Claire is 3!

I can't believe my sweet Claire is 3! Her birthday was a couple weeks ago.
I'm amazed at how fast my little Claire has grown. She's such a fun, bright little girl, and is definitely momma's buddy. Some fun facts about Claire:

She has the best imagination and loves to play. She could play all day and never run out of cute ideas. 

She is a momma's girl through and through. Whatever I am doing she is doing it along side me. Whether it's folding laundry, doing dishes. making my bed, she is there trying to help. I love it. 

She loves dressing up, and dressing other people up. She asks me daily if she can paint my nails. She plays dress up almost every day and has me turn on princess music she can dance to. I

She is my little wake-up call every morning. She bursts through the door and says "It's morning! Good morning!!" And then climbs into our bed. Or if it's still dark she will come and whisper "I can snuggle you?" 

She has the cutest, sweetest toothy grin known to mankind and it melts me. 

She can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. If she's feeling tired she doesn't fight sleep. She just goes for it. She's my only kid who ever asks to go to bed if she's feeling sleepy.

She's adventurous but also has a shy side. She loves hanging out with grown ups more than she likes playing with other kids right now.

It is a normal thing for her to ask us for salad, or carrots and sauce for breakfast. She loves fruits and vegetables and doesn't like sweets or bread very much.

She loves being with her sisters and will do all it takes to keep up with them. I absolutely love seeing her play and grow and thrive. 

She has my heart. I absolutely adore this sweet little lady! 

Happenings..

The girls have been in school for about a month and a half now. So far, they've loved it and adjusted well to the change. I was so close to homeschooling this year, I was actually 100% planning on it and I bought the curriculum and everything. But a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave me persisted to tell me that they needed to go to school. It was an emotional change in plans for me but they have hit the ground running and thrived more than I could have imagined. Thank goodness! Emma is loving the Chinese immersion program here, Addi has loved kindergarten, riding the bus, and recess are her favorite. And Claire loves her one on one momma time.

They had a fun run a couple of weeks ago and I signed up to run with them.
Addilyn wanted me to run with her, she insisted I run with her. So we lined up, I warned her I would be a little bit slow because (I'm 5 months pregnant) and she said "that's okay mom! I want you to run with me." The lady blew the whistle, Addi looked up at me, flashed me her cute smile and then she was gone. Super turbo speed kicked in and she bounded out of sight. I kept running (well, scuffling..) while Claire looked up at me from the stroller and said "Mom! You so slow, go faster!" I made it one lap and decided to cheer from the side lines from there. Addi blew past me, bounding like a little deer, giving me a high five on her way past. She did so well.
It turns out she got second place out of all the girls in her grade. She was so proud! She got a medal and some prizes. I was a proud momma! Emma did great as well but was too busy playing with her friends for me to get a picture. I was totally ok with that :)

 We went to Salt Lake for a weekend getaway to look at minivans (we decided not to get one, I'm still not joining the mini van mom club lol) and decided to go to the zoo, the Wheeler Farm, and Temple Square. I love traveling as a family. It really brings us all together in ways we don't get at home.

My sister had her baby! I was so excited to be an aunt on my side of the family that I hopped on a plane and went to visit her for a few days. I snuggled that sweet baby girl to my heart content and loved every second of it. Spending time with my sister is the best.

Addi and Claire started dance class. And then Claire chickened out and didn't want to do it anymore. So now Addi is just doing it. She does tap, tumbling and ballet. It will be good for her. Em is still in gymnastics and loving it. 

We've tried to really dive into fall activities. Our kids at this age love it and it's so fun experiencing these new things with them. We went to the straw maze, corn maze, painted pumpkins, decorated the house with their crafts, baked fall goodies and had a family Halloween party. Our first Idaho fall has been a success.