Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a fantastically fun day! Day 1 of trick-or-treating for Claire went very well. Hopefully day 2 will go just has well! Pictures to come. 

Weekend in Galena

We had a fantastic long weekend in Galena, IL. We relax, shop, eat, laugh, and talk. It's wonderful and it's something I look forward to all year. We go the same time every year because they have an amazing "fall festival" which is a craft fair with over 200 vendors. It's not "grandma crafts" it's actually things you can find on Etsy and stuff you actually want in your home. If you love a good craft fair, then I would recommend Galena, IL in October to you! Besides the craft show, the downtown shopping is so much fun- from kid stores, to handmade jewelry that celebrities have worn, to antiques, etc. Oh and the restaurants, there are so many in one area, take your pick! We love "Durty Gurty's" it's has amazing hamburgers! "Fried Green Tomatoes" is another great restaurant! Claire had a great time, we all did. Weather this year was great. Last year it actually snowed and this year, it was in the 80's! I preferred this years weather but again who wouldn't!

Here are some pictures from our trip! Enjoy!

Ready to hit the town!

The best thing invented - she LOVES to walk but she's not old enough to want to stay with us, she to much of a wanderer!

The start of Galena

Shopping!

A little ice cream break with papa!

Love her!

Loved this tree, it's so pretty.

More Galena

Learning to play poker!

Cable Car in Iowa

Up we go!

Claire, Papa(my dad) and I

The view from the top!

Our little family!

Wordless Wednesday

Show us how she stands on one foot.

Showing us her hair and belly button at the same time!

Someone's Got a Case of the Mondays

I just want to express how stress I was today! I hate stressful days, they really do suck. On a good note, Eric's meeting went really well and we should know very soon if Kentucky is for sure where we are headed. I really hope it is. Eric's been out of work for almost 2 (very long) months. We really really need him to get a job, sadly it's not in the area but it's a job and that's what's important. It just amazes me, how we live in such a huge city, yet there are so little jobs in his field. It's sad but we will get through this. I am trying to stay positive. I do have hope and faith, sometimes it's just hard. I hate bad days, bad days are no fun. I'm ready for one really good day. I'm just ready for our life can get back to normal. Thank goodness we have Claire, she can make us smile in a second, she can turn anyone's frown upside down!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year....Fall!

Eric, Claire, I along with my parents enjoyed a really nice day at our local apple orchard/pumpkin patch. It was the perfect fall day- not too cold but just right. Claire got to see and feed all the animals in the petting zoo, play in the hay, ate lunch, found our pumpkins, saw the huge sunflowers, picked some apples and the best part of all enjoyed some hot apple cider and warm delicious homemade pumpkin spice (and apple cinnamon) doughnuts! It has definitely become a family tradition. We did it last year and I know for sure we will be doing it next (no matter where we live)! I look forward to this little adventure every Fall!

Claire checking out the cows!

Papa showing Claire all the cool baby animals!

Daddy and Bug feeding the sheep!

Mommy and Claire

Our little piggy girl!

Tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch!

Picking her pumpkin!

Too many to pick from!

Our little family!

Picking apples with Nana!

Finding the perfect apple!

Loved the cool sunflowers!

Show Us Your Life - Kids Room

This Friday's "Show us your life" over at Kelly's Korner is kids room/nurseries. The day I found out I was pregnant, my mind went directly to what I wanted my babies room to look like. I enjoyed every single moment of the decorating process! After checking out Claire's room, jump on over to Kelly's Korner and take a look at all the amazingly cute kids room/nurseries!

"Show us your life" - Claire's room

Claire's door sign

View from the hallway

(Because we have very small closets) Claire's closet system from Ikea

Wood Letters from Babies'R'Us

All of Claire's babies, in her antique doll cradle. 

Claire's dresser (where her changing table use to be) and her glider!

I love this quote!

Claire book/toy shelf!

This is how it usually looks during the day!

One shelf (above the glider) w/ my favorite pregnancy photo.

Claire's coloring table!

Another shelf with a prayer that I had in my nursery and on the other wall, artwork I made Claire to match her bedding.

Hope you enjoyed the tour through Claire's room!

Come back anytime!

The Winds of Change...

The winds of change are more like a HUGE nasty tornado, one that only seems to be gaining speed and getting bigger. I'm exhaust right now. My life is crazy and I want the tornado to die down already - it's been one hell of a week!

SO....

