November and December 2009

Well, the holidays have come and gone and it still amazes me at how fast it goes. I really don't remember it going this fast before Claire was here... there's so much build up and then poof, it just runs right past me.

Aaron and I have both had the last two weeks of the year off, so we've spent a lot of time with friends and family. Claire makes us laugh every day. Today, we went looking for a big-girl bed for her... she has no idea what we're talking about, but we know the time is coming and we've got to get it done. We finally decided on something and it should be here next week. :) That was the "easy" part. Stay tuned for how it all works out. We hope to start her in her new room in February...

December 2009

On December 5th Claire, Mom, and I went to enjoy Disney on Ice with Sarah, Aunt Suzi, and Noah. It was a great show, perfectly timed and everything. We were about 13 rows back- close enough to enjoy, but far enough away for any of the characters to "get us."

Christmas cards came out a little late this year. I came home one day and just started taking pictures. Here's the best one, but I wanted her to be in a more festive outfit. :) So, we had to reshoot a few times. She's saying "Merry Christmas" in most of them. By the end she was pretty fed up.

Just a sweet picture. She looks so old!

We had talked Santa up a lot at home. She said she was ready to go. Mom and I were at the mall one evening, there was a short line, so we went for it. She was all about Santa, until we got into his little shelter area, then she was not happy. This Santa, however, we wonderful. You'll notice she's holding her Baby George. He was really good with distracting her to get her to talk to him. She never sat on his lap, but she did tell him that she wanted toys and books for Christmas.

Claire feeding her animals.The first snowfall of the year was right before Christmas. Though it probably wasn't all that cold, bundled her up to get her ready to go out and play!Hanging out with Daddy on his birthday!On Christmas Eve, also Daddy's birthday, we headed to church and then we came home to make cookies for Santa. I promised Claire that one day we would actually make "from scratch" cookies for Santa, but this year, Santa would understand cookies from a box! :) And do you believe that he ate all of them? With no complaints! Enjoying one of the cookies that we made for Santa.Setting out the cookies for Santa.
Christmas morning..
Santa has arrived!
Talking to Grandpa Jim and Bonnie on the webcam.
She opened her gifts while they were online.
I can't get this one to flip. But, here is Claire with all of her loot.

November 2009

On the way home for Thanksgiving, we hoped that Claire would sleep. So, since Mom was coming with us, she thought she'd take a little nap in the car too! Seemed like the perfect picture!

Every other year, we spend part of our Thanksgiving vacation at Caribbean Cove in Indianapolis. Claire loved a weekend of playing in the water with her grandma and cousins!

Claire's new favorite thing is to color! We've gone through many of coloring books lately looking for just the right picture!Fun in the tub! Claire loves to draw pictures (or loves to ask someone to draw pictures) of Mickey Mouse, a moose, whatever comes to her mind. Needless to say, we're not a family of good artists!