Note: If you are reading this in email or on Facebook, you’ll need to visit our website, www.ericandcolleen.com to view the video. If you’re already here, welcome!
This past Sunday we joined friends Trey, Sabrina and Carter at the Ganyard Hill Farm in Durham for an afternoon of all things fall-related. Despite trading in her long afternoon nap for a two quick snoozes (one during church, the other on the car ride to the farm), Claire had a blast running around and trying out all the farm activities.
We took tons of cute photos - all of them in the updated October 2009 photo gallery - but here are several of my favorites…
Claire loved the goats, but we had a hard time convincing her they weren’t dogs!
Playing on the hay stack with daddy
Walking through the corn maze with Carter, hand-in-hand. Can you believe he’s a full two years older than her? She’s so big!
Chasing Carter in the corn maze
Getting a ride from daddy
Hay is SO much fun!
My little pumpkin with a pumpkin of her own
Navigating her way through the hay maze
Claire and Carter using an old-fashioned hand-cranked sheller to shuck corn
Claire thought the sheller was funny!
Milking Bessie, the pretend cow
Choosing her pumpkin and trying her best to pick it up!
She really liked the pumpkins!
Admiring yet another pumpkin
My sweet little girl and her mama
A popular blog that I enjoy reading, Kelly’s Korner, hosts a “Show Us Your Life” blog tour every Friday. This week’s edition is “Show Us What You Make/Do” and I thought I’d jump in and participate for the first time.
As many of you know, I work as a web designer for a newspaper publishing company. Although I thoroughly enjoy my job, my true passion is in designing personal invitations/announcements/cards/etc. Cute baby shower invites, precious birth announcements, and spirited holiday cards just bring out a different side of the designer in me. It’s also extremely rewarding to see how proud my friends are of their custom cards.
Below are samples of some work I’ve done over the past couple of years (click to see larger versions).
Baby and Bridal Shower Invitations
Birthday Announcements, Invitations and Thank You Cards
Christmas Cards
Birth Announcements
Housewarming Party Invitation
I’ve also designed a couple of wedding sites as gifts - www.meredithandjosh.com and www.randyandjill.com.
I mostly do this work as gifts/favors for friends and family, but have worked with paying friends of friends as well. If you’re interested in having me make something custom for you, please leave a comment or drop me a line via the email link above. I can either send you a high-res file to print yourself, or have them printed and mailed directly to you. Either way - my prices are extremely reasonable and usually 1/2 the cost of what you’d find elsewhere for this type of work.
And I can’t have a post without a picture (or two) of my sweet little one, so here’s two of Miss Claire dressed up in her Halloween duds - taken a year apart. What a difference a year makes! (Yes, I realize that I’ve already posted the second photo, but this is my favorite one to do the comparison with!)
The day we moved in, on the street around the corner from ours, there was a very dirty and well-loved (ie: most parts broken) playhouse sitting by the curb with a sign that read “free”. I saw enormous potential in it and just knew Claire would love it after I gave it some TLC.
The next day I looked up the playhouse online to find the manufacturer and model. It is a Step 2 Sweetheart Playhouse, which Wal-Mart sells for $300. That’s an expensive playhouse! I then called Step 2 and ordered several new parts including a telephone, door bell, flower holder, skylight and decals. Total bill, including shipping, was about $25.
It took me over a month to get started on my little project, but I finally had the time this past weekend. We borrowed a power washer from one of our neighbors and I spent several hours on Saturday washing, scrubbing, detailing, then washing it again. Magic Eraser took care of the crayon marks and a mold & mildew cleaner did wonders for all that nasty green stuff.
BEFORE
AFTER
Super cute, yes? Totally worth $25. 
The real reward for all my hard work came with the look of excitement on Claire’s face when she saw it for the first time. She loves her own little house, especially opening and closing the doors and windows. Mama and Dada even took turns squeezing in there with her for a few minutes!
Here’s a few photos of Claire checking out her new play toy. Isn’t her little Halloween outfit from LeLe and Auntie Bonnie the most adorable thing ever!?! Thank you both!
On Claire’s 15-month birthday, she was sick with an ear infection (her second ever). A week later, Dr. Coleman said the Amoxicillin was working and the bacteria was cleared out, so she received her 15-month shots and a flu shot. Two days later our sweet girl was burning up with a 105 degree fever and we were rushing her to the emergency room (on-call doctor’s suggestion). Five hours, urine & blood work (which required a catheter and a needle in her hand, neither fun for anyone), an IV antibiotic, and $1,000 later - the diagnosis was still just an ear infection. The Amoxicillin was replaced with another antibiotic, which she’s still on. We go in tomorrow for another ear check and I’m praying we receive good news.
