New Bedroom

Claire's "real" present was that we gave her a new big girl bedroom. The curtains needed to go to the nursery and it was time to move on from the bumble bee theme. She wasn't left with much - her bed looked like a hospital bed and she didn't even have a comforter or quilt. I found this owl themed set and thought it was perfect for our animal loving girl!
Mimi made curtains and a bed skirt and I worked on a couple projects too.

The day after Irene, Mom and Dad came over since they didn't have power and we worked on the room. Claire LOVED it! She was so surprised when she walked in the room.



I need to get some pictures of the whole room, but here you can see the new curtains, re-painted letters, and the lamp that I re-did. I'm pretty proud of the lamp! It was a nice brass lamp with a white shade, but unfortunately we didn't have anywhere in the house to put it anymore. I "re-vamped" it by spray painting it bright pink and I recovered the lampshade.

The green lamp and owl pillow were the finishing touches! She is a little too crazy about the lamp. That first night I could hear her click it on and off...on and off....on and off - I had to finally unplug the thing so I could get some sleep!

She loves to cuddle and sleep with the "teddy owl."

Just last night she randomly said "I love my new room Mommy!" Thanks Mimi for all of your help!

Preschool party!

On Wednesday, Claire had her preschool celebration (the last of her FOUR celebrations!) This year I got to come in and watch the kids sing to her. It was so sweet! They all stood in a circle as the cake and she picked 4 friends to be candles. They sang and she "blew out the candles." Then I had ice cream with sprinkles for everyone. I only stayed a short time, but it was really fun to see her in the classroom. She was so excited!

We are off to such a good start with preschool this year. She is so happy everyday to go and jumps out of the car to march into her classroom. Everyday she comes home telling me about her friends, what they did that day, and singing the songs. (I still don't think she's singing along in class, but she's definitely paying attention!) Now her favorite game at home to play is taking all her animals and having "school" for them. I'll hear her saying things like "OK, does anyone need to go potty before we go outside? Raccoon, you go potty and then you can get back in line."

The Real Deal

Monday was "the real deal" - Claire's 4th birthday! Even though I feel like I have lost my mind during this pregnancy (preggo brain!) and I forget things all the time, I'll never forget September 19, 2007. All day I remembered where I was and what I was doing!

After partying all weekend, I guess having your birthday on a Monday was kind of a downer. Daddy had to get to work early that morning so he didn't even get to see the birthday girl. At breakfast, she opened a card from Mimi and Papa and then it was time to get ready for school.


Here's my girl ready for preschool! We made this video before heading out the door:




After school I tried to re-create one of my all time favorite pictures from her birthday last year. She wasn't so much in picture taking mood, but these are kind of cute!

That night once Daddy and I were home from work, we had a mini-celebration with ANOTHER cupcake, a card from Aunt Billie, and a present from us (beanie baby animals)!

"I'm four!"

Celebration #2!

After Diggity Fest, we had our 2nd gathering to celebrate the big 4th birthday. We headed over to Mimi and Papas house for a pizza dinner. Uncle Andy, Aunt Tara, Samara, Uncle Chuck, and Sam all joined us. Claire had so much fun!

And it wouldn't be a birthday party without cake too of course! She blew out all 4 candles!

Thanks everybody for all the great gifts. She has really been enjoying all of them!

Animal stickers and "magic talking pen" books from Andy, Tara, and Samara, train whistles from Sam, baby animals and an animal puzzle from Aunt Bradford and Uncle Chuck, and an owl pillow & lamp from Mimi and Papa! So many cool things!



Again I didn't get too many pictures, but she really did have a great time. In the car, Claire said her favorite things were "playing with Samara, playing peek-a-boo, and seeing Sam."

Thanks everybody!

Diggity Fest

Claire and I won tickets to Diggity Fest and I thought that would be a fun thing to do during her "birthday weekend." Even though it was a very overcast day, we had a great time. They had all kinds of activities set up for the kids along with the bands playing.

She loved saying hi to Rompy and giving him hugs.

The bounce house was awesome.....until it was time to get out. She had a "moment" but luckily I was able to grab her and get her out without having to send someone in to retrieve her! Her favorite activity was this obstacle course that Romp N Roll had set up. I think she would have stayed here all day going around and around and around.

They had hay bales for everyone to sit on and watch the bands. We ate a picnic lunch and listened to the music.


Hope Harris was our favorite - even Rob liked it! Here's Claire dancing to the music and wearing her "magic glasses"

Before we left, we asked Daddy to wait in the looooong line for a balloon animal or hat. He was making the coolest things I've ever seen, but by this point I think he might have been getting a little tired. Claire asked for a "birthday animal." He made this cute bear (or maybe it's a pig?) holding a balloon.

She konked out in the car after a fun morning - still holding on tight to her birthday balloon animal!

4th Birthday and 4 celebrations!

Claire is 4!!!

This year I wanted to make the festivities pretty low key - nothing over the top that would require much work for me, but also less overwhelming for Claire. We decided on a few smaller gatherings instead of one big party. On Saturday, Uncle Matt, Aunt Alison, Katie, and Aunt Sally all came over to our house for a birthday brunch. We had some yummy food (thanks everybody for bringing stuff!) and enjoyed spending some time together.



I didn't do a very good job with pictures that day, but luckily Alison took a few for me.

Claire couldn't wait to open her presents - FINALLY we didn't have to convince her to open them! In fact, a few times that morning we heard paper rustling and found her trying to snoop! Katie liked to help open the presents :-)

From Aunt Sally, she got a cute fall outfit, Hello Kitty PJs, princess panties, and a Tinkerbell umbrella. The umbrella was a big hit!!

From Alison, Matt, and Katie, she got this adorable outfit - can't wait for her to wear it next summer! She also got some Halloween goodies, which she's pretty obsessed about the glow sticks. They might not make it in the package until the end of October.


After presents we had "cat cupcakes" that Claire had picked out herself because who doesn't eat cupcakes after having their 2nd breakfast for the day?!

I know Claire really enjoyed playing with Katie and seeing everyone. I overheard her say "Sally, it was so fun for you to come over." Thanks everybody!!!