Her name is...

OK, so we finally reached a decision. Her name is Bailey. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met. She slept on Claire's lap this morning for a whole hour. Then she let Claire carry her around for the rest of the morning. SO sweet.

New best friend...

On Saturday we got a puppy!!! She is a pure bread miniature beagle and she is super sweet. She is eight weeks old and only weighs five pounds. Claire and Luke adore her! We are still trying to come up with the perfect name... suggestions are welcome!How could you not LOVE her floppy ears?

Learning a new trick...

Claire is FINALLY potty trained. Hopefully I have not spoken to soon! Apparently, princess pull-ups are magical and did the trick! However, I might add that having a toddler who is very proud of her newly learned trick can be quite embarrassing!

Yesterday, we went to lunch with some friends. Claire announced that she needed to use it (not in those exact words!). So I got up and took her... she went, and then I proceeded with the "GOOD JOB, I'm SOOO proud of you" speech. She runs out of the bathroom yelling "Benj, Peyton, I tee-teed, I TEE-TEED!!!" Most everyone smiled and laughed, but there were a few odd looks thrown my way. OK, that one wasn't so bad... today's incident was almost to much to deal with. I took the kids on a shopping quest to find pants that Claire could pull on and off by herself. No pesky buttons and snaps. We are in the store and Claire yells "MOM, THE POOP IS COMING OUT!!!" ! Oh, my goodness, what do you say or do in that situation? We ran to the bathroom. I guess that's all you can do.

I hope I haven't grossed anyone out! I'm trying to find humor in all of this!

Have I mentioned that we are taking Claire to the audiologist on Friday. She failed her hearing test at her 3 year check up. Maybe that's why she seems to be yelling so much! :)

We are SO proud of you princess Claire!

Perspective

Have you read the blog "confessions of a cf husband"? If not, please go read about this amazing woman. She has CF. The same thing that Claire was tested for last month. Thankfully, Claire will not have to endure what this woman has gone through. This week Patricia had an emergency c-section to deliver a 25 week old baby. The babies name is Gwyneth. My words are not eloquent enough to describe to you the courage that this family has. Not only are they courageous, the husband and there whole family have an amazing perspective on there situation. He is not sad, he is rejoicing in the miracles that God has blessed his family with. This situation is such a huge reminder to me that God gives us free will to choose what attitude we are going to have about the situations that he puts in our lives. Think about that. I sure have.
Please pray for this family... I don't know them, but I know that God hears all of our prayers.

Story time with Claire...

I am taking a break from cleaning our office. When I say "clean", I mean CLEAN! It is jam packed with all of the stuff that we don't know what to do with... oh, and all of my craft stuff! It is an intimidating task, but it needs to be done. Mostly I want it done because my parents gave me that dress form I have been wanting for Christmas! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) I need a place to put it... a place were I will be able to use it! Anyway...

I wanted to post this video of Claire reading. I'm sure it is obvious to most of you, but Claire is only three, and is not really "reading"... she knows this one by heart!

Her favorite book is "Hey wake up" by Sandra Boynton. If you haven't read any of her books, they are a must for all small children! So with that said... here is Claire's reading debut!

More pictures

I meant to post these pictures a while back (before Christmas!). These were taken at our life group Christmas party. I think these pictures do a great job at showing Claire and Luke's real personalities!



Claire and Baby Blake... Claire adores babies, and baby dolls. She would have been content holding Blake for hours. So sweet!
This one makes me laugh. Luke is kicked back relaxing, and Claire is cramming cookies into her mouth! Usually it is the other way around!

Say Cheeeese!!

Pictures from Christmas: We are blessed to be able to spend Christmas with BOTH of our families at the same time! Let me tell you... the kids LOVE every minute of it!

Luke and Opa (my Grandpa, Claire and Luke's Great Grandpa)
Luke wearing Opa's hat.
C and L got new big kid chairs from Opa and Oma.

Claire, Nana Janis and Nana Sara playing "London Bridges!"

Can't remember what was SO exciting in this picture! It's cute though!
Cutest Santa EVER!