Claire is changing SO fast. She’s becoming less of a baby and more like a toddler each day. She is a BIG girl, weighing 26 lbs (75%) and measuring 32 inches (85%). She even has a big head (75%)! She is wearing 18-24 month clothing for the most part, but some of her shirts are 2T to cover up her massive belly!
Here is the run down on Claire these days:
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She says: dog, bye bye, book, outside, downstairs, bath, more, bite, balloons, pop pop, bubbles, banana (nana), ball, shoes, socks, up. Of course, not all of these sound perfect, but she has a specific sound/word she uses for each of them.
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Says “please” (peese) when she wants something. Mama and Dada think this is the sweetest thing ever!
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Signs “more” for EVERYTHING. If she wants anything at all, she furiously starts signing and saying “peese”.
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Can point and locate her (and your) belly, nose, mouth, ears and piggies (toes). She still loves to tickle feet. In fact, she kind of has a foot obsession. She likes socks and shoes, too. She looks forward to when it’s time to take them off and smell her “stinky feet”, with lots of dramatic effects from Mama and Dada.
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Still does not like having her teeth brushed, but if she’s in a good mood she’ll say “Aaahh” when we tell her it’s time to brush them.
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Loves the outdoors and is always tugging on the door and asking to go outside. She looks forward to helping Mama check the mail each day. She has really taken to our 7-year-old next door neighbor, Lilly. When we walk outside, Claire will point to Lilly’s home and sign “more.” It’s so cute!
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Has an Elmo crush. And it’s a big one. I don’t know how it happened, but our sweet girl is obsessed with the furry red guy. If she’s seems anything at all that has Elmo on it, she wants it immediately. She still likes to watch Yo Gabba Gabba, but Elmo’s World is a new favorite.
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Crazy about dogs and is always finding and pointing them out. I bought her some adorable pjs with dogs on them at a consignment sale the other day (only $.50!) and they are her favorite thing to sleep in.
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Loves reading to herself and being read to. She would sit in my lap ALL day and read if I’d let her. She has her favorites - mainly anything with Elmo and/or dogs - but loves just about anything.
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Talks/babbles nonstop. The child is really trying to tell us things!
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Follows all kinds of commands, for example: go find your drink/book/Elmo/anything, sit on your bottom, go sit in your chair, let’s take a bath, and many, many more. She understands a LOT.
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Absolutely loves going to the park. She’s really reaping the benefit of our new home’s location! Her favorite without a question is the swings. It is the first thing she goes to and is a bit disgruntled when they’re occupied. She can swing for the longest time and fusses when you try and get her to do something else. She also loves to slide and doesn’t hesitate to scoot her little bottom to the end, lean back and go for it! I’ve got a video I need to find and post of her sliding…
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What’s better than going to the park? Riding the bikes to the park, that’s what! Claire is crazy about going on bike rides. Every time we park in the garage and get her out of the car, she runs over to the bikes and starts signing “more” and saying “peese”. Not much makes her happier than going on a bike ride.
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All about dancing, jumping (with help), climbing and bouncing these days.
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Is a great sleeper and napper. She usually sleeps from about 8pm to 7am, sometimes staying up a bit later or sleeping in. She takes one big afternoon nap that is at least 2 1/2 hours, and usually closer to 3 or more. Most of the time she goes down without any fussing.
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Likes to play in the bath tub or in the shower. If one of us is in the shower, she wants in too!
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Has done well siting in Sunday morning church services lately. We’re always armed with snacks and books, but if she’s well-rested she does pretty good.
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Her large motor skills are improving. She’s able to walk up and down the stairs with help and climb on and off her bouncy horse by herself.
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Loves to play and sing. Favorites are “Patty Cake” - especially pointing to herself when we sing “throw it in the oven for Baby Claire” - and “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. If you ask her where her spider is, she’ll start playing with her fingers. It’s funny - her favorite part of this one is the end, when she starts clapping like crazy.
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Super affectionate, always wanting/giving hugs and kisses.
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When out shopping, she doesn’t want to ride in the carts, she wants to push them. We found a play cart at a local garage sale for $3, and she enjoys pushing it around our living room.
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Still a fantastic eater. She wants at least a full cup, sometimes up to two cups, of whole milk each morning when she wakes up. She has tried apple juice and Gatorade, but prefers water. She loves most any fruit, but lately she’s been eating a lot of bananas and grapes. She’s still a big dairy nut. When helping me make sandwiches, she’s constantly begging for a bite of cheese.
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Doesn’t seem to be that interested in coloring, but loves to “read” an Elmo coloring book. She does, however, really like stickers. LeLe sent her a sheet of happy face stickers that we put up on our fridge. Claire asks for one of these stickers multiple times a day.
