One Year Old Pro Pics

Pics and such

So, now that I have built a bridge and gotten over the debacle that was my Dr.'s appt. yesterday, I thought I would post some pics that are long over-due.

First, Congrats to Beth and Eric Webb on the birth of their little one, Zachary Eric Webb!

Second, Congrats to Renee and Paul Hays on the birth of their little one, Trinity Jane Hays!

Thirdly, Congrats to Chad and Becky, as they are expecting. For the record, I vote this is a boy:)

About the pics above:

-Today was arts and crafts. We pulled out the finger paints and taped paper to the floor. I knew it would only last 5 minutes and was pretty correct. Clare was not weirded out by the "goo" feeling of the paint, which was surprising. She really wanted to run around after she was covered in it.

-Clare loves my cell phone. Love, loves it. So, I was letting her play with it today and kept calling it from the house phone. It's our new version of hide-n-seek. It amuses both of us. She likes to pretend talk when she plays with it. The only concern I have is that she makes really odd hand gestures and I have a sinking feeling that she is emmulating me. And I love me some hand gestures when talking. Poor Clare.

-So, the pictures of her in the little cream track outfit? Kay, here's the story (WARNING, TMI ALERT, BACK OUT NOW IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THIS MESS). There is a mom that's part of this group I know that swears she is/can potty train her 13 month old. I find this to be ridiculous, as I can not "train" Clare to not climb out of her crib (a newly developed talent that required Chris to drop the crib to it's lowest setting tonight), let alone use the potty. I'm a little (just a touch) competitive and started researching early potty training. I dealt with my fair share at the day care and have a good basic understanding of the "known" tips and such. One of the signs of readiness is "hiding" or communicating when going #2. Kids who hide when they are doing their business are showing a sign of readiness. Clare could care so little about what she's doing #2, she will look at you while she's doing it and allow you take pictures. She even will talk to me. So, I think it's a little while before I have to redeem my Pampers points for the singing Dora the Explorer potty. Right?

Who wants to post bail?

Dear Dr. P,

After weeks of cross-referencing Chris and I's schedule, I finally, finally found time to make an appt. It was (as you know) a required follow up to get my Imitrex refilled. As I had the VERY WORST migraine of my life on Sunday, I figured it imperative to make sure I was at your office bright and early for my 8:15 appt. I scheduled it 2 weeks ago. After waking an hour and half earlier than normal, I arrived at your office 15 minutes early. After paying my co-pay and presenting my insurance card, I took a seat in your empty waiting room. At 8:10am, the phone rang.

Dr. P, you may know where this is going. You were the one calling. The nurse closed the little half window. Never a good sign, I'm fairly nosey. She then called me up. To tell me that because I was your only appointment before 9:30, you wouldn't be coming in this morning. If I wished, you would do me a FAVOR and come in at 9:15 to see me.

Dear Dr. P. I hate you. Not the mild hate I reserve for idiots. Not even with the hate I have for certain politicians, actors and other big mouths. No sir. I hate you in a very special place in my heart. This place is called the "I'M AN F'ING STAY AT HOME MOM WITH 2+ HOURS OF NAP TIME EVERY DAY THAT I WILL NOW UTILIZE TO LIGHT YOU ON FIRE WITH". Sir, please know the forewarned is fair warned. I will be calling every one I can think of. Currently the list includes my insurance company (whom I am simultaneously writing a letter requesting that you no longer be an eligible provider for), the local medical board, every board you are accredited with, every local message board I can find and every yahoo, google or major search engine with a "write a review" option for their yellow pages search engine.

That is all.
Have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

The Lady who lost it at your office this morning.

PIGTAILS!

Picture Notes:

-We love pigtails! Well, we don't so much. But I do. And I'm the one doing her hair. Quick note, don't do pigtails after a bath. When you take them out at night, her hair looks crazy.

-Clare met a new boy. Can you tell she liked him? He was a few weeks younger, so I think she thought her chances of being the boss were good.

-Clare has decided the best seat in the house is the dog. You can't blame her. Serena is cushy.

Craigslist

I love craigslist.

However, like many things that I start off liking, I grow obsessed. I started on my craigslist mission about 6+ months ago. I was in the market for 2 things. Very simple things.

One, a computer desk or armoire, to hold the MAC and the mess. It needed to have enough space for MAC monitor, all of Chris's "stuff" and all of my coupons. It needs prep space for coupon-ing and it needs to have doors that can close and make the whole mess go away when company comes over. If it was self-cleaning that would be a bonus. It must be a nice piece and large enough to serve all of the aforementioned functions. Oh, and fit in the super small space of the lower kitchen.
Six plus months later and shockingly, I'm still looking.

