12th Month of Claire

July 1-31

Grant went to Safety City the last weekend of June and had a graduation Friday the 1st.  He loved it and it made him want to become a police officer! He did it with his friends Tyler and Camden from daycare.  We love the first picture and the smirk Grant gives us when he sees us but doesn't want to smile at us. He got to have a special lunch with Dad after at Panera to get white mac n cheese.

Good ol' instagram saved me when the boys were bored and looking for something to do.  We made bubble foam.  They had fun making, playing and mixing the different color foam. It kept them busy for just a short while but it was fun!

We had a fun and eventful 4th of July.  Greg's mom came down the 3rd and went to the WDM parade and we went to the Waukee parade on the 4th!  The kids all got a lot of candy :). Grandma spent the night and the morning of the 4th the boys went down to wake her up and Blake fell off the bed and his bottom teeth went through his bottom lip. Claire had 2 more incidences of a blotchy, red rash on her face.  We ended up taking her into the allergist again and we think it is just her rubbing her eyes while eating and her sensitive eyes. She has been tested twice and no allergies to food.

Blake has been using the apple TV remote as his phone and it is SO cute!

Claire thinks it is so funny to turn the lights on and off!

We waited to sign up for swim lessons this summer until we knew Grant's ear was healed so we signed up for swim lessons late.  We found some at Genesis Health club for the boys.  I want them to be confident swimmers so we need to do more of these this winter.  They had a lot of fun at the pool, though!

One Sunday dinner Blake got very sad not being able to eat some of his favorite foods.  Greg and I have felt very bad restricting him so much so I promised him a snow cone.  We went to the place on Ashworth and it took forever! Luckily, there was a playground for the boys to play and the snow cone was good so I am glad it made Blake happy!

We took the boys to the zoo one morning and Nana watched Claire.  It was sprinkling at first but ended up being a great day for it.  We all had a blast!

My Mom, Nana, is still watching Claire.  She loves it!  We won't be able to get Claire into daycare until November at the earliest so Nana gets some extra time with her!  Nana's neighbor, Connie, watches her grandson, Mack, part time also.  Claire and Mack have play dates sometimes and I get the cutest pictures from them!

We are loving all the cute giggles we are getting from Claire these days.  We can't seem to get as many on camera as we want but she is very fun these days!

We went to Lake Michigan this year and I was so excited to go since we weren't able to go last year.  It was a big adventure for us taking all 3 kids on a vacation and dealing with Blake's specific diet needs.  We were nervous with how the kids would handle the drive and change but the kids loved it. We haven't traveled much so this was a big step.  We rented our own house which was nice since we were worried about Blake's food and nap/sleeping schedules.  Grant LOVED the lake and wanted to spend every minute there.  Claire slept great which we were surprised but happy about! Blake ended up getting sick half way through the week with GI symptoms but I considered it a successful week!  We went to the train museum which was fun. One of the trains was loud so that scared Blake, but we still had fun.  Uncle Jeff took us to visit one of his firefighting friends and the boys got to see the firetrucks. Super cool!The weather was perfect for us.  We took the kids to Oinks one evening and found some dairy free ice cream so we all could enjoy!  The first weekend was cloudy and humid which was great so we could go to the beach and not worry too much about our kids getting too hot.  The sun came out the rest of the week and we went in the morning so it was not too bad.  We would take Grant back to the beach in the afternoon when the other kids were sleeping.  Claire took her morning nap on Greg or I and I honestly loved those naps watching all my boys play in the water while holding Claire and watching the lake.  Absolutely perfect!

Greg and I took a ton of videos on this trip to remember it so here is our video overload of the trip :)

Claire is walking really well with her walker.  It wont be long until she is on the move on her own.  Then we are really in trouble.

Natasha took Grant and Tyler to the summer festival at. Hope.  It was extremely hot that day so we didn't want to take the younger two but they ended up moving it inside and Grant loved it.  He got his face painted for the first time and did not want to ever wash it off!

Grandma and Grandpa Young gave us money for a play set a little while ago and we finally found one we liked that fit in our backyard.  The boys were really excited for it.  Blake was a little hesitant about the slide but I am sure he will be loving it in no time.

Grant is a sweet older brother and was reading to Claire.  She loved it!

Claire says a few words-one of them being ball.  I am hoping to get her talking more so we can communicate and have less tantrums as she ages.  She understands everything but only has a few words.

Claire's "berry" first birthday was on a Sunday so we had a busy day.  We had family pictures early in the morning and then had to come home to get ready for her family birthday party that afternoon. We got it all done and had a great birthday.  The boys did not like that all the presents were for Claire and not them.  Watching the video of her opening presents is chaotic to watch and you can tell our chaotic our lives are daily.  We love Claire so much and is a perfect addition to our family.  She is just so sweet and dramatic at times and we love her so much!  She loves Encanto and Cocomelon right now so I got her a Maribel doll and Cocomelon bus. 

We had Claire's one year pictures the same day as her party.  As exhausting and stressful family pictures are, these turned out great and I love them!  Claire is so sweet and smiley these days.  She is almost walking and says a few words.  She weighs 22.5 lbs and is about 80% in everything except height. I am still breastfeeding now and will see how long we go.  I am ready to be done but she loves nursing to bed so that might be a hard transition.  Since she is our last kid I will enjoy the time nursing I have left!