On another note... yesterday I got to hang out with my oldest friend Katie. We went to the same schools growing up and have stayed close the whole time! I am thankful for you Katie! Here are some pictures from our day. We were supposed to go to the zoo, but because of the cold temps Claire chose to eat at Chilis and go to the "pat" store (pet store). Fun was had by all! :)

Claire loves corn on the cob!
Rosy cheeks
Always posing for the camera!
Claire and Katie

While I was gone...

Can you guess what Jeff bought me while I was gone?

Yup, that's what I will be driving now. I'm OK with it, really, I am. Plus... who doesn't LOVE those Peyton Manning commercials?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Turner's!!! We hope you had a blessed day.

Update...

1. We made it to Colorado. The snow is amazing... it is snowing as I type! Claire is SO antsy to go build a snowman!

2. We haven't gotten her results back yet. But when we do I will let you all know.

3. I have decided to open an Etsy store. When it is up and running, believe me, you will all know! It will have some of the fore mentioned Granny clutches on it, as well as some new creations!


Here are some pictures from my parents backyard...

Granny Clutch

This is my newest creation. I am titling it "Granny" because it is hand crocheted with quilted yo-yo's for decoration (you know, all those things that "Granny" did in her spare time). It's almost vintage chic, but a little kitchy too! It's probably not a design that everyone will like... who knows. Just thought I would throw it out there for you to see.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Hi! Luke here...Guess what? Today is my sissy's Birthday! I love her SOO much! She helps me learn new words, and she even let's me play with her big kid toys! She shows me how to make funny faces, and she plays with me all day long! My favorite thing to do with my sissy is to chase her around the house while we take turns seeing who can yell the loudest! Sometimes, when I eat all of my snack before sissy finishes hers, she lets me share with her! Happy Birthday Sissy!

Happy Birthday Claire... we love you so much! You are such a blessing. We could not have asked for a sweeter, more caring daughter...

My picks...

Do you LOVE, love, love, Project Runway as much as I do?!!! I wish I could be on it...maybe some day. I think my "cool" factor would have to increase by many points before they would let me on! My favorites so far are Jack, Christian and Chris. I'm not that impressed with any of the girls yet. Anyway... in the spirit of fashion, and Christmas (the gift side of it), this is what I want for Christmas:

bobbi blu flats Isn't this Coach pretty?

I have always wanted a dress form!


What do you want for Christmas, and who are you picking to win Project Runway?

Thanksgiving fun...

We went to Indiana for Thanksgiving and spent a week with Jeff's parents. Fun was had by all! I have a ton of great pictures, so instead of writing about it I will let the pictures do the talking. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We got to celebrate Papa Dale's 60th Birthday!

We spent time with our good friends Frank and Andrea and there three sweet boys... This is a picture of Claire and Josiah looking at there horses.

We were able to go to the Indianapolis Children's Museum! It is SO fun, even for Mom and Dad!

Claire learning about T-Rex.

Luke and Claire digging for dinosaur bones!

Dressing up like a real dinosaur!
and driving a race car...

We also got to enjoy the really cool weather and the beautiful trees changing colors! Wow, I forget how ugly Texas can be in the fall... being in Indy was a huge reminder.


Luke and Rumpus (Uncle Micheal's dog).


Nana Janis and Papa Dale also had a small Birthday party for Claire before we left. She had so much fun opening presents and eating cup cakes!

I could probably add more, but I will save some for later. I am so Thankful for all of our family and friends. God has truly blessed us with lots of people that care for us.

No words to describe this one...

This morning I took Claire to school, just like every Thursday morning. The only difference today was that I was driving Jeff's car... mine was in the shop. So, we are driving down the highway and Claire opens her door! I almost had a heart attack. There was no where to pull over so I had to drive very carefully, as to not make the door swing all the way open. Claire was very shocked that pulling such a tiny lever could cause Mommy to react so dramatically!!! After I yelled for a while (yes, I yelled! You would have too!) she said "Mommy, it wasn't me, it was Charlie!" Charlie is Claire's imaginary friend (it's a girl!). Well, don't you worry... Charlie and Claire will never open a car door ever again!

