August C's

This has been a busy month with Claire's birthday, the family reunion, plus we've started packing up for a move in the near future, but I still found some time to work on my projects. :)

Create: I found some fabric a little while ago that coordinated so perfectly together, I was excited to use it. I used this flirty apron pattern. It was super easy to make and I love how it turned out! Scott does such a good job modeling it, don't you think? :) And with the extra fabric I made a cute little skirt for Claire. I used this tutorial for the skirt. The skirt was also so easy that I'm sure I'll be making more of these for her. :)


Cook: I sorta slacked on this C for the month. I attempted to make sugar cookies one day. I wanted to make those kind that you cut out shapes and frost them for holidays... anyone have a good recipe for those? I did make some boring sugar cookies though, and they were good and gone within a day or two of making them, but they weren't as much fun to make. Next time... :)

Capture: My family put me in charge of taking our family photos at our family reunion and I also took Claire's one year photos. You can check those out on my photoblog. It was my first attempt at positioning a large group of people and I learned a lot from the experience. And I also learned that Claire is getting harder and harder to photograph because she's all over the place now. :)

One Year Facts

Claire just had her one year check up and so I thought I'd do one last stats-and-facts blog. :)

1. Claire is one year old. Crazy how time flies.

2. She weighs 18 lbs 9 ounces and is in the 10th percentile for weight. According to her doctor, we need to feed her more fatty foods. I just need to figure out how to do that while still teaching her healthy eating habits...hmm. :)

3. She is 28 1/2 inches long and in the 45th percentile. A whole inch in 3 months, Go Claire! :)

4. Claire walks everywhere now. She's still a little clumsy and falls a lot which causes a lot of bruises, but she prefers walking to crawling.

5. She has gotten more shy and clingy than she used to be. We try and encourage her to smile and interact with others but it also feels so good when she turns her head into our chest or hugs us a little tighter when strangers are around. :)


6. If in a good mood she will clap, give high fives, give kisses or dance if there is music.

7. She loves the Backyardigans. It's a little kid show with lots of songs and music. It's the only show she'll actually watch and not get bored of quickly and it came in handy on our trip to Colorado. We put it on for her in the car and she was content to sit and just watch it for a good majority of the drive. :)

8. She loves being outside and going on walks. If you put her down to walk herself though she easily gets distracted by rocks and sticks and ants and will try to pick up as much of them as she can.

9. She goes through stages of sleeping well and then not so well... We're trying to break the habit of her sleeping in our bed. :) She's also in the process of going from two naps a day to just one, and the time inbetween her first nap and bedtime is still pretty big so it makes for some fussy evenings sometimes.

10. She's eating almost everything now and we've had no major allergic reactions. She doesn't like eggs or peaches but she loves most everything else. Especially ice cream and anything else with sugar. She already has a sweet tooth like her parents. :)

McClellan Reunion 2011

Last Wednesday we left for Colorado Springs to attend the McClellan family reunion. Being a little worried about how Claire would handle the road trip, we decided to put her in her first forward-facing car seat. It took a little while for her to get used to it, but by the end of our trip I think she loved it. She was being silly at one point and having fun putting everything on her head. :)

We were also worried about how long of a trip it would be, so we stopped half way to break up the trip. We stayed at a hotel and went swimming that evening. Claire loved swimming and she loved the hotel bed... too bad she didn't love actually sleeping in it. :)

Thursday was mostly spent driving and waiting for all the family to arrive. We stayed at my sister April's house. Most of the family camped out in the backyard, but we were lucky and got a room inside. Thanks April! Claire was a little shy at times, but enjoyed playing with all the new toys around her. :)

Friday morning we played a family game of ultimate frisbee. My mom was kind enough to watch Claire for us so both Scott and I could play. I used to be so much better at the game, so it's sad to see how slow I've gotten in just a short while. It was still fun though, and Scott enjoyed using his height advantage over my sister Heidi (who is super good at ultimate). :)

That afternoon we all went to the splash pad. The kids all loved it, and most everyone got at least a little wet. My mom even got drenched, but I think that was because some kids pulled her into it. :)

That evening we all gathered around the fire, enjoyed some delicious s'mores, sung some songs, and listened as my dad told us stories about our ancestors. Claire was pretty comfy in her chair. :)

The next day we went on a hike at the Garden of the Gods. We had brought a hiking backpack to carry Claire, but she would not have it. She was only slightly happier with being put in her stroller... (most of the hike was spent carrying her). Silly girl. Scott helped push other baby strollers. :)


That evening April put together a game involving marshmallows. It was kind of a mix of capture the flag, freeze tag and paint-balling, only with marshmallows. It was a lot of fun. :)

After the game we talked to my brother in Taiwan on Skype. :)

Sunday we took family photos before church. Here is everyone who made it. We're missing 2 sisters and my brother and their families, but it was still a pretty big group.

We ended the week with an awesome talent show, and the next morning we were headed home. Claire was absolutely wonderful on the return trip! She took good naps and was pretty chill just sitting back there in her seat. We loved it. All in all, it was a great reunion. We all can be a little crazy when we're together but we had so much fun. We can't wait for next year's reunion! :)

We Have a 1-Year Old!

Last Thursday was Claire's 1st Birthday! The day was a little busy with errands and work so we didn't get to celebrate too much on that day. We did have a mommy/daughter date to Dairy Queen though. She loved that! That night we let her open her presents. She insisted on sitting on the biggest one while doing so. :)

The rest of the weekend she spent playing with her two "big" presents from mom and dad... a Little People playhouse and an elephant riding toy.

Sunday evening we had a little party for her. We were lucky enough to have family and friends celebrate with us. Uncle Kyle and Aunt Courtney hung out with us for the whole day, and then we were joined by Aunt Lia, Uncle Ryan and the Betts cousins, and shortly later by Aunt Becca, Uncle Ken, Aunt Sherry, and all the Bryson cousins. Later, our friends Jake, Katie and their daughter Leah stopped by for a visit.

When everyone had arrived we first decided to open presents. She was a little timid, so mommy had to help. (We wanted to see if she fit inside the gift bag... she did).

Claire got a little upset that we kept taking her toys away from her right after she got them. She got over it pretty quick though once she realized she was getting more. :)

After presents we sang to her and let her blow out her candle. Both mommy and daddy helped her blow out the candle, because she didn't want to get too close to it. :)

We then took the festivities outside to devour the cupcakes.

First mommy had to give Claire a little off her finger so she'd realize how yummy it was.

And then... well the pictures tell the tale. :)

The rest of the party was lots of fun. Everyone ran around and played outside. Daddy got in a cupcake war with cousin Kaylee (luckily he had goggles to protect his eyes). :) And Claire was content to let cousin Tasha carry her around and show her the sights.

Happy Birthday Claire Bear!