Pictures Galore!!

Well, this has been a month for pictures!! A sweet friend from high school has just moved to Birmingham from Huntsville and her photograpy business moved with her of course! Her name is Elizabeth Bailey and it's ebaileyphotography.com. So she was so precious to do some "samples" for her Christmas promotions with my kiddos. So we used her for Claire's one year pics, and our family pictures since we have none! She did a FANTASTIC job and is SO laid back. We had a blast!! Now, it was a bit stressful for us parents since the kids were 2 and 1, but they were definitely GREAT pictures with what she had to work with! If you want to go see them (obviously one is at the top of our blog) go to this website: www.ebaileyphotography.com/Photocart (you don't have to login) go to access gallery. Then put in these codes to see these pics:
to see claire's 1 year: claire1
to see family pics: sheheane2010
Thanks Elizabeth and we are so thrilled and pleased with these pics of our kiddos! You are awesome!!
Just to warn y'all....Wells does not like to smile in pics! :)

Pumpkin Patch

We were so excited to go to the Pumpkin Patch this year! We went to Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, Al. With Claire being brand new to the world last October, it just didn't happen, so we couldn't wait to go this year. We went with the Barrows and had tons of fun! Wells and Emily Kathryn love each other and play well. Wells LOVED the petting zoo part. I am almost convinced that he is Dr. Doolittle himself. All the animals came right up to him wherever he would walk! It was hilarious! The goat even licked his lips...disgusting I know. He is just obsessed with all animals and obviously they can tell! His favorite part of the place was the part where you washed your hands. He could have stayed there forever and yes, he was soaked when we left. We also ran into other close friends from church while there! Very fun! Nathan is in the washing hands picture with Ek and Wells. Claire just loved observing it all! We can tell that she really wants to walk like her brother though. She is ready to move! It was a gorgeous, but hot morning so we only lasted about 2 hours. But that was plenty of time for a 2 year old, a one year old, and two parents holding them or chasing them. And Wells got the perfect baseball sized white pumpkin (that was totally soft). He threw it about 4 times when he got home and it was history. But hey, he picked it out! Claire just got what we thought was cute. We look forward to going to different ones every year and it is definitely going to be an October tradition! So fun!

Claire's Birthday Party!

This picture pretty much sums up the evening...she LOVES cake!!

But she hates anything on her face or head!!!! Notice the glasses are off!

Her cake! Yaz made it!

Her new pink driving/walking toy with music. she "shakes it" just like her brother!

She loves standing and wants so badly to walk. soon ......

Her "1" shirt from Alice Kathleen (a friends clothing company)

this is the "aren't I just so cute that you can't get mad" face

Attempt at a family shot! maybe next party!!!

Claire kissing sweet Pawpaw!!

All the cousins on my side. We are super close and the kids LOVE each other!

Thanks Kim for letting us borrow this fun pinata to display!

this is this morning....quite the happy camper!!!!

Claire's party was a BLAST! We just do family for 1st birthdays and to me, it makes it even more special. Wells was truly confused as he thought it was his all over again. He greeted everyone, wanted to open all her gifts, and even asked where the Little Einsteins were! After a while, he got it...but wasn't too happy with Claire getting all the attention! She, on the other hand, had a blast! I think she knew it was all about her! She let everyone hold her (and feed her) and she hammed it up all night. It was so special because Chris' grandfather Pawpaw was able to join us! He is such a PRECIOUS man and we love him! He just moved to a nursing home here and we consider it a huge blessing to spend time with him finally!

We did a pizza dinner and cake. Chris' mom, who we call Yaz, made her cake. She did a great job! Thanks so much Yaz!! And I kept all the decor with the butterfly, flower, and 1 theme. I didn't make myself all stressed out about it, and it was really so much fun! Claire got the cutest clothes you've ever seen, three precious dolls (which she holds and kisses constantly) and a nursery rhyme book. Gosh, it's so fun to have a girl!!! :) I love having one of each! Again...Wells just doesn't get it that dolls and pink aren't for him. Oh well...one day!! It was a perfect night!

Happy 1st Birthday to Claire!!!!

Tomorrow is Claire's first birthday!! WOW!! Most people say, "I just can't believe it's flown by that quickly" and that is true. But I really want to be honest and say "We survived It and really ended up loving every minute of it (the last six months)!" Ever since claire's really hard start to life, she has been an absolute dream. But we wouldn't take back a minute of it. God made us stronger and she was worth all the sleep deprivation, dr. appts. and more! She is such a blessing and JOY to be around. Chris and I stand in awe just amazed at what God has given us. We NEVER would have dreamed that we would say we are glad they are so close in age!! :) They love each other and we love watching them. They both think each other hung the moon! We are having Claire's family party next wednesday, so you'll see all the pictures then.