The second item was a jogging stroller. Now, stop laughing. I'm serious. It's not funny. Yes, I know I don't jog. No, I'm not planning on starting. Yes, I realize that I trip when I run by myself (which I don't do unless someone is chasing me). When Chris and I were registering, we looked at strollers that had the snap in infant seats that were similar to jogging strollers. Chris broke the model we were looking at in the store. We walked away quickly and moved on to more traditional models. I mentioned a jogging stroller, Chris reminded me I didn't jog and then mentioned that he wasn't comfortable with me jogging with our infant. I was less than amused. I was carrying the kid for 9 (alright, she clearly feared for her safety and ran out at 8) months. I **think** if I wanted to, I could jog with her. Okay, not really. It would be unsafe.
But, the whole conversation is for nothing. Cause I don't jog. I just want a jogging stroller for trips to the park. One, the geese are super gross and have not been sidewalk trained. So, I hate taking the nice stroller to the park. Two, the trees in some areas off the main drag have busted through the sidewalks, making for a bumpy ride. Three, they are really light weight and even walking makes me tired.
So, I started on my mission for a stroller. I'm super excited to report I went about 25 mins. away and purchased one from a really nice guy today. He even went about explaining to me how to set it up, change the tires and etc. I didn't have the heart to explain I would never be "changing a tire" on a stroller. That's what Chris and online manuals are for. He listed this stroller for way less than it typically retails for (it's a BOB, which are really nice and retail 2nd hand for a lot more than the $25 he listed it for). I was worried the whole way down that one of the pics had been deceiving and it would in fact be a POS. However, it was great! He mentioned that he had over 40 emails and a waiting list in case I didn't show (I responded within a minute of him posting it 'cause I'm a crazy craigslist stalker). He asked if I was the one training for a marathon. I nearly peed my pants. I almost lied and said yes to make him feel better, but the whole thing sounded ridiculous. I'm not going to run with this. This isn't for running. It's a stroller....for strolling.

And, get this. On Friday, Chris and I are going to look at a piece for the computer. I'm so excited I can't stand it! However, other than searching for friends, what will I do with my craigslist time each day?

P.S. I'm sure you're wondering where the pics are. I'll be sure to post more soon:)

New Stuff....

Clare has settled back into being home pretty well.

Since being gone for 3 weeks, she has learned some new tricks for getting into what isn't her's.

We donated the dining room to her for the duration of Chris's 2 week recovery. So, we pushed the furniture to the side and set up baby jail with all of her favorite toys. We did our best to temporarily baby proof the area (hence the awesome masking tape on things). It worked out so well that I've yet to take it down. She quickly showed me that the area I put the paper in is within reach. I heard her "reading" it, however, it occupied her for nearly 30 minutes and she wasn't eating it, so I kinda ignored the situation.

She also tried to break out of the house from baby jail. She used her much loved chair to reach the dining room door and said, "See Ya"!

My favorite pictures have to be of her cleaning. In the last few weeks, she has been picking up paper towels and started wiping down floors, tables, window sills and etc.

There are 2 schools of thoughts on this:

1.) She sees me cleaning and like most children, models the behavior of her same gendered
parent. (I'm a fan of this one)

2.) She is her Aunt Erin's niece and can't believe she's stuck with such slobs for parents. The
Littlest Clean Freak thinks we need to Pick this Sh** Up! She does not understand how
adults can continue to leave cabinet doors open and lights on. She figures if she starts
cleaning now, maybe she'll have this placed picked up by 5 (years old). (I'm not crazy
about this one).


We also had the Miller side Family Reunion a few weeks ago. It was a lot of fun and Clare was super wild. Thankfully, her cousins Jessica and Juliana chased her around all night. It was the first party I've been to since she was born that I've had a "whole drink". As in, I finish one from top to bottom, not setting it down and losing it 19 times.

So, as you can see, we are all doing great here. I'll be sure to update more often now that we are settled back into our routine. I hope all is well and we have some very cute Congrat pics coming soon!

Happy (belated) First Birthday Party Pics

Well, as many of you may have heard, we didn't celebrate Clare's Birthday. We decided that she had been too wild this year and so we had no parties, cakes or presents.

Or maybe we had 3.

So, when this kid turns 16 and starts crying to me about a Sweet Sixteen fit for MTV, I fully intend to whip out these pics and tell her to "Hush it up!".

Clare's Birthday Tour started in Cleveland, where the very nice Mrs. Peterson gave Clare her first present of the Birthday month. It was a huge hit. Clare was very excited to see that under the wrapping paper was fun stuff.

Clare's Birthday Tour then moved onto to Cincy, with family BBQ and cake. As in the giant cupcake. The one I will never bake again. The one I hate with the passion of 1,000 fiery suns. Just sayin'.

We had all of my side of the family over for cake and ice cream and Clare did a great job attacking the cake. It was gross and adorable all at the same time.

In Hilton Head, it was her actual Birthday and we did Take 2, Same Cake. All of Chris's family (except Nana and Pop-Pop who were there of course) was on speaker phone singing Happy Birthday. Also, gross and adorable.

Back home, we had all of our extended family here over for cake and ice cream. Clare was very aware as to what the expectations were by this point and didn't even bother to hesitate with the cake eating business at hand.

On a more serious note, thank you all so much for helping celebrate Clare's 1st Birthday. It was beyond our wildest expectations that so many of you love our daughter as much as we do. We had a great time and Clare loved all of her presents!

So, above are lots of messy cake face and other fun stuff.