HOUSE!

A lot has been going on lately, but I really haven't taken many pictures to share! Robby and I are supposed to close on our house Tuesday! We are really excited about it, but also very nervous. This house needs a lot of work! We bought a washer and a dryer yesterday that I am really excited about! It is the same color as the Jetta and it is a front loader (it's a lot like Aunt Alison's). Now we are on the search for different things. It has been fun, but we are realizing that we have nothing for a house! We need pretty much everything, including yard tools and stuff! We started looking at lawn mowers, wheelbarrows, and garden tools today! We are just keeping our eyes on craigslist! Hopefully soon we will be able to have people over to grill out and stuff :) I will try to take some before and after pictures of the house so you guys can see what is going on!

a few more pictures!

My mother took some candid pictures at Clara's Birthday Party#2. The boys!

I really like this picture. It looks like Robby and I are having a really good conversation with Clara!

Shoes!

I absolutely love being with my sister and her children. I think it is my very favorite thing about being back in Birmingham!

This is my dad's big brother. Clara really loved him! I couldn't believe it, she reached for him and smiled at him! She never, ever, ever does that with strangers. Finally, we realized that she thought it was Poppie, because she was calling him "Pop" like she does my dad! I guess the Armbrester's do look a lot alike! You can look at his eyes and Clara's eyes in this picture and in other pictures you can look at my, Thomas's, Harrison's, and my sister's eyes and see the Armbrester trait!

Sunday, we had a little Birthday party for my daddy! It was really fun. I think the children loved it the most! We have had a Birthday party every weekend this month! I think Clara thought we were still celebrating her!

I love this picture! Clara's new obsession is shoes! She loves to put them on her feet, play with them, and say "shoes, shoes, oooooo, shoes"! It is precious! I think she is going to be such a girlie girl, which is a little funny to me because I am not a really girlie girl!

Happy Mother's Day!

I love this picture!

Me and my baby on Mother's Day!

She loves flowers!

The roses were beautiful at Botanical Garden's!My second mother's day was just as fun as the first! Clara and Robby got me a locket with Clara's Birthday and name engraved on it and her picture inside! Robby and I went for a good run that morning and we ate a yummy fish lunch with my mom and dad. Then we all went to the Botanical Gardens. It was great. I like Mother's day!

More Birthday Fun!

M, Pop, Thomas, and Harrison. Thomas is my sister's oldest and Harrison is the oldest twin! M and Pop are their grandparents from their dad's side, but we claim them too! Clara loves M! The boys gave Clara a tea set..... Harrison loved it and served everyone tea at the party! Here is is serving his twin Brother, Hudson, and Nana, his great grandmother!

Clara and her beautiful wings from the Till family!

Right before we took this picture I asked, "Clara, how old are you"?

Clara, her daddy, and Walt (another practically life-long friend of ours). Walt's family was there. His wife, Katie, and I have been friends since grade school... she actually sort of set me and Robby up in High school.

My sister (Jennifer), me, and my brother (Michael). They will probably kill me for posting this picture, but I don't have a lot of the three of us, and I was so happy to have them there.

I love this picture of my mother and Clara! Clara has started calling her "memaw"! Mom hates it!

This is me pushing Clara in her new pink car that her daddy and I got for her Birthday! She has so much fun in and feels like a big girl!

Yea, Lane! Lane and I have been friends since college! I was so happy that she came!

Clara's first donut! She was holding onto it so tight that she left little holes through it where her fingers were! I guess she was afraid we would take it away! We had a little Birthday party for Clara at Overton Park on Saturday! It was great fun! Clara had a really good time and I was so happy to celebrate my baby girl!

Thanks Tara!

Clara and Jack watching each other swing at the park! I love this picture! Tara and Jack, Katie and Kate, me and Clara

I am going to save this picture.... just in case they get married!

Clara with her lamb and pretty pink tutu from Tara, Johnny, and Jake!

I stole these pictures from Tara and Johnny's blog to share with you guys! I really liked them all! I took Clara to her 1 year old doctor's appointment today! She did great! She now weighs 19.6 lbs and is 28 inches long! She is only in the 25% for height and weight! Dr. Breedlove told me that she was going to "be petite, just like her mommy"! I knew I loved that doctor! Clara practically walked across the room today! I was very excited! We also got the appraisal back for the house today and everything looks good. Hopefully we will be home owners by the end of the month!

Clara walked!

