Claire's first party invite

Claire was invited to her first birthday party on Saturday. I had already committed to volunteering at a blood drive so Paul took her to the party. He said that Claire had a lot of fun at the party. She was also in the best mood the rest of the afternoon. It was like she was so proud of herself for getting to go to a party. It is usually Madeleine who gets to go do things so it was great that it was finally her turn. Here are some pictures of her wearing the party hat Sunday morning.

New Yorkers

My Grandmother had her basement bathroom wallpapered in New Yorker covers which I always thought was so neat. When she passed away my Mom took them down. I went through the big stack and took some that I liked thinking I would do something with them someday. 12 years later I finally found something to do with them...

I really liked how it came out and I like that I have a reminder of my Grandmother hanging in our kitchen.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a very low key Valentines day because Madeleine and Claire have been sick. I was so sad that Madeleine had to miss her Valentine's day party at school b/c she worked so hard signing all of the Valentines for her friends. They were very excited to open their presents this morning.

Yum chocolate at 7:30 am!

This afternoon we made V day inspired cupcakes.

Madeleine had fun decorating them.

They both enjoyed eating them!

Claire's big girl room progress

It is not finished yet but we are getting close. We still need wall decor and some sort of shelving for books. We are also going to put a crib in the room for a few months until she is ready to go into a big bed. I am really happy with how the walls turned out and I love the funky zebra print rug. We had it custom cut so it fills the room.

Baking a cake... just for fun

Madeleine wanted to make a cake. So we did...

Pink and purple sprinkles

Goof Balls

Claire was being really quiet one morning and when I found her she was sitting in the closet putting stickers all over her head.

January Sum Up

January was a busy month and I did not seem to have much time to post. Part of that is probably because I have been going to bed pretty early and don't have much free time during the day. We have spent a lot of time getting ready for the baby's arrival. The due date is still February 28. With the other two I really hoped they would come early but this time coming right on time or even a day or two late would be fine by me. We still have a few things to do before the baby gets here. A few weeks ago Paul painted the guest room light purple because it is going to become Claire's room. Madeleine was a good little helper.

We still have playgroup every Wednesday afternoon/evening. We have pizza which is nice because it takes care of dinner for the night. Here is a picture from when I hosted in January.

We had one snow storm. It was been a great winter because it has been really mild and we have hardly had any snow. I love it!

The girls and I have been doing lots of baking. Madeleine is really into it and Claire likes to watch and then eat what we make.

Other things in January.... Madeleine started up gymnastics and ballet again and she has school two days a week. Her friend Colin joined her gymnastics class which she really likes. She also still loves ballet and asks most days if she gets to go to ballet. She also started taking swim lessons which she loves. Poor Claire doesn't do any activities of her own. She has a playgroup that we go to once a week. She also likes going to the playroom at the YMCA while Madeleine does her gymnastics class. I plan to sign her up for ballet and music next Fall.