Flower Girl & Sign Bearer

 Clara was the flower girl, and Coleton the sign bearer for Jordan's cousin's wedding.  It was a beautiful wedding, and the kids did a great job with their "duties."  It was also a great opportunity to get some pictures taken of the two of them, especially since Uncle Taylor was their photographer.  It's not an easy task taking pictures at this age, but I thought he got some great ones!

Clara's 3rd Birthday!

Our sweet girl turned 3 on September 3rd!  We had family over for a special breakfast in the morning and to give her the presents from us.  We all went in and got her a doll house and all the little pieces that go with it.  It is absolutely adorable and she loves it!

Then we recorded the milestone on our new growth chart.  She is 35" tall, just shy of 3 feet.  I can't wait to compare and keep track of how our kids grow through the years!


Then after a nap for both kiddos we got the house ready for her birthday party!  This girl still remembers her 2nd birthday party, so I knew I had to make it special.  Lots of friends and family came over and we all had a blast.  We had water balloons, a painting station, cupcake pinata, sprinklers, opened presents, delicious dinner of Ham & Cheese Sliders and homemade Mac & Cheese.  Along with fruit kebabs and chocolate cupcakes, what more could a girl ask for!








The day after her birthday I interviewed her, here is 20 questions with Clara...
1. What is your favorite color? Black (So not true, any other day of the week and she would say purple.)
2. What is your favorite toy? Blocks...no my dollhouse...my dollhouse is my favorite toy.
3. What is your favorite fruit? Pear (Also not true, I never buy pears for some reason)
4. What is your favorite tv show? My favorite tv show is Yo Gabba Gabba!
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Meat & Cheese
6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress I have in my closet.
7. What is your favorite game? Umm...Dominos.
8. What is your favorite snack? Umm...my favorite snack is Crackers.
9. What is your favorite animal? Lions.
10. What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle.
11. What is your favorite book? Caps for Sale.
12. Who is your best friend? Katie & Allie
13. What is your favorite cereal? My favorite cereal is Hot Grape Nuts!
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in my play house.
15.What is your favorite drink? Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? What is a holiday? Halloween, because it's fun! (after a brief explanation)
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Baby dolls.
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Hot Grape Nuts! (It's true she loves that stuff)
19. What is your favorite dinner? Just kidding!
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A cupcake!

She loved being interviewed and for the most part she was serious with her answers, until the very end, then she just got goofy.  Some other interesting facts about Clara...she has an imaginary monkey who goes almost everywhere with her, she is obsessed with band aids and slippery soap (bar soap) she has an amazing imagination and loves all books.  Happy Birthday to the sweetest girl there is!  We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Expectations...

It has taken me a long time to figure out this whole parenting thing...I mean, I have an almost three year old, I should have this down by now...right?  Wrong.  I have been learning in leaps and bounds these past three years, and just plain old trying to figure things out.  I have come to realize that the areas I struggle most have to do with unrealistic expectations.  For example, Jordan works a lot.  He works 24, 48 and 72 hour shifts.  There are more times than I would like that he tallys up 120 hours in one week.  So on those few precious days that he is home I have grand expectations.  Then when they are not met, which in reality they never are, I get disappointed, and I waste those precious days being frustrated.  In my mind I was not allowing myself to enjoy the day until...I was showered and presentable looking, the kids were clothed and lookin' cute, the house was clean and tidy, laundry was put away...and then we could begin to enjoy the day.  Yeah right.  Those simple few things end up taking all day, and before I know it the day is gone and Jordan is back to work, and I forgot to enjoy any part of the day.  Sounds ridiculous now that I think about it, but for some reason the days are a whirlwind of getting things done, and then they are over and a new day begins with Jordan back at work.  I realized that had to end, I had to re-evaluate my expectations.  The day begins when I wake up and get out of bed.  I need to learn to enjoy getting the kids up and dressed, enjoy making breakfast, lunch and dinner, enjoy cleaning up the kitchen over and over again, enjoy doing 4-6 loads of laundry a week and folding and putting away endless amounts of clothes.  I need to enjoy these tasks, because this is my life right now.  I need to be okay with not having make up on, and having my hair in a crazy mess 75% of the time, because life is still going on, and I don't want to miss it! This new perspective has brought me so much peace.  I am working on brainwashing Clara...for example...kids are such copy cats of what we do.  So if I go around cleaning with a smile on my face then she joins along.  She insisted I buy her a pink sponge at the store the other day, so now she goes around the house scrubbing here and there, saying, "I love having a clean house" and "doing dishes is so much fun."  I just have to laugh at how she mimics things I say, and the more I say it the more I believe it, and the more good habits she picks up.  Win...win.

Clara's first time flying a kite, she was giddy with excitement!

On another note, we went beach camping last weekend with our best camping buddies.  Matt, Jeannine and Elora stayed in our tent trailer with us, and I just love how much fun we have.  Yes the kiddos are sometimes loud at night, and wake up at the crack of dawn, but it is so worth it.  Jeannine's sister's family and their 3 kids camped as well, and it made for a fun and crazy campsite.  I am checking the calendar as we speak to see when we can go camping again!