Well, in all of the Birthday excitement, I totally forgot to tell everyone that Clara took her first steps the other day! Of course it was while I was at work, but she did it again for me soon after that! She was at her Nana's house and took two steps! She walked at Grandmother's on her Birthday, and over here at home on Sunday! In all, I think the furthest she has made it has been 3 or 4 steps, but I don't think it will be long before she is running!

Party on!

Yay! Today was another great reason to wear our Birthday dress from Aunt Gigi! We love it!I had to share this picture of Clara trying to figure out how to open her box of raisins. This is the same exact face her daddy makes when he is concentrating really hard on one of his architecture projects or drawings.... do you see her tongue... that's it! Happy Birthday Michael Michael! This is the ice cream cake my mom got for Michael. Hudson can't eat it because of his milk allergy, but he sure did have fun blowing out the candle! This is the kitty cake that my mom got for Clara! She loved it! The only problem was that it never crossed our minds that she might actually think it was a real kitty! She talked to it, she called it "kiddy, kiddy".....

She pet it..... So Harrison came over and tried to explain to her that it was a cake and she should eat it!

So, she took a tiny bit of icing off of its paw and tasted it! Thanks for the help Ace Harrdison, you rock!

Today my family had a joint Birthday lunch for Clara and my Brother, Michael. Mom made her famous egg rolls and got the most precious cake for Clara I have ever seen! It was another really fun day and I think Clara enjoyed it more than anyone else! She just loves being around my sister's kids, especially Thomas. Everything he does is the most wonderful thing she has ever seen! He ate cheese, so she ate cheese... he laughed, so she laughed... it is so precious. I hope that they are really close and he will take care of her like a big brother should when they get older. A tornado came through during the party, I had forgotten how quickly they come and how everyone huddles around the tv when the sirens go off and hail starts falling from the sky! Crazy....

Happy Birthday to Clara!

Clara woke up really early on her Birthday morning! I think she was really excited about her big Birthday! She had gifts waiting for her from Mommy and Daddy!One of her gifts was a set of new GIRLY sippy cups! We thought it was time she had some of her own and didn't always have to drink out of ones with dump trucks on them! She loved them!The only problem is that now she thinks she is supposed to have two sippy cups at all times! She tucks on under each arm and crawls on her elbows! I have to get it on video for you guys! It is so funny! She crawls around like she is in the trenches or something and says "juice, juice" over and over! Christopher brought the boys over not too long after we got up and Harrison was the first to admire Clara's new gifts! He came right in, took a swig from one of her sippy cups, went through her new purse, and sat in her chair! We thought it was very funny, Clara did not...After Clara's LONG morning nap, we went to the Austin's house for lunch and Birthday cake!I think she did a pretty good job for her first time eating cake!Everyone watched her open gifts! She played and played with some really great stuff!

Clara in her new Birthday dress (thanks Gigi). She was playing so hard that I had to tuck it in her bloomers )that is why it looks like she has on shorts!

She really has the hang of opening gifts now!

Grandmother and Grandaddy got her this swing for her house! We temporarily hung it on the porch and she loved it! We stayed over there until after dinner and Clara fell asleep on the way home! She didn't make another peep until 5 am! It was such a big day!

The gift giving begins!

Mumzy couldn't wait to give Clara her Birthday gift this morning! She is still in her PJs!Thanks: Mumzy, Poppie, Gigi, Uncle Chris, Thomas, Harrison, Hudson, and Michael Michael!

You all Rock! M gives the coolest balloons! Clara has already started getting Birthday gifts! She loves it! Today was a very fun day! My family gave Clara this great lounge chair with an ottoman for her room! She is really into chairs right now and she went crazy over it! She climbed into it, rocked, climbed out, and then back in, rocked, out, in, rocked, out..... Then M came by and brought her a balloon and the most adorable outfit! She went bananas over the balloon! We couldn't get her to do anything else! Then we had lunch with Tara and Johnny and her future BFF Jack! (I forgot my camera, so Tara will supply the pictures later!) They gave her a lamb and a PINK TUTU! Tara, being the smart person she is, got one that was big enough for her to wear when she can walk! I can't wait. She already loves to dance! Then we went to the ENT and they made a huge deal over her Birthday being tomorrow! The Children's Hospital ENT group is just great! Her ears look great and she has regained her hearing in her right ear! YAY! Now she is taking a big nap! What a very fun day! Thanks to everyone who made my baby girl's Birthday Eve great! We are truly blessed.