Celebrating Claire's birthday, just the three of us!

On the day of Claire's actual birthday, April 7, Ryan and I had planned vacation days and the day turned out to be beautiful. We hung around the house in the morning. We went to lunch at the Dairy King, where Claire had some shredded chicken and her first ice cream cone! Then we went to the park and played on the equipment and took a walk. Here are the pics from that:

Hi mom!

Playin' with the ball

I'm so happy!

Waitin' for lunch

Eatin' a fry

Going down the slide...this is fun!

Playin' on the dinosaur

Swingin' with mom

Hi Dad!

I don't want to go through the tunnel!!

I'm way up high...see

Happy Birthday Claire!!

Wow, I cannot believe a year has gone by already! Our baby girl is growing up way too fast already! I don't have any pictures to post at the moment, just thought I would take a moment to reflect. One year ago, today I was pregnant with Claire. One year ago, tomorrow we welcomed our new baby girl into the world. I remember how overwhelmed, thankful and scared I felt. How was I ever going to be a good mother to this tiny little creature? Now, I cannot imagine my life without her in it! From a tiny little baby of only 7 lbs. 9 oz. who only cried, slept, ate, and dirtied diapers to an energetic one-year-old who is constantly exploring and learning new things! Every day with Claire is a new adventure that brings lots of smiles, laughter, and even a few tears now and then! What a blessing children are in our lives! Thank you God for blessing us with such a beautiful daughter! We cannot wait to welcome the next addition into our family. And HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet little girl!!!

New Baby Grandstaff

Well, as Ryan has already informed everyone, we are going to be welcoming a son into our family! We are both thrilled! His heart rate was 158 and Dr. Z said everything looked good. The estimate for his weight right now was 15 oz. I am twenty weeks right now, and the week-by-week book says babies are usually about 9 oz right now. So, we may have a big baby on our hands, although I know that the weight estimates can be pretty inaccurate. Anyway, here are the latest ultrasound pictures.

Here is the announcement shot!

This is a picture of his face and torso. His arm and hand are up by his head.

This was a picture of both of his feet.

This is the 3D image of his face.

Another 3D image.

More pics of the boy parts! Pretty obvious we are having a boy, don't you think?

The stuff at the bottom of the picture is the placenta and I think the little thing in front of his bottom may be his hand or part of the umbilical cord.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. My next appointment isn't until the beginning of May. So, the next baby boy update won't be until then. But I am sure we will have updates on Claire soon. I will try to get a belly shot soon to post. I haven't taken any yet.

Watch out Grandstaff Girls

This is Ryan making his first appearance on the blog, with a warning. All Grandstaff females live with the fear of knowing that Daddy has Back up on the way in August!! Thats right, Daddy is getting a boy, so girls watch out!!! It is going to be 2 on 2 battle and we will see who will Prevail. (Da Boys) That is all I got for now, I am sure Natalie will be on later with all the pictures and her comments.

Claire's One Year Pictures!

Ryan and I decided it was time to get a bigger vehicle. We had been looking for about a month. Over Easter weekend, we bought a van. We didn't think we could fit two kids and two dogs in the Vibe, and it wouldn't pull our camper. So, now we have plenty of room and can take just one vehicle camping when we go. We bought a 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. It is really nice. Hopefully it is a good vehicle for us. Maybe I will take some pics and post them soon.

Anyway, yesterday, I took Claire to get her one year pictures taken. She was pretty cooperative for the first few shots, but then she decided she would rather go exploring than sit still to get her picture taken. I think they turned out well regardless.

I'm one... see!

Say Cheese!!

I'm not gonna stand here long!

Here I go!

Big Girl

Geez people, how many pictures are you gonna take?

Lookin' Cute

This is my personal favorite!!

Mmm, birthday cake sounds good.

So pretty!

You can't make me smile!

.

Ryan said people were going to think we put make-up on her, but I swear we didn't. Her cheeks matched her salmon colored shirt! Maybe because she had just woken up from a nap.

By the way, Claire has finally cut her first tooth and I think she is working on her second. You can't really see the first yet, but it has broken the gumline. So, she will have teeth for her first birthday!!

I thought this was too cute, so I had to post it! Enjoy!

Boogie Time!!

Check out these moves!

First Attempt at Videos

Here is my first attempt to upload some video. Claire wants to be just like her Aunt Erica!!

Hope this video didn't gross you out too much! We thought it was pretty funny! Erica used to eat our dog Dusty's dog food when she was a baby. Mom said she would stuff so much in her mouth that she looked like a chipmunk! Sorry Erica!

I baby sat for my friend DJ last night, while they took their older son to see Horton Hears a Who. Claire and Truman had so much fun together!! Thought these pics were too cute of Claire in the bathtub. Enjoy!

Here is what happens when Claire gets to feed herself!! We were having meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn for dinner. YUM!!

Things are going well in the Grandstaff household. We are all getting over colds, but we are feeling much better. We are definitely ready for spring! We are tired of being cooped up in the house. On Thursday, when it was halfway decent outside, we decided to take a walk over to the park. Claire really enjoyed it and so did Ryan and I. It was nice to get out and take in some fresh air! We are also in the process of getting ready for Claire's 1st birthday party! I can't believe she is almost a year old already. How time flies!

This coming Friday, Good Friday, is the beginning of spring break for me. I am really looking forward to it. I hope the weather is nice so I can get outside and do some gardening. Have a Happy Easter everyone!!