www.ericandcolleen.com

Happy New Year to all! We are happy to be back home safe and sound after 13 Christmas-filled days in Arkansas. We flew into Fort Smith on Dec. 20 (Claire’s 6 month birthday - more on that later) and spent about 6 days with my family in Van Buren before heading up north to celebrate the holidays with Eric’s family in Siloam Springs.

This was Claire’s second time to fly to Arkansas (she was 6 weeks old before) and unfortunately she didn’t fare as well on the flight this time. Chalk it up to teething, ears popping, or just plain tired, but she put up a fight on both legs (especially the second) before falling asleep. However, she had no trouble whatsoever sleeping on my lap in the Atlanta airport during our layover!

We attended church with my family on Sunday and spent the next couple of days resting and playing way too much Wii. Bowling, skiing, even acting like penguins eating fish…all very fun! Monday night we stopped by Robert, Aerren and Caleigh’s house to visit, exchange gifts and pick up some baby gear. A HUGE thank you to them for loaning us a high chair and a tub full of toys to use during our stay! Caleigh gave Claire her very first laptop, so she can be just like her super techie mom and dad! It’s adorable and although she’s not into pushing the buttons just yet, she gets a big kick out of opening and closing it. Caleigh was super excited to see Claire, and loved the cupcake hat we brought her - especially since she and Claire could now be twinkies! I enjoyed visiting with Aerren so much and always wish that we lived closer and could see each other more often.

Tuesday evening, LeLe treated me, Auntie Bonnie and Aunt Brit to a girl’s night at the local nail salon. Claire tagged along and played happily in her car seat while I relaxed with a pedicure, a glass of wine, and some yummy appetizers. It was fun to see some of the old VB crowd and to enjoy some much-needed pampering.

Great Grandma Carole came in from Dallas on Wednesday and instantly became Claire’s new best friend. I’ve never seen a great grandma with that much ENERGY! Claire absolutely loved all the attention. The two of them played for hours, each one entertaining the other. I begged Great Grandma Carole to come live with us in Raleigh! We took a lot of photos of Claire on her lap, smiling like a goober, that are coming in a gallery soon, but the one below is my favorite.

Claire was completely spoiled by both attention and gifts from the rest of my family as well. Her Auntie Bonnie bought her the CUTEST Christmas outfit, complete with a matching tulle puff for a hair bow. Uncle Reag picked out several adorable outfits, including a Baby’s 1st Christmas onesie that she wore for about 10 minutes before sending to the laundry - but it was long enough to snag a photo!

I took Claire to lunch at TGI Friday’s on Christmas Eve - a tradition with my girlfriends from high school. It was great to see everyone, especially Melissa’s newest addition, baby Maycie. I couldn’t believe how small she looked compared to my munchkin. It seems like much longer than a few months ago that Claire was that small. She was on her best behavior and was passed from friend to friend, smiling for photos (with the help of her silly mommy). She walked away from the lunch with two super cute outfits, gifts from her “Aunt” Carrie. Thank you - look for pictures of her in them soon!

Unfortunately, LeLe was under the weather for most of our visit and tried to keep her distance from Claire so as not to get her sick. This isn’t an easy task when you’re a long-distance grandma who wants to see her grandbaby! They did manage to get a bit of play time in and I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re booking a ticket to Raleigh for her to visit. Poppy and Great Nanny enjoyed Claire’s toothless grins and new tricks as well. Somehow Poppy managed to avoid my camera, but we’ll get him next time!

The day after Christmas, we borrowed LeLe’s car (a big thank you!) and headed up north to spend several days with Eric’s family. More on that part of our trip and Claire’s 6 month post coming soon…

Photo galleries coming soon - in the meantime, here are a few more of my favorites: