Claire Bear turns 4!!!

My Claire Bear is 4!! I went in to wake the girls up and the first thing Claire said is "where are my presents?". Jeremy and I thougth it might be best to do gifts Tuesday night since getting ready for school would be crazy. However, Claire would NOT hear of it. So, at 5:45am we pulled out the presents and boy was Claire excited!





After taking Camden to school we headed back to Tyler to our church for the first day of our PDO. Claire was excited about being in Mrs. Chaney's Pre-K class. She was even more excited about bringing cupcakes for her friends for her birthday!




Claire got to choose where she wanted to eat dinner for her birthday. She picked Chuck E. Cheese. The girls had so much fun playing games and running around. Claire had a wonderful birthday and we are looking forward to this weekend when she celebrates with family and friends at her party!

1st day of Kindergarten

This morning I got up bright and early, took a shower and got dressed and then went in and woke up Camden and Claire. I thought it might be difficult to get them up, however, with one little nudge, Camden jumped up and was so excited! I had made this banner for her and she thougth it was very "cool". I really wanted to make her feel special on this big day!

She hurried to eat breakfast (she chose biscuits and bacon) and got dressed.

And, of course, we had to get some pics of the big Kindergartener in her first day of school outfit.






Even though I got up early, it was still a busy morning trying to get everyone fed, dressed, hair done and in the car by 7am. Yes, we had to leave our house that early!!! Driving to Lindale twice a day, especially that early in the morning is really getting exhausting! But, only a few more days of doing that before we move to Lindale and we will be about 5 minutes from Camden's school! YEAH!! Camden was so excited about Kindergarten and talked about it the whole way there. We got to Lindale, only to discover the traffic was absolutely awful!! We finally made it to her campus and waited for Jeremy to meet us there.


We made our way in to the school and Camden led us to her class. She walked right in and found her cubby for her lunchbox and hung her backpack up. She found her seat and sat right down to play with play-doh. I'm glad she was excited and eager, however, it still made me sad to drop her off. I felt like I was missing something all day. I'm so used to having to wrangle 3 kids in and out of the car and I only had 2. Claire was sad, too. She asked why she couldn't go to Kindergarten, where Camden was and when were we going to get her. We couldn't wait to pick her up from her first day. She had a great time! Big school must be very tiring...within 10 minutes she fell asleep. In fact, she has fallen asleep every day this week after school. But, we all survived the first day and are excited about a great year!

Busy weekend

This past weekend was busy for our family. My mom came over on Saturday morning and we packed ALOT of boxes. Then we celebrated Jeremy's birthday with his family on Saturday evening, went to church on Sunday, celebrated his birthday with my family after church and got everthing prepared for school to start on Monday. My parents got this cookie bouquet for Jeremy and Camden as they both started a new school year. Camden was nice enough to share with Claire. We had alot to do Sunday evening as we made lunches, got school clothes out, charged the camera battery, etc... It was going to be an early morning for all of us. See the next post for pictures of Camden's first day of Kindergarten.

Meet the Teacher

Tonight we headed to Camden's new school for "Meet the Teacher". Camden was a little uneasy about meeting her teacher, but after walking in the classroom she was a bit more at ease. Mrs. Aubuchon was very sweet and welcoming and the classroom was full of fun, bright colors. Such an inviting environment for little ones. After we talked to Mrs. Aubuchon for a bit, we took Camden's school supplies and sorted them. She helped me put the supplies where they went. Then we explored the room where she found the calendar, the hundreds chart, the home-living center and the big ABC rug. Mrs. Aubuchon even had some books displayed that were about going to school and entering Kindergarten. Camden thought it was neat that we had a few of the same books at home and have been reading them at night. After meeting Camden's teacher, I feel so much better about dropping her off at school on Monday. I didn't say I wouldn't still shed a few tears, but knowing who is taking care of her all day makes it a little easier to let her go.

