13 months

What's been going on since Claire turned 1? All kinds of stuff!

The weekend after Claire's birthday was Fathers day. This was the first weekend in months that we hadn't had plans or had work to do in the garage.

On June 25-26 we took a little "vacation" to the National Junior Anugs Association Eastern Regional that was held in Bloomington, IL. Claire spent some time playing with her friend Haley. Hopefully they will be great friends because we plan on about 20 more years of showing together! The next weekend was the 4th of July. We spent the morning of the 3rd in Onarga for the big festivities. Claire sat perfectly still for the parade and shared candy with Ava & Kate. Thanks to Aunt Jeanie for taking some pictures for us. After the parade we went to the park for lunch. Great Papa Kuipers shared his chips with Claire and he quickly became her best friend. Then we sent Claire home with Gammy so Trever and I could go to a wedding. We enjoyed the wedding of Trever's college roommate and judging teammate, Jeff & his new wife Ashley.

On Sunday we headed to Lake Mattoon for a day in the water. These pictures don't show it very well, but Claire LOVED the lake. She wasn't too fond of the life jacket but did pretty good in the floaty.

Claire's first boat ride. She wasn't too sure what to think and by the time she was smiling, my battery was dead!

I had to make a super quick diaper run one day last week and after some quick calculations determined that these "denim" diapers were cheaper than plain ol' white ones. We had to do a quick photo shoot to show them off.

Friday night I got to spend some girl time celebrating Erin Burcham's bachelorette party. It was pretty low key and just a good time. But I didn't take any pictures! Wait just a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll have plenty from her wedding day!

Saturday night Claire got to stay with Grandma & Grandpa Builta and Trever and I headed to Shipman for the wedding of my co-worker Nicole. It was a warm but very nice wedding and I got some great pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.

And finally, yesterday Claire turned 13 months old! She still doesn't want to sit still with the bear but now it's because she knows she can see herself in the back of my camera! So, here are a couple of pictures from our photo shoot.

We finally tied her to the chair but not before bribing her and losing a shoe!

At 13 months old Claire is...

• Eating us out of house and home.
• Loves hotdogs, strawberries, bananas, watermelon and green beans.
• Cries when daddy goes outside without her.
• Points to her bed when she's ready to go nigh nigh.
• Says nigh nigh!
• says uh oh, pupu (puppy), mAma (grandma), papa, baba (baby), and she has started telling us NO once in a while.
• She knows the signs for more, all done, please and food. Sometimes we get a sign that supposedly means drink/milk.
• LOVES going to Miss Mary's every morning and doesn't care for coming home in the afternoon.