalgic feeling, the excitement of a new year. I have to admit, I LOVE my life how it is right now, at this very moment. I do love teaching and the start of a fresh year. I like the excitement of getting the classroom ready and seeing my class list, wondering who will be my new family for the year. It is different now, though. I love being home and though I will miss teaching, I know I can go back. But for right now, the most important thing I can do is be the best mom I can be.
One thing though...I love school supplies, and I let my self take a detour to the school section right about now. For all my teacher friends...I wish you the BEST year you can have!! I miss you...

My new job!

Ok...so it isn't exactly a job, but it keeps me busy all day! I started watching two other kids this week, one boy and one girl. They are both incredibly sweet and I have no doubt I made the right decision. It is truly a blessing for me for many reasons:
1) Claire has kids to play with
2) I can help my friends out
3) I guess I am getting practice for adding to our one family one day
4) I still get a paycheck so it helps us out financially
5) I get to see my friends!!

I keep the little guy just 2 days a week and the girl all week. She and Claire are only 1 month apart, so it is a lot of fun watching them interact. I have learned to brush crumbs at meal times onto the floor and get it all in a sweep (instead of trying to neatly wipe them down), leave the toys on the floor (they are going to make their rounds anyway, so don't pick them up more than once), and it's ok just to play with them and have fun. I can get my housework done when they nap.
So, thank you for letting me enjoy your little ones all day! I hope it is a blessing for you too!

Family Reunion

Last weekend, we drove up to Missouri to a camp called Fun in the Son. It is actually a church camp that is used for lots of youth groups. We were meeting there with my mom, her siblings and my cousins. We lost both my grandpa and grandma last year, so this was a really great way to get together and keep the family close. I wish I would have appreciated getting together with family when I was younger. Don't get me wrong, I always loved them, but I took it for granted that we only lived an hour away from most of them.
Anyway, we had a blast! My aunt organized a lot of really cool things. We ran a 5K (Claire won for youngest finisher!! Chad pushed her in the jogger, and I am glad he did, because it was a hilly run!) We swam in the lake, which was so clean and beautiful. We had our DeZeew-A-Thon, which was a bunch of games we played in teams. My proud moment was when I got a ringer playing horse shoe. I guess that was for Grandpa! Chad got to play in a golf tournament. We rode a boat out and jumped off a couple cliffs. Don't worry....Claire stayed back with my aunts! We also played a bean bag game that became a tournament. I wasn't even close to winning, but I had a great time trying!
I know my mom, cousins, and aunts have tons of pictures, so I will have to add them as soon as I get them. We had a great time and were already talking about planning the next one!