Dance Recital

Last weekend was Claire's dance recital. 

She did an amazing job and it was so fun watching her dance her little heart out.   Hopefully I will be able to get the video posted soon.

 

She is all about the silly faces these days.

 

 

 

One more birthday

 

I had to add this since it was so cute.  I am so blessed to have the best husband and kids ever.  Luke took the kids shopping for my birthday and let them pick something out for me.  Claire picked out some new garden tools and Crue picked out a pink gardening hat.  Luke spoiled me with a Kindle Fire which I am really excited about.  They decorated the table for me and then Claire made me close my eyes as she led me to my surprise.   My favorite part however was when Luke gave me an orchid and Claire gave me the pink kolanchoe.  Crue looked down and noticed he didn't have any flowers for me so he ran outside and picked a tulip out of the front yard and then gave it to me along with a big hug.  How sweet is that!!

Translations...

Claire:  Crue, lets go ask dad if we can.... 

Translation:  There is no way mom will let us get away with that but dad might.  He is our best bet.

Crue:  Mom,  watch me!!

Translation:  I am about to do what I think is a really cool trick but there is a good chance I will break my arm or leg.

Claire:  Crue, I think mom needs a big hug and kiss.  Go give her one.

Translation:  We sure made mom mad this time and we should probably apologize but just in case she is still upset, you are going in first Crue.

Claire:  Mom, remember how you said you would love me no matter what?

Translation:  I better remind you how much you love me before I tell you what I just did

Crue: I broke it. 
Translation:  Yep, I just did what you asked me not to do, and yep, it broke just like you said it would.

It's My Party And I'll Cry If I Want to...

 

Several days before Claire's birthday party I got this song stuck in my head and she thought it was a stupid song because why would anyone cry at their party.  We should have knocked on wood.

 

Right as her friends were arriving Claire managed to severely sprain her toe.  The poor girl spent the first part of the party crying on my lap.  It was so sad.  We pretty much had to carry her everywhere she went for the rest of the party.

She still was pretty sad when we ate pizza.

A new bout of tears started when she saw her birthday cake...or what was left of it.  FYI...keep the little two year old brother away from the birthday cake.  When he couldn't get the cake carrier open he turned it to one side, then the next, tried opening it upside down, and when that didn't work he tried to shake it open.   The fact that all we could do was laugh at what had happened didn't help with the tears.  She wanted him to be in big trouble.

 

Daddy to the rescue with birthday cake #2.  Thank goodness the grocery store was a block away.

 

 

Luckily the presents officially cheered up the birthday girl.

 

 

This will definitely be one memorable birthday party.

From God's Arms, To My Arms, To Yours

Five years ago I became a mother.  It was something that I had wanted for years but soon realized it was not going to happen in the traditional way. I became a mother because a special young woman did the hardest thing she has probably ever had to do - she placed her baby girl for adoption.  She made me a mom.  I will never forget holding my beautiful baby girl for the first time.  She was only two days old.  She was perfect.  She was amazing.  We had been praying for her for so long and Heavenly Father answered our prayers.   Three years later I became a mom again when another amazing young woman placed her little boy with us.  I sat in the hospital nursery rocking my sweet baby boy soon after he was born.  My heart was full.  We had been waiting for this little boy, praying for this little boy, and he had finally come.  Heavenly Father has blessed me so much.  I have two children that make me so incredibly happy.  Each day they fill my heart with joy and it is an honor to be their mom.  Adoption is an amazing thing and hopefully soon we will be blessed with another little baby, someone we are missing in our family, someone that we are praying for each day,  someone that my heart aches for.    

 

http://youtu.be/yvLp4sIamMo This song is for the birth mothers out there.  You are so special and loved more than you could possibly imagine.  Thank you for letting it be possible for me and for others like me to celebrate Mothers Day.    

Claire's Big Day

I meant to get this posted awhile ago but I was having problems uploading pictures.  Lucky for me my husband is amazing and can figure anything out and he got the problem fixed in no time.  Just one of the reasons that I love him.

For months and months Claire has been looking forward to turning five and she would refer to her birthday as "my big day".  It was so cute. 

In the months and weeks leading up to her "big day" this is what we often heard....

"You are going to be mad at me in 5 more Mondays.  I will be five years old then and you said you would get mad if I got any older." 

"Mom, in five more Mondays I get to pick out underwear where the bigger girls get theirs."

"In four more Mondays I will get the birthday crown at school."

"Mom, look at these feet.  Don't these feet look like they are almost five years old!"

"Dad, in one more Monday I will be five years old.  Can you believe I am going to be five years old?"

"Wow!!  That is definitely a dress for a five year old girl.  I love it."

And on and on it went. 

Luke and I stayed up late to decorate her room.  She was so excited when she saw it. 

 

My stepmom would decorate our bedroom door for our birthday and I wanted to pass on the tradition.

 

This little guy thought the decorations were pretty neat too.

Due to the poor weather, Claire's field trip to the farm kept getting cancelled but it turned out great for us since we ended up going on her birthday.  I was pretty excited since this is the field trip that I had volunteered to attend.

Claire was pretty excited because the farm we went to was Aunt Janae's farm.  They had been told at school that they would be listening to the farmers wife tell them about the animals and Claire's eyes lit up when she realized that she knew the farmers wife.

The kids got to see goats, lambs, bunnies, puppies, and chickens.

 

We got to go in with the bum lambs and they would suck on our fingers.

Petting the bunnies.

 

Claire and her crown that she had been anxiously awaiting.

 

Luke didn't want to miss out on all the celebrating so he got off work early and later that night he took us out to celebrate.  Claire, of course, chose Panda Express. 

 

Happy Birthday Claire!!

You have brought more happiness into our lives than we ever thought possible.  You are smart, happy, loving, and absolutely beautiful.  We love you so much.

Just a fav quote of mine...

"Rise up and become the person

you were meant to be."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf