Clara's 1st Hanging Twists

Well, this evening I did Clara's fist hanging twists. I have been leaving her hair free lately but it puts a lot of burden on her and I to comb her hair out a few times a day. I am hoping this style will last a bit so that she can have a breather. She was ready for bed in these pics....She is the first child we have had so far that truly enjoys going to bed and you can see it all over her as you lay her in her crib. She is just our precious angel!!

Memorial Day at the Lake

We had a great time yesterday at Meemaw and Pawpaw's house. We took Blake with us and we all had a reallly blessed time. Clara swam in the lake for the first time and really enjoyed it (of course). Notice in some of the pics Christian has his braces off!! He got them off last week. He looks so much older with them off. He will be getting them back on when more of his baby teeth fall out. Here are some shots of our day yesterday....

Clara's 1st Swim

This evening Clara went for her first swim in the pool!!! She really enjoyed herself as we thought that she would. She would really kick her legs and jump and even lay on her back. I will try to add a video later.

Picking Strawberries and making Jam

We went picking strawberries yesterday afternoon. KK (my niece) went with us too. We had a really good time.

We brought home 3 full buckets. I then made my first batch of jam last night and made another batch today. It is really good if I say so myself for the first time. =) I will post a video shortly.

Last night we went to Clay's cousin's wedding reception. They were married in a private ceremony in Mexico and then had a little celebration last night for all of us. Here are a few shots of it.

Clara's 6 month Doc Appointment

Today was Clara's 6 month doctor's check up. She is a whopping 21 lbs and is 99% in the chart. She is 93% for her height. She is growing and looking great!! I cannot believe it has been 6 months. I just could not imagine life without this gift from God. Here are a few shots of her lately.

Clay's 33rd birthday

Today we celebrated Clay's 33rd birthday for the 3rd time. His "real" birthday is the 19th, but we just got together again tonight. We made him a golf cake and I think it turned out really nice. I used graham crackers for the sand trap, piping icing for the water, and fondant for the green, and those little cigar cookies (Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Chocolate Hazelmut), the trees are rice krispie treats with buttercream leaves. We really enjoyed the evening. We got a late start in the evening and Clara was worn out. She ended up in bed during dinner and missed the cake.

Great, Gross video....=D

I just had to share this. I took the video yesterday on our back porch. There is a bird nest with about 6 baby birds in it. It is neat that we can view out the windows and watch them as if we were not there. I learned something new in this video...something I guess I could have lived my whole life without knowing.....=) It did make me laugh though. My laugh is delayed as I tried to process what I had just seen. Again click on the X to view the video. Not sure why it is not showing the pic of the video.

Mother's Day

I had a fantastic Mother's Day. The boys had made me their own cards. Cullen gave me his the night before because he had to show me something special on it.

I made my mom's gift along with giving her pictures of her grandkids which she adores!! Here is a pic of what I made her. I found a great site called http://www.cakecentral.com/ and have enjoyed looking it over. Christian's interest in designing his own cake sparked my interest in baking (always enjoyed cooking, but not baking). It gave me a great feeling giving my mom these.

Christian's 13th Birthday

Well, I have a teenager!!! I really cannot believe it. I had Christian 13 years ago on the 9th. He was God's blessing that saved my life and changed it around for the better. He is my blessing that was wrapped up in a big unexpected surprise at age 18!! Never in a lifetime could I have ever prayed enough for the blessings God has poured out on me. Christian is loving, caring, kind, thoughtful, bright, and all those wonderful, amazing things wrapped up in one handsome package!! When I first layed my eyes on Christian I was in awe! I still am to this day. I thank God for allowing me to be blessed by being this young man's mother. He is truly amazing and I feel honored to watch him blossom into the young man he is becoming and be a part of the wonderful Christian man whom he is to become. I love you Christian Bo!! Happy 13th Birthday. Click on the link or X to check out a slideshow of Christian's birthday party.

Sitting up...

Here is a little clip from yesterday of our adventures in sitting up....Again click on the X box to see the video.

Practice cake....

Here is a shot of Christian's practice birthday cake. We have a really fun time together playing. He has given me an interest in baking. I always liked to cook dinners, Asian food, experiments, etc. Baking was never one of my things. Now, I am VERY interested. Christian has a love of creating and me liking to cook go hand in hand. I really enjoy his company in the kitchen!! Here is a shot ...

It was our first time working with fondant and Christian cut out the stars and created his blue mark under the stars. The design is based on his plan for a video game production company. Oh, the possibilities. The second shot we played with the icing more. We colored buttercream frosting black and then added yellow buttercream as trim and writing. We are enjoying working together....I love my kids!! I thank God for blessing me with all 3 of them!!!

Here is a shot of Clara sitting up. I had to do it with just a diaper shot. Her rolls are just FABULOUS!!! We love every inch of them. I will upload a video of her practicing sitting up. It is great.

Sitting up a little bit...

Well, today Clara sat up the longest by herself and I caught a shot of it. Clay is right beside her out of camera shot just in case she fell. Clara LOVES being outside!! She likes every part of it. I cannot wait for the pool to get warm enough for us. The boys already say it is "warm" enough, but I am not that eager to swim. Don't get me wrong....love, love, love swimming...but not freezing. Clara loves the water so I know we will truly have a blast this summer watching her enjoy cooling off in the pool and lake. She already likes her boat rides.

Here is a clip of her getting a kick out of me "sneezing". I was feeding her and I sneezed. She thought that was the funniest thing ever. So I got my camera and pretended to sneeze and she fell for it. She just thought it was hilarious. Just click on the X again...