Snow Day

We woke up this morning to almost 7 inches of snow!! This is definitely the best storm we've had in years and I was so excited to get Claire outside to see it.


She wasn't too sure what was going on and could barely walk with snow up to her knees. This picture was taken about 10 seconds after we got outside and about 1 second before face-planting in the snow. Poor thing was totally freaked. It certainly wasn't a great start to our snow adventure!


We went for a little walk to see all the neighborhood kids out enjoying their day off from school. Claire did laugh watching Charlie running around, but with the cold wind in her face and snow in her mittens, she wasn't having much fun.


One day she will appreciate a real snow day - and who knows when the next one will be - but for now, we are staying snug and warm inside!!

I think I'll take a moment, celebrate my age...

Happy 30th Birthday Mommy!

Flowers from Claire!

This was a surprise waiting for me when I got home from work:

I saved a birthday cupcake for Claire. First, she picked off the sprinkles one by one...

Then, the icing...YUMMY!!

My super-picky eater didn't have any problems finishing up her cupcake!

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my [husband]
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear

Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
--Tim McGraw

Feelin' the Love!

It's a Happy Valentine's Day in the Barnes house! Claire wore her special new PJs (thanks Swicks!!) and we celebrated this morning before Claire went to spend the weekend with Grammy and Papa Jim.

I can't help but remember last year when Rob was in Columbus for 2 weeks in February and how much we missed him! It's nice to have him home this year for V-day! I had not been that "into" Valentine's Day until 2 years ago when it was extra special - our first ultrasound and the first time we saw our daughter. I was so nervous and so excited for that day!! I also will always think of Taco Bell on Valentine's Day....after that doctor's appointment we were running a little late to get back to work so instead of the nice lunch out we had planned, we stopped in for a super quick lunch at Taco Bell. How romantic! I think this year we'll try to take it up a notch.

Anyway, we started the morning with presents! Not a bad way to start the day if you ask me. Claire got some fun new books from Grammy and Papa Jim!

Stopping to read each one before proceeding....

A fun card with her favorite - "Melmo"!!!

Then breakfast on a special Valentine's plate. Mommy spaced out and forgot that we didn't have pancake mix so we scrapped the pink heart-shaped pancakes idea and had cinnamon toast and blueberries instead. Oh well, guess we'll have that next year!

Before leaving for Grammy's, Claire gave each of us a kiss, which is a rare event around here. What more could I ask for on Valentine's Day?!

Love to everyone and enjoy your day!

Bookworm

Claire is our little bookworm and we have books spread out all over our house, from one end to the other. (Including under the couch where I stash the ones I just can't bear to read again at that moment!) Today I got motivated to collect all the books and put them in her bookshelf......And then I remembered why I don't bother to put them on the bookshelf!
So back to the baskets and bins throughout the house! But I really am going to teach her to pick them up at the end of each day!!

Is it Spring yet?!

Earlier this week, we were playing in the snow and now we're outside in short sleeves! We've got a ways to go, but it sure feels like Spring around here.

We decided to take advantage of this beautiful weather and spend time outside this weekend. Saturday we went to St. Mark's playground. She especially liked the slide! She would sit at the top and say "wee! weee!"

Today we took a trip to Maymont. It was a perfect day for it and the rest of Richmond must have thought so too...the place was packed! We walked all over, saw a bunch of animals, and set Claire loose to run in the grass. After weeks of being cooped up in the house, it was great to run and play!

So much to say!

I'm terrible about keeping up with a scrapbook for Claire, which is why I love my "online scrapbook" so much. Just so I won't forget, here's a list of all the "words" (and I use that term loosely) that she says now:


Mama (of course that's first on the list!)

Dada*

Papa (for Papa Jim and PoPa)

Bye Bye
Hi (sounds like a very southern "Haaah!")
Duck (which sometimes sounds like d*ck.....YIKES!)
Pooh (Winnie the Pooh)
Melmo (Elmo)

Baa (What does a sheep say?)

Moo (What does a cow say.....sometimes sounds like Mama moo....thanks Claire)

Neigh (What does a horse say? Usually sounds like "neh")

Ruff (Dogs)

Up (means up and down)

Off (means off and on)

Ball

Cucu (sounds like coo-coo....Spanish for Peekaboo which she learned from her "First Words radio")

Bapple (Apple, also learned on the First Words Radio)

Flower (sounds more like "fwaa")

Boo (when we play hide and seek)

Weeee (when we go down a slide)
*She also says Boo and Weee when I read a book about Elmo:


A couple words are tough because she uses the last consonant sound.... for example, "k" means book, milk, and when I point to a picture of Jake. "Ssss" means cheese and Backyaridgans. Kind of confusing!!

Wow, it's a long list when I write it all down!!

*Last, but not least, here's a funny story about Dada....the other day while Daddy was at work I opened the door to our bedroom to get something and Claire came running in saying "Dada! Dada! Dada!" She went straight to the bed and was throwing her leg up trying to get into the bed. She thinks that's where Daddy lives!!! Ha ha! So true Claire, so true.

Snow!!!

This morning we woke up to snow!! (Barely half an inch, but it's the most we've gotten so far!!) It was so fun to see Claire's face when she saw it - mostly curious and confused!
I wish we would get a really good snow to play in. Rob and I were reminiscing about playing in the snow when we were kids. I loved to sled down the "dirt hill" with my friends and then come inside for hot chocolate. I also told Rob about my mom making snowcream for us, but maybe with pollution these days we'll have to skip that tradition?



We put on some boots and a hat (excuse the outfit, it was only 7am) and went out to play!

She had so much fun running around, but as soon as she fell and touched the snow with her hands, she was done!

This morning was supposed to be Club Mom at the mall, but for some reason the morning slipped by and we never made it out the door. Instead, we spent the day inside reading books, playing, and watching Backyardigans!

Seemed like the perfect day for a warm, snuggly sweater! (Thanks Clay and Patti!!)