Happy Father's Day!

This morning, Kevin surprised Chloe by asking her if she'd like to go golfing with him. She was beside herself with excitement! Kevin has been talking about taking her out to the golf course and just hadn't done it yet. Chloe loves to get out her golf clubs and play golf with Daddy in the living room. She wanted to wear a dress, so we got her the one with the collar since you have to wear a collar when you golf. They headed out with their clubs in hand and went to one of the small courses here in town and spent some time on the putting green. After about half an hour, Chloe told Kevin that she was hot and ready to go home! (As I type this, our indoor/outdoor thermometer is reading 100 degrees, and it sits in the shade on the front porch......and it's only JUNE!!!)

Here are some pictures of their date........




What a perfect way to spend Father's Day weekend, golfing with Daddy! We love you, Kevin, and think that you're the best Daddy ever! Thank you for loving our two sweet girls, for involving them in your life, for being involved in theirs, for teaching them how to be Godly young women, and for loving their Mommy! :)

Claire - 9 months old

Claire turned 9 months old this month! I can't believe that 9 months have already gone by......it doesn't seem possible! We had her well check-up this past week and she weighed 17lbs and 13ozs. She is such a fun child! She is so happy and smiles at everybody. I find myself wanting to scoop her up and give her kisses constantly! This is how I find her in the mornings and after her naps........she is now pulling up on everything and loves to stand and see the world. This weekend, I've even noticed her letting go with one hand to do something else! Oh my!

Claire has two teeth on bottom that she has had for about three months now. We can tell that she is really trying to cut some more teeth, because she gnaws and chews on EVERYTHING....including her crib! (Pictured below) We also call her our little garbage disposal.....I pull a variety of things out of her mouth on a daily basis! Yucky!

(This is the edge of the crib ...... those are teeth scrapes! There is another grouping on the other end from Chloe.)

Another of Claire's favorite activities these days is unloading bookshelves. In the picture above, she's in her room "reading" her books. Below, she is working on pulling all of Chloe's books on the floor so that she can "read" them!

What a delight this child is to us......we are so blessed and thankful as we watch her develop and grow!

"Books are friends that never fail me!"

About a month ago, I decided that the girls and I were going to start going to the library. Chloe really enjoys us reading together and is getting to the age that she takes in so much and books are able to hold her attention for quite some time. And of course, Claire, is up for anything that her big sister likes! So......we have been going every other Monday since the check-out time is 2 weeks. I try to check out a couple of DVDs and about 20 or so books. That seems to be a good amount for the 2 week time period.

Right now, our library is in the old Wal-Mart building. It's been there the entire time that we've lived here. However, this fall, they will move the library back into newly renovated original building downtown.

Here are a few pictures from this past Monday.......

They will hate me for this later.........

...............but I couldn't resist posting this picture of their cute little tooshies! This was right before bath time tonight. We were working to get everyone all "squeaky clean" before our trip to Americus tomorrow for the parties for Uncle Jess and Bee. I also decided during bath time tonight that Claire is moving into the big tub with Chloe. I came to this conclusion as she was climbing out of her little tub!!! The things this child will try never ceases to amaze me!

Have a great weekend!

WARNING: Potty Training In Progress!

This is the inside of our van, and yes.....that's a potty sitting right in the middle! It's been the new addition to our van for about a week now.....it stays in there all the time! Chloe has done so good over the past week and Kevin and I are extremely proud of her. It all started last week when Chloe's good friend, Grace, came to visit. Grace is potty trained and in this case, a little peer pressure worked like a charm!! I decided to go with it, since we are tired of outfitting two kids in diapers. Chloe wore Pull-Ups for most of the week last week and did very well. Then on Sunday, she went potty at church all day.....a huge accomplishment, I thought, since I wasn't with her. Then, on Sunday night, she even went poo-poo in the potty! I'm sorry to those of you (like my brother) who are reading this and thinking that I'm sharing way too much info......until you try and potty train a child, you won't understand how monumental a brown dollup is in the potty! :) Because of her accomplishment, she got new Disney Princess panties and has been wearing them ever since. We knew she could do it.....it was just a matter of whether we could wait it out until she was ready!

This picture to the left is me walking back to the car from the tree......I had been to "dump" the potty contents by the tree. Kevin thought it worthy of this picture......just so we would never forget all the "little" pleasures of parenthood! Better this, than taking my sweet little girl into hundreds of nasty public restrooms! :)

How cute are they?

Aren't they just the cutest things ever? This was a couple of weeks ago after church. I love these three people more than you'll ever know!

We brought the beach to Tifton......

.......and got sand in our sandbox under the new playset! Chloe has really enjoyed playing in the sand. She even got some new sand toys from Wal-Mart as a reward for doing so good at going tee-tee in the potty last week. (More on that later.....) Claire got in it for the first time over the weekend.......she did just what we thought she would and ate the sand!

Georgia Girls

Go Dawgs! My brother, Jess, and his soon-to-be wife, MeriBeth, keep the girls (and our family for that matter) stocked up with UGA gear. This past Friday, the girls matched with their Georgia shirts! Thanks, Jess and Bee!

On the move.....

Claire is into everything!!! She makes us laugh so hard with the things that she figures out how to do! She is so determined and adventurous! When have learned that when she decides that she wants something, there's no stopping her......I think that the pictures will prove that! She is also pulling to her knees to do things a lot now. Today, I found her standing in her bed after her morning nap!! I could not believe it! I sent Kevin a text message letting him know that first on our agenda tonight was to lower that crib mattress. Claire will be 9 months old in a week.....it does not seem possible! She is such a sweet baby and she LOVES to eat. We figured out that it doesn't matter what......baby food, table food, snacks, rocks, paper.......you name it, she's putting it right in her mouth! I'll post more about her official stats after her check-up in a couple of weeks.