There & Back Again

Finally! Pictures from our trip to Katy are here.

On our way, we stopped in Austin to see my brother Kendall (as you might remember from a previous post). Here we are with Kendall and his girlfriend, Stephanie.

Claire playing the part of a pool-side hottie :)

Will LOVES to swim. Here he is doing his thing!

On the 4th, we went to my great aunt and uncle's house in Coldspring on Lake Livingston. Here are Uncle Tom, Claire, and Aunt Ruthie.

Aunt Ruthie and Will in the "little pool" (aka hot tub).

A view of the lake house looking up from the shore.

Looking from the deck to the pier and the lake.

Claire opening birthday gifts (and Will helping).

My grandma, Mom, me and Claire.

Claire and me in my parents' pool.

Birthday Girl Pictures

My college friend Kathy lives near my parents in Houston. She is an amateur photographer (she has two adorable little boys that she can't help but take pictures of) and we asked her to come and grace us with her talents on Claire's birthday. She took some amazing photos of Claire that day while Will and her oldest boy, Patrick, played with my mom in the pool. Here are the results!

This one is my absolute favorite. My little birthday girl in her birthday suit with a great big grin on her face!

A classic Claire face. Ooo!

Yummy cupcake!

...And in the blue outfit :)

Claire's Birthday Party

Yep, I'm a bad mom. I know it's been like 3 weeks since her birthday, but we had some camera problems and sickness (AGAIN--more news on that later), so I haven't gotten caught up til now. Anyway, here's pictures from Claire's first birthday party on July 4th!

That morning, eating her blueberry muffin

Happy Birthday, Claire Bear!

Mom, Dad and Claire a few minutes after birth.

Will meets Claire for the first time.

First "family of four" photo

Claire in the hospital with an IV, two days old.

Sweet brother; Claire is about one week old.

A special dress and shoes; about one month old.

Miss Priss; about 2 mos. old.

Thanksgiving

Christmas

Springtime

One year ago today, we were blessed by the birth of our precious daughter. Claire Elise Prather was born at 10:14 am, July 8, 2007, weighing 6 lbs. and 10 oz. Her hair was light brown and she had dark blue eyes. She now weighs about 18.5 lbs. and has very blonde hair (she's been called a tow-head and a cotton-top) and striking blue eyes. Here are a few of my favorite things about Miss Claire Bear:

1. She loves to hug and kiss.

2. When I put her to sleep, she pats me.

3. She loves to sing and dance. Her favorite song right now is "The Backyardigans" theme song. She'll just start bobbing along to it with a big smile on her face when it comes on.

4. She adores her brother with all her heart. He just looks at her and she breaks into a huge grin and most times just cracks up laughing.

5. She has the best belly laugh.

6. She makes the funniest sounds...I can't even begin to describe how she does them. My favorite sound she makes is something that sounds like "deedledeedledeedle..."

7. She has no fear. She likes to hang upside down, climb, etc.

8. She said "mama" for the first time on Mother's Day.

9. Her favorite word right now is "cat." My parents have a cat and Claire is obsessed with her. However the cat is not so impressed with Claire :)

10. She is a very easy baby (when she's not sick or teething!). She is not afraid of most people and is pretty easy-going about being handed off to others.

11. She's a good eater. She'll eat just about anything and loves table food. She's going to be so much easier to transition from baby food to regular food than Will was!



Claire in Florida at 10 mos.

Happy Birthday, Little Claire Bear!

*Of course, on a special occassion such as this one, my camera card is not working. So, I can't show you any of the pictures we have taken in the past week, including Claire's birthday party on the 4th! As soon as I get it working, I'll share those...stay tuned :)