Splish Splash

Rubber Ducky, You're the one,

You make bath-time lots of fun!

Rubber Ducky, I'm awfully fond of you!

Rubber Ducky, Joy of joy:

When I squeeze you, you make noise!

Rubber Ducky, you're my very best friend--It's TRUE!

Claire at Daycare

Talking away... Love that gummy smile :D

Flirting with Jamari...

Girl talk :)

Crashing after giggle sessions...

Learning to play...

4 years :)

Usually, I like to make anniversaries special and plan a fancy night out... 

I also like to remind Chris that I like flowers and a card.

But this year, we have been so busy that I nearly forgot about it...

But that gave Chris complete creative (and sneaky-surprise) control!

I came home to find Chris (home early from work!) grilling salmon and veggies for dinner...

It was delicious (in spite of the cedar planks catching on fire!!!) 

 The sweet card :)

... and the beautiful bouquet that Claire and I enjoyed.
We watched "Red October" (1984) because Chris knows I can't sit through sappy love stories and chick flicks... (sorry, babe--I know you miss watching rom coms!)

It was such a sweet and simple celebration of 4 beautiful years of hard team-work and dedication to each other.

Craving Big People Food...

Memorial Day 2012

Still Workin'

We are still working on that door... 

At least we don't have a hole in the wall anymore...

My Own Cooking Show

 I loooove cooking, and I'm glad to be back in the kitchen since things have settled down from the move.

I sometimes imagine that I am the Barefoot Contessa on my own cooking show...

It's fun to have my own audience :)

Nursery

I'm almost done decorating the nursery... a few months late :) 

I have just a few more things to get together before it's complete...

Better late than never!!!

What are you doing?

The other day, we went to the Linan's home to enjoy some awesome Mack-Daddy BBQ, Ruby Redbird, and some good ol' time with our buddies and their families.

Claire had drank all of her bottles during the day at daycare and even gone into the frozen reserves (growth spurt?!?), so when she got hungry during the BBQ, well, I HAD to nurse her. It's not my favorite thing to do outside the comfort of my home. Really. Like, I try to avoid it at all costs. Seriously. So when a sweet, but curious, 6 year old girl came up to me and asked me what I was doing and why I was hiding my baby under a blanket, I stuttered something like this: Haha. Um. Well. Hehem. Heh... I was totally at a loss for words. My estimation may be off due to extreme awkwardness, but it lasted for 1 million years until...

...her sweet momma heard and called her over and quietly explained it to her. Phew. I was not ready or prepared for that one...

How to lose a car...

Last night was a rough night. Poor baby was up many times throughout the night and up for good around 5am. I braced myself for a delirious day. Little did  I know it would be THIS bad:

So, I was headed out the door of my office to pick up some equipment to inventory, and my car was nowhere to be found. For real. Time stopped and panic mode set in. I ran back into my office building that I conveniently share with the "Safety Guy" (safety/tech coordinator-his job involves knowing all the police in town), and made a big public to-do: "My car was stolen!"

The "Safety Guy", grabed his phone and my keys and walked outside to report it to his police friends. Keith (tech extraordinaire) and Margo (sweet secretary) looked out the window in disbelief.

...when all of a sudden, I realize that I parked my car at the admin building during a morning meeting and walked back to my office...

I went back to the admin building, and there it was. Oops! Don't think I can ever live this one down... Did I mention I didn't sleep well last night? Oh, that doesn't give a good enough excuse to loose my car? Fooey.

Back at Work... Until We Greet Summer!

 So, I've been back at work for two weeks, and I have two more left until summer! The IT guys and us instructional technologists are working to get everything ready for the start of next year... inventory and re-imaging machines and all that fun stuff. It has not been too hard to get back into the routine of work, but buried in the back of my brain is the fact that summer is right around the corner. You can bet that I am counting down until this summer when I will spend every moment with my sweet baby girl! 

Claire's Baby Dedication

On the morning of my first Mother's Day as a mom, we dedicated Claire at our church (Hill Country Bible Church Round Rock, which meets at the Round Rock YMCA).

That morning, Chris and I made a public statement that we will train Claire in the Christian faith.

Pastor Keith lead the congregation in a response that they, as a church family, will also seek to encourage us and all of the other new parents to bring up our children in the faith.

Chris and I are humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be parents. We truly want to invoke God's blessings upon Claire as we present her to Him. 

 The baby dedication service was a beautiful occasion reminding us and our buddies of the responsibilities, joys, and difficulties associated with nurturing our children.

Mother's Day 2012

 Mamaa and Papaa got to start the day with Claire Bear!

 They had so much fun :)

 We met up after church for lunch with the Hubert Clan...

 and Papaa and Mamaa came along.

Papaa had to get a 4 generation Hubert/Hastie picture... He LOVES taking pictures!

Walburg Biergarten

This weekend, we hung out at the Walburg Biergarten with our peeps. 

 Claire enjoyed a snooze with nice ambient noise...

 while the boys gossiped like boys do so well...

 and Julie loved on her sweet girl!

 After an hour of waiting on our food, I convinced myself that the mustard was substantial and tasty all by itself...

and the festivities began as the sun set. 

Claire woke just in time to see a tiny bit of what the Biergarten is all about!

Big Hole in House

 We started off Saturday with a quick little DIY project...

Ya know, just a quick "replace the French Doors" kinda thing. 

Don't worry... It's Sunday evening and we are *almost half way done :)

A Dip in the Hubert Pool

 We got her dressed in her pink poodle swimsuit...

 and her white sunhat...

 showed her the water...

convinced her it was fun... 

 and it lasted about ^ this long...

the distracted uncles... 

 She was a fantastic sport, even though it was a bit scary for her...

 and she was still pleasant after the whole thing :)

Along with Didi and Pops, Mamaa and Papaa were there to see it all!