All Poor Claire Wants To Do Is Get The Kitty.

I feel like a terrible mom for sitting and watching this happen, but it was just too hilarious to not get on video! While Claire can't crawl, she actually is quite mobile. She is an excellent scooter. It doesn't matter where she starts, she will ALWAYS end at the family computer. I tried covering it with a blanket so it was "gone", but Belle just thought it was a fun hideout. All poor Claire wanted to do was play with the kitty.

That's What I'm Talking About, House!

There's something empowering about mopped floors, 5,000 loads of laundry folded and put away, the trash and diaper pails emptied, and the scent of pine-sol in ever room of your house.

What's more empowering is that I got it all done before 9:30, all while Claire was awake. That's what I'm talking about, house!

It could just be because I slept exceptionally well last night, or it might have been the diet coke I popped open at 7:00 this morning, but I love cleaning days.

And now I get to spend the afternoon playing with these sweet cheeks.

A Cold Hard Truth.

I cannot sew. It's rather embarrassing really. I spent the past couple days making myself a dress. When I tried it on, I laughed so hard I might have cried. It's truly truly ghastly, though I wore it for a few hours just because I made it.

I even picked up Ross from work in it. I gave him a warning beforehand and let him know it was the ugliest thing I had ever worn. My wonderful husband didn't even laugh at me, though the look on his face was priceless.

"Well, at least it's good practice, right?"

I love him.

And I plan on sticking to baby blankets and replacing buttons. I'll leave my wardrobe to the outlet mall.

What Sunday Evenings Are For.

I have heard wonderful comments regarding a particular Miss Manners book. I looked at our local library's catalogue and saw it was available. I scooped Claire up and checked it out as fast as I could.

I must say, I have adored every word of this charming book. Ross has even read a bit of it and said that there are "a lot of good things in there".

"...As dear Erasmus said, 'It is part of the highest civility if, while never erring yourself, you ignore the errors of others.' Miss Manners prefers to believe that everyone means well, and that if anyone seems to be doing something wrong, it is probably not from intent, but from forgetfulness, busyness, absence of mind, or illness. Miss Manners may be mistaken in this now and again, but she leads a happier life for believing it."

This book truly has been a delightful gem. It has been an edifying, while comical read and I am looking forward to picking up another of Miss Manners' works this week.

"Children have two styles of dress these days. One, which consists of velvet dresses for girls and velvet suits for boys, is worn only to performances of The Nutcracker. The other, which consists of rags, is worn for everything else life has to offer. Miss Manners does not condone this..."

I cannot wait to see what Miss Manners' Guide to Rearing Perfect Children has in store for me.

Home Decor 101.

Since Ross and I were married, up until a little after Claire joined our family, I have loved decorating our home. I was very particular about it, controlling even. When Ross came home from work or school and would put his keys on the kitchen counter instead of on the designated key holder, I would honestly be stressed out.

When the young men would come to collect fast offerings, they would comment on how "modern and cool" our home was, yet also "cozy." I took a lot of pride in our "modern, cool, yet cozy" home.

Since then though, I have relaxed and calmed down a significant amount Our home decor currently consists of cheerios strewn about the floor.


And mountains of laundry amid the valley of Claire's toys which are almost never in her toy box. Of course some cheerios are mixed in there somewhere.


And I really gotta say I love every bit of it, down to the last cheerio and teething ring; though I can't wait for the money fairy to come back around and leave a little present so I can start more home projects.

Our Kitten Is Really A Dog.

No, really Not only does she beg for food, but she thinks it's ok to jump on the counter and eat food there. She licks the plates clean and has no problem eating out of the sink. She's been INSANE. It's like having another kid. I don't have to feed or change her, but as far as destruction goes, we have a baby and a toddler living in our home.

Anyway, last night I was already in bed when Ross was brushing his teeth. I heard a plink and then the cat running out of our room as fast as she could.

Ross: Do you beat the cat when she drinks out of the toilet? I took one look at her and when she saw she was caught, she booked it out of here.

Note: I do not beat the cat, but she DOES get in trouble when I catch her doing things she's not supposed to. Like eating my breakfast while I help Claire or drinking out of the toilet.

Stupid cat.

The Summer Post.

It's been a crazy summer at the Loveland house. Claire started her helmet treatment in June. Her first follow up appointment was early July and the results were amazing. When we started her on the helmet, her head had a 12 mm measurement difference. (The measurement is taken from her eyebrow to the back of her head opposite.) So between the two diagonals, there was a pretty significant difference. At her follow up appointment, the number had gone down to only a 5 mm difference. Now I'm so glad we decided to get her the helmet. Her next appointment is August 8th, hopefully we'll have more great news and she won't have to wear it too much longer.

End of June, Claire and I took a trip to Oregon to visit my family. We had such a wonderful time playing with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt J. We went to the zoo on the 4th of July and had a fun BBQ with some friends. Claire especially liked the petting zoo where she made friends with a goat. We also got to ride on the tractor with Grandpa. We had a few girl shopping days with Grandma, which included a trip to Jamba Juice. Claire loved it so much, she learned how to drink from a straw!

We only had a few days home before our next trip. Claire was sick in the beginning, and then Ross was sick. I didn't have time to be sick with everything that needed to get done before we left for the Johnson Family Reunion in California. During those few days, Claire got her first x-ray! Ross was putting her to bed and playing with her. He had her standing on the bars of her crib while he held her hands. Her foot slipped and Ross heard a pop when her weight fell. We noticed that she wouldn't use her left arm and screamed like a banshee whenever we'd touch that wrist. After a few minutes, we decided to take her in to her Dr's office. I LOVE her pediatrician. I don't think we could have picked a better one.

The Dr. thought it was probably a nursemaid's elbow, but because of how tender Claire's wrist was, there was a possibility of a fracture. She couldn't try to pop Claire's elbow back in until we did the x-ray to be sure nothing else was wrong. Ross went in with the x-ray tech while I waited in the hall. I'm sure you could hear that poor girl way on the other side of the hospital. Luckily the x-ray came back negative. The Dr. quickly popped her elbow back in and Claire was back to normal! I was grateful it went back in on the first try. Needless to say, Claire slept extremely well that night.

We just got back from the Johnson Reunion and had a blast!! We drove to Kingsburg, California the first day and stayed the night at Ross' grandparents house. Claire was amazing on the trip. I was shocked. She loved to just look out the window and play with her toys. We didn't have to put in the Baby Einstein's CD once! The next day everyone headed out to Morro Bay. We did a family 10K, family bingo, talent show, went swimming at the beach, took family pictures, fed seals, played 1,000 games of Skip-Bo, ate some amazing food, and just had a great time. It was so fun to get to see everyone and get Claire together with the other baby cousins. We stayed another night at Grandma and Grandpa's house before we headed back to Utah. Claire got to go swimming in their pool and LOVED it. It was so fun to take her swimming and watch her kick furiously. She didn't mind getting splashed or dunked on accident. She was quite the fish. We had an amazing time and I was sad to go. Luckily we got to bring back a couple souvenirs. Mom and Autumn come back to spend the week with us. Autumn gets to play with us while Mom attends a family history conference at BYU.

It's great to be home, and even more fun to have them stay with us. Luckily, I don't think we have much going on in August. We'll have some time to relax and get back to our routines before school starts up again. I hate to be the party pooper, but I can't wait for fall. Perhaps it's just the fall fashion, but I'm getting antsy. I'm so excited for apple pie, apple cider, redecorating the house, breaking out the peacoats and scarves, pumpkins...everything.