Claire is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and walking along the furniture. She took a while to crawl, but it looks like walking will definitely be in the next month sometime. She still LOVES to eat and doesn't waste any food! I just want to squeeze those thighs and cheeks all the time. She is very kissable!!! Claire is also really a funny baby! She tries to copy everything Wells does, so it's hysterical what she comes up with. They play hide and seek in the curtains, she makes a "freeze" face that makes Chris and I cry we laugh so hard (sorry i couldn't get the video to load) and she just laughs all the time. We could not ask for anything more! To fit in with our family, you just need to laugh a lot!

Happy Birthday sweet Claire Bear! We love you and could not imagine life without you! Our cups runneth over!!!

We are loving Football Season!

Well, we are already two weeks into the football season so I have to do a post! My kids are both being good sports right now and both throw their hands up for touchdown, and Wells has got "Roll Tide" and touchdown Alabama mastered! He loves "ballgames" of any kind! He takes after me and really does enjoy watching football! I took him to a Vestavia Hills High School football game a couple of weeks ago and he LOVED it! He constantly talks about going back.

Chris and I have been lucky enough the past two weeks to actually go to the Alabama games alone! Yaz and Papa have so graciously kept the kiddos for the day AND night so that we could enjoy our first two games. THANK YOU!!!! This is the first season I haven't been pregnant in a while so it was a BLAST!! We had so much fun and as much as we missed the kids, it was a needed break and such a fun time. I just LOVE fall for so many reason, but football is definitely number 1!! I hope you are enjoying it too! (The pics above are at Yaz and Papa's. They love playing their piano, eating spaghetti with them, and just playing with all their fun toys! They love Yaz and Papa and love it there!)

(On a side note...All the great birmingham consignment sales are coming up in the next two weeks! Mountain Chapel's Kids Korner is thursday night from 4-8 and Friday morning from 9-2. There is tons of stuff! I'll be working so come see me!)

Wells LOVES school!

Wells started 2 year old preschool this week!!! Everyone asked me if it made me sad and my answer was NO! I of course miss him, but he LOVES it and it really makes me appreciate my time with him that much more!! Because he's such a mama's boy, I was afraid of tears and not wanting to go, but boy was I wrong!! He walked right in the door like a big boy and met his cousin Max at the door. Max was so sweet to walk him down the hall and show him the ropes at preschool! He couldn't wait to go again today and actually sat at the garage door with his bag waiting on me for an hour! He played with is toys there just in case I decided to leave without him!!! :) He goes tuesdays and thursdays and Claire goes to Mother's Day Out on Tuesdays so I have one day from 9-12 to get a ton done!! This first Tuesday was awesome but extremely tiring trying to cram in so much into those hours. I really am sooooo proud of Wells and love that he loves his teacher "Echols" (miss is just left out!) so much. He physically shakes with excitement when he talks about her!

This first picture is what Wells now loves to do...hit the baseball off the tee! Check out his face!


He also LOVES putting on his shoes, especially his rain boots!

Here is the infamous "Echols". His school is so precious. The 2 and 3 year old teachers come and visit each child in their class before the school year begins. It definitely helped Wells because he was in love at first sight!

Here is his bag that every child at his school carries until they are 5 and leave for big school. It is hilarious to see the difference between the big 5 year olds carrying the bags and these babies!! But he is determined to carry it and put it on the hook at home and at school.

Here is our "First Day of School" picture. It will be a tradition from here on out! I can't wait to look back and see just how tiny he was when I sent him off to school!

Can you believe it??

Claire turned 11 months on Wednesday and she came alive this week!!! She would like to tell you a few things!

"Y'all are not going to believe it! I'm crawling!! Mom is so proud. I think she was afraid I'd never move. I'm also really good at it!"

"I'm just so amazed with myself! Mom, I seriously don't know where I threw my glasses. I know you said they are expensive, but aren't I worth it?"

"Not only am crawling, but I'm pulling up and standing all day long! I've really been holding out so that all my tricks will come out at once! Everyone is giving me all the attention! Sorry Wells...not really :)"

"Okay mom, I'm trying to be humble here...no more pictures. I'll fill everyone in on more accomplishments at my year mark. But just so y'all know, I only weighed 20 pounds at my appointment and was in the 40th percentile for weight. Mom and Dad were worried about that one. Dad keeps kidding mom that she is going to put me on weight watchers. I don't know what that is, but if she takes away my bananas and goldfish, we are going to have serious problems. Oh, and I was in the 85% for height!!! I am going to totally tower over my brother. It's going to be awesome!"