Eric got the Toronto Canada job ::excitement:: no more unemployment! Well, that all came crashing down to pieces after exactly one week! For certain reasons Canada is not happening but (yes there is a but) we are most likely, 95%  sure we going to Kentucky. Yes, Kentucky. We will know for sure on Monday (hopefully, fingers crossed).

Truthfully, Toronto freaked the hell out of me. 9 1/2 hours from all my friends and family in a foreign city. Yes, it was only temporary (and so is Kentucky) was the only saving grace about it. Did I mention, that his company gives him a living allowance but with that allowance in Canada it would have most likely given us a 600sqft. apartment. Can you imagine Eric, Claire, one dog, and I all living snugly in a one bedroom (plus a den) apartment for 18 long months!? Claire's room would have been a "den" and about 8x8! I know I've mentioned how teeny tiny our house is but it is not 600sqft!

Kentucky seems a lot better (at least to me).  Kentucky is easily weekend trip for most our family and friends. The words "airplane tickets" don't ever have to be an anyone's vocab because it's only 4 1/2 to 5 hours driving almost directly south of where we live now. I could come up in a moments notice and not think twice! That makes me happy! Very happy. With the living allowance in Kentucky we would either A) be able to get a house or B) be able to get a 3 bedroom apartment and still have allowance left over for other living cost!

Still the tornado is blowing but I can kind of see a little light way in the distances! I just hope this storm blows over very quickly and we can get back to normal around here (fingers crossed)!

Wordless Wednesday

Claire with her silly daddy!

Claire You Are 15 Months Old

Claire Constance, you are 15 months old (as of last Sunday)!

I really can't believe how quickly 15 months have came and went. 

You are a firecracker! You are so full of life! Basically, you are a little stinker!

You already "test your limits" with daddy and I.  You know what you want and when you want it, you want it.

You have already given us a glimpse into what the age 16 will look like!

Your hair is getting super long. We have to pull it into a pony tail or pig tails so you don't look like a sheep dog.

You have 8 teeth but I think you are teething, maybe your molars?

You are running now, it's so cute.

You can do "commands" like:

stick out your tongue

stand on one foot

clap your hands

High-five

Arm crosses
Jump

You can find your:
belly button
ears
hair
nose
tongue

You LOVE to feed your baby and make the cutest nose while you do so.

You wave and say, "hi" and "b-bye" to everyone in sight!

Your vocab is amazing!

Words you use all the time:

Momma

Dada

Pu-pu (puppy)

Nana

Papa

G-ma (grandma)

G-pa (grandpa)

Lulu (lucy)

Pen-pen (penny)

Bup (up)

More

Please

Ba-ba (bottle)

Box (sandbox)

Moon

Star

Brady (Brayden her friend)

Elijah (her cousin)

duck

purple

Hi

Bye

num-num (food)

Baby

Stacy (her aunt)

Kitty

Willow (my mom's cat)

Melmo (Elmo)

Night-night 

wa-wa (water)

Boo (book)

Ball
Ne-ne (Nesse, her stuffed animal)

Bird (big bird)
Uh-oh
Pretty
Bumble (bumble bee)
Shoe

You can point to almost everything you say when asked. You can also point to frog but you don't say it yet.

You love to have mommy and daddy to sing, "row row row your boat" and you help sing the "row row row" part.

You can say what animals sound like:

cow- moo

puppy- woo woo

monkey - eh, eh

kitty - meow

sheep - baaa

horse - neigh

You are in love with the stars and moon!

You love airplanes - you can find them in the sky better then mommy and daddy!

You are starting to wear 18 months fall clothes and they fit pretty well.

18 month PJ's are a little to big but I know you will grow into them! Eventually.

You love reading and you love to pull all your books of your book shelve!

You are eating well. You eat breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner.

Some of your favorite foods are:

spaghetti

tomatoes

pickles

avocado

veggie straw chips

yogurt

Sleeping, right now you aren't the best sleeper but you have your good and bad days. You still get up once in the night, for a unknown reason. I think you are super attached to your momma! This is still a work in progress!

You still love to take walks!

You love the library!

You love to stack things and then knock them over! Again, there's your destructive nature coming out.

Claire, you are such a special little girl. You are the light of our lives! You keep us on our toes and make life so much fun. You are growing and changing so fast, I wish I could keep you this age but I know I can't. I just cherish every stage because they are all so special!

Claire at 14 1/2 months old

Claire, hours old.