Claire The Social Butterfly!

Dear Friends and Family, This past week was a fun and busy one for me and Claire! We managed to visit a few of my wonderful friends who are also full time mommies! As I mentioned at the end of my last post, on Wednesday Claire got to go to her first play date with Nicholas Bonner. Nicholas is 4 days older than Claire. Julie and I just missed each other at the hospital with our deliveries! Claire was surprisingly interested in Nicholas. I think she has been convinced that she lives in a world of giants until she found Nicholas - but then again, Nicholas does have a size advantage on Claire too...

So cute! Holding hands!Claire also received a cute onesie from one of my church friends with her name on it. She thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot. Her serious look... Her "Hollaback Girl" look... And my favorite, her "Happy Girl" look... On Friday, Claire and I were running errands in our old neighborhood, so I called my friend Hope to see if we could drop by and visit her and her son Jaden. I love visiting them because Jaden was born on January 19 last year so I get a sneak preview of what Claire will be doing in one year!

What a great Mom and Baby picture! I love Jaden's big eyes and wild hair! On Saturday, My in-laws returned from their vacation to Cancun! Their flight came through BWI airport so they stayed the night with us before driving back to Rochester on Sunday morning.

Claire was excited to snuggle with Grammie again.

So cute! Here she is talking and smiling with PopBob!

Yesterday, Claire and I went over to my friend Jen Schiller's house for a play date! We had a great time hanging out. Claire was so happy in this hammock/rocker that Jen said she could have it! Her outfit even matches the polk-a-dots! Thanks Jen!

While Jen and I were eating lunch, Everett chimed in over the baby monitor saying he was ready to join us. As soon as Jen heard Everett, she jammed about half of her BBQ sandwich in her mouth and then went to go get him from his room! It reminded me of the movie Christmas Story when Ralphie says, "My mother hasn't had a warm meal in 10 years." Then you see his mom jumping up to get everyone seconds and drink refills before she can even taste her dinner. I guess getting to taste your food and eat slowly is something that is now reserved for special occaisions like date night! (Thanks Mom and Dad for doing this for me!)

Everett gets to eat his lunch!

He is about 2 months older than Claire.

What a cutie! Claire was snuggling with Chris yesterday and I thought it was adorable! Chris is always excited to see Claire when he gets home from work. Eskimo kisses!

To celebrate Mardi Gras, Chris and I let our hair down and accepted a dinner invitation from our Great Aunt Ellen to meet her up the street from our house for a pancake dinner. Aunt Ellen even bought our tickets and we had our fill of pancakes, fruit, and bacon! It was a great time! Aunt Ellen bought about 10 raffle tickets and managed to win two prizes. It was definitely her lucky night!

Today is Ash Wednesday. This is the second year that I am leading a Lenten Faith Sharing group at Church. We study the scripture readings for each week of Lent and we discuss how to relate the readings to our lives and our daily actions. It makes the Lent season so meaningful and gives me a chance to renew my relationship with God. I pray that you all will also find a way to grow closer to God this Lent!

Have a great week!

Love,

Bethie