Happy 3rd Birthday Clare Bear!!

My little tiny baby is THREE!!!  And boy did we celebrate!!  We were incredibly blessed to have my parents, Vanessa and Evan here for the week of Clare's 3rd birthday and she had a week long celebration for sure!

First my mom was insistant that we needed a "family party" since so many of us were together and Clare has not experienced many family parties in her short little life.  So we did an ice cream cake, presents, the whole thing!

 Clare got her first my little ponies!



 And a new bike from daddy and mommy...that we still have yet to master riding

But Elle REALLY loved the bike!!

And even some Princess bedding!!

Grammie and Clare made some treats in her new easy bake oven.



And Clare went to sleep dreaming about all her fun toys in her new princess bed!!

THEN...it was time to get ready for party number 2!  Clare's very first kid party which was a carnival theme!

 Everyone chipped in to help in the preparations!

And we had 3 little stations: balloon animals, face painting and dress up/photo area

 We made yummy clown cupcakes instead of a cake

 And though it was a rainy day and we couldn't be outside

 We still had SO much fun!!!!

 Everyone participated in being a little silly!

 And even playing pin the nose on the clown..though Clare had a hard time not peaking!

 We had yummy carnival food like corn dogs, apples and carmel dip and popcorn.  I mean what kid wouldn't love that for lunch?!?

 And by the end everyone was into wearing their silly faces!



My sweet little 3 year old clown :)

And everyone took home a whole bunch of carnival treats!

It was a super fun day all around!!!

Sweet Googly Eyes :)

This past week has been a complete whirlwind.  To even think about how to document this last week seems like a mountain of an issue...but I will do my best because there is too many great things happening to not celebrate!

Last weekend my parents and Vanessa came to visit with plans of Vanessa's boyfriend Evan to come in at the end of the week.  Since LAST May Evan shared a plan with LD and I to come in early, surprise Vanessa and propose.  Let me just say when Evan originally told us this plan in May and LD realized I would have to keep this secret until October...he told Evan he was taking a big risk by telling me. 

We had a wonderful Monday and part of Tuesday with our family but I knew Evan was flying in on Tuesday evening and I was almost sick with anxiety about his plan working and keeping it from Vanessa.  I also began to tell little lies about a pretend birthday party for my friend Teresa that our family was going to.  The lies just kept going until I had a whole story that I could barely keep straight myself!

On our way to Amelie's a little french bakery where this was all supposed to go down, Vanessa said "Melissa, there are no extra seats in your car..."  Who says this??  Why do we need more seats???  And when I had originally told Vanessa it was Teresa's birthday her quick response was..."Didn't Teresa just have a birthday??"  Teresa's birthday is in January, so how would Vanessa remember this?!? All of these little comments was making me a nervous wreck!  Also, Evan's flight came in to Greenville, SC at 7pm and LD had to pick him up and get him 2 hours to Charlotte while we were waiting by 9pm..there were a lot of things that could go wrong!

Here is a clip of the absolutely perfect proposal! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M0nVM5vCXY&feature=share

Though we had met Evan it was the first time LD and I have seen Evan and Vanessa together.  A friend of theirs in Vegas says they have googley eyes and I would agree!  They are cute and definetely in their own little world of love right now :)  I am SO thankful that Evan allowed my parents, LD and I to be a part of their proposal and also spend a week interacting with them as a newly engaged couple.

Now comes the fun part...in a short SIX months our family will head to Vegas for a wedding, and we cannot wait!!!

Congrats Evan and Vanessa!  We love you both!!

While Daddy's away, the girls will play

This past weekend marked a big day for LD.  Seriously, for over a year LD and his best friend Derek have talked about going to the first night game for Michigan football.  As time got closer they didn't make any plans...until the weekend before when LD was searching for tickets...all day!  After a little encouragement (it didn't take much) they decided they were going to make the trip.  Anyone who heard about the game knows it was epic and LD and Derek both came home with hoarse voices raving about their adventure.  I'm sure LD would not be happy that I am not including more details about the day..but seriously, thats all I've got.  I know that had fun :)

But while they were gone the girls and I had some big plans!  We headed to the Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina with 2 other moms and kiddos.  We had 5 children under the age of 4...it as an adventure. 

