Oh boy!

Yes, OH BOY! We are having a boy. We found out february 7th. We did it earlier than normal because my mom was in town. Which was so fun by the way. She came for 2 weeks and it was heaven. We did projects, slept, the zoo, all about kids, played, ate yummy food and sewed!. It was awesome. Come again please MiMi.

We knew it was a boy without the tech even telling me so. She went up the leg and I said, "Oh! it's boy!" So once we found out, I had to go and buy a few boy things. Very different not buying lots of pink and ruffles. Still excited though! We announced it with pictures of Claire. We have a few names picked out but he probably won't have a name for a few days after being born.

Oh Claire

I can't blog without doing a post about Claire.

Where do I begin. She is busy. She is talking like crazy (have to be careful what you say around her). She loves to put vapor rub on her "milks" (she calls them).

She loves tic tacs (tac tacs is her name)

She now says her name.... Claire Bear Abigail Lookhart (trying to leave out the bear)

She loves the motorcycle.

She sleeps in a big girl bed.

She hates socks

She loves to play with her friends and dances when she sees them cause she is so excited.

She loves to get a cookie at the grocery store

She is singing all the time and is really good at the songs

She baffled me with knowing all the abc's the other day

She is just plain funny. I know everyone says that about their kids but she really has a sense of humor.

Claire is so lovable and has crazy crazy hair

She is now interacting with her cartoons that she watches.

She remembers everything... locations, buildings, names

She still has her stupid allergies. I hate them.

She knows not to jump on her bed... she says "no jump jump"

She loves chocolate milk and still doesn't really like juice.

She is very particular about things and where they go. I wonder where she gets it from? She puts things in order. Shuts drawers and cupboards even if it is out of her way. She likes to line things up and move things around so they are in order.

When she turned two, I feel like a whole new person came out. Here are some pictures of just how cute and crazy she is.

*side note - I hate that dora bag she drags around. It was a dumb yard sale find that makes me want to pull my hair out.

She never wants her hair in a pony tail... but I love it anyways

She loves to climb on her changing table. I will put the video up sometime. I found her wrapped up in her blanket after her nap with all the baskets lined up. Silly girl

Chicago

I did the pictures backwards. Sorry :)

We went to Chicago in November. Seth's parents were leaving on their mission to Zambia. They had a long layover in Chicago so we surprised them! While we were there they got some very exciting news about getting another grandbaby! Hooray! We hung out at our hotel for awhile and then headed to dinner. It was hard to say goodbye to them but we were so excited to get to see them before they left for 18 months.

We stayed in Chicago for the weekend. It was so fun. A little chilly but exciting. Last time we were there was when I was 5 months pregnant with Claire. We went to the children's museum (which was AMAZING). If anyone goes there with kids... plan a whole day there. We walked up and down the Navy Pier. Ate some amazing pizza and drove through some beautiful areas. We even got to see the bean again. This time it wasn't raining so the pictures were so much better

On our drive home we took a detour to Notre Dame. What a beautiful campus. The fall leaves and the weather made me want to go back to school just so I could be on that campus. :) It was magical.

Project time

I have had a list of projects to do forever. Some were already half done and just needed to finish. And there are many more on my list that still have yet to be done. :) Thank you to my sweet mom for helping me with them and getting started on the others!

Made these back in like October. Still need to finish the last one.

Shortened Claire's curtains and redid the headboard. I can't believe she is in a big girl bed. She hasn't even fallen off of it yet! I need to do some decor in her room to match the bedding

Saw this wreath on pinterest. So I modified the colors a bit. Like how it turned out

I got a new table and chairs. Someday I will sand the chairs and table and redo those.... someday. I love the fabric and it really ties my kitchen together

We are having a baby!

Yes, this is a post that needed to be done forever ago. Oh well.

It is true. A baby in July. Our due date is July 6th. I knew I was pregnant in October but all my tests kept saying no. Finally.... the last day of the week, it came up positive! So excited. I will admit, I was nervous and almost started crying out of being freaked out but then got over it.

The sickness started immediately. Just like it did with Claire. This pregnancy has been so different. I was sick ALL DAY LONG. ALL DAY LONG. ALL DAY LONG. I had to put it there 3 times to really emphasis it. It sucked. By January I had finally put on 3 pounds. Jeez.

My belly popped out a lot faster too with this little one. I guess I kind of expected it. We are stoked and things couldn't be going better. Very healthy and right on schedule.

16 1/2 week

s

18 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

21 weeks with my sweet girl wanting a picture

Thanksgiving and Christmas

Yes, I am a slacker. I don't like blogging. I hate it more when I get behind... but here are updates.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We spent it here in Kentucky at "the farm house." Also known as the Browns' house. It was beautiful, relaxing and was spend with many wonderful people that we have in our lives. Great food (that I actually was able to keep down... I was 6 weeks at this point and so so sick).

