Pregnancy Clumsiness Log

I am only eight weeks pregnant, but I have already had my fair share of serious clumsiness. I am normally a pretty clumsy person, so this pregnancy clumsiness is a bit scary.  This morning I tripped on Max's wooden train tracks (it is hard to walk in his room at times due to his elaborate track setups) and stubbed my pinkie toe.  OUCH!  It has been hurting all day. I was convinced I broke the toe, but it hasn't swelled much- just turned purple.

About two weeks ago, I shut my index finger in the car door as I was dropping Max at school. It still hurts.
And before that, I dropped a salad spinner on my head while getting it down from a high shelf.
And there is just more general clumsiness.  I hope I can make it through the rest of this pregnancy without hurting myself too badly...

My baby girl turns 7 today!



It's hard to believe that in five years, this little toddler wearing a diaper...



would blossom into such a lovely young girl!  Happy Birthday, Claire Sophia!



Christmas Collective

Our holiday started December 16th, with the much anticipated arrival of my Dad and Christine. The following day, we headed to Atlanta to visit the Georgia Aquarium.  The kids had a blast.  Max really enjoyed the huge tunnel tank that had four whale sharks swimming around in it. He's a big shark fan, and there aren't many big sharks that can live in an aquarium. Max spent a lot of time studying the animals.

Max watching some smaller sharks

one of the whale sharks swims by

love Max's expression in this one- pure bliss!

Manta ray

really pretty yellow fish I don't remember the name of

another shot of a whale shark



Max in front of the Beluga whale tank

Two days after our visit with Dad and Christine, my mom arrived! The photos below were all taken by her. 


The kids and I in front of the Poinsettia Tree at Greenville Airport



Claire showing off her toothless grin. I think it works for her.

The kids and I reading a story on Christmas Eve 

Claire's gift from Santa- an amethyst necklace

On Christmas Eve, Joey's sister and her boys arrived. First order of business: find a Christmas tree. The following photos were taken by Joey's sister.


The kids decided this was a good Christmas tree. It's a good thing they don't know what they're missing.

  

Just after Christmas Eve dinner. Everyone's ready for pie!



Claire enjoying Granddaddy's rendition of the Cajun Night Before Christmas



Max and Granddaddy building a birdhouse together. I'd love to know what they were
discussing when this photo was taken!  If I had to guess, I would say that Grand-
daddy is either trying to explain how the hand drill works or telling Max he is
too young to use it. Or maybe both.

A few days after Christmas, Granddaddy and Joey's sister and all three grandsons made a trip to the Diamond Hill Mine. It was their second trip, and the boys had a great time. Their digging (and playing) were captured by a local newspaper photographer, who happened to be at the mine that day on assignment.  A few days later, Max was featured on the front page of the Anderson Independent Mail!  The article is featured on their website, too.


Max on the front page!




You can see Max and his cousin Nathan in this one. The beginning of the article features
our family, too! Very exciting!



Snow Houses

Still catching up on my posting :) This event happened on December 2nd.

Snow houses are an annual tradition at Max's preschool.  Parents send in a 15" square piece of plywood and pint and quart sized cartons (all wrapped in aluminum foil), a can of frosting and another goody (mine was graham crackers). The teachers tape the cartons to the plywood and divvy up the goodies equally among all the kids. Parents arrive early on the decorating day to cover the cartons and base with frosting. Teachers bring the kids in a little later for the fun part- putting on the candy!  Max made a pond in the front yard of his snow house with teddy crackers swimming in it.  He also put up a pretzel fence to keep the riffraff out (like those gingerbread people).  The tree is an upside down ice cream cone covered in frosting.  A fun event! 

Max poses with his completed snow house



frosting taste test: yep, good enough to eat!



Girly Afternoon

Last Sunday afternoon Claire and I had some special girl time. We ate lunch at Claire's favorite Thai restaurant, did some browsing at two different girly stores, and went to the Brooks Center for an afternoon performance of The Nutcracker.  During intermission, I took the photo below. This nutcracker works just like the smaller versions- the mouth opens and closes with a lever on the back.  This was Claire's first ballet experience, and she loved it!

Claire posing with the giant nutcracker

Sometimes spontaneous photos are the best ones

Claire has been quite a shutterbug lately. In the midst of her latest session, she asked me to take a picture of her. I grabbed the camera and quickly shot one. Then I handed the camera back to her. As I was uploading the photos, I came across the one I had so quickly taken- and it was a keeper!  A beautiful photo of my beautiful daughter.

Max's Christmas Program

Max's preschool had their Christmas program this morning! One of the teachers told a story and the children sang some songs. Then everyone had cookies! My kind of program :)


Max, to boy on his right: "awesome tow truck sweater!" 
Boy with awesome tow truck sweater: "thanks!"



Waiting for the program to start (profile shot for you, mom- to show off his "nicely shaped head" :))

Not the clearest photo, but shows off the whole preschool