We all loaded up and were ready for some fun!!

They were all so good sticking together...

Me and my girls enjoyed the beautiful day!

Clare and sweet Ayden waiting their turn for a pony ride.

This was Clare's very first pony ride.  Her pony's name was Spooky!

Such great friends....they were so sweet!

Everyone was too tired to walk back to the car, so I gave them a ride.

All were in bed by 7pm and I was short to follow...missing watching even 5 minutes of the big game.

We missed daddy...but us girls had a great weekend!

Getting in the groove

It is so hard to get back into the groove once fall activities start...and I don't even have anyone in school yet!  This month Clare will be three...which is so hard to believe.  We decided to keep her home one more year, but we definetely needed a few activities to look forward to in her week. 

This week we started Community Bible Study, which we truly LOVE.  There are 300 women and 120 kids.  It's Thursday mornings and a huge blessing to me to get some adult coversation in, and Clare and Elle both have such a blast! I knew this year would be difficult for Elle because it is during her morning nap time, but she slept for an hour while we were there and her teachers said she was a joy the entire time...way to go Elle :)  Here are the girls before we left!

Last week Clare had her very first ballet class!  She has been really looking forward to ballet!  A friend of ours gave us a ballerina video and it has become a favorite..plus Clare loves dressing up so that helps too!  Her little class at the Y has to be one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.  15 little girls in their pink leotards and tutu's all ready to dance.  She loves it of course and I'm anxious to see how her little recital pans out in October.

We also signed up for library classes which start after Labor Day.  These girls are busy :)  We are loving having a few structured mornings together!

"No one likes you"

My sweet little Clare was sitting in the stroller yesterday while we were walking, listening to my Ipod when she yelled so loud, this is my favorite song, its called "No one likes you."  I quickly realized it was also one of my favorite songs, but she had the title a little off.  The song is by Chris Tomlim and there is a line that says "There is no one like you, none like you."  It was a perfect song to help me get through the week we have had.

I didn't promote this much and truly did not intend on writing a blog post about it, but we are in need of a some prayers for Clare.  Two weeks ago Clare was diagnosed with salmonella.  We had eaten the dreaded recalled ground turkey two nights before it started and are pretty sure that is where it came from.  I had a nice long chat with the public health dept where they promised to send me literature on better hand washing and disposing of diapers (thanks guys!), and left me feeling extremely frustrated.  The best reminder that came out of the whole ordeal was that I bought a ridiculous amount of bleach kitchen cleaner and spent a day cleaning out our fridge. 

By day 5 we had seen a bear emerge from Clare.  Gone was our sweet little girl, and I dont know if I can even begin to describe who came in her place. We attributed it to the awful salmonella and attempted to be more patient with her.  By day 10 both LD and myself were ready to throw in the towel.  Yesterday morning all of a sudden I realized Clare may have a UTI that developed from the salmonella that may be adding to her not so pleasant mood.  The doctor confirmed that a UTI was indeed what she had. As he was writing out the prescription he casually said "Has she had a heart murmur before?" which totally caught me off guard.  After listening one more time he confirmed that he did hear a heart murmur.

We are going Thursday morning to a cardiologist and are praying that what the doctor heard is not there tomorrow.  This morning after breakfast Clare asked if we could dance to "No one likes you" and it was quite a fitting reminder that God is bigger than the week I have had.

Water You turned into wine
Open the eyes of the blind
There’s no one like You
None like You

Into the darkness You shine
Out of the ashes we rise
There’s no one like You
None like You

Our God is greater, our God is stronger

God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us

And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?

