As promised

As promised, I have been diligent about taking pictures of Claire since she was feeling neglected. There is one distinct trend in these pictures...can you tell baby girl LOVES to sleep?!?! It doesn't matter if it is in the swing....on mommy....or on daddy....she loves her rest. I would take more pictures of her when she is awake, but you try thinking of getting the camera out with a 6-week-old and 2-year-old!

While Claire was sleeping, Anderson and Callie came over to play! The kiddos played so nicely together. We played on the swings, ate snack, and even braved play-doh.  We'll mark it as a successful playdate since I didn't have to dig play-doh out of anyone's teeth!

Second Child Syndrome

Dear Claire,

Your dad and I really do love you. When you grow up and question why there are 1,000,000,000 pictures of Luke from each day of his life and only 1 per month for you, please understand it is not because we didn't love you. I will simply blame it on the fact that you are the second child. You are very cute, and do deserve just as many pictures, so we promise to work on that....

Here you are enjoying some exercise time while Luke was at school. I may not have many pictures, but I at least look out for your well-being and only put you on the floor when your brother won't step on your face. You'll thank me someday.

After we picked up your brother from school, you were sound asleep, and I just couldn't bear to bother you.

So Luke ate some dinner....

 And practiced walking around the house....

And watched Ellen.... Yes, this a ritual each day at our house.

When Claire finally woke up from her nap, I thought it was a brilliant idea to teach Luke to help his sister. So, the three of us filled up the baby tub, and Luke helped give Claire a bath!! Luke and I managed to stay in our original outfits, Claire actually got clean, and the carpet didn't get ruined. We're not sure what Claire thought, but just like with the lack of pictures - she'll forgive us someday.

Happy 2nd Birthday

How is my little baby two years old already?!?! Grandma Malone came to visit to help Luke celebrate his birthday, and he couldn't wait to walk up and give her a giant hug! Grandma was so excited to see him walk and to meet baby Claire for the first time.

 Luke couldn't wait to start playing with Grandma. They spent the whole weekend playing games and spending time outside on the swingset.

 There must be something about Grandmas because Grandma Malone insisted Claire get a bath to get ready for Luke's party. I asked if she had worked up a sweat sleeping, but just like with Grandma Godinez, Claire was getting a bath!

Luke managed to entertain himself for a bit with his first birthday gift - a racecar set!!

 Then, everyone showed up for his party. There were some storms moving into town, but luckily we got a little play time before the bad weather hit.

 We moved the party into the garage so everyone could eat without their food blowing away. Here are Luke and Isaac eating their dinner together like such big boys.

 Pretty soon, Anna and Joseph joined in. Luke is REALLY excited with the conversation :)

 Is it time for cake and presents?

 Daddy helped him to the big table so everyone could watch him blow out his candle.

 He LOVED everyone singing - he even gave a round of applause.

 But who cares about cake when there are presents!?!?

 Luke got so many awesome things from all of his friends! Thank you so much!!!

 Luke, that tissue paper doesn't go there!!! But at this point he was too tired to care....

 Happy 2nd Birthday to the cutest, most sweetest boy in the world!

One Month

It has been a busy 1st month for Claire! Most of the time she just lounges around in her swing. She was working on a new fashion look for this picture....

 But, sometimes she likes to spice things up. Last Saturday it was BEAUTIFUL, so she upgraded from her swing to the boat and LOVED it! (thank goodness)

 She enjoyed sleeping on the boat just like Luke did when he was a tiny baby....

 Oh wait....he still enjoys sleeping on the boat!

 Then it was time for Easter!!! Claire was busy getting ready, so Luke dug into his Easter basket. Since it was a special day, he even got to get a few of his birthday presents that you all have been sending

 Here we are together in our first nice family picture. Our friends, David and Angela had us and the Mahaffey's over for brunch. The food and  company were excellent, but we sure were worn out! Everyone took a nice long nap that afternoon.

