Fall Is coming

Claire Alyse Trick or Treating Last Year

Claire's first time to the Pumpkin Patch with her Powell cousins

I just realized yesterday evening when we were out and about that it wasn't horrifically hot outside. I could actually breathe when Allan and I came out after dinner. We drove with sunroof open and I loved it! The fall is so fantastic and although it is still nasty during the day I can feel that this great season is on its way. I love the weather, going to football games, and wearing jeans and coats. I am excited about hanging out with Claire this fall. Last year she was still pretty much a blob, but a stinkin cute blob; she is so much more fun now. I can't wait to take her to the Pumpkin Patch and let her run around with her cousins. So there you have it, I love fall and although it is still a few weeks out I can't wait for it to get here.

Happy Birthday Sweet Man

Well today is my amazing husbands birthday. I love him very much. He is more than the man of my dreams. Who would have known that the "groomsman from Chicago" at my friend Sarah's wedding would be the man I fell in love with five years ago. For those of you that don't know Allan he is a man of integrity, full of life and laughter, very confident, and passionate about his family and the airline industry. He doesn't really care what others think of him, he is comfortable in his skin and that is one of the first things I was attracted to. He has become more and more compassionate and a much better leader of our family with each passing year. I could not have been blessed with a better husband and father to my daughter. I may as well state the obvious as well, he is a little hottie (not that I am biased at all).
I love you Allan, Happy 28th Birthday!!!!

Hawaii Recap

Our first sunset at the beach
Mimi and the girls looking at "Crush"
Date day with Allan (there is a four tiered waterfall in the background)
Claire Bear helping her decorate her daddy's birthday cupcakes The girls loved eating the cupcakes they had worked so hard to decorate

Well we are home and adjusting to the time change. We have spent a lot of time in our PJs and napping. It is good to be home, although we had a really good time on our trip...

So what did we do on the Big Island you might ask. We were really low key, trips are different with babies. Allan got to play a few rounds of golf and I had a couple of spa days with my sisters and mother in law, but the highlights of the trip for me were the times that Allan and I got to slip away and hang out without Claire. We went on an ATV ride up to the top of one of the mountains and stopped off at a couple of georgeous waterfalls. We also got the chance to play 9 holes of golf; I played terrible but it was fun to hang with my hubby. Other than that we just hung out with the fam at the house and beach.

It was so fun to watch Claire make a connection with her cousins. The four girls would follow each other around pushing strollers, splash in the pool together, and eat off of each others trays at mealtime. She also really strenghtened her bond with Gig (also known as Mimi). It was so sweet to see Claire reach for her Mimi, go knock at her bedroom door so she could watch her get ready for the day, sit in her lap while she read books, and just love on her. Gig is so good at putting her grandkids first and really gets on their level; we are blessed to have her in our lives.

Celebrity watch was one of our pastimes this trip. There were rumors of Julia Roberts and Hillary Swank staying at the resort adn low and behold we actually saw both of them. Claire actually pulled Allan and I into a couple of short conversations with Hillary Swank. She was so nice and really seemed into Claire which was cool. As for Julia Roberts, we just saw her quickly our last morning there and said hello- no major connection.

So all in all this was a great trip and we can't wait for the next one next year. We look forward to a little more time with the Kavalich side of the family in the next few months. hopefully both of Allan's sisters will come out to TX soon and we are planning a trip out to CA in October for my friend Krista's baby shower.

Hawaii Take 1

Well we have been in Hawaii for a few days and it is going so well. Claire was great on the flight, she only slept for about 1 hour (two 30 minute naps) out of the whole 8 hour flight, but she was so happy while she was awake. She would walk up and down the aisle saying "Hi" to everyone and handing people their seatbelts if they weren't buckled. Everyone was so complimentary of what a good traveler she was. We were very proud parents. As for the time change, we are surviving. Claire has been waking up in the 4am hour and going to bed around 7pm. Luckily I have been able to be in bed no later than 8:45. Napping hasn't been great so today we decided to try and keep her up a little longer to see if she can nap a bit longer.

Another fun thing that pretty much everyone has done besides Allan and I is see JULIA ROBERTS. So needless to say I am on JR watch. She and her family are here and she has been spotted in the lobby and at the spa a few times. I will let you know if I make contact.

I better go do the puzzle with my hubby. It is a Kav family tradition to do a puzzle on every vacation. I will be shocked if we get this one finished because not many people are helping. It is a little more difficult with four little girls running all over the place. Sorry there are no pics...they will come after we get home. I will try to post again soon.

