"Mini Me"

I believe the cloning process has been perfected.....

Babies and Pumpkins everywhere!

On Saturday, Claire and I traveled to Garden Prairie, IL for a baby shower for my college friend Becky. It was a long day but we survived the 2 1/2 hour trip with 3 babies in the car and no major problems. We met the lone boy of the group at the shower for a grand total of 4 babies. The oldest, Delaney, is 14 months old, Addison is 10 months, Zach is almost 4 months and Claire is the baby at about 3 1/2 months. Taking pictures of all 4 of them was not an easy task. This is the best I have.

Claire also got to meet Dani for the first time. She thought both Dani, and her husband Chris, were pretty cool!

After the baby shower we headed to Susie's Garden Patch. This is the U-Pick farm that Becky's family owns. Here is a picture of Addison picking out her very own pumpkin.

Claire picked out her pumpkin too. (Let the record show that taking pictures on a very bright day, with a digital camera, while holding a child is not the easiest thing we have ever done, but we have pictures nonetheless!)

Claire did pose with the pumpkins that she and Addison picked out. She also had her first ride on the tailgate of a ranger!

We had a very long day but a good day with friends! We look forward to meeting Baby Perry after she makes her arrival in November!

3 months

The incredible shrinking bear has returned for her 3 month photo shoot. Claire continues to grow like a weed even though she's starting to cut back on her milk consumption just a little bit. She is typically a very happy little girl but tends to get pretty fussy in the evenings. We think there might be a little something going on in the tooth department that is causing her to be uncomfortable. She chews on her hands a lot and likes the taste of her daddy's fingers. She enjoys standing up, arching her back, and singing the Beach Boys song Barbara Ann. She is no longer a big fan of her carseat, is growing out of lots of her clothes, and she doesn't stay in one place very long. Claire is having her first sleep over tomorrow night with Gammy and Papa Kuipers while Trever and I head to the Illini home opener! Go Illini!

Claire's Baptism

Today was Claire's special day. We have been planning for this day for quite a while and were very lucky to have so many family members and friends join us in church this morning. We have been practicing for her baptism during bath time and she was such a trooper that she slept through the entire service.

Claire is a very lucky little girl to have such a special God-family. The Voelker family has been a very big part of my life since I was little. Ria use to babysit for Kirk and me and Mike worked for my dad. They lived in the tennant house on the farm and we spent lots of time together. It's hard to explain our relationship, but I just tell people that they might as well be family.

Here is Mike, Ria, Graham, Graysen, Pastor Liz, Trever, Claire & Krista.

Our family

Claire was at least the 4th generation to wear this gown. Her great-grandma read wore it as well as Great-Uncle Roger, Uncle Kirk and me.

Claire got all kinds of very nice gifts, including some Harley clothes from her God-father!

The Builta Family

The Kuipers family

We had a wonderful day surrounded by our friends and family. Claire got to meet some people for the very first time including her Great-Aunt Janet and the McIntyre family. Our little church was busting at the seems today and the regular crowd loved the sound of litte voices during the service.

my first video

Click here to see a video of Claire rolling over. If anyone can help me figure out how to show the video in this blog entry, please let me know.

Sucker!

Much like Kelly it looks like we are going to have a thumb sucker on our hands! Claire has had her hands in her face since her first ultrasound picture back in January and as soon as she came out she started sucking on her hands. Now, that thumb has finally found it's way in to her mouth. The other day in church she had her thumb in her mouth and a finger up her nose! The great part is that she's been on the floor for a good 10 minutes now completely entertaining herself with that thumb!

It looks like Great Grandma Builta will have another project in a couple of years when we are ready for her to quit sucking her thumb!