Here are some cute pictures of Claire and her buddies. I seem to take a lot of pictures when they are all together... mostly because they are down right fun to watch and I want to catch it all on film!

Who knew candy sticks and rocking chairs could be SO much fun?

Claire and "Benjum"

losing my mind...

Thank you for all of the encouraging comments about my lack of sleep. For some odd reason I actually slept last night... maybe God knew that Claire and Luke would drive me over the edge today if I didn't get just a little bit more sleep than usual!

We had a fun weekend. We had planned a short trip to see Jeff's Uncle and Aunt, but we had to cancel at the last minute. Claire cannot shake this recent asthma flare up... it made me nervous to travel with her like that. So instead we stayed here and went to the park. This particular park is right next to the lake. Claire loved just looking out into the water... she was looking for alligators. Funny right? When we pulled up to the park there was a warning sign stating that alligators had been spotted around the area! WHAT! We played cautiously.

One of the many faces of Claire...

Well, I guess I should elaborate on the title I chose today... I feel like I am losing my mind because I cannot get ANYTHING accomplished (any "Amen's" from my Mommy friends???).

Things I need to get done:

1. Laundry- we are leaving Friday for our Thanksgiving trip.

2. Decorations- I am decorating a table at our Women's Renewal at church tomorrow night.

3. Bathe- Please tell me that there are other Mom's out there that don't get to shower until nap time?!!

I won't go on, because I'm sure you don't really care...

This is a video of Luke singing. I ask him to sing this song at least 10 times a day because I think it is just down right CUTE. He LOVES Elmo. So, here is Luke's big singing debut! (La, la,la,la, Elmo's World...)

Sleep, who needs it?

I do. I don't sleep well...ever. Here is my nightly routine: wash my face, brush my teeth, pop a couple benedryl, get in bed, read, put my ultra deluxe memory foam sleep mask on, plug my ipod into the mask... pray that I can fall asleep before Jeff starts snoring. I do this EVERY night. Most nights it takes me a good hour and a half to two hours to fall asleep. Needless to say, I get very bitter if someone wakes me up in the middle of the night. Lately I have been blaming EVERYTHING on my lack of sleep. I want to work out, but I am SO tired. I want to get more done around the house, I want to take the kids on walks... blah blah blah. So, "My question is" (that's Claire's favorite thing to say right now!) how do you fall asleep quickly? If you are an expert sleeper, clue me in, because I feel like I am going to pass out as I type!


Not much is going on at our house at the moment. Claire and Luke are really starting to enjoy playing together. Most of the time it is pleasant, but there are occasional arguments. Last weekend our small group came over for dinner... we had a great time. I glanced out the window and saw all of the kids lined up on the playhouse porch eating there dessert. It was priceless. They are all such sweet kids. Claire gets very excited when her friends come over, this made it very hard to get her to look at me in the picture. She is mesmerized by "big" kids.

Kaylen, Payton, Ezra, Claire, Allen, and Benjamin (Luke and Anastasia were inside).

One more Luke story before I go... Today Luke was literally begging for a "nack" (snack). He seemed really hungry, so I gave in. Before I would give it to him I told him that he had to give me a hug and a kiss. He kept telling me no, but finally gave in. After he put two and two together he kept giving me hugs and kisses all morning! What a little stinker... he sure is smart!

Claire, Luke and Daddy watching football and having a "nack".

Fall Festival

Last night we all went to the fall festival at our church. The kids had a great time! Claire and Luke especially liked the petting zoo. As you can see from this picture, Luke was not thrilled about his costume. Maybe it was the fact that he went as a bumble bee. Or, maybe it was because his Mommy made him wear his sisters leggings? At least he lasted long enough to take a few pictures with his "sis" and his best buddy KJL.
The story behind the bumble bee is this: It was supposed to be Claire's costume, but after she threw a huge fit it became Luke's costume. Next year he will be bigger than her and I don't think there will be any swapping costumes! :)
Just for fun, here are some old pictures...
This is a picture from Halloween 2005... Indian princess Claire

This is Halloween 2006... Luke as Peyton Manning
Claire as a Colts cheerleader