Aloha Land

Well we will be leaving for the airport in just a little bit. I think that we are going to survive the flight and time change with all the prayers that you guys are saying for us. I can't wait to tell you all about Claire's first trip to Hawaii. Have a great week. I will try to blog while we are there, but I am not promising anything.

Girl You Got a Panty on Your Head

A little while ago Claire disappeared into our room which by the way is a wreck right now as I pack for our big trip. She made a grand entrance back into the living room with a new hat...she had found a pair of my underpants and had put them over her head. I guess she is getting a things for undergarments, yesterday when Allan and I were at Kohl's she found a leopard print bra and drug it behind her down the aisle for a little while then when that got a little too boring she put it on her head like earmuffs. We were such proud parents ;) honestly we couldn't stop laughing.

On another note, just to go along with the undergarment topic, I just got my first pair of Lily Padz (silicone nursing pads) and I LOVE them. I can't believe that I have waited this long to bite the bullet and buy a pair. I can actually wear strappy shirts, just in time for Hawaii- woohoo!!!

First Pigtails and Other Favorite Things

Our baby girl is turning into such a cute little girl. She really looked like less of a baby and more like a toddler today. I put her hair in pigtails for the first time today. She was so proud of them at first and then it became a game of how quickly can the bows be pulled out before mommy catches me. I mean could she be any cuter!?!?!


Claire is getting so fun as she really starts exploring her world. Some of her favorite things are finding my purse or her diaper bag and emptying them or pulling them behind her as she walks around the living room. She is also very into shoes, I don't have a picture of that at the moment, she brings me shoes a few times a day to put on her (sometimes they match and sometimes there are actually two). It was pretty funny the other day she had on her diaper and one pink shoe, then she found a spoon and my purse which she carried all over the place. The other favorite pastime is turning on the water in our bathroom and then running out. I guess she is into the peaceful sound of water running (a girl after my own heart).
Today we have guys working on our patio AGAIN (that story is another post altogether) and Claire can hardly stay away from the windows. She bangs on the door and yells "hi" to them. They say "hola" and she just starts laughing. I hope they don't get too bored with her, because for now this has been fantastic entertainment for my baby girl. I hope you don't get tired of me telling funny stories about my Claire Bear, I have a feeling she is just going to get more and more funny adn there are going to be more stories to tell that I can post.

Hold the phone, as I was ending this post Claire just put her doll stroller on the ottoman and crawled up beside it and almost strolled right off onto the floor. She is a monkey I tell you.

Good Night Bear

So I am having a bit of hard time getting the storytime pictures to turn around. I guess you will have to get the idea by turning your head to the side =)

The other night Allan did all the prep work for bedtime with Claire. He gave her a bath, put on her pajamas, and read her some stories. I was supposed to be taking a break downstairs, but I couldn't resist peeking in on storytime, it was such a sweet daddy/daughter moment. When it looked like things were winding down I decided to take a few pictures. Claire is also becoming fascinated with tounges and noses. It is pretty funny. Allan will pop his tongue in and out and Claire will giggle and grab at it. Her laugh may be the sweetest sound in all the world.

Trying to Get a Stinkin Picture and Other Stuff

This is what our baby is like most of the time (above)

Well, my one year old is ramming right into toddlerhood full throttle. In the last few weeks she has perfected the art of screaming louder than a cannon when things aren't going quite her way. We have seen her official first fit. I am not talking a scream that says, please don't make me stop crawling up onto the hearth of the fireplace, although she does that too. I am talking about something from a scene in a movie. We were making our FIRST attempt at her one year pictures with our sweet photographer Marquette who has been taking her pictures since she was three months old (thankfully she knows that Claire really is a happy, funny, beautiful baby girl); anyway, Claire was NOT in the mood for pictures. She literally laid down on the bridge we were standing on and started pounding her fists, kicking her feet, and screaming as if we had just cut off her big toe. Allan and I were awestruck at first, we both just stood in silence wondering where did this alien baby come from and where did our sweet daughter that we have done nothing but love on for the last year disappear to. Now I have heard that the way to handle these kind of fits is to ignore them and walk away, but you have to remember we were on a BRIDGE, so Allan and I just stood on either side of her still staring in disbelief until Allan broke the silence and said "Now what do we do?". Let me tell you this was one of those moments that I was at a total loss. It wasn't too much later that the photographer suggested that we try a reshoot in a few days. I assured her that Claire is typically very happy baby in the mornings so maybe we could try that out. Skip ahead to saturday morning, Claire woke up almost two hours earlier than normal and was just about ready for her nap when it was time to make the SECOND attempt at pictures. She decided that posing was not in the cards once again. We were all sweaty messes after an hour of chasing her around like lunatics singing, jumping, yelling, clapping, and anything else to try and get her to look at the camera. Sweet Marquette thinks that she was able to work her magic and get a few good shots of our little princess. We will try and get a viewing taken care of before we leave for vacation in a few days. If there aren't enough good ones we will try a THIRD photo shoot sometime in September.