We took some family pictures while we were there too.

Claire went to a princess party! She looked so cute and loved every minute.

Before Christmas, we were able to go to our first U of L basketball game with our friends the Driscolls. We had so much fun and great seats! The Yum center is amazing!

So Christmas was crazy!!!! We had already planned on staying in Kentucky for Christmas. Tickets were crazy expensive. We got our first tree! Yes, we have been married 4 years but we never had to room to have a big tree in the apartments. So it was fun. Claire sure thought it was funny to have a tree on top of our car.

We made our gingerbread train this year too. Claire is very much into saying "choo choo" all the time so we thought it was appropriate.

So the really crazy part. My parents were kind and so generous and we got a phone call saying they found great deals and could use airline points. We were going home! We were frantic. We did our own Christmas here so we wouldn't have to haul all the presents to Idaho. I got subs for my work. We found rides there and home. Busy! We were stoked though.

We enjoyed so much time with family. We kept it a secret that we were coming and surprised my family one by one as they came to mom and dad's house. I think Paul's reaction was the best! It scared Claire a little.

We went and saw the lights at downtown Caldwell. It was really pretty. We ate at all our favorite places that we don't have out in Kentucky. We spent Christmas Eve at the Jakobson's and Claire even participated in the talent show there this year. Elizabeth and Claire did the snowman song. She really just stood there but it was so much fun.

Christmas was fun with her this year. She started to understand things a little more and was so excited. We went to church first which was wonderful. Then home with the family for a great and relaxing Christmas.

While we were there too... we got to see our friends! We always try and do dinner with them at least once. We even got the good news that the Barnes are having a baby a few weeks after us! So exciting!!!

It was an awesome vacation. Going home was a mess and we had to be at the airport at 3 am after our flights were changed at 9 pm the night before. Eh! A mess. So our new years was us being in bed at 9:30 pm. Awesome.

Another month gone by

Well, here I am again, playing catch up. Doing all of these in one big post.

Before it got to cold, we had a few friends over to do an outdoor movie night. We hadn't done this in so long and couldn't wait! Had a blast and ate dinner with friends. Claire is such a cheeser... smiles all the time. :)

I had an amazing opportunity to go to Time Out for Women in Covington,Ky. It was a weekend filled with inspiration, friends and some great thoughts. Thanks girls for spending it with me and enjoying such an amazing opportunity.

Halloween was upon us quickly. I felt like it lasted forever this year, but we enjoyed it. This was the first year since we have been married, that we have ever carved pumpkins! So crazy! We went to our friends house, the Driscolls, and had so much fun. I cut off one of my towers,.... but it still turned out ok. Seth, the artist, drew his free-hand and did a great job.

Well, she is now in her big girl bed (or no crib around the mattress until we get her a twin bed). She has done so great with it. She never tries to get out of her room and sleeps pretty well. She hasn't quite mastered staying on the bed yet. Yesterday morning, I found her right by the bedroom door with her blanket. So hopefully, she will get it down soon. Claire loves to run and jump on the bed and hide with her "blankie"

Claire fully enjoyed "punkins" this year. She got to pick her own out and always wanted to go outside to play with it. It last a heck of a lot longer then I thought it would. It got shoved, thrown and kicked a lot. One day she dropped it and it went rolling. All I heard was, "Woah, woah woah punkin." Then she picked it up and said, "Shhhh, Shhhh" and rocked it. :) I wish I would have had a video camera!!!!

First day of the Halloween weekend. We went to our ward trunk-r-treat. Claire was a bee again but was a littler warmer thanks to Kathryn (Cherry Tree Road) for her awesome hat! Claire was the cutest thing ever and I died when she kept saying "Trick or Treat." Sweetest little voice in the world.

Saturday we headed over to the Low's annual party. So fun and so many good friends there. Seth did a great job with our costumes while I was out doing pictures.

Halloween finally came on Monday night. Claire's first time trick-or-treating. She did so great and loved being with her friends and going door to door. Again - I swear she got double the candy because of how she said "trick-or-treat." We had dinner at our house before we headed out and I live in such a great neighborhood now! It was fun to meet more of my neighbors too!

Life is good and busy now. We are just trying to make it to Christmas break. I can't wait for a long break with Seth. He is doing well in school and working hard like always. I can't believe we are almost half way through 2nd year. Time sure does fly. I did a lot of photography this past month. So grateful for my friends and clients. They have been so fun to take pictures of and to get to know... and thank you Kentucky for all the beautiful backgrounds!

Claire is talking more and more everyday. She loves to say, "what's that?", "Come on Mom," "Cosco (Costco)," and "Ah Man! (from dora)". She sings all the time and loves to push her babies or any other toy in the strollers.

More pictures to come from Thanksgiving and just life in general. You'll probably have to wait a few weeks unless I get an itch to blog.... but probably not. :)