Rough Stuff Real Stuff Texas A&M

Saw Varsity's Horns off...

Okay if you aren't an aggie, you won't understand. But apparently Claire gets it. How about that win today Ags. WHOOP!

--UPDATE--
My husband just told me this was the worst blog ever. He declared it Blasphemy! I asked him why and he proceeded to tell me that the fact that we let our daughter wear an aggie cheerleader outfit when in fact there are no aggie cheerleaders (Just guy YELL leaders) was very bad. I think she looks adorable and who cares!

Then he said admitting that we even own a stuffed animal that looks like BEVO (University of Texas, our HUGE rival's mascot-He is a Bull) Was ridiculous. But how else is Claire going to learn to say Moooooo.

Ha Ha. I thought it was a pretty funny conversation. He's not going to like that I posted the conversation :) He He

I think I see FINS

My little girl is a fish. I think her Daddy may have taught this game to her. He always comes up with the silliest things. When she takes her bath she dives on to her belly and then pushes with her feet against the front of the tub to make waves then she eats the water as it splashes in her face. It was the funniest thing. She had me laughing so hard. I called for Nate to bring me the camera and when he came in he told me he taught it to her. It was almost as if she was swimming. Sometimes she would swallow too much water and sit up to cough for a minute but then right back to business.

Major Nathan Howard

Exciting News! My husband is officially a MAJOR :) I am so proud of him, can you tell? We weren't sure of the date so when he checked in with his squadron they mentioned that they had gotten notification that he indeed did get promoted. If you know Nate, then you know he isn't one for being the center of attention. So we had our very own pin on ceremony in the living room. Then, we went to the Waffle House for dinner. Oh my gosh..I have never eatten there and it was sooooooo good. You have to try their waffles.

We live near the Beach!!!!

We have gone to the beach twice now. It helps Nate relax so we will go every day if he wants! It is only about 30 minutes away and the weather has been great. These pictures are from the first time we went. We were not prepared for the water and all got a bit wet. We were walking in the water and Claire lost her balance and fell. She was very sad! You can see that Nate could tell this was going to happen. While I was trying to snap a picture, he was running towards her! Ya'll should come visit it is beautiful!

Claire and her Meeeeeeee

She loves this kitty! So cute when she sleeps with her like this.

New House

We are moved in and are getting settled. My wonderful parents came to help me while Nate finished school. My dad hung blinds and helped paint. My mom watched Claire and helped paint too! They were so helpful. While we were unpacking we found Claire's coat from last season. Thank goodness it still fits! It was really big last year :) I guess that gets you all caught up. Claire was very excited when Daddy came home. I don't think she has ever been more happy! We woke her up and I think she said Dadda about 100 times before she went back to bed. Nate and I are both sick! So more later...

Friends

On the way to our new place we stopped to visit some friends in Texas. We forgot to get a picture of Corrie and Mark but had a great time with them as well. My good friend Andrea and her daughter Kada came over for pizza while she was in town as well. They were our neighbors at Scott and it was so good to see them. Granny and her mom came as well and that was fun! We also had a playdate with Laura, Noah and Josh. Claire really loved their kitty. It is her latest obsession. She doesn't say cat or kitty but she says the cutest Meow you have ever heard. It starts high and then gets lower but it is "Meeeee" My mom has a kitty too and that is all she wanted to do when we were at her house. Go and pet the Meee. Crystal and her daughter drove out to have lunch with us at Freebirds (YUM) and then Kierstyn fell asleep in the car so we couldn't get a picture with her. You can just trust me that she is the most adorable 4 month old you have ever seen. Chubby Cheeks and all! In the last picture and the one on the following post we are at my friend Sharon's house. She has a son who is about 2 and he and Claire had a good time chillin as you can see. It is so good to see old friends. Thanks everyone for making time to see us!

I am outta here

You may not hear from me for a while because we will be transit for a few weeks. Stay tuned for exciting news from the East Coast :) Here is a cute picture of Claire helping me put dishes away.