Let me just say in Claire's defense that she seems to be cutting three teeth at the moment and it has officially become a TX summer so these outdoor photo shoots are horribly hot and humid. I in no way want to lead you to believe that she is a bad girl, I think that she is actually right on track for a toddler. I guess that I just was not at all prepared for how hard this phase of life was going to be. I was just reading that some refer to toddlerhood as the first adolescence, which explains a lot. I am not going to try and sugarcoat it, I am frustrated and I have already shed many tears over what seems like a failure to parent well. I have also come to a place of REALLY realizing that there really is nothing my baby can do that will make me love her any less. That is a cool reality. Even with all the screaming and what not I woke up this morning and she smiled at me and ran into my arms and I thought I actually love this baby more today than I did yesterday. What a blessing to have that kind of love in my life.

Birthday Shout Out!

Happy Birthday Mom!!! Thanks for loving us all so much. I have so much more respect for you now that I am a mom myself. Thank you for staying home and raising us and continuing to support us all the way into adulthood. Love you!

Great Family

Claire is one blessed little mess, I guess all three of us are. We have a fantastic family! I wish that we could see Allan's side a little more though. Allan's parents, Allan and Gig have come out to Texas a few times and they were here for her birthday which was really nice. Claire had so much fun getting reacquainted with her Mimi and Papa and we are all really looking forward to the Kavalich family vacation in a couple of weeks.

Even though we get to see my side a little more often it rarely seems like enough. It is always fun to get the kids together especially now that Claire is getting a little older and able to interact some with her cousins.

So here is to family, I love you all!

Our Cupcake

As I mentioned in my last blog The Bear had a few parties and she had a little of three different cupcakes to celebrate each event. It was so fun to see her get more aggressive each time we sat her in front of the icing covered pieces of cake. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of the third one which was the messiest most fun one, but we got pictures of her first one at her Saturday party and on her actual birthday when Allan and I took her to Sprinkles in Dallas. She already has the bug, we were in the grocery store the other day and walked through the bakery where she immediately started saying "ooooo" and waving her hands wildly in the air. When I said no cupcakes she threw her first in store fit that made me get a little embarassed to say the least. I had to quickly repeat to myself "she is not here to build my reputation". This is a piece of knowledge that one of my friends passed onto me not too long ago and I can see that I am going to have to remind myself of it many time from here on out.

I Am Blessed

Well, since my last real post I have become the mother of a one year old who gets funnier and more opinionated every day. We have had enough parties to get us through to next year and they have been fun, exhausting, and home destroying. I still have not caught up on the housework that needs to be done. Allan and I decided to take it easy this weekend which was really nice, but that leaves me with a lot to get done this week without too much help from my man since he will be working his tail off at Southwest.
So here is what I really wanted to say about my life at the moment...I am thankful for it. Just over a year ago there was a chance that I wasn't going to make it to see my baby girl grow up and then when that scare passed there was the possibility that I would not be able to have any more children. I am talking about the day that Claire was born. I hemorrhaged after she came out and lost more than half of my blood, but God had gone before me and placed me in the right place at the right time with the right doctors and most of all the right family and friends to desperately pray for me in my time of need. I just want to thank those of you who immediately went into crisis mode for me and Allan; I have no doubt that your prayers are why I am here today and will one day have a few more children. I also have to give a shout out to my OB in Austin, Dr. Bushart, he was on top of the incident from the get go and although I really doubt that he is a Christian, God absolutely worked through him and a certain radiologist I don't know his name) who performed the embolization that saved my uterus.
I will never forget the day Claire entered the world, mainly because it was the day that changed my life forever, in more ways than one. It is on the really hard days with Claire that I try and remind myself how blessed I am to be raising my little girl and watch her become the funny stong-willed princess that she is.