Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!!

How our family helps the Earth:

1. We Recycle everything we can

2. We use cloth diapers for Claire

3. We plant flowers (which I will be in the next couple weeks)

4. We don't buy bottle water anymore

5. We use all organic cleaning products

How do you and your family help the Earth??

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, Everyone!!

I hope everyone enjoys a good old fashion Easter egg hunt...

Some delicious chocolate bunnies...

A few handfuls of jelly beans...

and most importantly, some scrumptious Easter dinner!

ENJOY!!

Happy Valentines Day

I Love....

My hubby, Eric who makes every day fun

and

My Bug, Claire who makes every day so much brighter!

Love you both SO very much!

Christmas Came and Went

Well, Claire's first Christmas is over. I can't believe 2010 is literally hours away. I feel like this past year has inched and yet zoomed by. From the end of 2008 when I found out I was pregnant, until July 10th 2009 when Claire was born was the longest 8 months of my life - I couldn't believe how long it took to actually get from November to July. Now from July 10th to present day, I feel like it as flown. Truly when you become a mommy, time starts to go into hyper speed. Again, I can't believe Claire's first Christmas is over, done with. It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was sicker than a dog and this year I had a little girl to wake up on Christmas morning.

It was a very successful day.. We literally need a bigger house to store all of Claire's new toys. Everyone (including Santa) were very thoughtful. Claire loved to try and open her presents. She did a great job. Although it took us along time to get through her gifts, it was a very memorable day.

Our day started at 7:30am when we got up and did our first Widstrand family of three Christmas morning. Claire got to see what Santa left her, checked her stocking and unwrap all of her other gifts from her great nana, great aunt, and of course mommy and daddy. At 9:30 am we headed over to Claire's papa and nana's house. We had breakfast (which was very yummy) and then opened up gifts, hung out, and of course played with all of her new toys! It's great to experience Christmas out of a child's eyes! At 2:00pm we headed over to Claire grandma and grandpa's house. We were greet by her whole family from great aunts and grandparents to aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a great dinner, followed by more gift opening. We hung out, played with toys, and sang some Christmas carols before heading back to Claire's papa and nana's house. There we just laid around, relaxed, and played wii. I can proudly say, Claire's first Christmas and our first Christmas as a family of three was a great success!

I really can't wait to see what Christmas 2010 will be like!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Love,

Eric, Megan, and Claire

You Better Watch Out...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town  You better watch out,
You better not cry,
Better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town. He's making a list,
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out
Who's naughty and nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you're sleeping.
He knows when you're awake.
He knows if you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake! Oh, you better watch out!
You better not cry.
Better not pout,
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Santa Claus is coming to town! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE!

Claire's First Encounter

Claire meet Santa for the first time Dec. 2009, downtown Chicago @ 900 N. Michigan Ave. stores. For being a "good girl" Santa gave Claire a very cute penguin stuffed animal!

Merry Christmas Baby Claire

This is Claire's first Christmas and of course we wanted to go "gift crazy" but we didn't. We realized that she would get so much from her grandparents and she wouldn't even remember this Christmas because she will only be 5 1/2 months old. Next year will be a whole other story but knowing us, she will love the wrapping paper and boxes better then her gifts! Kids are silly like that. Here are a few things we got Miss. Claire for her first Christmas.

1. The Jitterbug by Fisher Price - You can stack the pieces and it wiggles to the music.
2. "Your Pal Violet" by Leap Frog - You can program Violet to learn Claire's name, her favorite songs. She sings songs, does ABC's, numbers, colors. Plus as Claire gets older and her likes change, we can change Violet to fit her needs.
3. 2 in 1 - sit'n'play and walker by Fisher Price

Her stocking gifts are a lot of play mat toys: links, balls, teething rings, etc...

Thanksgiving Day Pictures

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Today is a day when you are suppose to give thanks. Today I am thankful for:
Claire, Eric, my awesome supportive family, my amazingly loving friends, my fur babies- Lucy and Penny, our health, Eric's job that allows me to stay home with my Bug, a roof over our heads and food on our table, the ability to trust and love unconditionally. There is so much more but you get the drift!

Today was Claire's first Thanksgiving! WOW, I remember last year, Eric and I were the only two who knew I was pregnant. I was dealing with horrible morning sickness while trying to stuff my newly pregnant face with all the fixings of Thanksgiving.
We start this year off at Eric's parents house for a late Thanksgiving lunch. Claire got to spend her time with her Grandma and Grandpa, Great Grandpa Ralph, Uncle Bry and Aunt Stacy, Aunt Laurie and John, Great Grandma Laura, Great Uncle George, Great Aunt Linda, and her second cousin, Drew. We had some amazing food and even better dessert! Eric and I made a dairy free lemon cake, it turned out wonderfully - super moist!

After the Widstrand Thanksgiving lunch, we went over to Claire's Papa and Nana's house for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a small group this year but the food so delicious! Eric and I enjoyed some pie for dessert - I had pecan and Eric pumpkin. (I didn't feel to bad eating so much dessert because: 1. I had to watch what I could eat because I couldn't have anything that had dairy in it and 2. every time I breastfeed I can burn up to 500 calories!) After a yummy dinner, Claire got to spend time playing with her Uncle Kyle and Aunt Lo! She was giving them both an ear full!

All in all, Claire's first Thanksgiving was a success! We feel very blessed to have such amazing people in our lives! Now it's time to start preparing for Claire's 1st Christmas!!

Claire's first Halloween - 2009

We celebrated Claire's first Halloween to it's fullest. We went to the pumpkin patch with our friends. It was an adventure. It was wet and windy but we were all determined to make it out to the actually pumpkin patch. We picked out the perfect first pumpkin for Claire.
We carved it and let her get messy with the pumpkin "guts." She is all girl, she didn't mind feeling it but she sure did not want it in her hand. Halloween morning we decked her out in Halloween gear that was bought by her Nana and Great Nan. Later that afternoon, we got her all dressed up in her Ladybug costume and made the necessary stops at the grandparents houses before heading to Indiana for trick'or'treating with friends. Claire did great for her first, chilly Halloween! Momma and Daddy are still enjoying her Halloween candy!