- Starting to throw a temper tantrum when she doesn’t get her way. Usually distracting her works, but sometimes she just has to cry it out.
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Can destroy just about anything in a blink of an eye. My purse, entertainment center drawers, the tissue box, flaps on her books, toilet paper/paper towel roll - you name it, she’s wreaked havoc on it.
That’s all I can think of for now. It’s hard to keep up with this sweet girl! With all the new house projects taking up a good chunk of our time, I’m not taking as many pictures of the munchkin these days. I had better start having my camera ready more often, because she’ll be a year-and-a-half before we know it!
This weekend I’m going to Myrtle Beach for a church ladies retreat. It will be my first time away from Claire longer than just a day since she was born. Pray for my strength (I know SHE will be fine with her Dada!). I am looking forward to a few days of relaxation, but will miss that little girl like crazy.
October is going to be jam-packed. Not only will we be doing a lot of fall and Halloween related activities, but we’ll have some company as well. Jay, Nan and Cash are staying for a night and watching Claire while Eric and I go out to celebrate my birthday (a BIG thank you to them). And LeLe is coming all the way from Arkansas to visit for a couple days. Yay! I love Fall!
Holy cow! I can’t believe it’s OCTOBER already! September was a very eventful (ie: busy/hectic/exciting/tiring/joyful) month for us. Let me see if I can hit the highlights and finally get this blog up to date…
We bought a house!
We closed on our first home on Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 4:30 pm. This happy event occurred almost exactly 2 years after we lost house #1 (later to be followed by house #2 and #3). It was a VERY long, difficult journey, but we can look back now and be thankful for the lessons that we learned along the way. Our original 3-step plan was 1. house; 2. dog; 3. baby. Obviously the Lord had another plan for us - and, truth be told, we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are constantly amazed at how He is working in our lives!
We moved to our new home.
Eric and I both moved several times prior to being married, all of which were quick, one-trip types of things where you stuff everything you own into your car and go. When Eric moved out to NC in 2003, he loaded up his truck (strapping his mattress to the top) and drove over 1,000 miles from Fayetteville, AR to Chapel Hill, NC. When I moved to NC in 2004, it was just me, my mom, and all of my stuff in a Ford Taurus. After 4 years of marriage and a toddler, this move was a completely different story.
Luckily, we have amazing friends and family who offered up their Saturday to help us out. A HUGE thank you to Nan, Shirl, Corey & Michelle, and Kent for helping us move and to Julie for watching Claire. Moving day was a complete success - and went rather quickly. Eric and I started the day early, but by 9am we had dropped Claire off and picked up coffee, bagels and the moving truck (you know, the essentials to any move!). I think it was around noon when we started the caravan over to the house. After unloading 3 SUVs, a car and a big ‘ol moving truck, we took a much-needed break to refuel with a pizza lunch. We were officially moved out of our apartment (which included a quick cleaning) and everything was at least somewhere in our new home by the end of the day.
Eric and Corey helping themselves to the “pizza bar” set up
in the back of the moving truck.
Shirl & Nan having lunch on our driveway.
Turning a negative (no grass in our front yard - yet) into a positive
(truck backed up right to the front door).
Claire spent moving day playing with Callie - they are too cute!
The apartment building we spent 4+ years in.
We had a painting fiasco - which turned into a blessing.
First-up on our home-improvement list was painting a lot of very, very dark wood a bright white. When we first viewed the house, we really loved all the chair rail & crown molding on the first floor….just not in the dark “oh-so-1980’s” wood.
We’re not usually ones to spend money on a painter, but this work was going to be intricate and time-consuming (ie: pain in the butt). We figured we’d splurge a bit on having someone else paint the trim, then go back in later and paint the walls ourselves.
Thus began our search for a painter. I put up an ad on Craigslist asking for quotes, describing the work that would need to be done and including a link to a detailed photo gallery of the home. We received numerous responses - well over 60. The quotes ranged from $75 (our lowest - sent by a girl who obviously was delusional) to $4,000 (bit proud of himself, eh?). We narrowed down the responses to our top 4, called their references, and interviewed them at the home.
Our first choice, Barry, started the job on Wed., Sept. 2. He was supposed to be finished that Friday. Not so much. He quit on Monday after being denied more money upfront and left us with all the wood primed, and some of it with a first coat of paint. Luckily for us, we only paid him a quarter of the money upfront (which was a very small amount considering the time and materials he put into the job before walking away). He told us one sob story after another, and we later realized that he wasn’t as qualified as we were led to believe. While we didn’t realize it at the time, his quitting was definitely a blessing in disguise.