Mommy and her little Kindergartener


Happy to be at school


Sorting her supplies


Counting on the hundreds chart


Cullen and Camden

11 months old

Carlyle is 11 months old and I think I can finally say that she is attempting to crawl. She will get up on her hands and knees and, after much thought and deliberation, move one leg forward. It's a VERY slow process, but she is learning. No more are the days when she would play contently in one spot. She is all over the place...not from crawling but from rolling. She can get pretty much whatever or wherever she wants. And when she really figures out the crawling thing, she's just going to be all over the place even faster! Carlyle has learned how to sit up from a laying position, so we finally had to lower the crib mattress. She is pretty proud of herself when she sits up and if anyone is around, she will usually look at you, as if she is waiting for praise and affirmation.


She loves to give kisses and play peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake. She is eating alot more table food and is down to only one bottle at night. We only have about 1/4 of a can of formula left and I have decided not to buy any more when we run out. I told Carlyle that the bottles weren't coming with us to our new house (ha ha). She has done really well adjusting to whole milk and a cup and doesn't even seem to miss her bottles. I just hope her nighttime routine doesn't get messed up too much without a bottle.


Carlyle is such a happy baby! She lights up a room with her smiles and brings so much joy to our family! We are looking forward to celebrating her First Birthday in exactly one month. My sister-in-law and I are getting so excited about planning her party! It will be here before I know it so I'm going to try to enjoy this last month with my 11 month old!

Baby C gets tubes

Yesterday morning we were all up bright and early to take Carlyle to get tubes. I think she may have had a little anticipation of what was going to happen because she was up for 2 hours during the night. Of all nights to be up, why did she have to pick the night when I had to get up in the wee hours of the morning? After I finally got her back to sleep, I looked at the clock and realized I only had 2 1/2 more hours to sleep...ugh! 4:45am came way too early!! After I took a shower and got ready, I woke Jeremy up and went to get Camden and Claire up. Surprisingly, they did AMAZING! No whining, no crying and no throwing fits. They got right up, got dressed, grabbed their backpacks full of things to occupy their time and headed for the car. I really hope when school starts that they are this easy to wake up every morning! I woke sleeping Carlyle up, changed her diaper and buckled her in her carseat. She had no idea what was about to happen. Here she is on her way to the hospital.


After we got to the hospital, they called us back to finish some paperwork, and of course, we got our fashionable bracelets.



Carlyle was so happy the whole time we waited. I am sure she was hungry, but she never really fussed. Such a great baby...that is until AFTER surgery. They brought her back to recovery after she woke up and she was a completely different baby. I heard her crying and screaming as they were walking her in and she didn't stop for the whole hour we had to wait in recovery. Carlyle was like a little demon child, pushing off of me and Jeremy. She didn't really know what she wanted. Between being tired, waking up in an unfamiliar place, the effects of the anesthesia and being hungry, I would say she has a few reasons to be upset. However, I have never seen her like this. She wouldn't take her juice but I finally got her to take about 3 oz of formula. About the last 10 minutes that we were in there, I was walking around with her, bouncing, trying to get her to calm down. I think she wore herself out and was almost asleep, when another baby in the room began to cry and that was it. Carlyle started again! I was so ready to get in the car. She did fall asleep on the way home and I transferred her to her crib and she slept for 3 hours. She was sleeping very hard, as you can tell in these pictures.



I am so glad that her surgery is over and I really hope that ear infections are a thing of the past!

Our Saturday

Today we had a surprise birthday party for Gigi's 76th birthday. Lots of family and friends joined in the celebration. I think Gigi was really surprised and I know she had a great time!



Camden and Claire had fun helping Gigi open her cards and gifts.


Camden had fun dressing up at the party.


Aunt Rachel reading a book to Jax and Claire.



This afternoon the girls stayed with Nana and Papa while I ran a couple of errands. Carlyle hasn't been feeling well due to ear infections and teething. She's actually getting tubes on Tuesday so I'm hoping she will feel alot better after that. She napped most of the afternoon but when I returned I found Camden and Claire in their swimsuits. They had been helping Papa wash the car.



What a face!


Camden likes to set the fashion trends...swimsuit and rainboots!


And Claire enjoying one of her favorite foods...ICE CREAM!