 Even though it was a few days later, Luke finally got to eating the ears off his chocolate Easter bunny. DELICIOUS!!! He is saving the feet for another day.

 Luke didn't want Claire to feel left out from not getting to eat a chocolate bunny, so he thought he'd help feed her dinner.

 Judging by this face, he probably just did something mean to his sister. Notice the bottle is missing....mommy should have been paying closer attention instead of helping daddy get a good picture.

 Who needs to eat when you can be petted like a puppy?

 Sibling love....

 Luke wanted to remind Claire that he is turning two in just a few days!!!

 How did we get a two-year-old and a one-month-old?!?!?!

Oh Monday Morning....

Patrick and I know we are extremely spoiled parents. Both of our children are EXCELLENT sleepers, but that doesn't mean we don't get a bit tired every once in a while. It was my job to get Luke ready for school yesterday morning, and everything was going great until I couldn't find one of his shoes. We looked everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE....under all furniture...in the trash...in the toybox....in the tree house, and no luck. Fortunately, I found one pair of backup shoes that Luke could wear even though he couldn't wear his foot braces as well. Whatever. It was better than explaining to his teachers why he was barefoot. As I was making one last frantic sweep of the house, I hear Patrick laughing hysterically in the kitchen. When he took Luke out of his highchair, he noticed Luke's jeans weren't buttoned. He couldn't figure out why the pants seemed so tight until he reached in and pulled out the phantom other shoe!!!! Notice the frightened look on Luke's face. Can you blame him for wondering about his parents? I can't.

Grandma, baths, KU, and Easter Eggs!

Poor Luke. It was back to reality today after having Grandma here to spoil him for the past three weeks.  Every single day Grandma gave Luke a bath, and he didn't know what to do without dirt stuck between his toes. Mommy and Daddy follow the philosophy of "bathe when he starts sticking to furniture" or "bathe when there is an abundance of some unknown substance" on the kid. Grandma doesn't approve of that, so she made up for Luke's lack of baths while here, and you can tell Luke was eternally grateful not to be the stinky kid.

When they weren't busy taking a bath, Luke loved to snuggle up on the couch to watch his favorite movie, "The Muppets". Yes, if you walk into our house either Patrick or I will randomly be singing one of the songs. We can't help it, and it is better than singing the obnoxious BabyFirst theme songs.

Did you really think Claire was going to miss out on the bath action? We tried every possible excuse to stall on the first bath, but Grandma wasn't about to miss it! Patrick and I dreaded a 6 lb. screaming, slippery baby girl....but she LOVED her bath! In fact, she didn't even cry until it was time to get out. (Grandpa Malone, notice that she is decent in all of these pictures! - haha)

After her bath, Daddy and Claire spent a little tummy time on the floor. No, not for Patrick....Baby Claire is working on her head control! It is amazing how strong the little girl already is!

After her workout, Luke wanted to love on his sister a little bit. Poor Ralphie was feeling neglected that Luke was petting someone other than him. Yes, you read that right. Luke likes to pet Claire's head like a dog. We think it is pretty funny, and it beats him trying to sit on her face. We're sure that isn't too far down the road.

ROCK CHALK!!!! When I was pregnant with Claire, I said the only thing I wanted to do was have my baby and lay on the couch watching KU basketball while I recovered. Well, our little visit to the NICU messed up the first part of that, but our team didn't want to crush my dreams and made it to the Championship game against Kentucky!!! We all enjoyed lounging around watching KU beat up on Purdue and UNC to make it to the championship. Who would have thought in a million years that would happen?!?!?!

When we weren't busy watching basketball, Luke participated in his first Easter Egg Hunt after church on Palm Sunday. The little guy did great making it around the playground in his walker! At first, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the eggs, but Daddy showed him that the eggs weren't soccer balls and he quickly got the hang of it. The only thing that would have made him cuter is if we would have thought to hang an Easter basket off his walker.