First Haircut

We decided to get Claire's hair cut. We kept trying to pull it back with a clip or a bow but she pulled them out everytime. She sometimes even pulls chunks of hair with them. But then when we got there, the lady said that if she cut all the bangs then they she would have bangs started in the middle of her head and it would take forever for them to grow out. So we just got a "trim." She cleaned up her rat tail and trimmed her real bangs and it looks nice. We will still have to clip it back but maybe since it is further back she won't mess with it...We'll see. So here is the before, during and a somewhat after shot. She wouldn't allow her photo to be taken. Figures...

Nana Visit

My mom came to Altus for a visit this past weekend and here are a few pics from her stay. We DID go to the rodeo despite the rain and lighting. Claire really enjoyed watching the animals. We look like drowned rats! Even though it did rain, it really cooled things off outside. We went out to dinner on Sunday and then went to the park! Check out Claire's new outfit. My Dad went shopping for her and she is stylin in her Polo clothes! So cute. My little preppy baby :)

Oklahoma Stampede

Well, I have seen everything now. Today the longhorn steer of Altus had a stampede right through the Air Force Base. You see, there is a rodeo coming to town this weekend. I hear it is mighty big deal. Guess when Nana comes to town on Saturday we will have to make an appearance. Anyways, back to the stampede. They brought longhorn steer right through the base. There were guys in flight suits riding horses!!! If you were a commander than you got to help round them up. There was probably only 20 steer and about 200 horses but it was pretty cool. Claire loved it... She was squealing with delight and kept pointing and making the moo sound. It was great. We went with our friends Courtney and Carolyn.

SMART baby

We have started doing flash cards with Claire. We noticed while reading one of her animal books how much she liked to identify the animals. So we started early with flash cards but she loves it!!! She can identify about 40 cards out of the set of 50. We place like 5 down at a time and ask her to point to the object. She gets so excited when we tell her she is right she bounces up and down in our laps. It is so much fun!!!

Mt. Scott

Nathan's family came to town this weekend and we went to visit Mount Scott. You drive all the way to the top and then there is an amazing view. I didn't even know there were views like this in Oklahoma! Claire really thought it was cool.

Bath Time Animals

I found these bath squitters at the dollar store and Claire loves them so much. Here favorite thing to do is grab them out of the water and line them up on the ledge. Notice that all the eyes are facing her. If they accidently get put down with eyes facing me she will turn them around. The starfish are kind of a problem because the eyes are on top! What to do??

Daily Conversation

Mom: "Claire and Lacey please get out from underneath and on top of the coffee table"
Claire and Lacey (in unison): "But, Mom you said it's not our furniture..."

Mom: "I know I said it isn't our furniture and sometimes Daddy doesn't treat it like our furniture either (notice boots on table) but you still need to get out/off"

Claire and Lacey: "At our house would you clean your furniture with a rag and water?"

Mom: "No... okay you got me...play away"

Getting Jiggy with it

This is Claire turning the music on and dancing. I hope you enjoy the new video feature I just learned how to use :)

Heaven in Altus

Claire and I have started going to the Base Gym. We have decided that it is heaven in Altus. I never knew I could get so excited about working out but what a kids paradise this is! I can just watch Claire and be entertained while I work out. It is so great. Except the other day when there was another little boy in there that kept hitting and pushing Claire. I brought her out and we had a snack while his mom (who didn't do a thing) finished her work out.

Trip to Texas

We went to Texas this past week and saw all the grandparents. Here is a picture of each!

Grandpa's Little Angel

We are in Houston for a quick visit and Claire and I went to dinner with my Dad (AKA Grandpa) when we dropped him off we hung out for a while and let her put her feet in the pool. Well, that is how it started...then all her clothes were wet. So Grandpa helped me give her a shower and then he shampooed her hair with salon stuff and then BLEW IT DRY. She thought she was a princess. Then he pulled out her clothes. He put this t-shirt on that was like a 3X or something. It was so big so we did some last minute alterations! Then she looked like a little angel. I didn't have my camera with me so I put her in the carseat with the huge knot on the back to bring her back to my Moms just to get the picture. She thought she looked pretty cool. Nana was even impressed with Grandpas creativity.