Family Photos

A few weeks ago we decided that we needed some updated family photos.  The really good kind that we could hang on the wall- not the kind I take with my phone.  :)  I called up the amazing and talented Alaina. (http://adigitaldarkroom.blogspot.com/ ) We wanted to do fall pictures but some of the local foliage did not want to cooperate!  Stupid leaves!  Why can't you die at a time that is convenient for me? :P  

When I was planning the clothes for our photoshoot, I was trying to prepare for cool weather, but since it was unseasonably warm, we were HOT. 

Claire wasn't too sure about Alaina at first...

But Alaina is a pro!  She had tons of tricks to get Claire smiling!

Claire is like, "It's cool guys, I got this!"

"Uh-oh... Maybe I don't got this!"

She's getting SO BIG!

Happy girl, happy family!

Claire was very interested in the water under the bridge

Eww!  Mommy and Daddy kissing!

Yay!  Everybody looking at the camera AND smiling!  :) :) :)

I LOVE this one. :)  

Claire was trying to stand up on our legs.  Not very sturdy!

Fly away baby!!

Love her lil bloomers!

She is just too cute walking around in her little boots!

Daddy was trying to get Claire to sit down in the leaves, and she was NOT interested.  

I'm not putting my leg down on those leaves!  They're pokey!

Beautiful baby girl!

Such an angel!!!

Kicking her boots off.  I had to dive to keep it from being kicked off the bridge into the water!  Little stinker!

I'm pretty sure Nick was over there making faces at Claire to get her to smile

Even the very nice cameras can't deal with Claire's excited hand-flapping!

Showing off her chompers!

Ahh!  No kisses!

I'm a little bit proud of that headband.  I made it myself.  :)

Possibly the one going on the wall!

A couple shots of just Mommy and Daddy...

Every time I look at Nick, my heart goes pitter-patter

I love this one too!

How cute are her little crossed ankles?!

My two favorite people in the whole world!

My sweet little girl!  I love her SO much, but her expression is like, "meh".  Probably because I give her too many kisses!

I love this crazy, sweet, adorable, little family of mine.  :)  

Promises, promises

I'm getting worse! Ahh! In my pathetic defense, my Grandma died in August so we went to CA for her funeral.  (Speaking of which, watching my dad's sisters pick on him is the best thing EVER)  Then Kyle and Alexa got married a week later, and Katie and John got married two weeks after that.  School started again somewhere in that mess and Nick and I both got new callings. (church jobs)  Look, I'm not saying any of those are good reasons to not post pictures of the cutest girl in the world... but they kind of are...

Okay. I'm really really gonna try to post once a week, even if that means I only have a few pictures instead of the deluge like this one. Deluge. That's a fancy word for "flood" if you didn't know. (coughcoughDADcough.)

Anyways- let the deluge begin!

These are in no particular order since some of them came from my phone and others from the computer...

This is her fake smile.  It's still cuter than anything I do.  Claire is like, "Mom, please.  Stop taking pictures of me so I can go back to reading my books.  Geez- you're so weird!"  That's right kiddo.  I'm weird.

"Hey, Mom!  Can I play with your phone?"

Lest you think that Claire is always happy- this was right after I took the TV remote away from her.  FAKE!  She's already learning to manipulate her parents with those tears.

Compare to the picture above.  These photos were taken about 10 seconds apart.  So apparently she got over the disappointment of not having the remote fairly quickly.

Little baby BYU Cougar!  I just hope the proximity to the BYU logo doesn't make her more susceptible to ankle injuries.  (24 so far this season!  Holy crap!)

Not surprisingly- Claire loves ice cream, but she hates that it's so cold.  So when I offer her a bit of my ice cream she leans forward with her mouth open and then chickens out when she feels the cold.  Poor girl.  Life is hard!  :)

Claire LOVES books.  Thank you to everyone who gave her books! We put all of the cardboard books in this little shelf in the living room so Claire has her own book nook.  Mostly she loved pulling all the books out and sitting on them while she reads one. 

She doesn't always know how to work them, but she likes covers too.

Strengthening her core?  I have no idea what's going on in this picture.

THERE'S a real smile.  :)  My happy girl.

One day Claire had a rough time at the babysitter's and didn't nap well.  On the way home she fell asleep and I wanted her to take a good solid hour nap so she wouldn't be fussy the rest of the evening.  That meant sitting in my car for 45 mins playing on my phone and listening to the rain while Claire slept like an angel. Really, really good times. 

Did I lie about the reading thing?  Nope.

My current favorite picture of Claire.  She loves to wedge herself in between the couch and the recliner.  Also, that coaster is one of her favorite chew toys.  What?  My baby has chew toys.  Deal with it.  :)

She loves the page where all the letters fall out of the tree.  She gets mad when I try to move on.  I'm pretty sure we only ever finished this book once.

We bought a booster seat/ high chair.  Claire loves to sit there with some cereal and watch Mommy and Daddy run around.  It's the one time of day when I can get things DONE!

Claire's first experience with the greatest burger restaurant of all time.  She was less than enthused.  Sad.

Hey look!  A picture of something OTHER than Claire!  Shock!  This was at Kyle and Alexa's wedding.

My two awesome siblings.  :)  

Kyle will never cease to be Kyle.  Even on his wedding day.  And the best thing is that Lex wouldn't want him to be any different.  :)  Also, how beautiful is my new sister's hair?!

Coming out of the temple!  Her dress was GORGEOUS!

Claire's wonderful Grandma and Grandpa!  

Claire's dress for Kyle and Lexa's wedding.  She was so good for the reception/luncheon!

Katie and John's wedding!

Claire with her #1 fans.  Notice the blue pen she's holding?  She LOVES to grab Grandpa's pen and chew on it, so Dad made sure that he had a pen with him at all times while we were there.  What an awesome Grandpa!

"Hahaha Mommy!  I have your keys and I'm gonna chew on them!"

At Val and Jerry's house!  Claire had never met a kitten before and she loved this lil guy!

I swear I have a picture of my Grandpa Wagner holding me with that exact same expression on his face.  I'll have to go dig it out and show you guys.  Someday.  When I have free time!  Ahahahaha!  Sniff.

Trying to show Claire how to walk.  No!  Sit down, baby!  No walking!  She can walk pretty well now when holding onto our hands or furniture.  I predict that she walks before Christmas.  

Claire is not a huge fan of grass... so that's what happened every time we set her down.

Loved playing with the animals at the Jacob's house!  I tried to get the horse to come over and say hello, but he wasn't interested.

Grandpa gives Claire his phone just to make her happy.  Daaaawww!

Claire still loves her bouncer but the cat didn't know what to make of the tiny human in the large cat-toy.

GREAT Uncle Irv!

Aunt Nancy the Great!

Aunt Pat the Great!

P.S. I was super bummed when we got home and I didn't have pictures of Claire with everybody!  Duh!

Claire's very first plane ride!  We had to bring her birth certificate to prove that she was under 2.  Sheesh!

Tired in the airport before getting on the plane.

Claire was SO GOOD on the plane!  She cried a tiny bit when we changed elevation and her ears hurt, but she loved being held by Mommy and Daddy for a few hours!

Claire was so tired after Katie and John's wedding.  We couldn't get her to smile at all.

This was the closest we got to a smile from Miss Crabby pants that day.

Claire with Aunt Valerie the Great!

Such a great day!  We were excited to hang out and party!

Well, guys- that's all for now!  (Haha- "that's all"  like I didn't just kill your brain with a billion pictures.)

I promise, I WILL try to post more frequently.  Promises promises....  Love you all!