Celebrating 7 years and 9 months

There are two great things to celebrate with this blog post. The first is very overdue, but much needed. Sweet Elle turned 9 months on July 21st. And as a mother of 2 I have not been staying up on my blogging as I should. So I wanted to take a few minutes to celebrate the sweet little girl Elle is and all she is doing these days!

When Clare was 9 months she was just starting to become mobile and Elle has been very mobile since about 8 1/2 months. I wouldn't be surprised if she was walking very soon. She crawls...FAST and pull up on anything and everything. She's gotten her fair share of bumps on the head from pulling up on things that are not very stable. I attribute her quickness to having a big sister she desperately tries to keep up with. She also became very verbal in the last two weeks. It always sounds like she's yelling at Bella, which she very well may since that seems to be who we are most often yelling at. She can wave and play peek a boo with a blanket and loves, loves, loves her pink horse wub-a-nub that has become her lovey of choice. She is so sweet and everyone is always complimenting her cute cheeks (something she will not like having complimented in a very short time)...but boy, that girl has a little temper. She does not like to be messed with and if you do mess with her you are most likely going to be kicked. The thing she HATES the most is getting her finger nails clipped. We could stand on her head to entertain her and she kicks her feet and screams the entire time! My very favorite thing now...and probably will be forever is watching the girls make each other laugh. They sure crack each other up! Happy 9 months my sweet little girl!

The second reason for celebration is mine and LD's 7 year anniversary! We talk all the time how we are blessed and living our dream. We have beautiful, happy children, a house that we have made a home and the biggest blessing...we truly love living our lives together. It has been since mid June that we had gone on a date, so dinner to celebrate was long over due. But even though it was overdue we definetely celebrated to our full potential. I'm sure no one really cares how delicious the food was or the great conversation we had....but I do want to celebrate how wonderful my husband is. And here is a PERFECT example...

My friend Kirsten started a little business making clutch purses among other things. A few weeks ago I asked her to make one for my neice Kara. I sent it to Kara for her birthday and she loved it! I commented when we were sending it to her that I really wanted one myself. Today LD handed me a box at church that was all wrapped and so cute....he had Kirsten make me a clutch as well! Not only that, but he had her sew a #7 on the inside since it was for our 7th anniversary. Yes..I know, I am both very spoiled and very loved!

Happy Girlfriends Day!

My great friend Hayley from high school decided to celebrate a holiday every day for a year. She created a blog http://www.happyholidayhayley.wordpress.com/ and has documented how she is celebrating the holidays. It's been super fun to participate with her and watch her journey. Today is Girlfriends Day and to celebrate she invited all of her girlfriends over to her house yesterday. Being in North Carolina of course I could not participate, but she asked that all of her out of state friends do something to pamper themselves in celebration. Also, I received a card last week from my friend Michele that said to open in on Girlfriends Day when I was celebrating. So yesterday I did two of my favorite things..ate chocolate and watched the Bachelorette (I know, exciting life I live!). I definetely am thankful for the girlfriends I have in my life! I am thankful for my girl posse from high school who is still incredibly close, my K-10 girls in college, and my wonderful friends/family in Charlotte who have supported LD and I as we have started a family. I am blessed beyond measure by great friends in my life.

It has also been incredibly fun to watch Clare develop friendships with little girls. There are a group of girls are our cul-de-sac who are very unique. There are two sets of sisters, one set are from Romania and are going into 1st and 3rd grade, the other set are going into 2nd and 4th grade. The girls are much older than Clare, but they have accepted her as an honorary part of their little group. It's precious to watch. When our garage opens they all come running and Clare asks where her girls are if they are not around. Clare looks out her bedroom window often checking to see if she is missing in the action. I am amazed at how sweet they are to her and how patient they are given the age gap. I took this picture of them yesterday as they were playing in the sandbox with Clare. Emily, the oldest girl was not home, but I love how much this picture is a perfect example of the start of girlfriends.

Happy Girlfriends Day :)