Sunny day

It was a beautiful sunny day here today and that's so uncommon this time of year that we just had to get outside. I packed the girls up and took them downtown to play around the waterfall and see the totem pole. Claire can see both of those things at the Capitol campus every time we go to her gym and she always points them out to me. She was really excited to be able to get out and get up close. And Maddie had fun tottering around. She didn't seem to mind an occasional fall on the concrete or wet grass. After that we went and watched the fishies jump (the salmon are still swimming upstream). It was a nice, fun day!

St Joseph our helper and some videos

We put out a statue of St. Joseph two days ago to help us sell the house. Claire helped put him into the ground (she's pictured here standing next to where he is). Hopefully he'll help!

And here are two little videos of the girls to help get that "cat, kitty cat" song out of your head:

Funny

I know funny. And this, this is funny.


This catchy little tune has been bouncing around our house the past few days. I can't imagine it won't stick in your heads either!

Maddie's on the move

Last Friday Maddie really caught onto the idea of walking. On Wednesday when I took that video she was getting confident. By Wednesday evening she had stopped crawling entirely. She has been walking everywhere ever since (except for a brief period first thing each morning when she forgets that she knows how to walk!). It's really fun to watch. She has also given up her baby food. She refuses to eat moosh and insists on eating whatever we're eating. She especially enjoyed beef stew tonight; she took down three helpings! It's as if she turned into a big girl overnight.

Speaking of big girls, Claire completed her homework this morning. Yep, they had homework. She had a little paper pumpkin picture that she was supposed to decorate. She prettied it up with a bunch (and I really mean a bunch) of stickers and seemed very proud of how it turned out.

And Phil says I should put GO BEARS!!!

By popular demand...

OK, maybe not "popular demand" as much as grandparent's request... Anyway, we present to you a gratuitous cute movie of Maddie walking:

First day of (pre) school

Claire had her first day of preschool today. It was actually mostly just for registration and to let the parents and children meet the teacher, but she was really excited. She's been asking to go to school since she found out about it two weeks ago. They played indoors, did a craft, then played outside. She was already asking to go back as we got into the car for the trip home. She'll go to school once a week until we move - I'm already trying to get her registered in a preschool in Oklahoma since she's so excited about it.

Maddie's well-baby appointment

Maddie had her one-year well-baby appointment last Tuesday. She tipped the scales at 17lbs 4oz and was 29in tall. If she doesn't watch it her little cousin Keira will soon be bigger than her!

Go Bears!

Root for Victory!
We think Claire is playing "Bear Down Chicago Bears" and Maddie is leading the cheer!

Press the pink "Play" button to hear the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play the tune from the glory days in 1986...

Four Teeth

I can't really think of anything clever to say.

Count 'em, there's four!

Grandparents

My parents left for home on Tuesday, much to the girls' dismay. It was really nice to have them here and I think Claire and Maddie had a great time. If Grandma and Papa thought they were going to have a relaxing vacation here they were sure mistaken! Claire enjoyed having more people around to talk to (I tend to wear out too quickly for her) and craft time with Grandma is always fun. Maddie really took to her papa (of course she loves them both but she is really attached to her papa). I think she may have preferred him to me by the end of their trip!

(The slideshow widget is having problems,
so just click the picture or here to go to the show!)

In order to help with the post-grandparent-visit blues, we webcammed with their Grammy and Grampy Tuesday evening.

Happy 60th Birthday USAF!

It's a couple of days early, but we celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the USAF last night at the AF Ball. We figured it would be a nice chance to get dressed up and we had built in babysitters with the grandfolks in town! Be sure to raise your glass on the 18th and say "Happy Birthday Air Force!"

Happy 1st Birthday Maddie!

Our little Madeline turned one year old yesterday. I can't believe how quickly this year went by. She's growing up so fast! My parents were in town to help celebrate, so we invited a few of her friends over and had a little party. The kids had lots of fun and Maddie definitely knew what to do with her cake (or at least, the frosting).

Also, we wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Lori and her husband Tom. Their little boy, Matthew, very narrowly missed sharing a birthday with Maddie. He was born last night at midnight! We can't wait to see pictures!