Our very close second choice, Lane, was a contractor who came by that Tuesday to scope out the remainder of the project. He had a painter at our home the next day and the two of them worked 4 full days and completed the job in a professional, timely manner. They caulked everything (something that Barry had given a reason for not doing that we foolishly trusted) and applied at least two coats of paint, some areas received three. The amount paid to both Barry and Lane was still within our budget, and actually a bit cheaper than if we had gone with Lane from the get-go.
So we saved a bit of money, had a few headaches along the way, learned a lot about hiring help, and now have pretty white trim to show for it all. We are happy with the updated look and are eager to continue seeing our visions of the home materialize. Here are a couple of before & after pictures. Keep in mind we still have MANY updates to make (and furniture to buy, light fixtures to replace, etc..), but we think phase 1 made a big improvement!
Living room before. Note the very dark wood and brass fireplace.
Living room after. Bright white trim and the brass got a quick & cheap fix (see below for details). Yes, that is the munchkin watching Yo Gabba Gabba. How else do you think I got her to stay put for a few moments while I took these pictures?!
Dining room before. Used mainly as a storage area, I assume?
Dining room after. Along with the new trim color, we removed the cream-colored vertical blinds. I’m hoping to replace them (and that disgustingly outdated chandelier) this year. Note the steps - they got a very big makeover as they used to be completely dark wood!
Hallway to garage and laundry area before.
Hallway to garage and laundry area after.
Breakfast nook before. Strange spot for that fan…
Breakfast nook after. Seller left the table - but no chairs. Not very helpful! Our hope for this space includes a custom-built corner window seat and a new light fixture. And, of course, paint and new flooring.
We started several of many more to come home-improvement projects.
In our first month of home ownership, we replaced the old brass cabinet pulls, bathroom fixtures (towel racks, toilet paper holders, etc.), and door knobs with brushed nickel hardware. And when I say “we”, I mean mostly Eric. He did a fantastic job with the door knobs, including a fancy new handle and doorbell for our front door. We’re waiting on a shipment of new hinges so those can be updated as well.
Our first mini project that we tackled together was the brass fireplace doors. We used painter’s tape to cover the glass areas, then scuffed the metal surface with sandpaper. Next, we took the whole thing outside and gave it several coats of black high-heat spray paint. Voila! Instant update for less than $10!
Next up on our immediate “wanna do” list is replacing the outdated light fixtures, finishing up the doors, replacing the cream colored electrical outlets with fresh white ones, decorating (including hanging photos and such on the walls), and painting the first floor living areas. Okay…maybe “immediate” wasn’t the best word to use - that’s a lot of “wants”!
We’ve also been scouring Craigslist, looking for some new furniture. This space is twice as big as our last one, which means it’s only half full! We’re hoping to furnish a guest room and my office space soon. New living room furniture is also on the wish list…just in case anyone was wanting to buy us early Birthday presents.
My handy man husband hard at work. I’m glad to see the head lamp being used for something other than crab golfing!
Front door before.
Front door after. Photo taken before the new doorbell was installed. We’ve purchased a brushed nickel door sweep, but need to borrow some tools before installing it. Thanks to Nan & Shirl for the pretty mums which are now sprouting little yellow flowers!
Fireplace doors before.
Fireplace doors after.
Cabinet pulls before.
Cabinet pulls after.
Example of bathroom fixture before.
Example of bathroom fixture after. I wish the wallpaper was gone as well!
We celebrated Cash’s 2nd birthday.
Our sweet nephew turned two at the end of this month and celebrated with an Elmo-themed party at an indoor bounce house. All of his friends were there and even Elmo himself made an appearance! The abundance of the furry red monster made Claire VERY happy. She has copied her cousin and fallen in love with all things Elmo. Oh joy.
Cash received loads of fun presents, including power tools from his parents and a drum set from Grandma and Grandpa! Claire gave him Elmo Live, but demanded he share. Luckily for her, Cash had lots of other toys to distract him, so she could get her Elmo fix.
Claire loved climbing and bouncing and her mama got a workout trying to keep up with her!
Cash opening his gift from Uncle E, Aunt C and Cousin Claire
Claire sitting in GaGa’s lap, pointing to Elmo.
Nan and Cash checking out Elmo.
The Birthday Boy!
Alright, I apologize for the ridiculously long post, but at least now I’m somewhat caught up. Hopefully this week I’ll find the time to write about what Miss Claire has been up to. She’s changing so fast and constantly amazing us.
Lots and lots of photos from all the above-mentioned events and, of course, a few (okay, a lot) of our little munchkin can be found in the September 2009 photo gallery.