Happy Birthday Ranger!

Today is my wonderful husband's 32nd birthday!  A few of my favorite things about him:

1. He is an amazing dad to Claire.  He gets her dressed and even does her hair every morning, takes her to day care, gives her her bath at night, and makes her laugh like no one else can.  No boy better ever try to do her wrong.  Her daddy has a pellet gun and he's not afraid to use it.

2. He helps me stay sane.  When I get overwhelmed or stressed with life (which happens easily), he is my voice of reason, there to point me towards the Lord and to remind me of what's important.

3. He's the most handsome 32 year old (or any year old) in the world!

4. He has great style.  He can make anything look trendy.  Whether it's vintage westerns, t-shirts, rolled up cut-off jeans, Sperry boots, or an old A&M hat found at an estate sale, the man can pull it off.

5. He's FUN!  My favorite thing to do is hang out with him on our couch with our computers pretending to watch TV, sometimes drinking wine, sometimes coffee.  He makes me laugh and talking to him never gets old.  My other favorite thing we do is go to the mall on Friday nights to people watch and eat Casa Ole' and Great American Cookie Company (Sugar Cookie Big Bite Doozies!).  Oh and I can't forget - donuts and coffee on Saturday mornings!  We just checked that off our list this morning!

Of course I could keep going, but Claire is napping so I am going to spend some quality time with the birthday boy!  I LOVE YOU my Squidda and LOML - I am so thankful to have you in my life!  :)

13 Months

(Mostly) Cute things Clairebear is doing these days:

1. Taking up to four steps at a time.  Why walk when Mom and Dad hold you all the time?  :)

2. Attempting to bark like Norman, or any dog, even cartoon dogs on tv.  But instead of saying "woof woof" like her cousin Luke does, she says, "Uh-Uh!" and nods her head.  And she usually points her finger like I do when I'm getting on to Norman.

3. Hides things in convenient places like trash cans and bottom drawers.  Found some keys in her diaper bin the other day.

4. Sticks her finger in our belly buttons.  When she does it to me, I yell.  So sometimes, she'll just lift up my shirt and start yelling.  She has a hard time finding hers though because she has an outie.  Our current favorite bedtime book is The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton.  We love it!

5. Points and yells at something when she wants it, regardless of where we are.  How do you explain the "inside voice" to a one-year-old?  Really, any advice is appreciated!  Or we could just cook at home and avoid restaurants, but that's no fun.

6. Starting to show interest in crayons and pens.  Her artwork consists of holes and dots in papers and furniture, but we are proud nonetheless.

7. Loving her "babies."  She has nine stuffed animals, a pillow pet, and a blanket in her bed, and she plays with all of them when she wakes up in the morning.  This buys us about 15 extra minutes of sleep on weekends.  :)  Her favorites are her Jellycat monkey, puppy, and purple bunny.  She clutches them tightly when we get her out of her crib in the mornings, but we have to remember to put them back in her bed at night!

8. Eating more!  Claire has never been a very big eater, but her new favorites are chicken, yogurt, honeydew melon, puffs, and yogurt melts.  She really never gets full from these things, so maybe she will move beyond the 3rd percentile pretty soon!  Applesauce is a hit, too.

9. Climbing in our drawers, boxes and shelves.  But she makes sure to throw everything out onto the floor first.

10. Gives me "mommy kisses," which means she puts her whole mouth over my lips and gives me lots of slobber.  We're working on not biting when she does this, but it's so sweet that I don't mind the pain!

Oh we love that LBB (little bitty baby) so much!