Mary Claire is ONE!

We made it!  The big first year!  We have enjoyed every minute with our little caboose. 

Cousins at school

We had a date with our sweet friend, Grant.  Our mommies would be so happy if we ended up together.  :)

Where the poor baby has to catch a nap often

I.LOVE.MOMMY'S.KEYS.

The last bottle she ever took...

Aunt Julia gave MC this "baby Stella" doll for Christmas.  To most, a toddler doll.  To Mary Claire, her first look alike baby doll.  :)

Trying on some of her clothes for summer!

Just a regular toddler...sippy cup and all!

Having a serious convo with SC

The day she turned one!

Bubba and Sissy were so excited to have a birthday breakfast with little missy!

That's the end of her first year.  :(  So fast.  It went by so fast.  We love you to pieces, Mary Claire, and can't wait to watch you grow up, little one!!

STATS:
weight--19 lbs
height--30 inches

*Just graduated out of the infant carrier.  That one was hard for Mommy!

*No more bottle.  Yay!  No more formula and washing bottles!

*Started walking almost exactly on her birthday!  Was really going by her party--2 days later.

*Has added many more words--mi mi (milk), wa wa (water), tank you, bubba, ball, beh beh (baby), toos (shoes), puppy, nana (banana), uh oh, cracker, ......

*Loves to give hugs

*Banana--all time favorite food

My Valentines

My friend, Shelly Negrete, a super talented photographer in town needed a baby model for a Valentine's day shoot she was doing.  When she thought of Mary Claire, we of course took her up on it!!  I mean free beautiful treasured photos of your child?  Yes, please!

When I mentioned that I'd have to bring the Clarkster along, she said she'd get some shots of him too.  Score!

These two looooove each other.

Twas the night before Valentine's.....lots of baking and crafting going on....

Whoops, didn't get a pic of AM's valentine's, but here's the idea!

Clarky's candy kabobs!

Mommies were not invited to the first grade party, but we were for preschool so of course I was there! :)

Massive amounts of sugar consumed.  We had a family dinner together that night, and then Sean and I got a date night the next night.  I'd say it was a great Vday!

Mary Claire is 11 months

Just a few snapshots from the days leading up to her 11 month birthday...

The wonder of the first Christmas!

Snuggling in Mommy and Daddy's bed in the morn.  (all five of us) :)

Heading out to drink hot chocolate and see the Christmas lights on Christmas Eve eve!

Waking up in the morning 

Sisters on the iPhone

Horsin around with Sissy on Christmas break

And now I only have ONE.MONTH.LEFT with a true bAbY.  Oh, Lord, help me to savor every minute!

First lost tooth!

We had our first experience with the Tooth Fairy! AnnMarie lost her first tooth in January. Since she is pretty much the last one of her friends, she was VERY ready for it to come out! She had been working on it for days, and it finally came out with a little help from the school nurse. The Tooth Fairy brought some really cool glittery money!

Christmas 2012

Good news!  I found our Christmas pictures!  They were magically still on my computer (just in a weird place) after the iPhoto crash.  Yay! So thankful...

Two.little.peanut.cousins.  Christmas Eve we had a late afternoon supper at my house before the service at church.  The 'ol vintage playpen has come in handy many a time!

Beware, the Squinter.  Pretty good, though, for all the grandkids!

This picture means so much to me.  I'm just amazed at God's gifts this Christmas!

Whoops.  Got a little out of order here.  Daddy read the Christmas story just before we turned in to bed.

Blurry, but this is proof that yes, I did let my 3 1/2 year old  accident prone angel hold a lighted candle.  Parenting fail.   The blur is because it was at this moment that I realized, "Clark has a candle!".  Phone thrown down.

We left some cookies for Santa.  

And since it's SO hard to wait when you're a kid, we did the sibling exchange before bed too.  :)

Santa delivered!

Mary's goodies.  Santa knew she needed formula!  And she doesn't have a stocking yet because Mommy hasn't started it.  But we've got 10 months, right? HA

AnnMarie's favorite gift---her American Girl wardrobe.  Oh, and Justice clothes.  Santa knows where to shop!

Clarky got the totally awesome Bat Cave.  He is Batman most days around here!

"I just want the wrapping paper!"

And then we headed over to Gigi and Papa's to see our cousins!

Train table action

That afternoon we went outside to play with some of our stocking stuffers.  Santa can't resist buying blasts from the past!

We headed outside to let the boys test out the big wheels from Gigi and Papa.  Might need just a little more time before they're quite ready for these!

Later in the week we set off to Midland.  Here's a pic from the road trip!

First stop:  Mexican food!  Only the best!  Mary was chowing down on the guacamole.

I think Mary Claire looks just like a real doll in this picture!  

 Clark showing off his new jacket and Buzz Lightyear PJs.  Gamma and Pepaw always spoil us!

Opening and opening!

The Malibu beach house!  Her favorite gift.

Mary got her first baby.

Mary Claire loved sitting with Kenneth and drinking his tea.

Playing with Gamma

Lots of sweet time with our Midland family.  And lots of good Mexican food.  :)